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Error 4444 - the wild and obscure side of Asian cinema
There's been a little discussion of Error 4444 titles here, but I thought they might deserve their own thread.
This big batch of announcements is especially interesting because I've had my eye on Gold Ninja's release of Thrilling Bloody Sword, which is sourced from a release print, but it sounds as if 4444 will have something more striking on the way. NEW FILM ANNOUNCEMENTS! FATAL TERMINATION (1990) - That’s right! We’re working on a restoration of the legendary Hong Kong action film with arguably the most irresponsible and dangerous scenes ever put to film. But it’s really so much more than just those scenes. Watching the amazing cast including Moon Lee, Ray Lui, Simon Lam, Robin Shou and Phillip Ko go after each other with nonstop precision is exhilarating to say the least. This is definitely one film every Hong Kong action lover should see! CHALLENGE OF THE LADY NINJA (1983) - May we introduce the most outlandish martial arts film you’ve never seen! This Taiwanese ninja film is overflowing with crazy antics: female mud wrestling, giant spider webs, underground gopher fights, murder by ninja seduction, an all-female assassin squad and several big bads. It’s an incredible little martial arts film that really throws everything in the book at you. We’re proud to be doing a brand new restoration of the film and hope that you all embrace it with as much affection as we have for it. It has strong female lead characters who kick ass and we honestly can’t wait to show it off to you soon! THRILLING BLOODY SWORD (1981) - You may have heard of this one recently as a print of it was scanned and released to the public. We’re doing a proper restoration of the original elements to make sure the film is seen in the right way for the first time ever and we went through the correct channels to do so. Like CHALLENGE, this Taiwanese film is filled with crazy predicaments and set-pieces, but it’s a fantasy wuxia fairy tale epic that looks a lot like what a live-action Heavy Metal magazine adaptation may look like if it were done right in the 1980s. We’re talking He-Man meets Flash Gordon meets Ghostbusters meets Snow White meets Aladdin. Monsters, flashy costumes, black magic, wild set decoration… you’re gonna love it! THE IMPERIAL SWORD KILLING THE DEVIL (1981) - Released the same year as BLOODY SWORD, IMPERIAL is another Taiwanese fantasy wuxia picture that takes off at warp speed and never rests until you suddenly realize it's all over and can safely wipe the sweat from your forehead. This film has skeletons, acid pits, flying dragons that make people explode, cartoon death drops and rock climbing and that’s all in the first ten minutes! This is a film that rushes by you. It’s like a fast moving train and if you catch it, you’ll be privy to all its secrets and amazingness. We’re thrilled to be doing a full restoration so it can be seen again in all its glory. All aboard! That’s all for now! We’re working on more films, but this is all we can announce at the moment! We’re also hard at work ensuring CENTIPEDE HORROR and RED SPELL SPELLS RED are ready for October. And we’re hoping to get RUN AND KILL and RED TO KILL out within the fourth quarter of this year. We’ll see! Anyway, we hope these new title announcements tide you over. Thanks for all your continued support and kindness! |
Re: Error 4444 - the wild and obscure side of Asian cinema
I believe that the Gold Ninja release of Thrilling Bloody Sword is barebones? The print was nicely restored but they still had the original hardcoded subs with the grammatical mistakes.
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Re: Error 4444 - the wild and obscure side of Asian cinema
They’ll probably do a limited number of copies because although those are very unique and interesting HK titles, I don’t foresee selling thousands of copies. Red to Kill is a very hard watch for example.
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Re: Error 4444 - the wild and obscure side of Asian cinema
Originally Posted by LorenzoL
(Post 14154281)
I believe that the Gold Ninja release of Thrilling Bloody Sword is barebones?
