Taiwan disks with english subtitles

[Stephen LaRocque]

I recently bought Brave and the Evil from Yes Asia and noticed that Iron Petticoat, Swordsman of all Swordsman and Fly Dragon Mountain also have subs.

Are there any other vintage martial arts titles from Hoker out there with subs, or without?

[JustinB]

Hoker have released several other similar titles in the past - I don't have a list, but I'm sure that none had English subtitles. HKFlix.com lists "A Valiant Villain" and "He Heals And Kills" as previous releases from Hoker.

Are the subs on these new releases removable or are they the burned in theatrical subs? Also, Yes Asia lists their aspect ratio as 1.33:1 - is this correct or are the actually widescreen? Either way, I plan on getting them - thanks for the heads up.

[Stephen LaRocque]

I'm not sure if the subs are burned in or not for the disks as I haven't ordered them yet. I'm waiting to see if there are others so I can do them as one order.

"Prosperous of Family" is also available with subtitles but "Battle for the Republic of China" - the Shaw Bros/Central Film Corporation production isnt...

[Markgway]

"Prosperous of Family" is also available with subtitles but "Battle for the Republic of China" - the Shaw Bros/Central Film Corporation production isnt...

Isn't available... or isn't available with subtitles?

[Stephen LaRocque]

sorry - Battle For the Republic of China is available on DVD from Taiwan at Yes Asia but with no subtitles. Too bad as it's on my Shaw gaps "must have" want list.

Celestial appararanely had HK rights, but it looks like Taiwan rights reside with whoever has access to the Central Motion Picture titles.

[JustinB]

A note for anyone considering buying these - I just realized that "Iron Petticoat" is an AKA for "Iron Mistress", which was released last year by Crash. In fact, I wonder if these new Hoker releases are coming from the same lot of "discovered" prints that the Crash/Fusion releases were sourced from - I know Swordsman of all Swordsmen was in that lot, but never released. I wish I still had a copy of that list...

[HAZ]

I have taiwan versions of love & sword, sword called revenge, and the lost swordship, all subbed, from Hoker. The descriptions say "no subs", though. The subs are burned in on each. Honestly, I think the subs are burned into all of their older releases. Also, the description for swordsmen of all swordsmen said there were no subs right up until a few days ago.

[Markgway]

sorry - Battle For the Republic of China is available on DVD from Taiwan at Yes Asia but with no subtitles. Too bad as it's on my Shaw gaps "must have" want list.

Pity. I too would like to see that. I suppose someone fluent in Mandarin could do an English sub translation.

[Winfred]

Even if there are English subs, wouldn't they be hard to read since most of the films are released full-framed?

What are the films that are released in cinemascope and with English subs?
These I would definitely collect.

[HAZ]

The movies I listed above were all widescreen. I think all of their releases are really widescreen and that very many of them are actually subbed despite descriptions. More & more of the hoker discs are being listed as subbed by yesasia. Fire Bulls is another one that has subs but it is listed as unsubbed. The same for A Valiant Villian.

edit- painted skin is subbed, too. I'm think that 18 Jade Arhats is subbed as well.

[Winfred]

To think that I put them all back on the shelves when I could have collected them all during my last trip to Taipei.......

They're really cheap in Taipei......around US$2.90 per title.

[The Dragon]

To think that I put them all back on the shelves when I could have collected them all during my last trip to Taipei.......

They're really cheap in Taipei......around US$2.90 per title.

Dude, what's your problem? :l

[HAZ]

I bought these in chinatown. Its hard to tell from the packaging what's inside. I'd ask the salesman at the shop, but he hardly spoke english, so I bought them blind waiting to find they were sub-less. They all had subs, tho. They had General Stone, but I passed on that because people here said it was awful. I guess that was subbed too.

[tantao3,son of tantao2]

Union Company from Taiwan produced 30 movies, from 66/67, starting with Dragon Inn, till 1977 (September Song). So far 14 are released by Hoker Records Taiwan, ALL have English subtitles...

[HAZ]

Union Company from Taiwan produced 30 movies, from 66/67, starting with Dragon Inn, till 1977 (September Song). So far 14 are released by Hoker Records Taiwan, ALL have English subtitles...

Hi,

Does the hoker dragon inn have subs?

thanks!

h

[HAZ]

Here is a list I'm starting to compile of English subbed releases. I'll try to start with the Union Company releases:

Gone With The Cloud
September Song
The Brave And The Evil
Swordsmen Of All Swordsmen
Fly Dragon Mountain (Was this produced by Union?)
Dragon Inn (Does this have subs?)
Touch Of Zen (Does this have subs?)
Iron Petticoat (I think this was produced by Union)

Legend Of The Broken Sword & The Lawman both star Roc Tien. I don't know if they have subs, though.

[tantao3,son of tantao2]

..when I am telling ALL have English subtitles...Dragon Inn has English subtitles for sure...ALL means ALL...otherwise I would have told it to the "scholars" of this board...

[HAZ]

..when I am telling ALL have English subtitles...Dragon Inn has English subtitles for sure...ALL means ALL...otherwise I would have told it to the "scholars" of this board...

Thanks for the information, my friend. I was looking for a union films filmography & can't find anything. Would you be able to list the 14 union films that Hoker has put out?

Thanks again

h

[KLSADAKO]

Dragon Inn and A Touch of Zen are both listed without eng subs and as being released by Taisheng Multimedia on yesasia. Is this the same company as Hoker?

[Grady-San]

Well with Yesasia's trackrecord of not having correct specs in the past, we will have to wait and trust member's who buy these to really see what has subs and what doesn't.

[HAZ]

Draon Gate Inn has subs, as verified on Asian DVD Guide.

[tantao3,son of tantao2]

...as I told you, ALL Union Hoker releases have English subtitles and are widescreen...

[spannick]

cool down, tantao3. as it's well known, there are LOTS of bullshit-talkers on the internet, so HAZ is just happy that someone else confirmed it, nothing else. it just proved YOU are not one of that sort.

[dbmaster514]

Does anyone know if there is anywhere that I can get A Touch of Zen by itself? I see it on Yesasia (http://www.yesasia.com/global/guo-ji-ming-dao-yan-wu-xia-da-shi-hu-jin-quan-jing-dian-zuo-pin-dvd/1011816568-0-0-0-en/info.html) but it comes with Dragon Inn and Painted Skin, and I already have those.

