Dragon Dynasty Releases?

[DeathFuMaster]

I saw on the main page an article on what DD would be trying to release. It mentioned "old Jet Li" films, anyone know what these might be?

[maskedavenger]

who cares? they will just fuck up the dvds like they always do. i can't wait for them to go out of business so that another company can come along and give us the QUALITY dvds we deserve.

[Doubleh]

who cares? they will just fuck up the dvds like they always do. i can't wait for them to go out of business so that another company can come along and give us the QUALITY dvds we deserve.

What makes you so sure that if DD goes out of business, the Weinsteins will sell the rights to the films to other companies?

[inframan]

Heres a blog post that lists what they have the rights to, not sure if its up to date:
http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2007/11/hkcfn-exclusive-new-dragon-dynasty.html

[drunkenmaster]

Celestial worked on a remaster of "Painted Faces" and then didn't release it!

It is the only Sammo classic that I still haven't managed to see. :(

[DeathFuMaster]

The reason I mentioned Jet Li, is that they mentioned Jet Li...Some of his older movies havent seen official R1 NTSC...

[KUNG FU BOB]

Heres a blog post that lists what they have the rights to, not sure if its up to date:
http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2007/11/hkcfn-exclusive-new-dragon-dynasty.html

PAINTED FACES!!!!!!!!!!! Please DD, stop messing around and release this. :nerd:

Celestial worked on a remaster of "Painted Faces" and then didn't release it!

It is the only Sammo classic that I still haven't managed to see. :(

You're going to love it. It's one of Sammo's best dramatic performances, though there's no big fighting (one action incident- but I hate spoilers, so...) just so you're aren't going into it expecting something it's not.

[niro]

who cares? they will just fuck up the dvds like they always do. i can't wait for them to go out of business so that another company can come along and give us the QUALITY dvds we deserve.

There is no guarantee another company will come along and do the job where DD leave off...it took a couple years for DD to be made into existence after HKL went bust. The martial arts scene is a niche market and especially in this day and age of financial insecurity i would say the likelihood of another company opening up for this is very unlikely

[Markgway]

I like Bey but he says a lot of things...

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

I like Bey but he says a lot of things...

I was just about to write that... almost verbatim:D

But at the end of the day, it is really not up to him..... I know he would wanna put out a better product if he was calling the shots, but he is not. And I also understand that he defends the company that is paying his bills and feeding his kids! Only a moron would speak out against their own employer, and expect to keep that job! Why people can't see that, is beyond me!

If you wanna hate someone... hate the Schweinsteins....!

[littlefuzzy]

From what I've seen, the DD films are (usually) light years ahead of the old Dimension releases... Cut, dubs only, no extras, and so on.

I do wish DD had tried a bit harder on some stuff: The Dubtitles in Hard Boiled, the edits in Fist of Legend, the edited (and dubbed?) The Enforcer - I think that's the dubbed only one, it's past midnight here...

[I Like Elaine]

I do wish DD had tried a bit harder on some stuff: The Dubtitles in Hard Boiled, the edits in Fist of Legend, the edited (and dubbed?) The Enforcer - I think that's the dubbed only one, it's past midnight here...Speaking for myself, I sometimes prefer the dubtitles. They might not be 100% accurate, but in Hard Boiled's case it's very minor differences. "Give a guy a gun and he's Superman. Give him two and he's God". I always thought that was a classic (if over the top) line as opposed to the more accurate "You're so hot with a gun in your hand, you never miss".

[dionbrother]

The Criterion laserdisc of HARD BOILED also had dubtitles. So much for their standards.

DD's real problem is ignorance of their market. 70% of their re-releases, while appreciated, were also unnecessary. The bulk of their customers really don't care about having those Jet Li movies with subtitles or bonus features. They are happy with the original releases. It's the same thing that killed Crash Cinema. Had they gone for stuff that wasn't released to death on dvd already, like TO KILL A MASTERMIND, they'd be doing a lot better.

