The Corner Penthouse

I recently purchased two Spanish-import Region-Free Blu-rays of True Lies (1994) and The Neverending Story III: Escape from Fantasia (1994) because neither title has been officially released on Blu-ray in North America. Read on to find out more about them...

While I don't understand much Spanish, there doesn't appear to be a studio listed anywhere on the case. Blu-ray.com lists them as having been released by "Resen", which is reportedly a bootleg manufacturer. If these are bootlegs, they are some of the best damn bootlegs I have ever seen.


True Lies is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio with a runtime of 2:20:47 in progressive 1920x1080 resolution (AVC MPEG-4 codec, 24fps). Audio languages include Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, German Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1, and Italian Dolby Digital 5.1. Subtitle languages include Spanish, English, German, French, Italian, and Portuguese. The Blu-ray comes in a red-colored plastic keep case.


All of the special features are in English with optional Spanish subtitles that are enabled by default. They are all in the 720x576 PAL (4:3 fullscreen) format, except for "Featurette" which is in 1280x720 (16:9 pillarbox).

• Making Of (22:38)
• Featurette (6:54)
• Interview: Arnold Schwarzenegger (5:22)
• Interview: Jamie Lee Curtis (4:54)
• Interview: James Cameron (5:04)
• Premiere (5:30)
• Teaser (0:59)
• TV Spot (0:30)
• Trailer (2:10)

The picture quality of the movie is fantastic. It was purchased brand new from eBay seller "valhallagroup", who sent an actual factory-pressed disc.


The Neverending Story III: Escape from Fantasia is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio with a runtime of 1:31:10 (presumably comes from a PAL source, as the NTSC Echo Bridge DVD runs 1:35:22) in interlaced 1920x1080 resolution (AVC MPEG-4 codec, 50fps). Audio languages include Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo. Subtitle languages include Spanish, English, and Portuguese. There are no special features.


The opening titles and credits of the movie are in the original German, while the end credits are in English. As with True Lies, the picture quality is fantastic. You can see Jack Black and his unibrow in true HD glory! Like I said, if this is a bootleg, it's one of the best bootlegs I've ever seen.

While True Lies is a factory-pressed disc (at least the sole copy I purchased), The Neverending Story III can either be a factory-pressed disc or a recorded BD-R disc. The case artwork of each version are nearly identical, but the BD-R will say "BD-R" in small print under the Blu-ray logo on the front cover, and in the bottom right corner of the back cover (to the left of the UPC barcode, which is the same on both: 8436558195301).


It will also say "BD-R" on the disc face. Here is a comparison between the two discs, with the factory-pressed disc on the left and the BD-R on the right.


I can personally confirm that Amazon Marketplace seller "Sharehouse Goods" sold me a used factory-pressed disc (I think I bought their only copy) and that DaaVeeDee via Amazon-fulfilled sells BD-Rs. The only other Marketplace seller who told me that they are selling factory-pressed discs is "ArcoCeleste DVD". Everyone else on Amazon and eBay either didn't know or confirmed BD-Rs.


The menus for both True Lies and The Neverending Story III: Escape from Fantasia are in Spanish, but it is really easy to figure out. Pelicula = Play Movie, Idiomas = Languages, Escenas = Scene Selections, Ingles = English, and Sin Subtitulos = Subtitles Off. Everything else is self-explanatory.

I highly recommend both Blu-rays, just make sure to get a factory-pressed disc and not a BD-R.