A question about British DVD's

[Matthulhu]

My Birthday is coming up and I was trying to find some things I'd like to get. I found on E-Bay a British DVD of an M.R. James story A Warning to the Curious. That is my favorite of his stories. The problem is that it is Region2 , the seller thinks and he isn't sure it will play on all American DVD players. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'd like to pick it up but I'd hate to own it and be unable to watch it.

[The_Usernameless_Horror]

Sorry, unless you can get a multi-region DVD player (and I'm not sure how legal they are) it won't work. There is a map of DVD regions here:

http://www.laserrot.com/info/lrinfo/dvdmap.html

[Sinister-Ornament]

Why e-bay when there's a legitamate source;

http://filmstore.bfi.org.uk/acatalog/info_63.html

Oh, I suppose it's cheaper.

Isn't their some sort of fiddle you can do by pressing the right combination of buttons for certain models?

Plus aren't CD-DVD drives on computers region free until you use them a couple of times?

[Telpierion]

Many DVD players can have regions unlocked by a simple code. There are a number of sites devoted to doing this. Alternately, you can get a truly region free player for not too much money.

[JeffOkamoto]

Even if you use a region-free DVD player, doesn't region 2 use PAL, not NTSC?

[Father_Dagon]

If you go here http://www.videohelp.com/ you can look up your DVD player and find the hack to make it region free. The hacks are simple and easy to do.

Do that and you can play the region 2 disc unless it's PAL formated then your out of luck. Unless your player also has a PAL to NTSC converter built in. VideoHelp should also be able to tell you this.

If you want to find a DVD player with PAL to NTSC converter built in go here http://www.hometechanswers.com/codef...e-players.html I have the Philips DVP642 and it works great I have lots of DVD's from England and have not had any issues. No mind you most of the DVD players listed are not current models and might have a hard time finding them on store shelves. I was lucky enough to find mine when it was still a current model. You should be able to find several of these models in the $50 - $75 range.

Hope that helps.

[Matthulhu]

Thanks, everybody. I appreciate the information and tips. I'll definitely be checking into them. I'd really love to see some of the adaptations of James' work. They said that there is also some commentary by my favorite writer, Ramsey Campbell on the disk which would be cool to see.

[PoC]

UK DVDs will be PAL (rather than NTSC) formatted (as well as being Region 2). For watching on the computer, I believe that the multi-platform VLC Player is often not that fussy over the DVD region in question (even on region-locked DVD drives)!

Paul

[Matthulhu]

Cool, thanks Paul!

[Karloff]

I bought a multi-regional DVD player for just this purpose. I also unlocked the DVD player on my PC; but now I've bought a new PC, I shall have to do it again.

I have Warning; it's very good. If you like MR James, you'll love that adaptation.

However if you do like that, you'd probably also like this and this. I've not seen this, but it looks interesting; I may have to pick it up.

Personally I find Amazon.co.uk to be a more reliable source for this kind of thing, and though prices certainly vary, they can be cheaper than getting them direct from bfi. There's always ebay, of course, but ebay doesn't necessarily have everything.

That's a thought, actually - isn't there a .co.uk version of ebay? If you really like British DVDs, you'll probably find more of them there than on the US version.

[Karloff]

some commentary by my favorite writer, Ramsey Campbell

The commentary's very informative! I think you'll like it. The only quibble I had was that the interview footage with Mr. Campbell was strictly amateur hour. Note to future cameramen: should you wish to shoot using natural light, do it quickly or not at all. The interview must have taken place in Campbell's greenhouse or something; towards the end, it's so dark that the poor fella vanishes into the shadows.

Which, given the subject, may be appropriate . . .

[Matthulhu]

I bought a multi-regional DVD player for just this purpose. I also unlocked the DVD player on my PC; but now I've bought a new PC, I shall have to do it again.

Thanks, Karloff.
I'm thinking I might want to ask for the multi-regional DVD player for my birthday and then try and get the DVD's for Christmas. I'm just terrible at messing around with my computer and it's settings, so I'm a little afraid to try it.

However if you do like that, you'd probably also like this and this. I've not seen this, but it looks interesting; I may have to pick it up.

Those all look great! I hear they did one for The Ash Tree, which I just read yesterday but I don't think it's available on DVD. Too bad, that would be a cool one to see.

The commentary's very informative! I think you'll like it. The only quibble I had was that the interview footage with Mr. Campbell was strictly amateur hour.

