Asian Cinema Thread

Arrow's January 2021 line-up is very interesting.

Starting off with the leaked title thanks to Zavvi being a twit. Oldboy is coming to 4K Ultra HD (not a combo pack) in both standard and steelbook. This will also include the Old Days documentary which is Blu-ray disc only.
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Then we have an older release from Park Chan-wook with JSA: Joint Security Area, this will be a Blu-ray first print edition which is the usual slipcover and booklet package.
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Also coming is standard edition box sets of the Gamera films, split into two era; The Showa era and The Heisei era. These look really neat and are priced at £59.99 SRP each.
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I'll probably pick up Gamera at some point but the real winner there is JSA! I still have the Tartan Asia edition kicking about somewhere but that one will be a definite pre order.
 
Looking forward to Oldboy on 4K; hopefully the other films in the Vengeance Trilogy will eventually get their due. I picked up the Gamera box set earlier this year out of a FOMO, and I did not regret it. The Heisei trilogy is a particular highlight and Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris is something of an unsung masterpiece - probably the only kaiju film I've seen that I would give the full five stars to other than Ishiro Honda's original Godzilla.
 
The current Asian Cinema schedule with films set for November 2020 all the way to January 2021.

November 2020:
​
Date:NameDirectorFormatDistributor
2ndGemini
First Print / Japanese		Shinya TsukamotoBlu-rayThird Window Films
9thBurst City
First Print / Japanese		Sogo IshiiBlu-rayArrow Video
Shaolin Wooden Men
First Print / Mandarin + Cantonese & English		Chen Chi-HwaBlu-ray88 Films
16thThe H-Man & Battle in Outer Space
First Print / Japanese + English		Ishirō HondaBlu-rayEureka 'Masters of Cinema'
Mothra
Limited Edition / Japanese + English		Ishirō HondaBlu-rayEureka 'Masters of Cinema'
23rdBarking Dogs Never Bite & Memories of Murder
Regular / Korean		Bong Joon-hoBlu-rayCurzon Artificial Eye
Parasite (with Black & White version)
Limited Edition Steelbook / Korean
Regular / Korean		Bong Joon-ho4K Ultra HD
Blu-ray		Curzon Artificial Eye
30thNew Fist of Fury
First Print / Mandarin + Cantonese & English		Lo WeiBlu-ray88 Films
Train to Busan & Seoul Station
Limited Edition Steelbook / Korean		Yeon Sang-hoBlu-rayStudio Canal
Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula
Limited Edition Steelbook / Korean
Regular / Korean		Yeon Sang-hoBlu-rayStudio Canal
Train to Busan Trilogy
Regular / Korean		Yeon Sang-hoBlu-rayStudio Canal

December 2020:
​
Date:NameDirectorFormatDistributor
7thOnce Upon a Time in China Trilogy
Regular / Mandarin + Cantonese & English		Tsui HarkBlu-rayEureka 'Classics'
Survivor Ballads: Three Films by Shohei Imamura
Includes: The Ballad of Narayama, Zegen & Black Rain
Limited Edition / Japanese		Shohei ImamuraBlu-rayArrow Academy
Versus
First Print / Japanese & English		Ryûhei KitamuraBlu-rayArrow Video
TBCThe Young Master
First Print / Cantonese + English		Jackie ChanBlu-ray88 Films

January 2021:
​
Date:NameDirectorFormatDistributor
18thJSA: Joint Security Area
First Print / Korean		Park Chan-WookBlu-rayArrow Video
25thGamera: The Heisei Era
Regular / Japanese + English		Shusuke KanekoBlu-rayArrow Video
Gamera: The Heisei Trilogy
Limited Edition Steelbook / Japanese + English		Shusuke KanekoBlu-rayArrow Video
Gamera: The Showa Era
Regular / Japanese + English		Various DirectorsBlu-rayArrow Video
Oldboy
Limited Edition Steelbook / Korean
Regular / Korean		Park Chan-Wook4K Ultra HDArrow Video
The Weird and Wonderful World of Ujicha
Includes: The Burning Buddha Man & Violence Voyager
First Print / Japanese		UjichaBlu-rayThird Window Films

Coming Soon (No Scheduled Date Yet):
​
NameLanguageDirectorDistributor
Pink Films Vol. 5 & 6: Women Hell Song & Underwater LoveJapaneseWatanabe Mamoru
Shinji Imaoka		Third Window Films
 
More Jackie Chan news.

