HD-DVD Imports in 2008

[Reverenddave]

Area-HD (http://www.area-hd.de/) has an upcoming release list of international HD-DVDs. There are many US Blu-Ray exclusives and some titles that haven't been announced yet in the USA.

I'm really looking forward to Planet Terror, Death Proof, L.A. Confidential, 1408 and Seven.

December 14:
- Fantastic Four 2 - Rise of the Silver Surfer [Germany]
- Les Gendarmes - L’intégrale [France]

December 21:
- Resident Evil (Biohazard) [Japan]

January 1:
- The Prestige [Japan]

January 7:
- Death Proof [Germany]

January 22:
- Home Of The Brave [Netherlands]
- Rescue Dawn [Netherlands]
- The Messengers [Netherlands]
- Tristan & Isolde [Netherlands]
- Hero [Netherlands]
- 1408 [Netherlands]
- The Last Adventure [Japan]

January 28:
- Clubland [UK]

February 8:
- Planet Terror [Germany]
- 1408 [Germany]
- Saw I [Germany]

February 11:
- Bleak House [United Kingdom]

February 14:
- Resident Evil: Extinction [Germany]

February 2008:
- CSI: Miami (Season 5) [Germany]

February 27:
- Death Sentence [Germany]

March 2008:
- Terminator 2 (Director’s Cut) Ultimate HD DVD Edt. [Germany]
- Saw II [Germany]
- L.A. Confidential [UK]
- American Gangster [Germany]

April 2008:
- The Martian Child [Germany]
- The Golden Compass [Germany]

Q4/Q1 2007/2008:
- Saw Trilogy [Germany]
- Bobby [Germany]
- Motel Babylon - Series 1 [United Kingdom]
- Seven [Italy]
- La Vite è Bella [Italy]
- Marrakech Express [Italy]
- 3:10 to Yuma [Finland]
- Swiadek Koronny [Poland]
- Testosteron [Poland]
- Odwróceni [Poland]
- Man About Town [Spain]
- An Unfinished Life [Spain]
- SAW I [Spain]
- SAW II [Spain]
- Planet Terror [Finland]
- Death Proof [Finland]
- Ganes [Finland]
- Asterix and the Vikings (Asterix y los vikingos) [Spain]
- Tirante el blanco [Spain]
- The Mist [Germany]
- Halloween (2007) [Germany]

Delayed:
- Hannibal [France]

[SaviniFan]

Great thread. I will be importing some titles that are Blue Ray exclusive here. One of the many benefits of HD-DVD. No region coding!!

[zombi3]

Xploited now has the Dutch HD DVD releases of Saw III and Reservoir Dogs in stock, as well as some other new releases.

http://xploitedcinema.com/catalog/hd-dvds-c-35.html?osCsid=4215b2051705d2067d63aa871d9c7ad3

[othervoice1]

Great forum thread for info on all HD-DVD imports- be careful since some with have no english subtitles for movies such as Hero- this forum thread usually will have this kind of info for about any title
http://forums.highdefdigest.com/showthread.php?t=3010

[Reverenddave]

The Mist and Rob Zombie's Halloween have been added to the list for 2008.

[Reverenddave]

Area-HD has listed the info for the Dutch Filmworks release of 1408 on January 22nd.

Running Time: 113 minutes (Director’s Cut)
HD DVD format: DL (double-layer) (30 GB)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 (1080p/VC-1)
Languages: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1 & Dolby Digital 5.1)
Subtitles: Dutch (optional)
Extras:
- Behind-the-Scenes
- Interviews with Cast & Crew
- Documentary: Fang vs. Fiction
- Outtakes
- Featurettes (Inside the Room & According to John Cusack)
- Music Video
- TV Spots
- Trailer

http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/5073/1408jb7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


http://areahd.dvdtiefpreise.com/?p=198

[zombi3]

Got my copy of Saw III for Xmas and I was a bit surprised to see how much this HD DVD acted more like a regular DVD. The overall video and audio presentations are fairly decent, but I did take notice of some issues. First off, this is the first HD DVD I've seen where I noticed a pause at the layer change. It is quite distracting and very poorly placed. Also, the disc does not feature any pop-up menus, but the good thing is that Resume Play is possible here. Finally, I noticed several scenes that were loaded with compression artifacts. These are most visible in somewhat darker scenes, like the pig soup and the scenes in Kerry's apartment. Not a terrible release, but I have to say I expected better.

[Sam]

I've yet to see an import and wonder how bad the 'sped up dialogue' issue is. Price is obviously another huge issue. I'd love to buy Halloween on that list if the color theme is correct this time.

[zombi3]

I've yet to see an import and wonder how bad the 'sped up dialogue' issue is. Price is obviously another huge issue. I'd love to buy Halloween on that list if the color theme is correct this time.

The NTSC/PAL standards do not apply to High Definition, so theoretically there shouldn't be any 4% speed-up.

However, I did read about several HD DVD releases from Dutch Filmworks that do have the PAL speed-up.

The only two imports I own so far are Saw III and Silent Hill, neither of which have the issue.

In regards to Halloween, the version on that list is Rob Zombie's remake. The color was screwed up on Anchor Bay's Divimax DVD of the original and from what I understand was partially corrected for the Blu-ray version. No need to worry anyway, because based on what I've heard, Weinstein has issued a moratorium on any HD disc releases of their films from overseas until after their US counterparts have been released. Weinstein has not released in High Definition in months, nor have they announced any new titles...

[Sam]

Whoops.. I totally overlooked the "2007" in the listing. No buy from me. One that I'm very curious in is the upcoming German release of Terminator 2 and the (already released) Total Recall. Can't help but feel cheated on the Grindhouse separate releases and especially if they don't feature the "fake trailers".