Region Free Freedom

[formula_nebula]

I've been region free for a little over 2 years now. One of the best investments i've ever made. That, and my Bluetooth headphones, for late night listening.

[Brutalizer79]

It's been about 2 years for me since going region-free. It didn't help my bank account any but I love the freedom it provides.

[mja345]

Some of my favorite Region B releases:

Thieves Highway (Arrow)
Brute Force (Arrow)
The Naked City (Arrow)
Hands Over the City (Eureka)
Withnail and I/How to Get Ahead in Advertising (Arrow)
Ruggles of Red Gap (Eureka)
Blue Collar (Indicator)
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (BFI)
Smoke (Studio Canal)

[Monterey Jack]

Always amazes me how some people will drop $100+ on movies every single week, and yet will balk at laying down the same money on a region-free player. I have close to thirty region-B titles in my collection now, sometimes both those and the U.S. releases to have access to all the available extras/transfers of favorite movies.

[steve_dave]

Originally Posted by heineken

Grey market or not, going all-region is the best investment I have made.

I was responding to someone trying to understand how discs are able to move between territories but digital files do not. Well, digital does not cross territiories for the most part.

[javy]

Originally Posted by mja345

Some of my favorite Region B releases:

Thieves Highway (Arrow)
Brute Force (Arrow)
The Naked City (Arrow)
Hands Over the City (Eureka)
Withnail and I/How to Get Ahead in Advertising (Arrow)
Ruggles of Red Gap (Eureka)
Blue Collar (Indicator)
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (BFI)
Smoke (Studio Canal)

Ya better believe those three Dassin titles were among some of my first pickups.

As for The Long Goodbye, I love Arrow's cover artwork and booklet for thier release.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by steve_dave

That’s the grey market: products only authorized for sale in one country or territory but imported into another.

E-tailers and customs officials are supposed to stop grey market trade. But it rarely happens unless a large quantity of the same item are discovered. Disney was actually able to stop the grey market for Asian films they had the rights to. With the sale of Miramax to another party, that “big corporation” protection ended.

I don't know the legalities of it, but if it were outright illegal I doubt massive sites like Amazon would routinely sell imports (which they do). They don't even just do it through resellers, Amazon themselves often stock region-free imports from Umbrella, Indicator, etc.

[brainofj72]

I’ve been collecting for about 20 years and still haven’t gone region-free. It’s caused some mild annoyances, but nothing too severe. But there being no sign of a US release for Polanski’s Based on a True Story might just push me over the edge at last.

[steve_dave]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

I don't know the legalities of it, but if it were outright illegal I doubt massive sites like Amazon would routinely sell imports (which they do). They don't even just do it through resellers, Amazon themselves often stock region-free imports from Umbrella, Indicator, etc.

The key point is:

The retailer must care.

Best Buy and Target do not ship outside the United States. YesAsia has two websites: a site that sells & ships to most countries except North America and a site that does sell & ship to North America.

The add on to that key point is:

Customs must care.

As I said, usually for individual orders, customs just lets it pass. Orders that are bulk orders may not pass customs. Remember when I said Cubans used to buy electronics in the US and bring them back to Cuba? US officials didn’t care and it wasn’t like the person(s) even hid these items either. But a crackdown happened and now that happens far less.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by steve_dave

The key point is:

The retailer must care.

I'm saying I think Amazon would care if it were outright illegal.

[Crow T. Robot]

Like others have said, I've been Region free for over two years.....

Decided to go RF to purchase BFI Napoleon and the updated World At War from Network

I originally ordered Sony #3500 model but received a Sony #3700 from 220 Electronics, maybe they were out of 3500's

I show 41 Regioned locked BR, all from the UK...I even bought a couple of Criterions, mainly due to price.

This site has schooled me to selecting the "best version" of a Blu-ray...Yes I did but the Kino Nosferatu but corrected that mistake?

I like the freedom to make the best Price/Quality versions , without wishing i had a RF player.

Now out of the 3 Blu-ray players I own, only 1 is RF. My Sony has been error free for those two years

Steve

[moviegeek1992]

Originally Posted by brainofj72

I’ve been collecting for about 20 years and still haven’t gone region-free. It’s caused some mild annoyances, but nothing too severe. But there being no sign of a US release for Polanski’s Based on a True Story might just push me over the edge at last.

Tbh, due to the controversy surrounding the director, it's doubtful a US or even UK release will be coming anytime soon, if ever. Apparently the Spanish release is the English friendly one to get.

[bonehica]

Originally Posted by Crow T. Robot

This site has schooled me to selecting the "best version" of a Blu-ray...Yes I did but the Kino Nosferatu but corrected that mistake?

