Bill Geiger

Taken from Koreandvds.com:

"For the customer who ordered John Woo Collection (HK Version)
Due to the printing on the DVD is wrong ( Which The Killer print as Bullet in the head and Bullet in the head as The Killer)
Studio is reprinting it now, it might take two weeks time to deliver the correct version and the release day of the correct version will be 25 June appr."

welb25

Mine shipped today from Yesasia. It will be interesting to see if mine is like this.

metal

in HK after 6/15 for those already bought the set. Looks like the corrected set won't be available in HK until then. So if your set shipped before that date, it will have incorrect artwork.

welb25

I just received this email from Yesasia.
____________________________________________________

Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you very much for your support to YesAsia.com.

With reference to your recent ordering "John Woo Collection DVD: The Killer/
Bullet In The Head (DTS Version)" under your order ******* placed on 2-Jun-04,
we would like to inform you that as confirmed by the distributor, there is a
production error on the captioned item. According to the distributor, they
have erroneously switched the dubbing of the 2 movies so that the DVD printed
as "The Killer" is actually containing the movie of "Bullet In The Head" and
vice versa. Under such a situation, the distributor will have to reprint the
DVD for fulfilling your order. Hence, you may consider to keep the captioned
item or return it as a defective item. Please kindly notify us immediately on
your decision so that we can arrange to carry out the most appropriate remedial
action against your order.

Although this is a production error, we would still like to offer a US$5.00
coupon as compensation on the delayed shipment. Please kindly be informed that
the code for the relevant coupon is "*********" which is going to expire on Jul
31, 2004. You may redeem the captioned coupon when your next purchase reaches
US$30.00.

We sincerely apologize for this unexpected delay in shipment. Should you have
any further inquiry or comment on this issue, please do not hesitate to contact
us at [email protected].
____________________________________________________

so I guess the only problem is that they are labeled incorrectly? the movies themselves, the soundtracks, etc. are ok?

fahmad

umm, mine were just shipped from hivizone. I'll post when I get them if there is something hinky other than label switching.

jrutz

I saw one in NYC Chinatown today, if anyone is interested. The store on the corner of Bowery and Canal.

Jeremy

fahmad

Just got my john woo set. The labels are switched on bullet in the head/the killer, but everything else seems the same. No big deal. Maybe I'll make some custom CD labels later. The sound is pretty goddamn good. I'll try and give a more detailed review later. I also got the new Better tomorrow set. the case is really slick. Anyway...

welb25

thanks fahmad. do Bullet in the Head and The Killer have the original mono soundtracks along with the DTS and DD?

fahmad

The dvd says "original Cantonese soundtrack", so I'm assuming it's the mono track. The dts is okay. I got a Denon 5800, and I'm watching it in 6.1 surround. the background effects are good, but most of the gunfights are concentrated in the front speakers, and the sound is kind of hollow (for the gunshots). the dialogue is fine though. The picture is just as good as the criterion release. I'm deifnately satisfied with this purchase. It was like $25 from hivizone.com. I think the new better tomorrow was like $35 or less. there is a big cut though in my better tomorrow dvd cover, more than likely from the custom inspector. Oh well.

Zenigata

How are the subs on the Better Tomorrow set (and the collection, for that matter)? Are there a lot of mistranslations/awkward phrasing and such?

fahmad

the subs on the Killer are akward. i actually like them better than the criterion, it feels like a more literal translation (since some things sound funny when tranfered literally). The subs on for a Better Tomorrow are also akward. The picture is definately the best I've ever seen on FABT. Again, worth the purchase.

DrGerbil

Are there any extras on the ABT set?

welb25

I doubt I will go through the hassle of shipping them back to Yeasia if all that is wrong is the labels on the discs.

pat00139

On the ABT set there is an explanation of the weapons used (part 1 has part 1 of the explanation, part 2 has part 2...). The Killer and Bullet in the Head have part 4 and 5.

Other than that, trailers and picture galleries, I think...

keith71

fahmad,can you give us the running times on these two movies?
I assume The Killer has the standard 110 minute running time,but I'm wondering about Bullet in the Head. I'm hoping it's the full length 137 minute cut, but I doubt it.

fahmad

the running time on Bullet in the Head is listed at 131 minutes.

The running time on the killer is 111 minutes.

Hope this helps.

MadPervert

Is bullet in the head uncut? i.e does it have the piss drinking scene?

Djangoman

Confusing ... confusing ... now we have to consider .. Code of Bullets extras ... are they English-subtitled? The Korean ABT set is not.

I've already had 2 The Killer versions: The ugly Universe and R2 HKL. I don't have Bullet in the Head yet. Shall I take this set or wait for BITH HKL SE? What do you think?

offline69

How does the Killer video quality compare to the HKL version? And is it anamorphic? Thanks.

mrwilson

They are on BitH and Killer. Haven't seen the HK ABT set ...yet.

welb25

The new IVL/Fortune Star release is indeed anamorphic offline69. To me the picture quality seems very good but as I said in another thread I'm not the most picky when it comes to noticing subtle differences and defects. I think the HKL might be a little better as far as picture goes but the IVL/Fortune Star more than makes up for that IMO with the inclusion of the original mono soundtrack, complete with the hisses and cracks that you get with mono tracks.

offline69

Thanks welb25! I guess it's double-dip time...

chente

I just ordered this. I can't wait to get it!

chente

I am dissapointed with this release. The following comments relate to the Killer only as I haven't watched the other movie yet. The packaging looks nice but the picture quality is below what I was expecting. It is a grainy and soft, but generally passable. My real complaint is regarding the audio. The DTS and Dolby 5.1 tracks are terrible and worthless. The effects background sound good but the voices are muffled to the point of really detracting from viewing. The Dolby Stereo original soundtrack is superior but nothing to write home about. The voices are still slighty muffled and there is a lot of hiss/pops in it. I was really hoping for something better and should have waited to get a good review before jumping in. I was hoping that this would be the definitive version of the Killer to add to my collection but I struck out.

The new Spectrum Green Snake DVD I got last week blows this one away in terms of both audio and video. I was expecting something like that.

welb25

I totally agree that the remixes are terrible. After watching some of the other home video versions of The Killer I found the picture on this version to be pretty good, lol. It is not even close to being the definitive edition but I knew it wouldn't be. Maybe if Criterion gets the rights back and they do a restoration we will get the definitive version.