Australian Blu-ray Importing: November 2012 Buying Guide

Since last time we looked at the 'Guide to Buying Blu-rays from Overseas' last month, the Australian dollar has continued to dance around parity with the US dollar, based on strong commodity markets and a soft U.S. economy. With studios starting to open their catalogues to much anticipated titles, coupled with deep discounting in overseas markets, it's still a really great time to import some rarer Blu-ray titles.

Let's jump into the latest instalment of the series, covering some of the later titles released overseas, but safe for Australian region coding.

Judge Dredd

2

Studio: Disney Home Entertainment

Country of Origin: United States

Purchase: Amazon.com

Region: A, B, C

With the reboot of the 2000AD graphic novel hitting cinemas, Disney have taken the flurry of interest to re-release the lambasted 1995 original, starring Sylvester Stallone as the eponymous hero, and Diane Lane as the love interest, Judge Hershey, and the immensely annoying Rob Schneider as the token comic relief character. To my mind, he makes Jar Jar Binks seem like a Shakespearean actor. After nearly 20 years, Judge Dredd is only really memorable for a level of camp reserved for the late 90's Batman films, some aged visual effects and hilariously slurred Stallone dialogue ("I am the lerrrr!"), but it's all in good fun.

With a more than adequate video and audio transfer, some promotional bonus features including a 20 minute made for TV featurette, and a low price point, some fans may want to add this to their collections.

Dial M for Murder

Studio: Warner Brothers Home Entertainment

Country of Origin: United States

Purchase: Amazon.com

Region: A, B, C

Picking out the best Alfred Hitchcock film is somewhat impossible. Many fans will point to Psycho as his best, while others to Vertigo or Rear Window. My personal favourite; The Birds is a fun romp, but Dial M for Murder is a slightly aged, yet compelling tale of revenge and murder.

However, this Blu-ray release is notable for its inclusion of a 3D version of the film (including 2D) which was originally filmed with an experimental 1950's polarized 3D system (similar to today), however was not released so, because interest in 3D had lapsed. It's a fascinating feature and kudos to Warner for restoring this version long after the master has gone.

Dave

Studio: Warner Brothers Home Entertainment

Country of Origin: United States

Purchase: Amazon.com

Region: A, B, C

With the 2012 presidential campaign nearing its end, Warner Brothers have pumped out a few U.S. presidential themed films. One of these is 1993's Dave starring Kevin Kline as the replacement President of the United States, until the charade slowly unravels in front of the American people.

Whilst the film has received a 'so-so' HD transfer, with only a brief making of featurette as a bonus feature, Dave is certainly a film that I didn't expect to see on Blu-ray any time soon, and a great film that deserves to be re discovered by a new audience.

Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2

2

Studio: Warner Brothers Home Entertainment

Country of Origin: United States

Purchase: Amazon.com

Region: A, B, C

Speaking of new audiences, the process of transferring and restoring the three decades of Looney Tunes shorts of the 1930's to 1990's ensures that these classic animations are preserved and accessible to a new generation. This second volume of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection rounds up a further 50 of the 1000 original shorts, including favorites such as Ali Baba Bunny and Bugs Bunny Gets The Boid.

Fans will especially appreciate the absolute cavalcade of extra features presented over the three disc set, including numerous audio commentaries, insolated scores, featurettes and vintage curios. A lot of love has gone into these sets and if you want to see more of them, you should get purchasing to show Warner your support.