German ALF DVD set

[samstokes80]

I finally took the plunge and purchased the first season of ALF on DVD from the German Amazon website. The title of the set is "ALF die komplette erste Staffel" or "ALF the complete first season." I only bought the first one to see if I could get everything to play correctly, since I am in the USA and the default DVD region for the USA is region 1, whereas in Germany, it is region 2. I have been watching the syndicated versions with my daughter recently, and I was so put out by the deletion of funny jokes, and indeed scenes that set up other scenes that don't make much sense with the cuts. So I decided that I would experiment with the first set before I bought the rest. If anyone else in the USA is interested in getting these uncut sets, perhaps you can benefit the information below:

• Yes, the DVDs appear to be uncut. Reportedly, a limited number of music cues have been cut because of licensing reasons, but it appears that most of the music cues are intact. At any rate, I have not personally discovered that any music cues have been cut.
• There is no apparent difference in the audio or visual quality of the scenes that were removed from the syndicated version (regardless of the apparently fabricated story that Lion's Gate has propagated).
• The German DVDs are in Region 2. If you are in the USA, you can view them with a multi-region (aka region-free) DVD player. Also, on my Windows computer, I was able to change my DVD region from region 1 to region 2. It only allows you to change regions five times before it permanently locks and cannot be changed again, even if you move the drive to a different computer. I decided that I would change my desktop computer DVD player to region 2, since I seldom use it to watch DVDs anyway.
• The DVDs' default playback mode is the original English audio without any subtitles (which is good news to me, anyway). The other audio language options are German, French, and Spanish. Subtitle options are English, German, French, Spanish, and Dutch.
• To order these from Amazon, you have to go to the German site: http://www.amazon.de/ . I used Google Translate and my limited German vocabulary to navigate the site (which has the same layout as the English language version, which simplifies things).
• The price is given in Euros, but the price can be translated to US Dollars when submitting payment.
• Payment can be made with credit card. However, one of my credit cards did not support the conversion of Euros to USD, so I had to use another card that did.
• The total cost of the first season set with the international shipping was a little over $16 USD.

Final note - this is not meant to be a comprehensive guide on how to purchase and play the German sets in the USA, but it is what I learned from my personal experience. If you have any questions, I'll try to answer, but I may not have the answer to everything!

[Ninjadragon5]

thanks for the info. I have been thinking about getting the german DVDs for a long time.
overall, do you think the DVDs are really worth it for the money?
does the DVD have any special features, like on the US DVDs ALF hosts the episodes, a bloopers reel, etc?

[samstokes80]

That's a great question. The first season set does not have any special features. I don't know about the others, but I assume probably not.

The question of whether it is worth the money is, of course, a matter of opinion. In my personal opinion, it is worth the money because the episodes flow much better when they aren't haphazardly edited to shorten the playing time. The edits in the syndication versions often delete scenes that set up jokes that occur later in the episode. I've shaken my head a few times when hearing a character reference something from earlier in the episode, when whatever they were referring to was deleted, making it confusing to someone that has never seen the uncut episode. I know I have harped on this in the past on this forum, but the cuts to "We're So Sorry, Uncle Albert," were inexcusably awful and damaging to the episode's plot (so I can't wait to get the rest of the seasons!). There are also a few other episodes that are difficult for me to watch because many of the best parts were cut for length. ("Help Me, Rhonda" comes to mind, as the scene from Melmac is dramatically shortened, and the scenes from Skip's spaceship are cut entirely).

[ALFicionado]

All German seasons are without special features, unfortunately. They're worth getting if you enjoy owning the entertainment you're given rather than having to rely on the internet or a channel to watch the show. Also, supporting ALF by actually buying the season sets is another incentive. If it weren't for passionate German fans, we wouldn't even have had the option of buying these (mostly) uncut season sets.

As previously mentioned, the US sets are worth owning as well because of the special features of the first two seasons and ALF hosting all of them.

[samstokes80]

Alright, I have found one cut. The Chimpunks song that Jody plays on the radio on the episode "For Your Eyes Only" was cut. This doesn't ruin the flow of the episode, but the cut is rather abrupt. According to online forums, I've read that this is the only known first season cut. I'll make sure to post any cuts I find on the ALF Wiki.
http://alf.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_cuts_ ... VD_version

[ALFicionado]

Alright, I have found one cut. The Chimpunks song that Jody plays on the radio on the episode "For Your Eyes Only" was cut. This doesn't ruin the flow of the episode, but the cut is rather abrupt. According to online forums, I've read that this is the only known first season cut. I'll make sure to post any cuts I find on the ALF Wiki.
http://alf.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_cuts_ ... VD_version

Yupp, I can confirm that, if I don't remember things wrong, it's the only one with a cut in the entire season. Have an online friend who is freaky when it comes to these things. It's a hobby of his to compare and find cuts in episodes of his favorite shows.

