The French DVD and Blu-ray Thread

[hallo37]

Originally Posted by The Limey

Good to hear that you have given the LG the old heave ho.... Not a company that evokes any fondness from me re past experience either.

Yeah, I should really read forums like this one more often regarding BR players......

Shame about Fearless Vampire Killers, hopefully a UK/US release is coming soon.

[The Reaper Man@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by The Limey

This arrived today - great case with a booklet and a fridge magnet. The transfer looks a mixed bag though having watched the first 20 mins or so. Some scenes very good - others shall we say could be better. I am going to watch it in full tonight but this is 1080p/25 and DOES have fixed subs. it is also Region B Locked for those who wanted this in Region A land.
Well at least the case is nice....

Yep forced subs indeed.

I put this on yesterday and as soon as I saw 'Langue-Anglais Francais soutrtitle' I thought oh **** no.

French discs are a bastard for this.Many a cracking steelbook release has been wasted with forced subs.

Pity as the transfer looks GORGEOUS.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

A good job I decided not to order this one then!

Warner have some bizarre ideas sometimes on which regional markets to target first where films are concerned.

[Antropophagus]

Originally Posted by The Reaper Man@Cult Labs

Yep forced subs indeed.

I put this on yesterday and as soon as I saw 'Langue-Anglais Francais soutrtitle' I thought oh **** no.

French discs are a bastard for this.Many a cracking steelbook release has been wasted with forced subs.

Pity as the transfer looks GORGEOUS.

I hate to say but it's far from being a gorgeous transfer. A little improvement over the dvd - The Fearless Vampire Killers | Blu-ray: FR Ultimate Edition vs. DVD: US

I'm glad I didn't spend 29.99 EUR +shipping. Will wait for a proper US or UK release instead.

[The Limey]

Originally Posted by Antropophagus

I hate to say but it's far from being a gorgeous transfer. A little improvement over the dvd - The Fearless Vampire Killers | Blu-ray: FR Ultimate Edition vs. DVD: US

I'm glad I didn't spend 29.99 EUR +shipping. Will wait for a proper US or UK release instead.

It is not the best transfer and is obviously from an older source. However, I have seen much worse (Koch Media's Scanners and The Quiet Earth, Arrow's Tenebrae to name a few...).
This does not deserve its current price tag - on a scale of 1-10 on PQ, I would give it a 6 overall. However, if there is a serious price drop and you can live with forced subs then it is worth considering.

[Antropophagus]

Originally Posted by The Limey

It is not the best transfer and is obviously from an older source. However, I have seen much worse (Koch Media's Scanners and The Quiet Earth, Arrow's Tenebrae to name a few...).
This does not deserve its current price tag - on a scale of 1-10 on PQ, I would give it a 6 overall. However, if there is a serious price drop and you can live with forced subs then it is worth considering.

I'll pay 15EUR max for it, not the current 29.99!

[The Limey]

Based on a graphic novel - the Sci Fi Apocalypse saga - Snowpiercer gets its release in France in April courtesy of respected outfit Wild Side:

Product Details
Actors: Chris Evans , Jamie Bell , Tilda Swinton , John Hurt , Ed Harris
Director: Bong Joon-ho
Audio: English (DTS-HD 5.1), French (DTS-HD 5.1)
Subtitles: French
Region: Region B / 2 (More on the DVD / Blu-ray formats .)
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Number of Discs: 2
Studio: Wild Side Video
DVD Release Date: April 2, 2014
Duration: 130 minutes
Additional Content
Limited SteelBook metal case
contains:
- Blu-ray Movie
- DVD film
"The Transperceneige, white sheet black screen" documentary directed by Jesus Castro (52 ')
Interview with the actors and director
Gallery Photo shooting
sketch production
Trailers

http://www.amazon.fr/Snowpiercer-Blu-ray/dp/B00GOZSMIC?

Must say that I am quite tempted by this one myself.

[The Limey]

[The Limey]

Originally Posted by The Limey

With so many great films being released on BD in France, I thought it time that the territory gets its own dedicated thread and what better to kick off with than the classic 1974 Dracula from director Dan Curtis with Jack Palance - always a favourite of mine:



Release date is February 4th:
Dracula et ses femmes vampires [Blu-ray]: Amazon.fr: Jack Palance, Simon Ward, Nigel Davenport, Pamela Brown, Dan Curtis: DVD & Blu-ray

DVDbeaver review of the Curtis Dracula and it is a thumbs up:

Firstly, Bram Stoker's Dracula was an English-language TV movie from 1974 although it did get a theatrical release in 1978 in Denmark. The 'Opening', French Blu-ray is transferred in VC-1 / 1080P, at 1.78:1 with an original English language option, without forced French subtitles, and in the disc is region FREE. The image quality looks superior to SD and is probably quite accurate to its initial appearance (excepting it was originally in 1.33:1). It is only single-layered with a modest bitrate. There are some speckles and is nothing particularly dynamic - visually-speaking. Detail is impressive in the frequent close-ups. This Blu-ray has a nice realistic feel with a reasonable film-like sense to it. Visually this a simple HD transfer without any exceptional attributes but the presentation is without any dramatic flaws either.

Audio :
Audio is offered in an original 2.0 channel (via the menu with no forced French subtitles) via a DTS-HD Master at 1712 kbps. It sounds good and the music is reminiscent of TV supernatural stuff of era. Robert Cobert (similar Dan Curtis/Richard Matheson - vampire related like excellent the TV series of Kolchak The Night Stalker - and the pilot-films (The Night Strangler / The Night Stalker) and The Norliss Tapes. I LOVED all that stuff. The score is pretty similar to the supportive music in those titles - and works to build the supernatural aura and heavy tension. There is an optional French DUB and/or are optional French subtitles (removable when the English audio is chosen) and my Oppo has identified it as being a region FREE playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.

Bram Stoker's Dracula Blu-ray - Jack Palance

My order is in

[Rik]

Only ever seen this once on TV 20 odd years ago, so I can't remember much about it