NEWS HEADLINES

06.12.2004] News
Espionage for Dummies
- John Woo's Lion Rocks making action comedy.
Honorable doctor degree for John Woo
- John Woo became Doctor of Social Sciences on Hong Kong.

02.12.2004] News
Blackjack DVD (R2)
- Future Film released Blackjack in Finland November 19. 2004.
Princess Chang Ping DVD (R0 HK)
- Finally DVD with English subtitles.
Once a Thief DVD (R0 Hong Kong)
- IVL(Hong Kong) release of Once a Thief in January 2005

30.10.2004] News
Once a Thief DVD releases (R2)
- HKL release of Once a Thief in December 27. 2004

17.09.2004] News
Few Italian John Woo DVD releases (R2)
- A Better Tomorrow 1 & 2 and Hard Boiled
Hand of Death - Germany DVD (R2)
- Hand of Death DVD in Germany September 27. 2004
Paycheck - Hong Kong DVD (R3)
- Info about Hong Kong DVD release of Paycheck

07.07.2004] News
Hard Boiled - Japan DVD (R2)
- New Japanese remastered DVD will be released in September
Peace Hotel - Japan DVD (R2)
- New Japanese DVD will be released in September

17.06.2004] News
Once a Thief - The serie availability on DVD
- 8 episodes has been released on 4 DVD
Japanese re-releases - DVD
- Hard Target (07.07.2004)
- Bullet in the head (09.07.2004)
- Broken Arrow (02.08.2004)
- Paycheck (28.08.2004)

13.06.2004] News
Once a Thief R2 DVD from Netherland
 - English dubbed DVD

07.06.2004] News
More info about forthcoming DVDs
 - A Better Tomorrow 1-3 BOX
 - John Woo Box (Bullet in the Head / The Killer)
Bullet in the Head UK DVD delayed
 - New release date 5.7.2004

28.05.2004] News
Paycheck R1 DVD released 28.5.
 - Some DVD info
IVL and classic Hong Kong movies on DVD!
 - A Better Tomorrow 1-3 BOX
 - John Woo Box (Bullet in the Head / The Killer)
A Better Tomorrow 1-3 & The Killer (Japan R2 DVD set)
 - Four DVD set
A Better Tomorrow Korean DVD box
 - Three DVD set in fabulous Book-a-like box
Bullet in the Head HKL R2 DVD
 - Finally good version of this John Woo classic

 

Honorary doctor degree for John Woo
[06.12.2004]

John Woo was honored by Hong Kong Baptist University November 9 when he received an honorary university doctorate of Doctor of Social Sciences for contributions to the movie industry.

Other awardees were revered master of integrative Chinese and Western medicine professor Chen Keji; internationally acclaimed choreographer Lin Hwai-mi; distinguished designer Henry Steiner who is also called "Father of Hong Kong designer" who has made contributions to the design profession receiving recognition worldwide; and prominent scholar in computer science "Father of Fuzzy Logic" professor Lofti A. Zadeh..

People's Daily Online

Espionage for Dummies
[06.12.2004]

John Woo's and Terence Chang's Lion Rock Productions have signed a deal to make a new action comedy Espionage for Dummies based on popular 'for dummies' concept, which is so well known World Wide. For Dummies series is a long lasting series of simple to understand manuals guiding and teaching many not so simple many. Woo's Espionage for Dummies will be the first filmatisation of this series.

In original script, written by Stevie Long, a high school vice principal must use a Espionage for Dummies manual as his only weapon when he must learn in action and become a new superspy to save the World.

Lion Rock has high hopes for this project, as producer Terence Chan comments: "Stevie Long has written a brilliant and funny script with the perfect potential to synergize with the "For Dummies" products and philosophy.".

comingsoon.net

Princess Chang Ping (R0 Hong Kong)
[02.12.2004]

The Ming Dynasty is coming to a faltering end with rebels everywhere…In the meantime, Princess Chang Ping is engaged with a young scholar Chou Shih-hsien, and the emperor is happy with the match. Yet, when the rebels invade the capital, the emperor orders the death of the empress and princesses because no royal house-hood should fall into rebel hands. Princess Chang Ping has luckily escaped, but..

DVD Specs

 Asian DVD Guide

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Blackjack (R2 Finland)
[02.12.2004]

Future Film released TV pilot Blackjack DVD in Finland. Release was November 19th 2004. DVD has English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack and full frame 1.33:1 picture. Subtites are in Finnish, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian.

