I was wondering if someone could please kindly inform me of if the Rocky, Rocky 2, Rocky 3, Rocky 4, and Rocky 5 video compacts discs that are purchasable from http://www.video-cds.com and http://www.videocds.com are original and copyrighted video compact discs and what there sources for the video compact discs are (VHS, LD, DVD, etc.) The Lethal Weapon 4 video compact disc that I purchased from http://www.video-cds.com was from a VHS source. I was also wondering if someone could please kindly inform me of if the video compact discs that have the appropriate logos on them are original and copyrighted and full length video compact discs. The Lethal Weapon 4 video compact disc that I purchased from http://www.video-cds.com had the Warner Bros logo on it and it was full length. The Rush Hour video compact disc that I purchased from http://www.video-cds.com had the Speedy Video logo on and it was not full length. The movie was cut off on the left and right sides. The movie at the end did not finish unlike the VHS version where you see the credits and the outtakes. The movies sound was horrible. The movie was slanted and could be seen that a camcorder was used to record this movie. At the beginning of the movie, a part of the New Line Cinema trailer was cut off.

Anyones kind assistance and time in this matter is greatly appreciated by me.

-- Anony-Mous (Sweetk1982@aol.com), May 08, 1999

Answers

Sweetk1982@aol.com Those movies you purchase from Video-cds.com are actually from original Malaysia distributors, speedy is one of the original distributor. I heard in Malaysia, they have very bad competition between original and prirated copies. Those original distributor, in-order to compete with them they sell very cheap as you noties in Video-cds.com is $10.97, those are VHS version on VCD, not from cinema as you mention . At this moment my friends told me that they already have Matrix amd Startwar 1 on sales. (pirated)

In Malaysia, you can get any VCD movies after 1 week release on US cinema.I wonder how they do that.

That's why their Orginal distributors has to cope with them by converting license for VHS format to VCD. Those cheaper version are VHS quality, Only the more expensive one are really VCD quality.

I would recomend you to buy from www.videocds.com as they sell the same VCD for a cheaper price.

-- Videoman (v_i_d_e_o@hotmail.com), May 08, 1999.

Some films do not get distributed in certain countries. For instance Lethal Weapon 4...Legal Copy, Gold Disc Edition is available in Hong Kong or through www.asiacd.com. It is not competion but rather cost factor. Warner Bros. used the screener copy of Lethal 4 for the Malaysian disc to avoid the cuts to make it 18 SG. Speedy Video has to also do this. If you need real copyrighted discs you have to buy from Hong Kong. 90% of the discs in Hong Kong are genuine originals. To tell how a movie is a screener or theater copy, read my response to >WHY DO THEY CALL SOME VCD'S SCREENERS and are they good?<. Warner Bros. movies can be bought at www.asiacd.com and YES THEY ARE ORIGINAL MADE FROM THE PAN AND SCANed 35MM PRINT. If you really are upset over this just send some email back to www.video-cds.com and demand a refund. You can also complain to the Federal Trade Commission over fraud. By the way, ALL THE ROCKY FILMS ARE ORIGINAL COPIES, NOT THEATER OR SCREENER RIP-OFFS. The answer Video_Man to how a movie can be on VCD so early is also under >WHY DO THEY CALL SOME VCD'S SCREENERS and are they good?<. I just made my first order at www.videocds.com and do not know if it is original or not(ordered The Postman). Not to be rude, but are you really into original discs...because if you are you may want to save up for DVD. Every movie on DVD is original. Me personally, I do not care about the source so long as I have a copy that is watchable(I have to turn off the sound on my laptop when in school, so sound quality does not affect me) and the movie is good.

-- Will Shakes (soldier0081@hotmail.com), May 08, 1999.

