Is there a difference between DVD's pressed for Canada and the U.S. (1 Viewer)

[Jerome Grate]

I picked up RH2 JP3 and noticed that RH2 has a French title as well as an English title printed on the DVD and for JP3 I noticed that order from for the free DVD is in French on the other side. Am I right to assume there is absolutely no difference between the pressing.

 

[Tony Scello]

Jerome,

Does the Canadian/French pressing of Jurassic Park III include the the offer form for the "Beyond Jurassic Park" bonus disc and collectible case for $6.95? Or is it more in Canadian dollers? Is the mailing address for this offer an address in El Paso, Texas? I'm interested in this offer and can get the Canadian version tomorrow morning. If this is not being offered in the Canadian pressing, then I'll wait until Tuesday to pick up JP III. Thanks.

 

[Rob T]

there usually isn't any difference. Every once in awhile, like with the Memento disc, where it's done by a totally different home video company, the disc will be different, but since all of North America is R1, the discs are the exact same on either sides of the border.

the cover is also usually different because the home video companies up here have to put the Canadian rating for the movieon the cover (it's usually by the US rating).

 

[Jerome Grate]

My offer was 8.99 for the bonus disc and 2.99 shipping for the free disc. May be I should have waited till Tuesday. In fact I have to send it to Canada. Rats now I should have really waited, probably would have saved some time and money.

 

[MichaelPe]

In general, there is never a difference. For example, titles from:
- Paramount
- Universal
- Dreamworks
- Sony/CTHV
- Fox
- Warner
- MGM
- New Line (sometimes)
- Disney (sometimes)
are identical in both countries (discs & packaging).
With the rare exception of certain independent titles from New Line, Miramax, and other studios, we almost always get the same discs.
Check out the Canadian-exclusive titles from DV-Depot for a better look.

 

[Michael Warner]

My Canadian version of Willow from Fox has an alternate French soundtrack while the American release has a Spanish track. I assume this is fairly common but easily overlooked.

 

[Tomoko Noguchi]

There is a difference. I have Batman from Canada, the one with Adam West, and whenever a sign in English comes up, automatically the French comes on in translation. It's quite frustrating since you cannot turn it off (I've tried).

 

[Rob T]

There is a difference. I have Batman from Canada, the one with Adam West, and whenever a sign in English comes up, automatically the French comes on in translation. It's quite frustrating since you cannot turn it off (I've tried).

I've never had that happen with any of my DVDs so maybe it's just that disc.

 

[Kyle Milligan]

To say that the releases are NEVER different, or almost never is simply not true. We take for granted that given there's no obvious regional or technical reason for them to be different, that they'd be the same. But with money as a motivator, there's reason enough.
As French is a second language in Canada, and Spanish is more prevalent in America, these tracks are sometimes interchangeable, most noticeably on Disney titles, but some Fox as well. Most of you will be saying, "So what? I speak English." but that's just for starters.
Take a title like Paramount's "You Can Count On Me" with audio commentary and other bits, the Canadian version is distributed by Columbia Tristar and doesn't offer the commentary.
Memento is a glaring discrepancy, and an outrage for many fans, and covered exhaustively in previous threads, so nuff said on that one.
Pulp Fiction and Trainspotting are both superior releases in Canada, but the cards are stacked in America's favour on lots of other titles that are distributed by Alliance Atlantis in Canada.
Sliding Doors and Shallow Grave are just two more examples of titles that are Standard only (1.33:1) in Canada and Widescreen in the U.S.
Let's not forget Ginger Snaps one of the few superior Canadian titles.
The ones you really have to watch out for the most (if you're in Canada) are Alliance Atlantis and Columbia Tristar titles. Sometimes it's just packaging, but often enough it's much more.
P.S. In case you didn't know about them already, Seville is a Canadian company that is doing incredibly BAD video transfers and seem to be the only game in town for a number of titles, like "Kurt & Courtney" and "Margaret's Museum." It's embarassing what they're doing.
So there aren't tons of DVDs that are different, but more than enough to not say never.

 

[Martin Fontaine]

There is a difference. I have Batman from Canada, the one with Adam West, and whenever a sign in English comes up, automatically the French comes on in translation. It's quite frustrating since you cannot turn it off (I've tried).

Normally, this occurs when you select the french audio track. But sometimes, putting english audio and sometimes turning on english subs to see what they said exactly, then turn off the subs will trigger the "Partial Subs". I have that problem with Gone In 60 Seconds (2000 Version) When I turn on english subs to get the text, then turn it off, the spanish subs come on when there is on screen text to be translated.

 

[Kimmo Jaskari]

Also, the Alliance version of Johnny Mnemonic is 1.33:1 instead of OAR... and while "The Art of War" was OAR, it was poorly pressed and didn't display properly on some displays.

It's a constant worry since the places I prefer to order from are either Canadian or sell Canadian editions.

 

[Paul James]

I think from memory that the Canadian version of The Red Violin was different from the US version. The US had DTS whilst the canadian version was only Dolby two channel.
Paul.

 

[kevin_asai]

My friend's canadian version of Pearl Harbor DVD's english subtitle is in yellow color but mine, which is US Version, is white color. Also the packaging is the same but there are some differences "French version included" in french, Canadian's home rating (14A) and also Canadian flag at the back of the cover.

 

[Jerome Grate]

Rush Hour 2 had french subtitles on the top bar and english subtitles in the bottom bar when Chinese was spoken. Still a good DTS-ES track.

 

[Kwang Suh]

Many Canadian DVDs come with moose fat on them. Quite annoying to remove actually.

 

[Kyle McKnight]

Don't foget if you want Good Will Hunting, the Canadian version is Anamorphic, while the US version is not.

 

[PeteD]

The Red Violin I rented from Rogers Video here in Toronto was Widescreen 5.1 (Can't remember 100% if it was DTS, or just DD but pretty sure it was).

P.

 

[ChristopherM]

New Line's "The Long Kiss Goodnight" is anamorphic widescreen on the USA edition, but non-anamorphic on the Canadian edition.