BCI to release Asian action from Miramax vault

By Mark Pollard | Published August 7, 2008

BCI Eclipse has just completed a deal with Miramax Films to release 25 of their long-shelved Asian action titles including overseas hits like MY WIFE IS A GANGSTER, YES MADAM and WHEELS ON MEALS.

Some of the other titles to be released by BCI include DR. WAI IN THE SCRIPTURE WITH NO WORDS, PRISON ON FIRE 1 & 2, TIGER ON BEAT, DRAGONS FOREVER, THE TOUCH, and WING CHUN.

The scoop comes straight from BCI’s Director of Acquisitions Cliff MacMillan who states that titles will hit store shelves beginning in early 2009.

BCI’s latest announcement is further evidence that the distributor has been jockeying to become a major player in the arena of Asian action distribution since joining parent company Navarre Corporation.

Previously known as a distributor of low-grade public domain titles under their discarded Brentwood label, BCI has been rebuilding its reputation from the ground up by acquiring higher-quality, licensed genre films from Rarescope and Adness such as the Cliff Lok classic CHOI LEE FUT KUNG FU and the SISTER STREET FIGHTER series.

One of their most recent releases on DVD and Blu-ray was Thai fantasy actioner THE TIGER BLADE which came with bonus content including interviews and behind-the-scenes footage.

Although the Weinsteins brought some of their Asian acquisitions with them when they broke away from Miramax parent company Disney to form The Weinstein Company, many were left behind. This should come as welcome news to genre fans who have been waiting for ages to see many of Miramax’s discarded Asian action titles released in the U.S.

To discuss this topic see comment section below or the related forum thread.

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  • Rhythm-X
    So... is this actually happening or did the whole deal fall quietly apart? We're now in mid-December and the silence out of BCI/Eclipse/Navarre on these releases is ominous. There's nothing pertinent in their product announcements through February 2009, either. Beyond February there's a very limited amount of "early 2009" remaining.
  • GGHHIIDDOORRAAHH
    OOPS... I mean GODZILLA VS BIOLLANTE. It would be totally awesome if they got that film!
  • Erroneous Monk
    The sooner BCI can give us the names of all the films, the sooner they can kill a lot of idle speculation as to what they are or are not doing. I am already uneasy that THE TOUCH made the cut and the one unreleased ZATOICHI did not. I don't see what's gained by not telling people what you have the rights to. It just makes them more likely to import instead of waiting for you, when they might have waited had they only known what was in the pipeline. Don't be Dragon Dynasty, where the titles they've picked up get name-dropped in Bey Logan's blog once, never to be added to the website or heard from again until a month before the disc is released (in sorry condition).
  • I did ask about this movie and it is not among the 25 that BCI intends to release.
  • WuxiaFan
    Mark,
    Do you know if Zatoichi 14 (Zatoichi's Pilgrimage)is included? That's the only Zatoichi film not released and I heard Miramax had it shelved.
  • With the release of Tiger Blade and Vengeance (on Bluray, too), BCI has my attention.
  • gorhama
    BCI has upped their reputation in the past year or so. I for one am excited to have a company finally get these releases too us. I just hope BCI get's some awesome cover art to go along with the awesome movies!!!
  • chen lung
    BCI have a different reputation now.
  • Mediaguy
    Bring 'em on!! I do have some trepidation as I'm not familiar with BCI work to any great detail. But I'm willing to give them a chance but the titles will die slow deaths if the quality or care is lacking.
  • jack
    bci/brentwood dvds are shitty quality. even worse than media blasters. they use vhs masters for their dvds. too bad it wasn't criterion who got these titles because they would treat them with respect. instead we are stuck with a second rate distributor
  • Matt
    Also, please do audio commentaries with someone who knows what they're talking about- Ric Meyers, somebody.

    Please- interviews with film feature stars.
  • Matt
    HD goodness!
  • movie freak
    i will definitely be purchasing most of the releases if they're up to par!!! looking forward to them BCI!!! :D
  • chen lung
    All looks wonderful!
  • GGHHIIDDOORRAAHH
    GODZILLA 1985?

    please please please please...
  • TrickyNicky
    I've been wanting to get Wing Chun on DVD. I'm assuming it is the same Michelle Yeoh movie.
  • BCIKungFu
    It's too early to give much in the way of specs, but I can tell you most of the films have been re-mastered in HD and the ones that are not will be re-mastered in HD.
    There should be English dubs for them all and they'll be on there. If one doesn't exist, we'll create a new track.
    There are plans to have extra features on all of them too.

    More news to come as we get closer to the first release and we'll announce the rest of the titles soon.
  • That's truly wonderful news there,especially since the likes of "Dragons Forever","Wheels On Meals","Yes Madam","Prison On Fire 1 & 2","Tiger On The Beat",and "The Touch" are amongst those titles in that amazing set(that are in definitive need of a legit U. S. DVD release),for I'm curious if they'll include the English dub tracks(which are always fun to listen to),trailers,and behind-the-scenes features.
  • Matt
    oh my...

    Did Miramax remaster the picture on any of these or have they just been sitting on these films until now?

    Miramax does some awesome remastering work- Iron Monkey and Legend of the legendary legend of Jackie Chan's legend of the drunken master legend.
  • Cliff - BCI
    Thank you, Mark.
    Yes, we had no control over how SHOWDOWN looked because the master was delivered to us by Rarescope.
    SPIRITED KILLER was the best it was ever going to look without major restoration. We used the negative to do the transfer and that is all there was. So, it's either release it as is, dont' release it or spend 40K restoring it. The later would not make financial sense.
  • Jin, SHOWDOWN AT THE COTTON MILL was put together by Rarescope, a British label. BCI only distributed it here in the U.S. I can't speak for SPIRITED KILLER although I'd wager BCI will use what source material they are given and present it as is. Even Dragon Dynasty is limited by the materials handed to them by the license holders.
  • Jin256
    well i just hope the quality are good on these DVDs, because i just lost respect after seeing the quality of Spirited Killer and Showdown at the Cotton .Mill
  • sean
    WHEELS ON MEALS & MY WIFE IS A GANGSTER could use the release on the WEINSTEIN's DRAGON DYNASTY label.
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