Trying to find a movie...

[TerokNor]

I am trying to find a movie... but am not that successful with it.
I mean I did find it on Amazon.com but only as a VHS tape. Its from 1998, so ... there has to be a DVD (playable also with european DVD players?) of it somewhere...I mean its not THAT long ago. The movie has not truly great critics, but still...
I also found it as an online video (for money), but I cannot play it from where I am, its only for the USA.
I tried finding it online for free, like on you tube...but not luck.

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Men-VH...ef=sr_1_5?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1303329782&sr=1-5

Its this one, Little men from 1998.
I improve my English by reading some classic books (as you may remember) that are easy enough (because its actually childrens literature) but not too easy..so I´ve read A secret garden and Little women, and also watched the movies, as I have them on DVD anyway. Now decidet to read Little Men and Jo´s boys, because I remember that as a Kid I liked to watch that Anime..Jo´s happy family or such... so I still have sort of an idea what its abaout and about the characters, however now I also want to see this movie. Does somebody has an idea how I get my hands on it?
Are VHS tapes playable on every VHS player in the world or is it like it is with DVD players, that I could not play US DVDs?

Thanks!

TerokNor

 

[1001001]

I remember when I was living in Australia in 1987, my mom sent over VHS tapes of the Lakers Playoffs series, and they would not play on Australian VHS players. I don't remember why.

There are several for sale on eBay, like this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Little-Men-VHS-...ndon-/280663136349?pt=VHS&hash=item4158d3985d

But you'd have to look into the compatability issue. maybe ask the seller....

 

[TerokNor]

Just found this: Typically, a VHS machine can only handle signals of the country it was sold in.
So I guess, what you experiences with the US VHS tape in Australia, would be the same here.

But I also found this trailer...and when they have a trailer online, there must be the rest somewhere.
http://www.videodetective.com/movies/trailers/little-men-trailer/7445

There are a few pages where I think one can download it, but they look strange...not very trustworthy.

TerokNor

 

[RJDiogenes]

eBay is probably your best bet. Most DVD players can be reprogrammed to accept all regions.

 

[Count Zero]

The US (and some other countries) use NTSC instead of PAL/Sécam as their TV/VHS encoding/decoding system. Typically, US produced VHS tapes won't produce a picture on a VHS player in Europe (because we use PAL/Sécam). However, some players can do both formats. My parents e.g. have such a player.

 

[M'Sharak]

I remember when I was living in Australia in 1987, my mom sent over VHS tapes of the Lakers Playoffs series, and they would not play on Australian VHS players. I don't remember why.

VHS tapes made for the US market are in NTSC format, while most of the rest of the world used PAL format.

Edit: Count Zero beat me to it. :P

 

[TerokNor]

It says on Amazon the VHS Tape is NTSC.

Just found this side:

http://www.devoteddvd.com.au/shop/p...m=Louisa+May+Alcotts+Little+Men+the+Movie+DVD


So there IS a DVD...but this one is region 4.... I need region 2!
Besides thats pretty expensive, isn´t it?

TerokNor

 

[trampledamage]

Most modern European VHS players can handle NTSC tapes - it's worth checking your player. (and also your TV - it will need to be able to output NTSC as well, but most European TVs can do that too)

 

[TerokNor]

My VHS Player is the oldest modell ever. It also says written on it "VHS Pal". I kept it after getting my DVD player and even that thing is by now old...10 years I suppose. The TV´s older still..I´d say about 20 years...was my parents old TV.
Though I heard one could somehow make the DVD player that way that it can play region free, when entering some sort of code or so?
Can a computer or Laptop (2 years old) play DVDs of all regions maybe?

TerokNor

 

[Count Zero]

No, usually not. There might be a work-around, though.

 

[Jadzia]

Can a computer or Laptop (2 years old) play DVDs of all regions maybe?

I've talked about this before here. The region setting is part of the DVD drive's firmware. You can normally change it's region 4 times after it is first set.

If it's a one off time where you want to watch a DVD from a foreign region, you can change it's region once, watch the film, then change it back.

Most would be happy with the two main regions: North America (1) and Europe (2) So if your computer has 2 dvd drives (or buy an extra one off ebay for pocket change), you can set them to these two different regions, and keep them like that.

If you're Australian (or African or Asian) , then you have you're local region to deal with as well.

 

[Sean Aaron]

For computers the easiest solution is to get a cheap external USB-powered player and just set the region to whatever DVD you want and leave it that way. I use my Mac Mini to watch DVDs (I have a Philips DVD player that I used a handset hack on, but I just prefer the computer) and I have a DVD player for R1, R3 and R4 with the internal drive set to R2.

No modding or firmware loading involved.

 

[edisraf]

Well, I looked but couldn't any solution. If you run across this a lot, maybe a cheap N. American DVD player would work.

At least you are in good company.

President Barack Obama gave Prime Minister Gordon Brown witha set of 25 DVDs. Only, when the PM started watching them they didn't work. The words, Wrong Region" came up on his screen. Seems they only work in DVD players made in North America.

raf

 

[Sean Aaron]

Gordo just needs to look up his DVD player remote hack on the net and he's all set. Amazon.co.uk publishes the remote hacks on the same page as the players they sell!

 

[RJDiogenes]

My laptop can play both Region 1 and Region 2.

 

[TerokNor]

Ah.... well at least it is possibel to watch something from another region. I´d be happy with region 2 and 4.
So...maybe I should buy the DVD, then try it out and if its not working on the DVD-player, computer or laptop, then think of how to change it, so that one of those things plays region 4...and if its not working at all, then I still can be annoyed about it then, staring at my DVD and curse those people, who invented region codes, only so they would not loose money to others.

Now...if I´d buy something directly from an australian page... uhm..I´ve never done that. I did buy things from abroad, but usually over amazon.de...so I just paid amazon and they paid them. Can the australian seller just take the money of my account too...and how do I know I can trust those pages...there are many and they all look chaotic and strange. Don´t want tp pay money for the DVD and for shipping or flying it over here and then receive nothing...
Is here someone from Australia who maybe has good experiences with one of these sites, shown here?

http://www.myshopping.com.au/ZM--1160828578_Movies

Thanks!

TerokNor

 

[Count Zero]

PayPal is probably your best bet for paying people you bought something from online. Otherwise, international financial transactions are a bit of a pain in the ass (and usually come with additional fees).

 

[TerokNor]

Hmm...seems like one needs a credit card to use PayPal? Cause I don´t have one.

Terokor

 

[Count Zero]

Mmh, when I set up my account years ago, it also worked with bank accounts.

 

[Sean Aaron]

You need a bank account with PayPal now I believe and they will default to taking money from it, but you still need a credit card as a backup funding source.

If you don't have a credit card, can you buy one of those ones you need to add money to? That would be a good solution and mean you aren't carrying debt as well.

Seriously get yourself a cheap USB-powered DVD player for your computer for R2. Samsung makes a good one that's less than 30 quid.