MovieChat Forums > The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) Discussion > Region 2 DVD

Region 2 DVD

posted 18 years ago by united100
7 replies | jump to latest

Why, oh why, oh why, is this film not available on a Region 2 DVD and to my knowledge never has been?

There cannot be too many Oscar winning films that have not been released on Region 2. It has been released on Region 1 DVD, but that's not much use in Europe without a decoded DVD player.

Is there some strange intellectual property reason for its non-release? Surely there must be enough money in this film to make it financially viable - pretty much all of the Hammer horror films from the same period have had DVD releases and I can't see any of them outselling this altogether superior film.

I did record it digitally from a recent broadcast on digital terrestrial television in the UK, but I haven't had a chance to view it again yet (waiting for a couple of peaceful hours when I know I'm not going to be disturbed), but as it was shown on a Saturday afternoon, it's possible that they might have had to edit the film (at least it was in 16:9 widescreen).

Anyone got any ideas about this?

[–] sirjeremy 18 years ago

It really is annoying. And what makes it worse is that it's deleted on VHS now in the U.K. I'm dying to hear the commentary from Pamela Franklin and Ronald Neame so I guess I'll have to import the region 1 version. Oh and yes they did edit the film when it was on this year on ITV, I remember checking that in the radio times.

[–] united100 18 years ago

Blast - I had a feeling that they might have to cut it given the time of day it was shown at. Do you have any idea what was taken out?

I might still have a VHS recording taken from a BBC1 late-night broadcast a few years ago, but I'd need to check.

Seems ridiculous that it has not been released. I'm sure it would shift a few thousand copies in Edinburgh alone!

[–] sirjeremy 18 years ago

I didn't watch it as I have it on VHS but I would have thought that the nudity would have been cut. It's pretty tame compared to today's standards.

[–] united100 18 years ago

Yes, I remember it being quite tame. That's why I had hoped that the film would be uncut. From time to time things seem to slip into daytime television (including mild nudity) that would in the past have had people in apoplexy.

Still, will doubtless find out soon enough when I get some peace to watch it!

[–] afn01288 17 years ago

The ways of regional releasing are truly mysterious. I have the same problem with non-region 1, but that won't stopm me seeing what I want on DVD.

As I've explained before, here is the work around:
1. Buy the DVD from where it is available whatever region coding.
2. Use a simple program to copy the DVD onto your hard drive which removes regional encoding. The program I like best cost $30 (US) or so, but there are probably freeware programs for this out there.
3. Burn the film (now region free)onto a blank DVD.
4. Pop this in your regular player and enjoy!

This saves the need and expense of a region free DVD player, and allows complete freedom to see anything from any zone. Since I *bought* a copy of the DVD (in the foreign region), I see no ethical issues about doing this to make use of the purchase.

[–] alexpe-1 15 years ago

Finally... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Prime-Miss-Jean-Brodie-DVD/dp/B003E47Q24/

[–] gorye 15 years ago

Finally indeed!