Another Blu-ray myth busted: Most discs aren't region locked!

[zombieflanders]

Some enterprising individuals have put together a site that lists Blu-ray titles by region, and it shows that there are a whole lot of Blu-ray titles that aren't locked to one region, and even have these notes:

* All reported BD titles from Warner and Lionsgate are reported as "No Region" discs hence should playable in all players!
* All reported FOX and Disney titles are region marked and not playable in non-matching region players.
*Some Sony titles marked with region A has been reported as playable in region B players. This could mean that more Sony region A marked catalog titles are OK in region B players.

Just to give you an idea of what's good to go, here's the list of confirmed non-region-locked Blu-ray discs (from the link as of 12/26/06 @ 10AM EST) is as follows:

Region A (North America, Central America, South America, Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia):
16 Blocks
A Knights Tale
Aeon Flux
Big Hit
Blazing Saddles
Crash
Corpse Bride
The Devil Rejects
Fifth Element
Firewall
Four Brothers
The Fugitive
Full Metal jacket
Good night and good luck
House of Flying Daggers
House of Wax
Italian Job
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Kiss of the Dragon
Lake House
League of extraordinary gentlemen
Lethal Weapon
Lethal Weapon 2
Lord of War
Mission: Impossible 1
Mission: Impossible 2
Mission: Impossible 3
Phantom of the Opera
The Punisher
Rumor has it
Silent Hill
Sky Captain and the world of tomorrow
Sahara
SAW
The Searchers
Sleepy Hollow
Space Cowboys
Species
Stargate
Stealth
Stir of Echoes
Superman Returns
Superman The Movie
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
SWAT
Swordfish
Syriana
Terminator
Terminator 2
Tomb Raider
Total Recall
Training Days
Ultraviolet
Under Siege
Underworld Evolution
Unforgiven
xXx

Region B (Europe, Middle East, Africa, Australia, New Zealand):
The Exorcism of Emily Rose
The Fugitive
Hostel
Kung Fu Hustle
Stealth
SWAT
Underworld
Ultraviolet

Bonus: I've heard that Sony won't be using region locking on most of their titles (except maybe day-and-date) for 2007, and that they're hoping that other studios follow suit. The DVD Forum is actually thinking of implementing region coding on HD DVD, so maybe we're seeing yet another turn of the tide.

ETA: I've updated the countries that make up Regions A and B.

[illegalprelude]

thats very good news. Mostly for those who wish to import. Its not something that effects me as much for those who dont have a wide selection, this is a big deal.

[Chris Beveridge]

Is it really a "tangled web"? Considering DVD was introduced with eight regions when previous formats had none, that was certainly more confusing for consumers. Having it reduced to three and then having studios being willy nilly about actually implementing, something that's happened with DVD as well, doesn't exactly strike me as a tangled web. It just seems a bit more sensationalized than the situation actually is or in comparison to other news on the site.

Will HD DVD become a tangled web too when region coding is introduced there in 2007?

[jed]

Is it really a "tangled web"? Considering DVD was introduced with eight regions when previous formats had none, that was certainly more confusing for consumers. Having it reduced to three and then having studios being willy nilly about actually implementing, something that's happened with DVD as well, doesn't exactly strike me as a tangled web. It just seems a bit more sensationalized than the situation actually is or in comparison to other news on the site.

Will HD DVD become a tangled web too when region coding is introduced there in 2007?

Chris -

We didn't mean to imply that the region codes themselves are a tangled web. What is confusing, however, is that some Blu-ray discs are region coded, and some aren't... and then among the discs that *are* region coded, some are region locked and some aren't. Adding to this confusion is that the Samsung player with original firmware is region-free. The resulting "tangled web" of conflicting user reports regarding region coding on certain discs is why the site zombieflanders brought up should be helpful for folks who are considering buying imported Blu-ray discs.

