Whedonesque : Comments on 8722 : Universal Announce Australia's Serenity DVD Release.

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November 08 2005

Universal Announce Australia's Serenity DVD Release. Special Packaging, and unique bonus material, planned for the DVD. Yip!

OK, this is a huge relief for us in Oz. We won't have the Mighty Llama! We do have to wait a further month, but we don't mind.

So are you other countries ready to get your hands on our packages???

Heh heh I just had to say that!

nixygirl | Firefly&Serenity | 16:01 CET | 33 comments total | tags: australia, universal, serenity dvd

Aussie aussie aussie.

But so not fair they are not the SAME everywhere.

[ edited by SoddingNancyTribe on 2005-11-08 17:20 ]

rivergirl | November 08, 16:19 CET

So, what will I need in order to see an Australian DVD in Canada? I am woefully ignorant about these things.
Suppose you get one of Joss' Q & A's?

Lioness | November 08, 16:58 CET

I always wanted to get my hands on an Aussie package. No, I meant that *g* Ok, now for the stupid question. Are Australian DVDs R2... or a completely different region altogether, which would make sense, really.

XanFan32 | November 08, 17:17 CET

I am very glad to see this. 'Special packaging', hee. Cheers, nixygirl.

gossi | November 08, 17:19 CET

I believe they're R4.

pat32082 | November 08, 17:19 CET

Yup R4 they are!
You can play them on a region free DVD player, and if it isn't region free then you can hack your player.
It doesn't get released until Feb 8th, but worth the wait I'll wager! All of you who would like copies, there are a lot of companies who you can order online with. EzyDVD are one for example. JB HiFi may also do it.This is some mighty fine news!

nixygirl | November 08, 17:30 CET

I won't be surprised if other countries have their own features. Who else here has been tempted to get the Japanese Kill Bill DVDs?

[ edited by eddy on 2005-11-08 15:44 ]

eddy | November 08, 17:44 CET

Ah, score, different packaging and other bonus material! I'm wondering if it'll be the same material, plus extra, or just different, period. Also: we haven't seen the packaging for this one yet. It might turn out to be worse than the US version...although I find that highly doubtfull :-).

Anyway, I'll be paying close attention to this. I have not yet pre-ordered the American DVD, and this Australian one sounds more intriguing. Now we just have to wait for the R2-version. And then I can make a decission. I'll either just buy the best version, or maybe even more than one version if the packages are different enough..

GVH | November 08, 18:37 CET

we haven't seen the packaging for this one yet. It might turn out to be worse than the US version

I was thinking just that! Different doesn't always mean better...

I can just imagine some hacked off exec, deluged with mail going, "Oh, you want something DIFFERENT, do you..." hehe

Rogue Slayer | November 08, 19:08 CET

Oh please, you can't get any worse than the US version!!!

Seriously, a Serenity logo and the damn cast photos is perfectly fine because that's what Serenity/Firefly is about.......the cast and Serenity. Reavers are there to move along the story of these characters, they're not the army of doom that controls the fate of the universe.......boooo.

And there better be an American special edition or something...or I'll get the Australian version as well.

I wish Joss was Boss of everything, it's kinda sad he doesn't have complete control of his products....George Lucas style.

(Edited for spelling and punctuation)

[ edited by SoddingNancyTribe on 2005-11-08 18:54 ]

ChosenOne5376 | November 08, 20:39 CET

This is interesting news. I want to hear about the Region 2 version though.

Razor | November 08, 20:45 CET

How do you hack into your DVD player to make it region 0 nixygirl?

Apocalypse | November 08, 21:26 CET

While Australia is R4, the region coding is often identical to R2, and can usually be played in European DVD players. So if you live in Europe, you won't necessarily need a region free player.

Just about every player can be unlocked, though, and since both Europe and Australia use the PAL standard, you won't have to worry about your TV not being able to process the signal. If you live in the US or Canada, you'll have to make sure your TV is able to receive both PAL and NTSC. Or you'll need a player that translates the information.

EDIT: Apocalypse, what's the name of your player? You need to know both the brand (e.g. Philips) and the model (e.g. DVD-630).

[ edited by pjalne on 2005-11-08 19:34 ]

pjalne | November 08, 21:33 CET

So, I guess I'll be getting my Serenity DVD from Australia then. Sweet... :)

Djungelurban | November 08, 21:37 CET

Yes, I meant to ask in my previous post, if anyone knew any sites with info on how to hack your DVD player. I've heard that it is always different, depending on which model you have.

Razor | November 08, 21:39 CET

You'll usually get the best result by just searching for your DVD model on google along with "open region" or something.

Again, if you live in an NTSC area, make sure your TV can handle the signal.

I'm sure there's a joke in that last sentence somewhere, but I'm not gonna dig it out.

[ edited by pjalne on 2005-11-08 19:50 ]

pjalne | November 08, 21:50 CET

There is a Windows based tool *COUGH*called 'Region-Free DVD'*COUGH* that works amazingly well, it's a great solution for those DVD drives that are difficult hacking (like the one in my Dell laptop).