[The Silver Fox]

Yeah, I have to agree with that. It seems like DD doesn't know there audience very well. Why do they keep releasing mediocre Jackie Chan action movies while they have the rights to a ton of Shaw Bros films that people actually want to see:

7 Man Army (Chang Cheh)
Behind the Yellow Line (Taylor Wong)
Blood Brothers (Chang Cheh)
Boxer from Shantung (Chang Cheh)
Boxer Rebellion (Chang Cheh)
Buddha's Palm (Taylor Wong)
Clan of the White Lotus (Lo Lieh)
Crazy Shaolin Disciples aka Enter the 36th Chamber of Shaolin (Yau Kar-Hung)
Crippled Avengers (Chang Cheh)
Dirty Ho (Lau Kar-leung)
Disciples Of The 36th Chamber (Lau Kar-leung)
Executioners from Shaolin (Lau Kar-leung)
Five Shaolin Masters (Chang Cheh)
Flying Guillotine (Ho Meng-Hwa)
Full Alert (Ringo Lam)
Golden Swallow (Chang Cheh)
Hero (Corey Yuen)
Justice, My Foot! (Johnnie To)
Killer Clans (Chor Yuen)
King Boxer (Jeong Chang-hwa)
Look Out, Officer! (Lau Sze Yu)
Love in a Fallen City (Ann Hui)
Mad Monkey Kung Fu (Lau Kar-leung)
Man of Iron (Chang Cheh)
Monkey Kung Fu (Lo Mar)
New One-Armed Swordsman (Chang Cheh)
Out of the Dark (Jeffrey Lau)
Painted Faces (Alex Law)
Return of the One-Armed Swordsman (Chang Cheh)
Return to the 36th Chamber (Lau Kar-leung)
Shaolin Mantis (Lau Kar-leung)
Shaolin Temple (Chang Cheh)
Skinny Tiger, Fatty Dragon (Lau Kar Wing)
Starry is the Night (Ann Hui)
The Angry Guest (Chang Cheh)
The Anonymous Heroes (Chang Cheh)
The Avenging Eagle (Sun Chung)
The Chinese Boxer (Jimmy Wang Yu)
The Dragon From Russia (Clarence Fok Yiu-leung)
The Flying Dagger (Chang Cheh)
The Invincible Fist (Chang Cheh)
The Kung-Fu Instructor (Sun Chung)
The Mad Monk (Johnnie To)
The Savage Five (Chang Cheh)
The Shaolin Avengers (Chang Cheh)
The Victim (Sammo Hung)
Vengeance (Chang Cheh)


Seriously, where is Crippled Avengers,Return of the One Armed Swordsman ? These movies would sell if given a proper Region 1 release. They have the rights to these movies but they are just sitting on them.

Don't get me wrong, I like stuff like Flashpoint, Fist Of Legend-but the thing is you can easily find those titles elsewhere. Why can't DD give the fans what they want-old school,hard to find Shaw Bros classics.

It seems like they started well,(King Boxer,36th Chamber,One Armed Swordsman,Young Auntie) but then gave up. IMO they should have started with the Venoms movies because at least they have some name recognition with the general public as well as hard core fans.

Oh well, I guess it's easy to sit here and complain, I am thankful that DD has made some good releases and I buy almost all of them. I just wish they would start releasing some of the good stuff.

[The Amazing Psycho Per]

7 Man Army (Chang Cheh)
Behind the Yellow Line (Taylor Wong)
Blood Brothers (Chang Cheh)
Boxer from Shantung (Chang Cheh)
Boxer Rebellion (Chang Cheh)
Buddha's Palm (Taylor Wong)
Clan of the White Lotus (Lo Lieh)
Crazy Shaolin Disciples aka Enter the 36th Chamber of Shaolin (Yau Kar-Hung)
Crippled Avengers (Chang Cheh)
Dirty Ho (Lau Kar-leung)
Disciples Of The 36th Chamber (Lau Kar-leung)
Executioners from Shaolin (Lau Kar-leung)
Five Shaolin Masters (Chang Cheh)
Flying Guillotine (Ho Meng-Hwa)
Full Alert (Ringo Lam)
Golden Swallow (Chang Cheh)
Hero (Corey Yuen)
Justice, My Foot! (Johnnie To)
Killer Clans (Chor Yuen)
King Boxer (Jeong Chang-hwa)
Look Out, Officer! (Lau Sze Yu)
Love in a Fallen City (Ann Hui)
Mad Monkey Kung Fu (Lau Kar-leung)
Man of Iron (Chang Cheh)
Monkey Kung Fu (Lo Mar)
New One-Armed Swordsman (Chang Cheh)
Out of the Dark (Jeffrey Lau)
Painted Faces (Alex Law)
Return of the One-Armed Swordsman (Chang Cheh)
Return to the 36th Chamber (Lau Kar-leung)
Shaolin Mantis (Lau Kar-leung)
Shaolin Temple (Chang Cheh)
Skinny Tiger, Fatty Dragon (Lau Kar Wing)
Starry is the Night (Ann Hui)
The Angry Guest (Chang Cheh)
The Anonymous Heroes (Chang Cheh)
The Avenging Eagle (Sun Chung)
The Chinese Boxer (Jimmy Wang Yu)
The Dragon From Russia (Clarence Fok Yiu-leung)
The Flying Dagger (Chang Cheh)
The Invincible Fist (Chang Cheh)
The Kung-Fu Instructor (Sun Chung)
The Mad Monk (Johnnie To)
The Savage Five (Chang Cheh)
The Shaolin Avengers (Chang Cheh)
The Victim (Sammo Hung)
Vengeance (Chang Cheh)
Most of these is easily available elsewhere...


