Region 4 Winners and Losers

    This film was released theatrically in the US with an NC-17 rating. It was released on DVD in both R and NC-17 versions (see censorship notes). It has also been released in the UK (Region 2). The comparisons below relate to the Uncut NC-17 Region 1 version. There are also various European Region 2 releases but I could not find any reliable information about these in English. At least one of these contains a DTS soundtrack which might be tempting to some viewers.

    The Region 4 version of this DVD misses out on:

• Subtitled Audio Commentary
• Red Carpet footage from AFI film festival.
• Trailers for Being Julia, Imaginary Heroes, House of Flying Daggers, All About My Mother, Flower of My Secret, Talk To Her, The Crime of Padre Amaro and William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.

    The Unrated Region 1 version of this DVD misses out on:

• 21 Page Press Booklet (PDF document)

    The Region 2 version of this DVD misses out on:

• Removable Subtitles
• Subtitled Audio Commentary
• Red Carpet footage from AFI film festival.
• Trailers for Being Julia, Imaginary Heroes, House of Flying Daggers, All About My Mother, Flower of My Secret, Talk To Her, The Crime of Padre Amaro and William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.

    While the 21 page press booklet is very good, with some genuinely fascinating information, the omission of the subtitled audio commentary is disappointing. Reviews of the Region 1 release seem to agree than the audio commentary is very good but it does seem to cover similar territory to information in the press booklet. It’s a close call but I think I’d have to give preference to the Unrated Region 1 Version.