20 titles, from Studio Canal, (http://www.tomshardware.fr/studiocanal-annonce-20-titres-au-format-hd-dvd-news-6524.html) coded in VC-1 & DTS-HD lossless
- Ali
- Arizona Dream
- Basic Instinct
- Elephant Man
- L'Armée des Ombres
- La Cité des Enfants Perdus
- La Grande Vadrouille
- La Haine
- Le Cercle Rouge
- The Graduate
- Le Pacte des Loups
- The Pianist
- Three Days of the Condor
- Million Dollar Baby
- Mulholland Drive
- Serpico
- Terminator 2
- The Fog
- Traffic
- The Deer Hunter

20 titles, from Studio Canal, (http://www.tomshardware.fr/studiocanal-annonce-20-titres-au-format-hd-dvd-news-6524.html) coded in VC-1 & DTS-HD lossless

- Arizona Dream

- Elephant Man

- La Cité des Enfants Perdus

- Mulholland Drive

- The Deer Hunter

wow, arthouse in HD... can't believe it happens so quickly ....

Oh please, please, please, please let La Grande Vadrouille have English subtitles this time.

Are the US titles just copies of the upcoming US releases (same transfers, same tech specs)? Or 25 fps versions with 4%s speed up?

Le Pacte des Loups

I suppose being a French release there's no way it'll include English subs right?

Are the US titles just copies of the upcoming US releases (same transfers, same tech specs)? Or 25 fps versions with 4%s speed up?

c'mon, we still dont have the launch date for them, of course 4% speedup is important, but this issue is so *technical* that I am sure StudioCanal's executives are not at all aware of (at least, until Sony launches ad campagne saying smth like "HD DVDs cripple 4% of the movie")

Le Pacte des Loups

I suppose being a French release there's no way it'll include English subs right?

Damn, I would think so....there should be enough room for it!!....love that movie.

Id pick up these of that list...

Le Pacte De Loups
Traffic
T2
The Graduate
Elephant Man (maybe...I love it, but I dont know how much better it would be than the upscaled dvd)

Le Pacte des Loups

I suppose being a French release there's no way it'll include English subs right?

HD DVD could always import new subs online. :)

HD DVD could always import new subs online. :)

I would bet since this is a new format and they are trying to push it...that these titles will be available here.

Remember that these would be PAL and not playable in US players (at least the current A1). Region coding doesnt matter (at least for now), but PAL would.

Basically, this thread is useless because we cannot view those titles.

Basically, this thread is useless because we cannot view those titles.

Not necessarily...I bet they will release them here too. Its good to know at least.

The A1 doesn't play pal sd-dvds. We don't know yet if it can play content at 720p50/1080i25. Or do we?

Remember that these would be PAL and not playable in US players (at least the current A1). Region coding doesnt matter (at least for now), but PAL would. No, you're getting confused with SD dvds. These are HD discs, thus not PAL. PAL is a SD format with only 576 lines of resolution (at least where dvds are concerned). That'd be like saying the HD-DVD discs we have released over here are NTSC, which is equally false. Now, it will be interesting to see how the frame rate issues are handled, which is the only concern there should be with this discs.

If we find out they're playable on our US players, which I suspect they will be, then I'll be grabbing several of them:

Elephant Man
Mulholland Drive
La Cité des Enfants Perdus (City of Lost Children)
The Graduate
The Pianist
The Deer Hunter

Finally some titles I can get excited about! Though I'd be more excited if there was actually release dates posted with them.

Brotherhood of the Wolf would be a good one in HD!

Yeah baby! I like some of those movies. I'm interested.

Basically, this thread is useless because we cannot view those titles.

True for some of us but not all of us frequenting AVS are US citizens.

Damn, I would think so....there should be enough room for it!!....love that movie.

Room for English subs, probably. Likely they'll be included, no. I don't know of any French DVDs that had English subs. There may be a handful, but none I'm aware of. The only French DVDs I ever saw which had any English were American movies with their original English audio, usually with nonremovable French subs. :(

Subtitles update : HD DVD / Blu-ray interactivity feature

http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/1356/hdinteractivity0ac.jpg

"4.6.1 Alternate subtitle stream
An alternate subtitle stream which has been previously downloaded and cached on the user’s home network is listed on the subtitle menu along with all of the on-disc subtitle streams. When selected the alternate subtitle stream is synchronized to the feature film.
The user can toggle between the cached subtitle stream and the disc based subtitle streams via the remote control without interrupting the video."
(Requirements Specification for HD DVD Video Application - Functional & Performance Requirements - Version 1.0 - July, 2005)

Woohoo... I was saying that hopefullly Canal would release T2 only a few days ago. I'll let you guys know about compatiblity as soon as they are available (I have US HD-XA1 in UK). Some really nice titles there, 5 of which are no brainers for me, the question is..... any dates announced?

I have over 100 French dvds with English subs. French language films. For example, Casque d'or and Pierrot Le Fou. Both are Studio Canal releases with English subtitles.

No, you're getting confused with SD dvds. These are HD discs, thus not PAL. PAL is a SD format with only 576 lines of resolution (at least where dvds are concerned). That'd be like saying the HD-DVD discs we have released over here are NTSC, which is equally false.

I did not know that and now I am excited about these titles also. Thanks for the info! I hope I didnt confuse anyone!

I guess this is a way around the US distribution rights for T2?? I figured it would only be on Bluray....maybe the distribution rights are different for that title overseas?? In that case, we COULD have T2 on hd-dvd!!

Canal own T2 in the UK too, so you should see a completely english version of T2 on HD-DVD in the near future.

Coincidentally, the MetaCritic (http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/armyofshadows) website has just posted some of its highest ratings to two of the listed films: Le Cercle Rouge (The Red Circle) and L'Armee des Ombres (Army in the Shadows). The later received a score of 96, which is 2nd only to The Godfather on Metacritic's all-time list.

These are exciting times! :)

ok so there is no concept of PAL/SECAM/NTSC when it comes to HD-DVD, correct? It is only lines/frames. The concept of PAL/NTSC lost its importance a few years ago anyway, since most plasmas and front projectors are multisystem. For example I own Zenith plasma, Astar lcd, and In-focus fp, and I could care less what system is inputed, they accept PAL/NTSC/SECAM/whatever.

The A1 doesn't play pal sd-dvds. We don't know yet if it can play content at 720p50/1080i25. Or do we?A couple of us burned a 1080i50 HD movie and it played back, but only at 1080i60 and with judder from having to go from 50 to 60.

--Darin

A couple of us burned a 1080i50 HD movie and it played back, but only at 1080i60 and with judder from having to go from 50 to 60.

3-2 pulldown carried out by the HD-A1 ? :confused:

I wonder what the legal situation will be if these titles are region free and are then put up for sale in the US? As far as I know Studio Canal doesn't hold distribution rights to most of these titles in America.

I wonder what the legal situation will be if these titles are region free and are then put up for sale in the US? As far as I know Studio Canal doesn't hold distribution rights to most of these titles in America.

I don't know much about the legal issues that may be involved.

But I believe that it is always preferable to get Hollywood films from the studios directly rather than getting an overseas release where the authoring and mastering process may differ, thus may result in a difference in image quality.

Just as its generally better to get European films on region 2 DVDs (with better DVD editions), it may not be preferable to get the Hollywood films on HD DVD meant for the overseas market.

But I guess there will be some "excitement" in getting some titles from Hollywood studios on HD DVD meant for overseas market and currently unavailable domestically.

I agree "Le Pacte des Loups" :D
That should be a great title to have. The standard version already has great video and audio IMHO.

