hardtack

I have noticed that this film is available on DVD in R1 as a Canada only release. Unfortunately, the only online sites I have managed to find that appear to stock it (DVDSoon and Amazon.Ca) do not have an awful lot of information about it.

I am wondering if anyone here could give me a run down on the specs for this set (I believe it is 2 discs) and especially audio, aspect ratio, and languages.

Thanks in advance, Tim...

RichDB10

I'm sure Pro-bassoonist will be along soon to fill you in with the relevant details...i remember reading a thread by him about this but not sure where it's located exactly

SpinnerX

The English title is WINGED MIGRATION and it's actually playing US theaters right now. If ever a movie is meant to be seen on the big screen, it's this one. It has some narration and onscreen text that are both pretty vital, so make sure that the Canadian disc isn't French-only.

hardtack

Thanks all, but I have now managed to find the following at the cinemamontreal.com site:

LE PEUPLE MIGRATEUR (WINGED MIGRATION)
Release Date • March 25, 2003
Company • Christal Films
Rating • G
Length • 1:38
Video • Widescreen 1.85:1 anamorphic - Enhanced for 16x9 TVs
Audio • French - Dolby Digital 5.1
• English - Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles • English
Region code • 1 - USA / Canada
2 discs

Looks like a "goer", so I shall be purchasing post haste.

Eeyore

this arrived from amazon.ca a few days ago. i'm going to try to put together a review, but right now i'll just say it's a GREAT 2-disc set. i don't speak any french, but that is no problem at all.

disc 1 has the french version of the film (no subtitles) with a very good 5.1 mix, as well as a very good ~50 minute "making of" documentary. even though i can't understand any of the words spoken in the documentary, it illustrates very well how they made the movie, from the hatching of chicks, to teaching them to fly. one of the best special features i've seen in a long time. while it looks ridiculously dangerous to fly in the what looks like an airboat crossed with a hang-glider (or sometimes just a parachute crossed with an airboat)... i think i'd do it in a heartbeat to fly that closely with the birds. it's also very cute watching the crew play with the birds as they grow up. rather than dispelling the magic, this behind the scenes documentary is really quite amazing and makes the main feature almost more impressive.

disc 2 has the english version of the film with a 2.0 mix. sound is not as dramatic as the french version, but it's worth watching once just to get a sense of what the narrator is saying. (those who have seen the film know that this isn't a film to watch for any particular factoids you pick up... just for feeling like you're flying with the birds). there's a very condensed version of the making of (only 7 minutes) on this disc. also a few still photos and a long interview (in french) with the director that i didn't watch much of.

this disc was well worth a purchase for me. we probably would've spent $20 more dollars to go see it again, and it wasn't much more than that to order this from canada. the american release, whenever it arrives, will hopefully be as good as this canadian release. it will be a great disservice if they release a barebones disc that doesn't really show how much work went in to creating this film. if anyone's on the fence... go ahead and jump on this one!

pro-bassoonist

I ended up getting the French disc as it boasts a SUPERB DTS track!! Engish sub track is not available (though I knew that the Canadian disc has 2.0 mix available). However, given the visual style of the film and the dialog which I would say is close to about 10min. or so if I remember correctly I think that the French set is a nice option:

http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/tg/...#more-pictures

The case is also outstanding!!

As far as I know there will be a US release (the film is owned by Paramount Calssics) but I am not so excited about it. Even if you dont speak French you are pretty safe with the French disc.

A few reviews of the French disc here (in french):
http://www.dvdfr.com/dvd/critique.php?id=6140

http://www.dvdrama.net/fiche.php?2639

Eeyore

that looks like a cool set too, for multi-region people. the canadian case looks very similar (lots of folds tucked into a plastic sleeve). the extra extras (especially DTS) probably make the french region 2 version a better set, even without the english version. the birds don't speak english anyway :>

one thing i'm considering doing, since disc 1 has everything i'll probably watch most of the time, is letting people borrow disc 2 so they can see what we've been talking about since we saw this in the theaters months ago. usually when i try to explain "winged migration" people sort of glaze over and say something like "oh, a movie about birds..." (but then once they see a preview in a theater they get excited too.)

RichDB10

Yes...i really must get round to checking this out along with 'Microcosmos' i've had both on my 'wish' lists for a couple of months now but haven't as yet got round to getting them.
Thanks for the information etc...i'll probably go with the French release as well.