Tartan Hard Boiled DVD, PAL Speedup...? Options

[Abacab]

I am having a bit of an issue with the search feature so I apologize for creating a new thread. I am looking to upgrade from my Criterion DVD of Hard Boiled (I have the French DVD but don't speak/read French). I know the Tartan DVD is not as long as the NTSC version because of the PAL speedup. However, some companies use pitch correction for the audio. The pitch difference between the French and Criterion is quite evident. Is it there on the Tartan DVD or has it been corrected? I cannot abide the effect of the PAL conversion if it is not corrected so I want to make sure it's a good buy.

[smarterray]

I own the Tartan Collector's Edition of Hard Boiled. The picture quality is amazing (although at a really low bitrate) and makes the film look like it was just filmed recently. As for your question about the sound, I don't know--I'll have to check it later (I'm about to go to bed, sorry!). However, there's one very noticeable annoyance though that you might want to consider. The opening of the film is window-boxed/non-anamorphic (this is mentioned in the DVDBeaver comparison). It starts from the very beginning with the studio logos and continues until Tequila and his colleague finally enter the teahouse where it finally becomes anamorphic (and stays anamorphic).

I can put some screencaps up tomorrow night if you'd like.

The subs are re-done and are easy to read. However, I own the Mei Ah version as well and I found those to be just fine, although it does have more grammatical errors (not that many, though). If I remember correctly, Tony Leung's character was called "Tony" on the Mei Ah disc, but I think he is called "Leung" on the Tartan. Also, the Tartan doesn't have subs for Tequila's "rap" in the nursery, whereas the Mei Ah does. When Anthony and his cronies walk out of that one building to find their car covered in newspaper, the Mei Ah doesn't have subs for what the newspapers say. In contrast, the Tartan does. I can't remember any other differences right now. Those are just some other things to consider.

Try waiting for the Dragon Dynasty release. It's supposed to come out 5/22/07.

Have you tried putting English subs on your French disc?

This post has been edited by smarterray: Feb 28 2007, 09:46 AM

[James Lee]

I think the windowboxing was Tartan using a non-anamorphic Chinese credits sequence - possibly from a video - over an English language master

[RickyTheDragonSt...]

Wierd. I saw a version of Hard-Boiled that had a Chinese title card but no credits period. It was an old English dubbed VHS that I used to have.

[forcedv]

Wonder if Dragon Dynasty will release the two different versions as part of a two disc set (original and Taiwanese cut) ?

I also saw a very cool trailer of Hard Boiled many years ago that featured a different cut of the motorcycle exploding sequence after CYF fires his shotgun at it.
There must be lots of extra stuff for this film just waiting to be found.

[Abacab]

Lame about the intro being squeezed. I can live with that as long as they don't have the chipmunk like voices - but no confirmation on that. Anyone?

[yokoono]

Any PAL release will have sped up audio.

[Abacab]

Any PAL release will have sped up audio.

Yes, but they can implement pitch correction.

[The Running Man]

Yes, but those things can only do so much because at the end of the day, it's still running faster than the normal speed.

[James Lee]

I must confess I've never really noticed PAL speedup on the audio. NTSC pulldown used to bug me but not anymore.

[hanshotfirst1138]

In all fairness, the Mei Ah remaster isn't too bad. It's nothing reference quality or anything, but if you want to prove to your friends that foreign films aren't boring, it ain't bad. And it's cheaper than dirt.

[Lourdes]

I can't comment on this specific release but I've never seen a Tartan disc with any pitch correction out of the 25+ I've seen.

[luckystars]

Wow this sucks, just ordered the Tartan CE and now I've read there's no subs for Tequilas Rap!

Flip. I'll stick with earlier Tartan release for serviceable subs throughout.

Somebody get this out on Blu Ray with real subs all through the film please!

This post has been edited by luckystars: Oct 4 2009, 10:18 PM

[Miles Wood]

Somebody get this out on Blu Ray with real subs all through the film please!

Surely, the only place it's gonna happen is HK. Interest in Woo/Chow in the US/UK I would imagine has pretty much dropped to near zero, whereas in HK the likes of HARD BOILED are fondly remembered as classics...well, you only have to look at HK cinema since to pretty much understand why. But just how good is a HK Bluray of something like HB going to be? Well, if the current standard DVD's are all in some ways flawed, then maybe it would be a genuine upgrade, but otherwise...

[luckystars]

Good point.

I would've been more than happy with the Tartan CE I just ordered.. but it seems really daft not to translate the 'rap'.

Perhaps the Mei Ah remastered disc is the one to go for...shame the picture is over bright looking.

[Markgway]

I would've been more than happy with the Tartan CE I just ordered.. but it seems really daft not to translate the 'rap'. Perhaps the Mei Ah remastered disc is the one to go for...shame the picture is over bright looking.

I wouldn't sacrifice better picture for a couple of lines of unimportant subs (which I'm sure you know off by heart anyways).

[Miles Wood]

I wouldn't sacrifice better picture for a couple of lines of unimportant subs (which I'm sure you know off by heart anyways).

Indeed. It would seem a very minor issue.

[The Running Man]

It had to be an error on the part of the person in charge of putting the subs on the DVD. The Tartan disc's subs, while simplified, gets a lot of things right previous official subs didn't including some on screen text that never wasn't translated before in previous English subtitle versions. So the fact that little section is totally missing makes me suspect someone at Tartan messed up.

[luckystars]

While I can see both sides of it, the rap really helps make that scene.

I have the CE now so I'll give it a spin later