DigiPack Swordsman + The East is Red (Bluray Digipack) [Korea]

[AlienKing]

Not really sure what's going on here. Art Vision already released Swordsman I slipbox. The spine says Swordsman I, II. Wiki/IMDB lists The East is Red as Swordsman III . From the pictures and cast info I know it includes Jet Li's Swordsman II. I haven't watched Swordsman III yet so if someone knows more info let us know.
Update: So these are internationally known as Swordsman II and III. However, due to rights/licensing issues, they are named Swordsman I and II. Read Futurhythm's post #4 for detailed info.

Release Date: 2015/05/20
Preorder: Kimchi, Nova
Preorder price: $37.99 USD (List - $45)

- 2 Discs with Eng subs + 6 cards
- Numbered; 1000 copies
- Region Free

 

[PunkNinja]

@AlienKing also available from Novamedia -> http://novamnm.com/index.php/blu-ra...ack-limited-edition-1000-copies-numbered.html

 

[PunkNinja]

From kimchidvd

Additional information:
With an entirely new set of actors, this movie continues the story from Swordsman (1990). Blademaster and his martial arts school decide to retire to a distant mountain. Before leaving, he visits his friends, a tribe of snake- wielding women warriors. He finds that they have been attacked, and their leader, Princess Yin-Yin, toward whom he has some romantic feelings, has been abducted. The attacker is her evil uncle Fong, who years before
overthrew Yin-Yin's father and took over their sect. Fong also has possession of a sacred scroll which tells how to achieve ultimate martial arts power. Blademaster decides to help Yin-Yin and her imprisoned father, and his romantic complications deepen when his childhood chum and Yin-Yin are joined by a new rival. Blademaster thinks she is an innocent village girl he has saved, but in fact she is Fong! The process of gaining ultimate
martial arts power requires self- castration and transmogrification into female form.

 

[Futurhythm]

Ok, so there are three Swordsman movies - Swordsman, Swordsman II, and The East is Red. They're based off of a novel called The Smiling Proud, Wanderer (笑傲江湖) which is also the Chinese title of the first movie. Swordsman II is called Dongfong Butbai (東方不敗) in Chinese, which is the name of the character played by Brigitte Lin. The third movie goes off and does its own thing, focusing solely on the Dongfong Butbai character in an original story with nothing to do with the novel.

While these three movies technically form a trilogy, Swordsman II and The East is Red are generally treated as their own thing, almost separate from the first movie, amongst Chinese audiences. In fact, the Chinese titles to Swordsman II and The East is Red make no reference to The Smiling, Proud Wanderer at all. Also, the rights to the first movie are not owned by the same company that has the rights to the second and third ones.

 

[AlienKing]

Ok, so there are three Swordsman movies - Swordsman, Swordsman II, and The East is Red. They're based off of a novel called The Smiling Proud, Wanderer (笑傲江湖) which is also the Chinese title of the first movie. Swordsman II is called Dongfong Butbai (東方不敗) in Chinese, which is the name of the character played by Brigitte Lin. The third movie goes off and does its own thing, focusing solely on the Dongfong Butbai character in an original story with nothing to do with the novel.

While these three movies technically form a trilogy, Swordsman II and The East is Red are generally treated as their own thing, almost separate from the first movie, amongst Chinese audiences. In fact, the Chinese titles to Swordsman II and The East is Red make no reference to The Smiling, Proud Wanderer at all. Also, the rights to the first movie are not owned by the same company that has the rights to the second and third ones.

Got it. So in fact these are Swordsman II + III, as far as international customers concerned. I'll add to OP. Thanks for clearing that up

 

[RomanCH]

Big Thanks To video_NARA @ Facebook

 

[Futurhythm]

Mine shipped today and I can't wait. Really really curious to know if these are proper HD or upscales since they have not been released on Blu-ray anywhere else. The Fortune Star logos aren't a vote of confidence though.

 

[AlienKing]

Mine shipped today and I can't wait. Really really curious to know if these are proper HD or upscales since they have not been released on Blu-ray anywhere else. The Fortune Star logos aren't a vote of confidence though.

Let us know your findings when you receive it.

 

[RomanCH]

Big Thanks To Moon JinYong @ Facebook

Spoiler

 

[Futurhythm]

Let us know your findings when you receive it.

Got it today. Gave both discs a quick spin and here's some impressions:

• Both movies are HD and not upscales. HOWEVER, colours look washed out and there is practically zero film grain (especially in Swordsman II) except in certain scenes (mainly darker ones) so everything and everyone looks too pasty. The East is Red looks better than Swordsman II for day scenes, but is more or less the same picture quality-wise.
  
