Info on import HD DVD titles

[ahsoka]

Originally Posted by kannisto

Update to "Titles Available for Order":

- Added HMV Japan as a source for all listed Japanese releases (except Oliver Twist as that couldn't be found there)

They have a fully English interface available.

Their prices are good for Japanese releases, it seems everything is 20 % off from MRSP and additionally they remove tax (5 %) from international orders. I listed their prices with VAT reduction applied. That makes their prices the best among listed shops for these releases, though for pre-orders Amazon Japan offers 25 % discount (no longer available for new orders when release is out) + 5 % tax off for international.

However, HMV Japan don't seem to have many of these discs in stock and it seems quite many of these releases are listed as "For Order - usually sent within 7-10 days", i.e. discs won't probably be arriving very quickly after ordering.

Good choice to include HMV Japan. I often get my discs from them, mainly because they have all the HD DVD's and BD's for order and good prices. Discs arrive very quickly if in stock, otherways about a week extra.

[Sporadic]

Bridge To Terabitia (Italian) is up over at Xploited.

http://xploitedcinema.com/catalog/br...71a996da56bf37

$36.95

[Dare]

I just ordered Bridge to Terabithia. I was gonna come over here to tell everyone about it, but ya beat me to it.

[kannisto]

Originally Posted by Sporadic

Bridge To Terabitia (Italian) is up over at Xploited.

http://xploitedcinema.com/catalog/br...71a996da56bf37

$36.95

Thanks! Added Xploited Cinema as a source for that in "Titles Available for Order" section.

[kannisto]

Some info about upcoming release of "Hero (German release)" from here:
http://www.cinefacts.de/news/news.php?newsid=8288

- It is a Director's Cut
- Mandarin / German audio tracks and German subtitles for Hearing Impaired

=> No English support as was feared and expected.

I'd love to get it if it had those subs... Almost tempted even without them but the price should be a bit cheaper then.

[GalfordEX]

Wow everyone - Thanks for this link. I'm so happy I can get so many titles that are Blu-Ray only in the US from other places on HD-DVD!

The German site listed above (sorry can't post links until I've posted 10 times)also has a few other gems up for the preorder list:

12/14 - Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer

No date yet - Saw

No date yet - Saw II

Keep up the good work!

Chris

[guyver2077]

im getting ready for my first import and i want to make sure im ordering from the best place..

Amazon Germany $24.25 (€17.61)
Xploited Cinema $30.95
HD Addicts $33.95
HD Movie Source $34.99

So even though amazon has silent hill for $24.25 would the cheapest option still be exploited? im guessing amazon kills on shipping.

thanks

[Sporadic]

Originally Posted by guyver2077

im getting ready for my first import and i want to make sure im ordering from the best place..

Amazon Germany $24.25 (€17.61)
Xploited Cinema $30.95
HD Addicts $33.95
HD Movie Source $34.99

So even though amazon has silent hill for $24.25 would the cheapest option still be exploited? im guessing amazon kills on shipping.

thanks

If you are only ordering one title, yeah Xploited is your best bet.

Shipping from Amazon.de to America is something like 10 euros

[hawaii sun]

also Resident Evil 1 & 2 should be up at xploited's website later this month.

[Arkadin]

check out this article on the pitch problem with 8 Studio Canal releases

www.hddvdheaven.com

Look under Archive


It's cool that you can actually listen to the problem
What's odd is that they claim "The Graduate" has this problem.
I have this title and didn't notice anything
also, I read a review of this title and it did not mention there being a problem with this release, so I don't know.

Also, I read that the version of T2 being put out by Kinowelt in Germany is NOT going to be the same as the Studio Canal version. It's supposedly a new remaster, so I guess we'll see.
Also, did not realize that "Se7en" was going to be released in Italy. can find no other info except that it is coming.

[kannisto]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

check out this article on the pitch problem with 8 Studio Canal releases

www.hddvdheaven.com

Look under Archive


It's cool that you can actually listen to the problem
What's odd is that they claim "The Graduate" has this problem.
I have this title and didn't notice anything
also, I read a review of this title and it did not mention there being a problem with this release, so I don't know.
...

The article there stated "European/Japanese PAL (576/50i)" but actually Japan has never used PAL, Japan has been using NTSC all along with SD TV and DVD.