To be clear, the same situation could very well occur when/if HD DVD adopts region-coding, and we're with you -- as region-codes go, Blu-ray's are indeed a vast improvement over standard-def DVD. For what it's worth, we actually did try to point out in the story that Blu-ray's region codes are "new and improved".

My apologies for any confusion.

[illegalprelude]

Originally Posted by Chris Beveridge

Is it really a "tangled web"? Considering DVD was introduced with eight regions when previous formats had none, that was certainly more confusing for consumers. Having it reduced to three and then having studios being willy nilly about actually implementing, something that's happened with DVD as well, doesn't exactly strike me as a tangled web. It just seems a bit more sensationalized than the situation actually is or in comparison to other news on the site.

Will HD DVD become a tangled web too when region coding is introduced there in 2007?

remember, when Blu-ray does it, its a mess and end of the world but when its on the HD-DVD, its just life or a whisper

[jed]

remember, when Blu-ray does it, its a mess and end of the world but when its on the HD-DVD, its just life or a whisper

I gotta say, I'm a bit baffled by these responses to this story... not that we haven't consistently heard accusations of bias from backers of *both* high-def formats since we launched this site, but in this case, we've posted a story that (I think, at least) happens to be a positive one for Blu-ray:

Months ago, we reported that the BDA had voted to begin burning region codes on all Blu-ray discs beginning this fall. It's a better region coding system than SD-DVD, but it's still region coding, which is generally seen as a negative by fans. So some folks perceived this as a negative story for Blu-ray. Fair enough.

Now, we're publishing a new article which picks up where we left off, saying that, in fact, it turns out region-coding does not necessarily mean region-blocking, and that despite the earlier announcement, not all BD studios are region coding after all. Yes, as we state in the article, it's somewhat confusing, but this situation is certainly not the end of the world -- in fact, I personally don't see how this can be perceived as anything but great news for those of us with Blu-ray players and an interest in having access to the broadest selection of movies.

Instead, using the phrase "tangled web" to describe (I think accurately) the various different states a Blu-ray disc can take with regard to region coding paints this entire article as negative?

I don't get it.

But then, we're the same site that was accused of being pro Blu-ray when we wrote (in a much-linked-to comparison article) that we had found it almost impossible to detect any differences between Blu-ray and HD DVD discs that used the same print and codec.

All I can tell you is that we are owners and supporters of both formats, and that we will continue to call things as we see them.

[zombieflanders]

Originally Posted by jed

I gotta say, I'm a bit baffled by these responses to this story... not that we haven't consistently heard accusations of bias from backers of *both* high-def formats since we launched this site, but in this case, we've posted a story that (I think, at least) happens to be a positive one for Blu-ray:

Don't take it too hard, jed. As HD news sites go, you're not bad. You're definitely in my RSS feed, and I'm quite fond of Blu-ray. Sure, I have a quibble or two with some of the reviews, but overall it seems like a professional operation. Your news reporting is pretty top-notch, and compared to a certain other site that felt basically like a mouthpiece for Microsoft for a while, the boards tend to be more even-handed.

[Gaz]

Hello, Ia m alittle confused as a number of sites have it listed differently, I would have thought LXG was region locked as it is a Fox title but the list above shows it as region free!!?!? Does anyone know whether it actually is or isn't region locked.
Thanks

[xymor]

Someone should compile a list of region free BDs released world wide.

[Merlins]

Originally Posted by xymor

Someone should compile a list of region free BDs released world wide.

http://bluray.lindsite.dk/

[mitchelljd]

i think it is a great idea for there to be very limited region coding as the format is new and we need as many titles as possible.

If people are encouraged to buy movies, it is only a good thing. the market will catchup and do some region encoding. But not for a couple years i hope.