I doubt anyone has seen "Arizona Dream" as it was never released in DVD in the US. I read about it on IMDB and picked it up on a recent trip to Austria. It was AWESOME. Very quirky, art-house, independent but great nonetheless. It had Jonny Depp before he was famous and Faye Dunaway. Fantastic... I'd highly recommend it.
-Matt

A German website dedicated to digital TV quotes StudioCanal representative saying that the titles mentioned above will arrive to German market

*** before July ***

>>>>

Feststeht nur, dass die Filme bis Juli auf den deutschen Markt kommen", so ein Unternehmenssprecher gegenüber DIGITAL FERNSEHEN.

http://www.digitalfernsehen.de/news/news_86107.html

Yeah but how can you compare these titles to what paramount is giving us?

"Tomb Raider," "U2: Rattle & Hum" and "Four Brothers" ;)

Whoa, Le Pactes des Loups in DTS LOSELESS! the current DTS track destroyed my Basement on this movie! I hope it get released over here if 1080p@25fps don't work in the A1...

YAY! What better movie to release first than La Cité des Enfants Perdus from Studio Canal!

This movie will be gorgeous in HD I guess due to it's digital filming....can't wait now!! :D

oh...and does anyone know about that "iHD" interactive content/menu feature? they said those titles will be release with it...anyone?

Cheers :)

Hopefully, iHD subtitle download.

Basically, this thread is useless because we cannot view those titles.
The current A1 will play those titles - whether they turn out to be 1080p24 or 1080p25.

I'm excited to see a DTS-HD soundtrack tho. It means that there will still be some variation in formats on the discs.

The TruHD on POTO is great - but to see a whole line of 20 discs with lossless audio is fantastic.

I wonder what the bitrate is?

Le Pacte des Loups

I suppose being a French release there's no way it'll include English subs right?
Most likely it will.

Also very likely that they will have the English soundtracks as well, where it was originally an English language release.

POTO US release had a French soundtrack, ater all :)

A couple of us burned a 1080i50 HD movie and it played back, but only at 1080i60 and with judder from having to go from 50 to 60.

--Darin
Hi Darin - nice test.

One important point is whether the content you burned was stored as 1080i50, as you've indicated, or 1080p24 (or 25) as the HD DVD EU releases will be.

If it was 1080i50, then you will see lots of judder unless you run it through a VP like the Vantage to process.

If the content was/is 1080p source, then there will be no judder at all.

Yes, the player will output 1080i60 - but pulling the interlace fields from 1080p25 for 1080i60 is just as simple as doing it for 1080p24.

So I'm willing to bet there won't be any judder on these when played at 1080i60.

Hope that's helpful :)

So basically any HD-DVD from any country is playable on U.S. HD-DVD players?

If this is the case, Blu-ray better do this. If not, I'm buying a HD-DVD player on the day I hear BR's players do not.

Yes, this global ability is that important to me. :cool:

Most likely it will.

Also very likely that they will have the English soundtracks as well, where it was originally an English language release.

POTO US release had a French soundtrack, ater all :)

I'm unsure about that. Current French DVDs of non-English features seemingly pride themselves on having no English sub or audio options, at all. Also Brotherhood... is originally a French language film.

Of course, if you're a big fan of the film this kinda doesn't matter. :)

I'm unsure about that. Current French DVDs of non-English features seemingly pride themselves on having no English sub or audio options, at all. Also Brotherhood... is originally a French language film.

Of course, if you're a big fan of the film this kinda doesn't matter. :)
HI DDM - yes, that's what I meant :) If one of these French releases is of a movie that was originally in English, it's almost certain to have the English soundtrack as well

For those that were originally French, you'd probably have to be content with the subtitles. Mitterand made it illegal for French studios to produce an English soundtrack on French films (...Just kidding everyone! ;) )

Yes, the player will output 1080i60 - but pulling the interlace fields from 1080p25 for 1080i60 is just as simple as doing it for 1080p24.)

How?
I think I will boycott any 1080p25 film sourced material. I want no speed up (neither image nor sound). The whole 25Hz stuff for film is garbage.

The R2 French dvd of La Haine had English subs too. Should be a good sign for the HD-DVD.

How?
I think I will boycott any 1080p25 film sourced material. I want no speed up (neither image nor sound). The whole 25Hz stuff for film is garbage.
Personally - my guess is that the EU releases will be 1080p24.

Converting that to 1080i 50 or 60 is not an issue. The EU versions of the players will simply output 50i instead of 60i.

It's only a guess, of course, but there is nothing technical that stands in the way, and 1080i50 will still allow the full-frame 1080p24 to be transferred.

So I think we'll all be happy! :)

We can hope. The current HD sat service in Europe is broadcasting in 50 though.

A german news page (www.areadvd.de) just confirmed that all these releases are intended for 5 european countries - including France, England and Germany. THAT MEANS that probably all of them will contain an english track (for the UK version that is). I`m from Austria and I own a couple of Studio Canal releases for the UK and for the german market - all but one have german/english tracks. ALL have english subs! Don`t worry about it!

One important point is whether the content you burned was stored as 1080i50, as you've indicated, or 1080p24 (or 25) as the HD DVD EU releases will be.

If it was 1080i50, then you will see lots of judder unless you run it through a VP like the Vantage to process.

If the content was/is 1080p source, then there will be no judder at all.

Yes, the player will output 1080i60 - but pulling the interlace fields from 1080p25 for 1080i60 is just as simple as doing it for 1080p24.

So I'm willing to bet there won't be any judder on these when played at 1080i60.
I believe it was 1080i50, but I don't think judder is the same going from 1080p25 to 1080p60 as 1080p24 to 1080p60 at all. 1080p24 to 1080p60 does add judder because of 3:2 pulldown to account for the 2.5 ratio of 60/24. 60/25 is 2.4 and so displaying every other frame an extra time wouldn't work.

I'm also not confident that the Vantage could take a 1080i60 signal in from a 1080i50 source and output it at 1080i50 or 1080p50. Do you know that it can? I was originally told that 1080p48 would work with the HQV chip and after finding that it didn't, then got the information that it couldn't do it from a 1080i60 signal, just from 1080p24 signals or the like. In this case the HD-A1 I have doesn't have any outputs for matching 25 or 50Hz and so it would take some intelligence to reconstruct them from a 60Hz signal.

--Darin

I don't know much about the legal issues that may be involved.

But I believe that it is always preferable to get Hollywood films from the studios directly rather than getting an overseas release where the authoring and mastering process may differ, thus may result in a difference in image quality.

Just as its generally better to get European films on region 2 DVDs (with better DVD editions), it may not be preferable to get the Hollywood films on HD DVD meant for the overseas market.

But I guess there will be some "excitement" in getting some titles from Hollywood studios on HD DVD meant for overseas market and currently unavailable domestically.
There's definitely a lot to that line of reasoning, and I prefer to buy a title from it's country of origin, for the most part, as well. Though with Brotherhood of the Wolf the French DVD didn't have English subs, and the English/US release was substandard extras-wise. In the end I plumbed for the Canadian version, so the theory doesn't always agree with the reality.

BTW Le Pacte Des Loups (Brotherhood of the Wolf) should be absolutely glorious in HD, as Christophe Gans is a true visionary. And Monica Bellucci is a vision!

I'm still interested to see Paramount's response if Studio Canal release Elephant Man region free and it is sold in America, or Warner's response if C+ release Million Dollar Baby.

Studio Canal cannot provide their HD DVD to US retailers.
But American people can buy them from European retailers, directly or via Internet.

We can hope. The current HD sat service in Europe is broadcasting in 50 though.
Yes :) That's because they are broadcasting in interlaced, so they have no choice really. 1080p24 original sources are a different matter, fortunately :)

I believe it was 1080i50, but I don't think judder is the same going from 1080p25 to 1080p60 as 1080p24 to 1080p60 at all. 1080p24 to 1080p60 does add judder because of 3:2 pulldown to account for the 2.5 ratio of 60/24. 60/25 is 2.4 and so displaying every other frame an extra time wouldn't work.

