Region 4 Winners and Losers

    This DVD has recently been released worldwide.  Both the Region 2 and Region 1 versions of the disc are identical to our Region 4 release.

    Interestingly though, Germany appears to have received two different releases of the DVD, the first being the same single disc version as released elsewhere around the world, but also a separate “2-Disc Special Edition”. The first disc in this 2-disc set is identical to the other Region releases, whilst the second disc contains one extra only; a 117 minute documentary. It is unclear what language this new documentary is recorded in (presumably German) and more importantly it is also unclear whether or not this new documentary includes English subtitles. Hmmm, very intriguing, however unless you speak German and/or want to take the big risk that English subtitles have been included, I would ignore this 2-Disc SE German release and stick to our Region 4 product.

    If anyone reading this review does have the German 2-Disc SE, please post me a comment to confirm the details of the extra documentary. For now, I am going to put this one down as being equal across regions (as far as English-speaking DVD buyers are concerned).

Adendum 20 November 2004:Refer reader comments posted below. It is not only the German release, but there are a couple of other different European Region 2 releases that also incorporate this 2-disc SE. Of these, the Dutch Region 2 version appears to be the version of choice, as it does indeed include English Language subtitles (along with several other language subtitles) for the second disc 117minute documentary. A reader advises that this second disc documentary - actually it is broken down into 2 documentaries, adding up to 117minutes - is a quite comprehensive analysis of all elements of the production, hosted by the director himself, and so it is very well worthwhile seeing for fans of this film. I have now amended the listing to confirm that Region 2 Dutch is the preferred version.