*Commentary Track by World Pop Cinema Scholar Tars Tarkas and Justin Decloux*He Wrote Every Punch: The Career of Writer/Director Chang Hsin-Yi *A Beginner’s Guide to Psychotronic Taiwanese Cinema *A Taiwanese Perspective with Jessica Tseang *Bonus Feature Film: Incredible Kung Fu Mission (1979) in SD |
Re: Error 4444 - the wild and obscure side of Asian cinema
Fatal Termination sounds interesting, but I don't think the others really sound like my taste.
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Re: Error 4444 - the wild and obscure side of Asian cinema
I’ll facetiously take a small credit for perpetuating FATAL TERMINATION’s infamy in the west. Fifteen years ago I posted the “irresponsible and dangerous” scene on YouTube, and for years it was virtually the only clip you could find anywhere. Others posted it later, but can’t touch views on mine, nor the number of “outraged” comments. I think it was from either an LD or a VCD, because the HK DVD (finally!) came out much later. Nice to see it getting picked up for a Blu-ray – although I know the price will put me off, and with companies as increasingly fringe as this one, I seriously doubt we’ll see a sale. Still, it certainly seems like we’ll be seeing more of these popular b-list ‘girls with guns’ action pictures from various labels . . . eventually. :lol:
Plus, I’m the one who is always griping on here that few people these days make the effort to explore contemporary Taiwanese cinema instead of whatever new soft propaganda ‘movies’ China manages to land on our shores, so if these cheesy, old, and largely (rightfully) forgotten martial arts oddities move a few people in that direction, then it’s a start. Won’t cross my fingers, though. :) |
Re: Error 4444 - the wild and obscure side of Asian cinema
Originally Posted by Adam Tyner
(Post 14154365)
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Re: Error 4444 - the wild and obscure side of Asian cinema
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Re: Error 4444 - the wild and obscure side of Asian cinema
Remaining copies of Slipcase #2 for Centipede Horror (1982) & Red Spell Spells Red (1983) went up on the site 25-minutes ago.
Not sure how many were put up but this is solid news for anyone who missed out on getting a copy. https://error4444.bigcartel.com/ |
Re: Error 4444 - the wild and obscure side of Asian cinema
Received these two over the holidays and thought it was amusing that they packed all the bonus stuff for both titles in a separate envelope. Once I tried to put the items into their respective cases, I found out why: I could barely get them closed. I appreciate all the effort and the sense of 'collectability' that goes into this stuff (and the marketing reasons behind it), but I could really live without most of it. The booklets would've been enough.
Incidentally, I don't think those remaining copies amounted to much, as they went pretty quick. I can't imagine there'd be rights/licencing issues that would prevent them from releasing 'standard' editions of these obscurities down the road, especially if they want to build any kind of catalog. |
Re: Error 4444 - the wild and obscure side of Asian cinema
Updates!
Hey All ~ We’re paying for emails now, so expect a new email each month from here on out! Thanks for subscribing and supporting our releases. We’re excited to unveil a lot of cool stuff soon! First, FATAL TERMINATION will drop very soon. We’re awaiting one more special feature and then we’ll lock the disc up! We’ll drop art and feature details in the coming weeks. In addition, we’ll have standard editions of everything we’ve released up to this point available on our site when FATAL TERMINATION goes live. Those titles include our most recent releases: CENTIPEDE HORROR & RED SPELL SPELLS RED as well as earlier titles: ANATOMIA EXTINCTION, FUNKY FOREST: THE FIRST CONTACT and THE WARPED FOREST. As always, we’re hard at work on announced and unannounced films. We’re pushing to get a ton out this year, so hold tight. RUN AND KILL & RED TO KILL are due shortly. CHALLENGE OF THE LADY NINJA, THRILLING BLOODY SWORD & IMPERIAL SWORD KILLING THE DEVIL are due right after that. Each will come this year. Plus we’re going to try to squeeze in some unannounced films where we can. A couple of teasers below! |
Re: Error 4444 - the wild and obscure side of Asian cinema
I'm happy to hear Error 4444 are releasing standard versions of their releases.
