Page 1 of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea R1 Should I buy it?

Hi,
I was thinking of buying 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea R1 dvd, but I`ve heard that most R2 dvd`s have better picture quality. Has anyone bought the dvd? Should I wait for the UK release?

Buy it now, the picture quality is very good for a film of it`s age, the special features are superb and it will probably be some time before we see this released in R2. It is rubbish that R2 has better picture quality just because it is PAL as opposed to NTSC. Picture quality is all down to the encoding on the disc and you will find just as many R2 discs that have a worse picture quality than it`s R1 equivalent.

Thanks for your reply, I was beginning to think I was the only fan of the film. I`ll buy it this week along with Roger Rabbit, from play.com. I`m starting to change my mind about R1`s. If they were that bad why would 3 hundred million Americans put up with them?

For the R1 vs R2 picture quality arguement thing - it`s the old NTSC vs PAL debate which every so often raises it`s ugly head on here and other forums -and always provokes furious debate, but never leads to a conclusion.

Basically America uses NTSC for their television, Europe uses PAL. PAL in theory has a little bit more resolution (Picture detail you could say) than NTSC - but you`d be hard pushed to notice to be honest.
NTSC has as part of the spec more noticable line structure (Horizontal lines that make up the television image) This bothers some people (Me included)
The important thing is not so much resolution between the two formats, but the mastering. There are many examples of a disgusting master on R2 and a brilliant one on R1 - thus the R1 picture is much better than the R2. It`s said that R1 masters tend to be better on average due to America being a huge market and they take the care on their releases - but this is a very argueable point and people will disagree on here about this no doubt. Also don`t forget - one region can be anamorphic whilst the release in the other region can be non-anamorphic, the anamorphic should be the one to go for every time.
NTSC also plays the soundtrack at the correct speed. PAL is speeded up - some people can tell this (I can) most can`t. Sound therefore will always sound better with NTSC - but as I said - most people can`t tell the difference.

Can I also say that your opinion of PAL vs NTSC will be formed according to how your TV handles NTSC. Our televisions are designed to handle PAL as standard - NTSC is an extra and some TV`s handle it stunningly, others are a bit ropey with VERY visible line structure and distorted images.
Don`t forget - the way to go with all DVD`s is to view them with the best output - this in most cases is RGB through a good quality scart. Using RGB should make R1 and R2 look identical for colour.

Best thing I would say, if you haven`t seen any R1 discs in action is to get one, see how your TV gets on, and if you like it - there you go. If you don`t -don`t get any more.

Hope this is of help

Thanks for the info. I use Thor scart cables, but my tv isn`t great.
I`m hoping to get a Sony 28LS60 tv soon.

The disc is excellent,and I would not buy a UK Disney disc again,as they shortchange on so many occasions,Snow white documentary was shorter,some Toy Story extras were missing,compare the Fantasia discs,there is so much more on the US discs.So even if it does come out on Region 2,chances are that some extras will be missing.
Regarding the NTSC and PAL problem.I have a Panasonic tv,and I would go for the PAL disc,as long the actual film was of the same quality.The extra 100 lines do help.The sound is correct on NTSC and pitched higher on PAL,but unless you ever see the NTSC version,you would never know.