Ashes Of Time Redux: German BD by Splendid Films

Two years after the first BluRay of Ashes Of Time Redux had been released in the UK, the German label Splendid Films released it in Germany. This release is called "special edition". Don't worry, there aren't many exclusive extras... In fact, there's only 1. The disc is region-free by the way and it's a BD-50.


IMAGE (VC1, 1080p) AND SOUND (DTS-HD 5.1)
Except for the different codecs everything I said about image and sound of the UK BluRay is true for this disc too. Unfortunately, Splendid didn't use a lossless soundtrack, but a DTS-HD is fine as well, although not as good as a lossless alternative. There is a German dub too, but who cares about that? The disc is not English-friendly, as there are only German subs.

Additionally, here are some technical aspects:
Size: 21.910.247.424 bytes
Length: 1:33:18
Total Bitrate: 31,31 Mbps
Video: VC-1 Video / 23687 kbps / 1080p / 23,976 fps / 16:9 / Advanced Profile 3
Audio: German / DTS-HD Master Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3775 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio: Chinese / DTS-HD High-Res Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2046 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitle: German / 32,678 kbps

BONUS FEATURES
The same bonus features as the UK disc, almost. The only difference is that on the German disc there are 3 trailers instead of 1. On the UK BluRay there is the international trailer only, but on the German disc we have the international trailer (but dubbed in German), an alternate trailer which is also featured in the beginning of the Making Of - on both discs. The only really exclusive trailer is the last one, which lasts about 5,5min. This one is interesting. It was actually the first trailer that could be seen on the internet... that was in 2008 I think. Since then, I wanted to see the movie so badly. I think that is the trailer that captures the atmosphere of the film best. You can watch it here. Nice to have it on this disc.


CONCLUSION
Well, if you've already got the UK BluRay, keep it. This one is mostly the same... Except for one exclusive trailer. And the main feature doesn't contain English subs. The menu is better... But that's certainly not enough. It's a fine release for us Germans though.

Days Of Being Wild: Alternate version

Here's an article about an alternate version of Days Of Being Wild, whose exclusive scenes have not been released to home entertainment yet (I doubt they will ever surface on a release):
Years Of Being Obscure.

Days Of Being Wild: HK BluRay by MegaStar

After releasing a remastered DVD in 2005, Mega Star put out a BD of Days Of Being Wild in 2008. Before this release, I only owned a German DVD of the movie by Alamode Film, which contained a nice transfer that still had its problems with too much dirt and debris. Additionally, as I only found out the other day, it was cut by 60 seconds. So I was looking forward to this release in HD. Let's take a look at it. First of all, it's a BD-25 and it's also region-free (despite the cover saying it's region-A-locked).


IMAGE (MPEG-4 AVC, 1080p) AND SOUND (DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1)
This is a nice transfer with lots of grain. Yes, grain has to be there in this film, as that is how it was shot. We also get the greenish tint that cinematographer gave the film. You can spot a few sparks and speckles here and there, but overall this transfer is a clean one. Sharpness is also fine, regarding the fact that this is an early 90s HK movie. This is the best the film has ever looked.
The 7.1 soundtrack is nicely seperated and surprisingly rich. You needn't expect topnotch sound quality of course, but it sounds fine most of the time. There is some damage though, crackles can be heard now and then and even more often in the last half hour. It didn't annoy me too much.
MegaStar provides optional English and Chinese subtitles (traditional and simplified) as well as some more Asian ones. The English translation of the dialogue is not too well ("Do you bring girls home oftenly?") and is possibly the greatest flaw of this disc. In the scene where Yuddy's stepmother finally tells him where to find his real mother, it's almost impossible to get what's going on. And there are many other instances where the translations don't make any sense. I was lucky I had seen the movie before, otherwise I wouldn't have understood it.

Some technical aspects:
Size: 22.311.991.296 bytes
Length: 1:34:49
Total Bitrate: 31,37 Mbps
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 25799 kbps / 1080p / 24 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio: Chinese / DTS-HD Master Audio / 7.1 / 48 kHz / 3034 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Audio: Chinese / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps / DN -4dB
Subtitle: English / 26,164 kbps
Subtitle: Chinese / 27,331 kbps
Subtitle: Chinese / 26,360 kbps
Subtitle: Indonesian / 28,728 kbps
Subtitle: Japanese / 16,224 kbps
Subtitle: Korean / 20,980 kbps
Subtitle: Malayalam / 28,728 kbps
Subtitle: Thai / 21,449 kbps
Subtitle: Vietnamese / 32,545 kbps

BONUS FEATURES
Well, there are only 4 trailers of MegaStar titles on this disc. Of course, one of them is for the main feature, but only in SD and the quality is crappy. Days Of Being Wild has never gotten more extra features on previous releases, still it would have been nice to watch an interview with WKW about his second movie for example.


