"Abre Los Ojos (Open Your Eyes)" — available on DVD? (1 Viewer)

[cafink]

I recently saw a trailer for "Vanilla Sky." It looked really interesting, and made me want to see it. But first, I'd like to see the movie on which it's based, "Abre Los Ojos."
Is "Abre Los Ojos" available on DVD (in the USA, region 1)? I thought it was, but I haven't been able to find it anywhere. I know it's not an overwhelmingly popular mainstream title, but I was sure that someone would have it. No such luck. I checked some websites, and have found conflicting information. Some sites say it was released on August 21. Others say it won't be available until December 18.
What is the deal with this DVD?

 

[rbirk]

It exists in Region 1 in multiple places. I got it a couple of months ago from CDNow and it is great movie. When I saw the trailer for Vanilla Sky it looked very similar (almost scene by scene) but we will have to see when it is released.
Ron Birk

 

[Jodee]

It's out. I own it. It's a little hard to find. I ordered mine from Deep Discount DVD and they took a few weeks to ship it but I got it.
You best best is ordering it online. I heard it's pretty scarce at retail.
Great movie! I ordered it sight unseen ans SO glad I did.

 

[cafink]

Wow! I love this place — thanks for the super-quick replies.
I also really loved Amenabar's "The Others." Can't wait to check this movie out.

 

[Bryant Frazer]

I've got to take this opportunity to complain that Artisan, which released Open Your Eyes on DVD in the U.S., is really cheesing out. First, Open Your Eyes came out with a 2.0 Dolby Digital track, despite the fact that a terrific 5.1 track is included on the great Spanish DVD, which has been out for a year or more. Then, they released Ginger Snaps also in Dolby Digital 2.0 and in the wrong aspect ratio, despite the fact that an anamorphic widescreen version with 5.1 sound became available simultaneously in Canada. (That both movies are available with copious extras in their home countries while the Artisan discs are extra-free is almost beside the point here.)
Bottom line is I'm happy that these films have a chance to find an audience in North America, but it's very discouraging to see them getting such half-assed treatment. At least you can readily order Ginger Snaps from Canada and watch it on standard DVD players; the Spanish Open Your Eyes disc is in PAL (and may be region coded, I can't remember), which makes it a little tougher.
-bf-
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Bryant Frazer
Deep Focus
www.deep-focus.com

 

[Robert Spalding]

I have a region free copy thats not too bad
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Sirdvd.com
Link Removed

 

[Ted Todorov]

Braynt, does the Spanish DVD have English subtitles?
Ted

 

[Bryant Frazer]

Ted, yes the Spanish DVD (I'm pretty sure it's Region 2, now that I think about it) does have English subs. It's also got tons of extras. I can post a feature list when I get home tonight, if anyone is curious. For the time being, I'm keeping both copies since I don't want to have to watch this movie only on my Apex!
-bf-
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Bryant Frazer
Deep Focus
www.deep-focus.com

 

[JohnS]

I bought it at Best Buy for $15.99
I also saw copies of it at the WOW! store
Going to watch it this weekend.
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[Dave Dugan]

I saw this movie on Cinemax late one night some months ago and instantly tried to order the DVD online. At the time, though, it did not exist on DVD in this country.
So I was very pleased to find a thread which indicated it had been released here.
Deep Discount DVD carries it (and CHEAP) right now, but read my thread about it before you run and order it...
-Dave

 

[cafink]

Well, since this thread has been resurrected, I thought I'd pop in with an update. I was going to go ahead and order "Abre Los Ojos" online, but before I got around to it, just a couple of days after I originally posted this thread, I happened to again stop by Best Buy, and saw it on the shelf this time. I bought it, of course.

I don't usually like to buy movies I haven't seen, but in this case, I definitely made the right choice. What a great film! Very intriguing stuff. Highly recommended. I can't wait until "Vanilla Sky" is released, I'd like to compare the two.

 

[SteveGon]

I got my copy at Best Buy for $15.99 as well. I'd never seen the movie before but figured I'd give it a chance. I wasn't disappointed.

 

[Takayuki Kihara]

The Spanish edition is non-anamorphic widescreen but the picture looks pristine. I read somewhere that the Spanish edition looks actually better than the US Artisan edition which is anamorphic. Only the feature has the English subs. Extras (without subs) include the audio commentary by the director, the isolated music track by the director (who also is the composer for the soundtracks for the film), behind-the-scene docu, the original documents that inspired the director for the story of the film, an early B&W short film by the director, a short clip about composing the soundtracks for the film, and theatrical trailers for this film and the director's earlier film, "Tesis." There might be more extras, but they are all I can think of right now. If you can play region 2 PAL discs, this one is a killer.

As for "Vanilla Sky," I wonder why the TV spots I've been seeing a lot lately rarely show Penelope Cruz in favor of Cameron Diaz. Diaz's character in the original is rather a secondary one (though very important), compared to the Cruz's character. Maybe for this remake, the director decided to give more scenes to Diaz than the original one because she is one of the top Hollywood stars?

 

[Bryant Frazer]

As for "Vanilla Sky," I wonder why the TV spots I've been seeing a lot lately rarely show Penelope Cruz in favor of Cameron Diaz. Diaz's character in the original is rather a secondary one (though very important), compared to the Cruz's character. Maybe for this remake, the director decided to give more scenes to Diaz than the original one because she is one of the top Hollywood stars?

Maybe. But even if he didn't, it's likely that Diaz would be featured in the advertising anyway since she's a much bigger movie star.

-bf-

 

[Jodee]

In regards to Vanilla Sky, I wonder if the lack of Cruz in the trailers is a result to the negative PR the Cruise-Cruz affair has received?

Entertainment Weekly featured Tom Cruise & Penelope Cruz on the cover for their Movie Preview issue and printed tons of angry letters afterwards criticizing the couple for being so public about their affair so soon after the Nicole Kidman divorce.

The producers might be trying to avoid a Proof of Life type fiasco.