Guide to Buying Blu-rays from Overseas - Continued

Because of the distribution of movie rights between different companies around the world; let's say, Disney distributes a movie and has not made it available on Blu-ray in Australia, this doesn't mean a different company whom hold the rights in a different country haven't done so. In fact, it happens frequently. Or, it may be available with better quality video or audio, or with more extra features. This is where things get exciting, expensive and at times, a gamble. But I will try to help out.

As we have established, Australia (where I write this - I know we have a large international readership) resides in 'Region B'; the same as Europe. So, Australians can import any European release with certainty.

A good starting point for importing European Blu-rays is Amazon.co.uk. Because of the exchange rate of the British pound, coupled with relatively high shipping can make this a slightly expensive proposition.

However, for American Blu-ray releases, this is where things can get slightly confusing. Whilst they are officially 'Region A', many distributors choose not to region code their discs...but sometimes they do.

Let's break it down by company:

Universal catalogue releases - No coding

Universal new releases - No coding

Disney catalogue releases - No coding

Disney new releases - Often coded

Twentieth Century Fox catalogue releases - Always coded

Twentieth Century Fox new releases - Always coded

Paramount catalogue releases - No coding

Paramount new releases - No coding

Sony Pictures catalogue releases - No coding

Sony Pictures new releases - Often coded

Warner catalogue releases - No coding

Warner new releases - No coding

Lionsgate catalogue releases - Often coded

Lionsgate new releases - Often coded

New Line catalogue releases - Often coded

New Line new releases - Often coded

MGM catalogue releases - Always coded

MGM new releases - Always coded

So, pretty much any release from Universal, Paramount and Warner are safe to be imported (as of publishing date anyway). Twentieth Century Fox titles can't be imported and the rest you will have to keep your eyes peeled to the following site, which check all releases quite promptly - Blu-ray Region Code Info. They are a great resource.