The Future of Legit Kung Fu Titles

[Jesse Smooth]

I'm worried. Brother Linn was very knowledgable about what titles in the US which studios had rights to as well as what was coming out. Now that he's gone, I worry about the fate of the genre.

Most Americans could care less about kung fu and the casual fan would willingly buy bootlegs. These films aren't the first thing on the minds in Corporate America. Linn was a front runner against the likes of Jack Stiller and George Tan. I didn't know how else to say this, but who's gonna carry on the fight to have legit releases in stores.

Now, like most people I do support trading, fan made copies, titles that will never see the light of day, etc... But when you see Red Scum's boot of Sister Streetfighter in stores, that draws the line. I could go on and rant, but it won't do much good. We have a lot of work to do if we ever want to see these films get the respect they deserve.

[The Amazing Psycho Per]

I'm with you... The future seems pretty bleak :(. Sometimes, it just seems that fans have no respect of the genre and only want to see more movies and the lowest cost possible. DVDr is nice to see really obscure titles but I think that trading DVDr of movies with legit releases really hurts the industry. We're not talking hollywood blockbusters here, but movies with a smaller fanbase that you guys seems to think. You had guys running their mouth about celestial making millions and not caring about fans... Well let me tell you, we're not going to see a remastering job on as many titles as they did any time soon. If they had made so much money they would've continue to release titles... Instead you have people complaining about small details on overall extremely good DVD releases of movies a lot thought were lost... Why should company care to release movies that people are gonna tear to pieces for little imperfections and make little money for it? Just look at what happened to Hong Kong Legends... Yep, the future doesn't look so good...

[andy338]

I remember Linn posting at the start of year that he had some news that he said would excite all kung fu fans regarding dvd releases this year, does anybody have any idea what film(s) he was referring to?

[Bus]

it's really a tedious job to try to bring those titles back to life and damn unrewarding because like you said people are going to pick apart the work you've spent countless hours bringing back to life for them to only belittle the final product.. on top of that they're not really making the money off of it people think they are and most people would rather pick up the same movie for 7.99 that's ripped from a VHS tape from 1974 then to spend the extra 7-10 dollars for a remastered version of the same movie that's been done justice..

[HAZ]

I think that sometimes people takes this ish waaaay too seriously.

[Bravery]

I think that sometimes people takes this ish waaaay too seriously.

Don't they though, lol.

[The Amazing Psycho Per]

I think that sometimes people takes this ish waaaay too seriously.

Yes, because this is a serious issue...;)

Aren't you guys glad when classic movies get a quality release? Maybe you like the thrill of searching for a movie and then obtaining it in the form of a crappy bootleg and then thinking you've got something really special that only a handfull of chosen souls have had the chance to possess...:D

[remo]

As long as I can acquire legit subtitled releases from Hong Kong, I guess I'm not overly concerned with the state of the U.S. market. I'm not emotionally invested in whether or not these films are "respected" in the West.

Sure it's great when something like the Shadow Warriors box set comes along, and sure I love hearing the old Shaw dubs for nostalgia's sake... but those are icing on the cake. I'm done waiting for U.S. companies to get it right.

Look at Shaolin Intruders: the domestic version is $5 to $10 more than the HK release, sans dub.

[Bravery]

A lot of these old school actors don't see a dime of these so called 'legit' releases. I think thats more of a tragedy than worrying about seeing red suns imprint on movies at the mall. Never hear anyone coplain about that.

[HAZ]

Some people like their dubs, others like their subs. Some people like a certain release, and others think its crap. I love the Rarescope & Fusian DVD's & other people think they suck. There's never going to be a DVD company that will put out a dvd that will satisfy everyone, and this is a pretty marginal hobby; that we get anything in the west is really great considering that in Asia most people don't seem to care about old martial arts cinema at all. I'm amazed that IVL was able to sustain their releases for as long as they did. Many rare films will never come out in a legit form because they have such a limited appeal, so thank god for the fansubbers & enthusiasts who keep those films in circulation.

[dragonherb]

When we’re talking Red Sun or Video Asia it’s not about bootlegs anymore, it’s about frisbees. Every second disc have out of synch sound or doesn’t even work in the DVD-player + they steal their material from much better legit releases. Downloading or trading something of such worthless value would be one thing, but to actually pay money for it?

