Useful Information about Amazon US/CA/DE/FR/UK Blu-ray listings

[McCrutchy]

I thought it might be worthwhile to create a post to once and for all be clear on what to trust about Amazon listings. These are applicable to:

Amazon.com (United States)
Amazon.ca (Canada)
Amazon.de (Germany)
Amazon.fr (France)
Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom)

and to a limited extent:

Amazon.co.jp (Japan)

For reference, here is a general Blu-ray listing rubric for Amazon.com:

NOTE: Your product listing may or may not contain all of these descriptors, and they will always be in the language of the Amazon site you are visiting.

Product Details

Actors: [...]
Directors: [...]
Writers: [...]
Producers: [...]
Format: [...]
Language: [...]
Subtitles: [...]
Region: Region [...]
Aspect Ratio: [...]
Number of discs: [...]
Rating: [...]
Studio: [...]
DVD Release Date: [...]
Run Time: [...] minutes
Average Customer Review: [...] out of 5 stars See all reviews [...]
ASIN: [...]
Amazon.com Sales Rank:[...]

Breakdown:

Actors: [...]
Directors: [...]
Writers: [...]
Producers: [...]

As stated above, the Blu-ray product you are looking at may or may not contain cast and crew information in the Product Details section. When details are present, they are usually limited to the top-billed actors and the director(s). however on rare occasions, Amazon sites will also list the writers and producers of the title.

Format: [...]

In theory, this category should help to differentiate between titles that have more than one edition available, such as a single-disc edition and a two-disc edition, or perhaps a limited edition with special packaging or content. Unfortunately, Amazon often lists erroneous or unnecessary information here, like "Widescreen", "Full Screen", "NTSC" (or on Amazon,de/.fr./.co.uk: "PAL"), "AC-3", "Dolby", "Dubbed", or "Subtitled". While this information can be useful if accurate, it should never be trusted to rule out a purchase.

For example, if you're looking at a Blu-ray and you see under Format that a title is "Dubbed", that does not usually mean that the main audio is a Dubbed version, especially with non-foreign films.

NTSC (and PAL) are standard-definition video formats and are not applicable to HD material on Blu-ray, however they may pertain to some of the extras on the discs.

Also, if Amazon says the Format is "Widescreen" that does not mean there is a "Full Screen" edition available. "Full Screen" which produced the 4:3 format picture that fills older, non-HDTV "square" screens is not generally used on Blu-ray Discs unless the film was specifically shot with that type pf framing in mind. The vast majority of post-1950s films on Blu-ray are always Widescreen no matter what the Amazon listing says, and the vast majority of pre-1950s films on Blu-ray will be in the original 4:3 format, as released theatrically, and will present as a square image on your HDTV.

Language: [...]
Subtitles: [...]
Region: Region [...]
Aspect Ratio: [...]

These categories are often at least partially accurate, and Amazon sometimes goes as far as to list audio codecs like Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio, etc. When this information is listed, it is usually correct, however, region-free Blu-rays from companies like Warner Bros. often contain multiple language and subtitles options which may not be listed. The best resource for inquiries on languages and subtitles is the forum, and if multiple members contradict Amazon's listing, then the Amazon information is inaccurate.

BLU-RAY REGION CODING AND AMAZON SITES (IMPORTANT!)

None of the Amazon sites have implemented the Blu-ray Region Codes in their Product Details sections. When listed, this information is inaccurate and almost always ported over from the DVD listing of the same title.

The ONLY way to be sure of the region coding of a Blu-ray is to research the listings here and/or ask in the forums.

Aspect ratios are sometimes listed, but are just as often erroneous as correct. Amazon often lists either the Original (theatrical) Aspect Ratio or the aspect ratios on past DVD edition(s). Unfortunately, not all distributors and studios preserve the Original Aspect Ratio of a film on the Blu-ray edition. In general public consumption, for better or worse, this is often seen as a minor issue, but if you are someone who wants to ensure that the Original Aspect Ratio is maintained, your safest best is to research the title on the forums and or wait for a professional review of the title.

Number of discs: [...]

Amazon usually gets this information correct, even across multiple editions of a title. Note however that this may not be listed in the Product Details section--often the title of the listing will specify in parentheses if the Blu-ray has multiple discs (excluding TV seasons). '

Rating: [...]

Amazon.com usually lists the MPAA rating of a title correctly UNLESS it is an "Unrated" edition which is sometimes listed with the theatrical rating. The box art itself often states whether an edition is "Unrated" or "Uncut", and in these cases, should be trusted over and above the Amazon listing.

Amazon.ca often uses the MPAA earing unless the product is a domestic Canadian release, which sometimes list with the Canadian video rating. These ratings sometimes differ given different cultural sensitivities.

Amazon.co.uk usually lists a BBFC classification for all domestic titles, however, since classification is mandatory, films must often be re-submitted and sometimes, re-classified if any content changes across editions of a film. Many listings contain outdated BBFC classifications, especially for older titles that have been recently re-submitted. Note that BBFC and MPAA ratings are not always comparable, so research if you are importing.

Amazon.de: I am not an authority in any sense on the German FSK ratings, but I believe every film classified must have the FSK classification listed in Product Details. Note that German FSK ratings are often very different than those of the MPAA, so research content when importing.

Amazon.fr sometimes lists the French rating for a title, but France is extremely "generous" as a culture with what is appropriate for children 12 and over. If importing, peruse the BBFC web site or MPAA ratings website to get a better idea of the content in a title.

Studio: [...]
DVD Release Date: [...]

Amazon.com often lists the distributing studio correctly, however, in the past few months, there have been a number of issues regarding the correct listing of studios on Amazon.co.uk.

At this time, I do not have enough experience with Amazon.de/.fr to comment on the accuracy of listing distributing studios, but generally, the listing I have seen have been accurate or at least partially accurate. In general, the best source for determining the releasing studio is the box art, or alternatively, the forums.

Release dates: Usually these dates are accurate across all Amazon sites, but note that the listing says "DVD release date". This, like the region information above, is due to Amazon's astonishing unwillingness to reformat the rubric for Blu-ray listings.

Run Time: [...] minutes

This is another statistic unchanged for the DVD listings. Fortunately for Amazon.com, NTSC DVDs have the same running time as their HD counterparts, but on European Amazon sites, the running time is often incorrect as European PAL-format DVDs run 4% faster than most HD material. If you are purchasing a title from a European Amazon site and question the running time listed, consult Amazon.com, or alternatively research the title on the forums.

Average Customer Review: [...] out of 5 stars See all reviews [...]
ASIN: [...]
Amazon.com Sales Rank:[...]

This information is proprietary to Amazon sites, but it signals the end of the Product Details section.

That's it!

As an aside, if anyone feels that I have overlooked/missed anything, please feel free to post below.