Ever getting a US release? - Tian mai zhuan qi Discussion

[–] WhoLead 20 years ago

A recent story says that Miramax is trying to unload it's overload of HK films, including The Touch. If someone picks it up, it is the final version as requested by Miramax, cleaned up and the FX finished, so we won't have the complaints those in HK made (the SFX (special effects) weren't completed by the HK fx house before the release date, so they had to go with what they had).

You'll like this movie, I definitely liked it. And hopefully someone will put it out in theaters here in the West - it deserves to be seen!

reply

[–] geungsi 19 years ago

Most likely not. There is a character in it that is a rather unflattering parody of Tarantino (Bob). Since Harvey kisses QT's butt, it's doubtful it will be released. This is only one reason though. Miramax doesn't need a reason to buy up HK films and then sit on them. Their strategy is to grab whatever might make money so that their competitors won't get to them first.

Kind of like Microsoft or Apple which buys out possible competition.

It's also why Sony has been getting more deals lately like House of Flying Daggers, etc. The Asian film makers are getting to wise to the fact that making a deal with Miramax kills off your opportunity at breaking into the US market.

Especially since the whole Hero fiasco, which Miramax smothered so that it wouldn't take any potential revenue away from the Kill Bill movies.

Since the knowledge of what Miramax does to Asian film is more out in the open now, we can only hope it drives them to change. (Roger Ebert even called them on it when he reviewed Shaolin Soccer.)

It does seem that the Weinsteins just aren't interested in an HK movie fan's money...

reply

[–] WhoLead 19 years ago

While I cannot dispute your assessment of Miramax (everyone in the Asian film fan groups knows all about them), Miramax - for one reason or another - did announce publicly that they are trying to sell off the excess movies they have in house, one of which is The Touch. If they sell the rights to it, it might be possible that whoever buys the film from them will put it out.

And that is exactly what I'm hoping for. I haven't gotten to see this movie on the big screen and am very pissed at Miramax.

reply

[–] JdZeik 19 years ago

As one of the writers on this film I can say, categorically, that Bob (whom I created) and QT have NO resemblance whatsoever. I don't care what anybody at Miramax thinks, but Bob was simply supposed to be comic relief, and the director (Peter Pau) liked him so much he kept asking me to put in more of him (he even asked me, at least a little bit seriously, to play the part, which would have been an unqualified disaster, as I can't act).

Frankly, "The Touch" is an okay film (I'd love to see the ending with better FX, which I've only heard of). We aimed for something we didn't hit, and my involvement was only a few weeks total (had a great time in Hong Kong, though). Miramax would have made its money back by simply releasing it in a timely manner and advertising it as being the first movie for Michelle since "Crouching Tiger" (as well as directed by "CT's" Oscar-winning cinematographer). Miramax simply overbuys films, and doesn't release everything it buys -- "Prozac Nation" is a perfect example.

Such is life.

JDZ

reply

[–] WhoLead 19 years ago

I liked The Touch, actually. Sure it wasn't perfect, but it was a very good start for a first production. Miramax is trying to unload The Touch, along with a load of other Asian films that they overbought. With the changes made and FX finished, let us hope someone does put it out and advertises it as you suggested. Maybe Sony will buy it.

You know, for all the bad publicity this film got in HK (and Silver Hawk in January), both films did extremely well in all the other markets they were released in. I don't know what it is with HK audiences...

reply

[–] WhoLead 19 years ago

Oh, and btw, I definitely liked Bob. =)

reply

[–] lyehuat1973 19 years ago

Definitely an "eh" movie. It wasn't that bad. But it was...pointless.

reply

[–] JackBravo69 19 years ago

The Touch in a word:

embarrassing

How do you like your brandy, sir?
In a glass.

reply

[–] WhoLead 19 years ago

Sorry, but I disagree with both of you. I enjoyed the movie. It wasn't Shakespeare, but it wasn't meant to be. It was supposed to be entertaining, and I had a good time. I wasn't embarrassed watching the movie, the concept wasn't bad and they executed it well. The FX didn't help it, and they apparently got that cleaned up for the US version they sent to Miramax. But as everyone knows, Miramax is sitting on it - and now they're trying to sell off a bunch of HK movies they bought up over the last few years.