[tantao3,son of tantao2]

For HAZ...

Union Filmography:

Dragon Inn, 1967
Morning Mist, 1968
The Swordsman Of All Swordsmen, 1968
The Knight Of Old Cathay, 1968
The Melody Of Love, 1969
Iron Mistress (or Iron Petticoat),1969
Black Invitation, 1969
A Touch Of Zen, Part 1, 1970, A Touch Of Zen Part 2, 1973
Prosperous Of Family, 1970
The Grand Passion, 1970
A City Called Dragon, 1970
Rider Of Revenge, 1971
The Ghost Hill, 1971
The Fly Dragon Mountain, 1971
The Lost Romance, 1971
She'd Hate Rather Love, 1917
The Bravest Revenge, 1971
I Will Always Be With You, 1971
The Brave And The Evil, 1971
The Decisive Battle, 1972
A Ghirl Fighter, 1972
The Ghostly Face, 1973
Chinese Kung Fu And Acupuncture, 1973
Gone With The Cloud, 1974
The Windows Of The Mind, 1974
Moon River, 1974
Blood Revenge, 1974
Misty Drizzle, 1975
The September Song, 1975
The Love Offensive, 1977

[Winfred]

What a surprise to find almost all the Hoker titles on sale in the shops here!
This is the first time they are available here.
Of course the ones that are missing are the ones I am most interested in like the Polly Shang titles.

On a related note, does anyone know of an online merchant in Taiwan that is able and willing to ship to Malaysia and Singapore?

[HAZ]

Thanks to Tantao for posting the information about the hoker dvds and the Union Filmography! I'm going to start ordering more of these films. Like Winfred, I'm wondering about Taiwanese on-line merchants because yesasia is a little expensive. Maybe a Malay seller like speedy wold be cheaper?

h

[JustinB]

There is one Taiwanese seller that I know of - http://mall.jsdvd.com. They carry the Hoker DVDs, but shipping is very high. Other than YesAsia, I don't know of any other online stores that carry these.

[Killer Meteor]

..when I am telling ALL have English subtitles...Dragon Inn has English subtitles for sure...ALL means ALL...otherwise I would have told it to the "scholars" of this board...

What sort of subtitles? New ones, or the Chinese/English sort seen on old prints?

[HAZ]

What sort of subtitles? New ones, or the Chinese/English sort seen on old prints?

Hi,

I believe that the subs are new and removable, if The Brave and The Evil is any indication.

h

[Winfred]

Thank you JustinB.
The site is wonderful. Shipping is expensive as they use EMS but it is acceptable since it is a courier service.

[Killer Meteor]

Hi,

I believe that the subs are new and removable, if The Brave and The Evil is any indication.

h

Thanks. I understand Dragon Inn is anamorphic. Are any of the others

[spannick]

BRAVE AND THE EVIL is not 16x9

[HAZ]

Brave & The Evil was a letterboxed print, or should I say a windowboxed print. It looked the same as my german Dragon Gate Inn dvd. That Taiwanese store is cool, but I can't make sense of the shipping rates. Their prices are about 9 bucks US per dvd, which is cheaper than yesasia. I wish dddhouse would carry these.

[JustinB]

For those interested, Hoker has just released 5 additional DVDs - all are available at YesAsia:

A City Called Dragon
The Ghost Hill
A Girl Fighter
Black Invitation
The Grand Passion (listed as 'The Grant Passion')

[HAZ]

Thanks for the update Justin!

This is my favorite thread of the moment. Hoker dvd's are cool.

[The Dragon]

...Hoker dvd's are cool.

Yes they are. Nice to see so many films I never knew about getting released on DVD.
:)

[Winfred]

I was going to purchase Brigitte Lin's Be Careful Sweetheart in a shop here but my friend who runs it insists that it does not have English subs and I won't understand a word. The Hoker DVD is factory sealed and we can't check. Does anyone know whether this particular DVD has English subs? Thanks.

[HAZ]

I was going to purchase Brigitte Lin's Be Careful Sweetheart in a shop here but my friend who runs it insists that it does not have English subs and I won't understand a word. The Hoker DVD is factory sealed and we can't check. Does anyone know whether this particular DVD has English subs? Thanks.

I don't think Be Careful Sweetheart is subbed. The DVD's that are subbed from that series are the older films with the subs burnt into the picture, like Sword Named Revenge & The Lost Swordship. This is more an educated guess then anything else & I could be wrong.

[Winfred]

Johnny of DDDhouse is trying to contact a distributor so that he can list these DVDs for sale. I have emailed him the phone numbers on the covers of the Hokers so hopefully, we can expect these DVDs to be more reasonably priced in future.

[HAZ]

Thanks for the good news, Winfred!

[Stephen LaRocque]

For anyone who wants to catalogue what's out ther - Hoker has a web page:

http://www.hoker.com.tw/

with this being their DVD catalogue

http://www.hoker.com.tw/dvd/


their highest # is 518 (there are the new ones mentioned above). But if someone want to proceed sequentiall downwards with the id's - I think we can figure out the martial arts films.

http://www.hoker.com.tw/dvd/product_info.php?products_id=518


Steve

[HAZ]

Wow, thanks for that info. I'm looking at the site right now & it looks like its possible to order from Hoker directly.

[tdb]

I poked around their site some more and I think that these are the pages of interest:Hoker dvds (http://www.hoker.com.tw/ad-1.htm) (9 pages).

I think these are new releases:

New Releases? (http://www.hoker.com.tw/mo-1.htm)

I don't think you can order directly from Hoker, though. I do see some interesting titles like The Legend of Mother Goddess and The Saviour Monk, but no telling if they're subbed.

[Stephen LaRocque]

I've started compiling a list of Taiwan DVD's out there. I've managed to get this far from Yes Asia - most are from either Hoker or Central Motion Picture Company. I can't say for sure which have subs or not.

So far this is what I don't own - there are maybe 100 more I own, not in the list (mostly I own an HK press, or it's a title from this thread I ordered). I've also purchased Fusian or Rarescope pressings of several Hoker titles (different prints?). Others like Battle For The Republic of China I have on order - hoping it has burned in subs...I'll post in one of the Shaw forums once I know.

It looks like Joy Sales in Hong Kong has been reissuing from Hoker a lot of the 70's Romance titles and they don't have subs except 4 films - so I'll guess that most Hoker's are also unsubbed. But if anyone wants to research this list out - feel free to do so.

