My favourite Asian DVD retailer DDDHouse currently having a Blu-Ray sale.  At the moment you can pick the Blu-Ray releases of the three Bruce Lee classics The Big Boss (Wei Lo, 1971), Fist of Fury (Wei Lo, 1972) and The Way of the Dragon (Bruce Lee, 1972).  Considering their age and the reputation that the Hong Kong film industry has for preserving films they all look very strong, particularly The Big Boss which has a high level of detail.  With shipping, you can order each title for under £9 delivered; it is cheaper to order all three at the same time.  Be aware that all of these Blu-Ray discs are Region A encoded.  Reviews, containing screenshots, for each of the Blu-Ray discs can found over at DVD Beaver.  Don't be tempted by the cheap prices for the Blu-Ray releases of Jackie Chan's excellent Police Story series.  The discs are nothing more than upconverts of the Fortune Star DVD releases.

Oliver Stone's Platoon has finally been released on DVD but is currently only available in Hong Kong.  My copy arrived from DDDHouse, the best online Asian DVD retailer, yesterday and despite the video being MPEG-2 encoded the picture quality is very nice indeed.

The Blue Underground Region A Blu-Ray of Sergio Corbucci's Django (1966) arrived on Friday and I was able to watch it over the weekend.  This could be one of the best HD remasters of an older film I have seen on the Blu-Ray format.  Film grain has not been removed and the image has a high amount of depth.  The screenshots over at DVD Beaver say it all, specially when compared to the DVD.  This is a must own Blu-Ray.

It looks as if Image Entertainment have avoided for bankruptcy, for now anyway, and will be releasing the Boris Karloff hosted show Thriller on DVD and also the first season of The Twilight Zone on Blu-Ray.  Thriller will have numerous special features and will be released on August 31. Whilst I am pleased that Image have chosen to release the complete series rather than release individual season sets I was rather surprised by the $149.99 RRP.  A number of online shops will most likely be selling it slightly cheaper but £100 for a 67 episode show is a little steep.  Perhaps this is to be expected considering the slim profit margins cult television shows such as this make for independent DVD labels?  Still, it will be a must buy for me, the episodes Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper and Pigeons from Hell being the stand-out episodes for me.

Some time later in the fall, Image will also release the first season of Rod Serling's classic The Twilight Zone on Blu-Ray.  No release date has been announced yet but Amazon are already offering it for pre-order at $89.99, another high price tag.  I wonder how some of the video taped episodes will look in HD? 

Multi-region Blu-Ray players are still very much sought after by enthusiasts.  None of the well known brands offer remote control hackable mutli-region Blu-Ray playback.  Modifications are available for players such as the excellent Oppo BDP-83 and some of the Panasonic, Sony and Pioneer models.  The only drawback is that hard modifications, which involve the soldering of a chip to the main circuit board of the Blu-Ray, will void your warranty.  The only branded, remote control hackable players were the LG BH100 and LG BH200.  Both of these players were combination players that offered both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray playback but could also play Blu-Ray discs from regions A, B and C through the inputting of simple code via the remote control.  I still own the latter player.  Although LG no longer offers firmware support and it has some flaws I have been thoroughly happy with the player.

Blu-Ray players by lesser known brands have found their way on to the market.  Attracting consumers with their low prices, these players tend to have a lower quality build but nearly all offer remote hackable multi-region Blu-Ray playback.  Back in early January I purchased HMV's Limit Blu-Ray player for what I thought was a bargain at £49.99.  I purchased it purely as a backup player to my LG BH200 which is now no longer in production.  I was also attracted by the ability to play MKV files, something the PS3 still does not offer.  I managed to play one disc on the player and then it died on me.  Upon returning it to the store for a full refund, the manager told me that a number of faulty units had been returned. 

In mid 2009 Aldi released the Tevion DVD1100UKT Blu-Ray player.  This player was a clone of the Momitsu BDP-889 player that has been popular amongst enthusiasts in America for its mutli-region capabilities.  Being a clone of the Momitsu it was quickly discovered that the machine was remote control hackable.  My partner, clearly noticing that I was disappointed by the faulty Limit Blu-Ray player, purchased me the Tevion player for Valentine's Day.  How many girlfriends willingly pander to their partner's addiction to technology and home media?  The player is of a much better build quality than the Limit player and offers high quality playback for a low price.  Dependent on the Aldi store you might find the player for anywhere between £59.99 and £79.99, including a three year guarantee.  However, I was told by someone involved in the DVD industry that Trading Standards requested Aldi to remove these players from sale because they were multi-region hackable.  I personally believe that this is nothing more than misinformation.  Being a budget player, the Tevion receives few firmware updates but those who are feeling brave can use the Momitsu firmware updates which appear to be more regular.  Asda and Curry's sell a rebranded version of the Tevion/Momitsu player under the Curtis branding.  These can also be found in-store for around £60 or less.

