Salo Criterion Bootleg advice..
 

Warning: new & improved bootlegs on eBay
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I know most of the longtime collectors here are savvy enough to know better, but here is a warning for some of our newer members. There is a new wave of Salo bootlegs that have hit eBay. All the sellers say their discs have the elusive "white ring" collectors usually ask about to determine authenticity. However, these are all 9 chapters instead of 29, the disc art is still incorrect, and the white ring is only visible on the reverse. The front of the disc has full bleed artwork all the way to the center hub. Most of these sellers list NY,NY as home base (NOTHING against New Yorkers here, just an easy port of entry for these things getting in our country). I don't know if any of these contain the insert or not. Some eBayers are being fooled already and bidding these up beyond what "normal" bootlegs (a sad, sad state of affairs that we so casually accept this) usually attain.

This is from the Criterion Forum..

Re: Salo Criterion Bootleg advice..
 

A few months back, there was a store here in NYC that was selling these for $18.99, so it doesn't surprise me that they are showing up on eBay from NY sellers.

I know the store you're talking about.
 

You're talking about Entertainment Outlet. I don't trust their Criterion dvds and especially their Hong Kong action section. The art work looks all faded and washed out like a copy.

Anyone willing to pay the silly prices for Criterion dvds must really love that film, and that dvd, or want it for re selling.

I have many Criterion out of print dvds, which I bought when they were a sensable price, as now thay cost so much, its just imposable to afford them.

Its a sad state of affairs when bootleggers can do this to the public.

I'd buy a bootleg of a discontinued movie, if the price was right and if I knew it was a bootleg beforehand.

$19 still seems a little high, though.

These sound like the Facets "test printings" or copies of them.

Although why someone would copy the Facets 9 chapter version and not the real 29 chapter version is beyond me.

The saddest part of it all is that the Criterion version is inferior. Normally I would say get one of these bootlegs if it was GOOD, but there’s a R0 UK version with about 14 seconds of extra footage and a better transfer.

Agreed.

oh, and the saddest part: Salo just sucks!!

I happen to be one of those unfortunates who did send away for a copy of "Salo" thru ebay. Yes, the seller was from NY. Yes, my copy only has 9 chapters (there IS a booklet included, however), and, yes, the artwork bleeds into the center of the disc hub. The transfer is not that bad, though. Doesn't look like DVD clarity. More like a VHS quality tape. It's the first time I ever purchased anything from ebay. What a way to become indoctrinated. I paid $99 (ouch!) for a bootleg! I have wanted to see this flick since I was a kid and saw photos from it in the now-defunct "After Dark" magazine. The photos were so over-the-top and profane that I had always wanted to see if the movie was something I could even sit through. Alas, the movie really does suck. The cinematographer seems like he filmed the thing from across the street. Almost every sequence is shot as a long shot. It's pulled back so far that you really don't get that good a perspective on a lot of the action, which may be a virtue in some people's eyes. My question is, even though it's a bootleg, is the entire film on this disc. My copy runs five minutes shorter than the length listed in Leonard Maltin's Video Guide? Thanks for any feedback.

This most likely means that your bootleg was ripped from the Region 2 PAL release. PAL has 4% speedup, so you running times get distorted. For example, a 100 minute film would be 96 minutes in PAL format.

All very deliberate in my opinion. Without getting into a long diatribe about why I like this film and think it is important and Pasolini's best film....I will say that the "distance" in the film gives us as viewers a "safe" area to view the events from...not necessarily from a pleasurable point of view as with the fascists, but one where we can watch the torture detached (for entertainment). Pasolini made this film to symbolize how he felt living in fascist Italy. Now think about what that "distance" can also mean. Also read the Criterion liner notes....the reviewer even mentions the symbolism at the end of the viewing glasses being turned around backwards.....

For that money you could have gotten the R0 UK Salo and They Live SE R2 and STILL had money left!!

I'm just glad I picked this up back in the day off eBay for $32 - great investment. I am 100% certain it is authentic (there were no bootlegs then...heck it only sold for $32) and it's still sealed. Currently stored in a fire safe in the house :)

Sucks that bootlegs keep popping up and people believe the sellers when they have multiple copies up for sale.