Italian releases worth importing?

[Vito Cipriani]

Originally Posted by Funktion

The Italian subsection of the forums has been really quiet, and the few topics posted are mostly related to Italian releases of films from another countries.

It's a bit of a shame, because like I previously mentioned I've really been enjoying lots of recent Italian films, most of which available on English friendly BDs, but not many people seem to be discussing them, or get the chance to watch them outside of film festivals.

Would love some feedback on some of the Italian titles With having a family (and not a particularly well-paid job), I can't 'blind buy' as often as I used to be able to, but I often snap up titles from Italy that don't look likely to be released elsewhere.

I recently acquired ROMANZA DI UNA STRAGE, UNA VITA TRANQUILA and COME DIO COMMANDA, but haven't had chance to watch them yet.

[Funktion]

Originally Posted by Vito Cipriani

I recently acquired ROMANZA DI UNA STRAGE, UNA VITA TRANQUILA and COME DIO COMMANDA, but haven't had chance to watch them yet.

Let me know what's your opinion of Romanzo Di Una Strage when you see it.

It was probably my favourite film of those I watched last year.

[Tech-UK]

Two have been mentioned, but I will mention them again.

The Big Lebowski (original release)
Equilibrium
The Italian Job (2003)

I have left reviews for The Big Lebowski and Equilibrium.

[Andy007]

Can anyone tell what the picture quality is like with the italian release of Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1956?

[Erasmus Craven]

Originally Posted by Andy007

Can anyone tell what the picture quality is like with the italian release of Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1956?

Looks the same as the US release by Olive to my eyes. Plus there's some extras, too. Here's a comparison:
http://caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleich...ess=#vergleich

[steve dubbleyoo]

Originally Posted by Andy007

Can anyone tell what the picture quality is like with the italian release of Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1956?

I read somewhere that the Italian release has no chapter stops. Hopefully somebody can prove me wrong.

Also, Joe Dante has said that he has recorded a commentary track with Dana Wynter and Kevin McCarthy, which has never seen the light of day. It might be worth hanging on to see if that surfaces in the near future.

I'm dreaming of Arrow or Masters Of Cinema releasing it in the UK, with the Italian special features and more.

[Erasmus Craven]

Originally Posted by steve dubbleyoo

I read somewhere that the Italian release has no chapter stops. Hopefully somebody can prove me wrong.

Just checked the disc and there are chapter stops - BUT they are only accessible via the menu. You can't jump chapters during the movie. Didn't notice before cos I watched the whole affair. And yes, that audio commentary would be great...

[Andy007]

Originally Posted by steve dubbleyoo

I read somewhere that the Italian release has no chapter stops. Hopefully somebody can prove me wrong.

Also, Joe Dante has said that he has recorded a commentary track with Dana Wynter and Kevin McCarthy, which has never seen the light of day. It might be worth hanging on to see if that surfaces in the near future.

I'm dreaming of Arrow or Masters Of Cinema releasing it in the UK, with the Italian special features and more.

Thanks for the info, i think i may hang fire a bit longer and see if the UK can get a release

[Cevolution]

Originally Posted by Det. Bullock

PS: also, if down under you have the slightly censored version of The Avengers on BD like in the uk, the italian version is uncut.

If you are referring to the spear, it's not censored on the Australian disc.

[HuggyBear73]

Anyone get MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE or CEMETERY MAN? Curious to know about the transfers ect...

[Super Sonic]

Gomorra Stagione 1 with Italian DTS-HD MA 5.1

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Gomor...lu-ray/113928/

[Monroville]

Originally Posted by HuggyBear73

Anyone get MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE or CEMETERY MAN? Curious to know about the transfers ect...

MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE screen caps here.

CEMETERY MAN screen caps here.

[Funktion]

Originally Posted by HuggyBear73

Anyone get MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE or CEMETERY MAN? Curious to know about the transfers ect...

The Italian BD of Dellamorte Dellamore (Cemetery Man) is well worth it. It looks good, it has an English language audio track (no subtitles though) and hours of special features, although none of them really much English-friendly.

