buying Asian release DVD's for use here in US? (1 Viewer)

[Chris_Wood]

on ebay:
Band of Brothers set (no tin), but Asian release.
- packaging is the same as the US version, with the addition of a little Chinese on the front
- reported to play fine in Region 1 dvd players

Safe to buy, or should I avoid this and keep looking?

 

[Lew Crippen]

It is probably safe enough. But most Asian release that are claimed to play on R1 DVDs are bootlegs.

They will run. But often they have very poor transfers. And even if the transfers are OK, they are still (likely) bootlegs.

 

[Rob Lutter]

Chris... if a DVD is from Hong Kong AND it is Region 0 (All region), 99.9999999999% of the time it is a bootleg.

 

[ChuckDeLa]

Aren't all those Universe Laser & Media Asia Jackie Chan DVDs Region 0 discs from Hong Kong?

 

[Tom_Bechet]

Chris... if a DVD is from Hong Kong AND it is Region 0 (All region), 99.9999999999% of the time it is a bootleg.

not always I have bougth some DVDs from dddhouse they are legal DVDs. the nice people in HK just don't care about region coding as much as the US studios.

 

[Tom_Bechet]

Aren't all those Universe Laser & Media Asia Jackie Chan DVDs Region 0 discs from Hong Kong?

universe yes. I have the HK Shaolin soccer it's R0, but legal

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Chris... if a DVD is from Hong Kong AND it is Region 0 (All region), 99.9999999999% of the time it is a bootleg.

......Go here and look around a little. Everything sold in this store is 100% legit and I'd say at least 75%-80% of the titles are coded Region 0. Unfortunately, because some of the more famous bootlegs like the Star Wars Five-Star Editions, Studio Ghibli Collection and the Criterion Salo were manufactured in Hong Kong, everyone assumes that all Hong Kong DVDs are bootlegs.

Jeff

 

[Rob Lutter]

That's why I didn't say 100%.

But seriously... there is more seeds than watermelon in the HK DVD market.

 

[Lew Crippen]

Of course there are legitimate DVD manufacturers in HK. Just as its possible to buy legitimate Microsoft products in certain parts of Asia (to stay away from singling out one country).

However, factually SE Asia and China produce a large number of bootleg products of every type. And in some markets, a large percentage of bootleg to legitimate. I lived in SE Asia for two years and spent another 5+ working through the Asia/Pacific region. It is very easy to tell the rip-offs from the legitimate products, the price being the first clue.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

To refine what Rob said

If it's a product that originates in the US, or is anime that is Region 0, English and Chinese subs it's a bootleg 98% of the time