And this is the double edge sword. I just discovered this place a few months ago, which is a bit odd seeing as I have been collecting since the beginning of the format. Also, I collected DVDs since the beginning of THAT format. I thought I had built myself a respectable collection, but then I come here and am humbled, not just by the size of some of the ones here, but the quality of the material. I mean I would go to other places and check out reviews to find out if a blu was going to look like shiite or not, however the level of scrutinization that occurs here is intimidating. To go along with that, I then find out many of my blus are of the inferior kind compared to those in other regions. It's kind of deflating. So, I am dipping my toes into the RF arena. Baby steps to start. I haven't modded my player yet and only have a couple of region Bs so far. I thought upgrading DVDs to blu sucked. Now there is upgrading blus to blu AND upgrading blus to 4K! And, I know I don't have to do it, but I am OCD so...you know...I don't have a choice. This hobby can certainly be maddening

[javy]

Originally Posted by bonehica

And this is the double edge sword. I just discovered this place a few months ago, which is a bit odd seeing as I have been collecting since the beginning of the format. Also, I collected DVDs since the beginning of THAT format. I thought I had built myself a respectable collection, but then I come here and am humbled, not just by the size of some of the ones here, but the quality of the material. I mean I would go to other places and check out reviews to find out if a blu was going to look like shiite or not, however the level of scrutinization that occurs here is intimidating. To go along with that, I then find out many of my blus are of the inferior kind compared to those in other regions. It's kind of deflating. So, I am dipping my toes into the RF arena. Baby steps to start. I haven't modded my player yet and only have a couple of region Bs so far. I thought upgrading DVDs to blu sucked. Now there is upgrading blus to blu AND upgrading blus to 4K! And, I know I don't have to do it, but I am OCD so...you know...I don't have a choice. This hobby can certainly be maddening

[bipbop13]

My first & so far only player is region free. I knew when I started collecting that it would be less of a headache to just get one & get it over with. Probably have 20-30 in my collection. Most/all of them are for releases that aren't in the U.S. (yet.).

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by bonehica

And this is the double edge sword. I just discovered this place a few months ago, which is a bit odd seeing as I have been collecting since the beginning of the format. Also, I collected DVDs since the beginning of THAT format. I thought I had built myself a respectable collection, but then I come here and am humbled, not just by the size of some of the ones here, but the quality of the material. I mean I would go to other places and check out reviews to find out if a blu was going to look like shiite or not, however the level of scrutinization that occurs here is intimidating. To go along with that, I then find out many of my blus are of the inferior kind compared to those in other regions. It's kind of deflating. So, I am dipping my toes into the RF arena. Baby steps to start. I haven't modded my player yet and only have a couple of region Bs so far. I thought upgrading DVDs to blu sucked. Now there is upgrading blus to blu AND upgrading blus to 4K! And, I know I don't have to do it, but I am OCD so...you know...I don't have a choice. This hobby can certainly be maddening

I put off going region-free for a long time because I didn't want the added expense/stress of looking to other countries for releases on top of my own. Once I made the leap though I didn't regret it. Like I said on page one, there's actually not a hell of a lot that a Region A person needs to import, even with a collection the size of mine. It's not like I'm importing stuff every week.

It allows you to get the best version of movies you really like, but for the most part you'll be good with Region A stuff. I think it's less scary than it seems.

[notman]

Originally Posted by chas speed

I recently bought Family Guy 1-16 DVD(about 260 episodes) and American Dad 1-12 DVD (about 216) episodes from amazon.co.uk for around 40 dollars each. Didn't Amazon.co.uk usually have a 10 Euro off sale every year around mid-January? I must have missed it this year.

They had 10 pounds off 50 at least two years in a row to celebrate winning a national customer satisfaction survey. Unfortunately they dropped to 5th place this year. I had been looking forward to that sale. I probably buy more blu-rays from the UK than I do from the US now, and I'm in the US.

[Zarak]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

I'm saying I think Amazon would care if it were outright illegal.

Amazon sells not only gray-area but also outright bootlegs directly, although they're largely oblivious to that fact and will remove the items if the rightsholder complains.

If an item is available through its suppliers, then Amazon will sell it, and their media suppliers sometimes carry gray-area items and straight-up bootlegs.

Amazon doesn't research the legitimacy of every item it sells—it just sells. If someone lodges a copyright complaint, then Amazon will take the item down, but if no one complains, they'll keep selling a bootleg in perpetuity.

[StingingVelvet]

Resellers can sell bootlegs on Amazon, but I've never known actual Amazon to sell them. That would be news to me.

[ltb2.0]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

Resellers can sell bootlegs on Amazon, but I've never known actual Amazon to sell them. That would be news to me.

They will also FBA orders with bootlegs on rare occasions. I have a bootleg Tales of Terror that attests to that.