toddly6666

The Thai PAL DVD of TSAR is now available. I believe that this is the first English-subtitled version: http://www.ethaicd.com/show.php?pid=56944

The only specs that I know for sure are: Widescreen, DD 5.1 Russian, and Engish subtitles. Not sure if it's anamorphic or not.

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flixtime

These types of films generally interest me so it looks like I'm going to have to give this a go sometime soon. The director - Pavel Lungin - is the same guy who did OSTROV (2006) aka THE ISLAND. I don't recall connecting as well with that movie as others such as Pro-B did. I seem to remember the technical aspects being impressive enough, but it left me rather detached from a storytelling perspective.

toddly, have you picked up the English-friendly DVD for KRAY (2010) aka THE EDGE yet? It's Russia's submission for the upcoming Oscars. Being a train movie, I expect it should turn out decent enough...operating under the thought process that train movies - like prison and boxing movies - really require a high degree of incompetence to screw up. I'm going to pick up the DVD asap.

Also, toddly, you have any update on artpop? It looks like he had to throw in the towel on things.

toddly6666

Where's this English-friendly DVD of KRAY? Is there a blu-ray as well? I may be curious to pick this one up!

And artpopdvd still sells stuff from their site and off ebay - just no new stuff for a long time...the company isn't totally kaput, I think just on hold!

EDIT: I answered my own question about the blu-ray - it exists with english subtitles, woo hoo! http://www.golddisk.ru/goods/29064.html

flixtime

Good that artpop is still hanging in there...thanks for the update.

I was planning on getting the KRAY DVD from russiandvd.

CritterYawn

I could feel Ostrov, but it consistently failed to engulf me (although, as I said, I was able to detect all, or almost all director's intentions). On the other hand, Taxi Blues was a hoot. Now there I resonated.

flixtime

I watched Russia's Oscar submission KRAY aka THE EDGE. I thought it disappointing and would grade it out at fair-to-average. Trains on film are always cool, but apart from that I wasn't taken by much else on display. I'd label the movie as a missed opportunity; the seed of a good film was certainly there but nothing came of it. Oscar material it is not.

As to the DVD, when one of the main characters - who speaks German - talks you do get the English subtitles, but you also get a female voice who follows up the spoken German dialogue with some Russian voiceover work (so Russian audiences wouldn't have to read Russian subs for that part). It's not terribly distracting as the voiceover is spoken rather quickly and softly, but still not ideal perhaps.

toddly6666

Well, i hope the bluray is better and doesnt have the voiceover. At least it's a woman voice over instead of the traditional dude voiceover!

flixtime

I hang my head in shame, I have become one of you people...me - Mr. "I'm Happy With VHS" - well, I went and did it...I actually purchased a Blu-ray player...I'm so ashamed...I think of Kevin McCarthy fighting the good fight in INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, not going to sleep, not giving in to the pods, and shouting out a warning call to all...and I hang my head in disgrace. I've surrendered to the dark side.

Actually, I had to turn away from my main movie-watching television as it succumbed to old age or perhaps it was overwork. So I had to go out and buy a new television and, well, I just figured I might as well get a Blu-ray player to go along with it. So maybe I was sort of forced into the idea. It's just a Region A player, so I'm not region-free Blu-ray capable as of yet.

toddly6666

Have you gotten any Region Free imports yet?

flixtime

toddly, I have the UK Blu-ray release of BATTLE ROYALE in-transit...but other than that, "no" I haven't picked up any other region-free imports as of yet...haven't even picked up any Indian Blu-rays as of yet either (if they fall under "import")...or Hong Kong Region A's either.

Let me know if you come across anything out there I should consider for future pick-up.

Blu-ray certainly looks better than DVD. At the same time it really doesn't change my overall viewing experience to that great a degree...I'm still watching VHS on my new set-up too...a good movie is a good movie and I can live with a lesser A/V experience. As you might have guessed, I'm one of those "library" guys as far as my movie collection goes. It just isn't feasible for me to start upgrading to Blu-ray for everything I'd like to have in my collection...not that they are even available on Blu-ray. All that being said, I just watched MAX PAYNE on Blu-ray, and it sure is a very nice looking movie. I seem to have enjoyed it more than most as it looks like it was received rather poorly. Again, as I mentioned with PREDATORS, I enjoyed MAX PAYNE on a B-movie level..and like I said from a cinematography standpoint it was rather impressive and stylish.

toddly6666

I'm happy you can still watch VHS and DVD. You've trained yourself well!
I have been following the Indian and Hong Kong releases very closely and I'm pretty picky since I don't want to blind buy Indian or Chinese films on blu-ray, so here are the ones that I recommend you to get based on good quality blu-rays (video/audio/English subs), good movies as well (as I remember, I'm not sure if you were crazy about Magadheera):
India: The Blue Umbrella, Jodhaa Akbar, Sivaji, and Magadheera
China: Detective Dee, Armour of God 2, Storm Riders (HK version)

flixtime

Appreciate the list...I have most of those on DVD so I'm in no hurry to upgrade...well, except for JODHAA AKHBAR since I really liked it...I need to give my DVD a spin and see how it looks on the new set-up...being non-anamorphic, maybe a Blu-ray upgrade is justifiable. I should probably intrude upon you, Pro-B, nitin, and all the rest of the other DVDTalkers now over at Blu-ray.com...coming up I might be M.I.A. from posting for a while...but maybe after that I'll barge in on you guys at blu-ray.com.

