SterlingBen

Link

It's on amazon and it says the release studio is Toei
but I was under the impression that the director forbade it from american release

Cameron

didn't forbid it...just hasn't got the check he wants for it...they wanted a theatrical run, and a large upfront payment....its been out so long, that most everyone who wanted to see it, imported it....

i have never seen this version though

canaryfarmer

I'm not sure what that version is either. It's new to me, and an official R1 release would have gotten a lot of press.

Kevin M. Dean

I doubt the director has much of an opinion at this point since he's been dead for over 3 and half years.

Linn1

Bet it's a bootleg. There's tons on Amazon.

Matthew Chmiel

Not going to lie, looks like a fucking bootleg.

It has nothing to do with the director. Toei (still) wants it to have a decent sized theatrical release (at more than 200 locations at one specific time) and a lot of cash up front, something distributors like Lionsgate and Anchor Bay Entertainment did not have in 2001/2002. I know a lot of the smaller studios tried to acquire the rights to it, they just couldn't meet the cash demands nor the promise to get it to have a wide release (mostly due to the fear of it getting the "NC-17" or going out unrated).

marty888

Yes, an official R1 release would surely have been noticed here at DVD Talk long before now.

From one of Amazon's "customer comments":

What I really want to write about here are the details about this particular DVD edition. It is, indeed, a region-free DVD and should, therefore, be viewable with any DVD player. This edition was apparantly produced specifically for the US and other English-speaking nations as the information on the case cover is entirely in English. I suspect that it is possibly a bootleg but the quality is great! The transfer is very good and the subtitles are excellent! This disc contains a lot of interesting special features, most of which also contain good English subtitles.

Defiant1

I bet the official R1 release will come out around the time the US remake comes out in 2008.

Jay G.

The cover is the near identical to the Australian DVD release, with the banner on the top changed to say "uncut special edition" instead of "collectors edition." Most likely a bootleg.

Tartan UK had an offical R0 NTSC DVD of the theatrical version for a while, it looks like they've stopped printing it.

Giles

I'll only see the US remake if Alexandre Aja is directing...

Mok

I imported the 2 disc edition with the metal case from the UK, but that copy looks like a boot.

islandclaws

The best edition anyone could buy for R1 viewing is the OOP Tartan R0 NTSC version. I think you can still find it at some retailers that sell imports, but with so many different versions out there it's hard to pin it down. I'd like to see an official R1 edition pop up sometime, but most of the imported copies are perfectly acceptable.

Richard Malloy

I hadn't heard that the Tartan R0/NTSC DVD was OOP, as it's also the version I recommend. I've seen this for sale locally at Newbury Comics (Boston) in the last year, though I can't recall just how recently.

Anyway, I believe the Tartan disc is the same version that Netflix has for rent here: http://www.netflix.com/MovieDisplay?...=978008651_0_0

Perhaps Toei will loosen up a bit on its licensing requirements (as I understand, these include a huge amount of money and supporting a very wide release). It should. This film will be popular among a certain niche, but will hardly make a huge splash. Whatever hype might accompany it will be dispelled after the first weekend when audiences realize its not nearly so controversial as they may have heard. If you're interested in this flick because of some misguided idea that it represents the extreme end of extreme cinema, you're barking up the wrong tree!

But get thee to Netflix (or maybe even your local video store), and see for yourself.

SterlingBen

Amazon tends to mix together reviews from all editions, especially out of print ones.
So I doubt that that refers to this one becasue wuther it is legit or not it is definatly a new ed

Cameron

hot topic was selling the starmax version as well as the blue box with the sequal a few months back....not sure if they are still in the stores though

Mok

Here are the 2 copies I have

GHackmann

Netflix has the Starmax version. Unfortunately, the translation of the scenes added to the Special Edition is awful.

Richard Malloy

Oh, that's a shame!

I purchased the Starmax version when it came out (after the Tartan disc that I already owned), and was deeply disappointed in (1) the added footage; (2) the translation; (3) the crappy HUGE subtitles. I couldn't unload it fast enough. Quite a shame that in all this time, no DVD maker has yet topped the Tartan NTSC edition (and I don't believe any one of them have bothered to release the superior original cut).

Next time I'm in Newbury Comics, I'll see if they're still selling the Tartan edition.

Cameron McGaughy

Does anyone know anything about this 3-disc set from Wision? How does the Part 1 in this set compare to the Tartan release?

http://www.hkflix.com/xq/asp/filmID....qx/details.htm

joliom

Tarantino...

Bill Needle

Regarding BRII (from IMDB):

Quentin Tarantino was offered a role but couldn't do it because of scheduling. He said, "They wanted me to play the President of the United States."

My personal vote would be for Hideo Nakata.

Josh-da-man

The reason it hasn't been released in the US comes down to money.

The owner of the movie (Toei?) wants too much money for the US rights to the movie. They want a huge theatrical release like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon got.

Which, I'm sorry, just isn't possible.

With all of the school shootings we've had in recent memory, a heavily-promoted theatrical relesae of this movie would stir up a huge shitstorm, and no major studio would want to touch it.

The best they can hope for is a quiet run in the arthouse circuit and a DVD release through an indie like Anchor Bay.

mndtrp

I rented the version from Netflix. I didn't realize it wasn't a good copy. I must say, though, that the translation made for some good laughs.

manicsounds

Disc 1 is exactly the same as the Starmax version with the bad subtitles.