Page 1 of Region 3 discs - some info needed!

Does anyone buy region 3 discs from places like coolashop etc?
What I want to know is do these discs have extra features etc.
The DVDs seem to be dirt cheap, but I can see no mention of any features.
Also are the cuts any different generally from the region 1 or 2 versions.
Basically, I`d like as much info about R3 discs as possible
Cheers!
Mathew

Region 3 releases are generally barebones (ie no extras), but are often released with dts soundtracks, or well ahead of R1 titles.

Picture quality can sometimes be a bit iffy too.

Another cheap and reliable vendor is http://www.dddhouse.com

So is it basically like having a VCD put onto a DVD?

No, not at all.

They are DVD quality (the dts soundtrack on Battle Royale is testament to that), and usually the picture is fine. However, some are not so hot picture-wise : the R3 version of Audition is a terrible picture. I think that`s more down to the fact they are broadcast in NTSC, which as we all know is not quite as good as PAL.

Generally, if you want something cheap, R3 is the way to go, but you gets what yer pay for. R3 often have titles well before R1 - eg The Others, which was released with a dts soundtrack in Hong Kong, but didn`t come out until a couple of months later, loaded with extras but (I will stand corrected on this) without the dts soundtrack.

Personally, I`m an audio freak as opposed to a visual freak, so if a movie makes lots of noise and makes my subwoofer thump (as dts is inclined to do) I`m more likely to go for an £8 disc from HK, than wait three months for a disc costing twice as much but with no dts soundtrack. I`m a dts snob, I admit it :-)

I buy loads of stuff from coolashop and dddhouse and the disks are fine.

I bought Battle Royale and Shaolin Soccer for about £8 each and they are excellent in terms of picture and sound.

Who needs extras when you can get two films for the price of one!

Some of the Cat3 stuff can be iffy but you don`t buy it for anamorphic transfers, you buy it `cos is really weird!!