Confirmed HK DVDs for Kurosawa's 'Retribution' and Miyazaki's 'Tales from Earthsea'.

Time first to get reacquainted with Kiyoshi Kurosawa's work, via the film regarded as the slightly better of the two most recent from his post 1997 shift in style and return to the spotlight. Still waiting for a subbed DVD appearance of the film Kurosawa made back in 2004, 'Loft', and we're in that strangely dead time where we could suddenly hear of the R1 USA DVD for 'Retribution' -- which I know might still be many people's preference, but isn't guaranteed to be better -- so I'm personally pencilling this one on my pre-orders list and seeing if Lionsgate spring into action between now and August 2nd and give us a relatively small waiting gap to deal with. The R2 Japanese DVD for this film, due August 1st (no HK DVD tends to preempt an R2 J) does not contain English Subtitles. HK also gets the previous two J-Horror Theatre entries ('Premonition, 'Infection') at the same time, complete with efficient and preferable original artwork as found on the Japanese releases.

Most recent coverage on Retribution by The Gomorrahizer, here at Twitch with trailers and reviews.

Another case that needs some explanation is down to YesAsia's love of speculative listings of DVD releases made via vague information passed along to them (or not, as the case may be) long in advance of a likely DVD release. That is, that 'Tales from Earthsea' was listed as a HK release long in advance of any announcement for the R2 Japanese DVD (and again no HK DVD preempts an R2 J) and the date has subsequently been quietly shifted back time and time again to deal with no actual clear, final announcement for when it's actually coming. Cue Asian DVD Guide, who always receive press releases directly from HK companies issuing the films on disc officially, and don't post speculation but instead stick to confirmation once specifications, artwork and a synopsis are revealed. So, this definitive setting of the date for a HK disc of 'Tales from Earthsea' actually came just as the R2 J was shipping out (it's in transit for those that ordered it in advance via YesAsia, like me) and sets the date in stone as July 20th 2007.

Both these discs do, of course, contain English Subtitles. We wait for reactions to the quality of the mastering and subtitling, but for those curious enough to plump for a cheapo option, here's opportunities for both these films that will be far from the last one's you'll get. Pre-Order listings soon.

Visit Asian DVD Guide for Full Specifications, Artwork and Synopses.