PAL AND OTHER-REGION DVD ANNOUNCEMENTS & REVIEWS

I am finding that a wealth of the stuff we've been clammoring for here in the States is available from UK, FRANCE, ITALY, etc.
The missing Hammer titles are all available through Amazon UK: Twins Of Evil, Vampire Circus, Quatermass Experiment, an anamorphic DRACULA, PRINCE OF DARKNESS, etc. Also available over there are NIGHT OF THE EAGLE (aka BURN WITCH BURN), BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW, THE INNOCENTS (1961 -- new release, this one a Blu-ray!), FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO, TIGER BAY, WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND, DR. TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS......

I think it would be a great service to those of us who are considering purchasing from outside the country to have reviews and member dialog.

Just a thought.

Reggie...not to hijack my own thread, but can you report back on whether the DON'T LOOK NOW special edition from the UK still has the awful sound quality it had a few years ago? I am hoping they re-issued a corrected version. Thanks!

Region 2 PAL Kinowelt disco of PATHFINDER (1988) is excellent!

Oh, how long I have waited to acquire this incredible adventure. The news of a (2007) remake had me in hopes that this Lapp-language film would get a region 1 PAL release, but that never happened. Finally, I found a Kinowelt release that has a ratio of about 2.20:1, and now that I have my Sherwood 5400, I can play it without problems. It looks better than I could have hoped. It is, of course, a DVD, not a Blu-ray, so it hasn't the clarity of HD, but considering I don't think there has been another DVD release of this in widescreen anywhere in the world, I'm perfectly happy with it. The color is a bit oversaturated and tends toward red, but hue and color controls can easily correct this. The Norwegian track is listed on the box as being Stereo, but without headphones I cannot verify. In any case, the sound is fine. An English language track is also provided, as are English subtitles. If you have an all-region, PAL/NTSC player, by all means check this out as opposed to the rather lame remake. This is a fairly costly disc, though. I paid $36.00 for it shipped. The only extra is a trailer.

Many thanks, Adam. I will be posting short reviews of some two dozen PAL and Region 2 Blu-rays shortly.

A WARNING ABOUT ORDERING DVD'S FROM EUROPE:

I've had generally great luck with the PAL films I've purchased, but, as is true in the U.S., there are crap products also. Case in point:

 

JU-DOU, from Razor Digital. The Amazon desciption and the actual case state an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Not so! This is a 1.66:1 ratio, and looks exactly like the now OOP U.S.A. counterpart, that is: faded, lackluster color, lack of depth and detail. I thought I had a decent DVD coming, as the front of the box states, "Zhang Yimou Collection." It is a terrible transfer. I am to this day unsure what the true proper OAR is, but even if it's 1.66:1, this is an unacceptable product.

Then, there is...

AT PLAY IN THE FIELDS OF THE LORD, a DVD from Spain that is titled, JUGANDO EN LOS CAMPOS SENOR, from a company called Miramar. Avoid this at all costs. It is, unfortunately, the only DVD available anywhere of this title (unless one of you out there knows better - if so, please share!), and it actually looks worse than the DVD-R I made from my Universal laser disc. It is heavily pixilated, lacking detail, and is 1.33:1.

A number of versions of VAMPIRE CIRCUS are out there (everywhere but in the U.S., apparently, thanks to MGM's losing the Midnight Movies line). I purchased a Spanish edition titled O VAMPIRO EA GIGANA from Fabricado hoping to hit a good one (comparitive reviews of such films are extremely hard to find, and this title is not covered by the delightful Mr. Tooze over at Beaver). This particular transfer is loaded with aliasing and is lacking sharpness when played back on my Sherwood 5400, which has had no trouble playing back good-quality PAL and region 2 discs. And this one isn't even PAL - it's NTSC! I have since ordered the Carlton disc, and will report back on how that looks.

 

Bottom line: it's a crap shoot. The Amazon reviews from any country can be confusing because they tend to lump reviews of every edition of a given film into their feedback, and one can often not tell which edition is being talked about. Just like in the U.S., there are outfits like Madacy and Alpha that churn out lousy discs. It's just that, when ordering from Europe or Asia, we have fewer resources for information about relative quality. I just paid (and I already have buyer's remorse before the disc even arrives) sixty bucks (!) for a copy of THE QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT, which is supremely difficult to find for anything less, though Anchor Bay appears to have a VOD program, and I was able to purchase QUATERMASS II for significantly less on DVD-R (it looks fine).

So, you takes your chances. Hopefully my risk-taking and reporting back to you will save you some bucks, but also lead you to good quality other-region DVD's.

http://forum.blu-ray.com/blu-ray-movies-international/ - Here is a country-by-country forum in which members announce and discuss DVD's and Blu-rays.

http://bluray.liesinc.net/index.php?region=b  - This is a reasonably inclusive list and identifies whether the Blu-ray titles are region-locked or not.

and, of course...

