New DVDs coming July 8- 15th
7th July 2012
This is going to be an expensive week for me. There are two items being released.. one is the film, Nameless Gangster and the other is a box set entitled Historical Films about the Korean Empire. The films included in the box set are movies, not documentaries, all from 1959 and 1960. While these will probably not appeal to everyone, Iwill be purchasing it for my collection. The details on the box set are below:
Historical FIlms About the Korean Empire. Number of discs: 4/ Subtitles: Korean and English/ Rating: for ages 12+/ Format: 4:3 full screen/ Audio: Dolby Digital Mono/ Suggested Retail Price: 44,000 KRW/ Available from July 10th. The films included in this set are Kim Gojong and Martyr Ahn Jung-geun (1959) directed by Jeon Chang-geun; 110 minutes// Blood Bamboo (1959) directed by Yoon Bong-choon and Nam Hong-il; 104 minutes// The Independence Association and Lee Seung-man (1959) directed by Shin Sang-ok; 133 minutes// Ah! BaekBeom Kim Gu (1960) directed by Jeon Chang-geun, 144 minutes.
Nameless Gangster, starring Ha Jeong-woo and Choi Min-shik and directed by Yoon Jong-bin. Number of discs: 2/ Subtitles: Korean and English/ Format: 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen/ Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1/ Suggested Retail Price: 23,100 KRW/ Available from July 11th.
July 14th, 2012 at 7:26 am
Are you considering doing an extensive review of HISTORICAL FILMS ABOUT THE KOREAN EMPIRE once you acquire it? I have other box sets like THE PAST UNEARTHED series from KOFA and would invest in this if the content is similar.
July 14th, 2012 at 11:06 pm
I received my copy last Thursday^^ I will review the films separately, but when I write the first review, I will talk about the box set in general. The box set is very similar to the PAST UNEARTHED and the sets for individual directors in that it contains a detailed booklet with summaries,background and reviews of the movies in Korean and English. I will be watching some of the films this weekend and put together a review for this coming week.
August 13th, 2012 at 7:18 pm
Tom,
I’ve been watching and waiting for your review of that HISTORICAL FILMS ABOUT THE KOREAN EMPIRE. I’m still on the fence about purchasing such, and your take on the individual films will help in my final decision. I have yet to find other reviews of this set on-line.
Feel free to do a private email if a more formal review is not forthcoming on-line.
Love your extensive blog for its range of product and historical perspective.
Doug
August 14th, 2012 at 8:54 pm
I wrote a review of one of the films in that collection here: http://www.koreanfilm.org/tom/?p=4115 In that review I mentioned one has to be very interested in history to pick up this box set. The movies are a little on the dry side and some of the history presented may not be 100% accurate because of the requirements at the time they were made.. such as not being able to show the daily lives of ordinary people which, in terms of modernization, had improved signficantly during occupation. You may want to save your money for better or slightly more important films…