Buying Blu-rays in Berlin.

[retask]

Where is the best place to buy blu-rays in Berlin? Im going there a weekend in march, and Im staying in the sentrum by Friedrichstraße. Im looking to buy films like The Mechanic, Mr Majestyk, Man From the west, Strange Days, and other films that are only released in Germany.

Thanks for all tips!

[s_pie]

The best place in the center of Berlin is the "Media Markt" in the "Alexa" Mall, close to the Alexanderplatz. The have a good selection of BluRays and very good prices. "Saturn" at the Alexanderplatz isn't bad, too, but the are pretty expensive compared to the "Media Markt".

[retask]

Originally Posted by s_pie

The best place in the center of Berlin is the "Media Markt" in the "Alexa" Mall, close to the Alexanderplatz. The have a good selection of BluRays and very good prices. "Saturn" at the Alexanderplatz isn't bad, too, but the are pretty expensive compared to the "Media Markt".

Thank you a bunch for that tip. So is Media Markt like the best store in entire Berlin with the best selection? Im looking for like a huge store with everything. Here in Norway we dont really have any good blu-ray/dvd-shops.

[retask]

I wold also appreciate some tips on films to buy. Like I said, im only interested in films that are only released in germany. Im thinking about:

M - This is released both in US and UK but this is the best one.
Ox-Bow Incident
Man of the west
Strange Days
The Mechanic Are these Bronson-releases any good btw?
Mr Majestyk
Despair Neither the german or the US release offers subtitles to the german audio. Should this really be viewed dubbed to english? I never watch dubbed films.

[dumb_dutchman]

Originally Posted by retask

I wold also appreciate some tips on films to buy. Like I said, im only interested in films that are only released in germany. Im thinking about:

M - This is released both in US and UK but this is the best one.

The Universum Film Edition of M is excellent. Definitely recommended.

[s_pie]

Originally Posted by retask

Thank you a bunch for that tip. So is Media Markt like the best store in entire Berlin with the best selection? Im looking for like a huge store with everything. Here in Norway we dont really have any good blu-ray/dvd-shops.

There are three big electronic/DVD/CD/BluRay-stores in the center of Berlin (and about a dozen in the suburbs, but they are smaller or same size). Saturn and MediaMarkt at the Alexanderplatz (East-Berlin) and Saturn at the Tauentzienstraße (West-Berlin). These three are about the same size and selection but MediaMarkt is a lot cheaper than Saturn. But you can visit both at Alexanderplatz, it is just a five minutes walk. The Saturn in West Berlin isn't worth a visit, it is not much different than the one in East Berlin.

[toddly6666]

Originally Posted by s_pie

The best place in the center of Berlin is the "Media Markt" in the "Alexa" Mall, close to the Alexanderplatz. The have a good selection of BluRays and very good prices. "Saturn" at the Alexanderplatz isn't bad, too, but the are pretty expensive compared to the "Media Markt".

I concur. I had a blast running back and forth between these two stores at Alexa Mall. They are a block apart. Very close.

You are going to have a great time video shopping in Germany. Don't forget to ignore DVDs there too! Germany was my favorite import Blu-ray/DVD shopping destination compared to all the other European countries I've been to.

I would like to add that Saturn is not more expensive than Media Markt. Many blu-rays are cheap at one store and pricier at the other...and vice verca. I would recommend you going back and forth between each store before you make your final purchases. Don't go buying crazy in the first store you go to!

[Wulfman]

Originally Posted by retask

Thank you a bunch for that tip. So is Media Markt like the best store in entire Berlin with the best selection? Im looking for like a huge store with everything.

If it comes to Blu-ray the Media Markt Alexa its certainly the one with the broadest selection and with competitive pricing. However, concerning DVDs only, there is another shop in the center of Berlin, very close to Bahnhof Friedrichstr. It's called Dussmann das Kulturkaufhaus

http://www.kulturkaufhaus.de/

with a broad selection of DVDs, more even than in the Media Markt. However, their pricing is not competitive - they are much more expensive than Media Markt since they are not part of a chain with the attached buying power. But their stuff is very knowledgable and I often browse their shelves for inspiration.

[retask]

Thanks for all the answers guys! I will check out the to shops that are close to eachother.

Any reviews on the Bronson-films?

[Reduman]

Originally Posted by retask

Where is the best place to buy blu-rays in Berlin? Im going there a weekend in march, and Im staying in the sentrum by Friedrichstraße. Im looking to buy films like The Mechanic, Mr Majestyk, Man From the west, Strange Days, and other films that are only released in Germany.

Thanks for all tips!

