Get A Region-Free DVD Player

I'm a George Clooney placid kind of guy (without the good looks, sadly), but nothing gets me madder than the issue of DVD Region Codes.

Never heard of them? Let me explain.

Just imagine you buy a music CD from another country while on vacation, or maybe order it online. But when you put said disc in your player there's no sweet music - just a terse message telling you "Wrong Region: North American CDs are coded to only play in North America, European CDs will only play in Europe" . . . and so on.

You'd feel like smashing a guitar or putting your foot through a drum set, right? (Relax, music fans - CDs will play anywhere on the planet).

Not so with DVDs. There really IS a Region Code preventing you from playing DVDs acquired from other countries.

So say you live in the U.S. or Canada and you or your Uncle Joe just returned from Europe, for instance, with the latest James Bond flick Casino Royale - or a fascinating tourist documentary on the Rhine Valley. You pop it in the DVD player and get that darned "Wrong Region" message. Ditto if you live in London and bought a Grand Canyon tourist DVD on your trip to the U.S.

Hello, that's one expensive Frisbee you just bought!

A few small companies issue "Region-free" DVD discs that will play anywhere in the world, but the studio majors don't.

Let's be blunt: The whole region coding issue (there are six different regions!!) is a gigantic scam perpetrated by the movie industry. The studios want to control when DVDs will be released in different parts of the world and they also want to stop YOU picking up a bargain while on your travels. For example I've seen the three Jurassic Park movies in a box set for $15 U.S. while visiting England. Citizen Kane special edition? $8 U.S. in London. Ditto Bridge on the River Kwai 2-disc edition. The classic Brief Encounter special edition? An astounding $5 in the UK.

Remember - there's nothing illegal about buying whatever DVDs you like from anywhere you like on the planet. Hollywood just doesn't want you to be able to watch them! But it goes beyond getting a bargain. Some foreign material, like documentaries or obscure art films will NEVER be available in North America. What about the rights of the consumer - why shouldn't you be able to buy what you like and bring it home to use here - just like you can with music CDs?

Well you should. All power to countries like Australia and New Zealand that argue DVD Region Codes violate international free trade rules - and want to ban this vile practice.

Now, here are the current codes: REGION 1 -- USA, Canada REGION 2 -- Japan, Europe, South Africa, Middle East, Greenland REGION 3 -- South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Parts of South East Asia REGION 4 -- Australia, New Zealand, Latin America (including Mexico) REGION 5 -- Eastern Europe, Russia, India, Africa REGION 6 -- China

The good news for DVD fans is that you CAN beat the Region Code scam - and there isn't a thing Hollywood can do about it!

How? Buy a Region-Free DVD Player. You'll find lots of them on sale at leading electronics stores and "big Box" discount stores and some of them are astoundingly cheap. For example, I picked up a Norcent player for less than $50 from Wal-Mart and it lasted three years, happily playing PAL discs from Europe and NTSC discs from North America.

I got an even better deal with my latest region free model: I picked up an Accura player (made by Citizen) in a fire sale at a big box grocery store 18 months agoi for an amazing $29.99!!

These cheap players will do an excellent job, but if you are willing to pay more for an upconverting player for superior picture I can also recommend the LG brand. Some are less than $100. Toshiba, Philips and Daewoo are some of the other companies offering Region Free DVD players.

You might not think this Region Code thing is a big deal, but I believe it is. Guaranteed, if you travel you are going to see must-have DVDs at great prices.

I'm watching with interest to see how the movie industry plans to maintain this Region Code nonsense when more of us download movies online, presumably from anywhere in the world.

Untraceable Is A Solid Thriller

Diane Lane (Unfaithful) does a good job as an FBI cyber crime specialist in Untraceable.

The chilling story of a serial killer who murders his victims live on the Net, this is not for the squeamish. However, the story is plausible and intriguing.

Check out the full story at Untraceable.

New Lawrence of Arabia DVD set

With surprisingly little fanfare or publicity, Sony has reissued two David Lean classics - Lawrence of Arabia and The Bridge On The River Kwai - to mark the 100th birthday of the famed director.

