Alliance Titles Without Extras/menu?

[Geezer00003]

Originally Posted by keyzone72

Petra_Kalbrain,

What is your problem?

Your profile says you are in Vancouver BC, so for some reason, you've taken my comments as if I am bashing Canadians or something. I don't understand why you've chosen to engage in petty name calling and digging up international politics, but get a grip!

I simply purchased 2 movies from amazon.com in Canada, did not get the standard bluray multi-menu's like I've experienced with other movies and wanted to inform other potential buyers. I am most dissatisfied with Alliance's lack of chapter indexing more than I am with the lack of a main screen.

Unless I'm knocking your favorite hockey team or talking smack about French-Canadian culture, get a grip and lay off the antogonistic remarks. Sheesh! Just 'cause I stated the fact that these movies shipped from Canada doesn't mean I'm bagging on your country.

Lets all relax and be friends........

Being a Canuk I didn't take offense from the OP. I don't think he meant any harm.
As for what Keyzone had to say........I agree and will not be buying any other Alliance releases.
Sin City was much anticipated for me and many others I'm sure. I really enjoy it's picture and audio quality.
I bought it thinking it was my only choice but see it now as a mistake. I assumed an Alliance release would be the same as an American studio release, WRONG!
Sin City will be released in it's extended form which is what I really want and hate to be double dipping on BR already. It's bad enough to be replacing old DVD's let alone new BR's!
I'm chomping at the bit to own Seven but I'll just have to wait abit longer.
I'd like to own a finished product with a proper menu and any and all extras that may have been on the DVD.

$.02

[Petra_Kalbrain]

Originally Posted by Geezer00003

Lets all relax and be friends........

Being a Canuk I didn't take offense from the OP. I don't think he meant any harm.
As for what Keyzone had to say........I agree and will not be buying any other Alliance releases.
Sin City was much anticipated for me and many others I'm sure. I really enjoy it's picture and audio quality.
I bought it thinking it was my only choice but see it now as a mistake. I assumed an Alliance release would be the same as an American studio release, WRONG!
Sin City will be released in it's extended form which is what I really want and hate to be double dipping on BR already. It's bad enough to be replacing old DVD's let alone new BR's!
I'm chomping at the bit to own Seven but I'll just have to wait abit longer.
I'd like to own a finished product with a proper menu and any and all extras that may have been on the DVD.

$.02

If you call 4 short films and 90% of the extended runtime being credits an "extended edition," than yes... it will be released in that fashion for triple the price of the Alliance Atlantis release. Not worth it in my books. I was excited for the DVD release of this version only to be pissed off when I found out that they chopped the movie up and ripped me off with the additional 3 minutes of storyline footage.

Once again... perspective is a wonderful thing!

[Seretur]

Warner releases all have the main menu screen -- it's just that their discs default to Autoplay, and you physically have to bring it up. I don't like this system, but many people do. This is a very different situation to the one described by the OP, which does indeed point to a level of sloppiness on these releases.

Also, DVDBeaver has reviewed quite few of these titles -- take Se7en for example -- and has noted this:

Se7en on Blu-ray isn't yet available on Amazon.com and this is a typical bare-bones release from Alliance in Canada (available at Amazon.ca that does deliver to the US). It is interlaced (1080i not 1080p). As with the other Canuck Blu-ray (From Dusk Till Dawn, Good Will Hunting, Cold Mountain etc.) this is single-layered and doesn't appear to be digitally manipulated (no edge-enhancement or DNR visible). Unfortunately it is the incorrect aspect ratio - it should be 2.35:1 as per the theatrical presentation, Criterion LaserDisc, and New Line Platinum DVD (the latter of which even devoted a featurette to the film's transfer to home video). Alliance "opened up" the Super35 image to full gate, clearly sourcing their master from something prepared for HD broadcast but definitely not going by Fincher's or Khondji's preferred AR.

So there. Nice enough encodes, but all done on BD-25, interlaced, and in incorrect aspect ratio (in this case) to boot. These things aren't what anyone would call definitive editions of a particular title, but they are cheaper and for that price some could very well be satisfied.

I'm just sorry that the nationality of the company has entered this discussion, as it's completely irrelevant to the matter at hand.

[Geezer00003]

Originally Posted by Petra_Kalbrain

If you call 4 short films and 90% of the extended runtime being credits an "extended edition," than yes... it will be released in that fashion for triple the price of the Alliance Atlantis release. Not worth it in my books. I was excited for the DVD release of this version only to be pissed off when I found out that they chopped the movie up and ripped me off with the additional 3 minutes of storyline footage.

Once again... perspective is a wonderful thing!

If that's the case I might rethink the purchase.
I would have assumed the theatrical cut would also be included?

[Petra_Kalbrain]

Originally Posted by Geezer00003

If that's the case I might rethink the purchase.
I would have assumed the theatrical cut would also be included?

It will be in the release, but the price will also be near $30 if not more. Whereas, Americans can get the theatrical Blu-ray for less than $15 because of the exchange rate.

[master_8ball]

Kinda funny to see someone post about the NA Union on here...

Anyways, I was well aware of what I was getting when I bought these releases... I have Sin City, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Requiem For A Dream, Seven and The Butterfly Effect. They all look and sound great (even though Seven is 1080i), at $12.99 CDN per title one should not complain, maybe do your homework first instead.

Oh and my CANADIAN ALLIANCE release of Zack and Miri had a slew of special feautre, menu oh and even chapter select.

And as said before WB has done this for awhile now. You have more people complaining about blu ray prices and complaining about "when is this title coming out" than people complaining about "theres no menu or special features" so they make cheaper releases and people still complain. If its cheaper thats great as long as it doesnt affect the quality, yes Seven could have been better, but for 12 bucks I can turn around and sell it used when it gets a different release elsewhere, whenever that maybe....

[Jimbo976]

Yet Alliance releases from Canada have top notch PQ and AQ. They are highly recommended by me as long as someone doesn't care about special features and is happy with lower prices on Blu-rays.

[Moviefan1203]

The majority of Alliance releases are fantastic releases. They lack extras, but that doesn't mean anything to me as I normally don't watch them anyway. I really can't recommend Alliance releases enough, they put out great films in great releases for a great price.