Has anyone seen the new Criterion release? I just saw the comparison over at dvdbeaver and was really dissapointed. It looks very washed out and dull. Does anyone know how it stacks up against the R3 Alto HD remaster, which is the copy I currently have (and is spectacular, may I add).

Stick with the R3 Alto—why throw your money away?

Have you compared the two? I think the R3 Alto is superb. The one thing that bothers me about Alto’s release though is, the soundtrack is very low. It’s actually kind of strange the way it sounds. I used to own the R2 Artificial Eye and the music was loud and powerful. On Alto’s release BLK2 remixed the soundtrack and the music is just not right.

Plus the subtitles have some spelling errors.

What really drew me to the Criterion release was the fact that Wong Kar Wai, supposedly, supervised the soundtrack. Not to mention the commentary.

I also thought the picture quality and the soundtrack were far superior to any versions I’d watched before. On other versions I listened to, the music was all distorted. I didn’t notice that the soundtrack was recorded at an especially lower volume (I also enjoy watching movies with the volume turned way up) and unfortunately, I don’t have a copy of the disc here to double-check. Price-wise, the Korean edition is a bargain—it’s offered here for around $10—while the Criterion is close to $30 I think. And yeah, the screen captures over at DVD Beaver look pretty awful…

Yah very dissapointed in Criterion. have you by any chance seen the new R3 Mei-Ah from Hong Kong. It is also supposed to be HD remastered?

No, I haven’t seen the HK version. I don’t think I’ll be upgrading from the Alto version in my lifetime…

Yah guess it’s the same for me as well. Atleast until I see the quality of the Blu-Ray

offtopic, but wkw related question -

which version of happy together with english subs is considered to be the best (that is still available to purchase). thanks

I hear that the Taiwanese boxset, which is similar to the OOP Hong Kong box, is currently the best choice.