Waterloo [Import]

i purchased this dvd and was surprised to find that i could not play it on a north american dvd player as it was formatted only for area 2( europe), north america being area 1. i was refused a refund because i had opened the package, but get this, i opened the package to view the film and when i inserted the dvd in my dvd player i was rewarded with this messagep" playback is not authorized in your region.

go figure the company " caiman " sells a dvd from europe to north american customers that can not be played in our area .

If you get this movie from Europe (i.e. United Kingdom ) they do not tell you that CANNOT PLAY it in North America since it comes in PAL format. You only find this out when you open the damn carton. This pretty well comes close to Misleading Advertising. There is no warning. I saw the warning from another disgruntled buyer, but it was too late I had ordered the movie already. I am VERY disappointed in Amazon.ca for selling European format in North America.
I will double check every order from now on and make sure it is coming from a North American source. Why didn't I just return the movie? Well when you factor in the return postage and cost of a new bubble envelope it is not worth the effort. Caveat Emptor!!!

I too bought this without realizing it was Zone 2. In addition the retailer sent me and billed me for two copies even though I only wanted one. Like other buyers, the cost of returning the DVDs is almost as much as I paid.

I went one step further: I have a second, lighter laptop (14.5" screen) that I use for email when travelling, including very much in England.
I thought, OK, I can buy software that will let me reset the laptop four times to different Regions, then it is stuck in whatever the fifth choice is.

So I bought the software. I set the laptop to Region 2, as it states on the disk. My software states that the DVDs (both) are Region 4. I have no idea where Region 4 is and doubt I will ever need Region 4, so even a second laptop set to Region 2 (western Europe) will not help. The software is used, so I am stuck with that as well.

Disclaimer: Amazon.ca, since I am persistent and annoying, very kindly gave me a credit for one DVD. I certainly will use the credit since I buy lots of stuff here. (I bought the software from the developer, so that is another matter and certainly not the fault of Amazon.ca.)

Nonetheless, there should be a warning about DVDs from non-North-American vendors.
Indeed, why does Amazon.ca in Canada or Amazon.com in the USA offer Region 2 DVDs at all since they are of no use?

Concerning the movie itself: I have seen it several times on the big screen in the past and it is a great movie and reasonably accurate as far as history is concerned. That is why I wanted a copy I could see when desired. The movie "Waterloo" gets five stars.

The object that is for sale gets zero stars.