Central do Brasil/Central Station

[Cremildo]

One of the most well-known Brazilian films worldwide, nominated for two Oscars (Best Actress - Fernanda Montenegro, and Best Foreign Language Film), it'll finally be released on Blu-ray on March 21.

The film was restored last year for its 20th anniversary.

Per site listings, it's region free, with English, French, and Spanish subtitles.

[Mocorongo]

For the first time ever this movie is being released in its OAR, 2.35:1. Previous releases (if I am not mistaken) were only made available as 4:3.

I haven't looked into the french Blu-ray released in December 2018 or the Brazilian release from "Bretz Filmes", that hit the stores in March 20, 2019.

However I noticed the following differences:

- French has portuguese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, brazilian listed as Dolby Digital 2.0.
- French listed as region B (others untested), brazilian is region-free.

- Subtitles: English, spanish and french for the brazilian release, and french only for the FRENCH release. That is, according to Blu-ray.com:

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Centr...lu-ray/219313/

I haven't checked any Blu-ray, however I found this example (an extract from probably the french release), and from the looks of it it's pretty good.

-

- The brazilian release also has:

- Picture gallery from the production, made by Walter Salles, Walter Carvalho, Paula Prandini and Ricardo Sá.

- The short documentary "Socorro Nobre" (Life Somewhere Else, 1995), from director Walter Salles.

*****
The movie was produced by both Brazil and France, and apparently it was remastered in France, so that explains why it looks good. *

* I am saying this because most releases here in Brazil are unfortunately worse than the rest of the world, and the home video market is these days a mere shadow of what once was - has practically died and it isn't in any way similar to the US and european countries.

That's why I am always suspicious if the brazilian release hasn't been butchered somehow.

*********
P.S. Correction: this is the 1st time the movie is being released in its OAR (2.35:1) in Brazil, since the DVD was 4:3.

However in DVD it was released before, in all other countries, and in 2.35:1.

http://dvdcompare.net/comparisons/film.php?fid=6124

I also discovered the following extras are missing from this release:

- Region 1 (DVD):

- Audio Commentary by Director Walter Salles, Producer Arthur Cohn and Actress Fernanda Montenegro
- Theatrical trailer

- Region 4 (DVD, Brazil):

"Making Of" featurette (10mins)

* Interviews:
- Fernanda Montenegro (10mins)
- Vinicius de Oliveira, Walter Salles (12mins)

- Theatrical Trailer
- Production Notes

[Aunt Peg]

Are there any other sellers apart from Saraiava where I can order this Blu Ray from. I can't seem to progress from the shopping cart and further and am continually looped back.

[Cremildo]

Originally Posted by Aunt Peg

Are there any other sellers apart from Saraiava where I can order this Blu Ray from. I can't seem to progress from the shopping cart and further and am continually looped back.

Saraiva is having trouble. I had to cancel my order there, although it was easy enough to complete the process... Way back on March 11. They keep postponing the delivery date.

I re-ordered it on this site called Livraria Cultura. They ship internationally.

[Aunt Peg]

I'm out of luck as I'm required to have a CPF to purchase anything.

I'll just have to keep an eye out on eBay for a copy.

[Mocorongo]

Originally Posted by Aunt Peg

I'm out of luck as I'm required to have a CPF to purchase anything.

I'll just have to keep an eye out on eBay for a copy.

You could easily use a CPF generator but that won't do you any good since the CPF number is not only required for creating a new account, it is also used to verify the purchase made by a credit card. If the number does not match with the owner then the operation is canceled before any charge.

As far as I know Livraria Cultura does not ship internationally (this isn't mentioned anywhere in their site) and there are no options here in Brazil to ship to other countries. The websites are not ready for it since they can't even estimate how much it is going to cost (it would require the sellers to visit the post office website first, to get a quote). *

* I just made a simulation (from here to Orlando-FL) to check how much it would cost to ship a Blu-ray, and while the disc can be found for US$ 15 (or 59 BRL) the shipping was estimated at US$ 35. To give you an idea how expensive that is, Saraiva is charging me US$ 1 (Livraria Cultura = US$ 3.69) to send the same disc to my local address.

It's better to wait for someone at eBay or Amazon.com to make this movie available in Blu-ray. The R1 (DVD) is now OOP and it was released by Columbia Tristar, while the R2 (PAL/DVD) by Buena Vista/Miramax.

I hope there's not any pending issue that might prevent this from being re-released in the U.S. And if the movie is made available there then I hope they include all the bonus contents missing from these two Blu-rays.

[Cremildo]

Sorry for not being able to help.
Too bad that the Brazilian Amazon site doesn't sell movies.

[Cremildo]

Finally received the damn thing. Re-ordered from Saraiva (after canceling my first order).

[joluboga]

Originally Posted by Cremildo

Finally received the damn thing. Re-ordered from Saraiva (after canceling my first order).

Would you be interested in helping us out to get this one and other Brazilian BRs, by buying them and shipping them internationally? I'd be happy to send the total cost in advance =)

And if you're interested in getting some Mexican BRs, I could help you out too.

[Cremildo]

Originally Posted by joluboga

Would you be interested in helping us out to get this one and other Brazilian BRs, by buying them and shipping them internationally? I'd be happy to send the total cost in advance =)

And if you're interested in getting some Mexican BRs, I could help you out too.

You can try and order it from the same site I did, now that they finally have enough copies in stock - it ships internationally.