CONCLUSION
Flawed subtitles and lack of bonus features. Still, this is the one to own, as image and sound are better than ever before. Even though the sound could probably be improved on following releases.

Other reviews of this disc:
www.bluray.com
www.dvdbeaver.com
www.dvdtimes.co.uk

Happy Together: 1997 <=> TODAY

UPDATE: There's an updated and expanded version of this post here.

 

There are some notable differences between the original version of the movie and the version that was remastered by Wong Kar-Wai and first released on DVD in 2009.

 

Original version:  

US DVD by the label Kino International (2004) 

Hongkong DVD by Kam&Ronson (2006, 10th Anniversary Edition) 

and simply every older release... 

 

New version: 

UK DVD by Artificial Eye (2009) 

US DVD by Kino International (2009) 

US BluRay by Kino International (2010)

Differences: Needless to say, for this remaster, WKW cleaned up the movie, removing dirt and other stuff. He also altered the colors, increased saturation and improved contrast.

previously

 

now

 

previously

now

 

In the football scenes, the tint was changed from blueish / greenish to yellowish: 

 

previously

now

 Contrast is superior in the new version, especially in dark scenes:

 

previously

now

 

A shot that was accidentally rendered to black and white in former remastered versions is back in color now. 

 

previous remaster

now

 

The opening titles used to be in white and red, now they are black and white. 

 

previously

  

now

The same is true for the end credits. 

previously

 

now

The sound was also changed of course. Originally, it was a stereo mix. Then WKW went back to the source materials and compiled a 5.1 track. In contrast to the remastered version of Chungking Express and Fallen Angels, WKW didn't change the sound atmosphere too much. I didn't detect any new sound effects or changes in the music. The new mix is great, as the sound is cristal clear and probably couldn't be better.

Ashes Of Time Redux: UK BluRay by Artificial Eye

Nine months after Ashes Of Time Redux debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2008, the British label Artificial Eye released it on BluRay and DVD. The BD is double-layered and region-free.

IMAGE (MPEG-4 AVC) AND SOUND (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1)
Where shall I begin... Well Ashes Of Time looks better than ever in this new Redux version, although it doesn't look too great. When WKW found out that the original negatives of his movie were in very bad condition in the warehouse they were stored, he started to collect prints from all over the world, mainly France and Japan, to restore his motion picture. As he couldn't use the original negatives at all, we now have to deal with an below average image quality. Still, WKW and his team brought out the best of the situation. I really didn't expect that Ashes Of Time would ever look this good. Let's take a look at a few screencaps first.
The sharpest shots are those of the credits of course, which are brandnew. In screencap #2 you can see that the picture is really soft at times but can also appear sharper (screencap #3). This is how it looks. I actually like this look. I even think that it looks a bit like it was painted at times. Additionally, the movie now has a yellowish tint to it. This adds to the atmosphere of the movie. It used to look a bit pieced together, with the new tint it seems more homogeneous. Here are some screencaps for you to look at:
Fantastic cinematography which is presented great here. The middle shot is wasn't in the original version by the way.
What's there to say about the sound? The most important fact: WKW had the soundtrack re-recorded by the National Ballet Symphony Orchestra and cello player Yo-Yo Ma. Some of the original melodies were used as they were written in 1994 and some were composed exclusively for this redux version. Some say that this soundtrack doesn't fit the movie anymore. Some say the old soundtrack sounded cheap, as it was created at the computer. I actually like the new soundtrack and I also like the old one. It was a strange experience when I watched the redux version for the first time to realize that some of my favorite pieces from the old version had been removed. But I opened up and began to love the new melodies. Needless to say, the new soundtrack sounds expectional on this BD. The dialogues don't. The quality really differs here. Sometimes they sound muffled, but most of the time it's a satisfying listening experience. Good work by team WKW again.

Additionally, here are some technical aspects:
Size: 16.959.995.904 bytes
Length: 1:33:19
Total Bitrate: 24,23 Mbps
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 19994 kbps / 1080p / 23,976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio: Chinese / DTS-HD Master Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2211 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Audio: Chinese / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Subtitle: English / 24,534 kbps

BONUS FEATURES
All the bonus features are encoded in SD PAL. That's unfortunate, as they were all produced recently. What we have here is a trailer (you can even find this one in HD on the internet!), interview clips with the main cast and WKW and cinematographer Doyle. Some of these clips were reused in the 12min Making Of "Born From The Ashes".
It's not too interesting. I would have liked to know more about the changes of the cut between this version and the old. I would have wanted to know which cuts were done by WKW deliberately and which cuts had to be done because of the condition of the source material. But we don't get that information.


