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This may seem an odd question, but is there any difference at all between Canadian and US releases of R1 titles?
It seems that a lot of people use Canadian websites to order their discs (myself included), but how does this affect Limited Edition discs and the like? Do they become available in Canada after the US? Is there different LE numbering on Canadian releases than US ones?
I only own one example of a difference between Canadian and US discs, but I think you'll agree it's pretty significant.
'All I Wanna Do' (which is a good movie btw), is the disc in quesiton. I have the canadian version. For starters, the inlay in the amaray case is double sided; one side being english and the other french.
the other, more significant difference is the fact this disc carries a 5.1 soundtrack, which is french. the english track is only 2.0.
There may be other differences, but as I've never seen the US version I wouldn't know. I am just presuming these features are unique to the Canadian disc.
I seem to remember that Good Will Hunting was a better buy for extras etc in Canada.
charlie angel
19-10-2001, 10:56
Trainspotting has a better Canadian release than the US (I think Pulp Fiction might have as well?)
Ginger Snaps (released this week) has a far superior Canadian release as well :)
Well it'd be hard to get any worse than the US Trainspotting!
charlie angel
19-10-2001, 10:57
Originally posted by Lucy
Well it'd be hard to get any worse than the US Trainspotting!
:D
Bapapapa
19-10-2001, 10:57
Memento - US & CAD are different.
Michael Brooke
19-10-2001, 10:58
In most cases there are no significant differences... but if the film is itself Canadian, the disc itself may well be superior.
Good examples include <I>eXistenz</I> (where the Canadian disc is the only one that's both anamorphic and has tons of extras) and <I>Ginger Snaps</I> (where the Canadian disc wipes the floor with any other version).
Bapapapa
19-10-2001, 11:03
and Ginger Snaps (where the Canadian disc wipes the floor with any other version).
What, it actually makes the film worth watching?
:p
Michael Brooke
19-10-2001, 11:14
Until I saw Jan Svankmajer's <I>Little Otik</I> last night, it was comfortably my favourite horror film of the year.
silverpenguin7
19-10-2001, 11:44
Originally posted by Lucy
Well it'd be hard to get any worse than the US Trainspotting!
Whats wrong with it? Want to get it at some point so is the Canadian much better?
charlie angel
19-10-2001, 11:51
Originally posted by silverpenguin7
Want to get it at some point so is the Canadian much better?
The CAD version has a few extras - interviews & stuff I think.
Confucius
19-10-2001, 12:24
The Canadian 'Madness of King George' is dreadful. A murkey P&S release of a fine film. Make sure you get the American anamorphic release from MGM.
Lenny Nero
19-10-2001, 12:34
There are no differences between US and Canadian releases at all, almost never.
There are a few exceptions now and then, with Canadian releases usually being better.
Trainspotting has deleted scenes.
Pulp Fiction has deleted scenes.
eXistenZ has THREE audio commentaries and an hour long set decorator documentary, while US release doesn't have ANYTHING.
They also have season 1, which is 4 feature lenght movies actually, of Lexx series, which is not out in US at all but I believe you got the 2 boxsets in UK that have all 4.
Other than that, all the releases are the same, only cheaper in Canada, kind of like getting from Australia.
Ben Martin
19-10-2001, 12:40
Originally posted by Lucy
I seem to remember that Good Will Hunting was a better buy for extras etc in Canada.
if so, it's like one extra or something. of far greater importance is the fact that the alliance release in canada has an anamorphic picture, unlike it's US counterpart. unfortunately the coverart isn't quite as good and, randomly, the good will hunting title isn't the original design - it's presented in the wrong typeface. :rolleyes:
so i bought both, put the canadian disc in the US box and sold the other combination to an unsuspecting shop in town! :D
WildWayz
19-10-2001, 12:42
Also, keep in mind that both eXistenZ and Ginger Snaps are both Canadian made films - hence them being better versions.
--James
If you use Play247 you'll find many of their discs are Canadian even though they don't mention this. If the disc makes a big deal about having a French langage track then it’s Canadian - for obvious reasons.
Virtually the same releases 99% of the time. As others have mentioned, there are rare exceptions. I picked up the Canadian version of <i>Good Will Hunting</i> by Alliance because it is 16x9 while the Beuna Vista US release is not. Great tranfer too if I recall. Another that comes to mind is <i>Giant</i>. The Canadian Warner Home Video division released it prior to a pending US release but had to pull the title because of legalities. I seemed to recall it was only out for something like 4-6 weeks. Fortunately I got one of those too. The tranfer is pretty solid but somewhat grainy in some scenes. Others have noted though it's the best the film has ever looked. And if Elizabeth Taylor was not the most beautiful actress of the 20th Century, I'll eat my hat.
Cheers!
The US version of Trainspotting has NO extras. Which is why I dissed it! Granted, it was released in the summer of 1998, and was one of the first I bought. I remember being amazed that summer with the stuff that was on Austin Powers and The Wedding Singer, both New Line releases. The karaoke features of the latter went down well that xmas!
Lenny Nero
20-10-2001, 02:35
Here here!
This nice site has basically all the Canadian DVD releases for sale listed that are either different from US ones, or are not released there at all.
I've ordered Pulp Fiction and eXistenZ from them once, they are fast. Gona try and get the rare first 4 Lexx movies as I like the covers more than R2 UK boxsets:
https://www.dvd-plus.com/catalog_search.asp?action=canadian
MB wrote: "...if the film is itself Canadian, the disc itself may well be superior."
...one example of a Canadian DVD of a Canadian film that most decidedly is not superior is The Red Violin...
* Canadian release (Alliance Atlantis) = 1.33:1 pan 'n' scam, DD 2.0 Surround
* US release (Universal) = anamorphic 1.85:1, DD 5.1, dts 5.1
Q.E.D.
. . . :o . . .
The Canadian versions of movies usually include a French soundtrack in 5.1 surround sound. Not always, but certainly more often than on American issues.
The Canadian version of Scary Movie has a double sided inlay and cover art. One side is in English, the other in French.
Lenny Nero
20-10-2001, 14:05
Originally posted by GuyMH
The Canadian versions of movies usually include a French soundtrack in 5.1 surround sound. Not always, but certainly more often than on American issues.
The Canadian version of Scary Movie has a double sided inlay and cover art. One side is in English, the other in French.
Most Canadian dvds have dual sided french/english covers, Pulp Fiction and eXistenZ and Good Will Hunting are just a few more
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