Blu-ray Importing: December 2011 Buying Guide

Since last time we looked at the Guide to Buying Blu-rays from Overseas the Australian dollar has continued its meteoric rise against the green back, hitting an all time high of $1.10 and then settling around parity, only getting buffered by the economic uncertainty of Europe. Coupled with the Black Friday bargains in the US, it's never been a better time to import some new titles.

So let's jump into the latest instalment of this epic series, covering some of the later titles released only to import, but safe from the horrors of region coding.

Hook

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Country of Origin: United States

Purchase: Amazon.com

Region: A, B, C

Hook is certainly not in Steven Spielberg's top 10 films, but Spielberg's worst is better than most directors best, so it's at least worth a look.

Spielberg hasn't directed too many films that can be deemed truly family friendly (even if E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial would now fall under that category), so the unusually demographed Hook is something of a change. It does have significant flaws and I think the film was fatally miscast with Robin Williams as the titular character, but Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook is an inspired choice and Bob Hoskins does the best he can with the role.

Despite the complete lack of bonus features, Sony has given the transfer a good spit and polish, whipping away memories of the terrible DVD release. At a cheap price, it's worth investigating.

Pulp Fiction

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Studio: Lions Gate Home Entertainment

Country of Origin: United States

Purchase: Amazon.co.uk

Region: B

Quentin Tarantino's 1995 smash hit Pulp Fiction has already been released in Australia by Roadshow Pictures, but this import version by Lions Gate features a significantly upgraded video transfer, director approved by Tarantino himself and a whole slew of new bonus features. True fans of the film will want to upgrade in a jiffy.

The last 15 years may have diluted the message a little and those whom had never seen the film might be left wondering what all the fuss was about, but in 1995 this film was a game changer. It had attitude and a razor sharp edge, not least did it truly launch the career of Uma Thurman and resurrected the stalled career of one John Travolta.

Tarantino is a talented guy, but history may mark Pulp Fiction as the height of his career.

Space Jam

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Studio: Warner Home Entertainment

Country of Origin: United States

Purchase: Amazon.com

Region: A, B, C