DVD - buy here or abroad

[Casper]

Apart from the price of DVD's, is there any actual difference between the dvd's bought here and say in the US?  Does the government actually cut bits out of a normal hit film? I am only looking for normal big-screen movies so am i going to be affected?

[DVD's]

I buy my DVD's from Amazon.com.  Any films that are on the government's "banned" list are stopped at customs and returned.  Amazon kindly refunded our shipment costs.  The government, however, do not edit the films themselves.

[Casper]

thx for the reply...how do i find out about whats on the banned list and not?  If the govt dont actually censor the films, are the dvd's the same if I buy in HMV in Sing and HMV in the UK?

[DVD's]

I haven't bought a DVD in Sing so can't answer that question.  Try their database on the web.  All you need to do is type in the name of the DVD and they'll let you know if its banned, clean or pass with cut!!! The address is http://app.internet.gov.sg/scripts/fpd/approvedfilms/archive.asp

[Jan]

Hope you've got a multi-system DVD player! Do you realize that there are 6 or 7 "zones" for DVD's, so US DVD's are zone 1, UK is zone 2, another one for etc  (think it is to try to cut down on piracy)and they're not compatible with DVD players from different zones unless you have a multi-system. It could be an expensive mistake to buy DVD's which your player won't accept! We bought ours, a Panasonic from Paris Silk in HV and it plays (thank goodness) all the stuff we have purchased in Sing, US and England. You might want to read up the info about the "zones" on this website:
http://www.world-import.com    

[Film fan]

Personally, I would go for the multi-region player (as they typically are in Singapore) and bring in the uncut movies from other parts of the world.

I find it extremely annoying that somebody else supposedly knows better what I can watch or not (and I am talking about mainstream movies here: Wall Street, Reservoir Dogs, etc.). It is the same as reading a book with pages ripped out.

[Pomp]

Go to any DVD stores (not dept stores) you find in malls that only sell DVDs and VCDs and they can tell you which titles are banned.  As long as it's something that cannot be censored, it'll be banned.  Saving Private Ryan and Thomas Crown Affair (1998) are two examples that are on the ban list.

I find that buying DVDs on eBay is the best.  I spent about US$14 on a new title and pay another US$5 on postage.  Amazon charges about twice for postage and about US$18 for a DVD.