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International Strange Days 20th Anniversary Edition (Germany) (1 Viewer)

YanMan

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Josh Steinberg

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Thanks for sharing the link - I had no idea this was coming! I'm seriously tempted to pre-order this - after shipping it works out to being only about $15 to the States. (Even if it came out as a Twilight Time disc, it would be twice that cost.)
 

Neil Middlemiss

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Josh Steinberg said:
Thanks for sharing the link - I had no idea this was coming! I'm seriously tempted to pre-order this - after shipping it works out to being only about $15 to the States. (Even if it came out as a Twilight Time disc, it would be twice that cost.)
Same here. Need to know if it's region locked first. But this is a terrific film.
 

Josh Steinberg

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Neil Middlemiss said:
Same here. Need to know if it's region locked first. But this is a terrific film.

I've got a region free player - if I do end up getting this, I'll be happy to report back if it's locked or not.
 

cineMANIAC

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Tempted to get this but German Blu-rays are hit or miss. Miss, mostly. I'll wait for a review (if one is forthcoming, being it's a foreign release).
 

Josh Steinberg

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I decided to go for it… at the very least, it's gotta be an upgrade over the non-anamorphic DVD. Amazon.de was estimating delivery mid-May based on the cheapest shipping choice, so I'll report back in a couple months.
 

YanMan

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Thanks, Josh. Looking forward to reading your impressions. Please do let us know if it is region-locked.
 

Ernest

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I ordered this title when I read it being released on April 23rd. My copy has shipped when I receive it I will report if it is Region B Locked. For the region doesn't matter I have several region-free Blu-rays players. I have a Sony (A) right next to a Phillips (B) so I don't have to change regions.
 

Josh Steinberg

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My copy just arrived - I don't have time to watch it at the moment, but I couldn't resist popping it into the player for a moment to sample it.


Quick initial impressions

- The disc is definitely "Region B" locked

- The menus are in German and the disc defaults to the German language audio, but it does also include a DTS-HD MA 5.1 track in English

- The movie opens with a Universal logo in place of the original Fox logo, but then has the Lightstorm logo, and from there seems as I remember it

- From a quick glance the movie looks better than I've ever seen it - but I've only ever seen it on VHS and the non-anamorphic DVD (missed it in theaters unfortunately, I really wanted to see it when it first came out!)

- Comes with a nice slipcover that has the poster art with the three heads - Angela Bassett, Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Lewis. The actual case itself has some bland photoshopped art.

- It's actually a two disc set - the first disc is a Blu-ray and includes the movie and the trailer. The second disc is a DVD and has all of the other bonus features. I'm not sure if the second disc is region locked, but it is PAL. The hour long audio commentary about the opening sequence from the original laserdisc and DVD is presented as a kind of stills-and-audio presentation on the DVD. The vintage making of special (about ten minutes) has been dubbed in German with no English option. There are about 20 minutes of vintage cast interviews from 1995 that are in English with optional German subtitles. There are about 5 minutes of deleted scenes which are presented in 4x3 letterboxed widescreen, in English with optional German subtitles. And it also includes the music video for Skunk Anasie's song "Selling Jesus" and a teaser and a TV spot.


It's way too bright in my living room right now to actually watch the movie and really get a sense of the picture quality, but a quick glance seemed OK. Looking forward to spending more time with it.
 

YanMan

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Thanks for reporting back, Josh.


Too bad it is Region-B locked, but someone in the discussion thread at blu-ray.com mentioned there is a trick to bypass the locking - press Stop, Top Menu, Top Menu.


Any idea if that actually works?
 

Ernest

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The easiest way is to buy a Region-Free player, they are cheap less the $150.00, and set it to Region B. then you are not going to miss out on all the great movies released in the foreign markets.
 

AshJW

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Ernest said:
The easiest way is to buy a Region-Free player, they are cheap less the $150.00, and set it to Region B. then you are not going to miss out on all the great movies released in the foreign markets.

And vice versa for us here in Europe. ;)
 

Josh Steinberg

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I watched the entire movie last night. I hadn't seen it in a few years. I was surprised that while technologically it's a little bit dated at times, thematically it seems as relevant as ever. The conflicts with the police could be out of today's headlines, but beyond that, Lenny's addiction to his recorded memories of Faith almost predict today's world of Twitter and Instagram and Facebook where nothing is (allowed to be) forgotten. Mace's speech about memories being meant to fade struck me as very poignant and wise.

As to the disc quality, here's the thing. In 1995 I didn't get to see this in theaters as much as I wanted to, so I don't have much for a basis of comparison. This Blu-ray is a huge improvement over every VHS and non-anamorphic DVD copy I've ever seen. I had also never had surround sound when I owned the older DVD, so I'm not sure if the sound mix is the same. I liked the way the POV/playback/wire tripping scenes had the audio mixed a little different from the rest of the movie. In those sequences, the voice of the person who's POV we see comes from the rear speakers, while the people they're looking at come from the front - I thought it was a clever way to help sell those sequences as being actual experiences.

And I absolutely love the Peter Gabriel-Deep Forest collaboration "While The Earth Sleeps" that plays over the end credits.

I'm very happy with this disc. If we had Blu-rays of "The Abyss" and "True Lies" that were equal to this new disc, I'd be a very happy camper.

If you're a fan of the movie and have a player that can do Region B discs, I don't think you'll be disappointed.
 

Walter Kittel

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I had also never had surround sound when I owned the older DVD, so I'm not sure if the sound mix is the same. I liked the way the POV/playback/wire tripping scenes had the audio mixed a little different from the rest of the movie. In those sequences, the voice of the person who's POV we see comes from the rear speakers, while the people they're looking at come from the front - I thought it was a clever way to help sell those sequences as being actual experiences.

For my money, the DTS Laserdisc of Strange Days had one of the best sound mixes going at the time of its release; i.e. reference quality. I haven't watched the original DVD in ages and might have to invest in a All-Region Blu-Ray player on the basis of this release (and a few other titles.)


- Walter
 

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