CONCLUSION
The redux version of the movie is a revelation, quality wise. Who would have expected the film to look so great one day after all these years of watching the old MeiAh DVD from 1999? It's your personal choice whether you like the redux version or not, but you can't say that it doesn't look good. The sad thing about this disc are the bonus features, which lack some information. As this is the only English-friendly BD of Ashes Of Time Redux to date, go ahead and buy it!


You can find more reviews and screencaps there:
www.bluray.com
www.dvdbeaver.com
www.dvdtimes.co.uk
www.asianblurayguide.com

Chungking Express: 1994 <=> TODAY

There are some notable differences between the original version of the movie and the version that was remastered by Wong Kar-Wai and first released on DVD in 2006.

Original version:
UK DVD by the label Artificial Eye (2004)
and simply every older release...

New version:
Japan DVD by Geneon Universal Entertainment (2006)
Korean DVD by Alto Media (2007)
Hongkong DVD by Mei Ah (2008)
UK DVD by Artificial Eye (2009)
UK BluRay by Artificial Eye (2009)

Mixed version (original image*, new sound):
US DVD by Criterion (2008)
US BluRay by Criterion (2008)
*Criterion remastered the original image and therefore removed dirt
and scratches, but the transfer still contains the old credits

Differences:
WKW didn't change the colors for this remaster. But dirt and other stuff was removed.

old version

new version

The title screen was rendered once more.

old version

new version

The end credits are also new, they used to show Chinese characters only, now they also contain Western characters.

old version (2004 Artificial Eye DVD)

old version (2008 Criterion BluRay and DVD)

new version (2009 Artificial Eye BluRay)

The sound was also changed of course. Originally, it was a stereo mix. Then WKW went back to the source materials and compiled a 5.1 track and also added some new sound effects in places. This means the sound atmosphere has changed a bit. While the dominant song of the second episode of the movie, "California Dreaming", can be heard really, really loud in the old stereo mix, it now appears quieter and with added reverb. Personally, in this case I prefer the old mix. The 5.1 mix is great anyway, as the sound is cristal clear - it always sounded pretty scratchy with lots of distortion on the stereo mix that I listened to.

Chungking Express: Battle of the BluRays

Chungking Express is the only WKW movie that has gotten two important and really different BD releases so far. All the others are either available in just one single country or the different releases don't differ too much from each other. In December 2008, Criterion put out their BD of Chungking Express in the USA and the British label Artificial Eye followed in the beginning of 2009.

Reviews of the former were overall quite laudatory, whereas the latter was said to be inferior, due to the darker image. Personally, I think that both releases - despite their differences - are satisfying and more. Let's talk about the differences and which one is better regarding several aspects.
First of all, the Criterion disc is double-layered (BD-50) and region-A-locked, the Artificial Eye disc is single-layered (BD-25) and region-free.

IMAGE AND SOUND
The Criterion BD seems to contain an older master of the movie (MPEG-4 AVC, 1080p), as it's not the WKW remaster. We can tell that from the old credits:
The WKW remaster - as used on the Artificial Eye BD (MPEG-4 AVC, 1080p) - has got credits which also contain the English names of the actors:
Now let's talk about the quality of the actual movie. To make it short: Both transfers are clean and show the same amount of detail. While the Criterion BD has got the original aspect ratio of 1,66:1, the Artificial Eye BD appears in 16:9 (1,78:1). It's important to mention that the former gains its aspect ratio by cropping the image on the sides. Anyway, these are quite possibly the correct aspect ratios of the respective movie versions. And there are more differences! The UK BD is darker and rather high-contrast in comparison to its US counterpart. Take a look at these two examples and you should see the differences (first Criterion, then Artificial Eye):
In some instances, the Criterion BD benefits from its brightness and reduced contrast, but sometimes the image is just too bright (example 1). Yet, the high contrast of the Artificial Eye tends to make the film look older (example 2). So, which one is better? I don't know. I probably go for the Artificial Eye, as it contains the movie as WKW wants it to look. Former DVD releases of the WKW remaster look the same regarding brightness and contrast. And even older releases (Artificial Eye DVD of 2004 for example) which weren't remastered by WKW himself look equally dark. In the end, it's a matter of personal taste and if you go for the choice of the director or not. Interesting to note is that the UK BD is a BD-25 only, but the transfer doesn't suffer from that.
Now let's switch to the sound. The sound is a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track on both discs. This means that the original stereo mix is not on any version. I haven't compared the two 5.1 tracks yet, but I know that they sound suprisingly great and are probably the same. They are once again the remastered soundtracks by WKW. This means the sound atmosphere has changed a bit. While the dominant song of the second episode of the movie, "California Dreaming", can be heard really, really loud in the old stereo mix, it now appears quieter and with added reverb. Personally, in this case I prefer the old mix. The 5.1 tracks are great anyway, as the sound is cristal clear - it always sounded pretty scratchy with lots of distortion on the stereo mix that I listened to.
Both BDs contain optional English subtitles. Criterion even improved the subtitles and corrected some translations and added subtitles for the Cantonese version of the Cranberries' song "Dreams" whose lyrics differ from the original version.
Additionally, here are some technical aspects for the Criterion disc:
Size: 31.393.892.352 bytes
Length: 1:42:56
Total Bitrate: 40,66 Mbps
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 34754 kbps / 1080p / 23,976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio: English / DTS-HD Master Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3654 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit / DN -4dB)
Audio: English / Dolby Digital Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -4dB
Subtitle: English / 31,038 kbps

