American Vs. Canadian Releases...

[Jmzr55]

I've only ever bought a single dvd from a Canadian store (The Fantasia Anthology) and I noticed that it is only for sale and rental in Canada. (I always assumed that Canada shared DVD's with the U.S)

Are there ever any differences between Canadian and American DVD releases, in terms of extras/packaging/audio-visual mastering? Or are they identical except for the little canadian flag on the back?

I ordered Monsters Inc from DVD Box Office and am unsure whether I'll be getting the R1 version with all the extras stated in the press release..

thanks

[Aborro]

Well, from the responses of those lucky Canadians who have already received their copy of Monsters Inc., the consensus seems to be that it is missing the "Isolated Sound Effects Track" in favour of the French audio track. All of the other extras are identical.

Other than French audio tracks and more recently Bilingual covers, Canadian and US Region 1 DVDs are usually identical. I was quite surprised that the sound effects track was omitted. Whether that remains true when I receive my copy next week remains to be seen - I certainly hope not!

[BeanBandit]

The releases are, for the most part, identical in content (except some by Alliance Atlantis). The only difference I think is the Canadian Home Video rating. It's a little round circle with a G, 14A, 18A or R. Or do you have those on the American ones as well?

[Jmzr55]

Damn... the effects track is the one extra I actually use the most...

I'm gonna have to get a copy of the U.S version as well.

[Aborro]

Originally posted by Jmzr55
Damn... the effects track is the one extra I actually use the most...

I'm gonna have to get a copy of the U.S version as well.

I'm sure you can cancel the order with DVDboxoffice.com if it hasn't shipped.

BTW, don't you find their prices too high? You might want to try ordering future DVDs from DVDSoon.com instead - much more competitive pricing.

[DancinDave]

Originally posted by Aborro
BTW, don't you find their prices too high? You might want to try ordering future DVDs from DVDSoon.com instead - much more competitive pricing.

I would NOT recommend dvdsoon.com -- they are adequate, but not spectacular.

I have had a lot of problems with them.

They are VERY SLOW to ship items and they have trouble getting / keeping inventory.

Here is my recent experience, which is typical.

I had a store credit -- because when you cancel orders, you don't get your $$ back, only store credit (annoying) -- I orderd 5 discs last Thursday that were all "in stock". On the following Monday, I e-mail to complian "why haven't you shipped them yet?" Their response on Tuesday? We are a little late on shipping right now but your order will ship very shortly. We apologize for the inconvenience..

Then, yesterday (Thursday -- 1 week after) they say they are shipping 4 of the items, as one is no longer in stock (huh?). And finally, Friday (today) I get the e-mail notice from canada post saying they received the package -- it's not in the tracking system yet, so that means I'll receive it next Tues./Wed.

[Jmzr55]

Originally posted by Aborro


I'm sure you can cancel the order with DVDboxoffice.com if it hasn't shipped.

BTW, don't you find their prices too high? You might want to try ordering future DVDs from DVDSoon.com instead - much more competitive pricing.

Shipped 48hours ago.
Their prices are fine for me, I buy Gamecube games as well, and their prices are pretty good and are one of the few that ship internationally.

[smurdleman2000]

I bough the canadian dvd version of David Cronenburg's eXisTenZ, which features 3 audio commentaries and a 60 min doc, compared to the US release's signle trailer.

[Hassan Tchaup]

The releases such as Existenz, Ginger Snaps and the upcoming Brotherhood of the Wolf show that in fact our lucky neighbors to the north sometimes get far superior releases than the bare bones crap they serve up here in the states.