Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Blu-Ray imports...any good titles?

This is topic Blu-Ray imports...any good titles? in forum The Afterlife at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Joe Tommassello (Member # 4632) on 10-31-2008, 05:12 PM:

I am curious if anyone has imported Blu-ray from outside the US and what titles of wide interest might be available and compatible with our Region A players.

I just ordered "The Producers" (musical version) from Japan and "From Dusk Till Dawn" from Canada (both from Amazon). Will report on quality and such when they arrive.

FYI - I imported an HD-DVD of "The Elephant Man" from the UK and it looked beautiful but the audio was a very poor mix. I don't recommend it.

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 11-03-2008, 06:18 PM:

Since I'm one of the resident anime fans here at F-T I do have some BR discs coming from Japan in the next few months. Don't have playback capability yet, but that should change around Christmas. What a coincidence. Amongst the anime titles that I'm interested in, the availability list is a very short one, either released in Japan or released here:

Paprika (Papurika) - US
Royal Space Force - The Wings of Honneamise (Ouritsu no Uchuugun - Oneamise no Tsubasa) - US
Tekkonkinkreet - US
The Castle of Cagliostro (Kariosutoro no Shiro) - Japan
A Ghibli Artisan - Kazuo Oga Exhibition - The One Who Drew Totoro's Forest (Jiburi no Eshokunin - Oga Kazuo Ten - Totoro no Mori o Kaita Hito) - Japan

BTW the only mainstream US discs I have at this point are:

Casino
Sleeping Beauty
Digital Video Essentials

Hopefully, Buena Vista in Japan will soon announce a BR release schedule for all of the Studio Ghibli films. I'm still in hock but I don't care - I'll go in deeper when those titles come out.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-03-2008, 07:16 PM:

I'd like Transformers: The Movie (1986), but I hear the BD is pretty crappy. It's not available in da US.

Posted by Joe Tommassello (Member # 4632) on 11-11-2008, 02:17 PM:

I picked up two "import" Blu-ray titles.

From Japan I got "The Producers" (musical). It has a gorgeous 2.40:1 1080p transfer with no signs of edge enhancement. The audio has the common DD5.1 track but also a phenomenal LPCM 5.1 track that sounds like the orchestra is right in the room with you. Also there is a two channel DD with the director's commentary. Extras are equal to the US DVD. Menus are - of course - in Japanese but audio and subtitle options can be easily accessed via the remote. It cost about $45 with shipping from Amazon Japan.

Next I picked up "From Dusk Till Dawn" from Amazon in Canada. Also a great transfer with no signs of digital enhancement. Great DTS Master HD audio and standard DD5.1 as well. This one, however, has pretty much nothing in the way of extras. The "special edition" DVD is packed with material including one of the most entertaining commentary tracks (Rodriguez and Tarantino) that I have ever heard and an additional full-length documentary shot behind-the-scenes while FDTD was made. If you are a big fan of this film you might want to pick this up as the presentation won't disappoint - but I suspect one day the US version will arrive with the extras. I believe the cost was in the low $20 area with shipping.

Posted by Alan Gouger (Member # 543) on 11-16-2008, 09:53 AM:

quote: Joe Tommassello
I picked up "From Dusk Till Dawn" from Amazon in Canada. Also a great transfer with no signs of digital enhancement.

It seams many of the older movies have yet to get the re master treatment. The new blockbusters get all the attention. Its a big disappointment buying an older fav to find it riddled with NR and EE especially when they charge full rate.
I like "From Dusk Till Dawn" so Im glad it lacks EE. Ill pick this one up. Thx.

Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 11-17-2008, 11:34 AM:

Deleted Post.

Typed to quickly. Nothing usefull to say on this topic.

Posted by Mike Schindler (Member # 1309) on 12-22-2008, 10:45 AM:

I just received a Danish copy of PULP FICTION. It was a bit pricey (over $40 US), but it looks and sounds great. I've also ordered BATMAN, BATMAN RETURNS, and BATMAN FOREVER from the UK.

The other imports I've bought in the past are:

Air Force One (UK)
Casino Royale (Director's Cut, Australia)
Escape from New York (UK)
From Dusk Till Dawn (Canada)
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Director's Cut, France)
The Transformers: The Movie (UK)
Untitled (aka Almost Famous, Director's Cut, UK)

The only one I regret is ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, which used an upscaled 480p transfer.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 12-22-2008, 04:18 PM:

quote: Mike Schindler
The Transformers: The Movie (UK)

Is this the 1986 version? Let me know how it looks/sounds.

Posted by Mike Schindler (Member # 1309) on 12-22-2008, 06:46 PM:

Yes, it's the 1986 movie. I know some people have complained about the quality. They think that some of the colors from this transfer are inaccurate. Most notably, Hot Rod seems to be more pink than red. But it's the same transfer that was used for the widescreen DVD, so if you have that, you can judge for yourself. When compared to the fullscreen transfer which is included on Disc 2 of the DVD set, you can definitely see a difference. Which one is accurate? I don't know.

But what it really boils down to is the fact that the DVD is quite possibly the worst looking DVD I've ever seen. There is an extraordinary amount of compression artifacting on that disc. That alone makes the BD one of the most substantial upgrades of any movie out there.

In general terms, I was perfectly satisfied with the BD's PQ. Aside from the color issue, I didn't notice any other problems. There didn't seem to be any artifacting or edge enhancement. In fact, I'd say it's one of the cleanest looking transfers I've seen due to how primitive the animation is.

As for the sound, it has what seems to be the same 5.1 remix that's on the DVD in both DD and DTS. It also has a 2.0 DD track which I'd assume is the original Dolby mix. It sounds better than the DVD, but it's not reference quality. I don't even think it's lossless.

The thing is, you can get it for under $20 US, and the American version isn't likely to come out for another year and a half, if then. So if you're a big fan of the movie, it seems like a no-brainer to me.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 12-22-2008, 07:14 PM:

Is it possible to pot a screenshot of a scene with questionable colors? I just want to have a look-see.

Posted by Mike Schindler (Member # 1309) on 12-22-2008, 10:07 PM:

Sorry for the crappy pictures, but here's a comparison of the fullscreen DVD and the BD:

FS DVD:

BD:

Obviously the DVD isn't really that blurry. My hand moved while taking the picture.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 12-23-2008, 02:02 AM:

Doesn't look too bad. I didn't know the movie was open-matte, though.

Posted by Joe Tommassello (Member # 4632) on 12-24-2008, 10:05 AM:

Looks like it was composed for TV.