AS AN EARLY COLLECTOR OF JAPANESE CINEMA, IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT TO FIND AUTHENTIC RELEASES WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES, UNTIL TARTAN STARTED RELEASING. MOST OF MY EARLY DVD ARE AUTHENTIC LOOKING BOOTLEG PURCHASED AT KIM'S VIDEO IN NYC.
Was looking at my DVD collection recently and it's crazy how many of them are Tartan Asia Extreme. Many of them I have collected up again on Arrow as they've released a dozen of the films on those Asia Extreme label on Blu-Ray. It's the same with Hong Kong Legends label (with the excellent Bey Logan commentaries), remember back in the mid 00's buying them for 3 for 20 euro. Had nearly all of Jackie Chan films, John Wood classic and Bruce Lee films. Ended up upgrading them films onto Blu Ray, again thanks to Eureka, Arrow and Criterion Collection. But it shows how massively important those labels were to young film fans growing up.
I totally agree, they were most of our first exposure to such films. And some still haven't made it over to Blu-Ray yet, so I still find myself buying some even now. Thanks for watching!
Nice video! Tartan Asia Extreme is a weird one, as it introduced me to so much Asian Cinema then I branched off and discovered even more. But people just think Asian cinema = Tartan Asia Extreme and would miss out on so much. For a long time when I would tell someone I was into Asian cinema their response would be "Oh, Battle Royale?" because to them that was it.
Thanks! I agree, it was a double edged sword. On the one hand, they released so much amazing cinema, but on the other hand, they gave the impression that Asia was the place of extreme cinema, but It was still such an amazing gateway for us.
Adam is a great guy, I’ve been fortunate enough to produce video essays for some of his releases. So you can find some exclusive essays on some of their releases. I’m very proud of that
I am a nobody, but was a big fan of the brand. I actually bought the Infernal Affairs trilogy because it was part of the brand and I am so happy I did.
Great video, another issue looking back is the variability of the transfer quality. Most of their releases had DTS audio so that was usually good, but many transfers where NTSC to PAL or PAL to NTSC conversions and had ghosting arifacts all over. My copy of Sympathy for Mr Vengeance was an NTSC to PAL conversion, and also lacked subtitles for onscreen text (Thank god I watched my friends Blu-Ray). Same for one of the DVDs for Lady Vengeance, I don't think their release of Oldboy had this issue and I remember people saying it was a great release. Either-way, there are many films which are still only available via their DVD releases, like I'm planning on getting their collectors edition release of Hard Boiled as it's considered to be one of the best releases of the film. I'm also looking at their release of Visitor Q, but idk if the film was shot at 50hz or 60hz?
Yeah, the quality for sure could dip, they clearly spent more time on some films than others, as you mention Hard Boiled is a good example of one where they hit it out of the park. Would be interesting to compare them to say Hong Kong Legends, or some of the other labels that brought across some EA cinema from that time. My copy of visitor Q from them is pretty good from what I remember, it's not a film I rush to re-watch lol, not sure if it was shot in 50 or 60 but the use of low-quality digital cameras for the film meant it looked fine from what I remember. Thanks for watching as well, glad you enjoyed the video!
For me, Tartan Asia Extreme was a positive thing. Of course, it's not fair and correct to label so many different directors and films under such crude name as Asia Extreme, but it should be considered as a MacGuffin, that allowed them to place themselves on the market and bring us these films. Diversification and nuances are something not easy to market! You discuss here reasons for their downfall, and they are legit, but there are other interesting things about them, for example: while they were at their most popular period, there was whole plethora of 'high-brow' guardians of the culture, who disliked AE label, and considered it as a Orientalist quota that Asians deliver, to us, Westerners, self-conscious weirdness that they know that sells here - Asians perceiving themselves thorough our eyes, then neatly packaged to our local genre fans or such. These people totally bought into Asia Extreme, almost like those films were produced by them and not just distributed as a psychical media. That, for me, was most important thing about Asia Extreme label, you have to make a compromise, you have to generalize and simplify things if you mean to sell them - place them in the same box. Problem comes when you customers start actually believing that those films, from that big and productive region of the world, actually are aiming for that uniformization. Same with the critics, who also fell for it, without realizing that it's just a marketing strategy, and that those directors and their films have, for the most part, nothing to do with each other and are individually accomplished artist with their own styles and interests.
Very well said, yeah I think that aspect of the label being seen as a production company more than a distributor is really interesting. There is still a lot more than could be said about this label, and you raise a lot of really interesting points! This is another reason I want to do a part two where I maybe go a little more in-depth with the label.
@@RobertEdwardsFilm You recommended me great books before, thanks for that. Here one that, somewhat, covers this topic - Japanese Horror and the Transnational Cinema of Sensations by Steven Brown. Have you read it? It's easy to find.
@@AleksandarBloom I think I read parts of it for some uni work a few years back now, but I never got round to reading the entire thing. I shall add it to my list! Thanks for the heads up!
I used to buy any Tartan Asia Extreme! They introduced me to so many amazing directors
I think this is my undoubtably favourite video essay as a collector and obsessor of physical media
this is a *really* good video. I can already tell this channel's gonna be a big one.
Ahh thank you! I hope so, fingers crossed
Another incredible video, thank you mate!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
AS AN EARLY COLLECTOR OF JAPANESE CINEMA,
IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT TO FIND AUTHENTIC RELEASES WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES,
UNTIL TARTAN STARTED RELEASING.
MOST OF MY EARLY DVD ARE AUTHENTIC LOOKING BOOTLEG PURCHASED AT KIM'S VIDEO IN NYC.
Great video Robert, very informative. I want to explore the J-Horror genre, and Tartan Extreme seems a perfect place to start.