The Graduate has been reported to have the pitch problem in some forum discussions as well (in AVS forum at least). I have it too and I was aware of it reportedly having the pitch problem when I watched it, but it wasn't really that noticeable to me.

Also Mulholland Drive apparently has it although it was not included in the list in that article. Many people wouldn't really notice the pitch problem with these releases without doing a "side by side" comparison. In my experience "Basic Instinct" has the most noticeable pitch problem (from these releases) and I've seen others commenting the same.

There are also some comments in AVS forum about Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Polish release) having the same kind of pitch problem, I'm not sure if it is true though. As far as I noticed, only one person was saying that and there was no confirmation by others.

[kannisto]

Update to "Titles Available for Order":

- Added "Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (Spanish release) (25-Sep)"

This is apparently coming out as an Italian release as well, as Kimba1970 noted earlier, but it's not yet listed in dvd.it.

[AES256]

Originally Posted by kannisto

The article there stated "European/Japanese PAL (576/50i)" but actually Japan has never used PAL, Japan has been using NTSC all along with SD TV and DVD.

The Graduate has been reported to have the pitch problem in some forum discussions as well (in AVS forum at least). I have it too and I was aware of it reportedly having the pitch problem when I watched it, but it wasn't really that noticeable to me.

Also Mulholland Drive apparently has it although it was not included in the list in that article. Many people wouldn't really notice the pitch problem with these releases without doing a "side by side" comparison. In my experience "Basic Instinct" has the most noticeable pitch problem (from these releases) and I've seen others commenting the same.

There are also some comments in AVS forum about Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Polish release) having the same kind of pitch problem, I'm not sure if it is true though. As far as I noticed, only one person was saying that and there was no confirmation by others.

Hi Kannisto and Arkadin, tx for the correction on Japanese NTSC. With audio pitch-up I've always been under the impression that the higher pitch and higher speed would be consistent across all movie content transposed to PAL; therefore the higher pitch would always be a half step; and not vary per movie from e.g. nothing to a full step or more.
So if this assumption is correct, is the variation in what people notice (pitchup-wise) not down to the familiarity that someone has with a particular actor or movie?
Personally, I'm one of those who isn't bothered by audio pitch up and only know about it when direct comparisons are made; such as the audio examples given on the HD DVD Heaven audio post.

[kannisto]

Originally Posted by AES256

Hi Kannisto and Arkadin, tx for the correction on Japanese NTSC. With audio pitch-up I've always been under the impression that the higher pitch and higher speed would be consistent across all movie content transposed to PAL; therefore the higher pitch would always be a half step; and not vary per movie from e.g. nothing to a full step or more.
So if this assumption is correct, is the variation in what people notice (pitchup-wise) not down to the familiarity that someone has with a particular actor or movie?
Personally, I'm one of those who isn't bothered by audio pitch up and only know about it when direct comparisons are made; such as the audio examples given on the HD DVD Heaven audio post.

Hi AES256, nice to see you in this forum & thread You've been always a good contributor to the import thread in AVS forum! Is that hddvdheaven.com your own site?

Yes, I think the pitch shift should be constant in all the affected movies throughout and noticeability should be directly related to a person's familiarity with the material and his/her overall sensitivity to pitch issues.

I don't know why but with Basic Instinct the problem was much more notable than with other affected releases. I've seen Total Recall many more times than Basic Instinct but the pitch issue didn't bother me in Total Recall at all whereas in Basic Instinct it really jumped out. I've also seen other people comment the same...

Now off to watch Heroes Season 1 episode 20 and onwards

[AES256]

Originally Posted by kannisto

Hi AES256, nice to see you in this forum & thread You've been always a good contributor to the import thread in AVS forum! Is that hddvdheaven.com your own site?
Now off to watch Heroes Season 1 episode 20 and onwards

I still need to get that!
Yes, just started HD DVD Heaven with the news section in place and some pretty pictures. Releases and FAQ sections still in the works. The site's an attempt to correlate relevant info and then put it together and present it in a user friendly way. An attempt along those lines anyway We'll see where it goes with time.
WRT this HighDefDigest thread, you're doing a splendid job! I just do the reading here