You might want to wait until the DVD comes out mid december.

Well, I saw it in the theatre. and loved it. Sorry, I was a bit to quick to add it as a DVD release. Oh, well.

Here's my top 5:

1. A Bittersweet Life (R3 Korea)
2. Survive Style 5+ (R2 Japan)
3. The Descent (R2 UK)
4. Innocence: Ghost in the Shell 2 tin (R2 Japan)
5. 3-Iron LE (R3 Korea)

Note: I still have yet to watch The Taste of Tea.

Hmmm...given all the International DVDs I've purchased this year, one would think I could offer more than I'm going to put forth (I'm more movie buff than A/V- & extras-phile but I'll try and lean more "technical" (English-friendly, packaging, etc.) than film quality for my nominations).....I suppose a "favorite International films of 2005" can be done later on.

"Ong Bak" (Thailand, via R4 Australia) - if I recall correctly, a 2-disc set with English subs on at least some of the extras. More importantly it featured both the Thai and International cuts of the film.

Shaw Bros. catalog of films (Hong Kong, via R3 Hong Kong) - kind of cheat I guess, but IVL's continuing the Herculean task of releasing the Shaw Bros. catalog on DVD is, in my opinion, deserving of special mention. I know people have been unhappy with the altered audio and disappointment continued with some VCD-only releases in 2005, but the sheer volume of films they released this year along with a very consumer-friendly pricetag earns them a spot on my abbreviated list.

Masters of Cinema series (assorted countries, via R2 UK) - as already mentioned by a couple of DVDTalkers, "the UK Criterion" release of many classic films in 2005 also earns a spot on my list. I own 7 of these titles, 6 of which are Japanese films. I know some (maybe all) have been previously released via R2 Japanese DVDs or R3 Panorama DVDs, but the "Masters of Cinema" series strikes the mark by being of high quality (especially in comparison to the Panorama releases) while being more cost-friendly than the R2 Japan releases.

"Layer Cake" (UK, via R2 UK) - I really enjoyed the film and if I recall correctly it was a nice 2-disc set. ..............On second thought maybe scratch this one as I recall it was problematic on some DVD players.

"Banlieue 13" aka "13th District" (France, via R3 Thailand) - correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this was the first English-friendly release of the film...and inexpensive too.

I guess that's all I can add for now without digging a little deeper into my purchases for the year. I really wish I would have gotten in on the Hungarian 2-disc release of "Kontroll", missing it is probably my regret for the year. Haven't watched my copy of "Nordkraft" yet but it certainly seems a likely candidate for a year-end Top 10. Likewise, "The Myth" 3-disc set (thanks in part to tinlunlau's deadline-pushing contribution to the translation effort for the extras). As mentioned, "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" seems promising, though it would be nice in 2006 to see Korea go a step further and start making the extras more English-friendly; Korea puts out some great packages but they are negated to a degree by not being more English-friendly. Now that I think of it "Danny the Dog" via the R3 HK 2-disc set was pretty nice (don't recall if the extras were English-friendly).

Regarding the Japanese R2 "Innocence: Ghost In the Shell II"... no English subs or am I mistaken about this? English subs are a definite requirement for me (only for the film, not the extras).

I see it made a few lists of (presumably) non-Japanese speakers, so I wanted to ask. The DTS-ES track seems a great bonus. This is my all-time favorite anime, and I'd definitely fork over much Yen to have the best version, even though it took forever to get the R1 version with the corrected subs!

Because I'm too lazy to start a separate thread on this (besides I'm already behind on a couple of other threads I'd planned on starting), I'll just post it here, Kwaidan is receiving a Region 4 Australian release in mid-March. It is being billed as "the first UNCUT English subtitled version available worldwide". For those who might not be aware, RichDB10 above is correct when he says that the Region 1 Criterion is a shorter version of the film. The R4 Australian release of Kwaidan is up for pre-order at various Australian e-tailers, as well as Yesasia.

And before you pre-order the R4, some of you might be interested to know that Masters of Cinema are planning an R2 release of Kwaidan, too. I have no idea when the projected release date is for this -- it was just announced over at the Criterion Forum. However, MoC discs are always worth the wait.

the original issue in japan had no subtitles, after the american cock-up the japanese market had whats labelled the 'international version' on DVD and that one does include english subs...

I only got a few.as I just dived into other regions,but nothing could ever compare to this anyway....
Phantasm:Sphere 5-Disc Collection