Miranda
(1985*)/P.O. Box Tinto
Brass 4K (1995/Cult Epics
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)/Salon
Kitty (1976/*both Cult
Films Blu-ray)/Sex and the
Emperor (1994/88
Films**)/Visitor Q
(2001/Radiance/**both MVD Blu-ray)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: B-/B-/B/B-/C+ Sound: B-
Extras: C/B-/D/C/C+ Films: C+/C+/D/C-/C-
Here
are more sex-oriented films, three of which are revisits, the others
two I hope I never have to revisit again...
The
first three films are from director Tinto Brass and we reviewed them
before in various formats. They are Miranda
(1985,) where I noted in the import DVD review
that the film features ''Serena Grandi as the title character, a
landlady trying to find a husband and makes auditions popular in this
watchable comedy made sillier by the variety of men she lands up
with.'' Still a little too silly for its own good, the
cinematography does look comparatively better there, but I wish it
were sharper still. Maybe a 4K version will correct that, but this
is the best way to see this one now.
We
previously looked at P.O.
Box Tinto Brass 4K
(1995) here...
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/15881/Madame+Claude+(1977*)/My+Nights+With+Susan,+S
And
Salon
Kitty
(1976) here, though I disliked it more than my fellow writer and that
says something...
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10558/Salon+Kitty+-+Tinto+Brass%C3%A2%E2%82%AC%E2
Yup,
its that bad. Miranda
is the best of the three, followed by Box
and Salon
is one of the worst films ever made. As for extras, Miranda
has a reversible cover, while the disc adds a Tinto Interview and
Original Theatrical Trailer, Box
looses a
1995 Tinto interview and a 2013 interview with director Massimiliano
Zanin and
adds a new audio commentary with Troy Howarth, Jeremy Richey,
Nathaniel Thompson, Eugenio Ercolani & Heather Drain to go with
all the stills. Salon
has a poster, post card and reversible cover, but recycles the extras
from the older Blue Underground release.
Sherman
Wong's Sex
and the Emperor
(1994) has some very graphic sex, violence, combos of both and some
of the most bizarre humor you will see in this kind of film, but it
also has some money in it. Too bad the screenplay is as wrecked as
the resulting film telling of the perversions of the title character.
The actors do give it there all and it has some nice shots and
compositions when it is not goofy, but it is really bad ultimately.
Extras
include a reversible cover and nicely illustrated booklet on the film
including informative text and another excellent, while the disc adds
a feature length audio commentary track by David West, Image Gallery,
Original Hong Kong Theatrical Trailer and interview featurette If
This Castle A-Rockin with James Mudge.
Takashi
Miike's Visitor
Q
(2001) is the body politic director's non-horror genre romp about a
very sick father, family, murder, sexual abuse and much worse in
another self-indulgent exercise in not bad taste, but in trying to
make all these bad things somehow believable as they all happen at
the same time in ways that always seem contrived. I almost could
have felt bad for the actors, but it all looks like a cheap
straight-to-video project that is not memorable and is an acquired
taste at best, if that. You have been warned.
Extras
include a
new transfer from the original master beta tape for this low-def
production
Audio
commentary by Miike biographer Tom Mes (2026)
Newly
filmed interviews with director Takashi Miike, stars Kenichi Endo
and Showko Nakahara (2026)
Mother's
Milk: Visitor Q and the Feminine Principle, a new visual essay
by Kat Ellinger (2026)
Trailer
Reversible
sleeve featuring designs based on original posters
Limited
Edition booklet featuring new writing by Ana Dosen
and
Limited Edition of 5,000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo
packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of
certificates and markings.
Now
for playback
performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.85 X 1, HDR (10; Ultra HD
Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on P.O.
Box Tinto Brass 4K
is easily the best looking release here, even topping the 1080p
Blu-ray that repeats the older transfer we covered a few years ago.
Color, depth and detail are very nice, as well as better than all
three Tinto Blu-ray here. The other films (Miranda
and Kitty)
are here in 1080p
1.78 X 1 digital High Definition transfers that have their issues and
limits, though Kitty
fares (sadly) a little better. All also offer PCVM 2.0 Italian Mono
at their best, save P.O.
Box Tinto Brass 4K
in DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) Italian 2.0 lossless mixes at its best.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer Sex
and the Emperor rarely
shows the age of the materials used, with solid, consistent color.
The Cantonese PCM 2.0 Mono is about
as good as it will ever be and is at least consistent for what it is.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Visitor
Q is
an upscale from an old Beta master tape that is lucky it survived
with poor definition and mixed color throughout, as expected from old
analog video like this. The
Japanese PCM 1.0 Mono has its location audio issues and is as lacking
as the rest of it. Have very low tech expectations if you actually
view it.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