I just bought Cinderella Man on Blu-Ray... How? i ordered it from Amazon.com Japan

[MfumeRising]

Originally Posted by zombieflanders

Some enterprising individuals have put together a site that lists Blu-ray titles by region, and it shows that there are a whole lot of Blu-ray titles that aren't locked to one region, and even have these notes:


Just to give you an idea of what's good to go, here's the list of confirmed non-region-locked Blu-ray discs (from the link as of 12/26/06 @ 10AM EST) is as follows:

Region A (North America, Central America, South America, Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia):
16 Blocks
A Knights Tale
Aeon Flux
Big Hit
Blazing Saddles
Crash
Corpse Bride
The Devil Rejects
Fifth Element
Firewall
Four Brothers
The Fugitive
Full Metal jacket
Good night and good luck
House of Flying Daggers
House of Wax
Italian Job
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Kiss of the Dragon
Lake House
League of extraordinary gentlemen
Lethal Weapon
Lethal Weapon 2
Lord of War
Mission: Impossible 1
Mission: Impossible 2
Mission: Impossible 3
Phantom of the Opera
The Punisher
Rumor has it
Silent Hill
Sky Captain and the world of tomorrow
Sahara
SAW
The Searchers
Sleepy Hollow
Space Cowboys
Species
Stargate
Stealth
Stir of Echoes
Superman Returns
Superman The Movie
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
SWAT
Swordfish
Syriana
Terminator
Terminator 2
Tomb Raider
Total Recall
Training Days
Ultraviolet
Under Siege
Underworld Evolution
Unforgiven
xXx

Region B (Europe, Middle East, Africa, Australia, New Zealand):
The Exorcism of Emily Rose
The Fugitive
Hostel
Kung Fu Hustle
Stealth
SWAT
Underworld
Ultraviolet

Bonus: I've heard that Sony won't be using region locking on most of their titles (except maybe day-and-date) for 2007, and that they're hoping that other studios follow suit. The DVD Forum is actually thinking of implementing region coding on HD DVD, so maybe we're seeing yet another turn of the tide.

ETA: I've updated the countries that make up Regions A and B.

Hello--nice list. Any chance of creating a list of BD imports that are exclusive to import but playable on domestic players? There is a similar list from Blurry in the HD DVD software thread, am I missing something? Many of the titles in your list are already available domestically.

Thanks,

-TK

[Glenmulder]

It would be nice if we could get prior notice from the Studios also for Pre -Ordering

[mitchelljd]

Originally Posted by Glenmulder

It would be nice if we could get prior notice from the Studios also for Pre -Ordering

You can get some notice. this is a nifty website i found for importing blu-Ray discs from other regions.

http://joshd2012.googlepages.com/

[Merlins]

Here are some of the Blu-ray releases for March in Japan, UK, France, Spain and Italy:

Cinderella Man (JP) IMDB Rating 8.0
Face/Off (JP) IMDB Rating 7.1
FIFA World Cup: All the Goals of Germany 2006 (All regions)
Stormbreaker (All regions) IMDB Rating 5.4
Hellboy (All regions) IMDB Rating 6.6
The Da Vinci Code * IMDB Rating 6.5
Hollywoodland * IMDB Rating 6.6
Scary Movie 4 * IMDB Rating 5.2
As Good As It Gets * IMDB Rating 7.7
Brokeback Mountain * IMDB Rating 7.9
Gangs of New York * IMDB Rating 7.2
Gattaca * IMDB Rating 7.6
Guns of the Navarone * IMDB Rating 7.5
The Science of Sleep * IMDB Rating 7.7
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer * IMDB Rating 7.4
The Interpreter * IMDB Rating 6.6
Memoirs of a Geisha * IMDB Rating 7.0
*may have forced region code other than Region A. Look it up when released (you can't buy it before anyway, only pre-book).

http://www.play.com
http://www.amazon.co.uk
http://www.amazon.co.jp/
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-14-71-yf-49-en.html
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/special/new...ent=80&step=40
http://www.amazon.fr
http://www.zonadvd.com/modules.php?n...blu-ray&page=2
http://www.dvd.it/page/list/