DVD RELEASE!!!!!
Set for February 14th
I've preordered it on Amazon already.
w00t.
YES!!! I'm pre-ordering too!!!!
MovieChat Forums > Da hong denglong gaogao gua (1991) Discussion > DVD RELEASE!!!!!
Why don't you wait for reviews to see if the DVD is actually worth buying?
...I want to be Bey Logan...
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Anyone who has seen this movie knows that it is worth buying. Anyone who hasn't wouldn't even know about it anyways so what difference does it make. The point is this is the movie that made me love asian cinema. I am absolutely buying it even if there are no special features
This is not a question of whether the movie is good or not, but about the quality of the release. Considering the quality of the existing releases around the world, I wan't to see the quality of this one before I buy it. This is a review of the existing Chinese release:
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview/rtrl.htm#r
Conclusion: "Simply ridiculous"
/Mikkel
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From DVDBeaver:
Beware: Initial reports state 'Razor Digital's editions of "Raise the Red Lantern" and "Ju Dou" have atrocious video. They look worse than our screen shots of the ERA and Pioneer discs!
I sort of expected this. Razor Digital doesn't exactly have a sparkling record. share
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I also pre-ordered both Ju Dou and Raise the Red Lantern in December when I saw they were being released by Razor. Even contacted Razor to ask what the source was, they assured me quality would be good. Then today I checked www.dvdbeaver.com and saw the side-by-side of Razor Ju Dou and Pioneer Ju Dou (which I already own) and promptly cancelled my order. What a shame.
I also own Raise the Red Lantern from Era studios, I bought it via eBay from someone in Hong Kong. Maybe a bootleg, I don't know. Picture quality is pretty bad, subtitles are too. But the essence of the film is intact. Better than nothing, I guess.
I just sent Criterion a message asking them to please release these titles as well as other Zhang Yimou films. Criterion has not released a single Chinese film; no idea why not. But if they ever do, I would think these would be great candidates. Maybe everyone here could help by sending Criterion a message, get a campaign going. These films have gotten shoddy home-video treatment for far too long. It's criminal.
I have sent such a message to Criterion long ago, however I fear we'll not see another DVD release of either 'Ju Dou' or 'Raise the Red Lantern'. Only HD-DVD or Blu-Ray can save us now. I sincerely hope bastardizations like these will be horrors of the past by the time the new formats arrive.
shareThis is remarkably depressing.
Though, in all fairness, though the VHS version was lesser in sound and picture quality, I quite enjoyed it. So maybe quality of image might not affect me as much as it would for a more stern observer. This from a guy with 134 films.
Should I be ashamed of my casual expectations of image quality?
The DVD revolution promised that we could finally see the world's greatest films, the way they were meant to be seen, in the comfort of our own homes. I don't think it was particularly naive of any of us to expect more from Razor, other than the fact that I'd never heard of the company and, if you check out their website you'll see their specialty is exercise videos and horror flicks. So I guess in retrospect, it seems a little dubious that they could have competently taken on this classic - and also "Ju Dou," the first Zhang Yimou/Gong Li film I ever saw and still one of my favorites.
Does anyone have any theories about why some of these early Zhang Yimou films are evidently NEVER going to come out in a worthy Region 1 format? ("To Live" came out a couple years ago, and "Story of Qiu Ju" is coming out in March or April, but those seem to be the exceptions.) I've written to Criterion asking them to take on these projects, so far they haven't done a single Chinese title. I find that curious as well, I suspect it may have to do with Chinese politics...
...I want to be Bey Logan...
shareCriteron has released Wong Kar Wai's In the Mood for Love, which is a Chinese movie. But it was made in Hong Kong and the freedom of expression and speech laws (or lack thereof) do not yet apply there (yet). A real frickin' shame.
Anyone know what the quality of the Red Lantern DVDs on eBay sold from Hong Kong are like?
Wong Kar Wai is from Hong Kong, not China, I think :-)
Anyway, I'm also VERY dissappointed of the quality of the DVD. I cancelled my pre-order in Amazon. I think it's time to send (again) a request to Criterion....
The Razor release of Raise the Red Lantern is one the worst I have ever seen. There are so many scratches and blemishes on the print that it looks like rain. The translation is horrible, too. The are numerous grammatical and spelling errors in the subtitles. Do not waste your money on this release. Heck, even the snapper case smell like a turd. If it looks like a turd and smell like a turd then, it must be a turd. (I am not kidding about the way the snapper case smells.) This release is shameful for such a good film. The people at Razor laid a real stink bomb with Raise the Red Lantern.
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Why don't you wait for reviews to see if the DVD is actually worth buying?Order the re-mastered DVD from YesAsia.com, after reading The Beaver for a review http://www.DVDBeaver.com/film/DVDReview/rtrl.htm#r share
One of the worst transfers I've seen. Picture quality is awful - especially noticeable in the darker scenes. Sound is ok but subtitles are hilarious and awful as well.
It's amazing that a film like Hindle Wakes from 1927 can look so pristine compared to some of the newer movies released on DVD.