To make a more complete list - go to Yes Asia - Chinese Films - Taiwan - DVD. There's 29 pages worth but as Hoker's site is rather cumbersome for english speakers, Yes Asia might be easier. Scanning through Hoker, it looks like Yes Asia's catalogue might still be missing around a dozen titles.

I apologize for any typos.

37 Plots of Kung Fu
A Drifting Live
A Little monk
A Man of Immortality
A Pinwheel Without Wind
A Unseen Trigger
A Woman and Seven Husbands
Aliens in Taiwan
An Eccentric Person
Ann Ann
Banana Paradise
Baseball Boys
Be Careful, Sweetheart
Be My Lovely Child Again
Bear Hug
Bruce Tuan - 7 Promise
Business Knave
Catch
Chocolate Rap
Chou Cheng to Reach Taiwan
Da Tou Zi
Doctor
Dolly Lee
Dragon Eye Congee
Eight Hundred Heroes
Execution in Autumn
Falling in Love
Fei Yue Bu Xi
First Come, First Love
Five Friends of Tai-Pao's
Flag of Honour
Flower's Taste
Fu Ziao
Ganglamedo
Ghost Story
Go! Go! G-Boys
God Man Dog
Golden Leaves
Gone With Honor
Gone With the Cloud
Handsome vagabond
Haze in the Sunset
He Heals and Kills
He Is My Brother
He Never Gives Up
Hero vs Hero
Heroes of the Eastern Skies
Honor the Father
How Romantic is OK
How Young
Hui Chia
I Am Another Yourself
I Love How You Love Me
Indebted for Life and love
Jade Goddess
Keeping Watch
Lady's Lucky Jacket
Lamen of the Sand River
Let It Be
Lethal Hook
Lin Tou Jie
Lonely Hearts Club
Long Way From Home
Love, Love, Love
Love and Sword
Love is Smoke
Love of May
Loves of a Small Town Doctor
Make a Right Decision
Man's River
March of Happiness
Meeting With Vajrasattva
Melody From Heaven
Melody of Love, The
Ming Ghost
Misty Drizzle
Moon Night Cutter
Ms. Cupid
Murmur of Youth
My Football Summer
My Grand Pa's Home
My Sweet Memory
Name is Woman
Night Orchid
Not Coming Home Today
Not For Love or Money
Oncemore in the Evening
Painted Waves of Love
Posterity and Perplexity
Purple Night
Red Persimmon
Red Sky
Rhythm of the Wave
Run Way
Second Spring of Mr Mur
September Song
Sir, Tell Me WHy
Small Station
Spring Comes Not Again
Spring in Autumn
Spring Morning Flying Cloud
Stars
Super Student
the Eighteen Jade Arhats
The Army
The Blood of Yingzhou District
The Bride in the Fading Go Laser Goldmine
The Campus Incidents
The Clouds Know You Name
The Clown & The Swan
The Denouement of Chu Liu Hsian
The Digger + The Sunona Player
The Eternal Love
The Everlasting Glory
The Funny General
The Hoblest Way to Die
The Land of the Brave
The Lawman
The Legend of Broken Sword
The Legend of Mother Goddess
The Lost Romance
The Mob Family
The Moon Also Rises
The Naughty Beauty
The Outsiders
The Passage
The Phantom Lute
The Pioneers
The Red Phoenix
The Return
The Romance of the West Chamber
The Saviour-Monk
The Second Occasion
The Secret in the Wind
The Story of Pei-Li
The Stupid Birds the Sky
The Unknown Man
The Valiant Villan
The Wall
The Way to Happiness
The Widow Takes Revenge
The Windows of the Mind
Tiao Chan
Two Ugly Men
Underground Wife
Untold Storm
Upto Rainbow
Venturer
What on Earth Have I Done Wrong
White Cuckooflower
White Jasmine
Who Dare Challenge Me
Who is the Murder
Why I Love You
Woman With Knife
Yu Yen

[tdb]

My order arrived this morning. A quick rundown:

Touch of Zen - It is Parts 1 & 2. Removeable English subs. When comparing it to Tai Sengs disc -- Tai Seng subbed everything, signs & credits, in large black outlined yellow letters. Hoker's subs are medium sized white. Some spelling and grammar errors that the Tai Seng lacks, but otherwise they're pretty good. Picture is pretty much (dirt & dammage) the same except the Hoker color is richer, while the Tai Seng colors look a bit faded (in comparison). Unless the color pushes you one way or another, I'd say the Tai Seng disc has the edge because of the subs. Hoker's cover is way cooler movie poster.

Dragon Inn - Removeable English subs. Some dirt & damage. Color looks good.

Both of these wouldn't play in my dedicated R1 player; I got a disc error. Mine is a pretty old toshiba (SD-1600), so I'm thinking it's some funky disc authoring issue, that the player couldn't handle, but a newer one could. All the other discs played fine on it.

Iron Petticoat (aka Iron Mistress) - It has removeable English subs which automatically moves it a notch above the Rarescope disc, which has burnt in English/Chinese subs. Otherwise, both have dirt & damage and don't appear to have any major picture quality differences (I haven't wathed either disc all the way through though).

The Swordsman of All Swordsmen - Removeable English subs. Some dirt & damage. Color looks good.

The Fly Dragon Mountain - Removeable English subs. Some dirt & damage. Color looks good.

[JustinB]

My order arrived today as well. I bought Swordsman of all Swordsman, Fly Dragon Mountain and Valiant Villain. The cover's all have what I assume is the original poster artwork and the Swordsman of all Swordsman and Fly Dragon Mountain DVDs also included slip-cases.

I've only had time to take a quick look at Swordsman of all Swordsmen so far. It's non-anamorphic, but the picture is quite nice. Some other things I noticed:

- The menus are in Chinese only and (at least on my player) selecting anything other than the first entry takes me to the Chapter select.
- A huge font is used for the subs (but they're in the black bar so they don't obscure the picture).
- There were several 1 second or so audio drop-outs during the credits. I assume this is a problem with the source audio. Anyone else notice this?

Overall, I'm very happy with these. I hope to get the other releases soon.

[HAZ]

Any more updates? Was Battle For The Republic Of China subbed?

h

[JustinB]

I think the only title released since the last batch is "The Decisive Battle". YesAsia lists it as having English subtitles. One Hoker release that definitely does not have English subtitles is "A Valiant Villain" (it's still fairly easy to follow for the most part though).

