International BLU-RAY DISCS FROM FRANCE (1 Viewer)

[bluelaughaminute]

Just curious, if those procedures I read about on the internet for unlocking the regions on your region A blu ray player really work - you place the region B disc in your player, when the message pops up telling you it won't play, you hold down the number "1" and then it will start playing (I have a Panasonic BDT 210) ?

That is the way to switch regions if you have a modified player only .
My current Panasonic multi region player also has the UOP disabled so those pesky forced French subs on the discs mentioned earlier would be removeable - but only on that one player.

I'm not sure if it would work on a locked Region A player but I found that UK discs from Studio Canal that were locked to region B would play on my player when it was set to Region A just by pressing STOP then MENU once the disc had stopped trying to load.

 

[Ed Lachmann]

I see France have, Kings Of The Sun '63 for release in early June. Surely it can't be too long before someone releases the same studios, The Vikings.

WOW!!! Billy, God bless you, you have made my WEEK! One of my old favorites comes to blu-ray, at last! Maybe SOLOMON AND SHEBA will be close behind, too.

 

[John Hermes]

I just noticed a John Wayne Blu-ray release scheduled for October 1 with The Searchers, Chisum, and Cahill U.S. Marshal. Warner Bros.three-disc set.

http://www.amazon.fr/John-Wayne-prisonni%C3%A8re-potence-Blu-ray/dp/B00LU4TCJA/ref=sr_1_2?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1407215744&sr=1-2&keywords=Les+cordes+de+la+potence+%5B

 

[Keith Cobby]

Carlotta are releasing The Killers in France with some good supplements. Unfortunately many of these are not subtitled. I may get this anyway as Carlotta are known for their careful transfers. The blu-ray also has a nice cover.

 

[revgen]

Arrow will also be releasing The Killers too on November 14th. With optional English subtitles included.

 

[youworkmen]

In November there's a Bluray release of the Irwin Allen version of The Lost World. Definitely one for the collection

 

[Alan Tully]

In November there's a Bluray release of the Irwin Allen version of The Lost World. Definitely one for the collection

Yeah, I'd forgotten about that, I hope it looks good. A very (very!) guilty pleasure of mine.

 

[youworkmen]

Yeah, I'd forgotten about that, I hope it looks good. A very (very!) guilty pleasure of mine.

I'm half expecting it to have forced subs but fortunately my Bluray player is modified so I'll be able to switch them off if that does happen.

 

[Tyler Foster]

Hello, I'm wondering if anyone has purchased this French Blu-ray of Master and Commander? http://www.amazon.fr/Master-commander-lautre-monde-Blu-ray/dp/B001CRVYPA/I swear I recall reading that this was Region Free and it is Universal which generally leaves their discs unlocked. It is the only Blu-ray edition out there to have all the bonus features from the US 2-disc DVD. However, on Blu-ray.com it now lists the disc as "locked." Does anyone own it?

 

[youworkmen]

I don't own it but the only Universal movie Blurays I've ever known to be locked are those licenced out . So Hammer and sci fi movies released by Koch and others in Germany and Final Cut in the UK are locked , I believe Criterion may have issued a Universal title on Bluray and that's also locked.

Amazon France says its Universal themselves who are releasing it so assuming it is actually a Universal production and they own it ( check ownership in the US) its very unlikely to be locked .
Locking it is usually only done when ownership differs between countries

 

[Ed Lachmann]

I'm half expecting it to have forced subs but fortunately my Bluray player is modified so I'll be able to switch them off if that does happen.

David, I've got an Oppo BDP-83, is there any way to do what you've done with my player? My beloved KINGS OF THE SUN came with locked French subs and if THE LOST WORLD is the same, I'll give up on French releases period. Will a modification work with the Oppo and how could I make it happen?

 

[Tyler Foster]

Locking it is usually only done when ownership differs between countries

The film IS a Universal co-production, although it is distributed by 20th Century Fox in the US and most territories.

 

[youworkmen]

The film IS a Universal co-production, although it is distributed by 20th Century Fox in the US and most territories.

Sounds like a candidate for locking although do the Fox distribution rights include home video?
In cases where Fox may have the rights in one country and another company elsewhere this is usually where locking may happen . If Universal own the film outright in France I'd say the chances are its not locked as Universal do not lock discs of their own movies

David, I've got an Oppo BDP-83, is there any way to do what you've done with my player? My beloved KINGS OF THE SUN came with locked French subs and if THE LOST WORLD is the same, I'll give up on French releases period. Will a modification work with the Oppo and how could I make it happen?

