Khan

I'm swapping with someone in Germany and am having trouble finding discs I want from there. For starters, they cost a fortune!

But still, I want their recent super duper Fifth Element release there and need to come up with another disc. Preferably not too expensive.

Can anyone recommend anything? No matter how obscure, but it's gotta have an English audio track and hopefully, no forced German subtitles. I'm assured the 5th Element disc passes those tests, but if someone could confirm that it'd be great!

Dazza

The 2-disc set of "Das fünfte Element" ("The Fifth Element"), as far as I'm aware, has (at the very least) both German & English 5.1 soundtracks, as well as German & English subtitles. It's not too expensive - should sell for around €25, I think.
Another nice release from Germany is the "Lost Highway" disc; this sells for around €23, as far as I know.

Hope this helps...

ineluki

How about the new Stargate DC
- DTS / DD
- anamorphic 2,35:1
- not to expensive

Citysmith

I bought from the German amazon 'Lost Highway' the David Lynch clasic. Appears to be the only copy world wide!

jonathan.e

5th Element transfer and sound is reportedly not much better than existing R1 & R2 versions, it’s the extras where this bad boy really delivers.

An inexpensive German title unavailable elsewhere is the anamorphic version of Cutthroat Island with a couple of extras also. Not everyone’s favorite movie but I love it and anticipate twinning it with 5thE to spread the extortionate shipping prices.

pum

hey...i recommend Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now. i think it's the only version available.
don't know the german name though.

Hendrik

"don't know the german name though.

...the German title is quite a mouthful:

http://discshop.com/dvdstation/produ...pf%5Fid=500240

...BTW pum: you have exquisite taste in movies!...

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pum

thank you!
by the way, you're welcomed to see my collection if you come to Thailand one day.

Khan

Thanks for the information everybody.

I eventually chose the new 2 disc editions of The Fifth Element and also Stargate. Both sound pretty awesome, although I believe Germany misses out on some fancy Pyramid packaging. That sort of thing can sometimes be more annoying than it's worth, as you can't fit them in your shelf so that's fine.

I enquired about Don't Look Now but the girl I'm trading with couldn't find it. It's obviously a lower profile movie than the other two.

will_munny

beware the german edition of Roeg's Don't look now has a runtime of 105 minutes, while the complete version was 110 minutes: my source is IMDB. It's a pity because the video is anamorphic widescreen and the audio an acceptable english stereo.

pum

AFAIK, the german has MORE in the famous nude scene. i think the difference in time is because of PAL speed up rather than the film been cut.

Hendrik

will_munny

A: ...the difference is due to the PAL speed-up (c. 4%) (all other things being equal, any 100-minute movie on a R1/NTSC DVD - or LD, or VHS tape - will 'run' about 96 minutes on a R2/PAL DVD - or LD, or VHS tape)... this is just a fact of life, one we have to live with (hundreds of millions of people living in PAL countries have done so, happily, for the past forty-to-fifty years!)...

B: ... indications of running times for DVD programs are (not notoriously enough, I fear!) unreliable much if not most of the time - regardless of whether these are printed on the back of the disc's case, or in the announcements made in e-tailers announcements... try it: put in any random disc(s) from your own 'collection' and press 'PLAY', skip all the way to the end credits, let these run their course, note the time indicated on your player... I'll bet you will find that - as often as not - the movie actually is shorter - or even, sometimes, longer! - than the time indicated on the packaging...

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will_munny

dear Hendrik

OK running time are unreliable.
The fact is: when I buy a DVD featuring an old movie - I mean a movie I saw in a movie theater - I want that same version on my DVD. Running times - you know, reviews of minor titles are hard to find - as far as I know are the only reliable source.
I think your comment is interesting and instructive but doesn't solve my doubts about the cut featuring in the german DVD edition of Don't look now!

Hey Pum
from your writing I understand you own that german edition, is that right? is it worth 49.99 DM?

Hendrik

will_munny: ...I can' just let that go... your original post assumes a lot:

"beware the german edition of Roeg's Don't look now has a runtime of 105 minutes, while the complete version was 110 minutes: my source is IMDB. It's a pity because the video is anamorphic widescreen and the audio an acceptable english stereo."

