OT: DVDs - Foreign Language Subtitles

[Guest guest]

Hey Karen,

 

> Hi Butch,

>

> DVD prices = supply and demand (or predicted supply and demand).

> Many factors come into the cost of a DVD -- single vs. multiple

> disks, single episode vs. whole season (for TV shows), single movie

> vs. whole series (for movies, like Star Trek), the number of features

> included, whether it's theater version vs. extended version vs.

> director's cut version vs. who-knows-what-they'll-think-of-next

> version, etc, etc. Production companies do huge marketing surveys to

> predict how much demand there will be for a product -- if they think

> something will be very popular and people will pay for it because

> it's a " collector's item " (like the extended " Lord of the Rings " ),

> they'll charge a lot and hope consumers will actually go for it.

 

I hear you .. all a part of our great Capitalist system. ;-)

 

> Depending on where you shop, you can get DVDs anywhere from US$7.50

> each all the way up to (and beyond) $24.99 each. Sets, of course,

> cost more. You can purchase DVDs cheaper at places like Amazon.com

> or DeepDiscountDVD.com (tho' the cost of shipping to Turkey may null

> the price difference),

 

Thanks. I'll check them out. Shipping to my APO address is the

shipping cost to New York City .. after that Uncle Sugar foots the bill.

 

> and I've found good prices at places like Walmart and Target.

 

Yep .. I like to browse the Super Walmarts when I hit the USA. :-)

 

> Sometimes it's just a matter of waiting out the " popularity impulse

> purchase " time period (which varies for each item) and getting them

> when something moves to the sale rack or a third party distributor.

 

I hear you .. and in my case waiting it out is easy due to lack of

availability. ;-)

 

> Purchasing a US-made DVD outside of the US may also include some

> amount of shipping cost (which I'm guessing is why your Black Hawk

> Down [that's a great movie!] cost as much as it did.

 

Shipping was probably considered in the price. And true it is that

Black Hawk Down is a good one. I spent a lotta time in the " Mog " and

knew a lot of the players on both sides .. some of the Bad Guys were our

" friends " at one time .. that is .. afore Siad Barre bit the dust. ;-)

 

> As for subtitles and language choices, that depends on the movie or

> DVD production people -- generally I've seen that alternate languages

> will at least include Spanish and French audio tracks (I did see a

> couple that had both Mandarin and Cantonese as choices). Subtitles

> language choices will vary, too. It's hard to tell; you'd pretty

> much have to look at the back of the disk jacket for the info.

 

I hear you .. and that is the info that was not available on sites like

the Columbia Club and such.

 

> One thing you do need to be cautious of is that not all DVDs are

> created alike -- that is, DVDs created in the US may or may not play

> on a DVD player manufactured outside the US, and vice versa. My

> parents travel a lot, and on one of their trips to China my dad

> bought a DVD of some touristy thing... it wouldn't work in the DVD

> player they already had at home. They ended up purchasing another

> DVD player, a cheap one, that had been manufactured overseas. Sounds

> like overkill, but for the $40 he spent, he's now he's able to play

> all the DVDs he gets in China, Hong Kong, and Japan with no trouble

> (they travel a LOT).

 

I have a new fancy-dancy Sony Multi-Region, Multi-System DVD player ..

and it will play them all. I know this because a few months ago a

friend sent me the DVD " Fargo " .. English only .. for America only ..

and in NTSC format .. but it plays on my system.

 

> I hope this helps!

 

It did .. and I thank you ma'am.

 

> Karen

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch