UPDATE: Asian Serenity Releases by ItaMoon

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

UPDATE: Asian Serenity Releases

POSTED BY: ITAMOON
UPDATED: Friday, May 12, 2006 08:01
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Friday, May 12, 2006 5:08 AM

UPDATED Results:
I have managed to switch into the Mandarin Chinese language track on my Hong Kong version. Not bad.
The purported "Singapore" release is actually a VCD which is why it plays all jiggy on my machine.
Also watched Aussie Serenity with Magyar (Hungarian) language setting. By far the best voiceovers yet - actors'voices are pitched to mimic our original folks closely and the voice acting is quite good - they must have spent a good amount of time on this version.

Am following some leads on getting a Russian copy... stay tuned

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Has anyone played any non-US Serenity DVDs? On some releases, the Video quality and Audio are questionable, as is the disk set-up.

Got my RF converter last night, plugged it in, and unlocked my "all-region" player. Both pieces of equipment come highly-rated by users on-line.

So now I can play all my "foreign" Serenity DVDs! Well, sort of.

BEST SUCCESS: GERMAN 2-Disc, UK Disc ‘special’ HMV
Audio + Video are just fine.
Observation: It takes longer to say anything in German than it does in English. The dubbing is very good - however, everyone has to motor-mouth through the script to keep up with the filmed action. Kinda sounds like all the characters have just had WAY too much coffee.
It does look quite fitting coming out of Simon's mouth in his first appearance dressed in the uniform. You can also watch with Dutch subtitles.

Similarly UK disk is comparable to the US release. A bit of a blow - the 'special' HMV UK release, the one I'd actually asked my sister "not" to buy, doesn't have the special extras. (I'm thinking these missing items are present on the Aussie releases anyway) It does have the "Art Cards" - haven't busted them open yet.

Haven't tried the German 1-Disc release yet.

LEAST SUCCESS: SINGAPORE 2-Disc
Ok, when I saw this was 2 discs, I though 'extras'! Turns out they chopped the movie in TWO!!! Suddenly disc 1 cuts off during the breathe-holding trip towards Miranda through Reaver space. Disc 2 just abruptly starts right back into the film. No extras - not even a gorram menu to drive through disk options. You watch the intro anti-theft promo, then the preview for Doom (thanks - saw that 17 times already in the theatre before each Serenity viewing!!!) And then straight into the film. No way around it. They don't even put in breaks for scenes. So to get ahead you have to just sit there and fast forward. (I know - awhhh, poor baby.) Also, since no menu, no way to set languages. It's just got Chinese subtitles and the regular English audio track.

The HONG KONG one was only "slightly" more successful. There was a menu. However it displays only 4 choices. When I go to the extras and try to play them, they default back to the 'play' mode and the movie starts up again. Blessed Buddha! But wait - there's an added feature: if you even so much as look at the menu of alternate video ratio settings, you're automatically propelled into wide-screen hell - only seeing a part of the screen in blown-up and horizontally distorted. That, combined with the super-saturated graininess, kinda gives it a real early 1970's karate film look.

Video: Kinda blows. Overly saturated and oddly grainy. This particular RF converter is supposed to improve the picture, so I don't know whether it's a dud, OR player is lame, OR the DVDs themselves are bad.

Audio: Slightly out-of-synch.

Haven't slipped in the two AUSSIE versions yet either.

The FRENCH is on its way.

Now that the ASIAN ones have been sort of a blowout, I'm a little scared of the LATIN ones. I figure even if these are purportedly Universal Studios releases, they may have these same poor video transfers. Anybody tried one yet?

Is it my equipment or are these releases really this sub-par?

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Friday, May 12, 2006 5:21 AM

AGATSU

I have to disagree with the German dubbing being good - I might even open a seperate tread just to rant about it. But just believe me - it sucks.
I got the Thailand version, and the dubbing is just hilarious! I'd send it to you (since I usually watch the German Limited Edition (IN ENGLISH!), anyways), but the DVD from Thailand was a gift - and it brought me here.

BROWNCOATS UNITE!

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Friday, May 12, 2006 6:03 AM

SASSALICIOUS

OH MY GOD!!!

WHERE CAN I GET MY HANDS ON THE THAILAND ONE? Is it legit or bootleg? Not that I care either way.

I'm kind of obsessed with southeast asia . . .

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Friday, May 12, 2006 6:21 AM

ITAMOON

Hey yeah, I'd like to know where to get the Thailand one....

I FINALLY heard back from filmifrikki.fi re: registration and password. I originally logged on, like 10 days ago. I'd given up. And the site is wicked (sorry, Bostonian here) temperamental.

I've also asked if the Finnish version has any dubbed tracks since that's what I'm most interested in. If I'm lucky, I'll hear back by Christmas. (geez, we're so spoiled now, aint' we?)

I second that "is it legit or a bootleg" question.

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Friday, May 12, 2006 8:01 AM

AGATSU

The Thailand DVD was a gift from a friend of mine who bought it on vacation - in Thailand. He brought back a whole bunch of DVDs which had been at 2 bucks a piece - and some of the movies on them had been recorded with a cam at the theatre, so I'm guessing bootleg (although they look VERY professional).
Serenity is a-okay, though, a direct image of the original Thai DVD, I guess, with menues and subtitles and all.
I prefer my German Limited Edition, though.
On one hand, I'd love to send it to you, but on the other hand, it was a gift, AND it was the very thing that got me hooked on Firefly. I had had the Firefly DVD box on my shelf unwatched for MONTHS, and when my friend gave me the movie (which I didn't even know existed and he had to explain it to me - I had lent him the Firefly Box and he liked it, so that gave him the idea, because he assumed I had watched it), I thought I'd watch that, and if I liked it, I'd give the series a chance. And 20 minutes into it, I was so hooked I had to force myself to turn it off and immediately put in the first DVD of Firefly. 24 hours later, I was burning.
So there's a bit of sentimental value involved here. Oh, hehe, and btw, I'm not trying to get a better end of a deal by saying that, I'd send you the thing for free, anyways, but, well... <=/
Email me, maybe we can figure something out, like I send it to you and you send it back later or something.
It might REALLY be fun to make a vignette of the highlights of Serenity scenes in different languages, but I know naught about the workings of such things.

BROWNCOATS UNITE!

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