The Killer Bluray

Posted In: Killers

Gwendolyn Quesinberry says...

I've read bad reviews, Blu Ray wise. To be on the safe side I rented this. I'm watching this right now on a 100" screen, this BD transfer goes from really bad to Horrible! Even on my 42" plasma it's bad. This is a crime against this incredible movie. If ur watching w/the English dub/sub titles it's confusing it does not match with the dub which throws the meaning off to what is actually being said. The audio is CRAP! Dragon Dynasty gotta get it together!



But this movie is Incredible!

Posted on February 26, 2011

Isis Brosman says...

Just awful.No remastered picture.It's from a 1080i interlaced PAL transfer with no HD audio and no new extras.Looks like the Weinstein's have managed to ruin yet another film on Blu-ray by being extremely cheap.



Definitely input your thoughts on their Dragon Dynasty site here:

[...]



I guess if you haven't seen it and you really want to since there are no other available US releases available, do so at your own risk.Try renting it first before buying and rate it against other Blu-ray releases from the same time period as the Killer.

Posted on February 26, 2011

Samella Chapelle says...

I loved this film, and waited for its blu-ray release.But this is worse than my least expectations.The format is awful. Aspect ratio awful, because the camera zooms in and cuts out top, bottom, and sides of the original film.How could this happen?Did they assign a couple of kids in a garage to produce this?Awful, truly bad.

Posted on February 26, 2011

Kam Rorex says...

There is plenty of negativity on Blu Ray review sites regarding this transfer...from the 1080i resolution to the claim that "older dvd version's look better than the blu ray." Well let me start out by saying that the 3 stars is for the blu ray itself, not for the movie. The movie is easily a five star film, so let's get to the transfer itself....



Could this have looked better? Absolutely. Am I still more than satisfied with this release until something better comes along? Yes. The 1080i resolution did not bother me in the slightest, it's still high definition and the only time you will notice the interlacing is if you pause during a quick-action scene. Once paused, the interlaced "combing" effect becomes apparent. My problem with the transfer is the quality of the print used, which is clearly the fault of Dragon Dynasty for not searching out a better quality print without all of the specks, pops, burns, and scratches. But this is Dragon Dynasty we're talking about, and they're not exactly known for their "Criterion-level" quality of work they put into their releases.



Besides the prominent print-issues, the definition of the image looks better than I have ever seen it for this film. Even without the progressive resolution, we still retain an incredible amount of detail.



Special features are somewhat lacking, but decent enough for a Dragon Dynasty release, and are mostly imported from previous versions (honestly, what special edition catalog blu ray's don't have imported special features).



Audio definitely leaves more to be desired, as the entire soundtrack seems very "canned" on my Yamaha 5.1 system. It certainly say's something that watching "The Men Who Stare At Goats" immediately after this, gave my system more of a "workout" than "The Killer".



In closing, I for one am just happy to finally have a copy of this movie on home video of any sort, as I refused to pay the ridiculous prices for the OUT OF PRINT Criterion version in the past few years. Perhaps someday Criterion or Studiocanal will grab up the rights for this one and we can get a proper 1080P version with some new special features, a 7.1 remastered soundtrack, and a quality print run through a spirit datacine processor. Until then, this transfer/release is more than enough to sit back and enjoy John Woo's classic at home.

Posted on February 26, 2011

Elbert Masser says...

I am about to cancel my pre-order of this Blu Ray release.Please check the screen grabs at DVDBeaver.The transfer is obviously INFERIOR to prior DVD releases.I was eagerly awaiting this title, but I am not going to throw away $20.This is a disgrace.

Posted on February 27, 2011

Sabra Dunster says...

As any fan of this film knows, we've been waiting for the clich

Posted on March 1, 2011

Lela Kacik says...

Lets make this clear.This is the best looking version of the Killer I have ever seen.Way better than anything released on DVD.If you are a fan of the movie I recommend getting this release.



My favorite extra was the deleted scenes.I had never seen these and they were a real treat.Most are short but there was one longer one where Danny Lee takes Jenny home instead of Chow Yun Fat.The other extras were ok, but nothing special.



That being said, I do have some problems with the release.For a more technical analysis of the film visit dvdbeaver and check their review.Here are some items I noticed.



The subtitles are lousy.They are technically correct, with very few typos and translation errors.However, during some key scenes the words are changed up and I my opinion they lose a lot of the emotional impact.One in particular was the scene where Fung Sei goes to get the money and gets beat up.The movie also makes mention of triads frequently in the film, which I've never seen in any other versions.Again it wasn't a bad translation, but just the choice of words that I had issue with.