reply

[–] curtis-8 15 years ago

The US version is now showing on cable TV, and, except for being the English language version, it is identical to the HK version I saw on my imported DVD.
AND it's crap. Not the effects--but the story, the plotting, the action, the characters, the acting, etc.
The main thing I hated about it was that they make a big deal about the heroes having been trained to be the only super-acrobats on the planet who can reach the secret whatsit. BUT at the end, it turns out that EVERYONE can flip, flop, jump, swing and fly like an expert (which kind of makes all the training the heroes have done for generations seem kinda pointless, huh?).
It's that kind of unfocused, story-based laziness that made the film a failure (just like Jackie Chan's The Medallion).

reply

[–] uzibeatle 9 years ago

Say, not every day I get to necro a thread this old.

I just saw it on Netflix streaming.

Actually I enjoyed the first half of the movie and overlooked nit picks.

It really began to fall apart for me in the last 20 minutes or so.

If I was to rate the first 1/3rd it would have been a 7 out of 10 for me.
If I was to rate the last 20 minutes it fell to a 4 or so if not less out of 10.

So I ended up rating a 6. I've seen far worse out of the USA. Trejo films for example.

Just don't expect a lot.

reply

[–] CLaFong 18 years ago

The character of 'Bob' was played by Dane Cook -- who is now
the hottest stand up comic (and future movie star) in the US.

reply

[–] WhoLead 19 years ago

This is actually getting released in Japan next month (something like April 16 or 19) under the name "Treasure of Senzang". So who knows, maybe we'll get some results in the US soon!

reply

[–] rock130000 18 years ago

Any recent word on a release?
I've been waiting for this movie for close to 4 years now.........damn, that's a long time.

One is too many, and a thousands never enough. If you were any smarter, you'd be a complete moron

reply

[–] WhoLead 18 years ago

The wonderful news is that the guys at Miramax have the film - or is it the Weinstein brothers? They have their own company now I think. Bad news is, I'm not sure they have a clue what to do with it or all the other HK action movies they bought the rights to. You can find The Touch on Hong Kong DVD, but I'd wait for the US release. Though overall the movie is really good, the special effects at the end bugged moviegoers when it was released in theaters in Asia (well, some moviegoers anyway) and the US version has the completed effects (the SFX company they used for the film wasn't able to finish the effects before the release date).

I watched this just this weekend again and it really is well done.

reply

[–] curtis-8 18 years ago

It's now out on dvd in the USA.

reply

[–] curtis-8 18 years ago

On second thought, maybe not really. I saw that Netflix has it, but it might be an official Chinese import created for international distribution. Has both Mandarin and English options.
I remember reading years ago that Mirimax was intending to "fix" the effects before release. If you've seen the flick, you know that they'd have to re-film the last 15 minutes entirely to do that.

reply

[–] jlittlej 17 years ago

It's currently airing on the Action (Starz, I think) channel in the US.

reply

[–] WhoLead 17 years ago

Silver Hawk is on, but not The Touch. SH was released in the US on DVD.

reply

[–] vandammage21-1 17 years ago

The Touch was on encore this past sunday and I loved it.

reply

[–] IanDSmith 17 years ago

That stinks, I have that channel and would have loved to have seen it.

reply

[–] Kukuu 17 years ago

Are you sure it was "The Touch" but not "Silver Hawk"? I don't think U.S. TV has aired "The Touch"...

reply

[–] JackTorrance1990 17 years ago

They did air it. I remember the ads for its television premiere from watching the Starz! Action channel back in August 2006.

The Godfather Part II:Greatest Ever

We're gonna raise more hell than Hellraiser.

reply

[–] teadm 15 years ago

The Starz print runs 84 minutes, not 103 as listed on the IMDb. Apparently it's a reedited, shorter version.

reply