Region 4 Winners and Losers

    Season two of Twin Peaks has been released in Region 1 as a single box set containing 6-discs. The menus on the Region 1 disc are much nicer than the spartan menus on the Region 4 release. Region 1 features a Portugese dub track not found on the Region 4 edition, but Region 4 has additional German and Italian language tracks as well as a whole raft of additional subtitle tracks.

    In terms of special features, both regions' editions contain a series of interviews with people involved with the show (directors and cast) and introductions to the episodes by the "log lady" from the show, but these extras are spread evenly across the discs in Region 1, whereas they are all clumped together on the second set for Region 4. The unfortunate side effect of this split-up is that Region 4 viewers miss out on the "log lady" intros for the first half of the season.

    Also worth mentioning is the packaging of the two versions. The Region 4 sets come in a cardboard digi-pak surrounded by a plastic sleeve featuring a full-colour image on the front and are very similar to the season one packaging. The Region 1 edition is a somewhat generic cardboard box that featuring similar artwork to the Region 4 release and contains 3 slimline amaray cases, each containing 2 discs. There is no denying that Region 4 got the better end of the stick on this front.

    To make a fair comparison between Region 1 and Region 4 you really need to weigh up the complete season two set in Region 1 with both Region 4 sets. In terms of content, Region 1 is ahead by a nose, however if you do own the first season set and would like to have a consistent looking (not to mention much nicer) set of boxes for season 2 at the expense of a small quantity of extras, Region 4 is the place to shop. At the time of release, the Region 1 set is priced around the same mark as the two Region 4 sets put together.