[joluboga]

Originally Posted by Cremildo

You can try and order it from the same site I did, now that they finally have enough copies in stock - it ships internationally.

I wish I could, but they're asking for my passport to register in that site, which is really weird and I don't have one.

[Cremildo]

Originally Posted by joluboga

I wish I could, but they're asking for my passport to register in that site, which is really weird and I don't have one.

Your passport!? That's bizarre. I have accounts in many foreign online stores (as you probably do) and was never asked for my passport number.

Like Aunt Peg, perhaps it'd be best to wait and see if copies turn up on eBay. I've never shipped anything overseas, and to be honest, I don't trust my country's postal services enough to try.

[Cremildo]

It must be required by law, or something. Go figure. It'll probably be no use giving you links to other sites since they probably ask for the passport, too.

[Mocorongo]

I am going to assume the french Blu-ray is region B locked, so it's no use to order from there, and since the brazilian one is region-A (all Blu-rays released here can be played in the U.S./Canada) then it's the one I would choose.

My passport ID has two letters and 6 numbers, I believe this is also checked in their database to see if matches with the person's name. I can't order for someone else because shipping is too much expensive, I don't know how Livraria Cultura can ask for US$ 12 (= 50 BRL) when the equivalent to the USPS (our post office) in Brazil charges everyone US$ 35 for a mere Blu-ray to be sent to the U.S. That's right, the Brazilian post office ("Correios" it's the name) says it's US$ 35 (in my opinion this is very, very expensive, and the reason why I only purchase multiple things from the U.S. at the same time, to save shipping costs).

A shipping that only costs 50 BRL is like Amazon.com charging 50 cents. I have seen fast shipping inside the country with a cost similar to this, so it's highly unlikely it would only cost 50 BRL ( = US$ 12).

It's odd that Livraria Cultura offers the option to ship internationally while their FAQs don't mention anything about it.

[Daniel_Zuko]

Originally Posted by Mocorongo

I don't know how Livraria Cultura can ask for US$ 12 (= 50 BRL) when the equivalent to the USPS (our post office) in Brazil charges everyone US$ 35 for a mere Blu-ray to be sent to the U.S.

Two reasons: Livraria Cultura uses a business flatrate and they don't ship with correios. I never received any shipping from LivCult via correios, they always used some third party.

Second reason COULD be the distance. If you ship from, let's say, Santa Catarina oder from Manaus is a big difference in the price because Correios calculates the price by distance. That's why you cannot buy a stamp for your mail in Sao Paulo and put it in a mailbox in Rio. I learned that the hard way.

[fait]

BDInfo and/or screencaps anyone?

[Aunt Peg]

I picked up a copy of this on eBay. It cost me about $90 Australian and boy was it worth it. The restoration is sensational.

[Uptight]

What are the chances of a Central Station Criterion release? It’s not available on any streaming and the DVD/Blu-ray releases are nearly impossible to find for a reasonable price. I think it’s only a matter of time for this one.

Good question. Criterion should pick this one.

https://www.reddit.com/r/criterion/c...ntral_station/

Quote:

***********
There are three recent Central Station Blu Rays releases availables. There's a Brazilian release (region free) Blu Ray that was part of the 20th anniversary restoration. A region B release from France. As well as a region A release from Taiwan. The Brazilian version has English subtitles but is pretty expensive to import. The French version is a lot cheaper but is region specific and does not have English subtitles. The Taiwanese version is region A but does not have English subtitles. Great film and worthy of a Criterion release. However, I'd settle for a reasonably priced English subtitled blu ray.
***********

Also, while they are at it, please do import all previous bonus contents from the former DVDs. And if possible add new ones.

http://dvdcompare.net/comparisons/film.php?fid=6124

About being too expensive, that's not really true at least nowadays. They are selling in here (a local eBay):

LINK

For at least R$ 75. That's expensive for us, but if I convert to US dollars that would be US$ 13-15.

The problem is these sites do not ship outside the country. From what I can tell eBay also doesn't have it.

https://www.blu-ray.com/Central-Stat...8601/#Releases

[PietroMorais]

Originally Posted by Uptight

What are the chances of a Central Station Criterion release? It’s not available on any streaming and the DVD/Blu-ray releases are nearly impossible to find for a reasonable price. I think it’s only a matter of time for this one.

Good question. Criterion should pick this one.

https://www.reddit.com/r/criterion/c...ntral_station/

Quote:

***********
There are three recent Central Station Blu Rays releases availables. There's a Brazilian release (region free) Blu Ray that was part of the 20th anniversary restoration. A region B release from France. As well as a region A release from Taiwan. The Brazilian version has English subtitles but is pretty expensive to import. The French version is a lot cheaper but is region specific and does not have English subtitles. The Taiwanese version is region A but does not have English subtitles. Great film and worthy of a Criterion release. However, I'd settle for a reasonably priced English subtitled blu ray.
***********

Also, while they are at it, please do import all previous bonus contents from the former DVDs. And if possible add new ones.

http://dvdcompare.net/comparisons/film.php?fid=6124

About being too expensive, that's not really true at least nowadays. They are selling in here (a local eBay):

LINK

For at least R$ 75. That's expensive for us, but if I convert to US dollars that would be US$ 13-15.

The problem is these sites do not ship outside the country. From what I can tell eBay also doesn't have it.

https://www.blu-ray.com/Central-Stat...8601/#Releases

Check it:
https://www.amazon.com.br/Blu-ray-Ce...a-f477d47705b9