Larry G

Just got my R2 of "Flightplan" German edition today from Amazon.de. My Cyberhome plays and converts the PAL absolutely beautifully. The package was marked "priority airmail", and it took something like two weeks. I'd hate to think of the length of time with the slowboat, hehe.

I got a lousy exchange rate, but am impressed that this opens up a whole new world to me. European films rarely available in the States or extras packed Asian editions, the possibilities are endless.

It was interesting to see the differences. This disc is in three languages: German, English, and Turkish and 10 or so subtitles. The trailers were in English and German from what I can tell.

I can see why R1 titles are coveted elsewhere in the world though. There is no commentary on the German R2 disc and considering the director himself is German, I just find this odd. And, I see there is a "PAL speedup" as I mentioned in another thread. I won't push that issue too much, it's not all that noticeable, but the U.S. version clocks in at 98 minutes or so and this one at 94 minutes. And, there is no DTS track.

At any rate, this is exciting stuff, and an inexpensive player to boot. I'm still waiting to wake up from this dream. *grin*

Other than the slowness of shipping though, am impressed with Amazon as always.

Larry

digitalfreaknyc

I'm so confused. First you're looking for players that don't exist.

Now you're excited about paying more for an imported version of a movie that not only loses extras but also loses a DTS track.

Frenzy

Welcome to the real world.

Larry G

You know, you're really starting to annoy me. Are you being deliberately obtuse?

There is really no reason to be confused. I was looking for a demo or info, some word of mouth, on when the players and movies would be displayed at a brick and mortar as, unlike you, I have actually seen photos of a mock-up of an HD-DVD/BluRay display already from one of the retailers internal publications. There is more to life than this DVD board. It's not really that hard.

I ordered the German R2 of "Flightplan" to test my player to see if it would output a PAL disc to an NTSC TV, worked beautifully. That was my plan. Secondly, I would like to improve on my understanding of the German language. DVDs are really useful for this purpose. As German titles are somewhat rare for R1 releases, I ordered the German DVD of this movie.

It's a tradeoff. There is no DTS or commentary on the German disc, but I already have the American R1, so I am not losing anything. There are, however, audio dubs in German and Turkish as well as English, in addition to subtitles in at least five other languages including: French, Spanish, Italian, Turkish, and Arabic on the German disc. Being the sort of geek who likes that sort of thing, I am pleased with my purchase.

Also, I thought buying a rarity with the possibility that my player would not be able to read it would be dumb, so I bought a double of something I already had as a test. It passed the test beautifully, I am pleased. Of course, you will now probably object to the length of my post, but I hope this answers your questions.

Larry

Larry G

Hehe, thanks. Glad to be here. ;-)

Larry

digitalfreaknyc

If I'm deliberately obtuse, then you have a serious lack of common sense.

Let me get this straight...you bought a disc that you already had...just to test and see if your player would play the discs? A player that probably cost the same amount as the disc you bought?

If you're buying discs to learn German, I guess that's one thing...but it seems like a big waste of money to buy something that you already have. Why not buy something where you actually get something extra besides the german audio track. it's not like they don't exist.

Sorry...i don't get anything you just said. It makes absolutely no sense. But to each his own. If you have money to burn, have at it.

As for the HD-DVD issue, I've already seen a player and a demo in store. Have you? I've also seen pictures here and in other publications.
Unlike you, I know to check first before randomly going from store to store aimlessly trying to find something that doesn't exist. But you don't have to be a member of this board to know that. You just have to have a....oh forget it. You still wouldn't understand.

Frenzy

You can't imagine how I feel when I enter a local store. So many German DVDs!











Nevertheless I would have advised you to order a German DVD of a movie which isn't avaiable in the US or where the German DVD is better. There isn't much difference between the European and US DVDs of Hollywood mainstream movies.

digitalfreaknyc

Really?

No shit.

That would've made too much sense.

Frenzy

I'm the explain bear.

TheMovieman

Guess I'm "deliberately obtuse" as well... I recently found out that my DVD player had the option to be play all regions so I went and got the Region 2 version of Ronin: SE (for $9.95 including shipping). Decided to get this one since the upcoming special edition R1 release does not have DTS and is probably cheaper (and thus not paying too much for a "test" DVD, after which if it does work, I have a movie I love).

But if you find having extra subtitles exciting, who am I to argue

Larry G

No, the player was around $100, it's a recorder as well. The disc was around $40 when you add in the lousy exchange rate and the shipping. I didn't get a good deal there, but even according to this site, amazon.de is supposedly the only source that will ship their dvd's internationally. Another poster mentioned an e-tailer called incinea.de (sp?) so I may give that one a try next time.

I don't feel like it was a waste of money at all. I didn't know *for sure* that my player would convert PAL to NTSC. I read that it had that capability. Had no idea if there was a difference between the U.S. model and others or what. So I decided to buy a test disc for that purpose. I didn't want to set myself up for disappointment by getting a rare special edition if it didn't work, so why waste even more money on a bad exchange rate and shipping charges and risk the disc not working. I think *that* would be stupid. What am I not getting. Sure I could have searched a disc with a DTS track I suppose or some extra feature not on the American release or gotten a different movie altogether I suppose, I'll grant you, but I like the film and decided to buy it as a test disc as I'm somewhat new to the whole region-free scene.

I think you know the answer to that. What I don't get is why you're being such a wiseass to me, quite frankly. If you know of brick and mortar stores that have demos by all means, volunteer the information, rather than lamenting the fact I go "store to store". Why not be helpful and save me the effort if it is such a concern to you?