They stopped releasing Shaws because they didn't sell to well.

[Killer Meteor]

Yeah, I have to agree with that. It seems like DD doesn't know there audience very well. Why do they keep releasing mediocre Jackie Chan action movies while they have the rights to a ton of Shaw Bros films that people actually want to see:

.

Simple. The name recognition of Jackie Chan and Jet Li gets them into stores, and onto prominent ads. If you expect thousands to clamour for To KIll A Mastermind, that's a naive fantasy at best

[inframan]

Supposedly they are working on 5 Venoms, probably the best known of the Shaws, might sell a little better than previous releases. Time will tell...

[Markgway]

Would love to see proper bang-up jobs on these:

Blood Brothers (Chang Cheh)
Boxer Rebellion (Chang Cheh)
Shaolin Temple (Chang Cheh)
The Victim (Sammo Hung)

[The Silver Fox]

Like I said, they should have started with Venoms films as they have recognition with the general public as well as film geeks.

Even like a boxed set of say, Five Deadly Venoms,Crippled Avengers etc. given the royal treatment with lots of extras. Tell me that wouldn't sell.

Quote
Simple. The name recognition of Jackie Chan and Jet Li gets them into stores, and onto prominent ads. If you expect thousands to clamour for To KIll A Mastermind, that's a naive fantasy at best

I don't see what 'Mastermind' has to do with anything. It isn't going to be released. The real naive fantasy is to expect average action movie fans to be excited about 'My Young Auntie'. They should have left that one till later.

My point is instead of aiming for the middle and not really pleasing anybody WHY NOT aim for the fanatic and have guaranteed sales. Sometimes to be successful you have to aim for that niche market. Yeah, and thousands would buy Mastermind by the way-not hundreds of thousands but thousands for sure.

[HAZ]

If they aimed for the Fanatic, the would be better off IMO. You'd get the fanatic sales vs. the complaining on message boards that we see, and you'd also get the casual fan who'd buy the disc. BCI was about to do it right. Its a shame they went bust.

[The Silver Fox]

Yeah, Life Gamble and Opium and the Kung Fu Master are excellent releases-great transfers,nice liner notes,attractive packaging. Maybe too little too late but at least they tried. I bought both of these-as well as the early Tony Jaa turkey- Hard Gun ughh.

[KUNG FU BOB]

I just talked to a friend of mine that deals directly with Genius/ Weinstein Company, and the news is not good. :S Publicly of course they're holding their cards close to their chest, as you'd expect. But behind the scenes they are in serious financial trouble and are making some really desperate moves with their retail stock. From what I've just been told, I'm not expecting Dragon Dynasty to be releasing many more titles. I think this may explain why each of the last few releases have been progressively more and more screwed up. I'm guessing that at this point, they already have a lot of the supplemental stuff produced, so they're just trying to push out a few more titles to recoup some of their cash. That would explain why they didn't get the uncut, original language prints of MY FATHER IS HERO and POLICE STORY 3. Why bother polishing the bow when the ship's sinking anyway? :( I hope that this somehow gets turned around, but... it's looking like BCI all over again. :cry: I'm worried Bey Logan might be looking for a new job soon. Hey Bey- wherever you go, we'll follow. Keep up the good work brother!

Anyway, I'm trying to stay positive- I'd love to get some supreme, extras-laden editions of many of the Shaw Brothers titles they bought... but I won't be holding my breath waiting.

[Mark Pollard]

Thanks for the grapevine update, as disturbing as it may be. It's more or less what I expected when I first wrote about troubling signs coming from DD.

