Region 4 Winners and Losers

    The Region 4 seems to be a direct port of the mk2 Region 2 release from France. If you have that release, there's no sense in buying the Region 4. If you don't, there's no sense in not buying the Region 4.

    The previous Region 4 release from Force Video was a direct copy of the UK Region 2 release from Eureka. I am given to understand that this was either a transfer from the US laserdisc edition or an NTSC to PAL conversion of the Image Region 1 release. In either case, it is no match for the new Region 4. It included only Cops and The Balloonatic as extras.

    The US Region 1 releases were from Image (coupled with Steamboat Bill Jr.) and Kino, the latter having the lesser video quality. Both are sepia toned and nowhere near as clear and sharp as the new version. The Kino has the shorts The Playhouse and Cops as extras.

    The choice is clear. The new version is the one to get.