Andrew Isherwood
17-12-2001, 09:02
I just got back from holiday and on the way back we changed planes in Dubai, I had a look round the duty free shops and, unsurprisingly, was drawn to their extensive selection of DVDs.
They were selling both region 1 and region 2 disks and had a big selection of each. On the "new releases" stand they had what purported to be the region 2 release of Captain Corelli's Mandolin as a 2 disk special edition for about £16. I wasn't sure when the DVD release date of this was but it was a while since I'd seen it at the cinema so I assumed it must have come out on DVD.
It was in a snapper case which had the plastic seal across the top that you usually get on R1 disks and the whole thing was vacuum packed in plastic, it all looked highly authentic. The sleeve was well printed, listing extensive extras on the second disk such as making of's, trailers, all sorts of stuff.
I unwrapped it when I got home and my first clue that all was not well was the printing on the disks which wasn't *quite* as good as I might have expected. There was a nicely printed inlay sheet which listed the chapter stops. I stuck the first disk in and my second clue appeared, or rather didn't, no copyright message, just a short animation for a the disks production company "Prime DVD" (who are also mentioned on the sleeve). Then into the menu which is very professional. I had a quick look at a few scenes of the film and the picture quality seems fine, the sound (5.1) is also good.
I also looked at the second disk and all the extras promised on the sleeve seem to be present and correct and good quality.
I'd just about convinced myself this was a genuine disk until I checked a few online retailers this morning and discovered the R2 is not released until February and the R1 not until March.
So I'm left asking what the heck have I bought, if it were not for the slightly substandard printing on the disk and lack of copyright message, I'd be convinced it was a genuine release. Nothing else about it suggests it's a pirate, the menus, the image and sound quality and the extensive range of extras are all of the quality I'd expect from a genuine copy.
I'm confused, can anyone shed any light on this?
They were selling both region 1 and region 2 disks and had a big selection of each. On the "new releases" stand they had what purported to be the region 2 release of Captain Corelli's Mandolin as a 2 disk special edition for about £16. I wasn't sure when the DVD release date of this was but it was a while since I'd seen it at the cinema so I assumed it must have come out on DVD.
It was in a snapper case which had the plastic seal across the top that you usually get on R1 disks and the whole thing was vacuum packed in plastic, it all looked highly authentic. The sleeve was well printed, listing extensive extras on the second disk such as making of's, trailers, all sorts of stuff.
I unwrapped it when I got home and my first clue that all was not well was the printing on the disks which wasn't *quite* as good as I might have expected. There was a nicely printed inlay sheet which listed the chapter stops. I stuck the first disk in and my second clue appeared, or rather didn't, no copyright message, just a short animation for a the disks production company "Prime DVD" (who are also mentioned on the sleeve). Then into the menu which is very professional. I had a quick look at a few scenes of the film and the picture quality seems fine, the sound (5.1) is also good.
I also looked at the second disk and all the extras promised on the sleeve seem to be present and correct and good quality.
I'd just about convinced myself this was a genuine disk until I checked a few online retailers this morning and discovered the R2 is not released until February and the R1 not until March.
So I'm left asking what the heck have I bought, if it were not for the slightly substandard printing on the disk and lack of copyright message, I'd be convinced it was a genuine release. Nothing else about it suggests it's a pirate, the menus, the image and sound quality and the extensive range of extras are all of the quality I'd expect from a genuine copy.
I'm confused, can anyone shed any light on this?