To me, there is no better writer than Campbell, ever. I tend to really like British horror writers, for some reason. My bookshelf is about 60-40 British over American horror books, and I'm American... and I like to write horror myself.
Do you know if the Campbell interviews are the same on each movie or is each one different?

[GHill]

Personally I find Amazon.co.uk to be a more reliable source for this kind of thing, and though prices certainly vary, they can be cheaper than getting them direct from bfi. There's always ebay, of course, but ebay doesn't necessarily have everything.

I've used Amazon both for DVD's and multi region players currently you can get a multi region player for £19.99 on .co.uk, although there is no guarrantee its any good; there are similar players on .com.

There are probably other options for buying MR DVD players in the US and the UK but I'm pretty lazy about that sort of thing.

[Nightbrother]

Several years ago I bought a region 2 DVD player (a rather expensive Philips one) and a very cheap Denver multi-region one. The Philips had a bunch of trouble after about one year and I had to scrap it some time ago, and the Denver one has worked perfectly since day one.

Now, this is just one scenario, but it goes to show that you don`t always get what you pay for. I now have a region 2 LG DVD recorder, but I still use the Denver for US DVD´s and anything else the region 2 one doesn´t fancy.

The Denver ones are usually extremely cheap, and I have, for my part and from friends, only heard good things about them, despite their low cost. It can tend to be a bit jittery on some DVDs but I only notice if I really want to. I think it´s safe to buy cheap DVD players, and to just replace them if they break. I realize that the image quality may differ a little. However, I´m quite obsessed when it comes to a good movie experience, and I want to see a movie in the best quality possible, when it comes to sound and video, and I can only say that I´ve been well pleased with the cheap DVD players out there on the market.

[Karloff]

just terrible at messing around with my computer and it's settings, so I'm a little afraid to try it.

There are various bits of software you can buy & download online which will do the job for you. Admittedly not everyone likes to do that; however I've been fortunate so far. I'm not very technically minded either.

I don't think it's available on DVD. Too bad, that would be a cool one to see.

It's worth paying attention to the Bfi website. It may not be available now, but it probably will be available eventually, and these are the people most likely to publish it.

Do you know if the Campbell interviews are the same on each movie or is each one different?

I'm afraid I've only watched the one on Oh Whistle; I don't know what the others are like. [in fact, now I've said that, I can't honestly recall whether it was the one on Oh Whistle or the one on Warning - my memory's awful for that kind of thing!]

My bookshelf is about 60-40 British over American horror books

In that event you might enjoy Phil Rickman. I'm told he's a bit difficult to find in the States, but it should be easy to get his books online.

The Philips had a bunch of trouble after about one year and I had to scrap it some time ago, and the Denver one has worked perfectly since day one.

How strange! The first multiregion I bought was a Phillips, years ago now (1999? Maybe 2000) when I was living in the UK. It worked perfectly. In fact, when I left the UK I gave it to a friend of mine (it might have been multiregional but it probably wouldn't have liked the change in current) and it's still going strong today.

There are probably other options for buying MR DVD players in the US and the UK

You'd think that, but for some bizarre reason many dealers in the US think that multiregion technology is illegal. Why, I don't know; after all, as has been pointed out, PCs come with multiregion-capable players, and nobody's tried to haul Bill Gates off to chokey. [Yes, they do lock, but as has been pointed out, it's not that difficult to unlock them.]

The arguments I've heard seem to revolve around the 'it supports DVD piracy' bollocks. I can't for the life of me understand how anyone with half a brain can believe that. Illegal copying is one thing, (and again why hasn't anyone arrested Bill Gates, notorious DVD pirate, for selling technology capable of ripping and copying DVDs?), but most of the MR DVD machines I've seen are only capable of playback, not copying. If I buy a French DVD sous-titre pour les Anglais, why shouldn't I be able to watch it? It's not as though I've stolen it; I buy from legitimate traders, not thieves.

Personally I suspect it has more to do with control over distribution than with piracy. US movie distributors don't want non-US dealers on their turf, but they'll never block it outright because that smacks of quotas and restraint of trade. Plus, in some instances, they have hopes of buying the distribution rights in their territory themselves. So rather than block it overtly, they do it covertly, by making sure that nobody other than them controls distribution in their market.

At least that's my paranoid POV.

edit: speaking of MR James, I haven't read this yet, but I'm damn well going to! Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat . . . which is only right and proper, as James wrote his stories as Christmas tales to begin with.