Asian DVD's come in all walks and sizes, just as American DVD's do. Some are bad yes, but on the other hand, some are a very good deal as well.  As far as judging them by how cheap they are, that's just plain silly. You can't knock a good deal. You have to remember, with the exchange rate, the U.S. dollar is worth a lot more overseas than it is here. So they don't have to charge a ridiculous amount of money to make a decent profit. So it works out for both of us. Yes, the quality may be lacking here and there, but it's worth it to me. Plus, you can get movies months, to a year earlier by getting it from overseas, than waiting for some U.S. based distributor to pick it up and release it here. I own a couple hundred Asian DVD's and have yet to encounter a quality problem with any of them(except the in general budget of the film itself being low to begin with). It also depends on who you buy it from, of course. There are some sellers (on eBay, especially) that do sell some "questionable" product, but you can't blame the actual film for that. Just like anything else, just be sure what you're getting into(always check the sellers feedback).

Also, be sure that the titles are coming from the right distributors, such as- Universe Laser and Video Co., DeltaMac, Media Asia, China Star or Mei Ah Laser Disc Co., and you should get a helluva' deal. Overseas I can order about five or six DVD's for the same price as one new-release American DVD. For example, I bought a movie from an Asian site for around $6.00, that an American based company re-released here for about $35.00. It was the same exact movie quality and everything, but they just slapped their precious movie logo on the box, and upped it by $30.00. Sure, you can wait for some titles to be picked up (maybe) years down the road by an American based distributor for a slightly better quality at a drastically higher price. But I usually prefer the import version anyways, because they are always uncut and are featured in their original titles(i.e. "S.P.L." to "Killzone", "Tom Yum Goong" to "the Protector" and so on and so forth) and languages w/ English subtitles ( I think as Americans we should be more cultured and read a little more anyway), instead of listening to the cheesy American voice dub-overs (unless you like hearing Jet Li or Chow-Yun Fat sound like a 15 year old white girl, then go ahead). There are some good American based distributors of Asian cinema as well, such as- Tokyo Shock, Tartan Asia Extreme, Kino Video, PALM Pictures, Tai Seng and the new Harvey Weinstein/Quentin Tarantino company Dragon Dynasty(unfortunately, the latter is big on the aforementioned "changin' titles" thing).

Well that's my two-cents. I hope it has helped clear some things up for someone. Contact me if you like ( @ ianoroutart@hotmail.com) and I'll tell you which sites you can trust, as far as getting good Asian DVD's at a great price.

And remember, don't be detoured from buying Asian movies, some of them are quite amazing. Hell, there has to be a reason why America keeps remaking every Asian movie, isn't there? Well, later.