Product Details

• Format: PAL
• Language: German (Dolby Digital 2.0), English (Dolby Digital 2.0)
• Subtitles: German, English
• Region: Region 2 (Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Studio: Süddeutsche Zeitung
• Run Time: 78 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 386615612X
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #243,425 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SHANGHAI EXPRESS WITH MARLENE DIETRICH, April 21, 2009

By 

Arlene - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Shanghai Express mit Marlene Dietrich (DVD)

This DVD is formated for region PAL 2 so it will not play in your DVD player but we were able to program our computer to play all regions including PAL 2 so now we can watch it on our computer

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating and rare Marlene Dietrich film, but not NTSC!, November 17, 2009

By 

Michael Ryan (Denver, Colorado) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Shanghai Express mit Marlene Dietrich (DVD)

This is a great import from a series put-out in Germany of classic early films.
It's a must for fans of Marlene Dietrich and fascinating to watch her performance
in a feature that is hard to see anyplace today. The more available titles from
her early career are the main-stream productions done in her early days at
Paramount with the collaboration of director Joseph Von Sternberg. Films made
just after, and including, Blue Angel are far easier to see today in various DVD
editions. Shanghai Express is a real treat for Dietrich fans because it's not
generally available for viewing. The real shame of this release is that it is NOT
a Region One, NTSC DVD and will not play on standard North American DVD
players. To see this beautiful quality transfer of the movie you must have access
to an all-region or PAL format player. One of the multi-regional players will work.
The acting and camera work in this classic film of the Golden Age holds up well.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars On the R2 Suddeutsche Zeitung Edition, April 16, 2010

By 

Cody K. (Jamokidence, Rhode Island, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Shanghai Express mit Marlene Dietrich (DVD)

Frustrated by the absence of any Region 1 DVD of 'Shanghai Express', I finally gave up and sprang for the German release from the news outlet Suddeutsche Zeitung. I wasn't sure what I'd get, but the price was right and any DVD of this film would be better than none at all, so...

It was a pleasant surprise to get a high-quality transfer with good sound and removable (German) subtitles. No disappointment here whatsoever. I'm gonna go ahead and assume that if you're looking for this title you know what it is, you know it's next to impossible to find if you're an American viewer, and you want it. If all that's true, and you have figured out the region code problem, then all I need to say is go for it -- this is a nice edition of a great film, not a shoddy public domain re-release by any means.

Since I've bought this version I've become aware that Universal has released 'Shanghai Express' in Region 2, which is available from Amazon UK at a decent price. I can't speak to the quality of that, but I can't imagine that Universal would screw it up too badly. [*] Still, I'm perfectly well pleased with the Suddeutschen Zeitung version, I'm happy to (finally) have this film on DVD, and to anyone contemplating a purchase, I highly recommend this edition. It merits five stars in every respect, including, of course, content, which I've barely mentioned. But you know what it is, and you know you want it -- go ahead. You'll have no regrets.

(Incidentally, I also found at the same time that Universal has released the equally rare Dietrich/Sternberg vehicle 'Dishonored' in Region 2, which is also available at Amazon UK for a low price. Since I've already got 'Shanghai Express' I've ordered that, and I hope it looks as good as this!)




[*]Edited 2/20/11 to say: This German version seems to have gone scarce, and it's currently for sale here at a very high price. Don't pay it. Go to Amazon UK (your US Amazon account will work there) and buy the Universal Cinema Classics version for about a tenth of the price. I've bought it and it's every bit as good a transfer as the Suddeutschen Zeitung release. (Of course, it's also Region 2, so you'll still need the appropriate player.) I've also found the Universal edition of 'Dishonored' that I mentioned above to be an excellent release and can recommend it, though the picture quality is lower than that of 'Shanghai Express' -- overall it resembles the Criterion release of 'Scarlet Empress'. But it's certainly worth watching, and having.