Quote Originally Posted by GeneChing View Post
A lot of those classics are really dated now. I know I've been waiting for Tower of Death on Blu-Ray...
Well, I'm hoping they finally release films like Wheels on Meals on DVD. Also, there are a lot of good non-Jackie Golden Harvest/Fortune Star movies that I'd like to own, such as The Himalayan, etc. The only thing I don't like about Fortune Star's treatment of the GH movies is, in a lot of cases, they tampered w/the sound effects, totally redid the English dubs (badly), and sometimes changed the soundtrack music. So with Fortune Star releases, it's always better to watch them in original language w/subs.

As far as Chinese films ever dominating the global market, I seriously doubt it'll ever happen. IMO, the top U.S. mega-hits will always dominate, even in China. Plus, Chinese films almost always portray non-Chinese, including other Asians, as bad or inherently worse than they are. Yes, U.S. films can and have done similar things, esp. in the past.

But that aside, another problem with Chinese cinema is, if they have a hit, then they'll oversaturate the market with a bunch of the same type of film, like all the wuxias following Crouching Tiger, or all the different Ip Man movies at once. Until people get sick of them and stop watching entirely. Plus, at least in the U.S., it seems that the general (not arthouse or cult viewers) audiences don't like subtitled movies. Most may watch a few, then when the novelty has worn off, they'll tune out of other subbed movies and opt back to the familiar.

Sure, U.S. films also follow hit films with similar type films, like all the computer-animated family films, or the popularity of comic book superhero movies. But the key is that there's more variety in the types of stories in these films, as opposed to the narrow scope of the Chinese films that tend to follow in the wake of a hit movie.

Of course, Chinese films have come a long way since the '70s in terms of general acceptance internationally.