New Fist of Fury is now available to pre-order on 88 Films for £14.99, the set is scheduled to ship week commencing 23rd November.

Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, from Drunken Master director Yuen Woo-ping, is scheduled for release by 88 Films this March 2021. This film is notable as it was cut by the BBFC under the Cinematograph Films (Animals) Act 1937.
 
NormanicGrav said:
More Jackie Chan news.

New Fist of Fury is now available to pre-order on 88 Films for £14.99, the set is scheduled to ship week commencing 23rd November.

Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, from Drunken Master director Yuen Woo-ping, is scheduled for release by 88 Films this March 2021. This film is notable as it was cut by the BBFC under the Cinematograph Films (Animals) Act 1937.
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The Young Master also now has a revised releases date of January 25th.
 
Jon O Fun said:
The Young Master also now has a revised releases date of January 25th.
Click to expand...
Yeah I saw the new date on other retailers but only just saw that Amazon did the same.

On a different note, I had a look at the censorship for Snake in the Eagle's Shadow and basically 45 seconds were cut due to a battle between a cat and a snake (the cat won it seems as Jackie pats it afterwards).

EDIT: There's a YouTube video of the scene for those interested (cat is a ninja from what I can gather).
 
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Eureka Entertainment have announced plans to release the Lucky Stars original trilogy collection from director Sammo Hung featuring Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao. The first 2000 units will include a slipcover and booklet, scheduled for 22nd March 2021.
 
I wanted to highlight a few decent deals on Amazon at the moment:
  • Akira Kurosawa Samurai Collection - £24.99 (more stock arriving 30th Nov, this is also the same price HMV had back in May)
  • Heroes Shed No Tears - £12.99
  • The Master - £12.99
  • Of Flesh and Blood: The Cinema of Hirokazu Kore-eda - £24.99
(Disclaimer: Amazon links are affiliated to help support me financially)
 
Great to see the Lucky Stars being released. I'll try to cancel my order of the South Korean release I made May 8th and which still hasn't shipped. Seems shipping from South Korea is still an issue.
 
Some may be thinking Van Damme isn't Asian! But these are directed by the great Ringo Lam & Tsui Hark!
Double Team is my most guilty of pleasures and one I'll put money on not having aged well but will definitely buy it!!
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Zavvi has done some price drops on select Arrow Academy titles and Amazon have price-matched some.
  • Departures - £7.99
  • Family Values: Three Films by Hirokazu Kore-eda - £16.99
  • Hiroshima - £9.99
  • Tale of Cinema & Woman is the Future of Man: Two Films by Hong Sang-soo - £7.99
Titles not yet price-matched on Amazon but are price-dropped on Zavvi are After the Storm (£7.99), Bloody Spear At Mount Fuji (£7.99), The Mad Fox (£9.99), Seijun Suzuki's The Taisho Trilogy (£16.99), and Three Films By Jia Zhangke (£16.99).

(Disclaimer: Amazon links are affiliated to help support me financially)
 
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Criterion has revealed their next special box set which is dedicated to Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai, called The World of Wong Kar Wai. SRP $199.95, 7 Blu-ray discs, 23rd March 2021 for US and sometime in April 2021 for UK.
  • As Tears Go By (1988)
  • Days of Being Wild (1990)
  • Chungkung Express (1994)
  • Fallen Angels (1995)
  • Happy Together (1997)
  • In the Mood for Love (2000)
  • 2046 (2004)
The films were restored digitally in 4K, however they were given a whole bunch of tweaks to achieve the director's original vision. See below for more context:
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