toddly6666

Artpopdvd.com has the "official" Russian dvd! The DVD I have is the DVD 5 version which is of good quality too, but the "official" DVD is a DVD 9 which is anamorphic, DD 5.1/DTS, English subtitles as well.

Dane

Thatīs the version to get - an itīs an Authentic/Genuine release.

However, this cover is far from looking like a "superbit" cover, which has been mentioned in here.

Thatīs a Bootleg DVD according to a thread on Imdb.

Dane

Hmm, earlier you said yours were a DVD9 DTS. Now, itīs suddenly a DVD5 (which doesnīt have DTS).

Sorry, but Iīm questioning your reliabilty regarding specifications about this release.

toddly6666

On my DVD version, I discovered it lists DVD5 on the back cover, as well as DVD9. If it was a 2-disk version, I would have assumed that DVD9 applies to the movie and the DVD5 applies to the second disk. So, I'm just going to give it the benefit-of-doubt that it's probably a DVD 5, since it's an "official" copy (still an excellent quality DVD 5 though - looks as good as a DVD 9). I don't understand Russian, so i'm assuming they print anything they want on the DVD back cover. I know tons of Russian DVDs that list "english subtitles" on the back, but don't actually have them...Both versions have DTS. I have explained in the past, Russian DVDs are tricky - there are "official" bootlegs and there are "official" official DVDs. The laws and regulations in the Russian DVD world are screwy. So let me clarify these two versions:

Russiandvd.com:
Superbit cover, "official" copy version, Anamorphic (interlaced), DD 5.1/DTS Russian, English subtitles

Artpopdvd.com:
Regular "official" DVD version, Anamorphic (progressive), DD 5.1/DTS Russian, English subtitles, + CD

And I think there is third version that is an "official" Russian version that doesn't carry English subtitles.

Dane, I go through this problem everytime a big Russian movie comes out (Barber of Siberia, Night Watch, Day Watch, 9th Company, Master and Margarita). It drives me nuts!

Either way, artpopdvd.com doesn't carry bootlegs (unlike Russiandvd.com), so that should make it easy to decide.

Dane

Thanks, for clarifying. Iīll stick with Artpopdvd. They are on eBay as well.

I learned through a very detailed thread on Imdb that Russiandvd.com sells bootlegs. The prices might seem cheaper than others. However, you never what youīre gonna get.

Also, in a very detailed thread on Imdb explains the very tough restrictions on exporting DVD and other media outside Russia, which makes it very hard for us to obtain a genuine Russian DVD.

fuzzbucket

If anyone is interested, I noticed that this version is available on Amazon cheap ($8.95). Put the Amazon # "B001QOZYRS" into their search box. I bought it locally at Sembawang Music here in Singapore for somewhat more. Its a good movie. Pacing is a bit off, but acting and production values are very nice. Cheers! Leong

Dane

Took the plunge and ordered it through HKFlix for $12.95 + shipping

According the info on HKFlix itīs ALL REGION with English subtitles and DTS.

Nice DIGIPAK as well.

flixtime

Watched this a short time back but didn't get around to posting. Despite a couple of significant flaws, I enjoyed it. The lifted-from-TITANIC framing device was rather useless. Also the romance didn't work for me at all, and I didn't really find much interesting about the lead female character. I thought the CGI in the opening naval battle was weak but once I realized the movie was not going to be about battles at sea, I find it easy to bypass that specific criticism. What made the movie a success for me was that, being unfamiliar with the character Admiral Aleksandr Kolchak, I found it very interesting from a historical/biopic perspective. I do realize this is history tailored for a big commercial film, but as such it was quite engaging and it did kindle enough interest that, after watching the movie, I did some 'net-surfing research on the man and that time period. Looking back I wish they had dumped the TITANIC-like bookends and also veered away from making it a historical romance, and instead focused more time and added more depth to the actual history of the tale. As toddly mentioned, with a lot of historical ground to cover, the movie does move quickly from historical footnote to historical footnote. It does lend the story an epic feel but I would like to have seen that aspect given much more room to breath by maybe cutting the romance and adding bulk to the political/historical side of things. Thereby the romance is no longer the foundation of the film. That time of the Russian Revolution is quite an intriguing period so maybe instead of a 110-minute romance/biopic, it would have been captivating to see maybe a 135-minute historical/political/war/biopic epic instead.