1) CJ Entertainment (Special Edition) - Region 3 - NTSC - LEFT

2) TF1 Vidéo (Edition Collector Limitée) - Region 2 - PAL - SECOND

3) Tartan Asia Extreme (Collector's Edition) - Region 0 - PAL - THIRD

4) Palisades Tartan - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - RIGHT

ADDITION: Palisades Tartan - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - July 14': The 1080P screen captures should speak volumes about the improvement over the SD DVD release.  It is quite dramatic - dual-layered but a middling bitrate. I wouldn't be surprised if the Region 'B' Blu-ray release by Palisades Tartan was of similar quality. The image significantly tightens, colors are vibrant and there is more information in the frame. Audio goes lossless via a DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround at 2091 kbps. It packs a real punch at times. The subtitles are optional but are over-ridden by the commentary (if that option is chosen). There is a 1/2 hour Making of, entitled The Process of Mr. Vengeance - like all the extras that are in Korean - it has optional English subtitles. We also get the My Boksu Story Retrospective running 18-minutes - the same one found on the CJ Entertainment release, 40-minutes of cast Interviews, 10-minutes of movable storyboard, a trailer and a quick slideshow with the soundtrack and stills from the film. There is also a 17-minute video piece with Jonathan Ross talking about Park Chan-wook.

This is an incredible upgrade for fans of the film. The Blu-ray is an easy purchase.

***

ADDITION: TF1 Video - Region 2- PAL - It is always frustrating to find superior French image quality with non-removable French subtitles. It happens quite a bit (Campion's 'The Piano" comes to mind) as a copyright issue. French production companies get the rights for a film in their country and must adhere to disabling removal of the French subtitles when the original audio is played. I've stated before that France and Japan produce some of the best DVDs around, but unfortunately , in this case, the subtitles will deter the image. 

Gary Tooze

Image
Both images differ from the suggested OAR of 2.35:1. The CJ image is 2.25:1, where the Tartan image is 2.21:1. I cannot tell which of the two images has been either squeezed or stretched 4% horizontally. But as the former Tartan image, as far as I know, was 2.25:1, one can only assume, that the Tartan CE image has been squeezed 4% horizontally.

The CJ image suffers from various compression artifacts, which causes serious pixelation (see Image #6). In scenes with an even background, the CJ image compresses the picture into 8x8px areas. Contra to that, the Tartan image is next to flawless. Simply a stunning picture.

The Tartan is a NTSC to PAL transfer, having no PAL speed-up. As such, there are limited ghosting issues.

Finally, the Tartan image is darker and has a balanced light / contrast ratio, where the CJ has received so much contrast, that white elements remove any details (see ripples in water in Image #3).

A comparison between the old and new Tartan would be nice.

Sound
The Tartan has received an upgrade in sound, from the 5.1 DTS to a new 6.1 DTS ES mix, and it is nothing less than impressive. While the film is very centre, the new mix adds a whole new soundstage in the rears, by more detailed separation than the 5.1 Dolby Digital.

Extras
Tartan has ported the "Behind the scenes" from their 2003 edition, and added the audio commentary by Park and Ryo, which I assume is the same as on the Korean. It is a nice audio commentary, where they talk about the film and elements towards the film, as for instance the small nuances in sound.

The advantage here is, that Tartan has English subtitles on the audio commentary, as CJ has none. For a non-Korean speaking audience, it matters little if the CJ has tons of extra, as they cannot understand what people say during them. That's why Tartan gets the best extra here, as they have made them accessible for the general viewer.

 - Henrik Sylow