The aftermarket prices on their BDs can be ridiculous. |
Re: Error 4444 - the wild and obscure side of Asian cinema
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Re: Error 4444 - the wild and obscure side of Asian cinema
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Re: Error 4444 - the wild and obscure side of Asian cinema
:banana:
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Re: Error 4444 - the wild and obscure side of Asian cinema
Put in my order for Fatal Termination.
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Re: Error 4444 - the wild and obscure side of Asian cinema
Mining through their Facebook comments...
re: Anatomia Extinction: AE will be added to the site sometime later. We want to re-author our disc to match our last three releases. Here are some replies on upcoming releases: Thrilling Blood Sword: Probably early 2024. Color for this one won’t be done until November. Plus we need to get some extras finished. But we’ll definitely keep everyone posted as soon as we have any updates to share. Thanks for asking! Challenge of the Lady Ninja: We interviewed the director a couple of months ago in person and that was pretty awesome! Artwork is all done for it. Color correction should be done in October, so we’ll either try and squeeze the release out late this year or wait till after the December holiday back-up and get it out in early 2024. Run and Kill: Run and Kill should be out this year. We’re hoping to get it out in a few months actually. We have a lot done, but we still have some work to do, but our hope is to get it out this year. We answered another Run and Kill question deep in this comment thread already, but I’ll answer here in case you can’t find it. We’re close to finished with it. We’re just getting color done on it this month and going to get one more special feature made and then we should be good to go with it. We’re hoping to release it this year. Just a few more things to finalize. Thanks for asking! Red to Kill: Red to Kill will be color corrected in October, but will probably be due out in early 2024 I think. We’ll keep everyone informed and should have more updates later this year. |
Re: Error 4444 - the wild and obscure side of Asian cinema
Ordered the Fatal Termination set where they pick two random slipcases for you.
ETA: Replying to dex14 below, I think you are correct , 2 different slips, but the blu ray insert has reversible artwork. Like what Shout does with some of their inserts that have the original film poster artwork or the artwork they commissioned for their release. Also forgot to note, the $45 set is sold out…I am not surprised. I am looking forward to watching some very infamous but beloved action set pieces. |
Re: Error 4444 - the wild and obscure side of Asian cinema
Originally Posted by Inhumans99
(Post 14297613)
Ordered the set where they pick two random slipcases.
What does that mean? Aren't there only two slips (double sided) and you'd be getting both? |
Re: Error 4444 - the wild and obscure side of Asian cinema
Put in a pre-order for the Limited Edition Slipcover #1
Slipcover #1 & #2 are both at 80% sold, so if you are looking to pick-up a copy of Fatal Termination, the time is now! :) |
Re: Error 4444 - the wild and obscure side of Asian cinema
Originally Posted by Inhumans99
(Post 14297613)
Also forgot to note, the $45 set is sold out…I am not surprised.
I am looking forward to watching some very infamous but beloved action set pieces. I do wish Error4444 would get their shit together, a bit better though. Hopefully with time. Months-long (years-long?) — and invariably unexpected — delays for titles that are largely in demand in the first place because of their own hyperbole doesn’t build confidence in a brand. And yes, I get that they want to do it right, etc etc, but they should hold off on new announcements until they know their ducks are fully lined up rather than wasting time explaining every new hitch that comes up. |
Re: Error 4444 - the wild and obscure side of Asian cinema
Fatal Termination: Limited Slipcover #1 = SOLD OUT
Fatal Termination: Limited Slipcover #2 = Under 105 copies left |
Re: Error 4444 - the wild and obscure side of Asian cinema
Fatal Termination: Limited Slipcover #2 = 65 copies
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Re: Error 4444 - the wild and obscure side of Asian cinema
Fatal Termination: Limited Slipcover #2 = 10 copies
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Re: Error 4444 - the wild and obscure side of Asian cinema
Fatal Termination Limited Slipcover #2 = SOLD OUT
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