Blu Ray Zone Confusion

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437 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#749098 22-Jan-2013 19:56

Behodar: As far as I'm aware, the UK Bond 50 set (which I own) has the "best" available versions. I read that the headbutts are gone from all releases worldwide, although I'll stand corrected if that's not the case.

I managed to nab the US zone A Bond50 from Amazon.com in late November for the absolutely ridiculous price of NZD$130 delivered...

Hadn't heard anything about differences reflected in the censorship of the US vs UK versions or in relation to the audio options...

Will keep an eye & ear on things when I get a chance to watch them... haven't watched a single one yet!

Behodar

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#749104 22-Jan-2013 20:00

The US Bond 50 set has the original mono sound for several of the old films, but the UK one doesn't.

JEDENZED

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#749107 22-Jan-2013 20:08

Behodar: The US Bond 50 set has the original mono sound for several of the old films, but the UK one doesn't.

Where are you seeing that info? I'm comparing both at blu-ray.com and can't see that referenced on either the tech specs or the user reviews:

Bond50 UK: http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Bond-50-Blu-ray/36570/#UserReviews

Bond50 US: http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Bond-50-Blu-ray/36569/#UserReviews

Interestingly, according to this website, the US version has a total runtime 42 minutes longer than it's British cousin... wonder if this is accurate...

Behodar

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#749109 22-Jan-2013 20:12

Post 307 of http://www.avsforum.com/t/1386381/celebrating-50-years-of-james-bond-on-blu-ray/300 summarises it a bit, but I don't recall where I've seen it "officially".

JEDENZED

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#749115 22-Jan-2013 20:19

Behodar: Post 307 of http://www.avsforum.com/t/1386381/celebrating-50-years-of-james-bond-on-blu-ray/300 summarises it a bit, but I don't recall where I've seen it "officially".

Interesting post, cheers for sharing! To be fair, I'm not that bothered in the differences either way - I'm not enough of a Bond purist to notice or care...

Cracking boxset what ever way you look at it and from Amazon.co.uk at $143 delivered to NZ it's a steal... for $6.50 per movie, sure why wouldn't you...?

Behodar

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#749143 22-Jan-2013 21:18

Exactly; I actually preordered it back when it was first announced and managed to sell 3 of my 4 individual Bond BRs for ~$20 each :D

JEDENZED

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#749145 22-Jan-2013 21:20

Tidy! :)

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khull

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#749190 22-Jan-2013 22:22

I believe the collectors edition (along with many other blu ray movies) are not region locked. The exception usually is for box sets

Oubadah

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#749237 23-Jan-2013 00:30

Behodar:
Oubadah: Which scenes are those?

http://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=4011

I just watched the Zone A Amazon disk through, and yes, it's missing tiny bits like the machete man's head smashing into the glass and the Vesper leg grab whilst my Zone ABC version has them. Feature lengths are:

Zone A: 02:24:10
Zone ABC: 02:24:20

I'm not concerned about trading 10 seconds of violence for DTS HDMA though.

Hmmm, why must it be so complicated. Gotta do a degree on each movie before buying to ensure you get a version with everything intact...

I don't suppose anyone here has purchased To Catch a Thief on BD? If so I'd be interested in where you got it from and what features and audio tracks it had. It's supposed to have TrueHD stereo and mono tracks.

bfginger

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#749559 23-Jan-2013 14:10

Being a zone A disc doesn't mean it isn't also a zone B disc. While many discs are region locked about 2/3 are not.

Releases in different regions or countries can be handled by different companies or subjected to different licencing so varied release quality is normal. Every error or oversight you can think of will turn up from transcoding 24fps films to 1080i50, overcompression, cropping and stretching, to different countries being given different cuts for no good reason. You need to research a title before buying to be sure you get the best copy.

fahrenheit

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#749588 23-Jan-2013 14:50

My NZ version of Casino Royale includes a PCM track. Whats the problem?

Oubadah

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#749769 23-Jan-2013 18:52

fahrenheit: My NZ version of Casino Royale includes a PCM track. Whats the problem?

Mine doesn't, just lossy DD 5.1 in multiple languages.

And then with my POTC with the phantom HDMA, they didn't leave the LPCM track intact either - it's reduced to 16bit from 24bit to make room for foreign tracks.

I have a question for you: The extras on the Zone A disk of mine are NTSC, and I have my BD set to output NTSC content as NTSC, so why does it have terrible judder on the UT50. Can the NZ 2012 Panasonic plasmas not handle NTSC? It says it's receiving a 60Hz signal and it's refreshing at 60Hz, so what's it's problem?

fahrenheit

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#749814 23-Jan-2013 20:27

Oubadah:
fahrenheit: My NZ version of Casino Royale includes a PCM track. Whats the problem?

Mine doesn't, just lossy DD 5.1 in multiple languages.

Was about to comment how baffling that is, but then I looked at my copy and its a 'not-for-resale' promo copy which I got from redemption when the PS3 launched in NZ. Its got the Aussie 'M for Mature' labelling all over it, so I guess its not all that special, but from what you are saying, it sounds like Sony have made a dick move.

I have a question for you: The extras on the Zone A disk of mine are NTSC, and I have my BD set to output NTSC content as NTSC, so why does it have terrible judder on the UT50. Can the NZ 2012 Panasonic plasmas not handle NTSC? It says it's receiving a 60Hz signal and it's refreshing at 60Hz, so what's it's problem?

The Panasonics are literally built with 60Hz in mind. All other sources (50Hz and 24p) have far bigger compromises. Its either a problem with the source material, or the BD player. Or, if you are going through an AVR, you've got something set incorrectly.

The only 60Hz extras on my disc are the terrible 'Bond girls' which looks like it was filmed in the '90s and the Chris Cornell music video. The rest is 24p.

Oubadah

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#749870 23-Jan-2013 21:36

fahrenheit:

The Panasonics are literally built with 60Hz in mind. All other sources (50Hz and 24p) have far bigger compromises.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. It's free of the horrible 50/24Hz bug but judders something awful. Really odd. I guess it would have to be the source material.

fahrenheit:The only 60Hz extras on my disc are the terrible 'Bond girls' which looks like it was filmed in the '90s and the Chris Cornell music video. The rest is 24p.

The only special features on mine that are 24p are the deleted scenes. Everything else is 60Hz, and I don't even have a 'Bond Girls' feature.

ilovemusic

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#749921 23-Jan-2013 23:04

JEDENZED:
Behodar: The US Bond 50 set has the original mono sound for several of the old films, but the UK one doesn't.

Where are you seeing that info? I'm comparing both at blu-ray.com and can't see that referenced on either the tech specs or the user reviews:

Bond50 UK: http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Bond-50-Blu-ray/36570/#UserReviews

Bond50 US: http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Bond-50-Blu-ray/36569/#UserReviews

Interestingly, according to this website, the US version has a total runtime 42 minutes longer than it's British cousin... wonder if this is accurate...

It looks like the UK BD set has repeated the old PAL DVD running times.

Idiots.

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