TweakTown Blu-ray Import Buying Guide Update

Since the last time we last took a look at the 'Guide to Buying Blu-rays from Overseas' in December, the Australian dollar has remained at a consistently high level, which in addition to spectacular online sales, continues to result in a wind fall for Australian consumers.

Whilst it's heartening to see the gap between regions close, with so many quality releases being consistently released in fast succession, a worthy few remain unavailable in Australia. So let's jump into the first instalment of this epic series for 2010, covering some of the later titles released only to import, but safe from the horrors of region coding.

Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas

Studio: Universal Home Entertainment
Country of Origin: United States
Purchase: Amazon.com
Region: A, B, C

Back in the day, before Johnny Depp played the character of Jack Sparrow one too many times (the last being in Tim Burtons' Alice In Wonderland), he was known for extremely varied roles in quirky character based films including this; Terry Gilliam's drug fuelled adaptation of Hunter S. Thompsons' classic novel. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas remains the very essence of cult film and it's still as manic as it was on original release.

Universal have produced a great looking and sounding disc, the best that's been presented on video before, even surpassing the decent HD-DVD release. Whilst it's light on extra features, the deleted scenes will be fascinating to fans.

The Neverending Story

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Studio: Warrner Bros Entertainment
Country of Origin: United States
Purchase: Amazon.com
Region: A, B, C

Only two films scared the hell out of me when I was young. One was Labyrinth. The other was this; The Neverending Story. I always find it fascinating to revisit childhood films, however, invariably viewing as an adult doesn't match viewing through a child's eyes. Luckily, The Neverending Story hasn't dated terribly (except for the theme song by Limahl). However, no doubt this is a prime title to be remade in the following years. Imagine what Tim Burton could do with that.

Whilst the film itself looks and sounds pretty decent, including the newly remixed 5.1 audio track, there are no extra features. Not even trailers or a Limahl music video here. Disappointing, but still at a bargain basement price, worth a look.