I'm also not confident that the Vantage could take a 1080i60 signal in from a 1080i50 source and output it at 1080i50 or 1080p50. Do you know that it can? I was originally told that 1080p48 would work with the HQV chip and after finding that it didn't, then got the information that it couldn't do it from a 1080i60 signal, just from 1080p24 signals or the like. In this case the HD-A1 I have doesn't have any outputs for matching 25 or 50Hz and so it would take some intelligence to reconstruct them from a 60Hz signal.

--Darin
Currently - I have tested the Vantage HD to take a 1080i60 D-Theater signal and convert is to 1080p50. It does work, but it maxes out the processor, and I have to turn a lot of options off to make it smoother. It does reconstruct the 24 fps film before converting to 50p

You would definitely see stutter in the test you mentioned tho. I was merely pointing out that if HD DVD EU discs were 1080p24 encoded, the conversion to 1080i50 interlaced would be no more challenging than the current conversion to 1080i60.

Let's cross fingers :)

Arizona Dream has been shown on INHD (or perhaps it was HDnet) a few times. It's a quirky film (in sort of a self-aware way), but overall I thought it was worth seeing.

1080I/50 is used for Satellite here in Europe becuase it has to be synched up with the PAL version of the same channel. It would be a huge headache to try to run HD at a different refresh to SD content in realtime but there is not need for Europe to use anything but original format for HD media releases, be that 24, 25, 30, 50I, or 60I.

oh...and does anyone know about that "iHD" interactive content/menu feature? they said those titles will be release with it...anyone?

Cheers :)

I remembering reading a press release, which I cannot find at the moment, which stated that The Bourne Supremacy will be the first title to include iHD features.

BTW Le Pacte Des Loups (Brotherhood of the Wolf) should be absolutely glorious in HD, as Christophe Gans is a true visionary. And Monica Bellucci is a vision!


I have it on D-Theater and yes, it's quite good. English dubbed but that's ok by me.

I don't know how all these different standards are going to pan out and it will be interesting to see if the HD-A1 can handle any of them without judder. It's a shame the digital revolution didn't usher in a common frame rate as well as the standard 1920x1080 picture resolution. Still, I've only found by experience that it's only US gear that plays only 120V and 60Hz. Gear sold to the rest of the world is generally multi-voltage and multi-standard. Once the first generation of players finish in the US then things will become more generic just as they have with tvs, vcrs, projectors and DVD players.
I've got my HD-A1 and love it. Had it for a week now. Have 1 movie with 6 more coming next week. I'm probably one of the first, if not the first in Australia to get a HD-A1.
Exciting times.

A german news page (www.areadvd.de) just confirmed that all these releases are intended for 5 european countries - including France, England and Germany. THAT MEANS that probably all of them will contain an english track (for the UK version that is). I`m from Austria and I own a couple of Studio Canal releases for the UK and for the german market - all but one have german/english tracks. ALL have english subs! Don`t worry about it!

Do you know what UK means ?

Do you know what UK means ?

Yes.!!!

Not necessarily...I bet they will release them here too. Its good to know at least.

Sure they will. This is how CD's started. I'm glad to see the list.

Studio Canal cannot provide their HD DVD to US retailers.
But American people can buy them from European retailers, directly or via Internet.
I think you mean to say for the US produced movies. Doesn't Studio Canal own the US rights to some french produced movies?

I wonder what the legal situation will be if these titles are region free and are then put up for sale in the US? As far as I know Studio Canal doesn't hold distribution rights to most of these titles in America.

I wonder whether we will see those as imported titles here. Actually I'm sure we will - but only online from some smaller shops at a higher price.

Edit : Would netflix buy them from EU and rent them here ?

I think you mean to say for the US produced movie.
Yes, you're right.

Doesn't Studio Canal own the US rights to some french produced movies?
Sorry, I don't known.

About the transfer of "Le Cercle Rouge" edited by Criterion

Le Cercle Rouge is presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Black bars at the top and bottom of the screen are normal for this format. This new high-definition digital transfer was created on a Spirit Datacine from a new 35mm interpositive. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, and scratches were removed using the MTI Digital Restoration System. The soundtrack was mastered at 24-bit from the 35mm magnetic soundtrack, and audio restoration tools were used to reduce clicks, pops, hiss, and crackle. The Dolby Digital 1.0 signal will be directed to the center channel on 5.1-channel sound systems, but some viewers may prefer to switch to two-channel playback for a wider dispersal of the mono sound.

Is there any new information on the audio specs of these discs? Does Le Pacte Des Loups have English subs? And where can Americans buy these discs online?

Any word if these will be 24fps or 25fps yet?

I doubt anyone has seen "Arizona Dream" as it was never released in DVD in the US. I read about it on IMDB and picked it up on a recent trip to Austria. It was AWESOME. Very quirky, art-house, independent but great nonetheless. It had Jonny Depp before he was famous and Faye Dunaway. Fantastic... I'd highly recommend it.
-Matt

Wow, this brought back memories! Back in 1995, when I was attending State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz, I ran the TV station's movie department and regularly ordered theatrical movies/documentaries from movie distribution houses. Students requested movies (their financial fees funded the station) and we tried to track them. Anyway, one student requested 'Arizona Dream' and it was available from our movie supplier so I ordered it and we showed it. What a freaking weird movie! It's got an American setting and a list of good American actors (Depp, Lewis, Dunaway, Gallo, Taylor, etc.) but the iconography (turtles, flying fish, etc.) and tone of the story/script are clearly from the European school of quirky filmmaking. Would I expect anything less from 'Time of the Gypsies' director Emir Kusterica? I still have the main theme song stuck in my head 11 years later, and that's just from seeing it a couple of times on TV over a weekend!

Chances of the 'Arizona Dream' HD-DVD making it Stateside? Considering there's no R1 DVD release yet (even Depp's '85 sex comedy romp 'Hot Resorts' comes out this Tuesday on R1 DVD), I'd say zilch! :(

I think it will be in 24fps for 1080p because 25fps is support but only in 1080i.
I know that HD DVD player play all movie in 1080i (but it is a limitation of HDMI 1.1
chipset inside, the new chipset HDMI 1.3 will be soon available in new HD DVD players).

Still no news on whether or not we can play these in the states? I would kill for HD versions of The Elephant Man and Mulholland Drive.

I thought it was a given that we could play these in the states. HD-DVD is regionless. The only issue is whether or not there's PAL speed-up.

I can live with PAL speed-up. Now to find where I can order these discs.

I thought it was a given that we could play these in the states. HD-DVD is regionless. The only issue is whether or not there's PAL speed-up. The frame rate difference might also be an issue. I too am eagerly awaiting Elephant Man and Mulholland Drive on HD-DVD. I wish there was more info on when the Studio Canal titles are actually coming out!

Dugpa, are you the same dugpa of Lynchnet?

Mulholland Dr. and a subtitled Brotherhood Of The Wolf are what I want, and then some.

the new chipset HDMI 1.3 will be soon available in new HD DVD players.
Hard fact or wishful thinking? Also, define "soon".

The frame rate difference might also be an issue.
I believe (read: hope) that Toshiba will release the exact same hardware in Europe (i.e. A1 and XA1) but with a firmware which supports both 50 and 60hz. They could then release the same firmware for US players, and hey presto.

I want Brotherhood of the WOlf in HD DVD. Monica Bellucci in HD WWOOOOWWWWOWWWWWWW


Jorge

I believe (read: hope) that Toshiba will release the exact same hardware in Europe (i.e. A1 and XA1) but with a firmware which supports both 50 and 60hz. They could then release the same firmware for US players, and hey presto.