And here's the same information for the Artificial Eye disc:
Size: 19.267.418.112 bytes
Length: 1:42:12
Total Bitrate: 25,13 Mbps
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 20998 kbps / 1080p / 24 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio: Chinese / DTS-HD Master Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2079 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Audio: Chinese / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Subtitle: English / 21,728 kbps

BONUS FEATURES
Guess what? The bonus features of the BDs also differ from each other. Let's take a look at the Criterion release first. It contains an audio commentary by Asian cinema critic Tony Rayns. I have only listened to short pieces of the commentary yet, but it seems interesting. There is also a nice feature called "timeline", where you can bookmark several scenes and there you are also given kind of chapters of the audio commentary, so you can choose what parts of the commentary track you want to hear. Next is a 1996 episode a British television series called "Moving Pictures" (12min, MPEG-2, upscaled to 1080p, but windowboxed). It features WKW and Christopher Doyle at several locations of Chungking Express as they talk about how they shot the movie. They also talk a bit about Days Of Being Wild and Fallen Angels, which was new at that time.
We also get the US trailer for Chungking Express (MPEG-2, 1080p). It's in HD, but it looks used and it can't live up to the quality of the main feature version on the disc. It's nice to have it in HD though.
Last but not least: There is a booklet! It contains an essay by Amy Taubin called "Electric Youth" (to me it was rather boring), a list of chapter, credits and some notes about the transfer: "Chunking Express is presented in the director's requested aspect ratio of 1,66:1. [...] This new high-definition digital transfer was created on a Spirit 2K Datacine from a 35mm internegative and a 35mm interpositive. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris and scratches were removed using the MTI Digital Restoration System and Pixel Farm's PFClean. The original soundtrack was remastered by Tu Duu-chih at 3H Sound Studio in Taipei, under the supervision of Wong Kar-Wai. Audio restauration tools have been used to reduce clicks, pops, hiss and crackle." - Great to get this information!
Now let's take a look at the UK counterpart. There's an introduction to the movie by Quentin Tarantino. Okay, I like Tarantino's movies, but does he have to appear everywhere? He recorded that interview when he released Chungking Express in the USA on DVD in 2001 I think. But hell, it's not too interesting and we don't really need it.
Next is a bonus feature (14min altogether) which is called "Interview with Wong Kar-Wai". This rather is a featurette, containing interview clips and deleted scenes / shots. It's great to see these, as the movie could have easily become something very different. The first chapter is called "The Star" and focuses on the first episode of the movie. WKW explains the original storyline and then we also get to see deleted scenes that were shot for it. "California Dreaming" is about the second episode which basically contains the same kind of plot in the deleted scenes, but with some slight changes. The third chapter, "Baroque", explains how the film was shot. Deleted shots are featured here also. There is also an interview clip with Christopher Doyle where he visits the filming locations of Chungking Express. He seems drunk as always and even has to be pulled away from a girl in a bar. He basically talk about the history of the movie and the ever changing Hongkong. This interview and the one with Wong Kar-Wai were taken from a Japanese WKW DVD collection. Optional English subtitles are provided for all of them. All the interviews are presented in PAL SD.
Then there's a HD trailer, but not the same as the one on the US BD. It's the original one whose quality is better, but not great at all. Only the credits look great, as they were rendered newly.
At last, there also filmographies for both WKW and Christopher Doyle available.
Bonus features are interesting on both releases, but I think the UK BD has a little more to offer. The best is to have everything, of course.
 

MY CONCLUSION:
Buy both. The extras on either disc are simply too essential not to own them and you won't be able to know which transfer you like better if you haven't seen both of them in moving pictures.


Check out other reviews of the discs! There are also more screencaps available.

Criterion BD:
www.bluray.com
www.dvdtalk.com
www.dvdtimes.co.uk
www.dvdbeaver.com
www.avsforums.com

Artificial Eye BD:
www.bluray.com
www.dvdtimes.co.uk
www.dvdoutsider.co.uk

Comparison:
www.dvdtimes.co.uk