Somebody on eBay is selling a 3-Disc Roman Polanski set. It's Region 2 and looks legitimate (not a bootleg). It consists of Repulsion, Cul De Sac, and Knife In The Water. I went to Amazon.com.UK and Amazon.com.Fr and didn't see it listed there at all. Is this thing for real or what?

Those are coming out in Region 2 from Anchor Bay UK, but I think that's a long way off. They were just announced. Either that guy is trying to sell a super early pre-order or he's got bootlegs.

Here's the link to this item:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=18843

This looks a litle too elaborate to be a bootleg, unless the guy doing it is some kind of graphics genius. It's a gorgeous package.

well.....if this is a bootleg then...IT IS A DAMN GOOD ONE.

I believe that it might be authentic though(release not bootleg). However I have never heard of a French release...and I sort of keep track of those things.....

My suggestion....try and see if this might be a Polish release, ok?

...I'd say definitely not a Polish release... of the three titles only KNIFE IN THE WATER is available on a Polish DVD... besides, why would these movies apparently have French subs only (pro-bassoonist please note! ) when the two English-language titles would require Polish subs (yes, pro-bassoonist, they would! trust me! ) if we're talking a Polish release...

...well... as the King of Siam said: "It's a ... puzzlement!"...

...looks like a very nice set btw, something the French are so good at!...

. . . . . .

Odd that it's not listed on any French retailer sites. Anyway, it's probably better to wait for the UK discs, since KNIFE will have English subtitles and people won't have to wrestle with the problem of those pesky French subtitles. On that subject, does anyone know of a list of DVD players that can actual remove those unremoveable French subs?

well....I did not say that it is a Polish release...however I was aware of the Polish dvd you linked above...that's why I assumed....I have to agree though...this set looks good enough and could be French...

...HOWEVER.....

this is the first time I've seen it. So, I am not sure I could help here. Dont know where is it coimig from!

I have purchased DVD's from this seller before, the DVDs were exactly as described and were shipped from France. I received them within a week of purchase ( I live in NY).

That's the 3 discer I mentioned at the bottom of this thread

...ahhh... that explains it, then: it's a 'limited' set - limited to this one particular (r)e-tailer... RATS! ...there oughta be a law against that!

. . . . . .

...o....there ya go....

it will be British for me then....Thanks Lucas

The French edition of CDiscount is pretty poor. Fullscreen 4/3 burnt french subs,....
Look like they encoded a VHS.

So no reason to be sad.

BTW the price on Cdiscount was pretty cheap. 3 DVDs boxset for $15 or something like that.

Ah, that link has changed as it went directly to the Polanski set. I've moved the HTML to here

"The French edition of CDiscount is pretty poor. Fullscreen 4/3 burnt french subs,....
Look like they encoded a VHS."

I will most DEFINITELY be getting the British set then...looks like the French really screwed this one up.

Lucas....was there a release date ever mentioned by Anchor Bay? I dont recall anything?

I'm sure I read June/July mate.

No, they're much further off in the future than that. Check the website:

http://www.anchorbay.co.uk/

The release schedule lists titles up through September and the Polanski films aren't even listed. You have to go to the "future" section to find them and there is no release date yet.

Looks like the release date for the Anchor Bay set is 8/25. The Bonus Disc with 8 Polanski short films could drive me to get a region free player.

Roman Polanski Box Set

I noticed a couple of days ago that Criterion has announced their release of Knife in the Water - 9/16 per dvdplanet.

I was going to get the Criterion of Knife in the Water, but if reviews say the image quality is good on that set, I'd likely go with that instead. There were hardly any extras (if any) scheduled to be on the Criterion disc, anyway.

AB UK have finally announced the specs of their 4-disc Roman Polanski box set on their website. The specs are beautiful:

Disc 1: Knife in the Water
# Original 4:3 full frame version
# Optional DTS Audio
# Optional Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio
# A Ticket to the West - An all-new featurette
# Theatrical Trailer
# Liner Notes
# Talent Bios
# Poster and Stills Gallery
# Collector's Booklet

Disc 2: Repulsion
# Widescreen Presentation Enhanced for 16x9 TVs
# Optional DTS Audio
# Optional Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio
# Audio Commentary with Roman Polanski and Catherine Deneuve
# A British Horror Film - An all-new featurette
# Theatrical Trailer
# Original Script Extracts
# Original Drawings by Art Director Seamus Flannery
# Eye and Brain (audio) by Professor Richard Gregory
# Liner Notes
# Talent Bios
# Poster and Stills Gallery
# Collector's Booklet

Disc 3: Cul-de-Sac
# Widescreen Presentation Enhanced for 16x9 TVs
# Optional DTS Audio
# Optional Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio
# Two Gangsters and an Island - An all-new featurette
# Theatrical Trailer
# Liner Notes
# Talent Bios
# Poster and Stills Gallery
# Collector's Booklet

Disc 4: Early Shorts
# Teethful Smile (Usmiech zebiczny, 1957)
# A Murderer (Morderstwo, 1957)
# Two Men and a Wardrobe (Dwaj ludzie z szafa, 1958)
# Lamp, The (Lampa, 1959)
# When Angels Fall (Gdy spadaja anioly, 1959)
# Fat and the Lean, The (Gruby i chudy, 1961)
# Mammals, The (Ssaki, 1962)
# Let's Break the Ball (Rozbijemy zabawe, 1957)

Note that the commentary track on Repulsion is almost certainly the same commentary as on the hard-to-come-by Criterion laserdisc, so I am sold based on that alone. Marc Morris from AB UK has also confirmed that Knife in the Water will have the same English subtitle track personally traslated by Polanski that the forthcoming US Criterion DVD will have. Hopefully AB UK will also be providing the original mono tracks for all of these films in addition to the DD/DTS 5.1 tracks listed, since AB UK's remixes are generally unlistenable to me (and I don't consider myself to have the most critical of ears).

The wait between 8/25 and the time it takes for this box to cross the Atlantic to my living room will be a difficult one for me.

DJ

Very niiiiice! I'm all over this one.

Any suggestions where I should preorder through?

That sounds fantastic.

I'll most likely order mine through Benson's World.

Don't Forget Polanski's "The Ninth Gate" with Johhny Depp, Frank Langella and Emanuelle Seigner. Great landscapes in a number of Countries, in between devil worship, books, intrigue, and murder.

Stunning news!! thank you Anchor Bay!!!!!
I'm already browsing through play.com to pre-order my copy!!!

mdm67: the collection

Ah, they're killing me. Original Mono mixes. Please.