Hi from USA, New to group, Source for Filipino DVDs in US or online?

[Larry G]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the group. I'm in Southern California, USA. I'm not Filipino, but I currently live with my dad and his wife who is Filipina. Currently, she watches Filipino import VCDs here. However as VCD is not a popular format in North America, I have a question.

Is there an online source or site for Filipino Region 3 DVDs both Filipino and/or international (read=Hollywood) films on the net? Particularly one that will ship to the United States? Also, is there a site that has Filipino movies that are in Tagalog or Visayan dialects that have English (or Spanish) subtitles for us folks that do not speak a Filipino language?

A related question, simply out of my own curosity: Do R3 discs, particularly Filipino versions of Hollywood and other major studio films, have features that U.S. and/or Canadian R1 discs are lacking?

Are there differences in Filipino R3 discs from say R3 discs originating in Hong Kong, Taiwan, or South Korea, with the Philippines being an NTSC and an R3 country? What languages are on Filipino discs? Is there dubbing or subtitling in Tagalog? (I'm hoping to learn Tagalog eventually, which is why I ask).

I expect I will soon visit The Philippines one day to visit my stepmother's family. I lived with my mother who suffered a long illness before she passed away.

I found this forum via the ABS-CBN forums. It took a great deal of searching to find it, but it looks like a promising group. I'm hoping to get a multiregion DVD player. I believe the Cyberhome one I have now can be made multiregion.

Thanks in advance,
Larry

[wrAth]

Welcome to the site, Larry G!

first off, i think your initial query is more suited for the Online Shopping area of PinoyDVD.

nonetheless, here's a site which (literally) delivers: http://shop.regalfilms.com/shop/customer/home.php

as to your other questions, maybe other members would be better suited to answer them.

[hemisphere]

yoy may also check www.DVDasian.com which is a US-based company. they hold a number of Filipino films on DVD for sale.

 

[av_phile1]

Hi Larry,  welcome to this forum.  Will try to answer your questions from what I know and I am sure many other members here will pitch in  to share what they can.

Is there an online source or site for Filipino Region 3 DVDs both Filipino and/or international (read=Hollywood) films on the net? Particularly one that will ship to the United States? Also, is there a site that has Filipino movies that are in Tagalog or Visayan dialects that have English (or Spanish) subtitles for us folks that do not speak a Filipino language?

I've come across this site which retails Filipino films in dollars but have not tried ordering from them like I did with Amazon.
http://shop.regalfilms.com/shop/customer/home.php

Also, Amazon has a listing of Filipino films in DVD but I'm not so sure if they're accurate.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/listmania/fullview/FGQ0GO8LGT9K/104-9704284-3145548?%5Fencoding=UTF8

Then there's a movie section in www.philbooks.com and at www.kabayancentral.com.  I think if you search ebay on the term Filipino or Tagalog movies, you may have some result as well.

Other more informed members can direct you to more sites.

A related question, simply out of my own curosity: Do R3 discs, particularly Filipino versions of Hollywood and other major studio films, have features that U.S. and/or Canadian R1 discs are lacking?

As in most R3 editions, the majority have a number of asian language subtitles or audio tracks or both that R1 US and Canada don't have.  And if I recall right, there's only a few titles that have DTS tracks where the R1 edition don't.

Are there differences in Filipino R3 discs from say R3 discs originating in Hong Kong, Taiwan, or South Korea, with the Philippines being an NTSC and an R3 country? What languages are on Filipino discs? Is there dubbing or subtitling in Tagalog? (I'm hoping to learn Tagalog eventually, which is why I ask).

Oh yes especially the Korean versions.  The difference lies in the packaging.  Korean versions in general have better packaging.  R3 discs destined for the Phils are often repackged by local distributors to keep the prices down more within the reach of local market.  The label printing and amaray cases are often not as good as those found in R1 or even Honkong R1 editions.  Lately, there have been complaints of DVD9 contents in R1 editions downsized to DVD5 discs to keep the prices low.  And yes there are a growing number of hollywood films dubbed in Tagalog.  I just don't have the titles at the top of my mind.  Some other members might be able to point them out. 

[Larry G]

Thanks everyone for the welcome. I recently bought "The Forgotten", which I noticed had a Thai 5.1 dub. So, I tried it in my player, set it to Region 3, and viola, it is dual coded for R1/R3. The local warnings were different with the disc sublicensed for nearly every R3 country except Indochina, Indonesia, and South Korea, so basically I would assume it is also the Philippine R3.

What was odd was that the menus were only in English and Thai. Does the manufacturer expect people in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea to read the menus only in English?

Thought that was interesting. I'm assuming that the there is an alternate South Korean R3 for this movie. There was some information at the beginning also in Chinese, Korean, and Thai, but not in English, so I don't know what it said. ;-) No dub or subtitling though in Tagalog.

Still looking for just one film either a Hollywood one or a Filipino one with both an English and Tagalog dub and subtitling. I thinking learning a new language by DVD is really exceptional. Listening to the French soundtracks over the years has made that language go from a complete waterfall of incomprehensible words to something more able to understand, not that I would call myself "fluent", but it has helped. I'm hoping that DVDs from the Phils. might help me in that endeavor.

Just wanted to check in here.

Larry