“Phantom Menace” On LaserDisc And El Cid On DVD
Dear Gary: I have been picking up the last four copies of your magazine at my local newsstand and have been delighted with the scope and breadth of the information you provide for home theater. However, I notice your latest copy did not review the Japanese LaserDisc version of The Phantom Menace. As you must know, several hundred copies of this laser were purchased at $100 or more by the many avid Star Wars and LaserDisc fans. For me, this version has better video and audio qualities over the VHS U.S.-only edition released in North America. Will your staff be doing a review soon? Also, there seems to be many more DVD and LaserDisc titles coming to the U.S. from Asia that are NOT available here. One of them is the movie El Cid. This movie was last available in 1998 on LaserDisc in the U.S. It has yet to make a DVD release in the U.S. but, you guessed it, it is available now from Asia and has been sold out of Canada for U.S. consumption. Could we get a review of this DVD (and know it is not a knockoff). It may also help other DVD resellers to stock this DVD if it is available for resale into the U.S.
Larry Rodriguez
Research Editor Michael Coate Comments:
Thanks for the interest in Widescreen Review. Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace was reviewed in Issue 39 (Stuart Little on the cover)! If you wish to read the review on our Web site, it is at: http://www. widescreenreview.com/sw/index.html Because the Star Wars LaserDisc was imported from Japan, we were unable to obtain an advance copy; and because of the lead time involved with producing each issue, the review was unable to appear until the June issue. Unfortunately, but at the same time for practical reasons, we only review Region 1 DVDs in our magazine. If we were to come upon a noteworthy DVD release from Asia, perhaps we would consider reviewing it in the future.
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