[tdb]

I ordered these from yesasia:

The Grant Passion
Black Invitation
A Girl Fighter
The Ghost Hill (DVD) (Taiwan Version)
A City Called Dragon (DVD) (Taiwan Version)
Prosperous Of Family (DVD) (Hong Kong Version)
Painted Skin (1993) (DVD) (Taiwan Version)
Goldenward Series Of Chinese Movies - A Valiant Villain (oh well...)

But they've been sitting since 04-NOV while yesasia tries to find The Girl Fighter and The Grant Passion. Missed The Decisive Battle somehow, pick it up later...

Will do a quick run through when I get them (December?), unless someone beats me to the punch.

[spannick]

yesasia changed the Release Date for GIRL FIGHTER and GRANT PASSION to Nov 30... they cancelled those two and sent out the rest. oh well, gotta order again.

btw, you can use this link and just klick it every two weeks to see what's newly out from Union Film/Hoker DVDs

http://www.yesasia.com/global/search/union-film-taiwan/0-0-0-bpt.48_q.%22union+film+%28taiwan%29%22-en/list.html#&cid=82&s=7&sb=138&l=1&vn=37&sea=1&bpt=48&bt=48&vm=32&ss=100&q=%22union%20film%20(taiwan)%22

[Winfred]

I've ordered The Ghost Hill and The Decisive Battle both starring Roc Tien.
Are all the Hokers released in 1.33 : 1?
Burnt-in subs will be cut off then.

[tdb]

As noted above, for all the ones I have, the subs are removable and from what I can tell they are all wide screen (non-anamorphic) even if the case says 4:3. I plugged in two at random (Fly Dragon Mountain & Iron Petticoat) and they were wide screen.

So, I think it's not unreasonable to imagine that The Ghost Hill and The Decisive Battle will also (probably) be wide screen with removable subs.

[JustinB]

I've ordered The Ghost Hill and The Decisive Battle both starring Roc Tien.
Are all the Hokers released in 1.33 : 1?
Burnt-in subs will be cut off then.

All of Hoker's Union releases appear to be 4:3 (1.33:1) letterbox (ie. non-anamorphic widescreen). The subtitles are removable, but they're in the black border at the bottom, meaning they may get cut off if you zoom the picture on widescreen TV to get the proper ratio (unless your TV allows the vertical position to be adjusted when zoomed).

[spannick]

http://www.LupiUpload.de/100410/k-ykcnoD.jpg (http://www.LupiUpload.de/file.php?dat=ykcnoD.jpg)http://www.LupiUpload.de/100410/k-PMagUyBs.jpg (http://www.LupiUpload.de/file.php?dat=PMagUyBs.jpg)http://www.LupiUpload.de/100410/k-OT5SZs32.jpg (http://www.LupiUpload.de/file.php?dat=OT5SZs32.jpg)http://www.LupiUpload.de/100410/k-PkxntTaS.jpg (http://www.LupiUpload.de/file.php?dat=PkxntTaS.jpg)http://www.LupiUpload.de/100410/k-04IZ1ORo.jpg (http://www.LupiUpload.de/file.php?dat=04IZ1ORo.jpg)

Contrast is a bit off due to my Power DVD Settings, but as a Fan can see, it's enough seeing it in 2.35 and with remastered subs.

[spannick]

GHOST HILL Some Shots (looks like a very fun Fantasy Trash Movie)

http://www.LupiUpload.de/100410/k-KjgEk806.jpg (http://www.LupiUpload.de/file.php?dat=KjgEk806.jpg)http://www.LupiUpload.de/100410/k-AE7TZ8pt.jpg (http://www.LupiUpload.de/file.php?dat=AE7TZ8pt.jpg)http://www.LupiUpload.de/100410/k-1GrrHezR.jpg (http://www.LupiUpload.de/file.php?dat=1GrrHezR.jpg)http://www.LupiUpload.de/100410/k-8aZrdAos.jpg (http://www.LupiUpload.de/file.php?dat=8aZrdAos.jpg)

http://www.LupiUpload.de/100410/k-o1499bbe.jpg (http://www.LupiUpload.de/file.php?dat=o1499bbe.jpg)http://www.LupiUpload.de/100410/k-ke5JIrCi.jpg (http://www.LupiUpload.de/file.php?dat=ke5JIrCi.jpg)http://www.LupiUpload.de/100410/k-6Z0jD8Ag.jpg (http://www.LupiUpload.de/file.php?dat=6Z0jD8Ag.jpg)http://www.LupiUpload.de/100410/k-e97NESfx.jpg (http://www.LupiUpload.de/file.php?dat=e97NESfx.jpg)

[spannick]

SWORDSMAN OF ALL SWORDSMEN:

http://www.LupiUpload.de/100410/k-ipHmvJKs.jpg (http://www.LupiUpload.de/file.php?dat=ipHmvJKs.jpg)http://www.LupiUpload.de/100410/k-kDIVfYso.jpg (http://www.LupiUpload.de/file.php?dat=kDIVfYso.jpg)http://www.LupiUpload.de/100410/k-xYWukU8g.jpg (http://www.LupiUpload.de/file.php?dat=xYWukU8g.jpg)http://www.LupiUpload.de/100410/k-9cEc7jsl.jpg (http://www.LupiUpload.de/file.php?dat=9cEc7jsl.jpg)

http://www.LupiUpload.de/100410/k-897znnS6.jpg (http://www.LupiUpload.de/file.php?dat=897znnS6.jpg)http://www.LupiUpload.de/100410/k-vAYB6qV.jpg (http://www.LupiUpload.de/file.php?dat=vAYB6qV.jpg)http://www.LupiUpload.de/100410/k-oRu8LyKP.jpg (http://www.LupiUpload.de/file.php?dat=oRu8LyKP.jpg)http://www.LupiUpload.de/100410/k-atwdcPug.jpg (http://www.LupiUpload.de/file.php?dat=atwdcPug.jpg)

[tdb]

I watched Swordsman of all Swordsmen a couple of weeks ago or so. Enjoyable wu xia movie. I think it compares favorably with the wu xia coming out of HK at the same time (1968).

Can't wait to get my hands on The Ghost Hill (I like the fantasy wu xia).