Future Film (Finnish).

Once a Thief (R0 Hong Kong)
[02.12.2004]

IVL will release John Woo's action-comedy Once a Thief in Hong Kong. Release date is set to January 2005. Futher details are yet to be announced..

Once a Thief by Hong Kong Legends (R2 UK)
[30.10.2004]

Hong Kong Legends will finally release John Woo' s Once a Thief on DVD in UK. Release date is set to December 27. Collectors edition has anamorphic widescreen picture (1.77:1). Original Cantoense and dubbed English soundtracks are included both as Dolby Digital remixes. Extra section includes audio-commentary Bey Logan; an ‘Up Close and Personal’ interview with director John Woo, a ‘Brother In Arms’ interview with producer Kenneth Tsang, a ‘Walking Through The Shadows’ tribute to Leslie Cheung by Bey Logan, and a trailer gallery. Retail price is supposed to be £16.99.

Italian DVD releases
[17.09.2004]

Eagle pictures has released few movies directed by john Woo in Hong Kong. At least A Better Tomorrow, A Better Tomorrow 2, and Hard Boiled are available. Better Tomorrow movies include original Cantonese soundtracks as well as English and italian dubs. Unfortunately Hard boiled seems to be dubbed in Italian and English only withouth cantonese. All of them has English and Italian subtitles. Bullet in the Head is available in Italy too, but I havent found any info about that release.

Paycheck - Finland DVD
[17.09.2004]

Paycheck DVD was released in Finland.

Hand of Death - Germany DVD
[17.09.2004]

Hand of Death will be released on DVD in Germany. Release date is set to September 27th 2004. There's not much info yet but most likely it will be dubbed in German. It is unknown if original Chinese soundtrack will be included but most propably it has no English subtitles.

Paycheck - Hong Kong DVD
[10.08.2004]

Paycheck DVD was released in Hong Kong by ERA Home Entertainment in May 10th 2004. It seems to be similar in content compared to US R1 DVD release.

Hard Boiled - Japanese DVD
[07.07.2004]

Hard Boiled will be released on DVD in Japan. Release date is set to September 10th 2004. Remastered DVD will have both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS soundtracks. It is very likely to include anamorphic widescreen just like Hong Kong version does but this is not confirmed yet.

Peace Hotel - Japanese DVD
[07.07.2004]

Peace Hotel, a film produced by John Woo and starring Chow yun-Fat,  will be released on DVD in Japan. Release date is set to September 10th 2004.

Once a Thief series - Japanese DVD info
[17.06.2004]

Few episodes of Once a Thief series produced by John Woo's are awailable on DVD in Japan. Four DVDs were released with randomly selected episodes. All DVDs were released September 21st 2001. Price: is 3,990 Yen ( = about $34 US) each so these are not too cheap. Audio & Subtitle Select: (Each one is 2ch stereoDD.) English, English with Japanese subtitles, Japanese, Japanese with Japanese subtitles. VHS versions were released October 19th 2001
at the price of 16,800Yen (about $140 US).
 

DVD (Region 2) Item Number: PIBF-7224
VHS Item Number: FMVR-1004 (English with Japanese subtitle)
VHS Item Number: FMVR-1005 (Japanese)
Title: Ookami-tati no Kizuna
Episodes: #1 "The Big Bang Theory" & #2 "Rave On"

DVD (Region 2) Item Number: PIBF-7225
VHS Item Number: FMVR-1014 (English with Japanese subtitle)
VHS Item Number: FMVR-1015 (Japanese)
Title: Ookami-tati no Kizuna / Mission: 2
Episodes: #3 "Trial Marriage" & #4 "Art of Death"

DVD (Region 2) Item Number: PIBF-7251
VHS Item Number: FMVR-1031 (English with Japanese subtitle)
VHS Item Number: FMVR-1032 (Japanese)
Title: Ookami-tati no Kizuna / Mission: 3
Episodes: #10 "Wedding Bell Blues" & #11 "That Old Gang of Mine"

DVD (Region 2) Item Number: PIBF-7252
VHS Item Number: FMVR-1063 (English with Japanese subtitle)
VHS Item Number: FMVR-1064 (Japanese)
Title: Ookami-tati no Kizuna / Final Mission
Episodes: #12 "Last Temptation of Vic" & #17 "Little Sister"

Paycheck - Japan DVD in August
[17.06.2004]

Paycheck DVD will be released in Japan no sooner then August 28th. According to specs I've had so far DVD seems to be very similar to American R1 release. Looks like Paycheck DVD would be identical World Wide.
 