I hope the situation turns around for them although I doubt it will given the state of the economy. Frankly, they were one of the biggest sponsors of this site in 2008 and I'm already feeling their troubles in a tangible way. Beyond that, if they fold it's basically game over for mainstream martial arts movie distribution in the U.S. for the foreseeable future, not to mention it will mean less money headed into Hong Kong's film industry. It's bad for everyone.

[The Silver Fox]

Wow, That's terrible news Kung Fu Bob...I'm really sorry to hear it. I feel bad for complaining so much. That being said I have tried to support Dragon Dynasty as much as possible with buying alot of their DVDs. I really hope this turns around for them.

Giving it some thought,it's easy to criticize a company about why/how/why they arent etc. in regards to their releases but I don't know the intricacies of manufacturing/distributing/ profit margins and the rest of it.

Overall Dragon Dynasty has done a good job and has made an attempt to get these classics out to the public and they should be applauded for that.

[DeathFuMaster]

Agreed, at least they have made attempts at giving us quality versions of kung fu classics with extras to boot.

[KUNG FU BOB]

Wow, That's terrible news Kung Fu Bob...I'm really sorry to hear it. I feel bad for complaining so much. That being said I have tried to support Dragon Dynasty as much as possible with buying alot of their DVDs. I really hope this turns around for them.

Giving it some thought,it's easy to criticize a company about why/how/why they arent etc. in regards to their releases but I don't know the intricacies of manufacturing/distributing/ profit margins and the rest of it.

Yes, it is terrible news. But Silver Fox, don't feel bad for complaining. You have every right to complain. If they put out a Pedro Almodovar, or Melville film here- dubbed only- people would not stand for that. So why should HK cinema be any different? And if your company is going to claim something is an "ultimate edition", then it damn well should be! For instance, I wouldn't claim to be a "computer wizard"... because I'm not. :S

I think I bought all but 2 of their releases (already owned multiple copies), even though with the exception of CITY OF VIOLENCE and THE REBEL, I already owned all the titles they released. I even spent my hard-earned money on the last two, despite Mark's warnings of their short-comings. I figured, I want to support these guys so they can release more stuff. Besides, I always enjoy the special features and Bey's commentaries. I encouraged collector friends to buy Dragon Dynasty releases, and I bought them as presents for people too. I loudly and enthusiastically praised their excellent releases of 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN, SPL, CITY OF VIOLENCE, and all the others that I felt were given the proper treatment. So I have given them my full support. The people that didn't give a damn, should have. And you and I, and every other consumer/fan/ collector that paid for their releases has the right to say how they feel. Here's how I feel- The Weinsteins' attitudes sucks.

[Markgway]

Sucks that the titles aren't selling well... but that's not an excuse for second rate product. Not like they're giving the shit away for free. Someone has to pay. How hard would it have been to put out an uncut version of Police Story 3? Seriously? Dragon Dynasty have a contract with Fortune Star... they're entitled. And if FS play hardball then ultimately they will lose out too. Imagine DD go bust... who does FS think they'll sell to? Any sensible company won't touch them outside Asia. Same goes for Celestial.

[drunkenmaster]

Same thing happened with Hong Kong Legends in the UK. Let's just face it, Kung Fu is a cult genre and it's hard to make lots of money out of it and at the end of the day that is all the backers care about.:mad:

[dionbrother]

The prime buyers for these films are not white anime nerds, but that's how Dragon Dynasty has marketed these movies. Kungfu movies have a very strong urban/blue collar/joe sixpack following. I guarantee you have the Rza/Wutang Clan on the package, a la Ground Zero crap that sold extremely well (I saw some sales reports, talk about a license to print money) introducing TO KILL A MASTERMIND, and it will sell much better than a rerelease of SUPERCOP or MY FATHER THE HERO. Crash Cinema's no frills editions of MASTER KILLER and CRIPPLED AVENGERS sold over 75,000 copies each, because they had never been on dvd before. Rereleases at $15 a pop is a dumb business strategy but the Weinsteins are very good at dumb marketing for inherently good ideas.

[Killer Meteor]

the market for niche dvds as a whole is eroding. tough times are ahead and that was pre-recession

[Markgway]

So you're saying if we want to see Kung Fu DVDs we're forced to put up with Wu Tang Clan shit that has nothing to do with the movie? Nice.