[JustinB]

I noticed that YesAsia has a 3 disc set from Hoker containing Touch of Zen, Dragon Inn and Painted Skin. Anyone know if the DVDs in the set are the same as the individual Hoker releases? Also, are there regular sized DVD cases inside the box or are they packaged some other way?

[spannick]

i ordered that set a few weeks ago and yesasia cancelled it as "not available"... but seeing what crap DVD there is for TOUCH OF ZEN (a DVD-5 for 190 Minutes!!) in Taiwan, i doubt the set has a different one.

[JustinB]

i ordered that set a few weeks ago and yesasia cancelled it as "not available"... but seeing what crap DVD there is for TOUCH OF ZEN (a DVD-5 for 190 Minutes!!) in Taiwan, i doubt the set has a different one.

Thanks for the info. I've been happy with the other Hoker releases, but Touch of Zen deserves better than a 190 minute DVD-5.

It would be interesting to see some screen shots comparing this release with the Tai Seng version.

[JustinB]

For those interested - 'Rider of Revenge' with Polly Kuan and Tien Peng has just been released by Hoker.

[tdb]

Just saw three more titles available from yesasia:

She`d Hate Pather Love (??? father maybe? Panther?)
The Bravest Revenge
Blood Revenge

Mmmmm, just noticed that even though these are listed with the Hoker discs, Yesasia lists the publisher as Taisheng Multimedia. The stats look the same as the Hoker discs too (1.33 : 1, which means it is 4:3 letterbox like the Hoker discs, hopefully). The covers are similar too.

I wonder if this means we're going to see more of these movies if there are more publishers (well, two)?

[PGW]

I think "She'd Hate Pather Love" might mean "She'd Hate Rather (than) Love"... then again, knowing Chinese movies, it might just be "panther" :).

By the way, I've reviewed three of the Hoker DVDs (with screencaps) over at my fledgling Polly page (pollyshangkuan.com). The latest one I've seen, "The Grand Passion" looked really nice. Except for some minor print wear (which doesn't bother me), the only real problem I have with the Hoker discs is that they're not anamorphic - well, that and I don't know anywhere to get them cheap (if JSDVD has them, I couldn't find them on their webpage).

[Winfred]

The Hokers are about US$9.50 each in the shops here and US$7 in Taiwan. These are the prices of the new releases with English subtitles. The older titles are much less.

I was holding the new releases and while the original posters look good and tempting, the small photos at the back reveal bad production values including cheap-looking costumes and shoddy sets. I am more used to the Shaw classics I guess.

[tdb]

I watched The Fly Dragon Mountain about a week ago. The director/cinematographer/director of photography must have been having delusions of grandeur because the way it's shot is just odd. Most of the fights had too much editing. The story was alright, a variation of one of the common plots, but with a couple of nice twists. The subtitles were terrible. I would have a hard time recommending it, except for it's rarity. I've liked the other Union titles I've seen much more. It might have played better with better subs.

[Winfred]

Can anyone recommend Black Invitation, Prosperous Of Family or Iron Petticoat?
These 3 titles sold fast and now there's only 1 copy each in the shop.

[tdb]

I'll vouch for Iron Petticoat; I haven't watched Black Invitation or Prosperous Of Family yet. Iron Petticoat is a good, if somewhat predictable movie with what I thought was a slight subversive touch (from a wu xia standpoint).

[JustinB]

Just saw three more titles available from yesasia:

She`d Hate Pather Love (??? father maybe? Panther?)
The Bravest Revenge
Blood Revenge

Mmmmm, just noticed that even though these are listed with the Hoker discs, Yesasia lists the publisher as Taisheng Multimedia. The stats look the same as the Hoker discs too (1.33 : 1, which means it is 4:3 letterbox like the Hoker discs, hopefully). The covers are similar too.

I wonder if this means we're going to see more of these movies if there are more publishers (well, two)?

I just received She'd Hate Rather Love and The Bravest Revenge from YesAsia. They're actually Hoker DVDs - I'm not sure why YesAsia lists a different publisher.

[tdb]

Just got through with BLACK INVITATION. This is definitely not wu xia, it's kung fu. It's worthwhile, with caveats. The subs are decent, the colors good, maybe a little faded. Whatever source they used had a fair amount of dirt and damage, but nothing that makes it unwatchable. It might be slightly cut; some of the scene changes were abrupt. The music was interesting, not distracting, but you notice it (sometimes).

It's another town in peril story, with a prodigal son returning to save the day. I found the story engaging all the way through, which is good, because there's no fight to speak of until the last fifteen minutes or so of the movie. 'Pillow' was one of those heroes where the body count must be 'this high' before he cracks the can of whupass. Mostly he used his wits (kind of Yojimbo-ish).

When it did finally get to the fight, I was thrown off until I realized what that there was no hyper-stylized fighting sound effects. It was naturalistic -- cool. The fight choreography was nothing flashy, but it did the job. A solid oater (in a manner of speaking).

[zakato]

Yesterday coming BLOOD REVENGE from Hooker to me.Is a good Basher with Nonstop Fighting and a young Philip Ko.The Hooker DVD has a great Quality-Nice Widescreen in 2:35 and uncut.
Forgott the old vhs.
Hooker-I say THAAAANKS!!!

[tdb]

A Girl Fighter (1972) - Polly Shang-Kwan

This was a good one. Polly Kwan stars as Suma, a young woman who rides into a town and volunteers to bring in Kim, the thuggish son (his hobbies include indiscriminate rape and murder) of a local warlord, to justice. Once she's captured Kim she has to get him out of the warlord's territory to the capitol for trial. She's helped by the last survivor (Tien Peng) of a family butchered by the warlord's son.

One of the highlights is when they ride into the town and people find out who the prisoner is, five minutes later it's a ghost town. Suma, her prisoner and the guards hole up in a inn for the night, which is then besieged in various ways by Kim's father.

The source, some old print, is beat up, but still plenty watchable. The color and sound are ok. The subs are adequate. It's 4:3 letterbox.

The fighting is hand and sword, weighted toward hand, with some primitive wire work and lots of trampolines.
Some edits during fights, but not too bad. The martial heroes/villains are all fairly evenly matched. You see Polly kicking ass plenty.

I couldn't help but notice some similarities to Rio Bravo/El Dorado , which probably is no coincidence. It would definitely make an interesting double feature with one of them. One of the better Union films that Hoker has released.

