What's new

Region 1 the lowest quality? (1 Viewer)

Eric Eash

Second Unit
Joined
Aug 3, 2003
Messages
367
i don't have a region free player yet, and have not seen a different region dvd yet, but i think we're getting screwed. after a long look at my local dvd store here in japan, i think they take dvds more serious over here than in the states which doesn't seem right since all the movies are made in the states. you guys should see the packaging on some of these dvds, i'm talking WOW!! Ronin, a good film, not the best, has a special edition with 3 discs and DTS. The really good films get even better treatment. I'm tempted to buy The Terminator Deluxe Edition just cause of the packaging, who cares if i can't read the menus. Reservior Dogs, which i love, has 4 discs! Dances with Wolves is packaged in a leather carrying case! the matrix has TWO discs!! alot more movies have DTS tracks also. granted, the prices are a little higher, but i guarantee if region 1 spent half as much time as they do here on dvd development, their sales would definately increase. gotta go do some research in the region free forum, but just wanted to let you guys know that region 1 dvd development is in need of serious attention.

eric
 

Rob Lutter

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2000
Messages
4,523
They also have some great compressionists... R2 Japan DVDs are almost always of higher quality than their R1 counterparts. You pay the price for that quality however... ;)
 

PaulP

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2001
Messages
3,291
Well something about having Japanese characters on packaging of an American movie doesn't sit well with me. I'll settle for the R1 counterparts.
 

JonZ

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 28, 1998
Messages
7,799
I dont care much for SE treatment. I think 3 discs for Ronin is overkill.

But alot of titles that arent 16x9 here are in other regions(as well as DTS treatment).

I went region free in Dec and Im currently looking to other regions for titles like The Rocketeer and Robocop Dir Cut available in 16x9 overseas.
 

Eric Eash

Second Unit
Joined
Aug 3, 2003
Messages
367
i speak and read some japanese, but i don't want it on the dvd cover or menus. but all titles are given royal treatment. and they do cost around 40%-50% more per title. it seems like japan is always ahead in some respect when it comes to anything electronic.

eric
 

Kai Zas

Second Unit
Joined
Jan 24, 2002
Messages
395
Hehe... it's "shop @ another region"-day!

I've just placed an order for that very delicious Korean Band of Brothers limited edition. Topped it off with the Dances with Wolves you just spoke of and the SE of Dogville.

By the way, have you seen the R2 TNG and DS9 boxes? They look very good! If they keep that box design for Voyager as well, I think it would be a big selling point. People would just want more of those boxes, no matter how crappy the program itself, just to get the collection complete. And then there's the limited edition TNG pillar. Snazzy!

I don't have the R2 Trek series, but I do have R1 Buffy and Angel. And boy, those "books" look much better than the standard folding box most R1 tv shows get. Plus, R2 has been way ahead of the R1 schedule concerning those show. (Ok, PAL speedup can be annoying, but I started collection those when there wasn't even talk of an american release. And they are widescreen... not what Joss Whedon intended, and it shows.)
 

PaulP

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2001
Messages
3,291


Not at all. I actually love the Japanese culture. I have many Japanese films in my collection (mostly Criterions). And of course I love sushi. However, I feel that it's really weird having American movies in Japanese editions. I don't know, maybe it's just me...
 

Paul James

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jul 17, 1999
Messages
65
Speaking of superior Japan DVD releases, anyone know where I can grab the Jurassic Park Japan Superbit DVD release ?

All of the online Japan retailers have it listed as 'out of print' :angry:

Paul
 

TheBat

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Aug 2, 1999
Messages
3,117
Real Name
Jacob
I have been enjoying the 3 disc boxset of the hulk. Its from region 2. there is also a region 4 boxset.. The hulk dvd does include DTS. I watch that one all the time.

JACOB
 

Greg_D_R

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Mar 11, 2001
Messages
221
I don't agree. I think that some non-Region 1 releases are better than their R1 counterparts, but it's a bad generalization to say that all of them are. The proof of this is in how much effort everyone else in the world makes to get R1 discs. Take a look at sites like dvd-basen and DVD Debate, R1 Discs are always among the most popular, especially for mainstream titles. They come out first in the US, and very often they come out with more features and better transfers. The reason it might seem otherwise is that when non-R1 releases are better, they are usually WAY better :).
 

Sean Campbell

Second Unit
Joined
Dec 6, 2002
Messages
298


Maybe I'm alone, but I've always liked having foreign language packaging on my DVDs. It makes my collection look as if it's full of exotic items that can't be got in any regular store :)
As to which region is better, there is no real answer. Some region 1 discs are great, others are poor ( especially the non anamorphic or 4:3 releases that seem far more common in the US than elsewhere ). Extras aren't a priority for me as I usually buy on the strength of the transfer. I wouldn't buy a two disc set from the US if the movie was cropped or edited ( or heaven forbid dubbed ). I'd go for an extra free one disc edition in widescreen and with the original language track intact.
 

