"Lady Vengeance" DVD Cover
If you’ve been a connoisseur of Asian cinema as far back as 2005, you’re likely to recall the glory days of Palisade Tartan’s ‘Asia Extreme’ label. The beloved DVD series helped introduce a number of now-classic Asian titles – including Oldboy and A Tale of Two Sisters – to the North American market.
Fans were understandably upset when Tartan closed their doors in the States back in 2008. Although the company has issued a few titles on Blu-ray in recent years, including Kim Ki-duk’s The Coast Guard, it’s been nothing like Tartan’s initial deluge, which also gave Shinya Tsukamoto’s 1989 cyber-punk classic Tetsuo: The Iron Man its first proper Stateside release.
Fortunately, it looks like Tartan’s ‘Asia Extreme’ label will be making something of a comeback.
Via Variety, distributor Kino Lorber announced they have acquired North American home entertainment rights to Tartan’s massive library of films, which includes the popular ‘Asia Extreme’ catalog. Lorber plans to exhibit select films theatrically, in addition to proper Blu-ray releases for most titles. Lorber’s deal also includes digital distribution rights, so we may see more ‘Asia Extreme’ titles popping up on Netflix or Amazon. Considering Kino Lorber’s long history of treating genre films with the respect they deserve, this acquisition can only be good news for us Asian film buffs.
First, a correction: Tartan was not the first company to officially release TETSUO: THE IRON MAN in the US – it was released on VHS by Fox Lorber and on DVD by Image Entertainment (both releases well before Tartan’s 2005 DVD).
Second: while Tartan had the rights to some fantastic films, their DVD and blu-ray releases left a lot to be desired. Some of their discs were fine, but they also released some flat-out abominations, like their TRIAD TRILOGY blu-ray (http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Triad-Trilogy-Blu-ray/34838/#Review). Hopefully, Kino Lorber will exert a lot better quality control when it comes time for them to produce discs.