[JustinB]

YesAsia has two new Hoker releases available: Dragon Fist (an AKA for The Fury of King Boxer or possibly Knight Errant?) and Ghost of the Mirror. These are both from First Films, not Union as the other releases have been. They are both listed as not having English subtitles - I'm hoping they actually do have subtitles, like the Union films.

[tdb]

Both YesAsia and jsdvd.mall both list no English subs for Dragon Fist and Ghost of the Mirror, either. So I'd say we're out of luck.

[Knetan]

hey,

Fury Of King Boxer would be very welcome in wide and subbed. Ghost Of The Mirror still has a Winson dvd release in Hong Kong. Cropped print (about 1.90-2.00 perhaps), optional English subtitles. Not a pretty print but very watchable.

[HAZ]

I just saw Blood Revenge. A pretty good basher. It's by the director of the Brave & the Evil.

[Fan Mei Sheng]

Hello!

The DVD from Hoker Records "Dragon Fist" is CHOW KEN aka. FURY OF

KING BOXER. Unfortunately in "FULLSCREEN", no English Subtitles.


Greetings

Fan Mei Sheng

[hkpyanfar]

I just started watching the Hoker releases and my copy of The Brave and the Evil jams up before Wang Yu's final fight. Has anyone else had problems with the Hoker releases? If not, I'll go for a replacement disk. I just watched The Grand Passion and that played fine. All in all, these are a great addition to my collection.

[spannick]

yeah, lots of 'em are kinda broken. i had to reburn them to be able to watch the DVDs.

[hkpyanfar]

Thanks for the heads up. I'll see how the rest play out.

[JustinB]

I have most of the Hoker releases and haven't run into any issues playing them. I think The Brave and the Evil is the only disc I haven't watched yet though - once I get around to watching it, I'll post an update.

[hkpyanfar]

I got The Brave and the Evil to play ok on my Panasonic dvd player. It jammed up on my computer and Toshiba dvd player.

I guess my disk is just quirky with some machines.

No problems with any of the other films, but I'm not done watching yet.

[spannick]

i have some of the non-Kung Fu Movies like WINDOWS OF THE MIND and some Brigitte Lin, none would play properly on my cheap Player, only after reburn all went well.

[hkpyanfar]

Cheap player might be the key here. My Toshiba, which wouldn't play it, is a $30 player; my Panasonic, which did play it, is a $180 player. So the disks might be ok, if the quality of the player is good.

[spannick]

of course they play on my Panasonic too. BUT every (!) other Original DVD plays fine on the cheap one so it's the crappy DVD's fault ;)

[hkpyanfar]

of course they play on my Panasonic too. BUT every (!) other Original DVD plays fine on the cheap one so it's the crappy DVD's fault ;)

Point taken. Dvds should play on all dvd players!

[HAZ]

For those interested, the taiwanese dvds of Sword Named Revenge, The Lost Swordship & Love & Sword all look better than the rarescope releases of those movies. I A/B'ed them today & was really surprised.

[HAZ]

Has anyone here ever checke out "The Goldenward Series" of films? Here's one that looks interesting:

http://www.yesasia.com/global/goldenward-series-of-chinese-movies-the-venturer-taiwan-version/1003345955-0-0-0-en/info.html

[JustinB]

Has anyone here ever checke out "The Goldenward Series" of films? Here's one that looks interesting:

http://www.yesasia.com/global/goldenward-series-of-chinese-movies-the-venturer-taiwan-version/1003345955-0-0-0-en/info.html

I have the Goldenward Series release of "A Valiant Villain". Unlike the Hoker DVDs, it's fullscreen and does not have English subtitles.

[tdb]

I was poking around dvd.jsdvdmall.com and I see they're selling box sets of some of the Hoker (Union) discs:

Petro Martial Arts Classic Box 1
-A City Called Dragon
-A Touch of Zen
-Dragon Inn

Petro Martial Arts Classic Box 2
-One Armed Boxer vs The Flying Guillotine
-Black Invitation
-A Girl Fighter

Petro Martial Arts Classic Box 3
-Lung Wei Village
-Rider of Revenge
-The Bravest Revenge

They're all Hoker editions; some of the listings don't list an English sub, but I've got all the individual editions except for One Armed Boxer vs The Flying Guillotine and Lung Wei Village and they all have English subs, so presumably Lung Wei Village does too. One Armed Boxer vs The Flying Guillotine lists an English sub.

Also can't find individual listings for One Armed Boxer vs The Flying Guillotine and Lung Wei Village, so they might only be available as part of a box. Couldn't find any of the boxes at Yesasia.

Anyone know if there's a Taiwanese cut of One Armed Boxer vs The Flying Guillotine? Might pick up box 3 for Lung Wei Village, but otherwise I've already got everything else.

Also see another box:
Wu Hsia Ta Shih Hu Chin Chuan Ching Tien Tso Pin
-Dragon Inn
-A Touch of Zen
-Painted Skin

[fiol]

i've two movies from the "The Goldenward Series" (no gong fu flicks) and none of them have english subs :squigglemouth:

[HAZ]

Hi!

Has anyone picked up Dragon Fist to see if it has subs? The cover of the movie looks cool.

thanks

[spannick]

no English Subs and badly cropped. slipcase for the trash bin though ;)

[tdb]

I've ordered the Petro Martial Arts Classic Box 3 (for Lung Wei Village). I should get in in two or three weeks. I'll post whether Lung Wei Village has English subs and if the other two discs (Rider of Revenge, The Bravest Revenge) are the same as the previously released single discs.

I now notice (about a week after the fact), that Yesasia appears to have the actual dvd (Lung Wei Village) for sale. They don't list English subs either...eh, I'll know for sure when the disc is in my player. The two spare titles become Christmas gifts and I'll hold on to the box, because I like boxes.

Oh, Yesasia's also got One Arm Chivalry Fights Against One Arm Chivalry (Hoker), once again, no English subs are listed.

[HAZ]

If they have no subs and they look to be good films, I will hire a translator & make a subtitled dvd myself. There area a few cool looking films as part of the "Classic Taiwan Cinema" series. Lethal Hook is by Gu Long & so is Hero Vs Hero. Black Wind Inn looks interesting. They charge too much for these movies. When they were in stock in Chinatown, they were only a couple of bucks.

[Killer Meteor]

Out of curiosity, how does One Armed Boxer Vs. Flying Guillotine compare to its UK counterparts? Does it have a Chinese credit sequence?