Bullet in the Head - Japanese remastered DVD
[17.06.2004]

Bullet in the Head will be released in Japan as new remastered DVD. Thiswill propably be from same master as forthcoming remasterd Hong Kong DVD in John Woo collection but without English subtitles and regioncoded for Japan (region code 2).
 

Broken Arrow - Japanese low budget DVD
[17.06.2004]

Broken Arrow will be released in Japan as new Limited Low-Priced Edition.
 

Hard Target - Japanese low budget DVD
[17.06.2004]

Hard Target will be released in Japan as new Limited Low-Priced Edition. DVD seems to be same previous release but one but only cheaper.  w
 

Once a Thief: R2 DVD in Netherland
[13.06.2004]

Another English dubbed DVD. World Wide Cinema has released Once a Thief DVD in Netherland. According to reviews DVD does not include original Cantonese soundtrac but English dubbed only. I find this a bit surprising since normally World Wide Cinema has done good releases of asian movies. For example two disc edition of Japanese ultra violent actioner Ichi the Killer was really something.

Dont understand Dutch? Try babelfish for review mentioned above.

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Bullet in the Head UK DVD delayed to 5.7.
[07.06.2004]

Hong Kong Legends has announced that their Bullet in the Head DVD will be late and not released before July 5th.

A Better Tomorrow trilogy (Hong Kong) specs
[07.06.2004]

A Better Tomorrow trilogy box was delayed and will be released June 16, same day with another John Woo box set including The Killer and Bullet in the Head. Better Tomorrow box includes all three Better Tomorrow movies. Video is anamorphic widescreen and soundtracks include DTS and Dolby Digital versions in Cantonese and Mandarin.

Additional material
Codes Of Bullets -
     Part 1: Guns As Partner/One Man Battle
     Part 2: Die Hard/Hide! Explosion!
     Part 3: A Matter Of Second/Anti-tanks
New and original trailers
Photo stills/Photo slide show
Scenes from the Taiwanese version of A Better Tomorrow III

A John Woo box (Hong Kong) specs
[07.06.2004]

A John Woo box (including The Killer and Bullet in the Head) will be released June 16.

Additional material
Codes Of Bullets -
     Part 4: Perfect Selection/Deadly Sniper  
     Part 5: Guns Mean Power/Gone With The Wind
New and original trailers
Photo stills/Photo slide show

Paycheck R1 US DVD released 18.05.2004
[28.05.2004]

May 18th John Woo's latest movie Paycheck was released on DVD in US by Paramount. DVD has anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack in English. Also French dubbed soundtrack is available. As additional material DVD releases has audio commentaries (John Woo, writer Dean Georgaris),  2 Featurettes: "Paycheck: Designing the Future" and "Tempting Fate: The Stunts of Paycheck" and 7 extended/deleted scenes.

Picture: Anamorphic Wide 2.35:1
Sound:  English DD5.1, DD2.0, French DD5.1
Additional material:
- Audio commentary #1 John Woo
- Audio commentary #2 Dean Georgaris
- Featurettes:
    Paycheck: Designing the Future (4:3, DD2.0, 18:13)
   Tempting Fate: The Stunts of Paycheck (4:3, DD2.0, 16:46)
6 Deleted/extended scenes (4:3 lbx, DD2.0, 10:35)
Alternative ending (4:3 lbx, DD2.0, 2:02)

Available from Amazon.com

ILV and  classic Hong Kong movies on DVD
[28.05.2004]

IVL will release many classical Hong Kong movies on remastered DVDs as box sets. Also two John Woo related box sets are scheluded to release in near furute. In May will we see A Better Tomorrow box set which includes all three Better Tomorrow movies. And after that in June they will release nice two movie set called John Woo Box Set with Bullet in the Head and The Killer. Maybe we now would finally have decent release of Bullet in the Head.  

