Region 4 Winners and Losers

        This film, unlike the first film in the On Melodrama box set from Madman Entertainment's Directors Suite label, Effi Briest, has tended to be released by itself in other regions. This may be because of the fact that the film was unavailable for 20 years due to the legal disputes with Cornell Woolrich's estate. The theatrical re-release in 1995 means Martha may be a Fassbinder work that is more familiar with cineastes than other films by Fassbinder. In summary Martha is presented:

    In Region 1 (USA) as a standalone release with a booklet containing the essay by Jonathan Rosenbaum and a documentary on Fassbinder entitled Fassbinder in Hollywood.

    In Region 2 (The Netherlands) as a single release with the film Fear of Fear and a 19-minute interview with cinematographer Michael Ballhaus.

    In Region 2 (United Kingdom) as part of a box set with the films Lola and Why does Herr r. Run Amok? This box set includes the same documentary found in Region 1, the interview with Michael Ballhaus and the interview found on the Region 4 release with actor Karlheinz Boehm.

    In Region 2 (Germany) as a standalone release with the same extras as found on the Region 2 release in The Netherlands, namely the film Fear of Fear and the interview with Michael Ballhaus.

    In Region 4 (Australia) with an expert audio commentary and a booklet. All the releases use the restored master transfer undertaken by the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation. In my opinion, as the Region 4 release contains the Fassbinder documentary in the box set (found on the third disc on the film Fear of Fear) and the interview with Karlheinz Boehm, yet despite lacking the interview with Michael Ballhaus it contains an expert audio commentary by Dr. Martin which makes the Region 4 release the optimal choice for fans of Fassbinder's cinema.