Question about Blu Ray "Imports" (1 Viewer)

[PattyFraser]

I'm ashamed to admit it, but I was actually mulling over whether to purchase "Chicken Run" an import, from Amazon. Suddenly today I see it's no longer available to pre-order, so I went to Blu-Ray.com where I originally saw it--no longer available there, either. I have not had my player all that long, so I'm just now paying attention to movie availability--does this happen often with imports? Do they usually then show up as available in R1? I'm also interested in "The Illusionist", another import, but I don't want to buy it in another region if it is likely to show up later in an R1. I'll go ahead and buy it if I'm likely to not be able to get it at all soon. To anyone able to clear up this mystery--thanks in advance.

 

[Jim_K]

Don't really know what Amazon's methods are for offering imports. You could try Amazon's sister sites at whichever county CR was released in.

Can't help with the Illusionist either. Importing really is a crapshoot. No matter what there's always a chance the title will get released soon in the US. I usually hold off importing unless the title is older/more obscure and seems unlikely to be released in the US (Ipcress File, Zulu, etc) or I find it insanely cheap (From Dusk til Dawn, Sin City). Otherwise I'll just hold off and wait and see.

 

[Paul Arnette]

I have yet to order an import through Amazon, and I would highly recommend against it as it is typically cheaper to order through other sites. Additionally, I have noticed that Amazon doesn't pay much attention to the region coding of the imports that they offer for sale, so it could be that titles are removed after customer complaints of incompatibilities.

For UK titles, I will order through Amazon UK if there is a 3 for 2 deal, but lately I have been having better luck with Play USA for Canadian and UK titles. The prices are cheaper and the shipping time is the same, if not better.

Everything Jim said regarding the risks of importing holds true. A lot of 'leg work' is required as far as researching and discovering the best places to purchase from are concerned. Sometimes you can guess if a title is going to be released domestically 'soon' by its popularity, whether it has an anniversary coming up, or a good 'marketing window' (i.e. tie-in with an actor, director, franchise or genre on an upcoming theatrical or home video release), but mostly it is a crap shoot.

Additionally, I have found the below site to be an invaluable aid in that aforementioned research:

Blu-Ray Region Code Info

Good luck.

 

[Douglas R]

I don't think Amazon themselves sell import titles. Import titles are surely always listed and sold by third party sellers through Amazon Marketplace, which is why availability is variable. It's usually better to buy directly from the country of origin website as Paul says.

 

[MatthewA]

I made the mistake of buying an Australian BD of "Death at a Funeral" that claimed to be all-region, but it plays the logo for the company that made it, then stops (I have a PS3).

 

[ATimson]

It's possible that the disc is all-region, but that the disc is trying to play some PAL content that your PS3 is choking on.

 

[PattyFraser]

Wow. Now, THAT doesn't sound good. I'm especially disturbed because British movies are my most concentrated center of interest. Death at a Funeral was a hoot.

 

[Reed Grele]

I just ordered The ILLUSIONIST on BD from Amazon Germany. I know that there is an Italian version too, but I have seen and heard the German pressing, which although is on a BD25 (single layer), still looks and sounds magnificent. It has a DTS-MA English language option and will play in any region.

Of course it's more expensive to import, but it's one of those movies that I like so much, that I can't wait for a USA release.

 

[Tim Glover]

I've purchased a few imports thru Amazon but mostly through amazon.com/UK. As someone already mentioned it's usually less expensive to simply go thru other amazon.com sites...some the difference in $$ is large.

 

[Elizabeth S]

Amazon.com had been carrying more and more imports but today I see many of them are not there anymore. On one of the Blu-Ray forums, a representative from a company that wholesales imports to Amazon had posted and explained why "In Bruges" BD import (Nordic) had been
pulled from Amazon -- that the studio who holds the U.S. rights had issued a cease and desist since they planned a U.S. release in the future. I had my order in early, though, and after a delay actually did receive the import copy from US Amazon last week. (Oddly, in this instance, the price seemed cheaper through US Amazon than from either megastore.se or axelmusic.dk.) He also explains how some titles like "[rec]" were listed before realization that the release had no English subs, but Amazon is slow in pulling those types of listings.

Here is the poster's thread regarding the Amazon imports:

Message from '101 Distribution' and info about In Bruge BR on/off Amazon - High-Def Digest Forums

 

[PattyFraser]

Elizabeth, et al, thanks for your helpful information.

I think I'll wait a bit on both CR and The Illusionist.

 

[Mike Frezon]

FWIW, I ordered my one-and-only import disc--the UK Blu-ray release of Sweeney Todd from amazon.uk and had no issues at all...outside of the rather high shipping costs. But I had the movie months before it's US BD release...AND it came in a steelbook case, to boot!

I had started to include the import BDs from amazon in each week's Weekly RoundUp (101 Distribution) only to eventually stop because of the widespread confusion about dates of the US releases, regional coding, high cost, etc.