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Region 4 Winners and Losers

Region 4 Winners and Losers

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Explanatory Notes
Additions or corrections (Please refer to the Explanatory Notes before emailing an addition or correction to this listing)
Title Best
City of God (Cidade de Deus)R2UK

    Right, things here are a little complicated. Remember that the Region 4 release is a rental-only release, not available to purchase until March, 2004 apparently.

    The Region 1 version is not slated for release until December, 2003 (with various dates being quoted depending upon which site you check out). I have not yet been able to track down any definite information on what will be on that DVD, nor any preview reviews. Region 2 (at least the UK part thereof) has had this release on sale for about a month now and by all accounts it is the same version we have available for rent in Region 4 in every way. Region 2 (Germany) appears to be getting a slightly different version with German dubbed soundtracks in Dolby Digital 5.1 and dts 5.1 sound. Unfortunately my German is not good enough to comment upon what extras are on the DVD, which appears due for release on 20th November, but with German subtitles only would be of limited use to English speakers anyone.

    There is a Region 3 release available which features no extras but does come with a dts 5.1 (768 Kb/s) soundtrack in addition to the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. By the account I found, it seems the dts soundtrack is slightly better than the Dolby Digital, most notably due to better detail and presence. However, the video on the Region 3, whilst still very good apparently, is not quite as good as the near-reference quality Region 2 (UK) version. The Region 3 DVD is however available for under $20 delivered from a well known HK based site.

    At this time, the best release is the Region 2 (UK) - the same transfer we have here but available for purchase now. If you cannot wait for the Region 4 release to become available for purchase, I would strongly recommend the Region 2 version (around $30 delivered from that HK based site at the moment). If you are happy to rent, then do so and buy this Region 4 release when it comes available in March, 2004.

    UPDATE - if you want a reasonably comprehensive look at some of the various releases available around the world then check out DVD Compare.