While they appear to be a repackaging of previous releases and include the same extra features, they are a bargain at just under $20 for 2 discs (shop around for the best price). I paid $35 for my Lawrence of Arabia Limited Edition set when it came out in 2001.

However, I did get a bargain in England with The Bridge on the River Kwai a couple of years ago - the 2-disc set was just five pounds 99 pence - about 12 bucks! Yes, it's a PAL region set, but you can get region free DVD players very cheaply now with 1080 upconversion (check out the LG brand).

If you don't have these classic flicks, the new sets are a great deal with a fantastic collection of extra features.

One Lean classic that does contain all-new features plus a gorgeous high def transfer is A Passage To India, which was recently given the 2-disc special edition treatment. Check out my full review HERE.

There Will Be Blood Is No Barrel Of Laughs

Even Daniel-Day Lewis's Oscar-winning performance as an obsessive prospector looking for oil can't save There Must Be Blood.

It's 158 agonizingly grim minutes of movie making. Alfred Hitchcock said movies should show life with "the dull bits cut out" - a lesson writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson hasn't learned.

Not only does lead character Daniel Plainview (Day-Lewis) have a heart as black as the oil he discovers, but the whole movie has a similar air of bleakness. There's simply no contrast.

I hated it!

Want Some Free DVDs? Find A Friend In The UK!

Here's a headline to catch the eye of DVD collectors: "A fantastic collection of 16 Classic War Movies to enjoy absolutely free."

It's no scam or joke - you really can get 16 classic war movies starring the likes of Kirk Douglas, Richard Attenborough, David Niven, John Mills and Richard Harris for nothing.

Here's the catch - you have to buy a copy of the Daily Mail newspaper in the UK - or know someone who lives there who can do it for you. Every day for the next couple of weeks the paper gives a way a free British war movie - titles include A Matter of Life and Death, The Heroes of Telemark, Return to The River Kwai, Reach for The Sky, In Which We Serve, Aces High, Above Us The Waves, Battle of The River Plate and All Quiet on The Western Front. The set is of particular interest because it includes some hard-to-find titles.

Blog regulars will have heard me rave about the free DVD offers UK newspapers run to help them compete in the circulation war. I've already collected about 200 of them, thanks to my mother who lives there!

While the discs are on the PAL region code, not the North American NTSC code, I picked up a cheap Region Free DVD player made by Citizen for $29 to enjoy classics like Dr. Zhivago, Scrooge, and the Oscar-winning The African Queen. I also recently received the World At War and The Great War documentary sets - and the complete Brideshead Revisited series!


Time to look up long-lost relatives in the UK - or find a friend!

Check out Andy's DVD Reviews.

A Passage To India - Wow!

Simply spectacular - that's Sony's 2-DVD special edition of the classic A Passage To India (1984).

The final movie from acclaimed British director David Lean - who would have been 100 years old this year - A Passage To India oozes class and looks unbelievably good in this high definition release on sale April 15. It's also available in Blu-Ray.

A great cast that includes Peggy Ashcroft, Judy David, James Fox, Alec Guinness, Nigel Havers and Victor Bannerjee, brings alive Colonial India where the British and Indian populations exist uneasily side by side.


There are seven great featurettes including new interviews with cast and crew and an archive interview with Lean him self.

Check out my full review at Andy's DVD Reviews.

New James Bond Flick Debuts In October

Quantum of Solace, the second James Bond film to star Danie Craig, will hit movie screens on Halloween

Originally scheduled for Nov. 7 release, it's the 22nd film in the Bond franchise and eagerly awaited following Craig's dynamic performance in Casino Royale.

Adapted from a short story written by Bond creator Ian Fleming in 1960, Quantum Of Solace picks up where Casino Royale left off, with Bond searching for the man who caused the death of Vesper Lynd, the woman he loved.

The movie features the usual exotic locations, from Panama City to Chile, Austria, Italy and the California desert.

It reportedly opens with a kick-ass car chase.