• Audio for both movies is original mono in DTS-HD Master Audio. Cantonese only.
• Swordsman II is missing the company intros and instead has the intro for a Korean company. It's new looking so I assume they're a Korean distributor or something. The end credits text has been redone for both movies.
• Trailers are included but they are new Korean ones and not the originals.
• Swordsman II has an audio commentary track. It's a Korean-language one like what was included on the Art Vision A Chinese Ghost Story release and not English subtitled.
  
• The East is Red comes with a standard def "DVD video" of the movie (not as a separate disc) in Mandarin only and with forced Korean subs. This looks like it was ripped straight from the Mei Ah DVD. EDIT: Turns out there's one for Swordsman II as well. Ripped straight from the Mei Ah DVD again with forced Korean subtitles and Mandarin audio.
  
• I have no idea what the Fortune Star logo is doing on the box. It doesn't show up anywhere and it looks like they have absolutely nothing to do with this release. Swordsman II looks like it was sourced from a Korean distributor (perhaps explaining the replaced company intros) and The East is Red is from Mei Ah.

 

[AlienKing]

Got it today. Gave both discs a quick spin and here's some impressions:

• Both movies are HD and not upscales. HOWEVER, colours look washed out and there is practically zero film grain (especially in Swordsman II) except in certain scenes (mainly darker ones) so everything and everyone looks too pasty. The East is Red looks better than Swordsman II for day scenes, but is more or less the same picture quality-wise.
  
• Audio for both movies is original mono in DTS-HD Master Audio. Cantonese only.
• Swordsman II is missing the company intros and instead has the intro for a Korean company. It's new looking so I assume they're a Korean distributor or something. The end credits text has been redone for both movies.
• Trailers are included but they are new Korean ones and not the originals.
• Swordsman II has an audio commentary track. It's a Korean-language one like what was included on the Art Vision A Chinese Ghost Story release and not English subtitled.
  
• The East is Red comes with a standard def "DVD video" of the movie (not as a separate disc) in Mandarin only and with forced Korean subs. This looks like it was ripped straight from the Mei Ah DVD. EDIT: Turns out there's one for Swordsman II as well. Ripped straight from the Mei Ah DVD again with forced Korean subtitles and Mandarin audio.
  
• I have no idea what the Fortune Star logo is doing on the box. It doesn't show up anywhere and it looks like they have absolutely nothing to do with this release. Swordsman II looks like it was sourced from a Korean distributor (perhaps explaining the replaced company intros) and The East is Red is from Mei Ah.

Thank you for the extensive review . Good thing they are not upscales. Is the mono track in DTSHD master a good thing or bad? I'm not really 'audio-savy.'
- If you recall, Fortune Star released the original Swordsman, which was their 14th numbered release. I assumed this would be part of that series released by Fortune Star. They must have something to do with it for them to put their logo on the spine.

Mine just shipped 2 days ago. I haven't watched East is Red yet, so I'll give that a spin when I receive it.

 

[Futurhythm]

Thank you for the extensive review . Good thing they are not upscales. Is the mono track in DTSHD master a good thing or bad? I'm not really 'audio-savy.'
- If you recall, Fortune Star released the original Swordsman, which was their 14th numbered release. I assumed this would be part of that series released by Fortune Star. They must have something to do with it for them to put their logo on the spine.

Mine just shipped 2 days ago. I haven't watched East is Red yet, so I'll give that a spin when I receive it.

The East is Red is pretty terrible. But it's also absolutely bonkers. It is insane.

There's some conflicted views whether this is an upscale or not. I personally think it isn't - there's none of the usual signs like ghosting, edge enhancement, and the weird mottled-looking noise. Some of the details are also too clear in close-ups to be upscaled footage in my opinion. The original photography had a lot of soft focus to begin with, and add to that they've most liked used an old DVD master, it completely explains the look of the transfers. Even if it is an upscale, it looks A LOT better than any of the upscales released so far. It also looks better than some proper true HD Blu-rays (The Beatles Help! comes to mind) so in the end, it's still the nicest these movies have looked although they could definitely look a lot nicer if they were remastered properly. But even with a proper remaster, the footage will still look soft due to the techniques used to shoot with.

 

[dascoyne]

Definitely not upscale.
I've had this film on VHS and on DVD and I would say this Blu-ray has absolutely more detail than I've ever seen before. As a film Swordsman II a classic and one of my favorite of the genre.
Worth the price.

