BLACKJACK (John Woo, 1998, TV pilot)

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Re: BLACKJACK (John Woo, 1998) (TV)

Postby Jox on 14 Feb 2013, 14:54

No Dolph and John came on board around the same time. Woo had promised another pilot to Alliance Communications, with whom he had done the TV remake/pilot of ONCE A THIEF, and the head of Alliance suggested Dolph. It came together very quickly, it was announced in September 1997 and started shooting in November. Which is one of the reasons, Woo had very little to no time to rewrite and prep it (let alone film it: 3 weeks) not mentioning he was writing his own projects at night during the same time KING'S RANSOM and PHANTOM OF THE OPERA!

Of course during the 90's he always tried to "iconise" his lead actors closely to Chow Yun-Fat (especially since he was frustrated not to be able to work with him then). By the way, some of the action sequences are just pretty much lifted from his own lesser known films HEROES SHED NO TEARS and JUST HEROES.

BLACKJACK is too cheesy for its own good, but it sure features Dolph like you've never seen him filmed before and the best thing he's done in the late 90's when his career was its lowest...
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Re: BLACKJACK (John Woo, 1998) (TV)

Postby leigh1975 on 14 Feb 2013, 16:13

Thanks for the info! I wonder if John enjoyed working with him...
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Re: BLACKJACK (John Woo, 1998) (TV)

Postby Jox on 14 Feb 2013, 16:21

I believe he did, but it's hard to tell with Woo (or his producer Terence Chang) because you never know when he's just being pleasing for PR or genuine.

Did you read this?
http://www.dolph-ultimate.com/articles/article10.html
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Re: BLACKJACK (John Woo, 1998) (TV)

Postby leigh1975 on 14 Feb 2013, 16:26

Jox wrote:I believe he did, but it's hard to tell with Woo (or his producer Terence Chang) because you never know when he's just being pleasing for PR or genuine.

Did you read this?
http://www.dolph-ultimate.com/articles/article10.html


I hadn't no... :oops:

It's such a shame that Hollywood wasted Woo... I'm not sure he'd return to the US now :(
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Re: BLACKJACK (John Woo, 1998) (TV)

Postby Jox on 15 Feb 2013, 13:45

Here is the making of / behind the scenes featurette (from the Japanese DVD) for you! :wink:
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Re: BLACKJACK (John Woo, 1998) (TV)

Postby leigh1975 on 15 Feb 2013, 15:08

Amazing!!!! I didn't realise there was ANY special content for this
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Re: BLACKJACK (John Woo, 1998) (TV)

Postby leigh1975 on 27 Mar 2013, 20:00

What's the best non-region 1 version to pick up???
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Re: BLACKJACK (John Woo, 1998) (TV)

Postby Jox on 27 Mar 2013, 23:51

The Japanese (for the making of and trailer) but it's out of print and hard to find. Otherwise you have the French or German ones and quite a few others but it's a "draw".
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Re: BLACKJACK (John Woo, 1998) (TV)

Postby leigh1975 on 28 Mar 2013, 02:52

Jox wrote:The Japanese (for the making of and trailer) but it's out of print and hard to find. Otherwise you have the French or German ones and quite a few others but it's a "draw".


I heard Echo Bridge 'faked' a widescreen picture...
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Re: BLACKJACK (John Woo, 1998) (TV)

Postby Jox on 28 Mar 2013, 02:57

Hummm, I actually didn't see that one but I was pretty sure it was a 4/3 full screen like the previous Dimension / Buena Vista edition... That'd need to be verified. But I now I'd personally just wait for a possible Blu-ray release.
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Re: BLACKJACK (John Woo, 1998) (TV)

Postby leigh1975 on 28 Mar 2013, 03:12

It says on several sites that the Echo Bridge is jimmied to a 1.66:1 image. it's also listed on Amazon as that too... several US sites claim this. This could of course mean that they have prepared a transfer for a multipack Blu release somewhere down the line... all those Echo Bridge catalogue action titles are just upscales anyway.
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Re: BLACKJACK (John Woo, 1998) (TV)

Postby Jox on 28 Mar 2013, 03:24

1.66? They often can't tell a 1.78 from 1.85 or a 2.35, I doubt they 'd be right about a 1.66 which has become a very rare aspect ratio mostly used in Europe and Asia in occasions but not so much anymore...
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Re: BLACKJACK (John Woo, 1998) (TV)

Postby leigh1975 on 28 Mar 2013, 03:30

Jox wrote:1.66? They often can't tell a 1.78 from 1.85 or a 2.35, I doubt they 'd be right about a 1.66 which has become a very rare aspect ratio mostly used in Europe and Asia in occasions but not so much anymore...


I think that's most commonly used if somebody wants to 'fake' a widescreen image from an original 1.33:1 image... you lose far less screen than croppiung to 1.78:1... it depends how it was shot, and seeing as how precise Woo's images are, I can see what a tighter aspect ratio could do to ruin an image... having said that, like you I am dubious... I may have to pick one up, even if it is 4:3, at least I get that awesome new cover :lol:
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Re: BLACKJACK (John Woo, 1998) (TV)

Postby leigh1975 on 28 Mar 2013, 03:48

Here's an interesting breakdown I just found on Barnes and Noble...
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dvd-blackjack-dolph-lundgren/3559403

If they even go to the lengths to list the chapter names and running times between stops, then I have hope they may be right about the widescreen claims.
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Re: BLACKJACK (John Woo, 1998) (TV)

Postby Jox on 14 Apr 2013, 01:48

Was a shortened 1h33 version aired or released somewhere?
(the running time is supposed to be 1h52 NTSC or 1h48 in PAL and this is 1h33)

(can't seem to find the missing footage by fast-forwarding though)
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