Universe

Credits

Descriptions by
Thisisanswer and Chow Woon Gan

Editions by
Khizer1

Background

Universe (寰宇), like its competitor Mei Ah (美亞), has a humble beginning as a distributor of VHS and LD, later VCD and DVD, witnessing the revolution of visual storage media in the past 30 years. Founded in 1986 by the brothers Alvin Lam (林小明) and Daneil Lam (林小強), Universe step into film production and distribution in 1990s, and the group was listed in the Hong Kong stock exchange in 1999. Recent directors under the Universe umbrella include Pang Brothers (彭氏兄弟). Other Universe brands include Century Creator (世紀創作室) and Matrix Productions (縱橫製作).

1st Logo (1986-1987?)

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Visuals: A still logo consisting of plain white "U" and three color bars in blue, red and green that stretched in wide. The three color bars then shorten once until it stopped and then the Chinese characters and the text "UNIVERSE VIDEO COMPANY" flashes in.

Technique: Motion-controlled animation.

Audio: A trombone tune.

Availability: Seen on a 1986 re-release, My Darling Gals (1978).

2nd Logo (1987?-1992)

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Visuals: On a black background, six bars with two in blue, two in red, and two in green flip in with very strange cuts. The "U" flies in and rotates to fit the cuts and has a notch on it. "UNIVERSE LASER & VIDEO CO. LTD." flies in and turns as green Chinese characters flies in from the middle of the screen and lands above the text.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A high-pitched synthesized bark, which quickly turns into a synthesized lead, which segues into a funky synth theme with drums.

Availability: Can be seen on their home media releases such as Big Circle Blues.

3rd Logo (1992-1994)

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Visuals: The logo begins as the camera flying through some asteroids with a model of the Earth shown in the background. After it gets away from the asteroids, the Universe logo from before moves in from the left side and rotates into place, the company's name "UNIVERSE LASER & VIDEO CO., LTD." is shown moving from behind below it with the Chinese text above. The logo settles in the place, leaving the Earth model in the bottom-left corner and the starfield in the background.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A funky synthesized theme with drums, with a resonant whoosh a second after the logo starts.

Availability: Appears on some Universe releases from the early 1990's like My Wife's Lover.

4th Logo (1994-2004)

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Visuals: From darkness, the Sun is seen shining over the Earth as the screen brightens up and reveals a blue starfield with nebulas. The Earth is shown spinning away into the center, and after a while three comets bring up from it and move close to the screen, revealed to be respectively of red, green and blue colors. The trails remain into the screen for a brief moment as it turns into the stripes of the logo, moving away into place. The "U" zooms away and settles, followed by both Chinese and English company names of "UNIVERSE LASER & VIDEO CO., LTD.". The logo shines slightly before freeze-framing.

Variant: On some film productions, the company name is swapped with "UNIVERSE FILM PRODUCTIONS CO., LTD.".

Technique: CGI.

Audio: "Regal Fanfare (6)" by Keith Mansfield, which is a stock repeating brass fanfare, ascending with each note respectively being A#, F, C and G.

Availability: Can be seen on their film productions and home media releases during that period, such as Love and Sex Among the Ruins and Enemy Shadow.

Legacy: This is one of the more recognized and beloved Hong Kong film logos.

5th Logo (2000-2002)

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  Version with "Presents"

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  Still variant, which appeared after the animated logo

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  Still variant ("Universe Films Distribution Company Limited" version)

Visuals: On a blue starfield, a shining, transparent Universe logo rotates away from the camera and moves to the upper position. A blue light trail passes into the logo before it settles; the starfield fades away as the logo turns into its colors from before and a registered mark symbol appears above it. The letters of "UNIVERSE ENTERTAINMENT LIMITED" float in from below, and then the Chinese characters in orange appear underneath.

Variants:

• Another variant has the text swapped with "UNIVERSE FILM DISTRIBUTION CO LTD.". The colored Universe logo also looks more three-dimensional, and the Chinese characters are white colored.
• There's a version of the logo with "Presents" fading in below. It also fades in from the former variant.
• There's a still variant of the logo appearing after the usual animated one, wherein the plain 2D logo is seen with a white shadow behind. The text is also different and "PRESENTS" is shown in all caps below with the Chinese text.
  • A similar variant was also used for Universe Films Distribution Company Limited. Here, the 2D logo from the variant is different, and below it is the big Chinese company name with the English company name "Universe Films Distribution Company Limited" below.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: Whooshing sounds. None for the still variant.

Availability: Seen on their films from the time such as Shaolin Soccer, which is perhaps the most popular film featuring this logo.

6th Logo (2002?-2004)

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Visuals: The sequence starts with a close-up of the stone mold of the Universe logo where silver liquid flows and the camera follows until the liquid finishes the "U" and the same three bars in the mold. The camera zooms out to reveal the Universe logo in silver and the stone mold fades away, with two Chinese characters appears in-between the logo.

Variants:

• On Heroic Duo, the logo remains the same, but as for the stone mold, instead of fading away, the stone mold breaks into pieces while the camera zooms out.
• There is a still variant appeared after the credits or at the start in some other films.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: None.

Audio Variants:

• On Shiver, the music turns up somber and rather haunting.
• On Heroic Duo, the sound for the logo came with the liquid flowing and glass breaking in the end while trombone music plays.

Availability: Seen on Heroic Duo, Shiver and other films released during the early 2000s.

7th Logo (2004-)

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Visuals: On a black background, multiple white abstract shapes are moving in a glass effect. After a while, the shapes move away from left and right to reveal the text "universe" flashing in, with cyan light emits from it, which dies down later as the camera zooms in. Soon after the light dies down, two white horizontal lines with two Chinese characters between it fade in below.

Variants:

• Sometimes, the logo is in black and white.
• A variant for Universe Films Distribution Co. Ltd. exists. Here, when two Chinese characters fade in, the text:

寰宇影片發行有限公司
UNIVERSE FILMS DISTRIBUTION CO. LTD.

fade in below them at the same time.

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Audio: Usually none, though some films have their own audio:

• A quiet ethereal theme with drumbeats at the end, used in One Nite in Mongkok.
• Several synth noises with film projector noises at the beginning, used in The Big Call.
• An action-packed tune with flute and drumbeats, ending with a loud hit.
• A harmonious fanfare, used in Don't Forget I Love You.

Availability: Seen on Heat Team, Crazy n' The City and their most recent films.

8th Logo (2010's-)

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Visuals: On a black background, silver parts are rotating and forming the same logo from before.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: None.

Availability: Appears on newer Universe films like Shock Wave, Out of Inferno and Crisis Route, as well as some foreign titles like London Has Fallen. Used in tandem with the previous logo.