You can get a legal copy of Rush Hour from AsiaCD as well. Currently they are offering a special promotion of $0.99 shipping to the United States. Rush Hour is only 12.99 from them. To navigate the site at the home page click on Chinese Movies under the VCD Movies heading. Western movies are the legal Warner Bros. films and various others. Action has separate sections for each well known Hong Kong actor. Also shipping is fast less then VideoCDs(www.videocds.com) or Action Video(www.video-cds.com). Three to five days is all. Another place to try for legal copies is www.cdmovies.com, they sell the Hong Kong originals. CDMovies also has a copy of Rocky for sale(just the first one). CDMovies is expensive but worth it if you want original only. The Action and VideoCD sites source from various areas so a pirate copy may inadvertently show up. Also Paramount does not make its own VCDs or international videos. Touchstone and Twentieth Century Fox(or in Malaysia Speedy) does it for them. If you see a Video CD with the Paramount logo and it does not have a Philips logo as well, then it is a non-legal copy. In real terms if you want the movie on VCD you have to put up with the pirates showing up with the originals; if you don't want to, then move on to DVD.

-- Will Shakes (soldier0081@hotmail.com), May 10, 1999.

Will,

I seem to be lost in www.asiacd.com. do they have pure english section, where I can read?. Are the Video CD having chinese subtitle?..not so nice for collection. By the way, you seem to know a lot of thing. do you happed to know where I can MP3 portable player other then Rio?

-- Videoman (v_i_d_e_o@hotmail.com), May 10, 1999.

AsiaCD does not sell pure english titles. You get the English movies with Chinese subtitles. Most of the Chinese movies do have English subtitles. Also on the left side of your monitor is the site map. There is a heading called VCD Movies. You can click on Chinese Movies then when the page loads click on Western Movies to get the Warner Bros. films. Also the pages are mostly in Chinese. You can find an MP3 player called MPMan at www.mpman.com or just wait for Creative Labs Nomad.

-- Will Shakes (soldier0081@hotmail.com), May 10, 1999.

Will, You are very knowledgeable.. Thanks!

-- Videoman (v_i_d_e_o@hotmail.com), May 10, 1999.

Here is the official answer as to why Rush Hour's quality is ver bad:

As quoted from Charles Tang himself:

"I also checked with Speedy Video concerning Rush Hour. Well, they initially insisted that it was an original copy. However, after much probing, they finally conceded that although they have the license from New Line Cinema to distribute Rush Hour, the copy that they are selling was recorded from a cinema. They also explained that this happened because

'they wanted to release the movie before their licensing period started thus used a bootleg copy as their master disc'.

So, theoretically speaking, they are authorised to sell Rush Hour (since they have a licensing agreement with New Line). However, practically, the Rush Hour they are selling is no more than a cinema recorded copy. That is the main reason we put up a clear sign stating that the quality of Rush Hour was not up to standard."

Hope this answers your inquiry about Rush Hour. You can send mail to for a refund.

-- Will Shakes (soldier0081@hotmail.com), May 14, 1999.

Will,

From this charlesTang explanation, he Admitted that he is selling bootlegs copy of Rush hours as what quoted is very clear 'wanted to release the movie before their licensing period started "

Before license started means copy without licenses if he doesn't understand the word bootleg.

Hey I heard he is a student In London and still studying.

-- VideoMan (v_i_d_e_o@hotmail.com), May 14, 1999.

I do not feel that the following notice:

"Please note that the picture quality of this movie is not very good. There may be slight digital artefacts (pixels) when playing this movie depending on the player used."

tells the public that it is not an original copyrighted video compact disc. I e-mailed them and asked them if they could please kindly send me a FREE video compact disc of my choice as a sign of customer courtesy to me. I do not feel that what they are doing is fair and that they should at least do a favor for me as a way of an apology to me. Would you agree.? Thanks for all of your help.

-- Video-CD (Sweetk1982@aol.com), May 15, 1999.

You have to send mail to thomas@video-cds.com to get a response back. Turns out the customer service rep never bothered to check his email. My friend (who received a screener rip-off pirate X Files from www.video-cds.com) got a response from Thomas and Thomas is sending to my friend a free movie worth 14.97 for all the trouble.

-- Will Shakes (soldier0081@hotmail.com), May 18, 1999.