DVD Releases in Spain

[rohmerin]

Yes, legal Sony Human desire is even worse than the piracy master (Suevia) edition.

http://www.mundodvd.com/deseos-humanos-de-lang-35755/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have said: welcome to Spain-sthan.

[Jonathan S]

....Some Impulso DVDs are good (like some Fox if these films are in USA), some are not (WB classics were mostly massacred).
Juarez is in the middle of a VHS to a DVD....

Thanks for the caveats. Do they have fixed or optional Spanish subs - on Juarez for example, if you have it? Or does it vary between titles like everything else!?

[rohmerin]

ALL DVDs in Spain have got OPTIONAL subtitles. This is an ignorant country where dubbing is loved.
I own Juarez, I promise this afternoon making some screens for you.
I own John M Stahl's lovely Holy Matrimony. I think it's the same quality as Juarez.
I own Negulesco's 3 came back. That's good but the sound is not.

I said: be careful. You can pay 15 euros for a DVD and find a DIVX. Or pay 24 euros for a BLU and find a VHS quality.
Impulso has also worked with UNIVERSAL and Paramount: They've got John Huston's Freud, excellent quality, but NON anamorphic.

[rohmerin]

Screen captures from Juarez in my blog. It's not a VHS. I like the image (for being Impulso for WB is good). Optional subtitles, I repeat, not forced Spanish subs.

http://rohmerin.blogspot.com.es/2012/05 ... -1939.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I copy and paste this in the Dieterle's thread.

[Jonathan S]

Thanks for the info and screenshots. If subtitles on Spanish DVDs are always optional, that at least is a good start. Several French DVDs of Hollywood films I've investigated (e.g. Lewton's Apache Drums) apparently force the subs, which is a dealbreaker for me.

[rohmerin]

Be careful. Not always are optional, I mean, they are NOT burned if there's Spanish audio, but DVD players sometimes (because the menu is set that way) don't allow you to switch off Spanish subtitles. Perhaps with a Blu Ray player you can do it. I don't know. Plan B is burn the DVD and watch the copy without subs, stupid and expensive, I know.

Generally you can trust on these DVD companies: Cameo, Intermedio, Versus
Be careful with: Impulso (they work for WB, FOX, Universal, Paramount and Sony),
Divisa, Filmax, Vertice and all that sounds cheap with tacky covers.

[Dick Laurent]

I just received the 12 disc collection of early Cecil B DeMille films from spain.
Previous page mentioned that the intertitles are in spanish.
Good news, they are in English! with removable spanish subs.
The quality is not very good, but for 7 euros it's a steal.

[George Kaplan]

I have had very good luck generally with discs ordered from Spain, with a few notable exceptions, namely:
RED DUST (1932) published as TIERRA DE PASION by Art House Media/Paycom Media/Cinema International Media, S.L. This title is published in multiple "editions" by the same publisher using different cover art, both as an independent title, and in tandem with Gable and Harlow in SARATOGA. I happen to have the first edition pictured here, but I feel fairly certain the other is identical.



This is the worst I've been burned on a "commercial" disc. It is worth noting that nowhere on the disc is Warner Brothers or any other studio entity credited (i.e., MGM, the original producers, or UA, etc.); this is a bootleg of a poor analog transfer, perhaps recorded off of a broadcast, and pressed on a single layer PAL disc. I would love to know if ANY better edition of this exists anywhere. As well as Harlow and Gable in HOLD YOUR MAN.

Frame grabs now posted here.

The majority of what I've received, mostly Mitchell Leisen, John M. Stahl and Robert Siodmak titles have been very good to excellent. I'll can follow up on some of these as well.

[rohmerin]

I told you: be aware of tacky covers, low prices and unknown companies. Welcome to Spain.

There's a Borzage's 3 comrades good with a beautiful cover by Absolute/Carousel Films.
http://www.mundodvd.com/capturas_dvd-tr ... das-89239/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The other (s) is (are) piracy and bad.

John Ford's The Whole Town's Talking is very good if you buy the original Impulso for Sony. But if you but it at El corte inglés, you've got a DIVX, it's not a Sony it's a whatever.

The good:
http://www.mundodvd.com/capturas_dvd-pa ... ama-98152/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Jonathan S]

I can recommend the Spanish releases of The Strawberry Blonde and, to a lesser extent, The Sea Wolf. The Spanish subs are easily removable on both, though I had to do it manually on my (Panasonic) DVD player - the disc menus offer only Spanish audio or English audio with Spanish subs.

The Cagney is nicely cleaned up, with basically just reel cue marks left (a big plus for me!) I don't know why anyone, in the UK at least, would bother with the Warner Archive when this pressed release is available for half the cost (assuming you're ordering other items simultaneously).

The Sea Wolf is from a heavily speckled print (like the old UK TV copy) but is otherwise a faithful transfer, and definitely not in 2.40:1, as the box worryingly states - although the windowboxing of the opening and closing titles is taken to an absurd extreme.

Sadly, Juarez has been back-ordered for weeks and at one point amazon.es's listing suggested it was OOP, though that has now returned to "1-3 weeks" availability.

[MichaelB]

I've just picked up all eight of Julio Médem's features in English-friendly DVDs for around £30 total. This bargain-priced box set covered six of them, to which I added separate DVDs of Basque Ball and Room in Rome.

A quick skim through the discs reveals perfectly adequate presentation - certainly on a par with anything I'd expect from a British or American arthouse label. The only downside is that the extras aren't subtitled, but I rarely find the time to watch them anyway.

[Finch]

Finally got round to watching Man's Castle: I've never seen the film before so can't compare to any other DVDs if they exist. The film is not restored but it is very watchable. Definitely not a public domain title. English audio was clear so that I managed to get by without English subs (only Spanish ones offered anyhow).

[htdm]

I just received the 12 disc collection of early Cecil B DeMille films from spain.
Previous page mentioned that the intertitles are in spanish.
Good news, they are in English! with removable spanish subs.
The quality is not very good, but for 7 euros it's a steal.

What titles are included in the set?

[Tommaso]

As far as I can see, the same titles as in this American Public Domain release. Same company, they just put every film on a single disc it seems, and PALified them. I was tempted to order this collection from amazon.es myself, but was finally put off by some not very favourable reviews on the US site.

[htdm]

Thanks for that Tommaso

[L.A.]

Filmoteca Española has produced a 4 DVD set including a book called La Guerra filmada (War on Film), a collection of documentaries and newsreels on the Spanish Civil War. Is this possibly available for purchase, does anyone know?

[perkizitore]

I could only locate it in Spanish bookshops, but I don't know if they ship abroad (Fnac doesn't seem to stock it).

[Brevity]

For what it's worth now that the Archive Blu-ray is out, the Spanish Deathtrap disc is non-anamorphic but widescreen, unlike the old R1 apparently. Optional Spanish subs. I wish it wouldn't have taken Amazon two months to ship it to me (well, I wouldn't have minded but these happened to be the two months with the Blu announcement and the appearance of seemingly the only review of the disc on the internet).

[rohmerin]

La guerra filmada is uploaded by Filmoteca Española on Spanish national TV web site.
They have put the restored Un chien andalou, Spanish silents, etc.

http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos-audi ... a-filmada/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.rtve.es/filmoteca/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;