About time! Amazon.com informed me about the nice fact that Universal will release one of my favourite movies, Sophia Coppola’s Lost in Translation on Blu-ray Disc in the US on December 7, 2010. Just about a week before Coppola’s latest film Somewhere will hit the US screens. I already own the HD DVD of LiT and I don’t think the film will look any better on Blu-ray Disc, but I just hate to turn on the Xbox 360 and it’s turbine engine just to see Scarlett Johansson running around in a Tokyo hotel room in her underwear…
Pre-order Lost in Translation on Blu-ray Disc from Amazon.com

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OMG, it’s full of stars in 3D!

According to some rumors in the Blu-ray.com forums, Universal will release Edgar Wright’s adaptation on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on January 4, 2011. I can’t imagine why Universal wants to miss the Christmas sales, but at least I can see the film before it hits the German theaters on January 6th.
[via IMP Awards]

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Yeah, ice skating in hell! Looks like at least one Japanese distributor has finally understood how to increase international sales for their domestic home video releases and has decided to release a new Japanese film with English subtitles!
The subject for this revolutionary approach will be Takeshi Kitano’s latest film Outrage (アウトレイジ). The yakuza drama will be released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc (both with the mentioned English subtitles) from Bandai’s sublabel Honneamise on December 3rd. There will also be a Blu-ray Disc limited edition with two bonus DVDs.
Outrage DVD: CD Japan – Amazon.co.jp
Outrage Blu-ray Disc: CD Japan – Amazon.co.jp
Outrage Blu-ray Disc LE: CD Japan – Amazon.co.jp

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Good news for those who don’t want to import the beautiful but pretty expensive Blu-ray Disc release of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind from Japan. Today Optimum announced to release Hayao Miyazaki’s masterpiece on Blu-ray Disc in the UK on Oktober 18th.
Hopefully they will also offer a limited deluxe set like they did for Ponyo. Knowing Optimum, the release will probably be locked to Region B. Madman Entertainment has announced to release the film in Australia in November, but it will probably be a 1:1 copy of the UK release. So far Disney hasn’t announced anything for the US market…

[via Home Cinema]

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After various rumors and indication, FUNimation today finally announced that they indeed have acquired the US rights for Mamoru Hosoda und Satoko Okuderas Summer Wars and the second part of the Rebuild of Evangelion saga, Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance. Both films will be released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in 2011 while Summer Wars will also get a theatrical release in 2010.
Speaking of Summer Wars, Taiwanese distributor Mighty will release the award winning anime as a nice looking Blu-ray Disc special edition with a bonus DVD, a film strip and English subtitles on September 10th.

[via @muhootsaver & AnimeOnDVD Forum]

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After the crappy sequel and the recent reports of an impending 3D “upgrade” of the 2000 original we’re finally getting some good news for Battle Royale.
According to the Cult Labs Forum, Arrow Films will release Kinji Fukasaku’s cult classic on Blu-ray Disc in the UK on October 4th. No further details regarding remastering measures or bonus materials have been announced yet.
Arrow Films has already released several films on Blu-ray Discs, some of these releases were region free while others were locked to Region B.

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Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind – WDHE

Specifications [BD50]
Region: ABC
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video 1080p 23,976fps
Audio: Japanese: LPCM / 2304kbps / 2.0 / 48kHz / 24bit
English: Dolby Digital / 256kbps / 2.0 / 48kHz
German: Dolby Digital / 192kbps / 2.0 / 48kHz
French: Dolby Digital / 192kbps / 2.0 / 48kHz
Mandarin: Dolby Digital / 192kbps / 2.0 / 48kHz
Cantonese: Dolby Digital / 192kbps / 2.0 / 48kHz
Korean: Dolby Digital / 192kbps / 2.0 / 48kHz
Subtitles: English, Japanese, French, Korean, Traditional Chinese
BDInfo Report
Screenshots

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind @ Asian Blu-ray Guide

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Here’s a quick update on the Japanese Blu-ray Disc release of Hayao Miyazaki’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind that will hit Japanese stores on July 14th.
Over at the High-Def Digest Forum, lucky owner Kannisto has confirmed the already announced audio (Japanese, English, French, German, Korean, Cantonese, Mandarin) and subtitle (English, Japanese, French, Korean, Traditional Chinese) tracks. He also confirmed that the disc is region free, so import away!
There are a lot of great looking screen caps and shots from the packaging available in the forum. My copy is already on its way and should arrive tomorrow thanks to DHL Express, so stay tuned for some more details.

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Just a quick update on the highly anticipated Hong Kong Blu-ray Disc release of Evangelion 2.22: You Can (Not) Advance.
The English subtitles are separated from the Chinese ones and are, according to AnimeOnDVD Forum user DiGiKerot, the same as in the international theatrical screenings. However, it looks like Asia Video had to translate the new 2.22 scenes (about three minutes) themselves and the results are supposed to be “pretty Engrishy (and occasionally not very accurate)“.
The disc (25GB) is locked to Region A (Asian Blu-ray Guide User Phillip), so it won’t play on umodified European (or Australian) Blu-ray Disc players.
After some delays, Universum Anime will release Evangelion 2.22 in Germany on September 17th, but I guess this won’t help most of you who are reading this version of the site…
During the Anime Expo, FUNimation stated (see panel transcript) that they haven’t acquired the US rights and since Manga Entertainment UK probably depends on FUNimation for such a big release, the choice of English friendly releases will stay slim for some time now.

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Online retailer Amazon.com has reduced the price for several anime series and movies. Most of them are from FUNimation, so check the disc detail page (using the disc icon) first to see if these are HD upscales and if they will play on your non-Region A player.
The Sky Crawlers – $12.99
Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa – $10.99
Paprika – $14.99
Blood: The Last Vampire – $9.99
Witchblade: The Complete Series – $22.99
Gunslinger Girl: The Complete First Season – $21.49
Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino – $21.49
Tekkonkinkreet – $13.49
Samurai 7: The Complete Series – $29.99
Vexille – $15.99
Burst Angel: The Complete Collection – $32.99
Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone – $16.49
Basilisk: The Complete Series – $28.99
Heroic Age: The Complete Series – $24.99
D. Gray-Man: Season One, Part One – $26.49
Claymore: Complete Series Box Set – $29.49
Trinity Blood: Complete Series Box Set- $29.99
Clamp Double Feature: Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE and xxxHOLiC – $14.99
Big thanks to Jeremy for the heads up!

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