I sure the HD DVD player be exactly same, only change DVD and HD DVD (only
in standard content) region code and unlock the restriction to play DVD in PAL system
(may be it will change some component to play SD video in PAL).
I have HD XA1, it play fine 1920x1080 or 1440x1080 in 25i (I force the player to
accept MPEG2 video at 1920x1088 in 25i from european tv, Euro1080 aka HD1
and HD5), I have video at 50Hz in my Samsung LCD...

And it is possible to make HD DVD with 25i and 29.97i video (I force the multiplexer
to accept it the 25i at 29.97i or the 29.97i at 25i). The video is no good because
the broadcom chipset play it with jerks.




Golgot13
HD DVD membership

I would really love Terminator 2 on HD DVD. How would the audio be like? Would it be French 5.1 DD+, or English 5.1 DD+, or both? Also, would I be able to play it on my US set? Would it look too wierd?

I doubt anyone has seen "Arizona Dream" as it was never released in DVD in the US. I read about it on IMDB and picked it up on a recent trip to Austria. It was AWESOME. Very quirky, art-house, independent but great nonetheless. It had Jonny Depp before he was famous and Faye Dunaway.

Johnny Depp was a quite famous teen heartthrob on 21 Jump Street and had also made Edward Scissorhands long before Arizona Dream. The movie came out in 1993, the same year as his big starring roles in Benny & Joon and What's Eating Gilbert Grape.

I would really love Terminator 2 on HD DVD. How would the audio be like? Would it be French 5.1 DD+, or English 5.1 DD+, or both? Also, would I be able to play it on my US set? Would it look too wierd?

Your (and my) HD DVD player is not region code in iHD (Advanced Content of HD DVD)
because it is the firsts player and DVD Forum forget it (for iHD).
But HD DVD standard content is locket with region code.
I listen that it will change, DVD Forum want region code for iHD (Studios need it,
to lock the market and price inside the market ...)

Today in France (and in Europe), all HD DVD from StudioCanal will use DtsHD audio codec
because Dolby encoder software for DD+ and TrueHD is not available (soon).

So, the HD DVD player (your and my from US or Japanase market) will play European HD DVD.
And all LCD and plasma tv set accept 50Hz and 60Hz. Nice world :)



Golgot13
HD DVD membership

Your (and my) HD DVD player is not region code in iHD (Advanced Content of HD DVD)
because it is the firsts player and DVD Forum lost it (for iHD).
But HD DVD standard content is locket with region code.
I listen that it will change, DVD Forum want region code for iHD (Studios need it,
to lock the market and price inside the market ...)

Today in France (and in Europe), all HD DVD from StudioCanal will use DtsHD audio codec
because Dolby encoder software for DD+ and TrueHD is not available (soon).

So, the HD DVD player (your and my from US or Japanase market) will play European HD DVD.
And all LCD and plasma tv set accept 50Hz and 60Hz. Nice world :)



Golgot13
HD DVD membership

This is pretty great to hear! I currently have a LCD projector. I hope that Toshiba never enables HD DVD region code restrictions via a firmware upgrade, if this is possible.

It's definitely possible that a later firmware update could enable region coding. But, hey, who knows, it may have a remote hack. ;)

It's definitely possible that a later firmware update could enable region coding. But, hey, who knows, it may have a remote hack. ;)
For that reason alone, I'm gonna wait and see what happens with future firmware updates. Though no doubt they'll include it with some other highly desirable feature.

For that reason alone, I'm gonna wait and see what happens with future firmware updates. Though no doubt they'll include it with some other highly desirable feature.

I hope this never happens, since the manual does not state any region code restrictions for HD DVD discs, but it does state the Region 1 restrictions for SD DVD discs. Although the manual can change or get an addendum in the future.

So again, where can we buy these titles? Are they even out yet?

Wait, how do they own T2 when LGF does?

Wait, how do they own T2 when LGF does?Distribution rights can vary from country to country.

So again, where can we buy these titles? Are they even out yet?I don't see much reason for them to come out with these movies before sales of an HD DVD player start in Europe. Shipments to overseas wouldn't be likely to be enough.

--Darin

10 Studio Canal titles, 11/20/2006, 24.68€ : Basic Instinct, Elephant Man, Fog (John Carpenter), King Kong (1976), La Haine, The Pianist, Rambo, Rambo II, Rambo III, Total Recall
http://www.ecranlarge.com/news-dvd-809.php

http://www.ecranlarge.com/images/dvd/news/contenu/basicinstincthddvd20060811.jpg
http://www.ecranlarge.com/images/dvd/news/contenu/elephantmanhddvd20060811.jpg
http://www.ecranlarge.com/images/dvd/news/contenu/kingkong1976hddvd20060811.jpg
http://www.ecranlarge.com/images/dvd/news/contenu/lepianistehddvd20060811.jpg

Looks like I'll be watching some Total Recall in November. :) It's nice to see that they're using the US cases, as well. Pity about the orientation of the title on the spine, though.

I think it will be in 24fps for 1080p because 25fps is support but only in 1080i.
I know that HD DVD player play all movie in 1080i (but it is a limitation of HDMI 1.1
chipset inside, the new chipset HDMI 1.3 will be soon available in new HD DVD players).

MS help studio canal on these titles. They are all 1080p24 VC-1, confirmed by Amirm.

Here's hoping for excellent transfers. Amir, have you seen the encodings yourself and are you allowed to comment on their PQ?

Btw does Studio Canal by any chance own the rights to Besson's Taxi movies?

Btw does Studio Canal by any chance own the rights to Besson's Taxi movies?

Nope, TF1

10 Studio Canal titles, 11/20/2006, 24.68€ : Basic Instinct, Elephant Man, Fog (John Carpenter), King Kong (1976), La Haine, The Pianist, Rambo, Rambo II, Rambo III, Total Recall

:drool: I sure hope these titles will work in the A1!

T2 is the only one that I'll pick up.

What the heck is La Haine anyway? I've never heard of it before.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113247/

So no word so far on when T2 will be out??? I might just have to check out Total Recall, but we'll see.......at least it's exciting to know that we have a way to get some of the Blu-ray exclusives here in the states!!!

So no word so far on when T2 will be out??? I might just have to check out Total Recall, but we'll see.......at least it's exciting to know that we have a way to get some of the Blu-ray exclusives here in the states!!!

Yep! For me, bring on T2, Total Recall, Le Pacte De Loups and Stargate!!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113247/
Fantastic film btw, though I'm not the biggest fan of Cassel.

Should make for some awesome black and white VC-1! :D

Kassovitz's The Crimson Rivers (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0228786/) should make it to HD DVD too. :)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113247/

That sounds interesting. I doubt I'm going to risk $40 on it, but it sounds interesting.

Yep! For me, bring on T2, Total Recall, Le Pacte De Loups and Stargate!!

I'm sure Le Pacte will be featureless, or largely devoid of features, so I'm keeping my 3-disc set.

Kassovitz's The Crimson Rivers (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0228786/) should make it to HD DVD too. :) CRIMSON RIVERS with ENglish subtitles would be a killer ap for me and I would probably suck it up and re-buy a 1st gen player. Or at least the 1st 2nd gen player that streets.

I wish we could have confirmation on subtitles with these Studio Canal releases.

Merci beaucoup mon Dieu pour La Studio Canal! :)

Good job baby! :) :)

I'm sure Le Pacte will be featureless, or largely devoid of features, so I'm keeping my 3-disc set.
If you're referring to the Canadian TVA set, it has pretty subpar video quality. A lot of artifacting, noise, and EE. Probably because they jammed a 152 minute film, DTS track, and heavily animated menus on one DL DVD.