Damn, I love your channel!!
Thank you, that means a lot.
Legendary Label! I wish it was still going to this day
Was looking at my DVD collection recently and it's crazy how many of them are Tartan Asia Extreme. Many of them I have collected up again on Arrow as they've released a dozen of the films on those Asia Extreme label on Blu-Ray. It's the same with Hong Kong Legends label (with the excellent Bey Logan commentaries), remember back in the mid 00's buying them for 3 for 20 euro. Had nearly all of Jackie Chan films, John Wood classic and Bruce Lee films. Ended up upgrading them films onto Blu Ray, again thanks to Eureka, Arrow and Criterion Collection. But it shows how massively important those labels were to young film fans growing up.
I totally agree, they were most of our first exposure to such films. And some still haven't made it over to Blu-Ray yet, so I still find myself buying some even now. Thanks for watching!
@@RobertEdwardsFilmwhat region is these discs on, I’m in the us, so region one for me…
Look forward for your response
Thanks for the video. Would love a part two about Tartan if you ever get a chance to film it. Cheers.
Nice video!
Tartan Asia Extreme is a weird one, as it introduced me to so much Asian Cinema then I branched off and discovered even more. But people just think Asian cinema = Tartan Asia Extreme and would miss out on so much.
For a long time when I would tell someone I was into Asian cinema their response would be "Oh, Battle Royale?" because to them that was it.
Thanks! I agree, it was a double edged sword. On the one hand, they released so much amazing cinema, but on the other hand, they gave the impression that Asia was the place of extreme cinema, but It was still such an amazing gateway for us.
Versus is one of my faves. Takes me back to 00’s nights spent watching TAE films with the boys.
This was a very interesting video. Subscribed and Liked.
Another great vid!
THIRD WINDOW IS THE BEST. I OWN ALMOST EVERY BD AND DVD RELEASED.
MET ADAM MANY YEARS AGO AROUND WHEN HE STARTED THIRD WINDOW, AT A FILM FESTIVAL
Adam is a great guy, I’ve been fortunate enough to produce video essays for some of his releases. So you can find some exclusive essays on some of their releases. I’m very proud of that
I am a nobody, but was a big fan of the brand. I actually bought the Infernal Affairs trilogy because it was part of the brand and I am so happy I did.
Great video, another issue looking back is the variability of the transfer quality. Most of their releases had DTS audio so that was usually good, but many transfers where NTSC to PAL or PAL to NTSC conversions and had ghosting arifacts all over. My copy of Sympathy for Mr Vengeance was an NTSC to PAL conversion, and also lacked subtitles for onscreen text (Thank god I watched my friends Blu-Ray). Same for one of the DVDs for Lady Vengeance, I don't think their release of Oldboy had this issue and I remember people saying it was a great release.
Either-way, there are many films which are still only available via their DVD releases, like I'm planning on getting their collectors edition release of Hard Boiled as it's considered to be one of the best releases of the film. I'm also looking at their release of Visitor Q, but idk if the film was shot at 50hz or 60hz?
Yeah, the quality for sure could dip, they clearly spent more time on some films than others, as you mention Hard Boiled is a good example of one where they hit it out of the park. Would be interesting to compare them to say Hong Kong Legends, or some of the other labels that brought across some EA cinema from that time. My copy of visitor Q from them is pretty good from what I remember, it's not a film I rush to re-watch lol, not sure if it was shot in 50 or 60 but the use of low-quality digital cameras for the film meant it looked fine from what I remember.
Thanks for watching as well, glad you enjoyed the video!
@@RobertEdwardsFilm More than welcome!
I definitely need to look at other DVD labels too, like I've had Naked Killer on my wishlist for a while now.
Thanx!
👍
I think you might like this one - It somewhat reminds me of the early days of J-cyberpunk: 2551.01 by Norbert Pfaffenbichler. It's on youtube.
For me, Tartan Asia Extreme was a positive thing. Of course, it's not fair and correct to label so many different directors and films under such crude name as Asia Extreme, but it should be considered as a MacGuffin, that allowed them to place themselves on the market and bring us these films. Diversification and nuances are something not easy to market!
You discuss here reasons for their downfall, and they are legit, but there are other interesting things about them, for example: while they were at their most popular period, there was whole plethora of 'high-brow' guardians of the culture, who disliked AE label, and considered it as a Orientalist quota that Asians deliver, to us, Westerners, self-conscious weirdness that they know that sells here - Asians perceiving themselves thorough our eyes, then neatly packaged to our local genre fans or such. These people totally bought into Asia Extreme, almost like those films were produced by them and not just distributed as a psychical media.
That, for me, was most important thing about Asia Extreme label, you have to make a compromise, you have to generalize and simplify things if you mean to sell them - place them in the same box. Problem comes when you customers start actually believing that those films, from that big and productive region of the world, actually are aiming for that uniformization. Same with the critics, who also fell for it, without realizing that it's just a marketing strategy, and that those directors and their films have, for the most part, nothing to do with each other and are individually accomplished artist with their own styles and interests.
Very well said, yeah I think that aspect of the label being seen as a production company more than a distributor is really interesting. There is still a lot more than could be said about this label, and you raise a lot of really interesting points! This is another reason I want to do a part two where I maybe go a little more in-depth with the label.
@@RobertEdwardsFilm You recommended me great books before, thanks for that. Here one that, somewhat, covers this topic - Japanese Horror and the Transnational Cinema of Sensations by Steven Brown. Have you read it? It's easy to find.
@@AleksandarBloom I think I read parts of it for some uni work a few years back now, but I never got round to reading the entire thing. I shall add it to my list! Thanks for the heads up!