Taken as a whole, The Grandmaster doesn't have my favorite soundtrack of a Wong Kar-Wai movie by far (that honor belongs to 2046). Still, I love the re-recorded incarnations of Ennio Morricone's compositions as well as the tracks that were taken from the Japanese movie Sorekara. The music that was specifically written for The Grandmaster works well in the movie, but not as great when you just listen to it on the soundtrack CD. I decided to buy it anyway.
I went for the international standard CD, containing 16 tracks from the movie. It comes in a simple 4 panel digipack without a booklet.
Standard edition, 16 tracks
It's a good looking release, but nothing that excites a collector. Shortly after I had received the standard edition, I disovered another edition on YesAsia.
It's a limited edition, containing 20 tracks (that makes four bonus tracks), a small booklet plus five gorgeous postcards. It's also a 4 panel digipack, but it's wider than the usual CD format. So it's quite an eye-catcher. The four extra tracks aren't that substantial. 01 - Intro and 20 - Outro are just two short quotes from the movie by Gong Er and Ip Man, respectively. Exclusive tracks 05 and 07 are two more pieces from a Bejing Opera. After all, the selection of the 16 tracks makes probably for a better listening experience for most western ears.
Limited edition, 20 tracks
One of the five postcards included in this set:
As of now, the limited edition is still available at yesasia.com.