I think there's a thread here on the forum somewhere which actually lists all the cuts on the German sets, or almost.

[Ninjadragon5]

okay, thanks for the info. I guess its gain something, lose something with the german set, for the value of having the almost uncut episodes vs the special features, i can live without the special features.
I see, for me I barely remember the uncut version of the episodes, I just remember the syndicated versions well, so for me it's hard to tell which parts were cut. (expect for the obvious ones like "Try to remember" and "help me rhonda") so I guess it would a new experience for me to see how better the episodes flow without the cuts. okay, certainly something I should invest in for the future.

[Admin]

I too have the German DVD set, and have been viewing them on my computer as an alternative to the DVD player. I like them far better than the US releases, but still prefer my original airings with commercials! Those are on VHS tape, but far more enjoyable in my opinion. Plus the bumpers are there! I keep saying that I will transfer them to DVD some day...but with what time

I'm glad to hear another positive review of the German DVD set. I could see a company (such as Mill Creek) releasing the uncut episodes in the US at some point.

[Blinky]

ABOUT REGION DVD'S AND PLAYERS:

Like you guys, I am from north america so my DVD player was useless when it comes to playing these region DVD'S from Germany. Although, for me there was a simple and fast solution, apparently, many DVD players can easily become region-less just by entering in a sequence of numbers after it starts up. I did this with my old DVD player (I think warranty may be voided, didn't matter to me thou) and now all my DVD'S play without any hiccups.

Type in Google: VideoHelp.. look for DVD Hacks

I do not think its illegal, just may void your warranty, but this is so much better than having to install SlySoft on my PC so that it will play the DVD'S, then play my DVD'S on my PC, and then finally connecting PC to TV and using the keyboard as a remote!

[shreddinghead]

I have recently received the german season 1 and 2 sets, i'm almost done with watching season 1. I have ordered season 3, but season 4 is no where on the british amazon to be found.

[Bring Back ALF]

I ripped all the uncut episodes into mp4 files and now watch them on my iPhone on the way to work!

[Ninjadragon5]

I hate you. I'm jealous now.

[samstokes80]

Mark, I hope you take public transportation! Lol.

[Bring Back ALF]

Yes dont worry I take the train!

I sit at the back of the train giggling along to ALF!

[samstokes80]

Lol, good. I'll feel safer if I ever visit England.

[ALFicionado]

I have recently received the german season 1 and 2 sets, i'm almost done with watching season 1. I have ordered season 3, but season 4 is no where on the british amazon to be found.

Ebay.de, my friend

[shreddinghead]

I have recently received the german season 1 and 2 sets, i'm almost done with watching season 1. I have ordered season 3, but season 4 is no where on the british amazon to be found.

Ebay.de, my friend

I know it's there, but i don't know much german i'm afraid to do something stupid when ordering.

[cabala]

I have recently received the german season 1 and 2 sets, i'm almost done with watching season 1. I have ordered season 3, but season 4 is no where on the british amazon to be found.

Ebay.de, my friend

I know it's there, but i don't know much german i'm afraid to do something stupid when ordering.

Ditto on the afraid of doing something stupid on a Deutsch site. However, the nifty Google Translator feature in Chrome (and maybe other browsers) made the process on Amazon.de a cinch. I just orded Seasons 1-3 and can't wait to watch the uncut episodes. It was so easy to order I started browsing for other items, HA then realized what I was doing. I will also have to rip them into mp4 for watching over my home server or with my tablet on the go. So stoked!

[samstokes80]

Alright! I finally went ahead and ordered seasons 2, 3, and 4 from the Amazon.de site. Can't wait to see these uncut again, and probably for the first time for some episodes!

[stevieray89]

I ripped all the uncut episodes into mp4 files and now watch them on my iPhone on the way to work!

I just did the same thing last week. I used Magic DVD ripper and ripped them into original MPEG format so the quality wasn't downgraded. But, instead of putting them on my iphone, I put them on a 1TB (about 1000 GB) external hard drive and can plug it into my Bluray player to watch on my TV. Easier than burning onto dvds, and I don't have to worry about spending money on a region-free blu ray player. In your FACE Lionsgate/region restrictions! For some reason, Magic didn't care that it was a region 2 dvd.

Only snafu is that for season 2, something was wrong with the files and when playing, it won't let me rewind. And I can only fast forward so fast or it'll skip to the next episode. I don't feel like re-rendering them using Vegas Pro because it'll take forever. What should I convert them to and with what program, so the quality isn't downgraded?

And I put them in production order, too. In S2, the eps are all over the place. Oh, Pretty Woman was the first one taped. In S3, Like an Old Time Movie was the 3rd ep taped for the season.