April 29 - Bruce Lee Ultimate DVD Collection:

* The Big Boss
* Game Of Death
* Game Of Death 2 (Tower Of Death)
* Fist Of Fury
* Way Of The Dragon
* Enter The Dragon

May - A Better Tomorrow Box Set:

* A Better Tomorrow
* A Better Tomorrow 2
* A Better Tomorrow 3

June - John Woo Box Set:

* Bullet In The Head
* The Killer

July - Once Upon A Time In China Box Set:

* Once Upon A Time In China
* Once Upon A Time In China 2
* Once Upon A Time In China 3
* The Master

August - Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung Box Set:

* City Hunter
* My Lucky Stars
* Heart Of The Dragon
* Wheels On Meals
* Winners And Sinners

September - Police Story Box Set:

* Police Story
* Police Story 2
* Police Story 3

October - Sammo Hung Box Set:

* Eastern Condors
* Magnificent Butcher
* Spooky Encounters (Encounters Of The Spooky Kind)
* The Iron Fisted Monk

November - Project A Box Set:

* Project A
* Project A Part II

December - Jackie Chan Box Set:

* The Young Master
* Armour Of God
* Dragon Lord

Better Tomorrow DVD Box Set in Japan
[28.05.2004]

A Better Tomorrow box was released in Japan released in May 21st. This 4 DVD set includes Better Tomorrow trilogy and The Killer. All DVDs are naturally region coded for Japan (Region 2) and not subtitled in English. Anamorphically remastered from a new high definition telecine print. DTS audio track(s) available. Special Features includes trailers, special interview, photo gallery(still), and more (what ever it might be). Movies will be released separately also.

This packet will be very nice, no doubt about it but you will get these movies a lot cheaper if you wait for Hong Kong releases. Hong Kong versions are done from same masters so they should be equally good ones. But if you juct can't wait for June then Korean Better Tomorrow trilogy box set is already available.

Catalog No.: PIBF-1560
Price: 15200yen (US$ 139.82)

Running Time: 429mins.
Data Format: DVD Video
NTSC Format
Layers: single-sided/dual-layered
Aspect Ratio(s): 16:9 LB Vista
Regional Encoding: 2
Color
Subtitles: Japanese
Audio Track :
  Cantonese: Dolby Digital 5.1ch
  Cantonese: DTS 5.1ch

Better Tomorrow DVD Box Set in Korea
[28.05.2004]

A Better Tomorrow box was released in Korea May 6th by Spectrum. This 3 DVD box includes A Better Tomorrow trilogy. In this new remastered edition movies are anamorphic widescreen with DTS and Dolby Digital soundtracks. All movies are subtitled in English and Korean and movies are naturally original language versions.

Additional material
Trailers
Movie photos
Codes of Bullets (document without English subtitles)
Deleted Scenes
Booklet (in Korean)
Post cards
Review

Bullet in the Head 2 DVD Platinum from HKL
[28.05.2004]

Hong Kong Legends will release John Woo's war epic Bullet in the Head as special 2 DVD Platimun edition in June 21 2004. This will most likely be the best DVD release of this classic movie. Naturally movie will be remastered so picture and sound can be expected to be good quality. Picture is Anamorphic widescreen and soundtracks include original Cantonese and English dubbed version, both in Dolby Digital 5.1 remixes. DVD also will include nice set of extras. Alternative ending was released on Hong Kong VCD but generally it has been very hard to find and I haven't seen in on DVD so far. Also some other deleted scenes will be included. Tony Leung, Simon Yam and Waise Lee interviews will be worth waiting. Unfortunately John Woo himself is not involved with this release. His commentary would be great to have for this movie but usually Bey Logan has done very interesting and informative  commentaries as well.

Additional material
Audio commentary from Hong Kong cinema expert Bey Logan
Interview with Tony Leung Chi-wai
Retrospective on the John Woo phenomenon
Interview with Simon Yam
Interview with Waise Lee
Alternate ending and deleted footage
Photo gallery
Trailers

Forthcoming and new DVD releases
Release dates

Hong Kong
May 2004

June 2004
Better Tomorrow Box 
- A Better Tomorrow
- A Better Tomorrow 2
- A Better Tomorrow 3
John Woo Box
- Bullet In The Head
- The Killer


Japan
May 21 2004
Better Tomorrow Box 
- A Better Tomorrow
- A Better Tomorrow 2
- A Better Tomorrow 3
- The Killer
July 7 2004
Hard Target re-issue
July 9 2004
Bullet in the Head
August 2 2004
Broken Arrow re-issue
August 25 2004
Paycheck
September 9 2004
Hard Boiled
Peace Hotel (prod)



Korea
May 6 2004
Better Tomorrow Box 
- A Better Tomorrow
- A Better Tomorrow 2
- A Better Tomorrow 3


UK
May 17 2004
Paycheck
July 5 2004
Bullet in the Head
December 27 2004
Once a Thief

Germany
December 8 2003
Better Tomorrow
June 9 2004
Paycheck