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..BUT there is a catch!
This version that is out on Bluray is not only very questionable in quality (compared to other Blurays when you compare sizes of Discs) but it is the shortest of all version out there at 2hr19min! That is a meer 139 mins in total!
As you know by now, the version that is out in most theaters (and in America right now) is 144 mins. That is the normal version. The Extended is 167 minutes and hopefully if we do get the actual Director’s Cut, it will be 183 minutes long.
I don’t know exactly which version this is and have not compared it in detail to see what was cut but I know of it. Someone once mentioned that the version shown in their country was 2hrs19min so this is it I think.
Anyway, just saying that the first Bluray is out for The Handmaiden so go get it if you haven’t already.
Also I have to commend ‘Murica for releasing The Handmaiden in theaters during the LGBT History Month! Bravo Murica!
百合 Goggles 
October 30, 2016 at 11:07
Probably most of you already know about better source of this extended version, but I was really glad I found this at least.
(it’s shame that it’s so poor .. I mean inadequate quality)
So many scenes were added.
I can’t wait on this director’s cut version.
November 3, 2016 at 12:12
I have the HK BD, picked it up this afternoon. I can’t honestly tell you what’s missing compared to the theatrical cut I saw in the cinema. Certainly nothing immediately obvious. I’ll let you know when I’m done watching it again.
Quality isn’t as bad as your post suggests. You can see some minor banding on dark panning shots, and pausing shows a bit more film grain than usual, but in motion the picture is fine.
I still want the Director’s Cut, but was more than happy to pay out for this in the mean time, as a show of support.
Also: just in case you didn’t know – the subs now have annotations to show where the characters switch out of Korean and into Japanese. A nice touch, since my partner can’t hear the difference, and didn’t know they did so often during the film.
November 3, 2016 at 19:04
What do you mean ‘As bad as my post suggests’?! I said the quality is ‘questionable’!
November 3, 2016 at 13:52
Okay, so I’ve watched it through (almost entirely) twice, and couldn’t for the life of me tell you what’s changed between theatrical and BD. Certainly nothing worth mentioning, if at all. Perhaps they shortened the credits?
November 3, 2016 at 19:03
Nah. Turns out they just sped it up is all. It all has to do with FPS and Ratios and all that.
Saw the listings and there are no extras at all just trailers. Like, they didn’t even put any effort in at all!
I will get it eventually for my collection but it is not going to be the first, that’s for sure.
Put a movie like this on a BD25?! You got to be kidding me Hong Kong!