Damin J Toell

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2001
Messages
3,762
Location
Brooklyn, NY
Real Name
Damin J. Toell


If you think that's xenophobic, you probably shouldn't go anywhere near the threads where people rail on Canadian DVDs that have French on the cover.

DJ
 

Matt`L

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
78
Although it may have been true in the early days of dvd, I believe that the number of region 1 imports due to earlier release dates are few, and those due to 'more features' are even fewer.

Also, the comment about better quality is not valid at all, in my opinion. Not only are most overseas titles equal in video and audio quality, you may find that signficantly more titles have things such as dts (and in the early days of dvd, anamorphic transfers).

In my opinion, the main reason why people today are importing is price. Plain and simple. Buffy, for example, can be shipped from the U.S. at half the Australian cost. This is an extreme example, sure, and to be fair Fox recently (temporarily) slashed the price. But there are abundant examples, if needed.

Sure, there will always be people who import because of reasons such as the lack of pal speed-up, and occassionaly a title may be unavailable locally at a particular point in time or lack certain features, but I definitely think the majority of imports are done because of cost savings. I'm basing this on my own experience, but also from what I've read in local newsgroups and forums similar to HTF.

 

david_shy

Agent
Joined
Dec 30, 2003
Messages
30
Australian (Region 4) releases are usually not as good as releases from other regions, especially in terms of features, extras & packaging

DTS, for example, is fairly rare

Some transfers are pretty bad too (I won't get into any PAL vs NTSC debate here :) ) Three Colours trilogy was taken from Television masters!

Having said that, some transfers are excellent, and refernce quality

A good site for comparision of Region 4 DVDs to Region 1 is www michaeldvd.com.au (sorry, can't post URLs yet)

They compare PQ, sound & features of a DVD to its' Region 1 equivalent, and other region if appropriate
 

Matt`L

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
78
I would agree that we miss out on dts quite oftenis region four, but by the same token we get it on releases where region one doesn't (finding nemo being a recent example).

DTS aside, the vast majoirty of the time we don't miss out on features.

 

david_shy

Agent
Joined
Dec 30, 2003
Messages
30
Matt'L

you are possibly right! This page on the site i mentioned gives a comparison of R4 vs R1 from a R4 buyer's point of view

www michaeldvd.com.au/R4vsR1/R4vsR1.asp

(sorry again, I cannot post URLs)

their reviewers determined 1409 "R4 Winners", 2521 "even", and 646 "R1 Winners"
 

Mark_vdH

Screenwriter
Joined
May 9, 2001
Messages
1,035
But then again, Michael lets R4 win way too much just because of the extra PAL resolution....

Anyway, if I had to choose just one region for all future purchases, it would be R1 without any doubt. In fact, if I had to choose between R1 and all other regions I'd still choose R1.

Edited for spelling mistakes.
 

EnricoE

Supporting Actor
Joined
Oct 14, 2003
Messages
530
let me jump here too.

region1 is for interesting because they mostly come much earlier then the german version. example:

finding nemo - us dvd at store 2 weeks before german theatrical release
tears of the sun - us dvd at store 3 months before german theatrical release
underworld - us dvd in stores 3 weeks before german theatrical release

these are only 3 films but it shows you we get screwed here. then there is the price which makes an import for us because of the strong euro even more attractive. when it comes to quality then mostly region1 is to go. many films that released in region1 by big studios like warner, fox paramount doesn't mean they going here also released by the same studio. sometimes they getting released here by some independent studios which release the dvd in weaker quality. example:

tomb raider 2 - us by paramount, german by concorde . there is a huge drop in the picture quality in camparison to region1
same thing with ballistc: eck vs. sever which is released in the us with a top notch transfer but the german dvd is not as good as the region1 warner disc.
then there is also the most annoying thing: forced subtitles when listen to orignal language track. when the film is in french or japanese then i don't have a problem with this feature but when it comes to english then i get really pissed by this.
we also have some dvds they were masters from beta tapes like some fox films: independence day, titan a.e., the abyss. fox also skipped the dolby digital 5.1 original language track on some of their titles like titanic or the negotiator (kevin spacey). how you gonna like this? fox said there was no more room to inlcude a 5.1 track. yeah, right :angry:
also the pal speedup is a problem for me. as you can see the list is long why i prefer region1 dvds but if the region2 (german) dvd is better then the region1 in terms of quality i have no problem to buy it here even it would cost me a few bucks more ;)
 

david_shy

Agent
Joined
Dec 30, 2003
Messages
30


that's certainly true of him when there is no obvious/major difference between R4 & R1 release, I agree

as I said, I like R1 releases especially because of the price with the weak US$ & the (earlier) release dates.... currently R1 is pretty much all I'm buying
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest Articles

Forum statistics

Threads
356,814
Messages
5,123,637
Members
144,184
Latest member
H-508
Recent bookmarks
0
Top