Some points to consider:

1) ...what makes you think the IMDb is always correct?...

2) ...runtimes of movies are not hewn in rock granite...

3) ...if you care to take out your pocket calculator, and punch in 1.04 * 105 you get ... 109.2 - which, you will have to admit, is getting pretty close to the 110 minutes mentioned by you...

4) ...note that the difference in runtimes between PAL and NTSC transfers is approximately 4% (actually, it is 4,something percent - which reduces the difference between 105 and 110 even more)...

5) ...do try the 'test' I suggested in my previous post on a few of the discs you own - I think you'll be (unpleasantly) surprised!...

6) ...as the late, great Anna Russell said: I'm not making this up, you know!

. . . . . .

will_munny

Dear Hendrik
facts and deductions aren't the same thing.
I don't buy DVDs counting on deductions.
I want facts.
IMDB is a source of facts - read it useful informations - informations given by an owner of this german edition would be a fact, too.
Furthermore I'm always particularly cautious when I buy movies who are easy victims of censorship - violence, sex scenes and so on. So I repeat myself your deductions are instructive but as for me absolutely uneseful to decide to buy or not a DVD.

bboisvert

Not to butt in here, but... the IMDb is not a foolproof source of "facts". The information there is collected from user submissions and could be just as wrong as any other info you hear on the Internet. I've lost count of the number of things that are wrong on the site (mostly for technical stuff like aspect ratios). Anyone with a keyboard can submit information -- that doesn't make it a "fact". And the obscure and older movies tend to have the most problems because the IMDb staff can't double-check the info too easily.

Not that I dislike the IMDb -- it's a great resource. But I would NEVER look up a running time or aspect ratio on that site and then claim that it was correct. In fact, odds are that it isn't if the movie is not too popular.


Additionally, I don't see what the specific issue here is. The IMDb claims that the movie is 110 minutes. The DVD claims that it is 105 minutes. NTSC/PAL speed differences account for that descrepancy almost to the second. I see nothing there to indicate that even a single frame of the film has been cut.

pum

i don't paid 49.99 DM. i'm not sure how much i paid. it's rather long and i didn't remember well but i know just that i didn't paid to that amount.
that said. firstly, i think this film worth a lot. it's interesting film. and secondly, picture and sound is nice. nicer than lots of disc i had.
so it's kinda one of my favorite disc.

will_munny

many thanks, Pum

mbrunet

Hello all -

I'm looking into getting some disks from Germany, but I had some questions about your recommendations...

1. Can anyone confirm that the extras on the German 5th element have english subtitles/are all in english?

2. Is the German Dawn of the Dead: SE any good, or should I wait for Anchor Bay's long-delayed R1 SE?

3. What is the most reliable/cheapest online store that will ship to the US?

Thank you,

Mike

the_eza

-Perdita Durango DTS special edition is by far the longest version available, much longer that the unrated US version. Picture quality is also much better.

-Toxic Avenger 2 is, along with the Japanese edition, the longest uncut version available.

NavinJohnson

I'd recommend Sons of the Desert and Quest for Fire; don't know if they are to your taste. Haven't seen it, but The Comedian Harmonists looks interesting. Alas, it has no english audio or subtitles.

Hemulen

Why not discs with non-english audio, but with english subtitles?

with that in mind I'd recommend...

The Princess and the Warrior - DTS and DD 5.1 tracks German audio tracks, english subtitles - http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005O45C

The company of wolves - english audio tracks in DD 5.1 and 2.0, http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005MOKO

astrophore

My Don't Look Now just arrived from amazon.de (it took about six weeks). I know a link about the title was previously posted, but the actual German title is: "Wenn die Gondeln trauer tragen."

For what it's worth....

Khan

Does it have English audio without compulsory German subtitles?

Hendrik

Q: Does it have English audio without compulsory German subtitles?

A: Exceptionally (for a German DVD of a non-German-language original) the answer is yes.

...BTW, and in spite of will_munny's saying the audio features "acceptable english stereo", both the English and German soundtracks are pure, unadulterated mono - correctly so, I might add...

.... Also BTW, and notwithstanding will_munny's persisting doubts, the movie is not, repeat not cut...

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