laureatedvd.com

[James L M]

I can think of quite a few studio releases where the region 1 discs have extras that fail to turn up on region 2, which means I have to buy region 1 copies and the region 2 distributors miss out. The following have cast/crew audio commentaries on their region 1 versions whilst their region 2 counterparts have none:-

DIRTY PRETTY THINGS (2003) with director Stephen Frears
JUMP TOMORROW (2201) with director Joel Hopkins, producer Nicola Usborne and actor Tunde Adebimpe
STATE AND MAIN (2000) WITH ACTORS Sarah Jessica Parker, William H. Macy, Clark Gregg, David Paymer and Patti LuPone
YOU CAN COUNT ON ME (2000) with director Kenneth Lonergan
ARLINGTON ROAD (1999) with director Mark Pellington and actor Jeff Bridges
ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE (1998) with director Larry Clark
DONNIE BRASCO (1997) with director Mike Newell
ONCE WERE WARRIORS (1995) with director Lee Tamahori
GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS (1992) with director James Foley
JACOB'S LADDER (1990) with director Adrian Lyne
DRUGSTORE COWBOY (1989) with director Gus Van Sant and actor Matt Dillon
THE PRINCESS BRIDE (1987) one with director Rob Reiner, one with author William Goldman
ST ELMO'S FIRE (1985) with director Joel Schumacher
SUBURBIA (1983) with director Penelope Spheeris
EXCALIBUR (1981) with director John Boorman
THIEF (1981) with director Michael Mann and actor James Caan
ROCK'N'ROLL HIGH SCHOOL (1979) with director Allan Arkush, producer Michael Finnell and screenwriter Richard Whitley
GRAND THEFT AUTO (1977) with director Ron Howard and producer Roger Corman
SILENT RUNNING (1971) with director Douglas Trumbull and actor Bruce Dern
BLACK CAESAR (1973) with director Larry Cohen
VANISHING POINT (1971) with director Richard C. Sarafian
THE TRAIN (1964) with director John Frankenheimer
BLOOD TRILOGY (1963-65) with director Herschell Gordon Lewis and producer David F. Friedman
THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM (1961) with director Roger Corman
THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER (1960) with director Roger Corman
THE QUIET MAN (1952) with actress Maureen O'Hara
RIO GRANDE (1950) with actress Maureen O'Hara
ALL ABOUT EVE (1950) with actress Celeste Holm
GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT (1947) with actresses Celeste Holm and June Havoc
HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY (1941) with actress Anna Lee

and three of the films listed above are British!

And then other films such as BRAZIL, THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP, THE RED SHOES, REPO MAN, RUSHMORE and PIRAHNA have region 2 editions made by companies such as Criterion featuring director commentaries whilst region 2 editions have been released without these commentaries.

[mgcroadster]

I think Rewind says it all on their comparisons page:

Winners by region:
Region 1: 1452
Region 2: 929
Region 3: 58
Region 4: 68
Region 5: 1
Region 6: 0
Region 0: 542

[Ken Barnes]

Thanks James and mcgroadtser for your revealing responses. With the current state of the international DVD market, this is just about what you'd expect.

Keep the faith. Something may come out of the two conferences which I attended this week here in London.

Ken

[Mark Fisk]

Region 1 (or rather American) releases, are not always better. Even though they are a lot of the time, you can find a certain film in the UK on a better DVD, for much cheaper. Look at Eureka's releases of "M", "Sunrise", and "Metropolis", and compare them to what is presented on the American releases. However, in this case, they are different companies producing them, but at least that's proof that not all US releases are better than those of UK's. Also, another good example, "Holiday Inn". And in the case of US companies, like Criterion, the high prising is stupid. "The Scarlett Empress" was, let's just say not particularly a great DVD. I'm suprised by the great reputation Criterion have, I don't own many of their DVDs, not much at all actually, but the ones I have, like the already mentioned, are nothing to praise about.
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Mark.

[mgcroadster]

No, [I]The Scarlet Empress[/Ii] is not particularly good, but then again it was a very early effort not only by Criterion but on the DVD format itself. However, recent Criterion discs are the benchmark for the DVD presentation not only in fascinating, intelligent extras (not just fluff) but in standards of film restoration and subsequent transfers.

Add to that the fact that Criterion is now returning to earlier efforts and improving on them and I think you'll find that they are the world leaders in their particular field among the independent companies. and yes, I have, er, one or two Criterion discs.

The sad truth is that we do lag behind in the main in the UK, in some instances even behind releases in our own region; both Germany (theres a marvellous box set of early Hitchcock films available) and France (many instances of exclusive editions of noir, westerns, John Ford films etc.) are capable of producing marvellous DVDs of classic films.

[Ken Barnes]

I totally concur that Criterion have set a high standard with their DVD special editions. As I said recently, their version of "Spartacus" may well be the best DVD ever made - as far as extras are concerned.

Their Hitchcocks are all worth collecting - with "Rebecca" and "Notorious" taking pride of place.

[James LM]

I end up paying about £16 per Criterion release. It would be more, of course, were it not for the favourable exchange rate. They pay alot of attention to the quality of picture (even employing Erwin Hillier to supervise the the digital transfer for I Know Where I'm Going, that is attention to detail). When it comes recording audio commentaries, they value the film-makers but do not give credit to the actors by inviting them to be interviewed or recorded commentating on their releases, not often anyway.

[JoelCairo]

I have always loved Fedora, and bitterly regret that it is now so hard to see. The BBC screened it at Christmas 1983 and to the best of my knowledge have never shown it since!

Fedora is one of Billy Wilder's least known movies and deserves a DVD resurrection. The first half of the movie is a mystery story which invites the audience to guess the explanation of a famous actress never aging. The second half reveals the real truth which no-one in the audience sees coming, and which leaves the audience with a sense of sorrow at human folly.

When Fedora was first released, many critics dismissed it as a poor re-working of Sunset Boulevard. I felt that was a total mis-reading of the movie. My only criticism is of the eccentric decision to make the movie star Michael York, with Michael York playing himself. This does not work and is quite pointless. I am no fan of Michael York anyway, but I would have accepted him playing a fictional movie star.

It is high time that Fedora was released on DVD.
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I've met plenty of hard-boiled eggs in my life, but you, you're twenty minutes!

[Ken Barnes]

I agree with you on FEDORA. I saw it in Los Angeles in 1978 and found it quite engrossing. I was surprised to see it get such a critical bashing from the U.S. reviewers. European critics were generally kinder to it and it played quite well in some territories.

Because it was Billy Wilder and was about an ageing film actress - and starred William Holden - it was naturally and unfairly compared to "Sunset Boulevard." And casting Michael York as "Michael York" made it look like a made-for-TV movie. In Cameron Crowe's book, Wolder himself disowned the movie. But I think he was wrong. The film has many strengths which far outweigh it's weaknesses and it does deserve a DVD release.

Universal recently announced a Billy Wilder box set of the director;s early Paramount films and stupidly left out the excellent and underrated " Five Graves to Cairo." I mentioned this to them, but they don't seem particularly bothered. Perhaps the Los Angeles office will do something about it.

[JoelCairo]

[Ken Barnes]

Thanks, Joel, for this info. FEDORA is the movie that Billy Wilder disowned. But it is still an intriguing work and one that belongs in any interesting collection.

I shall try to obtain it, and I recommend others to do the same.