Asian DVD recommendations ?

dsab

Hi Guys and Gals,

I have a few Asian Films I wanna order tomorrow. Can you please recommend whatever you enjoyed in the past?

I watch all kind of genres, except for horror (really hate Horror Films).

Currently on my list are:

Windstruck
Shaolin Soccer
Shiri
Oldboy
Birdpeople of China

Ah, of course I already have Musa, Hero, Sassy Girl etc.

Thx for your tips.

DSAB

elivsvonchiaing

Would have to recommend Battle Royale - completely off the wall Japanese combat movie - school kids must kill each other to win competition. (If you like that sort of thing).

The Eye : I would argue that this is a ghost movie as opposed to horror - so this may not be your cup of tea. But an excellent movie nonetheless

Salaam Bombay - an old favourite of mine - chronichling the life of a street kid in Mumbai.

MrNuked

Spirited Away is very good.
You've probably seen already Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Vaguely remember a b&w samurai film that was good. Yojimbo or something like that.

the_syco

elivsvonchiaing wrote:

Would have to recommend Battle Royale - completely off the wall Japanese combat movie - school kids must kill each other to win competition. (If you like that sort of thing).

There's a sequal, as well "Battle Royale 2". Also very good. You have to read subtitles, tho.

Retr0gamer

the_syco wrote:

There's a sequal, as well "Battle Royale 2". Also very good. You have to read subtitles, tho.

Its not. Good its a load of ****. Steer clear of it.

I'd have to add Seven Samurai, Princess Mononoke, Wings of
Honneamise, Akira and Ghost in the Shell to whats already been mentioned.

smiaras

This post has been deleted.

MrNuked

If you like Spirited Away and pricess Monoke try Castle in the Sky. More action than Spirited away but not nearly such imaginative animation.

ixoy

smiaras wrote:

This post has been deleted.

And also Infernal Affairs II which is currently showing at the UGC.
Have you seen Hard Boiled? Excellent action movie, before John Woo become a Hollywood whore.

elivsvonchiaing

ixoy wrote:

And also Infernal Affairs II which is currently showing at the UGC.
Have you seen Hard Boiled? Excellent action movie, before John Woo become a Hollywood whore.

I'd be more of the opinion he's become a Hollywood slapper Just my opinion though

nadir

Azumi

Makaveli

Azumi as Nadir says.

Versus, made by the same guy as Azumi.

Volcano High, in the same kind of vain as Versus, ie silly, over the top and good fun.

Ping Pong, love this film. It's all about, well you guessed it, table tennis. Very well done, and funny. If you like Shaolin Soccer I'd say you'll like this.

Infernal Affairs I,II & III. All excellent films.

Happiness of the Katakuris. It's a bit mad. A musical by Takashi Miike, highly rated on boards and well worth it's rating.

Takeshi Kitano has some very good films, like:
Dolls
Sonatine
Hana-Bi
Boiling Point

You should check out Dead of Alive, by Miike. The second one isn't really that good, although it's not bad. Haven't seen the third one.

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is another good film.

voltamadan

tears of the black tiger-mad thai cowboy ****

Gonzo

after reading alot here about how bad Battle Royale 2 is, I finally got to see it the other week and its really not that bad, i thought it was quite good but not as good as first movie which is a classic. Gonna buy it next week.

Karl Hungus

MrNuked wrote:

Vaguely remember a b&w samurai film that was good. Yojimbo or something like that.

Aye, very good film.

I'd definetly suggest other films by Akira Kurosawa, such as Throne Of Blood, and Sanjuro.

See the new Zatoichi film aswell, it's very good altogether.

Kazu

The Isle a film i have to see

elivsvonchiaing

Had forgotten about Kurusawa. There is no plot. It's just sumptuous visual extravaganza: Dreams - not everyone's cup of tea. Would imagine it would be crazy on acid though. :eek:

IDM

elivsvonchiaing wrote:

Had forgotten about Kurusawa. There is no plot. It's just sumptuous visual extravaganza: Dreams - not everyone's cup of tea.

