DVD Talk Forum - German Lost Highway Problems

"I like to remember things my own way...how I remember them, not necessarily the way they happened."

Here's another review of the German R2 PAL DVD.
All I can add is that some people have complained about synching problems with the English 5.1 audio, but on my Cyberhome CH-500, I only noticed one scene, a conversation btw Getty & Arquette (that only lasted for about ten seconds), where there was an obvious synching problem.

cheers, Tony Block
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Lost Highway
Director: David Lynch • Starring:
Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Balthazar Getty
German Region 2 (PAL) DVD
Ratio: 2.35:1 (Anamorphic) Audio: Digital Digital 5.1 (448kbps) Order it from Amazon.de today!

Overview and review (here) by Stephen Foster
selected and edited from Shivers #89

If the introduction of the DVD format has taught dedicated film fans anything, it’s that there are often substantial benefits from investigating their options before buying copies of their favourite movies. Discriminating consumers now routinely look to the US via the Internet for the best version of a particular title, and generally find it. Some connoisseurs are also now beginning to look to other English-speaking territories, like Australia, to see if their discs offer anything that the British or American versions do not (like their anamorphic version of the Natural Born Killers Director’s Cut, with all the supplements of the packed US disc, or an uncut PAL version of The Matrix, in a proper keep case!).

Now other countries are getting the DVD bug, and are releasing discs that will have Horror fans drooling. There are reputable mail-order sites in most European countries, (including the French version of Amazon: www.amazon.fr and the German: www.amazon.de), and most seem happy to ship to the UK. Of course, there are more than a few traps for the unwary traveller. The most common problem is that some titles won’t have English audio or subtitles, although some countries, like France, are very keen on making the version originale (V.O.)available to their customers, because, bona fide cinephiles that they are, they routinely expect it. Less obvious, but perhaps equally problematic, is that the discs that do have an English soundtrack may also have non-removable foreign subtitles...

It’s impossible to absolutely guarantee that a particular machine will be able to present a particular disc without subtitles (look for phrases like sans sous-titres in French and untertitel aus in German). Some websites offer this information. It is useful to have a skimpy grasp of the language of the country you’re buying from: films are often listed under their foreign titles. It may be easier to locate a film by searching for a particular actor or the director. You should at least have a grip on a few words commonly associated with e-commerce if you’re to safely navigate the various online forms, etc. The foreign Amazon sites have very similar layouts and procedures to the UK and US versions, so anyone familiar with their system should breeze through the German and French equivalents.

One thing that may be ringing alarm bells is the thought that these foreigners use different TV standards. Well, Germany and Holland are PAL countries, the same as the UK. France broadcasts in SECAM, but is gradually switching to PAL, and their DVDs are also in PAL. Australians use PAL, too, sensible fellas.

The big Hollywood studios generally dictate the contents of their DVDs across the world, ensuring a degree of homogeny. Films made independently are often sold on to a different company in each territory, and they are generally given autonomy to market the movie in any way they damn well please. This can result in radically different discs in each country. Sometimes other countries simply have access to better materials, or have decided on different technical specifications: France has exclusive DTS versions of Sleepy Hollow and Stir of Echoes, for example.

There are some relatively mainstream American movies that haven’t had a proper DVD release anywhere other than continental Europe, like David Lynch’s Lost Highway, which was previously only available as an expensive Japanese import. Other important films, like Nic Roeg’s Don’t Look Now (available in Germany as Wenn die Gondeln Trauer tragen, and France as Ne Vous Retournez Pas, both in English with optional subtitles) are similarly neglected in the countries that actually parlay the lingo.

Lost Highway

This disc from BMG Germany is a terrific presentation of a movie that was always going to present film-to-video transfer problems, because so much of it takes place in deep shadow. The film is presented in its correct theatrical ratio of 2.35:1, which is essential since Lynch likes to make full use of the whole frame. It also boasts a powerful 5.1 audio mixes in English and German, making the best of the characteristically dense Lynchian soundtrack, Angelo Badalamenti’s score and aggressive music by acts like Rammstein and Nine Inch Nails. The disc has optional subtitles.

Some copies of this disc have significant lip-synch problems on the English version, which can be distracting, although this has apparently been rectified on more recent pressings. The disc isn’t entirely bereft of extras either: there are about ten minutes worth of sound bites from Lynch and his cast (in English), and several wide-screen German trailers.

http://www.visimag.com/shivers/h89_reviews.htm