Oh well, I don’t know if I should care to give a damn so much when this is happening in USA and not in Hong Kong or Europe where I buy most of my DVD‘s from. It was nice to see however how Linn was active to make some progress, he really cared for the genre and if someone will carry on that fight like you said Jesse, let’s at least hope so.

[oldeschool17]

When we’re talking Red Sun or Video Asia it’s not about bootlegs anymore, it’s about frisbees. Every second disc have out of synch sound or doesn’t even work in the DVD-player + they steal their material from much better legit releases. Downloading or trading something of such worthless value would be one thing, but to actually pay money for it?

Oh well, I don’t know if I should care to give a damn so much when this is happening in USA and not in Hong Kong or Europe where I buy most of my DVD‘s from. It was nice to see however how Linn was active to make some progress, he really cared for the genre and if someone will carry on that fight like you said Jesse, let’s at least hope so.
Co-sign. /thread

[Jesse Smooth]

We have made progress as far as legit releases. Yeah, these are hobbies, but the problem is that this genre has been mocked for 30+ years. I could watch the films dubbed or subbed as long as its in the way it was meant to be--OAR. In America, these films were never meant to be taken seriously. For 2 decades we had to deal with 10th generation BS Video TV prints. People who are ignorant of the genre continue to mock the dubbed voices and mimick Bruce Lee war cries. Corporate America had no interest in these films. Even in the late 90s when there was some sort of 'comeback', most of these films were boots with lame ass hip hop titles--with trailers for Grade F 'urban' movies---Thanks to George Tan.

As the digital era continues to florish, there are studios that realize that there is a market for these films We have seen great progress--We are finally seeing these films the way that the filmmakers intended them to be. There are soooooo many films that are locked up by corporations that have yet to be seen. We can't go back to crappy releases. We have gone beyond Xenon, Ground Zero, Video Asia, etc... Again, I know that this is just a small market and a small genre, but this is OUR GENRE--We have to defend it. I don't have the resources to fight the battle or pick up where Brother Linn left off, but I will do what I can in my own way.


Yeah, I'm a bit emotional about this, but these films are MY life. This is MY Star Trek and MY Star Wars.


I know you must agree with some of what I'm saying. Don't give up now.

I am stepping off my soapbox now.

[The Dragon]

Yeah, I'm a bit emotional about this, but these films are MY life. This is MY Star Trek and MY Star Wars.

I feel ya JS. The reason I'm on this forum is because of the experience; The era gone by, and what's left over are the reels, the fans, articles, faded celebs, etc. Because this was something 'introduced to this country as a package of quickie introduction to Chinese Culture, we have a groupie status, similar to over there when they take to 80's flavor music and styles, we've left behind so long ago.

[remo]

If you're OK with subtitles, then I guess I don't see the problem. Thanks to the advent of international Internet-based commerce, this is actually a pretty amazing time to be a kung fu fan. There are thousands of DVDs out there waiting for you just a few mouse clicks away -- more than will ever be released in the West, and again usually at a cheaper price than domestic DVDs.

I don't think people appreciate how good we actually have it these days.

Why does it bother you so much that these films aren't taken seriously in the West? Frankly, most of them aren't meant to be -- it's often just stupid escapist fun. If you won't be satisfied until Shaw discs crack the top ten sales charts, I think you're in for a long wait.

[Tosh]

Yeah, I'm a bit emotional about this, but these films are MY life. This is MY Star Trek and MY Star Wars.




:eek:You just summed up what 95% of the people on this forum think.

As far as boots go I remember Linn saying the damage was done a long time ago, but I don't see the future being bleak. Maybe the remastered Shaws didn't do to great at first(though worldwide they had to do decent even if people in China didn't care), but look at the money they'll make down the line selling the rights to other companies, soon there will be deluxe sets, and sooner or later everything will go digital, it's not to far away when you'll be able to just buy one of these movies from your cable box, then nothing is out of print.

[The Amazing Psycho Per]

Just to clear one point... I don't care (like the others probably) where the DVDs come from. I don't think the thread was about the future of US releases, but the future of legit releases around the world. Their are still movies that haven't got any decent releases yet, anywhere in the world...