MovieChat Forums > Fear X (2003) Discussion > DVD Questions - extremely urgent!

DVD Questions - extremely urgent!

posted 17 years ago by weschingsdieder
6 replies | jump to latest

Hello everybody,

I saw "Fear X" at a french Festival some months ago and I seriously think it's one of the best films in recent years.

Now, I'm desperate to own it on DVD (and revisit it).
There are two possible releases, RC 1 and RC 2 UK Disc.
Now, the problem is: I couldn't find any reliable, detailed informations about those two discs. If anyone can answer my questions, I'd be unbelievably grateful!

1. If anyone knows both releases, which one has the superior sound (the sound is quite important here, imo) and especially image quality?

2. Does the UK-Release has English Subtitles?

3. Are they both anamorphic?

4. Is it true that the UK-Release has more Extras (Ridiculous, but I couldn't even specify that)?

5. If somebody knows where to find a detailed DVD-Review (including Screenshots if possible), please let me know!

I already thank anybody for any useful answer!8-)

[–] weschingsdieder 16 years ago

Too bad no one replied because I now own the UK DVD and it's just plain awful, like a VHS Tape. To anyone who hasn't seen the film yet: Don't buy it! I badly hope the RC 1 Release by Lionsgate looks better, otherwise, this amazing piece of cinema will probably have to wait far too long to get released properly for home cinema.

[–] Critical_Beatdown 15 years ago

Hey weschingsdieder

I appreciate it's a little late in the day given your posts are so old but here is a website where you can find all essential details about region 1 DVDs (and BDs), like release date, aspect ratio (and whether it's anamorphic), audio, etc. This site is indispensable. It’s known as MMM aka “Michael’s Movie Mayhem”. To the best of my knowledge it’s the world’s most reliable and extensive database of region 1 releases.

The website is here:

www.dvdlist.kazart.com/DVDList2.php

Details for Fear X are here:

www.dvdlist.kazart.com/queryDVDList2.php3?id=57606

And www.axelmusic.com is an extremely useful website for getting screen grabs of the back of DVDs. You can see if they’re available as the front and back covers are shown under the main picture. Click on the back cover and you get an enlarged scan of the back. See for yourself, here (Amazon is also sometimes good for this purpose).

www.axelmusic.com/productDetails/012236169970

I was drawn to your post because like yourself, I’ve been umming and ahhing whether to go for R1 or R2 release but after reading your post, it’s a cinch. Out of interest who released the English DVD, in what aspect ratio and is the transfer anamorphic?

I’ll be ordering the Lions Gate DVD.

[–] weschingsdieder 15 years ago

At last, a reply!;-)

Thank you very much for those links, they seem to be quite useful. I already knew about Axelmusic and the fortunate fact that they display the back covers but I don't trust the data on back covers anymore. I've encountered too many misleading errors in that field, especially regarding aspect ratio and subtitles.

MMMM says that the the Lionsgate release is in 1:1,85 ratio?! That would be horrible, considering the film's brilliant Scope compositions, maybe even moreso than the awful quality of the UK release. Once you have your copy, could you verify wether that's true or not? Because I actually just came back here because I'm contemplating to purchase the Lionsgate release and was hoping that some merciful person discovered this thread meanwhile. Anyway, the back cover states 2,35 and it would be rather weird if that wasn't true since the dark days of Pan & Scan have passed, lucky us. And Lionsgate normally is a relatively trustworthy company.

[–] Critical_Beatdown 15 years ago

Must confess, I’m slightly confused myself.

I haven’t got around to buying it yet and there’s conflicting information from the sources I’ve looked at:

MMM’s site incorrectly states the film is Not Rated but I’ve found several sites with screen shots of the back of the Lionsgate DVD that clearly show the film is rated PG-13.

Take a look at the back of the DVD on Axelmusic’s website and you can clearly see the rating. You can also see a box next to the rating on the left that states:

“Presented in widescreen to recreate the theatrical viewing experience”

and

“Presented in the original 2.35:1 format in which the film was shot”

In between the captions are two boxes showing the viewing options of Standard TV (4:3) and 16:9 Television (anamorphic widescreen).

This is the usual indicator we take to assume that we get “what it says on the tin”, however, the information printed on DVDs can’t always be relied on to be accurate and Lionsgate website isn’t much help with their specs, stating only “Widescreen” as the format, but as you say, by and large, they're a reliable film label when it comes to their releases.

www.lionsgateshop.com/product.asp?Id=9708&TitleParentId=3226&V iew=ProductDetails

I’m guessing MMM’s site is wrong about this one but we shouldn’t be too harsh as there must be a lot of hard work involved in maintaining 100% accurate information for a DVD catalogue with almost 175,000 region 1 DVD releases.

I’m going to buy it from Amazon and I reckon that’d be your best bet, too. If the film turns out to be incorrectly framed, just return it to Amazon asking for a refund stating correct aspect ratios are important to you and Lionsgate screwed up.

Recently I’ve found Amazon to be very fair. Only today I e-mailed then about 2 orders I placed on the same day that were also both shipped on the same date. I ordered one with “standard international shipping” and the other with “expedited international shipping” but the DVD I paid less for in shipping fees was delivered first.

I made no demands when I e-mailed Amazon; I simply asked for an explanation as to how or why it happened – after all, why should I pay an extra few quid for expedited shipping when it gets delivered faster selecting the cheaper shipping option? Anyway, within 2 hours I received an e-mail with a refund notification. I’m still getting my DVD but Amazon refunded the entire cost for the faster shipping fee (which is £6.38) so I’ve had that DVD shipped for nothing and now I’m left with enough to buy another DVD. This isn’t the first time I’ve found Amazon to be so generous, so I reckon give it a punt.

www.amazon.com/Fear-X-James-Remar/dp/B00079HZQQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp ; ;s=dvd&qid=1265664648&sr=1-1

[–] TheBeardedWonder 15 years ago

I've been in this situation before with other movies, regarding differing info towards specifications. And from that, i'd say there's also a possibility that there ARE 2 different DVD's floating around.

On amazon, it says it's 2.35:1 for this movie, while on netflix it says 1.85:1. This also happened for the movie 'deliverance'. Netflix had a different ratio cut than my local blockbuster did. Same movie, different versions with different aspect ratios.

Not sure if that's the case here, just thought i'd point it out as a possibility...

Yup...makeup and candy...in the...trunk... -Blood Car

[–] Critical_Beatdown 15 years ago

Yep, it's a familiar situation for almost anyone that cares about watching their movies in the original aspect ratio. Although the back of the actual DVD can't always be relied on for accurate information on aspect ratios, runtimes, etc. in my experience the info on the back of the DVD still tends to be more reliable than the specs given on sites like Amazon. Anyway, I'm ordering this before the end of the month, so will know for sure in early March, so unless someone gets here before me, I'll come back with my findings.