If we're talking about Kurosawa then don't forget "Rashomon" ! Definitely one of his best along with Seven Samurai & Ran.

Karl Hungus

KUNG FU CULT CINEMA

A great resource for reviews on pretty much all Asian films, not just Kung Fu.
Well worth checking out.

And while we're still on about Kurosawa, The Hidden Fortress is also great, but probably not his best.

PWEI

smiaras wrote:

This post has been deleted.

I watched Ichi The Killer last night and while I'm a big fan of Asian films this flim is just pure stupid and sick.I liked Takashi Miike other film Audition but this film is just pure tripe! Avoid!

PWEI

OK I've had some great recommendations on this site like Shiri,Musa and of course the wonderful Hero.Can anybody recommend the best from this lot please;




Sword Of Doom

Versus

Zatoich

Sanjuro

Throne Of Blood

The Seven Samurai

Iron Monkey

Volcano High

Druken Master

Spirited Away

Yojimbo

Shaolin Soccer

Dead Or Alive 1

Azumi

Fuhrio

Akira, its manga, very cool.

Makaveli

PWEI wrote:

Can anybody recommend the best from this lot please;

Sword Of Doom
Versus
Zatoichi
Sanjuro
Throne Of Blood
The Seven Samurai
Iron Monkey
Volcano High
Druken Master
Spirited Away
Yojimbo
Shaolin Soccer
Dead Or Alive 1
Azumi

Haven't seen Sword of Doom, Throne of Blood or Sanjuro.

From that list, Seven Samurai is a must see.
Spirited Away if you like anime. Maybe try Princess Mononoke instead, or aswell.
Shaolin Soccer is great fun to watch. Very enjoyable.
Personally I'd pick Drunken Master over Iron Monkey, both very good kung-fu films, but DM was more enjoyable imo.
Volcano High and Versus, are both fairly over the top films. Not masterpieces but worth watching. Versus over VH.

The best from the lot if I had to pick three:
Seven Samurai
Drunken Master
Shaolin Soccer

Those three because they are all quite different.

PWEI

Makaveli wrote:

The best from the lot if I had to pick three:
Seven Samurai
Drunken Master
Shaolin Soccer

Those three because they are all quite different.

Great,I'll put those three on the top of my list.Thanks a million.
Isn't Akira an animated film?

Mr E

Saw Azumi last night... superb film - absolutely loved it.

Retr0gamer

Isn't Akira an animated film?

Yes it is but don´t let that put you off. Although very obscure its a real must see.

Karl Hungus

Makaveli wrote:

Haven't seen Sword of Doom, Throne of Blood or Sanjuro.

To be honest, you're really missing out there, all three are suberb films.

PWEI

There's a guy on ebay from Canada who has his own store on ebay with loads of cheap Asian dvds.Worth a look;




http://stores.ebay.com/sylsyl-STOPS

projectmayhem

someone already mentioned akira, so i'll just back it up.

also see infernal affairs (there's also a second one, but i haven't seen it). ichi the killer is also great.
also see battle royale, and the less impressive battle royale II.

nadir

TmB wrote:

Saw Azumi last night... superb film - absolutely loved it.

hehe, Isn't it just great.

fizzynicenice

PWEI wrote:

I watched Ichi The Killer last night and while I'm a big fan of Asian films this flim is just pure stupid and sick.I liked Takashi Miike other film Audition but this film is just pure tripe! Avoid!

oh c'mon its cool!! you just need a little patience

and yeah ya can't go too far wrong with miike i would always recoment the triad society trilogy
(shinjuku triad society, rainy dog, ley lines*)
and dead or alive

*=best one

Velcrow

Where did you order these from as I am looking for some Asian Horror Movies myself...Thanks in advance for any info

Scratch Acid

Retr0gamer wrote:

Although very obscure its a real must see.

Umm, it's probably the most well known anime film of all time...

PWEI

Scratch Acid wrote:

Umm, it's probably the most well known anime film of all time...