I am surprised no-one has mentioned "Dussmann" (Kulturkaufhaus) on the Friedrichstrasse in Berlin (here is a link to the directions page of the store: http://www.kulturkaufhaus.de/kulturk...nfahrtsskizze/). "Dussmann" is mainly a bookstore, but they also have a whole floor with CDs, DVDs and (if I recall correctly) Blu-ray movies. I was there last August (2011) and loved it. By the way, the German (blu-ray) editions of 2 silent movies "M" and "Metropolis" are fantastic, just make sure you get the original blu-ray edition of "M" and not the subsequent one disc version released later on. The Dussmann store is open till midnight Mondays-Friday because of Berlin's liberal opening hours. Here in conservative Bavaria the shops close at 8pm with no Sunday opening at all .... aaaargh (store opening hours can vary between the 16 federal states) If you're interested in movie history and the weather's poor, you could do worse than visit the Berlin Film Museum (Address: Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum für Film und Fernsehen, Potsdamer Straße 2, D-10785 Berlin. It is open every day except Mondays) close to the centrally located "Potsdamer Platz". Enjoy your trip!

[Wulfman]

Originally Posted by Reduman

I am surprised no-one has mentioned "Dussmann" (Kulturkaufhaus) on the Friedrichstrasse in Berlin

I did write a post about Dussmann but it somehow did not go through, maybe due to the fact that it was my first post after registering here.

Be advised that the SD-DVD section at Dussmann is probably the best in Berlin, but much more pricey than the (smaller) one at the Mediamarkt in the Alexa Shopping Mall. Also, the Blu-ray section of Dussmann is (yet) very small and completely overpriced. If you're out for Blu, MM Alexa is the place to shop.

[toddly6666]

Dussman was great too.

Basically, shopping for DVDs and Blu-rays in Germany in Berlin is awesome!

[retask]

Only a few days till my trip to Berlin. Any new releases I should get?

[retask]

Back from Berlin. Bought OUATITW Steelbook, Man from the west, L.A. Confidential and Navajo Joe. Couldn't find the Bronson movies, M or the Ox-Bow Incident anywhere. I went to Media Markt and two Saturn stores.

[toddly6666]

Originally Posted by retask

Back from Berlin. Bought OUATITW Steelbook, Man from the west, L.A. Confidential and Navajo Joe. Couldn't find the Bronson movies, M or the Ox-Bow Incident anywhere. I went to Media Markt and two Saturn stores.

How was the anticipation as you had to take the elevator/escalator to the top floor? (most of these stores have those movie sections on the top floor).

And did it feel pretty good seeing all those rows of German blu-rays?

[OrlandoEastwood]

Oh, yeah, I forgot Media Markt has those elevators. At least back when I was living in Germany from 2003 to 2006, the second floor had the computer and video games and misc hardware et cables. DVDs were all on the first floor.

[retask]

I was actually disappointed by the selection in Berlin. The stores didn't even have the german releases I was after, and they had none import blu-rays. Berlin is a 3 million + city. Oslo, Norway is only 500k and we have several stores here that are better than the ones I went to in Berlin.

Here we have stores that only sells DVDs and Blu-rays and specializes in that. Why aren't there any stores like that in Berlin?

[MrBrown]

Originally Posted by retask

I was actually disappointed by the selection in Berlin. The stores didn't even have the german releases I was after, and they had none import blu-rays. Berlin is a 3 million + city. Oslo, Norway is only 500k and we have several stores here that are better than the ones I went to in Berlin.

Here we have stores that only sells DVDs and Blu-rays and specializes in that. Why aren't there any stores like that in Berlin?

Regarding Import: Import DVDs/BDs are a very small market in germany, because imports mostly lack one thing: German dub. We are spoiled by german languaged dubs, so most customers just don't want imports.

I only know one store in Germany selling imports, and that is in Hamburg (called "hard-to-get"). But the prices are someway high, that someone with a credit card easily could beat that price, by self importing.

Stores just selling movies are quite rare, because they seldom can beat MediaMarkt, Saturn and Karstadt prices.

You may get lucky to get some indicated Movies in Videothekes, but they are always in special rooms, with seperated entries, where you mostly find adult flesh-western (read: "porn" ^^).
The big stores seldom sell movies with higher rating than FSK-18, because they may get indicated, and then the store has a problem.

Maybe you should have used google to find Movie exclusive stores. (I just found Videodrom some minutes ago via google, but never was in.) But as you may notice: such stores are very few...

For japanese stuff at insane prices, you should have gone into "Neo Tokyo" but thats also more manga, than movies...

[retask]

Originally Posted by Esther51

Saturn and MediaMarkt at the Alexanderplatz (East-Berlin) and Saturn at the Tauentzienstraße (West-Berlin). These three are about the same size and selection but MediaMarkt is a lot cheaper than Saturn. But you can visit both at Alexanderplatz, it is just a five minutes walk.

Thank you, but read the thread.

[senseabove]

Any new opinions on where to buy Blu in Berlin? I have a morning to kill on Tuesday and would like to pick up the German edition of M, and I'm curious if there are any other German editions that trump US/UK ones.