PAL versions are always longer because of the way the movies run.
Malik- I am pretty sure that PAL versions are actually shorter.
Not doing any research, it sounds like the DVD in question could be from a PAL source.
Well then I guess it must suck being a cinephile in Europe unless you have a multi region player and order things on amazon from North America and live near an art movie theater. Why is it that they choose to show films this way on home video in Europe?
Elaborate Rossi…not sure what you mean by the sucking part? PAL is 25 frames per second as opposed to NTSC’s 24 frames which is, as far as I understand, dictated by long-established electrical current standards in the respective regions.
Technically NTSC is about 30 frames per second, but due to 3:2 pulldown, two film frames are transmitted in five video fields for an average of 2½ video fields per film frame. 60 / 2.5 = 24 frame/s, so the end result is the same frame rate as film. The difference frame rates mean that PAL converted to NTSC results in a 4% speed up.
@ Rossi:
PAL offers a significantly higher resolution than an NTSC (576 pixels of vertical resolution versus 480 pixels of vertical resolution), so it’s a trade off, slight speed up for substantially better (theoretically, anyway) image. So, unfortunately, watching a disc made from a PAL source on an NTSC TV you get the worst of both worlds—the PAL speed-up and the lower resolution of NTSC.
Rossi
All sources seem to say the film is 98 minutes, but the DVD I received from netflix is 95-96 minutes long, so I was wondering if the disc is either censored or taken from a PAL source. Thank you. Or perhaps the 98 minute figure is slightly inaccurate.