East is Red is not bad but not as memorable for sure.

 

[AlienKing]

The East is Red is pretty terrible. But it's also absolutely bonkers. It is insane.

There's some conflicted views whether this is an upscale or not. I personally think it isn't - there's none of the usual signs like ghosting, edge enhancement, and the weird mottled-looking noise. Some of the details are also too clear in close-ups to be upscaled footage in my opinion. The original photography had a lot of soft focus to begin with, and add to that they've most liked used an old DVD master, it completely explains the look of the transfers. Even if it is an upscale, it looks A LOT better than any of the upscales released so far. It also looks better than some proper true HD Blu-rays (The Beatles Help! comes to mind) so in the end, it's still the nicest these movies have looked although they could definitely look a lot nicer if they were remastered properly. But even with a proper remaster, the footage will still look soft due to the techniques used to shoot with.

Seems like we have kind of a 'unofficial confirmation' that it's not an upscale, see below.
And if the movie is bonkers like you say then I'm definitely gonna watch it. Still waiting for the package to arrive though

Definitely not upscale.
I've had this film on VHS and on DVD and I would say this Blu-ray has absolutely more detail than I've ever seen before. As a film Swordsman II a classic and one of my favorite of the genre.
Worth the price.

East is Red is not bad but not as memorable for sure.

Thanks for the update

 

[dascoyne]

Seems like we have kind of a 'unofficial confirmation' that it's not an upscale, see below.
And if the movie is bonkers like you say then I'm definitely gonna watch it. Still waiting for the package to arrive though


Thanks for the update

no prob.

Maybe the confusion arises if you compare the film to modern movies on blu-ray. You can't compare this film to modern movies that are digitally filmed, color corrected and tweaked to the point at which you see every pore in a closeup. Swordsman II was shot on film with practical effects. I love the quick cut editing and effects which had me thinking, "WTF. Did I just see what I thought I saw?" moments. Music is terrific and Brigitte Lin pulls a surprisingly arresting performance.

I saw this first in the early 1990's on VHS. So many beautifully shot scenes had me longing to have seen this on the big screen.

I've literally been waiting decades to see it on blu-ray. I'm very satisfied with the product.

 

[Futurhythm]

Thank you for the extensive review . Good thing they are not upscales. Is the mono track in DTSHD master a good thing or bad? I'm not really 'audio-savy'.

I'm not particularly audio savvy either, but I'm of the opinion they shouldn't muck around with the audio - like remix tracks from mono into stereo or whatever. The soundtracks for these movies were originally in mono, and so you could argue that's the way they should be. or example, Fortune Star are notorious for badly remixing mono tracks into 7.1 surround, adding new sound effects and reverb, and generally sounding awful. As for the DTS-HD Master audio part, I can't comment other than it is HD and a common codec used for Blu-ray audio and any further details are really an audiophile's territory.

 

[AlienKing]

I'm not particularly audio savvy either, but I'm of the opinion they shouldn't muck around with the audio - like remix tracks from mono into stereo or whatever. The soundtracks for these movies were originally in mono, and so you could argue that's the way they should be. or example, Fortune Star are notorious for badly remixing mono tracks into 7.1 surround, adding new sound effects and reverb, and generally sounding awful. As for the DTS-HD Master audio part, I can't comment other than it is HD and a common codec used for Blu-ray audio and any further details are really an audiophile's territory.

They remix mono into 7.1? And add new sounds?
I finally received the package yesterday and I like it Just have to give it a spin soon.

 

[Futurhythm]

They remix mono into 7.1? And add new sounds?
I finally received the package yesterday and I like it Just have to give it a spin soon.

Yeah, it's also really obvious as well even for somebody like me who isn't that well-versed in audio. It must be hell for audiophiles. The worst part is really that the remixes are so badly done. It's possible to do a decent mono to stereo mix. Hollywood does it now and then when remastering prominent older movies (like The Godfather, and The French Connection for example), but usually includes the original mono as an option. When the Beatles' catalogue was remastered, they did stereo mixes even for the early albums which were recorded in mono only. So, yeah, it is possible.

The Fortune Star 7.1 mixes though are just downright terrible. They have this awful sound quality to them and the added sound effects just feel off. The worst thing they've ever done though is they added a cover of an Elvis song as background music to a scene in a period Sammo Hung movie (forgot which one). That's an extreme case though. Usually, it's just the audio quality is bad and the added sound effects do nothing.