The more I write about Italian movies that are not available here in the US, the more I want to urge you all to get a region free DVD player so that you can see them.
In case you don’t know. DVDs that you buy in Europe won’t play on US DVD players; the US and Europe are in different regions. There are, in fact, eight regions:
REGION 1 — USA, Canada
REGION 2 — Japan, Europe, South Africa, Middle East, Greenland
REGION 3 — S.Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Parts of South East Asia
REGION 4 — Australia, New Zealand, Latin America (including Mexico)
REGION 5 — Eastern Europe, Russia, India, Africa
REGION 6 — China
REGION 7 — Reserved for Unspecified Special Use
REGION 8 — Reserved for Cruise Ships, Airlines, etc…
REGION 0 or REGION ALL – are “unlocked” DVD players that can play DVDs from all the other regions.
Region free DVD players are cheap, at least, the best ones are cheap and some people say the cheaper the better. I should mention that even though Phillips DVD players are just fine, I wouldn’t recommend them. Though advertised as region free on sites like Amazon.com, they are not. I made the mistake not once but twice ( not a quick learner, I guess) of believing that my Phillips DVD player, sold to me as region free, would play my Italian DVDs and found that they would not. Oh, they probably would, if Phillips would give you the code to unlock them, but they refuse to do it. They believe that doing so is illegal, but they are being overly cautious, because this law, if there really is one, is murky enough to break without remorse.
At present I have three region free DVD players; two made by Samsung that you can find right now on Amazon for 44.90, and a Colby portable that I bought at one of those Electronic stores on Times Square in New York City. I think it was under $100. One of the Samsungs arrived ready to go, and one didn’t; I had to call Samsung and ask for the code to unlock it. The Colby didn’t work when I brought it home either, but Colby customer service gave me the code too. What’s the problem, Phillips? Just give us the damn codes!
If you are in Italy, or any other European country you can buy them there and bring them home, but remember, these will not be region free.
Make it a happy holiday and give yourself the gift of Italian movies – and movies from all over the world!
I Love Italian Everything 