Region 4 Winners and Losers

    The film I reviewed just before this one (The Mark of Zorro) is also from Fox Home Entertainment. In Region 1 both films are part of the 'Studio Classics' series, and despite the lack of film restoration they are supported with a good range of Extras. I don't know how they are being marketed here (perhaps 'Studio Cast-offs'?) but their presentation here is a disgrace. At a time when the studios are cracking down on video piracy and complaining about parallel imports they have the cheek to offer these half baked discs to the local audience. For this film we are missing out on:

• An alternative version of the film on the flip side of the 2-sided DVD. As I mentioned earlier, Ford was asked to trim his original cut of the film. His first attempt at a cut, 30 minutes or so longer than the cinema release, has survived and is presented on the Region 1 DVD.
• A feature on this semi director's cut.
• An audio commentary on the cinema release version featuring Wyatt Earp III amongst others.
• Theatrical trailer.
• Behind the scenes still gallery.
• The original 1.0 mono audio track (which is apparently better than the stereo remix).

    I hope I don't need to spell out which is the preferred version?

    The Region 1 version misses out on:

• German and Italian audio tracks
• All of the subtitle tracks except for the Spanish and English.

    The language tracks may be a consideration depending upon your language preferences.