Fight Club (Blu-ray SteelBook) (Manta Lab Exclusive No. 6) [Hong Kong]

[martinouchou]

Release date: March 30, 2018
Purchase links: Full Slip - Single Lenti - Double Lenti - One Click (Pre-order February 16 at 8 PM HKT, UTC+8) - Check your local timing HERE
Prices: $38.99 (Full slip - Single Lenti) - $39.99 (Double Lenti) - $132.97 (One Click)
Group buys: hosted by Aniv - One Click - Double Lenti - Full Slip - Single Lenti

Spoiler: Previous Steelbook design

[ME#6] Fight Club Steelbook reveal.
Took long time and some difficulties but we are super happy to reveal this artwork. Enjoy!

 

[cooey]

90% of the people buying this will keep it sealed anyway so it won't matter

Thankfully I'm region free

 

[steelbookz4eva]

Sorry to be the one to put a damper on the euphoria greeting this release, but for those residing in Region B territories (UK, Europe, Australasia, etc.), who don't yet own a multiregion player, a degree of caution needs to be exercised.

Fox titles, of which this is one, are distributed in Hong Kong and Taiwan by Deltamac, who tend to region lock their releases.

According to DVD Compare, the existing Hong Kong Blu-ray, released in 2009, is locked to Region A & C. Full specifications can be found here.

http://www.dvdcompare.net/comparisons/film.php?fid=16286

Whilst it's always possible that the disc might be reauthored to make it Region ABC (free), this seems unlikely.

Let's not forget that Manta Lab's release of "The Revenant", another Hong Kong Fox/Deltamac title, was similarly locked to Region A.

Caveat emptor!

Even if it's region locked and you want to open it you can always get the regular amaray and swap the discs

 

[Flloydo]

Although I already own the uk blu Ray Manta need to seriously be dishing out region free discs

Revenant region coding was a huge cock up IMO and I didn't think they would make the same mistake again

Still need to pick up a UK revenant disc at some point

 

[misformatt]

Do retailers have any control over the region coding? It's my understanding that distributors are often bound to region codes due to various legal obligations.

I'm glad 4K blurays have done away with region coding, but it always cracks me up when a region A locked release causes so much hubbub. If I didn't have a region B player, I wouldn't be able to watch half my steelbook collection.

 

[AlexMacOl]

Although I already own the uk blu Ray Manta need to seriously be dishing out region free discs

Revenant region coding was a huge cock up IMO and I didn't think they would make the same mistake again

Still need to pick up a UK revenant disc at some point

Had a similar problem when I bought MACBETH at Amazon UK. Region B locked and since the movie is not being released here in bluray I'll have to buy it from Amazon US and swap the discs.

 

[cooey]

Although I already own the uk blu Ray Manta need to seriously be dishing out region free discs

Revenant region coding was a huge cock up IMO and I didn't think they would make the same mistake again

Still need to pick up a UK revenant disc at some point

Nothing to do with Manta mate, it's down to the movie studio handling the release.

 

[Flloydo]

Nothing to do with Manta mate, it's down to the movie studio handling the release.

Sorry I meant choosing films with studios that have all region discs or talking it out with the studio

I just meant manta shouldn't make the same mistake like revenant with only getting a region locked release. Especially on new releases when you had to fork out another £15-£25 for the same film just for the disc (ammray was still expensive when mantas was released and the U.K. Steel had sold out)

Fight club they can kinda get away with IMO because it's older and people can probably walk into somewhere like CEX and pick it up for £1 or win one on eBay around the same price and swap discs

 

[serjitank]

Sorry I meant choosing films with studios that have all region discs or talking it out with the studio

I just meant manta shouldn't make the same mistake like revenant with only getting a region locked release. Especially on new releases when you had to fork out another £15-£25 for the same film just for the disc (ammray was still expensive when mantas was released and the U.K. Steel had sold out)

Fight club they can kinda get away with IMO because it's older and people can probably walk into somewhere like CEX and pick it up for £1 or win one on eBay around the same price and swap discs

how do you think we in the US feel? nearly every steelbook released in the UK is region locked.

 

[Chee_Kno]

how do you think we in the US feel? nearly every steelbook released in the UK is region locked.

It sucks, 85% of steels on @zavvi are useless to us across the pond

I think I'm gonna have to buy myself a region B blu ray player

 

[Flloydo]

how do you think we in the US feel? nearly every steelbook released in the UK is region locked.

Yeah that is sh*t

I actually meant premium releases in my head when i typed that but yeah none should really be region locked in this day and age

 

[Strangerbyday]

If they can so easily go region free for 4K blu-ray, I'll never understand why region had to be a thing for regular blu-ray.

 

[batmobilly666]

If they can so easily go region free for 4K blu-ray, I'll never understand why region had to be a thing for regular blu-ray.

