Region 4 Winners and Losers

     This disc has been released in Region 1 twice. The first time was in September 8th, 1998 in a bare-bones package that many fans of this film would have picked up upon its release. I was one of those and this disc was one of the first that I ever purchased. It was a very simple disc with audio presented in LPCM 48/16 only. No Dolby Digital of any description! This shows just how early in the DVD game this disc was released. As for features, there were none. The playback went from distributor's logos to copyright warnings to the feature itself. Selecting the menu key presented a static Scene Selection menu with static images and Chapter numbers, but no titles. This initial release featured a full frame open matte transfer that looks to be the origin of this new release as it features some of the same faults (such as the frame jump at 21:35 and the hair on the frame at 65:03). Still, the new version features a much clearer image than the initial Region 1 release.

     The second Region 1 release came in August 26th, 2003 with a Collector's Edition that is basically the same as the release we have here. The Region 1 Collector's Edition features a Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio dub as well as Spanish and French subtitles. Whilst we miss out on the Spanish audio option as well as the Spanish and French subtitles, we get English subtitles on ours which makes it a bit more usable for those English speakers that could be hard of hearing. This would be pretty much a draw with the nod going to the Region 4 version for local affordability and availability along with a PAL transfer. Should you require the Spanish dub or the Spanish or French subtitles then the Region 1 disc would be your best pick. For me, Region 4 gets the win. Thanks, Universal.