That's what's put me off it.Ever since Final Fantasy I've been very apprehensive about buying animated films.

Karl Hungus

Velcrow wrote:

Where did you order these from as I am looking for some Asian Horror Movies myself...Thanks in advance for any info

www.play.com

Your only man, figuratively speaking.

PWEI

Karl Hungus wrote:

www.play.com

Your only man, figuratively speaking.

I've got a few Asian dvd's from play.com but some are 14.99 sterling and you can pick them up cheaper from http://www.dddhouse.com
In the last week I've ordered Verus from play.com,Zatoichi and Azumi from this guy on ebay; http://stores.ebay.com/sylsyl-STOPS and Seven Samurai and Shaolin Soccer from http://www.dddhouse.com

Makaveli

PWEI wrote:

That's what's put me off it.Ever since Final Fantasy I've been very apprehensive about buying animated films.

It's nothing like Final Fantasy, anyway that's mostly CGI.
Akira is 2d animation.

Also to let one film deter you from a whole style of film is a bit silly.

Karl Hungus

PWEI wrote:

I've got a few Asian dvd's from play.com but some are 14.99 sterling and you can pick them up cheaper from http://www.dddhouse.com
In the last week I've ordered Verus from play.com,Zatoichi and Azumi from this guy on ebay; http://stores.ebay.com/sylsyl-STOPS and Seven Samurai and Shaolin Soccer from http://www.dddhouse.com

Yes but a lot of those are Region 1, and you're paying shipping on top of that.

Makaveli

I've bought alot from cdwow and dvdsoon aswell as Play.
Alot of mine are region 3, as they tend to get released in Asia a good bit before the R2 release.

scoey

PWEI wrote:

I've got a few Asian dvd's from play.com but some are 14.99 sterling and you can pick them up cheaper from http://www.dddhouse.com
In the last week I've ordered Verus from play.com,Zatoichi and Azumi from this guy on ebay; http://stores.ebay.com/sylsyl-STOPS and Seven Samurai and Shaolin Soccer from http://www.dddhouse.com

Ha, soon you will have the fun experience of trying to figure out what the hell the subtitles on Seven Samurai are supposed to mean . Just a (too late) warning, they're absolutely terrible on the dvd from dddhouse and there were times when I considered turning the movie off and getting a different version. The other Kurosawa movies from there seem ok though.

PWEI

scoey wrote:

Ha, soon you will have the fun experience of trying to figure out what the hell the subtitles on Seven Samurai are supposed to mean . Just a (too late) warning, they're absolutely terrible on the dvd from dddhouse and there were times when I considered turning the movie off and getting a different version. The other Kurosawa movies from there seem ok though.

At least the dvds from dddhouse are ordinals.I've bought over a hundred items on ebay and never had a problem but i've been stung on my last two items.That guy on ebay that I mentioned earlier who has his own store on ebay;


http://stores.ebay.com/sylsyl-STOPS


Well I ordered three dvds from him and they arrived yesterday.On ebay his location said Canada but the stamps on the package were from Hong Kong
so straight away I became suspicious.Then when I opened them up the boxes looked exactly like a dvd i got recently from China (House of Flying Daggers) which was a bad bootleg copy.The first two played alright but then I tried Azumi and to my horror it didn't have any English subtitiles.I couldn't believe it as House of Flying Daggers was the last item I got from ebay but the subtitles were from some American military war movie.I thought that people weren't allowed sell bootlegs on ebay? The guy who is supposed to be in Canada has sold thousands of dvds which I presume are all bootlegs cause he's had loads of negative feedback.When I bought House of Flying Daggers the guy selling them was only new but had loads of positive feedback but in one week while I was waiting for it to arrive he got loads of negative.
I think I'm going to stick to play.com and dddhouse from now on.

boudu

Chungking Express is excellent.

nadir

PWEI wrote:

That's what's put me off it.Ever since Final Fantasy I've been very apprehensive about buying animated films.

