MovieChat Forums > Ah fei jing juen (1990) Discussion > Which version of the DVD should I get?

Which version of the DVD should I get?

posted 18 years ago by MissManson83
11 replies | jump to latest

I'm led to believe that depending on which version of the DVD you get that the quality differs?? from reading a post on Amazon the Tartan Video version is poor, i.e. grain and colour quality. Apparently the language and sound is also a disappointment, it is a dubbed copy. So what we have here is a Mandarin dialogue for a Cantonese film and a mono DD 2.0 mix. To quote..."If you're not bothered about the beautiful Maggie speaking in the voice of a mainland-China child, you might as well go ahead. For everybody else there is the Z1 KINO box set (KINO have even remastered most of the films) and an excellent Z2 - France box set (for everybody who speaks French. No english subtitles!!). Otherwise there's always a slight hope that Tartan might rectify their miserable mistake one day... My question is...the Region 1 version...what is this like? Who sells the Z1 KINO version? Does anyone know what the imported chinese versions are like? I live in the UK and this criticism is for the Region 2 version.

[–] pexi100 18 years ago

Hei!

I have five different version of "Days of being wild", (including french TF1, Kino and Tartan versions). Hong Kong Mega Star Golden collection version is best. It is remastered, no scratches, and color is greenish/blueish, just like Wong and Doyle intented it to be.Audio is cantonese 5.1 dolby. You can buy it very cheap from YesAsia.com. It's NTSC region 0, so it's no problem in UK, since most DVD's and TV's in PAL land plays NTSC... Here is a link:

http://global.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.aspx/code-c/section-videos/pid-1004001546/

Pekka Nurmela

[–] MissManson83 18 years ago

Thanks very much pexi100, I appreciate the speedy reply

[–] pexi100 18 years ago

Hello again, MissManson83!

I forgot to tell you, that english subtitles on that Mega Star version are poor; lots of grammar errors, and some of them are quite awful. But it is still a best version of "DOBW" by now. Let's hope that Tartan releases it again, this time with cantonese audio track...

Pekka Nurmela

[–] jnagarya-1 9 years ago

If one respects the makers of the film, and the film, the Kino is the best because the subtitles are literate.

I'll sacrifice a little video for understanding the film.

[–] klee105 18 years ago

The version you recommend is the one I have. I asked this on an earlier post but have not gotten any response, so I guess I'll push my luck here. In certain scenes, the picture is so dark that I can hardly make out anything other than nondescript dark shadows (the scene between Maggie and Andy in the rain, etc.). Is this the deliberate look of the movie? I've seen stills of the movie where things are much clearer; not sure if they played with the image for the stills or whether something is wrong with the DVD. Thanks in advance.

[–] pexi100 18 years ago

Yes, it's dark, but so what. I think it is dark, because it is meant to be dark, just like it meant to be green tinted. That is just what Christopher Doyle (cinematographer) told in one interview. US Kino, french TFT and first Mega Star version of DOBW are all too much color "corrected" or "normalised". English Tartan release has same color scheme than Mega Star Golden Collection version, but as we all know, it's dubbed in mandarin...

Pekka Nurmela

[–] Lu_tz 18 years ago

I have the Golden Collection version as well. While there are grammatical errors in the subtitles they do not mar the viewing of the DVD at all. The only problem that I had was the speeding of different subtitles. When characters are saying a lot sometimes the subtitles will just flash up one after the other! The picture is really good and it comes in a gold slip case box! Its much nicer looking than the Region 1 version. For a full review go here....
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare7/daysofbeingwild.htm
This website offers comparitive reviews of all Wong Kar-Wai's other movies as well without spoilers. If you have a look at the first set of screen grabs you will get an idea of the fairly inoffensive grammatical errors in the subtitles "Do you bring girls home oftenly".

[–] jnagarya-1 9 years ago

Except that the subtitles are trash.

[–] graceearly 18 years ago

I'm selling my lot of Kar Wai dvd's on ebay if anyone is interested in picking them (most) up for quite cheap.They're all Region 1 for North American player:

http://cgi.ebay.com/DAYS-OF-BEING-WILD-HAPPY-TOGETHER-KAR-WAI-DVD-SET_W0QQitemZ9124413159QQcategoryZ617QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Thanks for your time

[–] biggiesized 16 years ago

I'd say that the MegaStar collection version does have the best color grading (even if not intended), but the subtitles really are piss poor. I feel like I could have done a better job translating them and I don't even understand Chinese!

[–] jnagarya-1 9 years ago

Yep:

"GREAT video! But I wonder what the story is!"