[tdb]

Got the Retro Martial Arts Classic Box 3 :rolleyes:
in today. I can confirm that Lung Wei Village (and thus One Arm Chivalry Fights Against One Arm Chivalry) has no English subs. Interestingly the Lung Wei Village opening credits are in Chinese/English making me think that maybe the picture was cropped to remove them (bottom looks a little tight too). Picture quality is about the same as the other Hoker releases.

For anyone that's interested:

Box front:

http://i49.tinypic.com/8wgpdv.jpg

The cover is a mashup of the poster art covers of Rider of Revenge and The Bravest Revenge.

Box back:
http://i45.tinypic.com/2uetovb.jpg

Rider of Revenge and The Bravest Revenge both seem to be exactly the same as the other two I own; just no slip case.

The box itself looks nice, but is on the flimsy side. It might be worthwhile picking up box one and/or two if you don't already have those individual releases, maybe box three too.

[tdb]

Just saw that there is now a Retro (Petro) Martial Arts Classic Box 4. It includes The Brave and the Evil, The Decisive Battle and one other that's not named. All three include English subs. Worthwhile perhaps if you like boxes and haven't already picked up these titles.

[tdb]

Hoker's up to number 6 for the Retro Martial Arts boxes. Number 6 includes King Hu's Legend of The Mountain (also available separately), but as far as I can tell it's not English subbed :cry:

[HAZ]

Just saw that there is now a Retro (Petro) Martial Arts Classic Box 4. It includes The Brave and the Evil, The Decisive Battle and one other that's not named. All three include English subs. Worthwhile perhaps if you like boxes and haven't already picked up these titles.

I think the unnamed film is blood revenge.

[tdb]

Sucks that the "new" movies included in these boxes and seperately(Lung Wei Village and Legend of The Mountain, so far) aren't English subbed.

[tdb]

Retro Martial Arts box 7 is available. It contains One Arm Chivalry Fights Against One Arm Chivalry / The Fly Dragon Mountain / The Ghost Hill. The Fly Dragon Mountain and The Ghost Hill should be English subtitled. No love for One Arm Chivalry Fights Against One Arm Chivalry, though.

[spannick]

ONE-ARM CHIVALRY is useless anyway, as it's horribly cropped to Fullscreen :(

[Buxbaum]

For HAZ...

Union Filmography:

Dragon Inn, 1967
Morning Mist, 1968
The Swordsman Of All Swordsmen, 1968
The Knight Of Old Cathay, 1968
The Melody Of Love, 1969
Iron Mistress (or Iron Petticoat),1969
Black Invitation, 1969
A Touch Of Zen, Part 1, 1970, A Touch Of Zen Part 2, 1973
Prosperous Of Family, 1970
The Grand Passion, 1970
A City Called Dragon, 1970
Rider Of Revenge, 1971
The Ghost Hill, 1971
The Fly Dragon Mountain, 1971
The Lost Romance, 1971
She'd Hate Rather Love, 1917
The Bravest Revenge, 1971
I Will Always Be With You, 1971
The Brave And The Evil, 1971
The Decisive Battle, 1972
A Ghirl Fighter, 1972
The Ghostly Face, 1973
Chinese Kung Fu And Acupuncture, 1973
Gone With The Cloud, 1974
The Windows Of The Mind, 1974
Moon River, 1974
Blood Revenge, 1974
Misty Drizzle, 1975
The September Song, 1975
The Love Offensive, 1977

Sorry to quote such an old post but I made some research for me on that list while waiting at the airport.
God bless wireless. :tongue:
I have some German DVDs (Dragon Gate In and A Touch of Zen).

But I have some questions hope you can answer them.
What movies are A Touch Of Zen Part 2, 1973 and Morning Mist, 1968?
Could not find em on any movie data base.
Same goes for The Love Offensive, 1977.

And are there any DVDs for Chinese Kung Fu And Acupuncture, 1973, The Ghostly Face, 1973 and I Will Always Be With You, 1971?
And are those Martial Arts /Sword Play movies?
Last question are those Drama/Romance movies like Moon River, 1974 or The Lost Romance, 1971 any good? :angel:

And where do you get the movies from? JSDVD shipping is high about 25$ for 1,5 kg.
That is about 10 movies? So 2.5$ each movie
Any other Taiwanese online merchant out there?

Or do DDDHouse or Yesasia sell all of the movies as well?

Sorry for the long text. Hope you can help me out.

[Killer Meteor]

Sorry to quote such an old post but I made some research for me on that list while waiting at the airport.
God bless wireless. :tongue:
I have some German DVDs (Dragon Gate In and A Touch of Zen).

But I have some questions hope you can answer them.
What movies are A Touch Of Zen Part 2, 1973 and Morning Mist, 1968?
Could not find em on any movie data base.
Same goes for The Love Offensive, 1977.

And are there any DVDs for Chinese Kung Fu And Acupuncture, 1973, The Ghostly Face, 1973 and I Will Always Be With You, 1971?
And are those Martial Arts /Sword Play movies?
Last question are those Drama/Romance movies like Moon River, 1974 or The Lost Romance, 1971 any good? :angel:

And where do you get the movies from? JSDVD shipping is high about 25$ for 1,5 kg.
That is about 10 movies? So 2.5$ each movie
Any other Taiwanese online merchant out there?

Or do DDDHouse or Yesasia sell all of the movies as well?

Sorry for the long text. Hope you can help me out.

I think Touch Of Zen 2 is literally the second half of the film. It was split into parts for its original showings.

[Buxbaum]

Ah ok because there is a German title Touch of Zen 2 for Raining in the Mountain and I was confused.

[Knetan]

hey,

Moon River is a lesser Brigitte Rin romance flick. Very standard story, tricks and it's corny even for this vast genre. Not as much of a standout as Outside The Window, The Marigolds and Cloud Of Romance are.

[thedirtytiger]

I think Morning Mist is Brigitte Lin too, I have the poster for it somewhere...:tongue:

[HAZ]

And are there any DVDs for Chinese Kung Fu And Acupuncture, 1973, The Ghostly Face, 1973 and I Will Always Be With You, 1971?



I was wondering the same thing! I wish we could get Hoker's email to ask for more releases!

[Buxbaum]

I was wondering the same thing! I wish we could get Hoker's email to ask for more releases!

I tried the search over jsDVD and did not find anything. That does not mean those DVDs do not exist.
And the Hoker site is confusing at least for me.

