Region 4 Winners and Losers

    This disc has been released in Region 2 Japan (of course) and Region 3 Hong Kong as well as here in Region 4. It is due for release in Region 1 in early 2004. Of all the versions available, the film's home country of Japan gets the best package of all, but with a catch. Here is a break-down of the extras of each different version:

Region 2 Japan 2 Disc set

     Disc 1

• Audio Commentary (Japanese only, no subtitles)
• Dolby Digital 5.1 and dts 5.1 mixes in Japanese
• Theatrical Trailer
• Teaser Trailer
• English and Japanese subtitles for feature

     Disc 2

• Days of Returner - making-of featurette
• Interview with cast & crew
• Behind the Scenes featurette
• VFX documentaries on the special effects
• Deleted Scenes
• Flash Frames (scenes montage with music)
• Theatrical Trailers and Teasers, various
• 3 Press Conference Appearances by cast & crew
• Returner 2 Teaser Trailer (storyboards only)
• 55 Page booklet
• Custom fold-out packaging
• No English subtitles on extras

Region 3 Hong Kong single disc version

• Dolby Digital 5.1 and dts 5.1 mixes in Japanese
• Theatrical Trailer
• Star Files (cast & director bios)
• Cast & Director interviews
• Making-Of featurette
• English subtitles on extras
• English and Chinese subtitles for feature

Region 4 Australia

• Dolby Digital English, Japanese, Italian and Spanish 5.1 mixes
• Bonus Trailers

    This is a tricky one, as while the Japanese disc is by far the best, many of the extras will be unusable by anyone except those who speak Japanese as there are no subtitle options for the extras. For ease of use, the Region 3 Hong Kong disc is probably the best pick, having English subtitles for the extras as well as the quite good dts track. Given that the Region 4 disc is currently a rental only option, the one to own would be the Region 3 Hong Kong disc. However, should you be lucky enough to speak Japanese...