Tora! Tora! Tora! out in Region B

I just received this from Amazon Germany and had a quick look at it - it does indeed look spectacular. Very sharp, clean and crisp, but also very natural and filmlike. There is a very fine veneer of grain that's present if you look for it, but is never intrusive.

And for anyone that's sick of waiting for Fox to release this in North america, it's an all-region disc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Hodson 

Coincidentally, this...



...has just been sold at auction for $800 - "Akira Kurosawa original hand drawn production storyboard for Tora! Tora! Tora!. (TCF, 1970) Original storyboard, hand drawn by Akira Kurosawa in pencil on an 8 ½ x 11 in. leaf of Tokyo Prince Hotel stationery, featuring a dramatic shot of a Japanese Zero strafing the aircraft carrier USS Valley Forge, with annotations at the upper and lower margins"

That would have been a tough shot to have in "Tora! Tora! Tora!", as USS Valley Forge wasn't launched until November 1945. Given the regard for accuracy, however, it would have fit well into Michael Bay's "Pearl Harbor"!
 

It was clearly from Akira Kurosawa's proposed Tora! Tora! Tora!; The Final Countdown.

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Hodson 

It was clearly from Akira Kurosawa's proposed Tora! Tora! Tora!; The Final Countdown.

USS Valley Forge wasn't in "The Final Countdown," either. That was USS Nimitz.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick Thompson 

USS Valley Forge wasn't in "The Final Countdown," either. That was USS Nimitz.

I think Mr Hodson's comment was intended as a joke.  At least, I got a chuckle out of it.

I'm glad somebody did.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Worth 

I just received this from Amazon Germany and had a quick look at it - it does indeed look spectacular. Very sharp, clean and crisp, but also very natural and filmlike. There is a very fine veneer of grain that's present if you look for it, but is never intrusive.

 

And for anyone that's sick of waiting for Fox to release this in North america, it's an all-region disc.

There are several Blu-ray versions listed on the German Amazon.  I assume yours is the German version?  Are the translation subtitles switchable to English? 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Hermes 

There are several Blu-ray versions listed on the German Amazon.  I assume yours is the German version?  Are the translation subtitles switchable to English? 

It's the German version, yes, this one:

http://www.amazon.de/Tora-Extended-Japanese-Cut-Blu-ray/dp/B002NTFJ0C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1277660454&sr=8-1

English subtitles can be selected and only appear over the Japanese dialogue. I believe Fox holds worldwide distribution rights to this title, so my guess would be that the eventual North American release will be identical to this disc, save for the cover art.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Worth 

It's the German version, yes, this one:

 

http://www.amazon.de/Tora-Extended-Japanese-Cut-Blu-ray/dp/B002NTFJ0C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1277660454&sr=8-1

 

English subtitles can be selected and only appear over the Japanese dialogue. I believe Fox holds worldwide distribution rights to this title, so my guess would be that the eventual North American release will be identical to this disc, save for the cover art.

Thanks, I ordered one.  It was about $41 with shipping charges, but it sounds like a great Blu-ray.

 

I watched mine last night, and it looks great. A tip while ordering (unless you speak German and/or have an account at Amazon Germany already).

You'll have to open an account for Amazon Germany, and since everything on Amazon.de is in German, open another browser window for Amazon UK. I use Firefox, so I open UK Amazon in Explorer. Germany and UK have the same account opening and payment procedures, so you can click along in UK as the English translation for Germany. I just exited UK Amazon right before the account and sale became final.

No need to get the expensive shipping. I took standard and it got to me in less than a week. Needless to say, I was impressed by the speed. Germany to rural US in less than a week! Wow!

Later edit add-on: Just choose English in setup for both versions on the disk. You only get subtitles (in English) during the Japanese dialog -- even on the Japanese version. You'll note they switch the director credits on the Japan version. Instead of "Japanese sequences directed by . . ." and then "Directed by . . .", you get "American sequences directed by . . ." and then "Directed by . . ." Their guys get top billing.

I haven't needed to open up new accounts for any foreign Amazon subsidiary - my amazon.ca settings were automatically transferred to the American, British, French, German and Japanese sites.

I guess you Canadians rate.

Amazon Germany didn't recognize my signin, nor did Amazon UK.

Or maybe they just don't recognize me! I tell ya, I don't get no respect!

You can also use the new Google browser - when it encounters a page in a foreign language, it automatically asks you if you want to have it translated. Not the best translations, by any means, but good enough to give you the gist of it.

I didn't actually order, but the site recognized my regular Amazon account (just like Amazon UK).

14 Euros for standard shipping (to the US) is pretty steep.  I can wait for the eventual US (or maybe UK) release.

But the BD sounds good nonetheless...

_Man_

Then I guess it's just me. Oh the pity of it!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Man-Fai Wong 

I didn't actually order, but the site recognized my regular Amazon account (just like Amazon UK).

 

14 Euros for standard shipping (to the US) is pretty steep.  I can wait for the eventual US (or maybe UK) release.

 

But the BD sounds good nonetheless...

 

_Man_

It's already available in the UK.

However, that's PAL and won't play here in Region 1. The edition in Germany is not region restricted. It plays in Region 1 (North America & US possessions).

Amazon often just copies and pastes the DVD details. I'm not 100% certain, but given that Fox owns the worldwide rights to the film, I'd bet that the UK disc is identical.

Rick Thompson:

Don't mistake PAL with region: there is region 1 PAL you know. Just saying...

Anyway, for BD, we're mostly concerned with whether the disc is region-locked (handy if not), and if there is any 50Hz-based content on it (many players won't play it, many will).

In an otherwise playable region-unlocked BD, the feature may be fine at 1080p/24, but there can occasionally be some 50Hz stuff thrown in, an extra or a promo, that can cause a BD player to choke. For instance, my PS3 will choke or require some fancy finagling to bypass the sticker, but my Oppo doesn't care.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Worth 

Amazon often just copies and pastes the DVD details. I'm not 100% certain, but given that Fox owns the worldwide rights to the film, I'd bet that the UK disc is identical.

So would I; the review of the Dutch release says the extras are in 480p and it's Region A, B, C. Not a problem.

Why don't we leave it at this: We KNOW the one from Germany plays here.

Until someone tries the UK version and reports back, Germany is the sure thing and UK is not.