Info on import Blu-ray titles

[KSC2303]

Originally Posted by kannisto

BlahDVD is good, they have Mad Detective in stock and their shipping is only 1 GBP for one disc, they tend to ship everything separately in my experience. They don't remove VAT though. I've ordered a few packages from there and always received them promptly. They ship my packages from Switzerland for some reason though the store is apparently Jersey-based.

http://www.blahdvd.com/DVD/Mad-Detec...02/product.htm
http://www.blahdvd.com/DVD/Tokyo-Son...03/product.htm

Thanks, I just ordered both for $50 shipped. It probably ends up costing the same as amazon due to the cheaper shipping.

[kannisto]

I had these shipped from Amazon FR on 9th:

- Leon (new Gaumont release)
- Nikita (New Gaumont release)
- Johnny Mad Dog

Will post some info when I receive them, hopefully soon I hope the two Gaumont releases are region free and English friendly as usual for Gaumont.

Also hopefully Leon has a different transfer compared to the German release (less overblown brightness highlights?) as otherwise it's not very useful for me to have both versions.

[kennerado]

According to a post on Blu-ray.com, Leon is indeed region free - having ABC logo on it.

When I get paid I might order this from Amazon FR, how is their shipping usually Kannisto?

[kannisto]

Originally Posted by kennerado

According to a post on Blu-ray.com, Leon is indeed region free - having ABC logo on it.

When I get paid I might order this from Amazon FR, how is their shipping usually Kannisto?

Their shipping is fairly expensive, 18.70 EUR for my 3 disc order this time. 2 disc orders cost 16.80 EUR to ship to Japan and probably similar to Australia. Shipping price goes up a bit with each additional disc. Luckily VAT removal helps quite much as it reduces the disc prices by 19.6%.

My packages from Amazon FR have typically arrived in 3-6 days from shipping so delivery speeds are good and they tend to ship new pre-ordered discs 2 days before release date (at least in my case) if they get the stock in time.

[kannisto]

Got 5 new BDs today:

Johnny Mad Dog (France - TF1 Vidéo) (4-Jun-2009)
Amazon FR DVDFR
Audio: Africaans English, French
Subtitles: English, French
Region: Free

Didn't expect this TF1 Vidéo release to be region free and to have English subs, lovely! TF1 is definitely improving. It's not a Steelbook like many TF1 Vidéo releases have been, comes in a regular case with a cardboard sleeve. DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio and since the original Africaans English audio turned out to be extremely difficult to follow in parts, it's great to have English subs. I'll post impressions on this one later on. I have to make sure it works on my PS3 as well, so far just tested on my PC.

Léon (France - Gaumont) (11-Jun-2009)
Amazon FR DVDFR
Audio: English (both versions), French (shorter version only)
Subtitles: French, French HoH
Region: Free
Notes: more info

- Nikita (Gaumont, not on the import list as not import exclusive)
BD-25, region free, French 5.0 DTS-HD MA audio, English + French HoH subs.
Nice pair to Leon, very stylish digibook.

Watashi wa kai ni naritai (I Want to Be a Shellfish)
http://asianmediawiki.com/I_Want_to_Be_a_Shellfish
Don't have this yet in the import list (haven't updated the Japanese list very recently). New Geneon Universal release which I found 2nd hand at a nice enough price.
BD-50, region free, Japanese Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio, Japanese guide subs
=> No English

Michel Vaillant (Japan - Sony) (23-Apr-2008)
Amazon JP HMV JP Yesasia
Audio: French, Japanese
Subtitles: Japanese
Region: Free
Notes: No English. more info

Finally bought this as it was fairly nicely priced 2nd hand. No English, I hope external subs can be found.

[ahsoka]

Originally Posted by kannisto

Watashi wa kai ni naritai (I Want to Be a Shellfish)
http://asianmediawiki.com/I_Want_to_Be_a_Shellfish
Don't have this yet in the import list (haven't updated the Japanese list very recently). New Geneon Universal release which I found 2nd hand at a nice enough price.
BD-50, region free, Japanese Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio, Japanese guide subs
=> No English

A second hand copy at a good price so soon after it's release, I'm still waiting for my pre-ordered copy to arrive...

I've got a 2007 TV movie on DVD with the same title. Judging from the new movie's trailer, they look quite different although it seems the basic story is the same. The TV movie is quite good actually, it will be interesting to compare the two.

http://www.ntv.co.jp/watakai/

[kannisto]

Originally Posted by ahsoka

A second hand copy at a good price so soon after it's release, I'm still waiting for my pre-ordered copy to arrive...

