Now that more people are jumping on the Blu-ray bandwagon, the question of how to play import discs has become a hot topic. With catalog titles and even select new releases popping up in Europe before the US, serious enthusiasts want to be able to stick a disc from anywhere in and just play.
A ton of discs, regardless of country, aren't locked by region in the first place. The problem is, it seems like all the ones collectors and cineastes want most from Region B are. Conversely, I don't think I've yet seen a single Blu-ray with region encoding from China or Hong Kong.
I actually considered buying some HK discs like Red Cliff (Parts I & II) until I saw they were priced at nearly $40 each and found out Magnet/Magnolia would be releasing them domestically after the mashup/shavedown release they'll be putting in theaters later this year. I've seen both thanks to a friend who bought them, so it's not like I'm dying to see them. It's nice to know I have the option with Asian releases.
Some of the European Blu-rays confirmed to be locked include the German Fight Club, French The Crow and Brotherhood of the Wolf, and the UK pressing of The Good, The Bad, The Weird. Most prominent to H-E is that Blu-ray.com's reviewer has confirmed that the recently-released UK Blu-ray of Che is in fact Region B-locked. I'm not the only one who's itching for a Region A pressing of Che.
So how does one get around this roadblock? Software unlocks are a no-go, since the necessary firmware updates for Blu-ray players kill these or make the player completely inoperable afterward. DVD Beaver's Gary Tooze highly touts the hardware-modified Momitsu BDP-899 from HKFlix, including positive comments from users. There's a pretty thorough rundown in a post on the VideoHelp forums, but what started me out concerned was that the first guy on the above-linked page didn't test Blu-ray, just DVD.
User posts on the DVD Talk forums suggest that as mostly-flawless as the Momitsu player is, it still isn't perfect. Multiple people cite issues with discs getting stuck in the drive. The workaround fix involves unplugging the player and plugging it back in, but that doesn't always work.
So yes, one could get this $370 modified player, but you could also just buy a Region B player for over a hundred bucks less (~$250). I don't think it's unreasonable to be paranoid that firmware updates might still brick the thing, or worry that it could have issues with newer discs and features. I'm all for importing and finding ways around region exclusivity, but that's too big a gamble for my budget.
If I could account for any Region C-only discs, the idea of the Momitsu would be more appealing, even in the face of varied reports of disc-trapping and freezes. My verdict on Region-locked import Blu-rays: either a) buy a Region B player or b) wait for prices to drop and reliability to be rock-solid on the region-free front.