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How cruel! This is one of my alltime favorite films, and to finally see a DVD release had me ecstatic. Immediatly put it on order, but after seeing the reviews of the DVD transfer I had to cancel my order. How can one of the most beautiful, well acted and adeptly directed films of the 20th century be relegated to lousy DVD transfers such as this... even straight to video B movies get better treatment. I sincerely hope someone rereleases this in a decent quality, from what I could tell bootleg transfers were superior even to this.
shareJust saw the DVD of the movie--I liked it but the picture was very scratchy, and the subtitles were written by somebody who obviously doesn't know English very well. Just about every sentence had a grammatical or spelling error: "cate" for "cat," "past" for "passed," "quit" for "quite," etc. Words were constantly being left out (such as, "you want go to bed now?") and the words in the sentence were often in the wrong order. By the time the movie was over I had a headache from reading all the horrible subtitles.
shareand they kept spelling "servant" as "savant"...I have never seen such poor subtitles or picture quality.
shareVery disappointing. If you still have the old laserdisc copy I'd watch that instead - it has a better picture than Razor's new release.
www.iboast.blogspot.com
Oh REALLY!!!
I better go and get it. I remember this film coming on Cinemax back in the 1990's. I loved it. A great showcase of stress, honor and beauty. Not to be missed. I will go to Amazon and see how to order it. :)
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I would like to chime in and say this is the WORST DVD transfer I have ever seen, so bad i couldnt even watch it. Which is a shame because I have never seen this film. The color was so saturated that I couldnt see individuals, the print so dirty and scratched. And dont get me started on the subtitles! I've watched obscure Chinese kung fu films with better translations.
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My brother and I just watched the film today and one of the first things to come from my lips was, "Uhmm, just so you know this isn't really such an old movie." Later on he quipped, "Did you select the 'Poor English' subtitle option?"
I liked the film but I can only dream of how much more enjoyable it would've been were I to view it as it was meant to be seen.
i have a copy of the dvd and it's just like a cheap vcd you can buy from chinese video stores!!!!!!!!!!!
the picture is not so awful but it's not dvd quality.
the subtitles are bad and have many spelling errors...........
will criterion release this classic?
Firstly, let me say this film was brilliant and has quickly become a favourite. I can't even imagine watching it in it's full glory. The Razor "DVD" release was absolutely appalling. The colours were saturated, the print extremely scratchy and horrendous subtitles. I'm from India, the land of the pirates, and this was much worse than most of the knockoffs that you get here. Criterion needs to revive this beautiful film, pronto.
shareI just have to chime in about how amazed I was by the atrocious quality of the DVD transfer. I saw this movie several years ago on VHS and was totally awed by it. I greatly looked forward to finally seeing it on DVD, only to find that it looks like some crappy black-market knockoff you'd buy in a back alley. I remarked to my husband that it looks like someone sat in a dirty old theater with a camcorder and turned that recording into a DVD. The grammatical and spelling errors are laughable and absolutely ruin the effect of this film. Totally disappointing...I really hope that another company releases a watchable version soon. Meanwhile, I'll just have to purchase another VHS copy.
shareI got the all region "digitally remastered" DVD in the mail yesterday. I ordered it off ebay for 16 bucks.
I saw the film for the first time today......Great movie the quality of the DVD is great, the subs are fine and the pitcher transfer is really good!!!!
I only noticed one scratch while watching it, not bad at all.
I also got the ERA digitally re-mastered version (all Region) through yesasia.com. Haven't watched it yet, but I popped it in for a sec to check it out and the video quality is beautiful.
shareIt has a few flaws here and there (minor things like the mispelling of 'slipping', for instance), but I am very satisifed with ERA's remastered version from YesAsia. The package and it's cover is also an upgrade, strong and legitimately organized, and there's no weird smell from the disc anymore. Here's hoping it finds greater distributuion and makes the general public forget about the Razor version altogether and BRING THAT IMDB SCORE UP.
< Ronald Mendoza 4 Lyfe > Crew Member Since 01'
Yes, you're correct. Now that I've watched the whole thing, there is some grain in the transfer and a handful of spelling mistakes in the subtitles. "Beautiful" was a bit too glowing of a word to use, but it does look good (and marvelous compared to the screen captures I saw on dvdbeaver.com from the other versions).
Very good movie, btw
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the comparisons at dvdbeaver clearly show that the remastered ERA video is the best edition to buy, nowhere can you find the french release..
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Here's a discussion that has screen captures comparing the French DVD with the original Era DVD: www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1605. Use that in conjunction with the DVDBeaver review that has screen caps of the original and remastered Era versions: www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview/rtrl.htm#r.
-- TopFrog
the comparisons at dvdbeaver clearly show that the remastered ERA video is the best edition to buy, nowhere can you find the french release..Trust the Beaver, I say. I have actually got the ERA Remastered Edition and it is VERY good indeed.
Available here http://global.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.aspx/code-c/section-videos/pid-1004433316/ share