"The Racers" on DVD - with a catch:

If you have the right equipment, you can now get the classic Kirk Douglas movie "The Racers" on DVD.

The catch? It's a Spanish release on PAL video, so you need a multi-system DVD player to watch it.

According to the specs I saw, it has both an English and Spanish soundtrack in Dolby Digital, as well as subtitles which I hope can be switched off.

I don't know why the powers that be can't release this on an NTSC disc, but until it happens this will have to do. And if you're not familiar with the movie, read my review on Amazon's website.

Amazon.com: The Racers [NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg. 0 Import - Spain]: Kirk Douglas, Bella Darvi, Gilbert Roland, Cesar Romero, Lee J. Cobb

 

Well, I bought it, watched it and enjoyed it! I had forgotten that the movie was done in wide-screen Cinemascope (since I had never viewed it that way!) and that made it even better. The print wasn't state-of-the-art, but the color was fine and for a nearly 60-year-old movie, I can't complain. I have a multi-system DVD player but also tried it on my PC and the results were still fine.

If you buy the disc, it's easy to set up: from the menu, select "Idiomas" and then "Ingles" and "sin subtitulos". Then select "Ver Pelicula" and you're off and running.

The acting is pedestrian and the dialogue rather corny, and the actors are "racing" in a studio in front of a screen, but there is enough real action to make this worthwhile. The races are from 1952-1954 and include the Monaco (sports car) Grand Prix, the Mille Miglia, the Monza 12 Hours and Grands Prix in Germany, Belgium, Italy and France. I caught glimpses of Ascari, Villoresi and Fangio, among others. The technical advisors, by the way, were John Fitch, Phil Hill and Baron de Graffenried.

I always considered this one of the "holy trinity" of movies about European road racing, along with "Grand Prix" and "Le Mans", and it's good to finally have it available on DVD, even if you have to get it from Spain! I wish that whoever owns the rights to it in the U.S. issues it on NTSC disc, perhaps along with additional features.

 

I can answer the first part: yes, if you do as I describe in my last post. You won't know that you're watching a disc that came from Spain.

I can't answer part two; I do believe that BluRay discs have regions as well, but as to PAL versus any other scanning system, that I do not know. I'm certain that someone who does will respond to your question.