TVA Films (Zoomed) TOP / Universal Studios R1 (Zoomed) BOTTOM

http://img318.imageshack.us/img318/8241/untitled87567555ms.jpg

http://img318.imageshack.us/img318/571/untitled875675juff9ui.jpg

Is it known yet wheither we in the US will have a problem playing UK titles? Really want the Rambo trilogy and Total Recall!

Snake, there's no telling what UK titles will be like, but these Studio Canal titles are supposed to be 24p, so they will play in US players just fine.

i just wanted to go ahead and ask this so I can be prepared for future imports..... does anyone know a good site to import these HD-DVDs (in english)??? I know about Amazon (UK store), but any other sites where I can get these when they are available??

I'm wanting to get T2 as soon as possible, so once we know when it is being released I'll be able to get in touch with someone to buy it from.....

thanks in advance for the help!!

anyone have any info Amelie being released in hd-dvd? that movie would look phenomenal in hi-def.

Here's hoping for excellent transfers. Amir, have you seen the encodings yourself and are you allowed to comment on their PQ?
Sorry no, I have not seen any of them. They are being encoded at a new post house in Europe. We will be helping them to make sure they get good quality...

Sorry no, I have not seen any of them. They are being encoded at a new post house in Europe. We will be helping them to make sure they get good quality...

Will these titles play on my HD-A1?

Will these titles play on my HD-A1?
Yup.

Rambo 2 & 3 will have sections in need of English subtitles, so if they are not there, it makes those films useless to English speakers. :(

Studio Canal titles on 11/20 & DTS-HD Master Audio for the original track:
http://www.dvdrama.com/news.php?16659&page=1

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20060902/ifa02_08.jpg

Just a tip for those who might want Rambo 3 it will always be cut in the UK version because of horses falling ( deliberate trips ) which are illegal under the protection of animals act we have over here and films get cut for that reason sometimes including Conan The Barbarian ...the first 2 Rambo films are uncut in the UK.

To check if a film is cut or uncut try www.bbfc.co.uk

I really hate their stupid censorship laws. :mad:

I really hate their stupid censorship laws. :mad:

They are not even allowed to show the boobs on women in the U.K..... :rolleyes:

This is from IMDB.com: "A new British video version, released in June 2000, restores all the violence previously cut from UK versions, but is still missing a 2 second scene in which a horse fall was achieved using a tripwire."

Guess I can live with that, if thats all thats cut, previously they had cut three minutes, including the part where Rambo pushes a splinter through his side.

They are not even allowed to show the boobs on women in the U.K..... :rolleyes:

I don't know where you come from but i think you will find we have a very relaxed attitude to sex on television and yes they can show that on television AFTER 9pm which is considered the adult watershed......in fact i would say we're far more liberal minded than american television ( excluding cable channels ) we certainly wouldn't get all wound up over a blink and you will miss it split second shot of Janet Jackon's nipple which worked up america into a frenzy....why all the fuss we thought in the UK.

I don't think real violence should be done against animals in movies but then i also disagree with censorship but the UK is pretty relaxed these days and most films get by uncut ( its been that way since James Ferman retired and boy he was an ogre for censorship )

Thanks for the pic!

Again, some great titles coming!

Just a tip for those who might want Rambo 3 it will always be cut in the UK version because of horses falling ( deliberate trips ) which are illegal under the protection of animals act we have over here and films get cut for that reason sometimes including Conan The Barbarian ...the first 2 Rambo films are uncut in the UK.

To check if a film is cut or uncut try www.bbfc.co.uk

You are kidding me! They are not so retarded?

You are kidding me! They are not so retarded?

I take it you are not that concerned with the welfare of animals on film sets then ?

Only that censorship after the fact isn't helping the animals. I can't stand mistreatment of animals, but that is a silly argument.

That sounds interesting. I doubt I'm going to risk $40 on it, but it sounds interesting.
Its imho one of the best modern movies made and is in my top ten, much better than say Pulp Fiction.

As for subs not all are in english :

ELEPHANT MAN
Transfert 16/9 1080p au format respecté 2.35
DTS-HD Master Audio Anglais stéréo
DTS-HD Hi-Resolution Français Mono, Allemand Stéréo
Sous-titres français, anglais, allemand, dannois, norvégien, suédois, finnois, néerlandais

BASIC INSTINCT
Transfert 16/9 1080p au format respecté 2.35
DTS-HD Master Audio Anglais 5.1
DTS-HD Hi-Resolution Français 5.1, Allemand 5.1
Sous-titres français, anglais, allemand, dannois, norvégien, suédois, finnois, néerlandais

THE FOG (CARPENTER)
Transfert 16/9 1080p au format respecté 2.35
DTS-HD Master Audio Anglais 5.1
DTS-HD Hi-Resolution Français Mono, Allemand Stéréo
Sous-titres français, anglais, allemand, dannois, norvégien, suédois, finnois, néerlandais

TOTAL RECALL
Transfert 16/9 1080p au format respecté 1.85
DTS-HD Master Audio Anglais 5.1
DTS-HD Hi-Resolution Français 4.0, Allemand 5.1
Sous-titres français, anglais, allemand, dannois, norvégien, suédois, finnois, néerlandais

LA HAINE
Transfert 16/9 1080p au format respecté 1.85
DTS-HD Master Audio Français 5.1
DTS-HD Hi-Resolution Allemand 5.1
Sous-titres anglais, allemand, dannois, norvégien, suédois, finnois, néerlandais

RAMBO
Transfert 16/9 1080p au format respecté 2.35
DTS-HD Master Audio Anglais 5.1
DTS-HD Hi-Resolution Français 5.1, Allemand 5.1
Sous-titres français, anglais, allemand, dannois, norvégien, suédois, finnois, néerlandais

RAMBO 2
Transfert 16/9 1080p au format respecté 2.35
DTS-HD Master Audio Anglais 5.1
DTS-HD Hi-Resolution Français 5.1, Allemand 5.1
Sous-titres français, anglais, allemand, dannois, norvégien, suédois, finnois, néerlandais

RAMBO 3
Transfert 16/9 1080p au format respecté 2.35
DTS-HD Master Audio Anglais 5.1
DTS-HD Hi-Resolution Français 5.1, Allemand 5.1
Sous-titres français, anglais, allemand, dannois, norvégien, suédois, finnois, néerlandais

KING KONG (1976)
Transfert 16/9 1080p au format respecté 2.35
DTS-HD Master Audio Anglais 5.1
DTS-HD Hi-Resolution Français 5.1, Allemand Mono
Sous-titres français, anglais, allemand, dannois, norvégien, suédois, finnois, néerlandais

LE PIANISTE
Transfert 16/9 1080p au format respecté 2.35
DTS-HD Master Audio Anglais 5.1
DTS-HD Hi-Resolution Français 5.1
Sous-titres français, dannois, norvégien, suédois, finnois, néerlandais

Only that censorship after the fact isn't helping the animals. I can't stand mistreatment of animals, but that is a silly argument.

You say it isn't helping the animals ? really ?

So i guess when the director learns his latest film has been censored in the UK he doesn't get the not so subtle message that hurting those animals was wrong....perhaps if America took the same stance then film makers wouldn't do it in the first place for fear their films would never get released.

Gotta disagree with you on this one.

Does anyone know if any pro HD-DVD studios outside the U.S own the rights to Collateral? REALLY want that one, I watch it all the time.

Only that censorship after the fact isn't helping the animals. I can't stand mistreatment of animals, but that is a silly argument.


Thanks you this is exactly the point. Let’s put regulation on the film industry without having to use this sill censor. Now to go around this, I could buy the version that will be sold in France uncensored and play the audio track I want which is English in most cases.