The English Dub track is a joke, as I figured it would be; I prefer the Cantonese anyway.The English track is "hot" during the entire movie, meaning that even during scenes where there is music only you can still hear the English track running "on top" of it.It's like a microphone recording white\blank noise.I'm guessing it's like this because it probably overlaid the existing track.



Also, the music volume is a bit weak.This has been a problem for other Killer releases as well, but it seemed like the music track could have been pumped up a bit more.It sounds a little lower than the voice volume, and it should be the opposite.



Video-wise the movie is in 1080i, which I haven't seen before.I thought all Blu Rays were supposed to be 1080p.Not a big deal; I mentioned the movie looks fantastic.Maybe it because I got a new tv, but slow mo scenes look marginally sped up or faster compared to my older DVD.I don't know if this was just because the video is much better, or it it has something to do with 1080i.I prefer the slower look of the DVD but the speed up wasn't bad.The movie also appears to be in the correct aspect ratio.When Dragon Dynasty released Hard Boiled on DVD they zoomed in on the movie to make a 1.85 move into 1.78 so that it filled up a widescreen tv.This cut off the sides of the movie slightly.No evidence of that here.



Flaws aside, this is a must own for fans of the movie.Just don't get this movie expecting a Criterion quality level of subtitles, bonus features, etc.Props to Dragon Dynasty for releasing John Woo movies (and other Asian films) that we would otherwise not be able to get here in the US.

Posted on March 3, 2011

Thaddeus Nanthanong says...

I should preface this by saying I dont own this and I will not buy this because I have seen the screenshots at DVDBeaver and they are terrible. What is going on over at Dragon Dynasty?This is really shoddy work - just pure laziness.I was so excited for this.I am a huge fan of the Hong Kong Legends Region 2 DVD which is long out of print and I have even seen the film on the big screen at a reperatory theater (The New Beverly in Los Angeles) and was really looking forward to seeing this.It seems Dragon Dynasty is cutting corners.One other instance is their Supercop release without the original Hong Kong cut.I dont know... it seems like the Weinstein company doesnt actually care about these films and just wants to release them in the cheapest way possible.I bet this is one of the reasons Bey Logan isnt really with the company anymore.

Posted on March 4, 2011

Melita Nava says...

Just to counterbalance the hyperbolic 5 star "review"s which have absolutely no relevance to this Blu-ray Dragon Dynasty abomination:



From DVDBeaver:

"....a real disappointment.....hazy...moiring...does not look or sound very good at all....riddled with annoying artifacts...no lossless audio option...ridiculous English dub in 5.1 but original Cantonese in 2.0 channel...this interlaced transfer is unacceptable...extras all seem re-hashed".



From [...]:

"..wow, what a major disppointment...This is so far from high definition quality that aside from being anamorphically enhanced I can't really say much else recommends it...at times not even as sharp as a decently upconverted SD-DVD...Vivendi really needs to go back to the drawing board on these Dragon Dynasty releases, because the first two have been travesties from an image standpoint.."



I haven't previously sunk so low as to review a product I haven't seen myself but these two websites are consistantly reliable and I get so irritated by industry shills (A. Nani Moss - anonymous? Oh how hilarious you are) pushing their product disguised as "reviews". It was enough for me to cancel my pre-order anyway.

Posted on March 5, 2011

Aisha Perrez says...

Summary:



I give this movie 7 stars out of 5. I give this release 2 stars out of 5.



A magnificent and one of the most influential action/drama movies ever made.



This release, the only one for the North American market, is lack-luster. Cleaned up from original film holes, dirt and dust, sound track noise but offset substantially by the quality of the digital video and audio encoding and compression. The original Cantonese track is mono (expected) but the English dub track is mono too (very unexpected). Subtitles are better than some other releases of this movie. Extra features OK, but not in keeping with a movie of this significance in Asian cinema and action cinema.



This post has some very detailed comments on this movie as a movie, followed by objective facts about the DVD followed by some opinions.



This is one of the most important and influential police thriller, action drama movies ever made and certainly to have ever come from Hong Kong. It is a magnificent stylized gun-fu bullet ballet expanding on themes and character types from previous John Woo and Chow Yun-Fat works such as A better Tomorrow and A Better Tomorrow 2. It is loosely a remake of Jean-Pierre Melville's "Le Samoura

Posted on March 8, 2011