Please dont just dump anime because of one film. It shouldnt really be catagorised as 'anime'. Anime titles cover every type of content from porn to intellectual to action to cutesy to drama to completely off the wall. Its just animated that's all. If you can dig watching something that's animated, then you will definately find something for your pallet, you just need to look around.

All you need do is have a look at some of Miyazaki's work compared with other famous titles like Ghost in the Shell and such. You can already see the massive differences, and its not all as complicated and off the wall as Evangelion.

btw, I found www.dvdpacific.com/ to be quite good for purchasing

baxterfly

You you definately check these out. Its a series of six films. Hard to track down but definatley worth it. They remade the first two for america as 'Shogun Assassin'. Which was featured in Kill Bill 2.

suppafly

U should get Ninja Scroll. its oldish anime move but its tight!

nadir

i seem to be the only person who didnt like ninja scroll.
For me it was just a series of really cool scenes, but didnt really hold together as a film. Oh well I guess there is always one person who has to disagree, this time it's me
for anyone who's new to anime, i guess watch a Miyazaki film, like Princess Mononoke or Spirited away, Akira or Metropolis, and some thing completely different like FLCL, Rahxaphon or Berserk. That should give a good spectrum of anime titles

Makaveli

Not alone.
Ninja Scroll is a totally over-rated film.
Not all that good really. Like you said, some cool scenes, eg the battles, but not much else going on.

PWEI

I wanted to keep this topic going as I found some real gems because of it.
Saw Shaolin Soccer the other night and I don't think I've laughed as much at any film in a long long time although it got a little stupid towards the end.
I just picked up Dark Water from cdwow Hong Kong for €6.60,is it any good?
The selection from cdwow Hong Kong is getting better and better.I'm gutted though,I bought House Of Flying Daggers from ebay twice and both copies were dodgy bootlegs.Now you can pick it up on cdwow HK for about €9.

cosgrove80

Saw Battle Royale 2 for rent in Xtravision today.

Haven't seen this or the first but I was quite suprised to see such an "obscure" title gracing the shelves.

Just thought I'd mention it.

Also, I haven't seen Oldboy mentioned in this thread. (EDIT: Sorry it was in the first post ) Thought it was great. Think it's playing in Dublin at the moment.

Originally Posted by scoey
Ha, soon you will have the fun experience of trying to figure out what the hell the subtitles on Seven Samurai are supposed to mean . Just a (too late) warning, they're absolutely terrible on the dvd from dddhouse and there were times when I considered turning the movie off and getting a different version. The other Kurosawa movies from there seem ok though.

Ordered it off dddhouse recently but haven't got around to watching it ( never have ) but that's really annoying if true. Should I watch it or should I source a better version for the pure experience?

ixoy

PWEI wrote:

Saw Shaolin Soccer the other night and I don't think I've laughed as much at any film in a long long time although it got a little stupid towards the end.

Good, good. I see UGC are intending to show this, so I'll give it a look.

I just picked up Dark Water from cdwow Hong Kong for €6.60,is it any good?

I enjoyed it. It's a bit of a slow burner - don't expect loads of Hollywood "jump" moments. Instead except an atmosphere of profound unease that grows throughout the movie. Something unsettling about the whole thing...

fizzynicenice

just ordered hero, house of flying daggers and oldboy off cd-wow hong kong, 50eurro overall. that site has some great prices

elivsvonchiaing

Just got back from er- we'll just say south-east Asia recently. Plenty of DVDs for just over €2! Fairly sure they may not be strictly legit Got an English newspaper in most hotels I was in, and nearly every day there was a story of cops raid illegal DVD racket. Can't think why anyone would pay a tenner (local legit price roughly) for a movie when you can get it without case for just €2! (with cover).

These vary from cheap cam in cinema to full quality - tip older the movie - the better. Also media quality varies...

Ironically, I bought "Battle Royale" and had to re-rip it - it was just €1.20 though. Everything you do buy annoyingly has sub-titles enabled as default.

Down/Up (your trip!) side of all this is you get approached by countless people offering you porn DVDs. Mental note next time I'll go alone