The Films You Watched Thread VI: The Undiscovered Movie

[QualityChimp]

Wow, I love Hard Boiled. Can't believe all those heroic bloodshed movies aren't dominating some boutique blu-ray label's catalogue. I heard a rumour a lot of the source material is no longer available but I'm not 100% on that. there must be a reason these films have been off the radar for so long.

I'll be honest, I'm getting fed up of the Jackie Chan films getting Re-Released at the expense of everything else.

Where's Iron Angels, Pedicab Driver, Outlaw Brothers and so on?

This was the Tartan version of Hard Boiled.
I joked about Steve Arnott in Line of Duty turning up twin guns blazing like Tequila, and then I had to scratch that itch, so I got it for about £2 delivered off eBay!

Sound fluctuates between headphones and there’s hairs on the print, but I don't mind a bit of grain!

[Atticus]

Good old Tartan. It was a great label for Asia extreme. I used to have the Criterion dvd but sold all my R1 titles ages ago ... that might have been as good as it got. There has been a Blu-ray release around 10 years ago but I think it's just a ropey upscale of a previously average version (which back up the theory of the masters being lost/unusable).

[wakka]

Hong Kong did get a supposedly remastered Blu-ray a couple of years ago:

https://www.yesasia.com/global/hard-boiled-1992-blu-ray-remastered-edition-hong-kong-version/1075312308-0-0-0-en/info.html?sscid=41k5_l1mal

Not sure if it's better but I've been very tempted to pick it up. The artwork is so great for that film

If I do, I'll report back on quality.

[Brad]

Nobody:

Bob Odenkirk in a cross between Falling Down and John Wick.

Absolutely brilliant. Obvious where the influences are but the execution is fantastic. Doc Emet Brown is in it too

[QualityChimp]

Nobody

How did you watch it, Brad?
I can't find it streaming anywhere.

[monel]

I think there's been a full HD remaster of Hard Boiled ever since the Japan release years ago. The film was ahead of it's time, at least action wise and has been an 'influence' on many. All with no CGI.

[QualityChimp]

Disappointed I can't play Stranglehold on my BC Xbox One.

[Dogg Thang]

I just watched Stowaway. It is a very bad movie.

[gordon]

So did I. I concur.

[QualityChimp]

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[Dogg Thang]

I enjoy most of Land but it totally fails to bring things together at the end (quite literally) and it leaves the movie feeling like a disappointment on every watch. It’s like 80% of a movie.

Day is my favourite, in part due to the amazing score. But Dawn is pretty great too.

[Atticus]

Tenet - Like most peeps I was constantly rewiring my brain while watching this. Some great ideas going on but not as purely enjoyable as something like Inception. Still very good though. And yes, I really need to see it again.

Anchorman - I'm not a massive Will Ferrell fan but thought I'd have a look based on a few recommendations. It's like a Smokey and the Bandit era comedy (with modern twists, obviously) that has its moments but not quite enough laughs to justify sitting through it. Maybe it needs to be seen in packed cinema to fully enjoy.

Sword of Vengeance - I'd never seen any of the Lone Wolf and Cub films. True to their reputation, the sex and violence rages full on. Pretty entertaining but I'm in no hurry to watch them all.

Silence - I'm okay with a Scorsese slow-burner and this has to be the slowest of the slow. It's two and a half hours long and somehow feels like four and a half. I paused it thinking there was 20 minutes left and it was just about at the half way mark. It's beautifully made. The story of a couple of padres spreading the word of christianity in Japan while searching for a former missing member of the church. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood. It felt like a slog.

Men & Chicken - Wow. Where to start. This is funny and freaky in equal parts. And not only that. It stars an almost unrecognisable Mads Mikkelsen as one of two brothers searching for their birth father and in the process finding three half-brothers in a dilapidated asylum on a small island. The two brothers are peculiar until we meet their half brothers. Then they feel normal. It's hard to know where all the madness, sadness and Vic n Bob style violence is going but the message it leaves you with is definitely worth the journey.

[Zen Monkey]

I recently watched Shadow - the latest Chinese wuxia film from Zhang Yimou (Raise the Red Lantern, House of Flying Daggers, Hero, Curse of the Golden Flower). Visually, it might be the most glorious film I've seen as every single scene looks like a Chinese ink-brush and watercolor painting. It really is quite mesmerising.

[Neon Ignition]

Justice League: The Snyder Cut
Finally finished this and it's a lot to take in to be honest. It's a hard one to properly evaluate too because there's no escaping that this isn't the true form of the film either, it feels like it's a good thing he filmed so much but at the same time this was originally going to be a 2-2.5hr film at the most so there's an intentional excess of content here that I can only assume would have made its way into the sequel had it been made.

Key things probably are:

Batman - The film removes his one liners but doesn't really add anything notable for the character which I'm a little surprised by but okay with. The main addition is the final scene which stands out mostly because how notably different Affleck looks.

Wonder Woman - Similarly there's not really anything worthwhile new here for her either, understandable given she's already been in one film and Snyder knew of the solo films.

Aquaman - Not much new here either, I think it's mostly interesting that the film better arcs his mood lightening over its course and it ending with him deciding to visit his father which ties better in with the solo film.

Cyborg - I mean, it's immense what was cut here. So much and I was already familiar with a lot of it due to the Doom Patrol series and even Teen Titans Go to an extent but still it's interesting that his arc was so heavily axed. I don't think every aspect was needed but a lot of it was and tied in with the end of the film, it certainly adds a lot more depth particularly considering how much ties in with Star Labs but I guess that's also why Flash was axed down so much too. The only real issue with Cyborg is that, awkward as it as following all the issues he's had with the WB brass, it's still not a very compelling performance by Fisher whether it's him or the direction. He's still hard to sell on the original plan to have his own solo film follow this.

Superman - To be honest it was surprising how much this character pans out the same as the borked version despite the new footage. He's still barely in it and it pans out mostly the same too. Perhaps the only advantage the original version of the film has is here where a slightly better job is done of Superman coming across as lighter at the end where here he's still broody-pre death like.

Steppenwulf - Better, not a charismatic villain but definitely better for more framing of his reasonings.

Darkseid - I can only assume that other than runtime Darkseid was cut so as not to tease a direct follow up and maybe execs thought he was (ironically) too Thanos like too soon. A shame though, he doesn't do much but certainly adds to the sense of the stakes at play and why they feel Superman is needed.

Flash - Definitely much better here, though a lot of the early material is carried over the additions make him much more likeable as the inexperienced member of the team eager to please and finally fit in. The context of his scenes retroactively make the weird moments of BvS make more sense too. The Iris scene works well and I cannot believe Whedon or the execs at Warners seriously looked at the finale with Flash and thought for one second that removing what is easily the best action scene in the entire film that not only displays but showcases his abilities and drive and relevance was the right move and swapped it for pushing a truck of villagers. Honestly, that the best sequence in the film was nearly never shown...

In the end, it's unquestionably the superior version sequel baiting ending aside and the immensely stupid aspect ratio decision ignored. It feels like an intriguing look into the directional approach of Snyder. This is the second DCU film improved by adding in cut content which makes you wonder how much a failure to control content vs edits has hindered the other films. It's not different enough to elevate the film to being amazing but it's definitely fascinating, the superior version and decent.

[QualityChimp]

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