If you're referring to the Canadian TVA set, it has pretty subpar video quality. A lot of artifacting, noise, and EE. Probably because they jammed a 152 minute film, DTS track, and heavily animated menus on one DL DVD.

TVA Films (Zoomed) TOP / Universal Studios R1 (Zoomed) BOTTOM

I was only referring to the FEATURES of the 3-disc set. Obviously I will be getting the HD DVD for the picture and audio quality.

I didn't know that about Rambo 3. Tripping horses has been illegal for a long time and I'm surprised a fairly recent film employed that technique.

so it doesn't bother anyone here that every single title will have subtitles on screen, over the picture, that can't be disabled?
Unfortunately I just realized that 'European' doesn't mean '+UK' so none of these are going to be available (to start) in any editions that don't have forced subtitles.

that effectively kills all enthusiasm I had for these.
If you guys can stand forced subs though, God bless ya.

Oh no, are they REALLY going to have subtitles you cannot turn off?

I will not be buying them if that is the case.

so it doesn't bother anyone here that every single title will have subtitles on screen, over the picture, that can't be disabled?
Unfortunately I just realized that 'European' doesn't mean '+UK' so none of these are going to be available (to start) in any editions that don't have forced subtitles.

that effectively kills all enthusiasm I had for these.
If you guys can stand forced subs though, God bless ya.

Paulidan, who told you such nonsence, "that every single title will have subtitles on screen, over the picture, that can't be disabled?".???

ALL the Studio Canal HD-DVDs, will have selectable subtitles, free of choice. And that´s just like any of their ordinary DVD´s.

Just select "English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and no subtitles", and that´s exactly what you´ll get.

so it doesn't bother anyone here that every single title will have subtitles on screen, over the picture, that can't be disabled?
Unfortunately I just realized that 'European' doesn't mean '+UK' so none of these are going to be available (to start) in any editions that don't have forced subtitles.

that effectively kills all enthusiasm I had for these.
If you guys can stand forced subs though, God bless ya.

This is my only remaining concerns about those European titles and are waiting for review one of the titles to confirm if the subtitle a permanent or removable.

Paulidan, who told you such nonsence, "that every single title will have subtitles on screen, over the picture, that can't be disabled?".???

Amir in this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8345034&&#post8345034)

Yes I do have that info. For movies distributed in UK, selecting English track will give you that sound in lossless 5.1, and subtitles will be optional. For movies distributed only outside of the UK, then subtitles will be forced and you won't be able to turn them off.

Ok, now there are several things that still aren't clear to me. Amir says that the same 10 titles (minus one) will be available in the UK as well- however we haven't seen any Studio-Canal announcements for UK. Also, as I said before European does not mean inclusive of the UK, so unless these become announced officially for UK release, I just can't accept that they will be (sorry Amir) since we have already gotten word of French and German release dates and not a peep for any UK ones (for these specific titles).

I hope I'm wrong and that Amir is correct here, but until they get a release, I'm not going to get too excited about these. The King Kong release, for instance, from Studio-Canal was never issued on dvd in the UK from what I can tell, so it would be odd that it would be suddenly offered for HD DVD.



ALL the Studio Canal HD-DVDs, will have selectable subtitles, free of choice. And that´s just like any of their ordinary DVD´s.

Just select "English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and no subtitles", and that´s exactly what you´ll get.

That's not entirely correct. I have the S-C French CE for Flash Gordon and it defaults to forced French subs when the English 5.1 track is selected.

Now given the extensive subtitle options listed for these, you may be right-but that would contradict what Amir has said, and contradict my own past experiences with R2 S-C discs. we'll just have to see at the end of Nov, I guess.

Amir in this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8345034&&#post8345034)



Ok, now there are several things that still aren't clear to me. Amir says that the same 10 titles (minus one) will be available in the UK as well- however we haven't seen any Studio-Canal announcements for UK. Also, as I said before European does not mean inclusive of the UK, so unless these become announced officially for UK release, I just can't accept that they will be (sorry Amir) since we have already gotten word of French and German release dates and not a peep for any UK ones (for these specific titles).

I hope I'm wrong and that Amir is correct here, but until they get a release, I'm not going to get too excited about these. The King Kong release, for instance, from Studio-Canal was never issued on dvd in the UK from what I can tell, so it would be odd that it would be suddenly offered for HD DVD.





That's not entirely correct. I have the S-C French CE for Flash Gordon and it defaults to forced French subs when the English 5.1 track is selected.

Now given the extensive subtitle options listed for these, you may be right-but that would contradict what Amir has said, and contradict my own past experiences with R2 S-C discs. we'll just have to see at the end of Nov, I guess.

Paulidan, I live in Europe, and I have loads of ordinary DVD´s, (including from Studio Canal) and not one single, NOT ONE, have "forced subtitles".

Do you and others, really in your wildest dreams, believe anyone would press HD-DVDs alone for smaller countries like Norway, Sweden or Denmark, with forced subtitles. ?? Think of the cost, of such releases. LOL

NO WAY. :) :) :) :) :)

you would think that French releases would include English subs thereby expanding their potential sales bases by a thousand times, but it doesn't happen.
French discs rarely offer English subs.

In the case of Studio-Canal, I'm just telling you what my experience has been and that has been that the subs were forced. Its possible that some players can disable them, but mine and several other couldn't.

Its also possible that with the upcoming Studio Canal titles, that the subs will be force-selected to the region the disc is being sold in- i.e. German subs are the default in Germany, but you would be able to cycle thru and select another language if you wanted (assuming the main English audio track is selected and not a dub track)- however, it might also end up that there is no choice for 'none' and that you are stuck with (your choice of) subs when you choose the English lang track.

Hey, I hope I'm wrong. There are a couple titles there I'm very anxious to have.
but I'm just not pining my hopes on it panning out just yet.

you would think that French releases would include English subs thereby expanding their potential sales bases by a thousand times, but it doesn't happen.
French discs rarely offer English subs.

In the case of Studio-Canal, I'm just telling you what my experience has been and that has been that the subs were forced. Its possible that some players can disable them, but mine and several other couldn't.

Its also possible that with the upcoming Studio Canal titles, that the subs will be force-selected to the region the disc is being sold in- i.e. German subs are the default in Germany, but you would be able to cycle thru and select another language if you wanted (assuming the main English audio track is selected and not a dub track)- however, it might also end up that there is no choice for 'none' and that you are stuck with (your choice of) subs when you choose the English lang track.

Hey, I hope I'm wrong. There are a couple titles there I'm very anxious to have.
but I'm just not pining my hopes on it panning out just yet.

Paulidan, believe me, they will not press more then ONE edition of these first European HD-DVD´s. Why should they?? One disc more profit.

So one disc, multible audio tracks and multible free selectable subtitles, just like any ordinary DVD release.

Nevertheless, later we could see another version with all the Eastern-european languages and subtitles, like Russian and Polish. ;)

Paulidan, believe me, they will not press more then ONE edition of these first European HD-DVD´s. Why should they?? One disc more profit.

So one disc, multible audio tracks and multible free selectable subtitles, just like any ordinary DVD release.

Nevertheless, later we could see another version with all the Eastern-european languages and subtitles, like Russian and Polish. ;)

I would like to get a title in Russian with Polist subtitles. :D

That's not entirely correct. I have the S-C French CE for Flash Gordon and it defaults to forced French subs when the English 5.1 track is selected.

Now given the extensive subtitle options listed for these, you may be right-but that would contradict what Amir has said, and contradict my own past experiences with R2 S-C discs. we'll just have to see at the end of Nov, I guess.[/QUOTE]

I had bad experience but in the opposite way. I really hate to watch French made films with force English subtitles. All subtitle should be optional.

