German Lost Highway Problems
 

I recently purchased the German Lost Highway (from Amazon.de) and the English 5.1 audio is slightly off sync. Does anyone else have this and also have the problem? I've also read conflicting reports online that this problem was rectified in later pressings.

I'm also concerned about trying to return this, as I do not speak German. It was simple enough to order, but explaining a return is not going to be easy.

Any advice on this would be very helpful.

Also, if anyone has either the UK or Aussie versions of this film, are they decent pressings? I know they are only DD 2.0, but something is better than nothing

Thanks,
Joe

The German release does have a minor synching problem late on into the film. Having watched the disc 3 times it's really not a massive problem (for me) because the disc is such a good transfer (much much better than other Region releases -check them out here ). I would never return my disc.

If you send it back to Germany you would be best to confirm with the retailer that they will pay for the expensive shipping (assuming the disc is still in one of those horrible Super Jewel cases) as it may not be worth sending back.

Did you not check people's comments before you bought the disc? The information is there.

Any news on the Region-1 SE yet?

;)

May never happen as the lawyers are rifling through paperwork.

Lost Highway was one of the last CIBY 2000 films. Their back catalogue ended up at Vivendi Universal I think -I also read MGM bought some rights. As Vivendi Universal were [are?] esentially bankrupt they sold off parts of their 'empire' so I have no idea who owns the North American rights (I assume it's Universal for the US).

The German disc is great. I've seen images from the French, UK, Canadian and Australian discs and they're awful (the Canadian disc is a complete disaster).

I just ordered a copy of the German R2 LOST HIGHWAY for 25,84 EuroDollars. Couldn't hold out any longer. What's bizarre is that I only paid 10,34 Euros for the DVD, but 15,50 for shipping.

Go figure!

cheers, Tony Block

There's some info below about USA Films, Universal and the R1 Lost Highway DVD debacle, which pretty much supports what Lucas said.

cheers, Tony Block

http://www.dugpa.com/dvdlimbo.html

Hm..I got that DVD quite some time now and seen it 2 or 3 times.
can't remember a synchronisation error, but maybe that's because we only get dubbed crap in tv here and got used that.

anyway, if you have to return it i could help you with the german part. service of amazon.de rocks, best company i know. but we can return goods free of charge if there are some flaws.

Sorry, there's no such thing as EuroDollar ;)
It's called just "Euro".

This may seem like a silly question, but does this version have chapter stops? I'm considering a purchase of this version. Thank you.

My copy from Germany just arrived today and it has 22 glorius (sowwy David) chapter stops!

I'll post back on the quality of the transfer and audio later.

cheers, Tony Block

I just received the PAL R2 German version of LOST HIGHWAY in the mail today, and just finished watching it. The transfer is anamorphic and very good, especially for a film that I'm sure was very difficult to transfer to DVD, even holding up in the very dark scenes, for example when Fred Madison walks into/and out of the dark shadow/void in his dark brown (?) bedroom. Also, the scene were Patricia Arquette and Balthazar Getty make love in the desert is breathtaking, looking even more spectacular then it did theatrically, and the daytime scenes, like the little cruise Mr. Eddie and Pete take through the Hollywood Hills, are gorgeous too.

But the really really oustanding feature on the German LOST HIGHWAY DVD is the English 5.1 audio, which is one of the best 5.1s I've heard. Unlike some other Lynch 5.1 tracks, this one is extremely, extremely active in the rear speakers too. This is one gorgeous and creative aural collage, and all speakers are constantly active with sound effects and music.

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. The back of the DVD also says that it runs 135 minutes, but the actual running time is 129 minutes, probably due to a PAL transfer (?). I know I didn't notice anything missing.

The German PAL R2 DVD of LOST HIGHWAY has a beautiful transfer & an extremely active and creative 5.1 audio, IMO, make this the way to go until we get the long awaited Lynch approved transfer & audio mix that has been done, from what I've read at dugpa.com, for over two years now.

This DVD is currently available at amazon.de for 11,99 Euros, (10,34 for Americans after the VAT tax is subtracted). Shipping is a little steep. 15,5 Euros, but for approximately $26 I got a great copy of a film that I've been waiting to get on DVD since I bought my first player in the fall of '98. Well, well worth it.

cheers, Tony Block

Glad you appreciated the disc.

I'm told that Wild at Heart has an April release in the UK from Universal.

I hope they'll do a better job than their terrible world-wide back catalogue junk.

Now that would be very cool....
Back to Lost Highway, I've had the old Pioneer Japanese disc for years, and even their old LD that was prone to rot, the transfer, in my opinion, isn't that bad (though over the years there has been so much bickering about its quality). I would like to upgrade, but I'd rather wait for a good R1 release.

Dang, I think I said that in my previous post!

PLUS!
 

..... and a further €5 off if u are using Amazon.DE for the 1st time....

yes, i just placed an order for it.... now waiting.... :)

Re: PLUS!
 

They didn't give me 5 Euro off! Darn!

I don't know of any Amazon.de coupons at the moment -maybe worth trying PSK-STUDENTEN (€5 off €30).

...
 

click to amazon.de and wait for a pop-up asking you to register as a new amazon.de member. Fill up the details and they'll email you your "coupon". - €5 off.

Remember: you have to be a NEW member i.e. if you purchased sumthing from there before, chances are they are going to reject you. i remembered Amazon.FR had a similar promo wic i missed out coz i had an account wif them before..... maybe you would like to try another card? ;)


No reason not to buy Lost Highway now.... heh. :)

How does the German version compare the to Australian?

The Aussie release seems a lot cheaper.

German version has out of sync English 5.1 audio. Aussie has plain vanilla 2.0 (but it's pretty darned good 2.0 let me just say), cigarette burns on the transfer (but no other major artefacts) and 40 minutes of extras. Oh, and the Aussie R4 costs about $US8 plus shipping from places like www.fbo.com.au (it's currently part of a distributor special).

Review.

just got my german today...

how about the Portugese version? bugger!

First (and only) rule of buying DVDs internationally:1) Get personal recommendations.

I don't see anyone posting saying they think the Portugese disc is the best option. What use is comparisions if there's no review?

My only experience with discs from Portugal (and Brazil) is poor.


Anyone reading from Portugal?

Did a bit of searching on Estrada perdida (Lost Highway) and it does look like it may be as good as the German disc -at least.

So, who'll buy it first to test the disc? :D


All Lost Highway releases

I just recieved the German dvd of lost highway from amazon.de and I'm surprised at how bad the english 5.1 DD track is. I had read good things about it, but the sync problem is consistently a quarter of a second behind the onscreen action -- that i could live with, but the dialogue has a very intense "tinny" quality that is at its most unbearable in the scene where Fred first talks to the Mystery Man at Andy's party.

if anyone out there has and is happy with any of the other versions available with a 5.1 DD english track with removable subtitles, please post a quick note here. thanks.

Playing back on...
JVC s500 multi-region dvd player
Onkyo receiver
Paradigm speakers and subwoofer

I'm surprised at how bad the english 5.1 DD track is.


Surprised to hear that.

I don't understand either as the track is one of the reasons the German disc is seen (or heard) as the best option (for several years in fact).

You sure that's not just the normal PAL speedup issues at work?