HK home video {is it out, yet?}greenspun.com : LUSENET : TitanicShack : One Thread |
I heard a rumor that Titanic home video was released in Hong Kong. Confirmation?
-- Rose (rose364@earthlink.net), March 16, 1998
Rose, I doubt. As long as "Titanic" is #1 there, the theaters would not appreciate this. I believe the release of the tapes will happen after September.
-- Dan Draghici (ddraghic@sprint.ca), March 16, 1998.
Rose, I wouldn't be surprised if those are bootleg versions of Titanic you heard about. A friend in Malaysia told me he could get a bootleg copy of it for about $3.00 American. I highly doubt there are any authorized videotapes of the movie floating about, except the ones that were sent to Academy members.
-- Jen "Pagoda" Walker (mjmwalk@worldnet.att.net), March 16, 1998.
I've heard there are bootleg tapes in Mainland China. I remember reading somewhere that Fox/Paramount didn't send out video tapes for Titanic. Something about having to see it on the big screen to fully appreciate it.
-- crystal smithwick (crystal@9v.com), March 17, 1998.
Yes, a bootleg video disc is available in China; I saw part of it when I was there for work last week. I thought, "How did they get a copy of this before it's been released on other media?" -- a question which was quickly answered when I saw it. It seems that someone took a camera into the movie theater and managed to steady it for all 194 minutes -- you can see dimly outlined heads in the foreground, occasionally hear audience laughter (and sniffling) -- and once the camera jolts a bit (I guess someone was going for popcorn). Bad for profits? Maybe -- but given that Titanic likely won't be released in the PRC anyhow (they strictly limit the release of foreign films), it's an, er, ingenious solution ...
-- Alison (akaufman@worldbank.org), March 17, 1998.
Actually, Alison, I read that Titanic is going to be the first American studio movie to be released officially in the People's Republic of China. Forgive me for not remembering the source of this info. I do remember that the article was about Titanic's universal appeal, and that the PRC release is a miracle. Maybe someone else read the same article? Maybe I'm getting it confused with its Moscow release, but I don't think so.
-- Jen (mjmwalk@worldnet.att.net), March 17, 1998.
Jen, you're right -- according to AP Titanic is being released in the PRC. It's not the first Hollywood film to come out there, though; by law the Chinese film industry is allowed to import up to 30 foreign films per year (through the just-voted-defunct Ministry of Radio, Film and Television), though practically they've only had about 10 American films or so a year -- all carefully screened by the censors, of course.
-- Alison (akaufman@worldbank.org), March 18, 1998.