USA Vs UK! (1 Viewer)

[Cynthia]

If you like it Brassed Off is available uncut in the UK, the us version is terrible badly edited for the American market.

How is it edited? I have the US version and might import the R2 disc if it's worth it.

 

[Cynthia]

Porl D-
You might find this list a bit useful.

 

[Brett C]

The R4 DVD of pulp fiction is not a 16/9 scale up .It is a true animorphic transfer, just like Armageddon and From Dusk Till Dawn....

 

[andrew markworthy]

You might also want to try:
Link Removed
This gives comparisons between the features of different region (not just 1 and 2) releases of the same movies.
Incidentally, I love the Futurama packaging, and both the transfers and the extras are excellent IMHO. Also out this week in R2 was Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy. Lots of extras (something of a novelty for the BBC) and in lieu of a commentary track, pop up captions giving all sorts of information about the actors, filming details, etc. The transfer is good as well.

 

[ChristianLiemke]

- "Halloween" from Anchor Bay UK: It's a 2-DVD-Set and it's the same disc, that was limited in the USA. In UK it's the regular, non limited version.

- "The Wicker Man" from Warner Bros.: It will be released on April 22th, 2002 and contains the theatrical and the extended version and the documentary like the Anchor Bay USA version, plus an audio commentary on the extended version by Christopher Lee, Edward Woodward, Robin Hardy and Mark Kermode and an interview with Christopher Lee (25 Min.).

 

[JohnJB]

"The R4 DVD of pulp fiction is not a 16/9 scale up .It is a true animorphic transfer, just like Armageddon and From Dusk Till Dawn.... "

I was only guessing so if you know someone at the studio then fair enough, my guess was based on the fact that although it's still very much better than the region 1 non 16:9, it still looks very poor (major shimmering on the blinds in the diner at the start and looks a bid muddy like the all the extras on the disk which have definately just been 16/9 scale up from the Laser disk they came from) compared to say the fabulous 16:9 region 2 Reservoir Dogs or for that matter the two you mention.

 

[Jon Robertson]

I bought two R2 discs I have no regrets of whatsoever yesterday (for £20 the pair from HMV, no less!): the special editions of Armageddon and The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Armageddon has everything the Criterion disc has except the gag reel and the TV spots and teaser trailer, but has got a true anamorphic PAL transfer, clearly taken from the high-def director's cut Criterion master, as contrast, saturation, etc., is absolutely the same, except in much higher resolution. The fact it has PAL speedup, reducing it to 147 minutes, only confirms this.

The Nightmare Before Christmas has a brand new anamorphic transfer, though apparently framed at 1.78:1, cropping the 1.66:1 US transfer mildly. However, I didn't notice any instances of cropped composition, and it's more akin as to how it would have been shown in theatres anyway. It loses the DTS track, but, from what I gather, it's no huge loss, and retains every one of the extras.

 

[Lance Rumbolt]

Hi Cynthia,

The suicide attempt by stephen tompkins character is removed and various other bit's that I can't remember because I have'nt seen it for so long, but I do remember feeling cheated it completely spoils the flow. Do import the r2 version and see for yourself. I believe it is a good 5-10 mins removed I don't know why.

Lance.

 

[Julian Lalor]

Pulp Fiction has always looked very ordinary in all its high end hime video incarnations - LD and DVD. The R4 version is, apparently, a true anamporphic transfer (according to Roadshow who released the DVD and who I have no reason to doubt, given their excellent track record over the last 2 years). It doesn't look great, but given the budget of the film and the problems in all other versions, I wouldn't expect it to. With respect to Armageddon, I don't think there is any doubt the re-release is anamorphic. There was some doubt that the original relase was a "fake" anamorphic transfer, but I believe that arose from the fact that many refused to believe at the time that Disney would release an anamorphic transfer in R2 but not R1. Unfortunately, they did and they are all true anamorphic transfers as far as I know.

 

[mark_d]

I am envious of my fellow Brits. I can not bring myself to buy any movies in PAL format as the speedup drives me berserk. Seriously. It's cruddy being this anal, but thems the breaks. Maybe it's because I'm more into the sound than the visuals? I reserve R2 for rentals and TV.

My TV is a (mere by HTF standards) 32" 16:9 set, so ekeing out that last ounce of resolution is not such a huge deal.

Mark

 

[Cees Alons]

Mmmm. Although I don't feel as strongly as Mark about the sound difference, I still don't even own a region-2 DVD-player.

But I must say, some of the differences mentioned above make me reconsider.

And thanks for the REWIND-link! Extremely useful for comparisons!

Cees

 

[Jon Robertson]

In my opinion, PAL speedup is only an issue if you make it one. I grew up on PAL transfers of movies, so it doesn't bother me in the slightest. I can see how the idea might be off-putting, but in practice I've only noticed it once, during the opening credits of Reservoir Dogs, where "Little Green Bag" is slightly faster than on my CD.

I find myself going for PAL more and more nowadays, if only for the lack of NTSC-related artifacts. The only way I decide on whether to buy R1 or R2 is by balancing features, quality and price.

 

[JohnJB]

Re Pulp Fiction not looking great due to budget, my guess is it had a much bigger budget than Reservoir Dogs, but Momentums release of RD looks 100 times better ?

People not accepting that Disney did a 16:9 transfer for region 2 but not region 1, this amuses me because people obviously thing that a 16:9 transfer is a lot of effort and we should accept the crumbs the Studios through us, if that's the case then why does UK Satellite telly (traditional terrestial channels at least) prodominantly broadcast films OAR and 16:9, these look >95% as good as HI-DEF mastered anamorphic DVD's IMO, examples:

last night

The Big Easy 1:85 anamorphic (ITV)

recently

Star Wars Trilogy 2:35 anamorphic (Sky Premier Widescreen)

Braindead 1:66 windowboxed anamorphic (C4)

Withnail & I 1:85 anamorphic (C4)

Violent Cop 1:85 anamorphic (Film 4 Extreme)

Cop Land 1:85 anamorphic (BBC1)

The War Zone 2:35 anamorphic (C4)

The English Patient 1:85 anamorphic (BBC2)

Life is Beutiful 1:85 anamorphic (Film 4)

also recently (but cropped)

Big Wednesday 1:85 anamorphic (C4)

Indy Trilogy 1:85 anamorphic (BBC1)

I have a 56" rear projection telly and these look indistiguishable from DVD's like it or not, in fact The Phantom Menace looked better than my DVD.

 

[Michael Dueppen]

I have to second, third or whatever the Hong Kong Legends releases.

If you are even only remotely interested in these movies then get these discs. They are mostly by far the best versions out there imo.