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Foreign Film Stores
	Topic by: Tuna Posted: December 5, 2003 - 3:57 PM PST Last Reply: December 30, 2003 - 6:25 AM PST

author	topic: Foreign Film Stores
Tuna	post #1  on December 5, 2003 - 3:57 PM PST   Hey I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions on where to purchase foreign movies (preferably Asian, even more preferably Japanese) from online. I am looking for sites similar to www.yesasia.com where i can preorder items. Yesasia is charging around $38 for the new Kitano Zaitochi DVD and $46 for Battle Royale 2 and I'd prefer this to be a last resort if I can't find anything cheaper. I know i could use ebay but I'd prefer one reliable site and hkflix.com also doesn't seem to offer these movies. Thanks
manfarang	post #2  on December 9, 2003 - 12:33 PM PST   Your best bet may be: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/ Other sources for my Asian film purchases have been: http://us.yesasia.com/     (of course) http://www.dvdasian.com/ http://www.ethaicd.com/ http://www.hkflix.com/home.asp http://www.pokerindustries.com/ http://sensasian.com/ http://aznfilms.com/default.php http://english.av89.com/ http://www.bluelaser.com/ http://www.cinemashops.com/
IWhitney	post #3  on December 11, 2003 - 1:22 PM PST   > On December 5, 2003 - 3:57 PM PST Tuna wrote: > --------------------------------- > Hey I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions on where to purchase foreign movies (preferably Asian, even more preferably Japanese) from online. I've never found a cheap source for Japanese copies of Japanese movies. $30 - $50 seems to be the going rate. Usually I wait a month or two for the Hong Kong DVD release & buy it from http://www.hkflix.com for $20 or less. According to friends who have been to Japan, the Japanese DVD merchants aren't gouging, movies are just really expensive there. They saw a noticeable discrepency between the price of DVDs of Japanese movies (expensive!) and non-Japanese movies (cheap!). I have no idea why this is.
Brujaria	post #4  on December 16, 2003 - 2:00 PM PST   > On December 11, 2003 - 1:22 PM PST IWhitney wrote: > --------------------------------- ...a noticeable discrepency between the price of DVDs of Japanese movies (expensive!) and non-Japanese movies (cheap!). I have no idea why this is. > --------------------------------- Well, I've never been to Japan, but I have done a LOT of import buying over the past 10+ years and yes, Japanese tapes, LDs and DVDs are generally expensive compared to US product, but there is no difference between Japanese cinema and foreign cinema there. The difference in prices are what the releasing company wants to charge for them regardless of country of origin. Hell, Takashi's Zatoichi is really pretty damn cheap at Y3800 and it's a Japanese domestic product. You have to remember Japan is a small island country. They do not have the land mass that we have. In the US we can set a DVD plant out in the middle of BFE, hire migrant workers for peanuts and produce a relatively cheap product. Japan does not have that luxury. Also, while a US DVD company can move large numbers of pieces (due to the massive US population and export into Canada), Japan's population though large for the island is tiny by comparison. The more pieces of a product you can move, the cheaper it becomes for you to produce and you can even shave down the profit margin a bit to see a bigger return. While Japanese companies do press a certain amount of pieces extra due to export demand, you are still looking at a much smaller industry. So, simply put, fewer pieces sold + higher manufacturing costs = higher retail prices. And to get back on topic, CD Japan is the best place to order stuff directly from the source. Low shipping rates, very reasonable prices and super-fast service. I've gotten stuff from them in the same week that I placed the order.
manfarang	post #5  on December 17, 2003 - 11:15 AM PST   Perhaps the main reason DVDs are so expensive in Japan is that Japanese law (I have read) forbids the sale of many Japanese-manufactured items, including DVDs, CDs and books, at below retail price. The suggested retail price is pretty much the only price at which you can buy the item new, whereas in the US if you buy an item at the MSRP you feel like a sucker. It is not in the interest of Japanese DVD companies to offer the DVDs at much lower prices in the US as Japanese customers will be tempted to order their DVDS from the US instead of buying them at home.
manfarang	post #6  on December 25, 2003 - 9:28 PM PST   As an update, I've discovered a new Asian DVD vendor - www.fareastdvd.com - offering the Battle Royale 2 DVD for $19.99. They also have the superb Thai martial arts film Ong Bakon DVD for the same price. Both have English subtitles.
Tuna	post #7  on December 29, 2003 - 6:00 PM PST   > On December 25, 2003 - 9:28 PM PST manfarang wrote: > --------------------------------- > As an update, I've discovered a new Asian DVD vendor - www.fareastdvd.com - offering the Battle Royale 2 DVD for $19.99. > --------------------------------- I think thats the Battle Royale 1 DVD 2 disc edition
manfarang	post #8  on December 30, 2003 - 6:25 AM PST   > On December 29, 2003 - 6:00 PM PST Tuna wrote: > --------------------------------- > I think thats the Battle Royale 1 DVD 2 disc edition > --------------------------------- You're right, Tuna - the title "Battle Royale 2 DVD" is confusing, but the description is definitely that of the first Battle Royale. Sorry about that.