Despite my bad experience with the Limit player some other people have been very happy with their purchase.  The Limit player is now hard to find but you can find a rebranded version for sale over at eBuyer.  Their Foehn & Hirsch player is currently for sale at £57.99, including free shipping.  I personally wouldn't risk it but reviews on the eBuyer site rate the player quite highly.  It might be worth a punt if you are looking for a cheap multi-region Blu-Ray player.

In summary, if you want a high quality multi-region Blu-Ray player the Oppo BDP-83 is the one to get.  The only drawback is the retail price of £583.00.  Another solution would be to buy a UK LG BD390 (which I recently purchased but more on that in a coming blog post), which is, in my opinion, the best value for money Blu-Ray player currently on the market, and a US PS3 to playback Region A Blu-Ray discs.  Buying these two players would save you around £100 and you would getting much more for your money.  However, I am very happy with my Tevion DVD1100UKT and this is a worthwhile purchase for those who are looking for a cheap multi-region solution.  The three year guarantee also gives you peace of mind.  Grab one before trading standards beat you to it. 

Who are the best online DVD and Blu-Ray retailers?  It is a very good question, one I get asked a lot.  Rather than produce a list I recently came across this post a the Empire film forums which does an excellent job of identifying the best online retailers from all over the world. My thanks go to the original poster for producing such a valuable list.

The Hong Kong label Panorama Distributors have released Pulp Fiction on Blu-Ray.  DVDBeaver reports that the release appears to be a port of the French Blu-Ray release but does not have the forced French subtitle track.  The picture quality appears to be quite impressive too.  Considering that a Blu-Ray release has not surfaced in the UK or US this looks to be a cheap alternative to the French and Polish releases of the film.  The reviewer over at DVDBeaver believes that this release might be removed from sale because it is a direct port of the French Blu-Ray.  Fans of the film might want to take advantage of this.  The film can be ordered from DDDHouse, easily the best Chinese DVD and Blu-Ray retailer for around £16 delivered.  

I was surprised to find that the Red Riding Trilogy (2009) have been released on Blu-Ray in Sweden.  The episodes did not get a Blu-Ray release in the UK and it appears doubtful that they will be released on the format in the US.  Though I have not read the books I really enjoyed the series, particularly the second and third episodes.  The performances of Sean Bean, Paddy Considine and the incredible Sean Harris were stellar.  The set is available from the Swedish site discshop.se but, like most Swedish DVDs and Blu-Ray discs, is rather expenses.  I think that my order came to around 799SEK, just under £75, gulp!  The films are presented in full HD (1080p/24p) with English DTS-HD Master 5.1 audio.  The discs are labelled as region B but apparently most other Noble releases are region free.  I will confirm once the set arrives.

With the current state of the DVD industry it is hard to predict what will be released in the coming year.  What follows is a list of my most anticipated DVD/Blu-Ray releases of 2010.  There will no doubt be others added over the year but here are the ones that have caught my eye so far:

Dark Night of the Scarecrow (Frank De Felitta, 1981) Lionsgate, USA: DVD. Date TBC

A little known television movie starring Larry Drake and Charles Durning.  This was originally going to be released on Blu-Ray and DVD by Image Entertainment but since they are currently considering filing for bankruptcy it looks as if Lionsgate will be attaining the rights to this cult classic.

Elvis: The Movie (John Carpenter, 1979) Shout Factory, USA: DVD. 2 March 2010

Issues with music rights have prevented this little seen John Carpenter film, which was the first of many collaborations with Kurt Russell, from being released.  Hopefully it will be the full uncut version and will feature a typically excellent commentary track from Russell and Carpenter.  Shout Factory are probably the American DVD label to watch in 2010.

The Exorcist (William Friedkin, 1973) Warner Brothers, USA: Blu-Ray. October 2010

One of my favourite films of all time, I just hope that Friedkin doesn't continue his unwelcome trend of tampering with his original edit as he has done with Cruising (1980) and the Blu-Ray release of The French Connection (1971).  Warner have confirmed that both the 1973 and 2000 versions will be included. 

Kingdom of the Spiders (John 'Bud' Cardos, 1977) Shout Factory, USA: DVD. 19 January 2010

William Shatner as a veterinarian trying to save a town from tarantulas.  What is there not to like?  This will be the third time I have purchased a DVD of this film.  What makes this release particularly attractive is the special features; an interview with the film's spider wrangler (what a great job title), an interview with Shatner and a commentary track with Cardos.  Another great offering from Shout Factory.
 
