Cameron

Saw this while doing xmas shopping. WHich version is it. It was 34.99, and I didn't see a region coding. Wision is the label on the side, looks like the korean disc. Anyone have opinions on this over the Starmax. Is it subbed across all 3 disc. Etc.



http://www.hottopic.com/store/produc...=0&ITEM=264727

The Valeyard

That's the version I have. It's NTSC Region ALL. The subs for the third disc are Korean only. For BR, it's a basic repackaging of the Starmax edition with BRII as a bonus. Almost all the extras on the third disc are BRII centric.

Cameron

bummer no subs on the bonus stuff...

darmok

i've also seen the slipcased BR1 starmax at my local store, no more of this double-pack though.

Cameron

your hot topic has the starmax...

does it have english subs on the extras...

i got rid of my disc long ago, and need to research what is the best to pick up these days.

teamwinfan

I saw this last night at HotTopic too. It's $29.99 w/ free shipping on orders over $39 at YesAsia.com though.. I might pick it up at Hot Topic though just because I don't know of anything I want off of YesAsia besides Casshern which is too expensive for my blood..

YesAsia.com Linky

exharrison

Does that one have decent subs? I know the one I have has terrible subs.

Cameron

example...

spinning plates

is this even legal for such a mainstream store to do? i hope they get fined.

Cameron

^they payed the import fees...

i can see other stores starting to do the same...places like tower records, sunocast, virgin, etc.

Jah-Wren Ryel

I seem to remember that it is indeed a copyright violation to import for resale where the local copyright holder is different from the holder in the country of origin. Import for personal use is legal, but not import for resale. But, I only read that in passing, I was looking for something else in USC Title 17 at the time.

Matthew Chmiel

Considering that nobody in America owns the legal rights to the film, it's pretty much fair game. I'm pretty sure Toei could consider legal action, but I don't think that anything could come of it.

That and Toei can go fuck themselves.

Cameron

Matthew Chmiel

What? They can. Many studios have tried getting their hands on releasing the film in the states, but Toei will not budge. They still believe the film can play on movie theaters across the country and they're asking top dollar for the film. There's no way in hell any studio is going to release the film on over two hundred screens at once (yes, this has been brought up to the studios who have tried to secure the rights) and pay a hefty seven-figure sum for a film that's already over five years old. The people who have wanted to see it in the states have already done so (thanks mostly to Tartan and Starmax) and this film will continue to find it's cult audience as region-free (and bootleg) discs are still in circulation.

Studios like Lions Gate and Anchor Bay (two of the few studios who have been trying to secure the rights to the film for years now) cannot agree to Toei's expensive cost and I'm sure we will not see an American release of the film until Toei takes the stick out of their ass and realize the only money the film is going to make in the American market is on DVD. There's no money to be made in a theatrical release for this flick, and they need to realize that.

Until then, I am completely fine with my Tartan R0 NTSC theatrical disc (I also own the lesser special edition two-disc set they put out).

And Battle Royale II, in my head, doesn't exist.

EDIT: Toei just needs to look at TLA Releasing's release of Suicide Club to see that they can make a profit on the DVD market. The DVD TLA released of that film sucks, but that film found one hell of an audience (especially with teenagers and younger adults) months after it's release.

cultshock

I'm sure that legally, Toei has a case. But they probably wouldn't consider it worth the effort and expense to try and stop import sales like that. But yeah, it's their own damn fault for asking for an extremely unrealistic US distribution deal.

Trigger

Eh - you guys just wanna see Hot Topic get sued.

murphy_wmm

HMV in Canada sells the Tartan R0 NTSC version of Battle Royale... I don't think it's a problem since nobody legally owns the rights in North America anyway.

Matthew Chmiel

I'd rather see them go out of business.

spinning plates

^ second.

Cameron

i keep hoping they will clearance this like the samurai champloo disc. Do they ever run sales on dvd.

Matthew Chmiel

Not that I've ever seen (everything goes on clearance there at some time but the CDs and DVDs), but they might depending if sales aren't too hot. It seems that most Hot Topic stores have the set in stock -- so maybe it's a hot item that we're all unaware of.

Just remember. The "extended scenes" in Battle Royale have piss poor subtitles (the rest of the film is fairly good when it comes to the subs) and the third disc consist of nothing but extras (with no English subs) for the (shit-tastic) sequel.

harosa

Netflix is renting Battle Royale (dont know which version) so i assumed everything was cleared up rights wise.

cultshock

I wouldn't exactly call the extra scenes' subs "piss poor", but perhaps years of watching HK films with truly horrendous subtitles have increased my tolerance of less than satisfactory subs. I agree that they are of lower quality than the rest of the film's subtitles, and that may be distracting to some, but I had no real problems with it. On the other hand, I agree 100% that the sequel is "shit-tastic".

BTW, for fellow Canadians, I saw the 3 disc set for sale at Sunrise Records too.

Cameron

well they did have the single edition thundercats disc on clearance for ten bucks each...cool slipcovers too.

Cameron

the store in the mall has switched to the starmax with the slipcover....

what are the diffrences between this and the edition listed at the top....if I can't read subtitles on the extras for either....