[JustinB]

I noticed that YesAsia has a new Hoker release listed: "Love of the White Snake (http://www.yesasia.com/global/love-of-the-white-snake-dvd-taiwan-version/1022524300-0-0-0-en/info.html)" with Brigitte Lin. I'm hoping this has English subtitles (like many of the other Hoker titles).

Anyone pick this up yet?

[Jack J]

And are there any DVDs for [...]The Ghostly Face, 1973

And are those Martial Arts /Sword Play movies?


THE GHOSTLY FACE is definitely a personal fave of mine! It's plays like a cool spaghetti western with this girl who goes after "The Ghostly Face" who killed her father at the beginning of the film.


http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn199/mrsick_scans/GhostlyFace-1.jpg

[JustinB]

For anyone interested, I noticed that Hoker has released Joseph Kuo's "Superior Darter" on DVD. Like all Hoker DVDs, it doesn't list English subtitles, but hopefully it has them.

Also, I took a chance and bought Hoker's "Love of the White Snake" DVD and it does have English subtitles (burnt-in). The picture appears to be cropped to 1:85:1 from 2:35:1, but is otherwise of similar quality to their other DVDs.

[punt44]

Does anyone know about "Night Orchid"? I have a DVDR of the Ocean Shores version called Demon Hunter. Does this one have English Subtitles? Looks to be a nice DVD according to YesAsia:


http://www.yesasia.com/global/gu-long-martial-arts-series-1-taiwan-version/1004616506-0-0-0-en/info.html

http://www.yesasia.com/global/night-onchid-taiwan-version/1004099341-0-0-0-en/info.html

Also, can we have someone establish a conprehensive Hoker list of films that have English Subtitles?

[odioustrident]

That Hoker Night Orchid print is not subbed, but a fan on another forum has done a custom job for it.

[JustinB]

Also, can we have someone establish a conprehensive Hoker list of films that have English Subtitles?

These are the Hoker DVDs that I know have English subs:

Union Films DVDs:

The Swordsman Of All Swordsmen
The Fly Dragon Mountain
A City Called Dragon
Black Invitation
The Ghost Hill
The Grant Passion
The Brave and The Evil
Dragon Inn
Rider Of Revenge
She'd Hate Rather Love
The Bravest Revenge
A Girl Fighter

All of the above are non-anamorphic widescreen.

Other Hoker DVDs with English subs:

The Saviour-Monk (full-screen, burned-in subs)
Love of the White Snake (burned-in subs)

These DVDs probably have English subtitles, but I haven't verified:

Touch of Zen
Prosperous of Famiily
Blood Revenge
The Decisive Battle
Iron Petticoat

[punt44]

Very cool Thanks! Do you know what fan, and where I can get the custom job?

[hkpyanfar]

I have Blood Revenge, The Decisive Battle and Iron Petticoat. They all have English subtitles, burned-in, IIRC.

[Chu Liu Hsiang]

Prosperous of Family is subtitled, too.

[Stephe]

I was wondering if anyone here could answer these questions
about Hoker Records Taiwan DVD releases of Union Films:

1) Does an individual DVD come in a cardboard outer slipcase
with a regular plastic DVD case inside?

2) Do the DVDs that come in the Retro Martial Arts Classic
Box series come in cardboard slipcases that are in turn
inserted into the three-disc box set?

I ask this because the Panorama Cathay DVD boxsets of The
Films of Grace Chang and The Films of Wong Tin Lam both
contained the DVDs with cardboard slipcases that opened at
the bottom to reveal regular plastic DVD cases inside.

[Sheng]

Originally Posted by Stephe
1) Does an individual DVD come in a cardboard outer slipcase
with a regular plastic DVD case inside?

Yes, every single one I bought arrived in a cardboard case.

BTW, the only Hoker DVD's I own that do NOT have English subs are:
FURIOUS SLAUGHTER (Full Screen, the worst PQ imaginable)
THE TWO CAVALIERS (Full Screen too)
THE SUPERIOR DARTER (W/S)
LUNG WEI VILLAGE (W/S)

Hope that helps.

[tdb]

I was wondering if anyone here could answer these questions
about Hoker Records Taiwan DVD releases of Union Films:

1) Does an individual DVD come in a cardboard outer slipcase
with a regular plastic DVD case inside?

2) Do the DVDs that come in the Retro Martial Arts Classic
Box series come in cardboard slipcases that are in turn
inserted into the three-disc box set?

I ask this because the Panorama Cathay DVD boxsets of The
Films of Grace Chang and The Films of Wong Tin Lam both
contained the DVDs with cardboard slipcases that opened at
the bottom to reveal regular plastic DVD cases inside.

Question 1: Yes (unless something has changed)

Question 2: I've got a Retro box at home; I don't think the cases inside the box have slipcases. I'll check when I get home.

[Stephe]

I was wondering if anyone here could answer these questions
about Hoker Records Taiwan DVD releases of Union Films:

1) Does an individual DVD come in a cardboard outer slipcase
with a regular plastic DVD case inside?

2) Do the DVDs that come in the Retro Martial Arts Classic
Box series come in cardboard slipcases that are in turn
inserted into the three-disc box set?

I ask this because the Panorama Cathay DVD boxsets of The
Films of Grace Chang and The Films of Wong Tin Lam both
contained the DVDs with cardboard slipcases that opened at
the bottom to reveal regular plastic DVD cases inside.


Question 1: Yes (unless something has changed)

Question 2: I've got a Retro box at home; I don't think the cases inside the box have slipcases. I'll check when I get home.

I looked at the rest of the posts on this thread and found this older post of yours:


11-20-2009, 09:25 PM
#97

Got the Retro Martial Arts Classic Box 3 :rolleyes: [Lung Wei Village, Rider of Revenge, and The Bravest Revenge]
in today.
[. . .]
[Front cover of box: http://i49.tinypic.com/8wgpdv.jpg]
[Back cover of box: http://i45.tinypic.com/2uetovb.jpg]
Rider of Revenge and The Bravest Revenge both seem to be exactly the same as the other two I own; just no slip case.

The box itself looks nice, but is on the flimsy side. [. . .]

So, I guess that answers that:

Individual Taiwan Hoker Union Films DVDs come in slipcases, whereas
Taiwan Hoker Union Films DVDs grouped together in Retro Martial Arts
Classic Boxes do not.
Thanks. :khi8j: