What is a R5?

A R5 movie is designed from a Telecine machine, using an analog video source.  Studios take care of the post-production issues before ripping them to a DVD.  In most cases, a studio actually only semi-finishes the post-production process and the R5 release is indicative of the final DVD cut released to the general public.  These movie releases can be similar to DVD rips but if you actually play them side-by-side, you can see the little details left off the R5 version that make the DVD rip much more viable.

Since the R5 format is mainly released in DVD Region 5 – Russia, India and most of Africa – this type of release is a rough cut that seeks to fight DVD piracy. This area of the world contributes more to movie piracy than any other area in the world. Studios banded together, especially those releasing films in those regions, to create and pre-release R5 versions to confuse and contradict what pirates release to the public to make a profit. R5 releases are often just the movie itself, bundled poorly with no special features, fancy menus or commentary tracks. In some cases, they do not even have subtitles encoded for foreign releases or translation purposes.

For starters, avoid R5 movie releases, because they are generally incomplete versions of films. In many cases, they do not even have English audio tracks so you may not be able to understand the film to start with. R5 releases, too, are illegal and it is against the law to upload or download them. If you purchase one, you may be out of luck as far as having a complete film to watch since it will be different due to the lack of completion in the post-production process a DVD release would have. R5 films can be cheap, and they are generally inexpensive to make, but why waste time on an incomplete film when you could put your money towards the finished product?