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/

Ultimate Disney also has an other-region forum:

http://www.ultimatedisney.com/international.html

Between these, not very much isn't talked about or reviewed. But anything that is missing, these four sites would want to hear about.
Edited by Dick - 4/2/10 at 7:39am

I've checked out a bunch of new (to me) PAL/region 2 DVD's and a few Blu-rays from the UK. I will not pretend to compete with Gary Tooze over the DVD Beaver, who writes remarkable reviews and provides in-depth version comparisons. These are just a few quick notes on each, in no particular order:


Edited by Dick - 4/2/10 at 7:48am

PART TWO

MATILDA. Sony Entertainment UK. Anamorphic 2.35:1, 5.1, PAL, R2. Obviously Sony decided that the U.S. is far less discriminating in their home viewing preferences than Europe, because they gave us a pan and scan thing over here, even while taking away the widescreen sides of dual-format DVD's when they reissued them in the U.S. This Danny DeVito film looks as it's supposed to in the UK, and is a very film-like experience. Highly recommended.

ICEMAN.  Arrow Films. Anamorphic 2.35:1, 2.0 Stereo, PAL, R2. If you like this movie and are pissed at Universal for giving the U.S. a crumby pan and scan rip-off, this one looks so good it's worth purchasing an all-region, PAL/NTSC player (like this Sherwood 5400) just to watch it. Great-looking image. And that John Lone performance, rarely mentioned, should have been nominated for an Oscar. Should have won, actually. Highly recommended.
 
COLOSSUS: THE FORBIN PROJECT. Medium Rare Entertainment. Anamorphic 2.35:1, Mono, PAL, R2. Speaking of Universal ripping us off with pan and scan sci-fi films, their treatment of this film in the U.S. really riled people up (not least of all me). The widescreen frame is used so judiciously by the director Joseph Sargent that cropping it renders the movie close to incomprehensible. So, here you get the whole frame. Problem: lots of aliasing. All those computer boards and blinking lights and horizontal lines really suffer when there is any vertical panning. Sharpness is not great, but isn't a crucial problem. Color is acceptable. This disc does, however, include a commentary from director Joseph Sargent. If anyone has a better-looking transfer of this from another company/country, please post info here.

FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO. Suevia Films. PAL, R2. This B&W classic from Billy Wilder has thus far been ignored by Universal in the U.S. I got tired of waiting, and ordered this Spanish DVD, "Cinco tumblas al Cairo." Nothing special about the transfer, except that this is the only game in town for this title that I could find. Some aliasing, but generally acceptable sharpness, grain level, contrast. Removable English subs. Recommended with reservations.

DON'T LOOK NOW (SPECIAL EDITION). Optimum label. Anamorphic1.85:1, mono. PAL, R2. 
The Paramount DVD available in this country isn't unwatchable. This would be a prime candidate for Blu-ray treatment, and that could happen in the UK. For now, there are several editions put out by different companies that each has unique problems and advantages. This edition contains a trailer, full-length Roeg commentary, and a 20-minute "Looking Back" featurette with Nicolas Roeg, cinematographer Anthony Richmond and, the person I most wanted to hear from, editor Graeme Clifford. Online reviews of this edition uniformly praised the extras while condemning the tinny, shrill sound quality of the DVD. Those reviews go back years, and I am assuming Optimum finally corrected this, because the sound is no better or worse to my ears than that on the domestic release, and is perfectly acceptable. Highly recommended.

THREADS. BBC Video. Made-for British TV, 1.33:1, mono. PAL, R2. This film was eclipsed in our country by THE DAY AFTER, made at roughly the same time. The reverse was apparently true in England. THREADS is really quite superior to its U.S. counterpart doomsday thriller in almost every respect: it is actually grimmer, better-acted, better-scripted, and far scarier than THE DAY AFTER in spite of the latter's becoming the most popular t.v. movie in history. Picture quality and sound are pretty decent for a t.v. movie transfer. Recommended.

THE GREEN MAN. BBC Video. Made for British TV, 1.33:1, 2.0 Stereo. PAL, R2. Outstanding mini-series starring the inimitable Albert Finney in his prime. This is a multi-part presentation with a play-all option. Image and sound quality are quite fine. If you didn't catch this on its U.S. run on PBS, check it out -- it's a wonderful ghost story that is pretty scary at times, but always interesting, with thick countryside atmosphere within and without an inn/restaurant. 2 1/2 hours running time. Some of the effects (woods coming alive) will remind you of THE EVIL DEAD.
 
Here's a weird one:

QUATERMASS II. Anchor Bay. I bought this at Amazon UK like all the titles above, but when this arrived, it was obviously a DVD-R. It has the official A.B. logo, and was designated as part of the "Hammer Collection," a title we did not get as a pressed disc in the U.S. There is no indication that this is a UK release. Rather, it is a region-free, NTSC disc, and looks quite fine. 1.33:1, mono, B&W. I was unaware that Anchor Bay was doing VOD's. Anyone have more info? I didn't spent much for this disc (as opposed to THE QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT Anchor Bay Hammer series DVD, which cost me big time. More on that later...)

THERE IS MORE. I WILL ADD TO THIS POST AFTER I'VE VIEWED THE NEWEST ARRIVALS.
Edited by Dick - 4/2/10 at 8:01am

My review is for the one with the red "Widescreen Edition" banner at the top, which includes the Joseph Sargent commentary. Doesn't look great, as I said. I am hoping someone will report a better-looking edition somewhere. The version without the red banner appears, from the reviews I've read, to be a pan and scan edition, much like Universal's USA release.