I have a number of PAL discs with forced subs.

We will know when they are released and not before.

I haven't heard of any UK releases forcing subs. It's the ones from France Germany and Japan you have to worry about.

Thanks you this is exactly the point. Let’s put regulation on the film industry without having to use this sill censor. Now to go around this, I could buy the version that will be sold in France uncensored and play the audio track I want which is English in most cases.


In the Danish movie "Blinkende Lygter", a cow is "executed with a Desert Eagle. The way the animal drops makes me think that this was not faked in anyway...

http://imdb.com/title/tt0236027/

No, you're getting confused with SD dvds. These are HD discs, thus not PAL. PAL is a SD format with only 576 lines of resolution (at least where dvds are concerned). That'd be like saying the HD-DVD discs we have released over here are NTSC, which is equally false. Now, it will be interesting to see how the frame rate issues are handled, which is the only concern there should be with this discs.

If we find out they're playable on our US players, which I suspect they will be, then I'll be grabbing several of them:

Elephant Man
Mulholland Drive
La Cité des Enfants Perdus (City of Lost Children)
The Graduate
The Pianist
The Deer Hunter

Finally some titles I can get excited about! Though I'd be more excited if there was actually release dates posted with them.

I saw a demonstration of the French HD DVD Terminator II this evening in Hong Kong. Though the display used was just a 36" Sony CRT TV (1080i HD compatible), I would say the PQ was really amazing.

The shop had its stock all sold out. As such, I have ordered one at HK$360, i.e. around USD45. Hope I can get it next week.

Hi, just got a couple of HDDVDs from Amazon.fr, among them Three Days Of Condor and Terminator 2. A quick check of them (playing with my HD-XE1) revealed the following audio options:

3 Days of Condor has the following audio options:
- DTS-HD HiRes French, Mono
- DTS-HD HiRes German, Mono
- DTS-HD MA English 5.1 WITH FORCED SUBTITLES (either french or german)

Terminator 2 comes with TWO HD-DVDs, and the following audio options:
HDDVD1=Short Version
- DTS-HD MA English 5.1 WITH FORCED FRENCH SUBTITLES
- DTS-HD HiRez French 5.1
- DTS-HD HiRez French 2.0
HDDVD2=Director's Cut
- DTS-HD MA English 5.1 with OPTIONAL french or dutch subtitles

Le Pacte Des Loups (Brotherhood of the Wolf)
- DTS-HD MA French 5.1 with OPTIONAL english subs
THIS DISC HAS NO ENGLISH AUDIOTRACK!

Le Laureat (The Graduate)
- DTS-HD MA English 2.0 with OPTIONAL subs (either engish, french, or german)
- DTS-HD HiRes German, Mono
- DTS-HD HiRes French, Mono

Mulholland Drive
If English chosen at the disc menu (choose left arrow at the film menu to enter the disc menu):
- DTS-HD MA English 5.1
If French chooen at the disc menu:
- DTS-HD HiRes French 5.1
- DTS-HD MA English 5.1 with FORCED FRENCH SUBS

L'armée des ombres (Army of Shadows)
- DTS-HD MA French 4.0 with OPTIONAL subs
- DTS-HD HiRes German, Mono with OPTIONAL french subs
THIS DISC HAS NO ENGLISH AUDIOTRACK!

Leaving Las Vegas
If English chosen at the disc menu:
- DTS-HD MA English 4.0
If French chooen at the disc menu:
- DTS-HD HiRes French 4.0
- DTS-HD MA English 4.0 with FORCED FRENCH SUBS

I must say these forced subs start to annoy me and I cannot understand why StudioCanal did this, considering the fact that they could sell their discs to a broader international public. At this time I did not find any loophole or other way to circumvent the forced subs.

I must say these forced subs start to annoy me and I cannot understand why StudioCanal did this, considering the fact that they could sell their discs to a broader international public.
Because of that, actually. Would you like to pay for the HD rights of a film and then some foreign company who bought the rights for their territory sells disks suitable for your territory taking your business away? Guess not. There are contractual reasons for such 'enforced' subtitles or the lack of English subtitles.

Terminator 2 comes with TWO HD-DVDs, and the following audio options:
HDDVD1=Short Version
- DTS-HD MA English 5.1 WITH FORCED FRENCH SUBTITLES
- DTS-HD HiRez French 5.1
- DTS-HD HiRez French 2.0
HDDVD2=Director's Cut
- DTS-HD MA English 5.1 with OPTIONAL french or dutch subtitles
Yeah, forced subtitles absolutely suck. However, this one's even weirder, having two different versions, one with forced subtitles and one without.

P.S. I just ordered La Haine from Amazon.co.uk. The VAT-included price is £14.98 there (or £12.75 without VAT). Elephant Man OTOH is £24.99. Ouch.

In contrast, Amazon.fr charges EUR 27.99 (£18.99) for both La Haine and Elephant Man. Still too much though. I'll stick with Elephant Man on DVD for now.

I must say these forced subs start to annoy me and I cannot understand why StudioCanal did this, considering the fact that they could sell their discs to a broader international public. At this time I did not find any loophole or other way to circumvent the forced subs.Try pressing the "subtitle" button and then "right" on the cursor pad. This turns them off at least on the theatrical version of T2.

EDIT: This unfortunately also switches the audio track. Sorry. :(

Sorry guys, I was too quick. This "trick" also switches the audio track. :(

Because of that, actually. Would you like to pay for the HD rights of a film and then some foreign company who bought the rights for their territory sells disks suitable for your territory taking your business away? Guess not. There are contractual reasons for such 'enforced' subtitles or the lack of English subtitles.For Studio Canal, they master one per movie in Europe. Only if the disc is also to be released in an English speaking country will the English subs be optional. The Director's Cut of T2 is the only version that the U.K. is getting from Studio Canal.

I have yet to watch them but the titles I ordered have arrived!!... :D

- Arizona Dream
- The Graduate
- Le Pacte des Loups
- Leaving Las Vegas
- Mulholland Drive
- Terminator 2

Mulholland Drive
If English chosen at the disc menu (choose left arrow at the film menu to enter the disc menu):
- DTS-HD MA English 5.1
If French chooen at the disc menu:
- DTS-HD HiRes French 5.1
- DTS-HD MA English 5.1 with FORCED FRENCH SUBS

Just to be clear, if you choose English menus then the English audio track has no forced subs, but if you choose French menus the English audio track does have forced subs?

How is the PQ of Army of Shadows compared to the Criterion SD?

EDIT: This is a follow up for Mulholland Drive:

Just to be clear, if you choose English menus then the English audio track has no forced subs, but if you choose French menus the English audio track does have forced subs?
Yes, that's correct. I should have written that subs are optional on this title but my disc came up with the french menu in the first place I simply overlooked that the language menu works and one can switch to english menus.

This title has a kind of "hidden language menu", because the "Top Menu" button on my XE1's remote does not work, but in the menu there is a small Left arrow, which you can select and this will lead you to the language selection.

Does 'The Graduate' have any special features? I ordered mine but have yet to get it from Xploited.

Does 'The Graduate' have any special features? I ordered mine but have yet to get it from Xploited.
Nothing special, only theatrical trailer(s).

EDIT:
I just wanted to add that the picture quality is very good for the age of the movie, so SC did a great job here. Worth to mention is the disc menu which looks beautifully. I think you won't be disappointed. Congratulations for your order :)

Can someone post audio clips from Mulholland Dr like what has been done with T2 and Total Recall?

The perfect scene is the Spanish language song during the end of the second act of the film. I can easily listen to my CD soundtrack and compare. Sorry, but I will only trust my own ears.

Nothing special, only theatrical trailer(s).