I've got a 2007 TV movie on DVD with the same title. Judging from the new movie's trailer, they look quite different although it seems the basic story is the same. The TV movie is quite good actually, it will be interesting to compare the two.

http://www.ntv.co.jp/watakai/

Yeah, it was 3280 yen. Maybe it was just a bit more at Amazon JP as new but usually the new Japanese releases cost more at 2nd hand in the beginning so I jumped on it. They had 2 used copies at Tsutaya (Shibuya store) + one of the more expensive set that includes 2 additional DVDs + some booklets, that was about 5200+ yen which is not too bad either.

Tsutaya often gets some of the very new Japanese releases pretty fast, maybe some people are in the habit of buying the new movie, watching it once and selling it immediately. They also have 4 copies of 252 but the price is still 4180 yen so I'm waiting on them to drop that.

[ahsoka]

Thanks for the info, buying 2nd hand at those shops seems like a good alternative. If you can take advantage of the free shipping though, it seems Amazon has the best price with 27% off on this title at the moment. Ordered mine from YesAsia for 4,700 yen but even with the discount at Amazon, in the end it will be about the same with the shipping costs and customs fees added to the Amazon price.

[sschen]

Just wondering if anyone has received the French release of "Dances with Wolves". Interested to know how the French release compares with the German release.

[kannisto]

Originally Posted by ahsoka

Thanks for the info, buying 2nd hand at those shops seems like a good alternative. If you can take advantage of the free shipping though, it seems Amazon has the best price with 27% off on this title at the moment. Ordered mine from YesAsia for 4,700 yen but even with the discount at Amazon, in the end it will be about the same with the shipping costs and customs fees added to the Amazon price.

I usually pre-order from Amazon JP all those Japan releases that I know I want to get as soon as released as their free domestic shipping is great and their prices are usually the best when shipping fees are not an issue.

Some of the other stuff I wasn't sure about I buy 2nd hand when I see them and get the urge to buy. Sometimes I buy that way as new from electronics stores like Bic Camera as well.

It seems I saved less than 400 yen buying this one 2nd hand as Amazon's tax-inclusive price is now 3617 yen, but that's fine as it's in perfect condition and I could get it right away when I saw it that way

[kannisto]

Originally Posted by sschen

Just wondering if anyone has received the French release of "Dances with Wolves". Interested to know how the French release compares with the German release.

There's a thread about it here:
French "Dances With Wolves" Appears Region Free!!

It seems the German one is clearly better in terms of PQ though it's region B locked and the French one is region free.

[kannisto]

Pony Canyon will release this on 2nd of September, it's a Japanese | Italian movie with Italian | English dialogue. Specs info not available yet, hopefully they include English subs as Pony Canyon sometimes does. Not sure how good the movie is though It seems to be "made by women for women". I'm not a fan of the Kano sisters based on their appearences on some Japanese TV shows...

Il vento e le rose
http://www.ponycanyon.co.jp/intl/mp_...e_le_rose.html
http://www.aisuru-movie.com/
http://hp.ponycanyon.co.jp/pchp/cgi-..._SKHKETSEQ=002

[kannisto]

I watched this last night:

Johnny Mad Dog (France - TF1 Vidéo) (4-Jun-2009)
Amazon FR DVDFR
Audio: Africaans English, French
Subtitles: English, French
Region: Free

It's a very realistic look at child-soldiers as rebels / freedom fighters in some unspecified African country (seems to be inspired by Liberia). The leader of the child-soldier group is the main character "Mad Dog" but he doesn't get that much more screentime than the others in the group. There's another sidestory involving a 13-year old girl who tries to save his little brother and his crippled father from the rebels.

Apparently many of the young non-actors who played the roles were ex-child-soldiers in real life. The movie feels very realistic and documentary-like. PQ and AQ were very good. Technically excellent but the story itself doesn't have that much progression and the movie works best as a kind of a "documentary" or glimpse into the life of child-soldiers, without that much of a more traditional plot.

Quite interesting overall in a kind of documentary sense.

Here's a trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m465VOV1_c

Another short clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyLHGlUN9rM&feature=fvw

Director's interview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYO24t6vXuY&NR=1

It worked fine on my Japanese PS3 but the extras don't work, extras are either in SD PAL or 1080i50, I'll check them later on my PC.

[ahsoka]

Originally Posted by kannisto

Seems very interesting. I wonder if external subs are available as the French release won't probably have English subs. If they can be found I'll certainly try to get this one

Wild Side Video has some info on the Crows Zero BD. There's a screenshot of the audio menu and unfortunatly it seems like the French subtitles are forced with the Japanese track. Probably not so good in combination with the external subs.

http://www.wildside.fr/video/fiche.p...438&version=2#

[Julian K]

I added some more info about the UK Highlander Blu-ray to my website yesterday, if anyone's interested: here.