I have a Panasonic player. When I purchased it I had 2 choices of where to buy a multi region model .
One retailer had a hardware mod fitted into the machine . Advantage being that any firmware updates would not affect the multi region capability.

The other retailer had a firmware mod . This involved changing the firmware in the machine . Downside is that if I ever need to update the firmware (rare on Panasonic in my experience) the multi region capability would end and I'd need to pay a small "topup" fee for the new firmware to be adjusted again to be MR. The reason I went for the firmware option was that it had one extra feature . The User Operated Prohibitions are disabled . This allows the player to ignore disc instructions so as soon as the disc loads you can skip or FF through warnings , trailers and oher bits and pieces that the disc would normally prevent you from doing. This also means you can do things like switch off forced subs , change audio or angles during playback where some discs force a return to the menu.
This kind of mod I only ever saw offered on very early Sony dvd players as part of the MR mod and this player I have is actually the first time I've ever seen the feature offered for Bluray . My main reason for getting it was specifically aimed at forced subs although that's not happened yet but it is useful; for going straight to menus.

I'm in the UK so it may be different in the US . I only know of 2 retailers here who offer multi region Bluray players . Plenty will allow you to make the dvd playback multi region but making the actual Bluray playback MR is very rare and very costly.
So I suspect in the US it may be hard to find an upgrade you can do yourself but it may be worth looking for a pre-modded machine next time you buy one . Disabling UOP does not seem to be something offered by many companies.

There are of course 2 other ways to remove the subs if you do get a problem. Firstly you can playback on your computer . There are various software programs out there that will allow you to switch the subs off . The other way is to make a copy of the disc on your computer and you can them delete the subs completely - once again you'll need a program to do this but they are out there.

So after all that waffling I doubt I've been able to get you any further .
I have Lost World on pre-order and its out on Monday so I should be able to report back by next weekend to see if its safe to order .

 

[Tyler Foster]

Sounds like a candidate for locking although do the Fox distribution rights include home video?
In cases where Fox may have the rights in one country and another company elsewhere this is usually where locking may happen . If Universal own the film outright in France I'd say the chances are its not locked as Universal do not lock discs of their own movies

Yes, 20th Century Fox distributes on video in the US. However, it's worth pointing out that the same bonus features I'm after are from the US 20th Century Fox DVD and the French Universal Blu-ray, so some sharing and cooperation is clearly evident.

 

[youworkmen]

Yes, 20th Century Fox distributes on video in the US. However, it's worth pointing out that the same bonus features I'm after are from the US 20th Century Fox DVD and the French Universal Blu-ray, so some sharing and cooperation is clearly evident.

I'd take the chance .
For actual movies on discs I've never found a Universal Bluray that has region coding. If you know of any then maybe not . Perhaps a good excuse to be upgraded to multi region and buy the disc to celebrate

 

[Ed Lachmann]

So after all that waffling I doubt I've been able to get you any further .
I have Lost World on pre-order and its out on Monday so I should be able to report back by next weekend to see if its safe to order .

Thank you for the information, David. I'm hoping that Sidonis may be one of the last to do this awful subtitle lock thing. Looking forward to hearing about THE LOST WORLD. I loved that one as a kid.

 

[youworkmen]

Thank you for the information, David. I'm hoping that Sidonis may be one of the last to do this awful subtitle lock thing. Looking forward to hearing about THE LOST WORLD. I loved that one as a kid.

Amazon France tell me to expect delivery on Thursday

 

[Alan Tully]

The Lost World

This from a customer on Amazon France:

This is an excellent pressing with a full stereo soundtrack. It's English friendly with removable French subtitles.More importantly this is a region FREE disc so Region A fans can import with confidence.Enjoy..........

So, hopefully good news for those brave souls that pre-ordered it. The film is nowhere as good as Journey To The Centre Of The Earth, but I always liked it, before I saw it I had the Dell Movie Classics comic for years, which I read 'till it fell apart. The cheapo version of London Airport at the start of the film is a hoot!

 

[Ed Lachmann]

I'm ordering it RIGHT NOW! Thanks for the heads up.

 

[EddieLarkin]

Re subtitle locking, if you have an Oppo just use your subtitle shift feature and shift those buggers right off the bottom of the screen. Certainly the simplest method.