Female Prisoner Scorpion Box set from Arrow in July

[47lab]

Another one that I'm glad I didn't pre-order. Judging by the caps, that overblown trailer was indicative of the final product. I was worried this might sell out before I get a chance to order it but now, who cares if it does. ;) The extras/supplements aren't enough of an incentive for me to upgrade especially if the Tom Mes Unchained Melody becomes a standalone book in the future from Fab Press as planned.

To my knowledge none of Arrow's Japanese titles have sold out with the exception of the Stray Cat Rock UK box set but the US version is still readily available at the same price. I held off pre-ordering any of these Arrow releases with the exception of the Kiju Yoshida box set. Now you can get these Japanese titles for cheap during their flash sales.

The other thing I'm tripping on are all the positive comments on facebook raving about the artwork. WTF?! the artwork is atrocious and an embarrassment to the spirit of the originals & now apparently the transfers are as well.

[Dom D]

Wow! Generally speaking I think collectors take transfer issues far too seriously but those are genuinely shocking. Did Toei send them the films looking like this or did Arrow just decide to butcher the film's themselves?

[Takuma]

Media Blasters DVD (Grudge)



Jailhouse 41 (Toei)




Note: not exact same frames

[Takuma]

Dear God. That looks absolutely horrible.

Ian, are those Blu-Ray discs? Official review copies?

[Ian Jane]

And from Jailhouse 41.

[Ian Jane]

Well, test discs showed up today for 2 of the 4 movies.

A few caps from Beast Stable....

[Derrick King]

final specs and box art

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
•Limited Edition Blu-ray collection (4000 copies)
•Brand new 2K restorations of all four films in the series presented on High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD
•Original mono audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-rays) for all films
•Optional English subtitles for all films
•Double-sided fold out poster of two original artworks
•Reversible sleeves for all films featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ian MacEwan
•Booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic Chuck Stephens, a brand new interview with Toru Shinohara, creator of the original Scorpion manga and an archive interview with Meiko Kaji by Chris D. illustrated with original stills

FEMALE PRISONER #701: SCORPION
•Newly filmed appreciation by filmmaker Gareth Evans (The Raid)
•Shunya Ito: Birth of an Outlaw, an archive interview with the director
•Scorpion Old and New, a new interview with assistant director Yutaka Kohira
•Theatrical Trailers for all four films in the series

FEMALE PRISONER SCORPION: JAILHOUSE 41
•Newly filmed appreciation by critic Kier-La Janisse
•Japanese cinema critic Jasper Sharp looks over the career of Shunya Ito
•Designing Scorpion, a new interview with production designer Tadayuki Kuwana
•Original Theatrical Trailer and Teaser

FEMALE PRISONER SCORPION: BEAST STABLE
•Newly filmed appreciation by critic Kat Ellinger
•Shunya Ito: Directing Meiko Kaji, an archive interview with the director
•Unchained Melody, a new visual essay by Tom Mes on the career of Meiko Kaji
•Original Theatrical Trailer and Teaser

FEMALE PRISONER SCORPION: #701's GRUDGE SONG
•Newly filmed appreciation by filmmaker Kazuyoshi Kumakiri (Kichiku: Banquet of the Beasts)
•Yasuharu Hasebe: Finishing the Series, an archive interview with the director
•Japanese cinema critic Jasper Sharp looks over the career of Yasuharu Hasebe
•They Call Her Scorpion, a new visual essay by Tom Mes on the film series
•Original Theatrical Trailer

[Takuma]

I sent Arrow email about the look of the trailer. Let's see if I can get a reply.

I really hope the trailer is not representative of the transfers...

Media Blasters DVD


BD Trailer


Media Blasters DVD


BD Trailer


So much LESS detail (e.g. the Toshiba sign) in the BD trailer...

[AngelGuts]

Fingers crossed that promo is some sort of joke.

I've always pre-ordered this.

[Derrick King]

This is getting delayed, the new release date is August 8 (UK) / August 9 (US)

[Bogart]

im not worried, im sure Toei will have provided Arrow with masters on a par with other Toei/Arrow releases. But whoever put together that promo for Arrow needs a few words. Only a few weeks away now so we shall see but I think its a bit unfiar to start writing the box off even before its come out!

If it does end up looking like that I will return it!!

[Takuma]

Arrow's earlier JP releases may not have had great transfers, but at least they were ok. This BD trailer looks far inferior to the dvd releases...

The films are available in HD on Amazon (JP) Video. There's a preview clip available. Different scene, and I can't get it to play in HD because Amazon Video sucks, but clearly the Japanese transfer doesn't have the same issues.







So, it seems like the alternatives are:
1) Arrow is advertising their set with a trailer where the colors/contast/etc. have been intentionally been made to look horrible, and the actual BDs are fine.
2) The trailer is accurate, Arrow has redone the Japanese HD transfers, and completely fucked up.
3) Something else?

[enandalusiskhund]

Oh no... Just sold my old DVDs and pre-ordered the Arrow set today. Great timing.

[Keeth]

Has there been any word as to whether the box set is it or they'll release the films individually in the future? I'm not going to be able to order the set any time soon. Hopefully it will not sell out too quickly. And based on those images, I want to wait until some reviews are out. The dvd's & dvd-r's I already have may just be all I need if the new transfers are not great. I like the films but they do not get frequently re-viewings.

[Lalala76]

Now I'm scared...

A trailer was posted online for the BD release, and the picture quality looks horrible!
http://theplaylist.net/exclusive-tra...kaji-20160630/

This can't be representative of the actual transfers, can it? That trailer was made by some drunken teenage Michael Bay fan who just turned the contrast up to 110 and gave it a blue tint that eats out all other colors, right?

BD Trailer:


Media Blaster DVD


BD Trailer


Toei DVD


Can someone ask Arrow about this?

Regardless of "new" Arrow's reputation of being high on Quality, the transfers provided to them for most of their Japanese releases haven't been top rank. I have Outlaw Gangster and Battles without honor as well as some of the standalone tiltes and they have been passable to good, not great. But still, the awesome packages that Arrow put together kind of makes up for it. Half the time they have no control of what they are given, unless they do inhouse transfers a la James White.