Caroline | November 08, 22:12 CET

There's a web site that will tell you if your dvd can be set region free here.

technovamp | November 08, 22:26 CET

Hurrah for the Aussies! Now some special packaging and super extras for the UK.

lone fashionable wolf | November 08, 22:32 CET

*hands Caroline some cough-sirup*. There, there.

Anyway, here I was thinking that every self-respecting movie lover would have a multiregion DVD-player....but then again, I mostly have it so I can buy region 1, which does not have PAL speed-up and is usually cheaper (way cheaper for most tv shows), has earlier release dates for most movies and quite often more extra's. Doesn't mean my collection doesn't contain more R2 than R1 though, but that's just because the bargain bins here don't contain much R1...or at all, really ;-)

GVH | November 09, 00:36 CET

Stupid DVD region restrictions. :-(

I want the extra material! But I couldn't play the disc.

AnotherFireflyfan | November 09, 01:55 CET

oh! My computer! Thanks Caroline. I was just thinking about my DVD player and TV - which I'm sure cannot handle PAL.

Lioness | November 09, 02:21 CET

It really does suck that the DVD won't be the same everywhere. But hey, at least we'll know there will be a (hopefully) better-looking Serenity DVD out there with more great special features.

This is the perfect excuse for me to get that region-free DVD player I've been wanting to buy. I will definitely be getting the Australian DVD, as well as the US one, just because despite the horrendous packaging, the menus look great and the special features sounds nice. Plus, I'm pretty sure the video quality is far superior to this here illegal bootleg I have downloaded on my PC.

Oh...wait...did I just say that? Hee hee.

Who else here has been tempted to get the Japanese Kill Bill DVDs?

Oh, do not get me started on that... I'm also still wanting to see The Whole Bloody Affair version that was shown once at a festival. Damn Disney and their no NC-17 policy...

UnpluggedCrazy | November 09, 05:12 CET

Oh crap, I already placed an order on Amazon the other one. Now I'll have to cancel it and get this one.

...

Or maybe I'll just get both. :)

NickSeng | November 09, 06:07 CET

One from each region! Now there's an idea!

nixygirl | November 09, 06:43 CET

Well, I'm fully expecting to get one from each region. I'll get the US one when it comes out, because I don't want to wait, and then it sounds like I'll have to get the Aussie one, too, and then we'll have to see what the R2 one looks like, when that's announced.

Who else here has been tempted to get the Japanese Kill Bill DVDs?

Erm - me. But I'm still waiting for the promised feature-heavy set of both Volumes together, which I was planning to get the non-Japanese one of. But in that case, we are talking 2 different versions of the film, not just different features. And I like both versions, so I feel justified getting both. It's only impatience which is driving me to get the US Serenity straight away, rather than waiting to find out which one(s) turn out to be best.

Kiddo | November 09, 18:15 CET

I'll get the North American version, but I'll wait a year or so to see if Universal releases a special edition before getting an Australian and/or UK version as well.

Kris | November 09, 19:01 CET

I'm not sure what I will do. I might wait and see when the Region 2 comes out, and what the features are, and if it's similar to the R1, I will hopefully try and get the Australian version. Failing that I will settle for R1 or R2.

My only problem is, if I were to order loads of R1 DVDs from Amazon.com, for Christmas, to be shipped here to Ireland, how long it would take if I used Super Saver delivery. Would Serenity hold everything up until 20th December or would it be shipped seperately and everything else shipped earlier? That I could cope with, but I couldn't wait so long for them all.

Razor | November 10, 01:26 CET

PlayUSA.com is your friend (well, it works well for me, but I'm in the UK, so I'm only guessing it's as good for Ireland). They send everything out separately as they come in, no postage charge, and often things even arrive early (although over the Christmas period, I wouldn't count on that). It's available for pre-order there, too.

Kiddo | November 10, 02:26 CET

I really hope it resembles the posters we saw here in Aus. It might be just because I'm an Aussie, but so far all of the US promo art has been really unappealing to me, and (I don't know if I'm in a minority or not) I really loved the Aussie posters. I hope the pakaging is shiny ;) or maybe holographic like Donnie Darko DC (its appropriate, with River).

What does everyone else want to see?

buffbuff | November 10, 06:50 CET

or maybe holographic like Donnie Darko DC

You guys got a holographic Donnie Darko director's cut cover?!

Color me envious (though, to be fair, the original cut is vastly superior...but still, holographic!).

UnpluggedCrazy | November 10, 07:20 CET

Do PlayUSA items have to have duty paid on them?

Razor | November 10, 23:12 CET

If it costs enough to warrant it, but not usually for single films, in my experience. On big box sets they often throw you to a warning screen, so you have to say you "accept" that you may be liable to customs duty. I don't know exactly where the cut-off is, but in my experience I think it is only the big box sets.

And then sometimes they will put on a label with a rather ambiguous check-box as to whether it is "Gift" or "Merchandise", and sometimes it will then sneak through without customs charge. I doubt you'd ever accrue any without the warning page, though, but it comes down in the end to the value.

Kiddo | November 11, 17:09 CET

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