[HuggyBear73]

Originally Posted by Funktion

The Italian BD of Dellamorte Dellamore (Cemetery Man) is well worth it. It looks good, it has an English language audio track (no subtitles though) and hours of special features, although none of them really much English-friendly.

Thanks, def picking this one up.


EDIT: The screencaps for CM don't appear to be from the CineKult release. Is this an older release?

[I KEEL YOU]

Look for releases from the Medusa label. They are excellent and have several releases that are the best in the world. All of their releases seem to be region locked though.

3:10 to Yuma has the best grain structure, compared to the German/Australian Sony release, and the even more inferior US Lionsgate release:

http://caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleich...ss=1#vergleich

The Departed has a 26 mbps bit rate and AVC codec compared to the US 15 mbps and VC-1 codec.

In my opinion, their release of Nolan's Insomnia is better than the Warner world-wide release, but others have disagreed with me:

http://caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleich...ss=1#vergleich

The Warner blu ray seems to have adjusted the colors compared to the DVD, whereas they remain the same on the Medusa:

http://caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleich...ss=1#vergleich
http://caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleich...ss=1#vergleich

Medusa have also had the best release of Kingdom of Heaven for a long time until the new Fox release from this year. The Medusa is still better in some screencaps:

http://caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleich...iID=21#auswahl

[Dan8700]

For those who understand Italian or Japanese, this could be a nice collector's item.


Ltd steelbook (1 Blu+2 DVD)
http://www.amazon.it/Capitan-Harlock...mia+giovinezza

[digarroonie]

Originally Posted by Erasmus Craven

Just checked the disc and there are chapter stops - BUT they are only accessible via the menu. You can't jump chapters during the movie. Didn't notice before cos I watched the whole affair. And yes, that audio commentary would be great...

It would be! Just posted on the Olive Films thread, that the size of the Sinister Film on disc is quite a bit greater, also slight difference in length

14,545,465,344 bytes Olive Films 1:20:40

18,635,003,904 bytes Sinister Film 1:20:13

Olive Film figures from the DVDBeaver comparison

[digarroonie]

Originally Posted by digarroonie

It would be! Just posted on the Olive Films thread, that the size of the Sinister Film on disc is quite a bit greater, also slight difference in length

14,545,465,344 bytes Olive Films 1:20:40

18,635,003,904 bytes Sinister Film 1:20:13

Olive Film figures from the DVDBeaver comparison

Taking the audio tracks into account this leaves 22Mbps bitrate for the Olive vs 27-28Mbps for the Sinister (depending on the subtitle track size). Whether that indicates superiority for the Sinister may depend on whether they just re-edited & re-encoded the Olive which may well mean it isn't, and just has added compression artifacts.

[digarroonie]

Originally Posted by Erasmus Craven

Looks the same as the US release by Olive to my eyes. Plus there's some extras, too. Here's a comparison:
http://caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleich...ess=#vergleich

Doh, missed this Thanks for the site link, new one for me .

[digarroonie]

Just a heads up, Sinister Film are releasing two titles in two days time:

"Night of the Demon", with both editions

http://www.amazon.it/Notte-Del-Demon...dp/B00QU5IVN2/ 14.84 EUR

Foreign Correspondent (1940) with three of the extras on the Criterion, as well as a photo gallery

Visual Effects in "Foreign Correspondent" with expert Craig Barron (18:56)
Interview with director Alfred Hitchcock from a 1972 episode of The Dick Cavett Show (62:06)
Theatrical Trailer (2:23)

http://www.amazon.it/Il-Prigioniero-...dp/B00QU5IVLO/ 14.84 EUR

also "The Masque of the Red Death" (1964) and Barbarella on 24th March:

http://www.amazon.it/Maschera-Della-...dp/B00SJWY7MS/ 18.82 EUR

http://www.amazon.it/Barbarella-Ugo-...dp/B00SJWYA6G/ 14.84 EUR