EDIT:
I just wanted to add that the picture quality is very good for the age of the movie, so SC did a great job here. Worth to mention is the disc menu which looks beautifully. I think you won't be disappointed. Congratulations for your order :)

I figured the 'special features' would be the same thing if it were released on Blu-Ray, meaning nothing. Looking forward to this one sometime this week. Xploited said they expect to have it in tomorrow (Tuesday) for shipping.

so any more reviews of the PQ of Mulholland Dr.?

Which of these titles will be available from amazon.co.uk with english cover art?

If it is of any help i live in Europe and got a US Xbox360 HD-DVD player. I got both euro and US discs and they all play fine (euro discs will play at 60Hz and US discs will play at 50Hz). Thus if you import any of these movies to the US they should play fine!

I do not know if it is true but I've always been told that HD-DVD will be region free (thats the ace it got on Blu-ray, which is mostly region encoded) and any HD-DVD movie will work in any HD-DVD player regardless of locale.
It *may* be that region encoding will be enabled at a later stage *but* movies preceeding this point will remain region free.

Also - is it not so that all DVD, HD-DVD, Blu-ray material exist at 24 fps on the disc itself, regardless if the output framerate is NTSC or PAL (50/60hz)?
If not - then the whole 2,2,2 and 2,3,2 cadence issues wouldnt exist?

EDIT: This is a follow up for Mulholland Drive:


Yes, that's correct. I should have written that subs are optional on this title but my disc came up with the french menu in the first place I simply overlooked that the language menu works and one can switch to english menus.

This title has a kind of "hidden language menu", because the "Top Menu" button on my XE1's remote does not work, but in the menu there is a small Left arrow, which you can select and this will lead you to the language selection.

In my player (HD-XF2) the language menu pops up every time I insert the disc. I think the new SC discs are utilizing some persistent storage on players to remember the language selection and that persistent storage can be turned on/off from somewhere in the player's menu. It can apparently also work between different SC titles so that if you selected language with one disc the same selection is remembered and applied with other SC discs as well.

In my player (HD-XF2) the language menu pops up every time I insert the disc. I think the new SC discs are utilizing some persistent storage on players to remember the language selection and that persistent storage can be turned on/off from somewhere in the player's menu. It can apparently also work between different SC titles so that if you selected language with one disc the same selection is remembered and applied with other SC discs as well.
Well, this is interesting. I have the HD-XE1 and did not get the language menu shown by pressing the "top menu" button on the remote. Okay, I tested other titles from studio canal before, with different language settings, and my theory is now that the disc has found language settings in the permanent storage. Perhaps there is also a dependency to the region the player was manufactured for (you have the japanese model, right?). I guess I have to re-initialize the memory before making further tests.

Which of these titles will be available from amazon.co.uk with english cover art?
I guess most of them. I would at this point order from UK rather than from france. Brotherhood of the wolf seems to come with french only, so it's better to order this particular title from the UK (but I have to check again; perhaps the disc locks into french because of language settings in the persistent memory).

Regarding T2 you have the choice. There are indications that outside france only the 1 disc-edition will be sold. If you want the double HD-DVD version (and if you can live with the forced subtitles), you should order from amazon.fr.

In my player (HD-XF2) the language menu pops up every time I insert the disc. I think the new SC discs are utilizing some persistent storage on players to remember the language selection and that persistent storage can be turned on/off from somewhere in the player's menu. It can apparently also work between different SC titles so that if you selected language with one disc the same selection is remembered and applied with other SC discs as well.

You can look it up in the players setup menu under maintenance/persistent storage.
In there I see under 'studio canal' two entries: 'First Blood' and 'Total Recall'.

There is an option to delete these entries individually.

I guess most of them. I would at this point order from UK rather than from france. Brotherhood of the wolf seems to come with french only, so it's better to order this particular title from the UK (but I have to check again; perhaps the disc locks into french because of language settings in the persistent memory).

Regarding T2 you have the choice. There are indications that outside france only the 1 disc-edition will be sold. If you want the double HD-DVD version (and if you can live with the forced subtitles), you should order from amazon.fr.

Brotherhood of the Wolf UK version has different run time e.g. in Amazon UK listing than the French release and it's supposedly the UK cut (some censorship issues) so best to be aware of that when ordering from UK.

The French version has two language options: English (French audio with English subs) and French (French audio and no subs) so it's OK for English speakers too. I was checking it yesterday with English subs. If the language UI doesn't pop up in your player when inserting the disc you can go to it from the arrow in the main menu anyway.

You can look it up in the players setup menu under maintenance/persistent storage.
In there I see under 'studio canal' two entries: 'First Blood' and 'Total Recall'.

There is an option to delete these entries individually.

I think this showed up as "disabled" or something like that when I checked this menu in my player a while ago. I don't think I ever set it to "disabled" though so maybe that's the factory default in my Japanese model. Anyway, I'll try to enable it when I get back home :)

Brotherhood of the Wolf UK version has different run time e.g. in Amazon UK listing than the French release and it's supposedly the UK cut (some censorship issues) so best to be aware of that when ordering from UK.

The French version has two language options: English (French audio with English subs) and French (French audio and no subs) so it's OK for English speakers too. I was checking it yesterday with English subs. If the language UI doesn't pop up in your player when inserting the disc you can go to it from the arrow in the main menu anyway.
You're correct for Brotherhood (french version), but I guess the UK version will have an english audio track, which would probably be the favourable one for our english speaking fellows who don't like subtitles.

You're correct for Brotherhood (french version), but I guess the UK version will have an english audio track, which would probably be the favourable one for our english speaking fellows who don't like subtitles.

Possibly, it seems Optimum's DVD version includes dubbed English audio track. Their page regarding the HD DVD version is not very specific regarding the specs:
http://www.optimumreleasing.com/dvd.php?id=491

I guess some might prefer English dub to subs, though I certainly wouldn't :)

My Brotherhood of the Wolf has shipped from xploited this morning. :D

When is the UK version of BOTW coming out? Still Sept 30??

tteich, thanks btw for your detailed specs of those HD DVDs released in France. Thanks to that, I purchased a couple of titles from Amazon.fr.

Has SC stated whether they will be fixing the pitch issue for Total Recall et. al on the UK releases?

I don't think they will as they apparently did not correct the UK HD DVD release of Basic Instinct.

I ended up going for T2 from Xploited, and it shipped this morning! Should have it by the end of the week! :D I thought that there was no point in waiting for a UK release when the French SC release will have the same extended cut, and the bonus theatrical cut with forced subs.

-Murray

When is the UK version of BOTW coming out? Still Sept 30??Rock, if you haven't already check out the other thread here re: BOTW UK version. Apparantly, xploitedcinema has the UK version in stock although it's not posted on their site yet.

Brotherhood of the Wolf UK version has different run time e.g. in Amazon UK listing than the French release and it's supposedly the UK cut (some censorship issues) so best to be aware of that when ordering from UK.
...


Turned out in the other Brotherhood of the Wolf UK discussion that French release and UK release have the same actual run times (150 minutes 12 seconds) although the indicated run times are not the same (142 minutes indicated for French and 134 minutes indicated for UK version in the back covers of the releases).

Rock, if you haven't already check out the other thread here re: BOTW UK version. Apparantly, xploitedcinema has the UK version in stock although it's not posted on their site yet.

Cool....thanks for the info.

tteich, thanks btw for your detailed specs of those HD DVDs released in France. Thanks to that, I purchased a couple of titles from Amazon.fr.
:) happy to help. enjoy your new movies.

Does anyone have the UK Studio Canal release of the Deer Hunter yet and can they confirm whether any of the extra features included on the SD DVD are on the HD DVD version (Cimino commentary and various interviews)? Thanks in advance!