The process of abolishing overly restrictive digital rights management measures is always a slow one. Look how long it took the music industry to stop selling CDs that were practically broken lest someone be able to rip them to mp3, nevermind that even regular players had issues with those. Remember when Sony BMG sold CDs that installed a rootkit when they were played on a computer, preventing the system to copy CDs and, as if that wasn't bad enough, compromising the whole system and making it vulnerable to attacks? Then they provided an "uninstaller" that actually installed more malware. Computer games used to come with DRM software that was borderline malware, too.
Nowadays, publishers are more aware of the fact that making it harder for paying customers to enjoy the product might actually not be in their best interest.

 

[lgans316]

how do you think we in the US feel? nearly every steelbook released in the UK is region locked.

Only studios like Studio Canal, Lionsgate and EOne region lock their releses. The big studios seldom .region lock.95% of the UK releaes by major studios are region free. Fox and Sony Region lock US releases as they release early. UK is more relaxed than US when it comes to Region coding. Also UK retailers ship overseas for peanuts unlike US based retailers who seldom ships overseas or charge ridiculous shipping rates.

The Revenant HK is NOT authored by Fox. It is a a completely different encode.

Coming to this Steelbook, I am.hoping they change that back artwork as it looks almost identical to the front and hints cutting corners.

 

[lgans316]

If they can so easily go region free for 4K blu-ray, I'll never understand why region had to be a thing for regular blu-ray.

Remember HD DVD was completely region free. Blu-ray was almost Region free. They did that so that they can make consumers adopt the format and move on. 99% of the DVDs are region locked.

 

[Chee_Kno]

Only studios like Studio Canal, Lionsgate and EOne region lock their releses. The big studios seldom .region lock.95% of the UK releaes by major studios are region free. Fox and Sony Region lock US releases as they release early. UK is more relaxed than US when it comes to Region coding. Also UK retailers ship overseas for peanuts unlike US based retailers who seldom ships overseas or charge ridiculous shipping rates.

If that's so then how is it that almost all Zavvi Exclusives are region B only?

 

[Jericho]

If they can so easily go region free for 4K blu-ray, I'll never understand why region had to be a thing for regular blu-ray.

If I had to guess a reason, its that film rights are not necessarily controlled by the same company worldwide. Sometimes they are, like say the Avengers. And sometimes they are not, like say Kill Bill. Being truly region free allows one company to release first and potentially siphon sales from another region where it has no rights. On one hand, the actual number of sales in such a scenario is likely small, so why bother with region coding? On the other hand, since sales are small and since people in general don't import movie titles, why bother changing the system for such a small number of consumers? In this day and age, it is quite easy to order items from another country. As an example, it's very doable to order French, German, British, Korean, Chinese, or Japanese releases in the US. So it's very plausible to import, and region coding helps protect companies that pay for film rights. You'll usually notice the companies that region code tend to be the smaller outfits. Hell, it might even be required when it purchases the film rights

 

[lgans316]

If that's so then how is it that almost all Zavvi Exclusives are region B only?

What are you talking about? Can you name some releases?

Lionsgate, eONE and minor studios Region lock their titles. this happens in pretty much all the regions.
Warner, Universal - Region Free
Paramount, Sony - 99.9% Region free
Fox - 80% Region Free. UK release likely to Region free over other regions.
BVHE / Disney - 99% Region free. There were few releases that were Region B locked.

 

[DannyDXC]

What are you talking about? Can you name some releases?

Lionsgate, eONE and minor studios Region lock their titles. this happens in pretty much all the regions.
Warner, Universal - Region Free
Paramount, Sony - 99.9% Region free
Fox - 80% Region Free. UK release likely to Region free over other regions.
BVHE / Disney - 99% Region free. There were few releases that were Region B locked.

Maybe he is referring to how bad Zavvi lists mosts of their Steelbooks on their website as Region B when, in fact, they are not.

 

[lgans316]

Maybe he is referring to how bad Zavvi lists mosts of their Steelbooks on their website as Region B when, in fact, they are not.

Most retailers wouldn't want to risk by mentioning as Region free.

Trust me, 2 years back, I had listed Harry Potter Japan Steelbook in eBay. I got an email from eBay CS that I had violated copyrights. All because I mentioned Region coding as Free instead of A and somehow the Studio didn't like it. I was warned that if I do relist the same item, they will suspend my account.

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/tp/vero-rights-owner.html

 

[K.i.T]

Most retailers wouldn't want to risk by mentioning as Region free.

Trust me, 2 years back, I had listed Harry Potter Japan Steelbook in eBay. I got an email from eBay CS that I had violated copyrights. All because I mentioned Region coding as Free instead of A and somehow the Studio didn't like it. I was warned that if I do relist the same item, they will suspend my account.

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/tp/vero-rights-owner.html

So what was the coding?
IF FREE then what was the issue, you have test it and its what you know of the product, thats what you have listed, you have been doing the right thing by informing the customer (what about costumer rights?), do they wish that you lie to the customer?