On the one hand, you ridicule me for going looking for something that "doesn't exist". But then on the other, you claim to have seen a working demo of this phantom technology. Which is it? You can't have it both ways, and if you know of stores that have the demo or where to look (locally what threads in this forum, for example), by all means tell me.

But the wisecracking, personally I don't get or care for.

Larry

Larry G

No, not at all. I just think digitalfreaknyc is enjoying having a go with me for some reason, whatever.

Where were you able to find it, if I can ask? Sounds like a good deal. Yeah I guess I'm a geek that way with things like subtitles. ;-)

Larry

Larry G

Hehe, yep I suppose that would be the case. I really do think it was kinda neat to see the differences such as packaging and whatnot compared to the American version.


Yeah, I probably should have checked out a DVD region comparison site in retrospect. Still, as I said, I like the film, didn't want to be disappointed if it didn't work, and I'm pleased. It's always good to have a back-up. *grin* If you know of any DVDs offhand where the German version is superior, please tell. Would be glad for any info.

Larry

Frenzy

E.g. The Frighteners 4 disc set.

digitalfreaknyc

I actually CAN have it both ways.

Why don't you look around? THIS TECHNOLOGY IS ONLY AVAILABLE THROUGH PROMOTIONAL TOURS. There are sites that have listed the tours. It's ONLY at stores on specific days. They don't stay there for weeks on end. Does it exist in stores as even a demo? Sure. But it's something special...because they don't have the technology finished. They don't have the discs finished. So how could you expect something that's unfinished...especially a technology that's been postponed month after month, to just sit in a store waiting for you to come see it. Don't you think you'd find out about it here? Don't you think you'd see more information in newspapers, magazines, or on tv promoting it? or do you think that stores just like having technology sitting on their shelves with no one to buy it or even know about it? Obviously you're here enough to post or do you not read as well? You may think that's a "wisecrack" but it's honestly a serious question.

And I STILL don't get why you'd buy something that has no major upgrade value from another country. There is a countless # of discs that are better in other regions. They have DTS, they're anamorhic...or they're special editions that we haven't even had announced here. But you chose to get a movie that has actually LESS than the R1 version...and you paid double (possibly TRIPLE) the amount for it. I'm still waiting for the sense in that.

And if you don't like the wisecracking, tough. That's my personality. I'm sarcastic. You don't like it? Click the ignore button. It's served me well in the past.

Larry G

And, the honest answer is that I WAS looking around. Given the imminent release of these films, I thought I would at the very least get an ETA on their arrival from salespeople. Instead only ignorance of the format's very existence. Now THAT surprised me.

Thanks for the heads-up about the HD-DVD promotional tour. When did another search, I found Toshiba's site. Today is the first day I've managed to even get that site to load for me. For some reason, it wouldn't load before, and yes I have the latest flash and whatnot.

Yes, naturally. But again, I didn't want to risk getting a disc with exciting extras only to be disappointed if it wouldn't play. Yeah I probably paid triple the amount. I doubt I paid more than $20 for my US version, probably a LOT less. But as I said, amazon.de is the one of the few sources I've seen listed for German R2s, and as I said, this is one of the languages I'd like to hear/see that isn't typically on U.S. R1s. They have expensive overseas shipping charges. Obviously, I'll check out other sources. I've seen some more mentioned here.

Economically, ordering more than a few discs would have justified the large shipping cost, but NOT at the risk of the disc possibly not playing. My fears were obviously allayed. But again, I didn't know until I tried it.

I'm sure in NYC, it is a large and cosmopolitan enough city that you possibly have brick and mortar locations, probably more than a few with DVD imports where you don't have to worry about shipping costs at all. Otherwise, ordering from that country, I'm stuck with the high shipping cost. Unless you know of another source for lesser or no shipping costs, I'd be glad to hear it.

It's not that I don't like your wisecracking so much. The world would be pretty boring if we were all the same. It's just that you seem to have me pidgeonholed as some kind of idiot that prefers foreign editions with no extras or that is ignorant in knowing when HD DVD is going to arrive, when looking around for info was what I was *trying to do* and being a bit cautious until I could be sure my player could read the disc was my intention in buying that particular disc.

Naturally, I'll be on the lookout for discs with rarities the next time I make such a purchase. Also, I'm sure there are sources where cheap DVDs can be had from abroad as well from other countries besides Germany, for example.

Larry

Bill Geiger

Try CDWOW for German dvds as they have plenty of them plus the free shipping is nice..

digitalfreaknyc

Check DVDcompare.net next time. That might help you.

Chupa

Flightplan - Ohne jede Spur - DVD Region 2 - Preis: €20.99 Inkl Lieferung!

Larry G

Wow that IS a good price if shipping worldwide is truly free. I wish I'd learned about CD Wow earlier. I actually got a better price from Amazon: EUR 17.20. What killed me was the shipping though, a hair-raising EUR 15.50. If you add in the lousy exchange rate I got, it was bad.

I'm still not disappointed. I set out to see if my player can decode PAL, and it did, and I got an audio track in a language I need to know better, a plus, still I could have done better if I'd shopped around a bit. One of the reasons I chose Amazon was because, according to this forum itself, it seems to suggest it is one of the only German e-tailers that will ship internationally (not true apparently), and also I wasn't considered sources outside the origin country for a purchase such as CD Wow.

Thanks again.

Larry