The Egyptian

[gushin]

I noticed Amazon France has a listing for The Egyptian on blu-ray. Does anyone in France know if this edition is region-free? How does it compare to the Twilight Time/Screen Archives Entertainment edition? http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B008...pf_rd_i=405320

[Kaminari]

According to CineFaniac, it is the Twilight master. However, the audio is only DTS 2.0 instead of Master 5.1.

Unfortunately, I found no info on the region-locking.

[movielib]

It has forced French subtitles.

I can't remember if it's region free. I'll try to check later today after work.

[gushin]

Originally Posted by Kaminari

According to CineFaniac, it is the Twilight master. However, the audio is only DTS 2.0 instead of Master 5.1.

Unfortunately, I found no info on the region-locking.

The 2.0 track doesn't bother me. It's probably really close to the original 4.0 mix.

Originally Posted by movielib

It has forced French subtitles.

I can't remember if it's region free. I'll try to check later today after work.

The forced subtitles would defifnitely be an issue. And thank you for checking the region coding on this disc. If subtitles are soft coded and can be turned off and the disc is region-free this would be a great alternative to the Twilight Times disc.

[movielib]

Originally Posted by gushin

The 2.0 track doesn't bother me. It's probably really close to the original 4.0 mix.

The forced subtitles would defifnitely be an issue. And thank you for checking the region coding on this disc. If subtitles are soft coded and can be turned off and the disc is region-free this would be a great alternative to the Twilight Times disc.

It does not play on my region A Sony player so it appears to be region B locked.

As for the forced French subtitles, believe me I have tried every trick in the book including several that have been posted here at blu-ray.com. I can't get rid of them. I have been able to move them down with my region free Oppo but still not completely out of the film frame.

And it is English (and French) DTS-HD MA 2.0 (not plain old DTS as someone said early in this thread).

I took a chance on this disc when it came out and I was very disappointed with the forced subtitles. I ended up finally getting the Twilight Time version which apparently just sold out today.

[gushin]

Originally Posted by movielib

It does not play on my region A Sony player so it appears to be region B locked...
I took a chance on this disc when it came out and I was very disappointed with the forced subtitles. I ended up finally getting the Twilight Time version which apparently just sold out today.

Thanks for the info. I thought the Twilight Time was overpriced. Now that it's sold out I wish I would've bought it. Ah, well. Thanks for your help.

[Geode]

Originally Posted by gushin

Thanks for the info. I thought the Twilight Time was overpriced. Now that it's sold out I wish I would've bought it. Ah, well. Thanks for your help.

I saw comments from those who bought the Twilight Time version, they were all very negative about the quality. Most said there was no improvement over the DVD.

[movielib]

Originally Posted by Geode

I saw comments from those who bought the Twilight Time version, they were all very negative about the quality. Most said there was no improvement over the DVD.

Here's this site's review:

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-E.../23726/#Review

4.5 for the video (and the audio).

It's been years now since I watched this disc but I don't remember having any major complaints about it.

[hitchcockblonde]

Just to warn those considering taking a punt on this disc - it is definitely NOT the Twilight Time master. The Sidonis image has more print damage, closer-cropped framing, less fine detail, a different colour grade (pinker look vis the slightly blue/yellow push of the TT) and is clearly from an older scan.

I've heard that the Brazillian disc is comparable to the Twilight Time, but cannot confirm.

There are various European duplicates of this rough older master available. It's a cheap way to get the film, to be sure, but you'll be disappointed by the lack of visual lustre.

[John_Drake]

It is difficult to come across accurate information on all of the different BD releases of this film.

Take the French release, for instance. Of the few available online reviews of the French disc itself, Cinefaniac states that Sidonis used the TT master. Cinedinq's review only mentions a preponderance of grain and compression artifacts. A poster at HTF claims that the French disc is PAL sourced as its run time is approximately 5 minutes shorter than the TT version. Another issue with this release is that the subs are forced when one selects English audio. the disc is Reg. B locked). Then of course, hitchcockblonde above stated that the PQ is substandard to that of the TT.

Regarding the Brazilian disc, the same HTF poster claims that it "...apparently has sound mixing errors, MPEG2 Encode and not a very good job." This latter point contradicts this site's spec info for the disc.

For Scandinavia (Denmark, Sweden, Finland), the Soul Medias discs are identical. DVD compare and various posters have commented on the quality being subpar to that of TT. Also, the disc is Reg. B locked, no forced subs.

The Japanese disc is Reg. A and listed as being 1080i but I wonder whether this is so because, with the exception of the Brazilian disc, I have (or had) most of the versions listed above and the J disc looks closer to the TT disc than the others. Sadly, neither it nor any of the other non-US versions have the TT commentary or an isolated soundtrack.

[johnpaul2]

A 1080i encode doesn't necessarily means a visible difference in PQ. Sadly in France, we tend to see too many BDs incorrectly encoded at 1080i50 (thus running 4% too fast, akin to the PAL-speedup), but this can be the case for discs using brand new restorations properly encoded at 1080p24 elsewhere (UK, US, Germany, etc).

I can't say myself if that's the case for The Egyptain, but just wanted to point out it's a possibility.

[ptb2010]

I bought the Sidonis edition then one from Scandinavia, neither of which were what I'd hoped for, only to sit down to watch a superb quality restoration, gorgeous is the word, being transmitted on French television. Fortunately I'd set my Blu Ray recorder so I now have a wonderful HD copy in my collection. If such transfers are available for transmission why not for Blu Ray release on disc? This has happened a lot over recent years. Land of the Pharaohs, Ivanhoe, Out of Africa, Borsalino, Three Coins in a Fountain, Oliver Twist & Great Expectations {Lean} to name but a few, all beautiful clean sharp images.

[ptb2010]

The best HD I have of The Egyptian is The One i I recorded off of French tv. Superb transfer