Spiderbite

Ok. I know I am crazy late to the game but I finally went region free. Went to the international section of DVDTalk and it is a ghost town.

Many of you know a lot about the best releases of movies (better picture, better sound, better extras, cool packaging, better pricing, etc.) and some movies are only released overseas as well.

So what are the "must haves" that you recommend? I searched but couldn't find any existing threads that requested this info.

Thanks!

rocket1312

You might want to be more specific with regards to your interests. That said, Masters of Cinema is pretty much the Criterion of the UK and they have a ton of titles (especially the titles held by Kino in the US) which are the go to versions worldwide. Arrow and the BFI are the other two UK labels that put out a really good product.

Dan

Yeah, MoC and Arrow are a good place to start. If it's still available, get the MoC disc of Metropolis.

Spiderbite

Thanks for the info. I am mostly into horror and exploitation.

clckworang

You will find a lot of Arrow titles that will fit your interest.

Slightly off topic but what did you end up choosing as a player? About how much was it? I'm considering getting a player myself but am not sure what to get.

Adam Tyner

I'm not the OP, but my recommendation: Seiki SR4KP1 for less than $80 on Amazon. (It's been as low as $66 on Sears and Kmart.com.) Has a little remote code to change regions.

BuckNaked2k

MoC and Arrow are good places to start. If you are into SteelBooks check out the Zavvi website.

Spiderbite

I'll be honest. I didn't want to go super expensive (Oppo) because I don't know when or if I will eventually get a 4K projector. I just wanted to dip my foot in the pool. So I got a Sony S1200 that has been "adjusted." Bought it off Amazon for $87 shipped. I already have a Roku so I didn't need streaming or 4K upscaling or any other bells and whistles. Just a solid region free player and with all that I read, this was a good starting place.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...condition=used

They state the player is guaranteed to stay region free even with firmware updates and plays all regions for both dvds and bds. They also include a one year warranty. So buying from Amazon and reading the reviews about this player from people that own it, it seems to be a decent choice for a toe-dipper like myself. We shall see. Should get it in tomorrow.

Kedrix

Wicker Man, UK version 3 disc set...Region B locked :/. Going for a nice 12.99 pounds currently.

In addition to Arrow, I would also recommend 101 Films which is typically Region B locked. They put out a lot of stuff that's simply not available over here.

Spiderbite

The Hellraiser set coming from Arrow in October convinced me to finally take the plunge. Also, Arrow's recent sale and seeing people post here and at blu-ray.com on various releases where certain movies are either available, have much better extras, or are at a much better price.

I was just winding down playing games on my PS3 and since it is only being used as a BD player for me now, I may as well get rid of it and just have a region free BD player and enjoy a lot of releases I have not been able to get.

Spiderbite

Others could also use this thread to list which movies have better releases that are region locked. That may be more beneficial than what I originally set up this thread for but would serve the same purpose.

E Unit

Silent Hill - French 3 disc set is great. Great picture and sound and a shitload of extras.
Mesrine - UK release is damn good as well.
And as mentioned, The Wicker Man UK set is really good.

Why So Blu?

Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai (Arrow Films UK)

rw2516

It comes this way from manufacturer? Has not been hacked voiding warranty? Region free no matter who you buy it from?

Adam Tyner

You have to punch a code in on your remote to change regions, but otherwise, yes to all that.

clckworang

Thanks for the suggestions! Ideally, I need something with an optical audio output, but I might be able to make one of those work. The price is certainly right. I'll look into them a little more when I get home today.

Why So Blu?

Since I have no back-up right now this is at the perfect price point. The "just in case" model.

Dan

Quick question: All of these region-free players still require you to 'switch' via remote code, right? There's still no such thing as a unit that will just play everything you throw at it without any sort of prompts? I don't mind doing the A/B/C switch on my OPPO, but if it's been made "easier" on another player, I'd probably buy one.

BuckNaked2k

None yet. The Seiki model mentioned above allows the Region to be changed through the menu with the remote.

I hear you about the Oppo, sometimes it can be a pain. If I'm a little impatient, it can require 2-3 attempts.

BuckNaked2k

Region B/C Blu-rays that are better than their Region A counterparts

clckworang

I want to get an Oppo, but I just can't justify spending that much right now. So expensive.

Josh Z

I programmed the region-switching sequences as macros in my Harmony remote.

zyzzle

Oh my God, a wonderful world awaits you in all of the Arrow and Master of Cinema releases. I also especially recommend the BFI Institute's releases, some really wonderful, rare British gems of the '60s and '70s there. The Pete Walker sets -- you'll love those if you are into horror and exploitation.

Please also be sure to pickup Arrow's just-released set of VIDEODROME, and grab THIEF if you can find it still. Import WAKE IN FRIGHT from Masters of Cinema. It's one of the best films I'd never heard of, and has atmosphere in spades.

Don't waste your money on an Oppo. I pur
These are all must-haves. There's also 88 films, they're like Scream factory, but better because their releases are usually higher quality, and they haven't had the compression-artifact problems that have plagued Scream's releases.

Other releases Region B with much better versions than their US counterparts that I highly recommend are: NETWORK, and Orwell's 1984.

Oh, please don't waste your money on an Oppo. They were all the rage, and rightly so, 3-4 years ago. Now, other, much, much cheaper players have caught up in the quality and options front. I purchased the above-mentioned region-free Seiko in April for $43.00 from Sears. And its quality is fantastic. Its only problem is that you can't turn off completely some post-processing of the picture, there is still some very minimal sharpening of the picture applied. If a firmware update is ever released for that player, I'm sure this problem will be fixed, however.

rw2516

Are all titles from a company called Odeon region free? Found three reviews said ISLAND OF TERROR is. One review claims STUDY IN TERROR is. And the Amazon US listing for SORCERERS(Karloff) has it listed as A/B/C. All are from Odeon.

PhantomStranger

I own Island of Terror, it's definitely region free. The transfer is decent.