@ Greebo, sorry it took this long. I finally got my BR dvd “comments” ready
Region 2 Finland
Studio: Worldwide Cinema / Future Film
Picture format: 1.78:1 Anamorphic PAL
Soundtracks: Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 (Theatrical Cut), Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 (Director’s Cut)
Subtitles: Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
Running time: 114 / 122 min (uncut)
This review is based on Finnish 2 disc release. It features the theatrical cut on disc 1, and director’s cut version on disc 2. This package has also been released in Sweden, Norway and Danmark. These releases should be identical, except from the package / cover-art. I do not own any other releases, but there are two comparison reviews at www.dvdbeaver.com. I’m comparing this Finnish edition to those 5 dvds (French, Hong Kong, two Korean and two British releases) reviewed at dvd beaver:
Theatrical Cut comparison: <LINK_TEXT text=“http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompar … ale-th.htm”>Battle Royale - Theatrical DVD comparison</LINK_TEXT>
Director’s Cut comparison: <LINK_TEXT text=“http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompar … ale-dc.htm”>Battle Royale - Director's Cut DVDs</LINK_TEXT>
Picture Quality
I always thought our release was a good one. I was still surprised to find out this dvd actually looks better than British and Korean dvds. Those releases suffer from dark transfer. The Finnish director’s cut features a very nice image, with pleasing colors and brightness. The theatrical cut has different but equally good transfer. It is brighter and has stronger colors, which makes some scenes look better, while others look slightly inferior. There is one problem, though. A couple of scenes feature irritating flickering (both versions). However, I’m not gonna start complaining over this little flaw. So what if 60 seconds of the film looks awful, while the remaining 121 minutes look great. Judging by the caps at dvdbeaver, the French theatrical cut has the best picture quality of all. There is no French director’s cut, though. I have also seen caps from the japanese director’s cut dvd, which seemed to be slighly better than the Finnish release.
Sound Quality
Theatrical cut comes with 5.1 audio, while the directors cut only has 2.0 track. This is not a problem for me, but it may be for someone else. If you need 5.1 audio for the director’s cut, then you should get some other release (almost all other dvds have 5.1 audio).
Extras
This dvd is not very impressive when it comes to extras. There are short filmographies, trailers and a 30 minute making of documentary with no subtitles. I guess they the subs. I’ve heard the Swedish edition has subs, but I’m not sure.
Package
The Finnish edition comes in a beautiful four sleeve digipack. Also included is a nice 14 page booklet (in english). Other Nordic releases seem to come in a normal plastic case.
Overall
All releases have their flaws. The French release seems to have the best transfer, but it only features the theatrical cut. The Japanese release is most likely the best choice if you want the director’s cut. The Nordic release has both version with more than acceptable picture quality. However, only the theatrical cut has 5.1 sound. There isn’t much extras either. British and Korean releases have great extras, but the picture quality isn’t so great. There’s also a German Ultimate Edition with both versions and lots of extras, but I don’t know anything about the quality. Overall I can’t say which version is the best. All I know is that I’m very happy with my Finnish dvd (which also happens to be quite cheap).
Screencaps from the Finnish dvd (TC = theatrical cut, DC = director’s cut). These caps match with the ones in dvdbeaver reviews.
TC: http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/TC.jpg
DC: http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/DC.jpg
TC: http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/TC1.jpg
DC: http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/DC1.jpg
TC: http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/TC2.jpg
DC: http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/DC2.jpg
TC: http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/TC3.jpg
DC: http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/DC3.jpg
TC: http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/TC4.jpg
DC: http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/DC4.jpg
TC: http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/TC5.jpg
DC: http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/DC5.jpg
TC: http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/TC6.jpg
DC: http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/DC6.jpg
TC: http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/TC7.jpg
DC: http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/DC7.jpg
TC: http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/TCA.jpg
DC: http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/DCA.jpg
TC: <LINK_TEXT text=“http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/S … i/TCA1.jpg”>http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/TCA1.jpg</LINK_TEXT>
DC: <LINK_TEXT text=“http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/S … i/DCA1.jpg”>http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/DCA1.jpg</LINK_TEXT>
TC: <LINK_TEXT text=“http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/S … i/TCA2.jpg”>http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/TCA2.jpg</LINK_TEXT>
DC: <LINK_TEXT text=“http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/S … i/DCA2.jpg”>http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/DCA2.jpg</LINK_TEXT>
TC: <LINK_TEXT text=“http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/S … i/TCA3.jpg”>http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/TCA3.jpg</LINK_TEXT>
DC: <LINK_TEXT text=“http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/S … i/DCA3.jpg”>http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/DCA3.jpg</LINK_TEXT>
TC: <LINK_TEXT text=“http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/S … i/TCA4.jpg”>http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/TCA4.jpg</LINK_TEXT>
DC: <LINK_TEXT text=“http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/S … i/DCA4.jpg”>http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/DCA4.jpg</LINK_TEXT>
Menus (from theatrical cut)
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/TCM.jpg
<LINK_TEXT text=“http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/S … i/TCM1.jpg”>http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/TCM1.jpg</LINK_TEXT>
<LINK_TEXT text=“http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/S … i/TCM2.jpg”>http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/TCM2.jpg</LINK_TEXT>
<LINK_TEXT text=“http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/S … i/TCM3.jpg”>http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/TCM3.jpg</LINK_TEXT>
I’ve got these 2 versions
NTSC R0 (Uk)
NTSC R0 (Korea)
Judging by the screencaps posted by Hung, The Tartan’s picture quality looks similar to the Finnish Theatrical Cut. And the Director’s Cut looks different from both the Tartan and Korean release! And they say the French release is the most superior? Dang, this movie’s just all over the place with the transfers!
I’m interested in what scenes you said had the flickering since I didn’t notice any on my versions. But I do get a feeling that there’s gotta be a version out there that has better looking day-for-night scenes. The day-for-night sequences (Mostly involving Kiryama) are just too blue and I know that a color-corrected version improves this.
BTW, the Tartan disc appears to have great subtitles. The Korean disc has some goofs. There’s one moment when Kitano’s saying the “Bigwigs got together to create this act” line which comes out incomplete and three students names (After they’ve been killed) aren’t translated onscreen.
The Tartan relese is barebones but the Korean release is loaded. The 30-minute featurette is included along with the WOW promotional feature. Then there’s a “making-of” for the additonal scenes shot for the Director’s Cut and Premiere footage with the cast and crew presenting the movie. Few trailers and TV Spots (One has Tarantino talking about the Director’s Cut) round it out. Korean subtitles only though.
[quote=“Laydback”]
Dang, this movie’s just all over the place with the transfers!
[/quote]
I know. I was about to go crazy when I was writing that review. I tried to compare the Finnish dvd to all other existing releases, but that was just impossible. The whole thing turned into a mess and I ended up deleting most of what I had written.
[quote=“Laydback”]
I’m interested in what scenes you said had the flickering since I didn’t notice any on my versions.
[/quote]
At least this scene (around 41 min in Director’s Cut version).
<LINK_TEXT text=“http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/S … i/DCF1.jpg”>http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/DCF1.jpg</LINK_TEXT>
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/Shurayuki/DCF.jpg
It’s very noticable on my TV. If you didn’t notice it, then your version most likely doesn’t have this problem.
btw, the second pic on your post (korean dvd) doesn’t work
[quote=“Hung Fist”]
btw, the second pic on your post (korean dvd) doesn’t work
[/quote]
We’ll see if that one stays.
Also forgot to mention that the english subtitles (On the Korean disc) are badly jumbled on the dream sequence involving Kitano and Noriko.