Picture: Anamorphic Widescreen. The color and sharpness are a bit muted and soft, however this transfer is certainly far superior to the other versions that were floating around. The print is clean and general details appear to be in good shape. Contrast gets a little weak in the darker scenes, suggesting more a problem with the actual low light photography than the transfer. Unfortunately, as is often the case with wrangling a decent quality import, the transfer isn't quite as striking as the cinematography deserves. Still, most fans should be relatively pleased.

Sound: This isn't a very dynamic mix and the sound elements arent entirely cohesive. Again, this is a source problem rather than a transfer problem. the dialogue slightly weaker and rougher sounding than the bassy fx track, and the music lays on a different plane, filling out the rest. While it isn't a great mix, doesn't hurt the film very much. In comparison to the dialogue an effect might come across too loud every now and then, but that is the only big complaint.

Extras: Bio/Filmographies— Original trailer.— Promo Material gallery— "Anne Laurie" song lyrics and info. This is a song prominently featured in the film, and this extras gives some detials about it.— Previews for Miike's "Black Society" trilogy— Commentary by "Agitator: The Cinema of Takashi Miike" author Tom Mes. Mes should be familiar by now to Miike fans who have purchased other Miike/Artsmagic titles. Informative, but it does have a dryness and repetition if you've listened to his other Miike commentaries.--- Takashi Miike Interview (17:19). Good interview covering all the bases of how he got involved in the project, from casting, filming (with Miiike stating it felt like a fever dream), and so forth.

Conclusion: ...The transfer is certainly fair enough to make this worthy of a purchase- okay image and sound with some very worthwhile extras.

The two main extras included on this release are an interview with Takashi Miike and another excellent audio commentary from Miike expert Tom Mes. Other extras include the films original trailer, promotional material and poetry in text written by Annie Laurie. Rounding out the extras are trailers for other Artsmagic releases as well as bios/filmographies for cast and Miike. Artsmagic has rescued another Miike film from obscurity with a special edition DVD that is worthy of this unique film. The Bird People in China shows another side of Takashi Miike as a director that will pleasantly surprise even his most hardcore fans. If you haven’t seen a Miike film this film is a good starting point and if you are already a fan of Miike I highly recommend this film.