So Sweet, So Dead (Roberto Bianchi, 1972) Camera Obscura, Germany: DVD. February 28 2010

Aside from the forthcoming releases from maligned American label Mya Communication (I will discuss this in a forthcoming blogpost), Camera Obscura could be the label to keep an eye on for releases of rare gialli.  That cover art is sublime.

Suspiria (Dario Argento, 1977) Cine Excess, UK: Blu-Ray. Today!

This should be with me tomorrow morning courtesy of Amazon.  Advance reviews have praised this anticipated release.  What next, Cine-Excess?

Thriller: The Complete Collection, Image, USA: DVD. TBC

With Image threatening to declare bankruptcy it is doubtful whether this release will happen which is disappointing considering that Tim Lucas and other respected genre enthusiasts have been recording audio commentaries for the release.  Perhaps Shout Factory can come to the rescue?

The Twilight Zone Complete Collection, Image, USA: Blu-Ray. TBC

Again, a release announced by Image.  I have been putting off completing my Twilight Zone collection on DVD ever since it was rumoured that there would be a Blu-Ray release.  Hopefully it will appear and will look as good as the Star Trek and The Prisoner Blu-Ray releases.

Urban Action Collection Warner Brothers, USA: DVD. 12 January 2010

I first saw Black Belt Jones (Robert Clouse, 1974) on VHS in the late 80's and loved Jim "Bullshit Mr Han Man" Kelly in the lead role.  It has never appeared legally on DVD and is part of this great value four-film Urban Action Collection.   It contains other Blaxploitation action classics such as Hot Potato (Oscar Williams, 1976), Three The Hard Way (Gordon Parks Jr, 1974) and Black Sampson (Charles Bail, 1974).

Who Dares Wins (Ian Sharp, 1982) Arrow, UK: Blu-Ray. 8 March 2010

Who would have expected this to be released on Blu-Ray in 2010?  Another film I remember fondly from my youth.  Lewis Collins is great in the lead role and the build up to the action filled finale is well executed. 

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What other releases would I like to see in 2010?  Fingers crossed for the following:

The Amazing Spider-Man Live Action Television series (something tells me that Marvel do not want this to see the light of day on optical disc.  I prefer it to Raimi's recent offerings).
Cold Case Files: The Complete Collection (morbid I know but this is the best true crime television series I have seen).
The Equalizer: Series Two onwards
High Crime (Enzo G. Castellari, 1973)
One Step Beyond: Seasons Two and Three
Profondo Rosso (Dario Argento, 1975) Blu-Ray (hopefully the Blu-Ray release of Suspria will lead to some of Argento's other classics being released on the HD format).

                   

According to a poster over at the AV Forums HMV are selling their branded Limit Blu-Ray player for £49.99, reduced from £99.99.  Before you think that it is cheap electronic tat you might be interested to find that it offers multi-region playback for DVD and Blu-Ray and will play HD MKV files via the USB input.  This really is a steal and beats the excellent Aldi Tevion multi-region Blu-Ray player which is now selling for £69.99.  This is an ideal Blu-Ray player and you will notice very little difference, if any at all, in picture quality compared to a higher quality player.  The only real downside is that it looks rather ugly and firmware updates will most likely not exist meaning that some of the more advanced future Blu-Ray releases may not play.  But if you are looking for a cheap multi-region Blu-Ray player look no further.  The deal is only available instore and not online.  I am tempted to pick one up and sell my Samsung BDP-1000, the first ever UK Blu-Ray player, but I am snowed in.  The snow here is so bad that I was unable to attend the 2010 MeCCSA conference in London today where I was supposed to be presenting a paper with Faye on media teaching and learning.  Living in a village has very few perks.  Hopefully it will fully clear tomorrow.

UPDATE: 10/01/10

Maybe these are not so much of a bargain after all.  I managed to purchase one of these on Friday afternoon, finally being able to to get out of my road.  On unpacking it, the player looked rather cheaply made but nice and compact.  Firstly, I tried the first disc from the The Prisoner Blu-Ray set and it played perfectly.  But anything else I tried, Blu-Ray or DVD, would not play at all; the disc just kept on spinning in the machine and the screen was blank.  Final verdict, not so much of a bargain after all.  I returned the player on Saturday for a full refund and was told by the manager that five players have so far been returned to the store.  Methinks that there might be a few more coming their way, after all, there is a reason why they were only £50.  So, I will be sticking with my trusty multi-region LG BH200 Dual HD-DVD and Blu-Ray player for now.  According to the discussion on the AV Forums thread some people are having no problems at all with the player so perhaps it is purely the luck of the draw.