[Killer Meteor]

So you're saying if we want to see Kung Fu DVDs we're forced to put up with Wu Tang Clan shit that has nothing to do with the movie? Nice.

If it got the films released so be it. But since the Wu Tang Clan gave their name to a load of crummy tape dupes, I'm not sure their name counts for much

[dionbrother]

Or have the "RZA presents". Those Ground Zero tapes continued to sell long after people knew about the lousy quality.

The bulk of your American buying audience is a younger generation aggressively introduced to these movies by the Wu Tang Clan's music. Not fans who read The Jade Screen in the 1970s or stood in line for FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH. Nor is it anime fans who collect Legend of the Overfiend videos. I know this isn't the case in Europe, but how many businesses have Toby Russell and Rick Baker launched in England that flopped within a year?

[dionbrother]

And to clarify, I have no problem with the way DD packages these movies, and would personally prefer not to tie it in with a popular hip hop act. But I'm looking at market realities, and DD clearly hasn't.

[David Rees]

It has always been difficult to market any niche product, which these films are.
If by having people such as Rza or Tarantino involved it pushes up sales then it will help the label keep afloat in these difficult times and keep releasing titles.
As long as they dont cut and mess with them its fine by me.


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[Chinatown Kid]

I can understand them having hip hop flip flop crap as an introduction if they were aiming toward a black audience like films in blaxploitation genre or black oriented films but I don't want any of that shit on my MA DVDs, being a 36 year old white male I don't relate to that culture. On the same hand I wouldn't expect the DVDs to have a country music introduction by Willie Nelson either. :angel:

[shaolin drunkard]

it`s a pity if/as those will be unreleased.Even as not love dubs exactly,have fond memories of "blood brothers","5 deadly venoms","invincible shaolin" and many others released in UK and Holland in vhs era would like to revisit those.And in proper form,not fullscreen bad quality boots...I am sure there is still marketplace for old Shaws but is there will to release them not certain....

[HAZ]

DD did have the RZA on the 36 Chambers dvd doing the audio commentary instead of Bey Logan. Those wutang dvd's sold well because the price point was ULTRA cheap, because they booted those movies without paying licencing fees, & because they cashed in on their fame at the time. Wutang Clan had a line of clothes. People bought anything with their emblem on it. They could have sold dvd's of thumb wrestling tournaments & they would have moved units.

[HAZ]

I'd also say that its naive to say that if you put RZA/Wu Tang Clan on a martial arts film cover in 2009 that anyone would really care. People would look at a guy like Ghostface & be like "Daaaamn...Kanye West let himself go!"

[shaolin drunkard]

Well,we have to accept fact there is not much market(there is way to make profit but it needs then people actually buy those releases and not trade/download) in our beloved KungFu Films..in asia old kf`s are not appeciated by young people,in fight movie you need to have Jackie Chan,jet li or famous popstar to sell well.In europe+usa I think it`s safe to say majority of audience are 30+years old guys who have watched these kind of movies decades...while most customers are about teenagers(sorry can be I am wrong here) and they want fast editing,bomb explosions and other massive special FX...too few find essence of kung-fu cinema unfortunately and it means no sales=>no future releases.

[waywardsage]

I'd like to think that you are all wrong, and that Kung Fu films have a larger audience out there. But, I'm a fan, watched quite a few movies, and whenever I try to introduce them to friends who arent fans, i get eye rolls. It just seems that people are put off by it like "science fiction". There are unfortunately too many people who are put off by the old production values and sounds effects.

This saddens me greatly, because i'd love to get ahold of tons of the old shaw films in the quality that 36th chamber was restored in.

[shaolin drunkard]

I'd like to think that you are all wrong, and that Kung Fu films have a larger audience out there. But, I'm a fan, watched quite a few movies, and whenever I try to introduce them to friends who arent fans, i get eye rolls. It just seems that people are put off by it like "science fiction". There are unfortunately too many people who are put off by the old production values and sounds effects.

This saddens me greatly, because i'd love to get ahold of tons of the old shaw films in the quality that 36th chamber was restored in.
I can say have shown 10`s of Shaw films(+best of independent studios) to dozen or so guys and none were impressed...when they liked kick action it was something like modern day crime actioners not traditional kungfu films with esoteric styles and posing with "try my snake fist"..just fast kicks and punches...there might be way to introduce new audiences to find these great movies but I`m not PR person....