Kino's first batch of "Metropolis" BD is Region Free...

[J.M. Vargas]

... even though it's supposed to be locked to 'Region A' per an agreement with Masters of Cinema/Eureka (the European equivalent of Criterion) that their vastly-superior package of "Metropolis" would be 'Region B.' DVD Beaver: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare7/metropolis2.htm.

Kino claims that it was a mistake from their authoring house (http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1509&start=200), but the Kino BD "Metropolis" back art (I already bought mine before street date and can confirm this) doesn't have a 'Region A' logo on the back. The authoring house isn't in charge of packaging, so either everyone at Kino is incompetent with one of their premiere BD releases or Kino deliberarely bated MOC/Eureka into locking its "Metropolis" package into 'Region B' (MOC/Eureka releases are usually region-free and favored by importers) so (a) they would have a region-free release widely available for import while (b) the vastly-superior MOC/Eureka version of "Metropolis" (which has German intertitles, alternate music score and a commentary track MIA from the Kino "Metropolis") is kept at bay because it is locked into 'B' European territories. Either way, Kino's Facebook page and Twitter page are getting shat on by disgruntled buyers that are smelling corporate BS.

Kino's response: This is Robert Sweeney from Kino Lorber. I work in the DVD/Blu-Ray Production Department here. Sorry I didn't jump into this thread earlier, but I just saw it now. First: all future pressings of METROPOLIS will be region locked. When we realized our error, we halted production and added it. The fact that the initial discs went out as region free was a result of a miscommunication on our end, and we will not deny that this was a major mistake on our part.

It was not a pre-conceived plan, and I hope you will believe me. We honestly feel terrible about this. I am as big a fan of MOC's work as any (I'm a proud owner of the SUNRISE blu-ray), and hope this does not affect our relationship in the future. As other commenters have noted, I don't see why many Region 2 consumers would buy our disc when MOC's great release could be bought locally, and likely for cheaper.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I hope you won't hold this error against us in the future.

Best,
Rob

[Steve T Power]

Wow... just... wow...

[Dimwitted]

And the irony is that most BR discs are region free.

[Andrew Forbes]

Maybe this is why they have been pushed back to the 23rd at the last minute.

[HGervais]

I ordered the MoC steelbook edition today. The UK edition just looks to be much, much better on the extras front.

[Andrew Forbes]

Incidentally, for anyone who isn't up on the details, Kino's marketing of the movie as The Complete Metropolis is misleading. It's as complete as it has been since it's premiere, but it is still missing a few minutes.

[Dunnyman]

Are regions still an issue? Anyone with the slightest ability can locate and run a hack in less than 30 seconds. If the studios and rights owners would stop playing their silly-ass games it wouldn't be needed, but until they all grow up, I'll hack my way into buying and watching whatever I damn well please.