That LA RAFLE movie Pro-B just reviewed seems promising...too bad for me it is Region B.

Yup, I'm certainly glad I never became too much of an A/V-phile. I like to watch some lower profile/old stuff from time-to-time (actually rather often even though I don't post about it), and it isn't stuff I expect to see the light of day on Blu-ray. For example, right now I'm watching a 50's TV-series SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE starring John "Empty Gun" Russell from the TV Western series LAWMAN (but maybe better known for being in Eastwood's PALE RIDER and such). Even on DVD, SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE is in rough shape...it's another Timeless Media release like Lee Marvin's M-SQUAD...but I'm really thrilled to have it no matter what sort of A/V shape it is in.

BuddhaWake

hey flix, where id you order battle royale from? and like you I have also joined the blu mob. it doesn't blow me out the water though.

toddly6666

Definitely Jodhaa Akbar (Big Home Video) - that was the blu-ray that made me convert to blu-ray because UTV messed up that DVD!

I ordered mine from Amazon UK. What blu-rays have you bought so far? The trick with being impressed with blu-ray is to buy old films (The Sound of Music, Criterion's Modern Times, Picnic at Hanging Rock) on blu-ray and ones that had seriously crappy DVD versions (The Road Warrior, The Boys from Brazil, 1492, Bound, From Dusk Till Dawn, Life Is Beautiful, The Storm Riders).

BuddhaWake

1492 is on blu? is it region a or free? i only got random walmart $5 ones. but so far the only one i have seen has been the The Box and the last batman animated feature.

toddly6666

Yeah, 1492 came out this year in France - great quality blu-ray: http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/1492-C...6/#UserReviews . It's only Region B though. Since you and Flixtime love foreign movies and import DVDs, you should just buy an All-Region blu-ray player (my Sherwood was cheap and plays great! http://www.amazon.com/Sherwood-BDP-5...2957653&sr=8-1)

Buddhawake, remember the used blu-ray store in philly I recommended - CEX? They have The Graduate, The New World, Full Metal Jacket, Radley Metzger's Score, Hero, and The Secret in Their Eyes, and Ponyo all for decent prices.
http://us.webuy.com/product.php?rad_...=all&catid=855

flixtime

Hey BuddhaWake, nice seeing you around here after a long while. Amazon UK for me too with regard to BATTLE ROYALE...I actually never got around to picking up any of the earlier DVD releases. I ordered some DVD box sets from Amazon UK during a sale earlier this month so I lumped BATTLE ROYALE Blu-ray in with that order.

spend a week watching movies on VHS with me...that should make everyone really, really happy with their Blu-rays.

BuddhaWake

so flix, you are fully converted now? drank the blu-aid? as long as the blu are cheaper I will get them but I'm not really going to upgrade unless is something that is really worth it to me. I'll stick to the criterion dvds except for Che which i picked up used and my mom wanted the dvd version anyway. if battle of algiers ever gets it, i might. thought about cronos since i have the 10th anniv. edition. but haven't jumped on it.

flixtime

Nah, I wouldn't go that far. I'm not abandoning DVD. I'll consider a number of factors in deciding whether to buy DVD or go for the Blu-ray...though the aggresive pricing right now on Blu-rays makes it much easier to simply go Blu.

I will say that the difference between DVD and Blu-ray is more noticeable than I had anticipated. Upconverted DVDs look pretty good too. But now, just maybe, DVDs I'm watching on a non-upconverting region-free DVD player...well, maybe they do look a little soft. All this based on my limited viewing experiences so far.



toddly, that Sherwood region-free Blu-ray player you have seems solid and nicely priced, but I'm a little concerned over firmware issues that might crop up down the road.

With the TV and Blu-ray player now taken care of, I think I need to upgrade the audio aspect of my set-up very soon now too. Hopefully, after that, in maybe six months I'll have some more region-free Blu-ray player options that I feel more comfortable hopping on-board with.

BuddhaWake

I hear ya. my brother bought this really nice receiver with speakers and everything 7.1 Onkyo from amazon. it was 500$ but it would be more than you will ever need.

flixtime

Actually, an Onkyo (home theater in a box) is my leading choice right now too. I was thinking of 7.1 or maybe just go for the lower end 5.1. I also gave thought to going even more basic by opting for a sound bar set-up (right now I'm just using a couple of old stereo speakers, so pretty much anything would be an improvement).

BuddhaWake

Todd, is that blu ray player region free out the box? btw, does CEX around your way have the same prices online as they do at the store? I've noticed that the one in philly doesn't have the same prices as the store for a lot of things.

toddly6666

oops, sorry buddhawake, I just noticed your question... i just pmed you...