Page 1 of Are region 2 discs getting better?

Is it just me, or are region 2 discs getting better?
Two recent examples - "6th day" tons more extras than the R1 and not much delay on release,
and "Traffic" only a month or so later (unless you get from DVDBO - still waiting) with apparantly 30 mins of deleted scenes - missing from the R1.
I find now that I`m checking dates of R2 releases and holding on to see what they offer. This can only be good news!.
Aaron

I agree to a certain extent, Aaron, and certainly extras do seem to be on the increase for R2 discs, which is a good thing.

However, there is still the whole issue of pricing in good old Rip Off Britain - see http://www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk/news/news.asp?Index=4185&Section=3 for example "DVD Pricing Policy".

And for the home cinema fans amongst us DTS soundtracks are still sadly lacking in this country.

If prices came down, extras remain on an equal footing with US releases, and more discs had DTS soundtracks encoded on them then I`d be inclined to stick with R2.

And then there`s the release date of course....

What do others think then ?

for me, if say the release of the R1 and R2 release is a couple of months max apart i will see which is the better. then price comes into the equation. i NEVER but from hmv (f*****g scumbags) etc but do still buy R2 off the net and if the price is the same for both regions ill opt for R2. however if the R1 release is out many months before it is over here id much rather get it now than wait an eternity for the R2 one. then theres always R4. if the R4 version is out at the same time as the others and is just as good ill get R4 cos the price is generally cheaper...

I don`t mind waiting up to a month for a R2 release over a R1 release but it takes the mickey when they take SO MUCH off the R2 disks compared to R1

i quite agree,r2 discs do seem to be getting better,plus the picture is better due to the increased resolution in the pal format.however,extras dont neccesarily make a big difference to the film,its just we`ve got used to having them now,so naturally we`d feel a bit cheated if a good movie came without the extras.
remember the most important points to remember with films on dvd;good transfer,decent sound whatever the format and whatever system you have,and PRICE.consumers can only be the winners in this dvd world we live in.
and clayts is right-britain get totally shafted with dts.whatever manufacturer says that it takes up too much space on the disc,then bollocks,T2 ultimate edition is the shining example of whole hearted all encompassing content-and dts encoders surely arent as expensive as they once were.JUST COS WE`RE BRITAIN DOESN`T MEAN WE HAVE TO GET THE BUM DEAL!a distributor somewhere is reading this thread,there is hope....

westy :-#

If you can get hold of it, or you have a spare 15 mins or so in your local Smiths, July`s edition of Home Entertainment has a fascinating article about all the processes involved in getting a film released on DVD - the UK is notoriously more difficult than the US because of absolutely tons of legal barbed wire.

Fascinating, and a very, very interesting article - thorough recommend it - certainly opened my eyes.

Davey, yeah, it IS the film that matters. You`re right. What I think gets on everyones nerves though is when the extras on a R2 disk are wildly different to those on a R1 disk. We pay more and get less. That`s the problem.

If there was never an issue with extras, if we never even had extras past a trailer and scene access then this wouldn`t be an issue. There`d be plenty of space on the disk to do the crispest cleanest transfers with NO excuse. But there`s no standard and disks are released with tons of extras on and that`s great as far as I am concerned. I, and many others, just don`t like the feeling of being ripped off.

I got a tv, a dvd and like to watch a movie. Never was much into extras, never had any expensive equipment so really dont see much difference on recent releases.I didn`t mind waiting a few extra weeks for my all time favourite "the Magnificent Seven" and paid £3 less than for the R1 version. The extras would have to be something really special or the difference in release date really long before I would bother with another region. What I would love to see, (being an old timer who remembers the day of the `B` movie in the cinemas) included rather than extras would be old back catologue movies from the old b/w days. Then I would say that R2 has really improved. I can but dream