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Season 4 DVD easter egg question

ranger32

Member
I read somewhere that the Season 4 DVD set has an easter egg on Disk 6, but I can't find it. I've pushed the remote in every direction. If anyone knows how to find it, please tell me. (If this has already been posted, forgive me. There are too many threads/posts to read through.)
 
Re: Thanks, Adrian

It's nice and kinda cool

That is the point. An Easter Egg is supposed to be a fun little extra, nice for the folks who find it, no big loss for those who don't. That's why I wasn't thrilled that WB made the blooper reels Easter Eggs on S2 and S3. I'm glad they're now menu items, as they should be, and that the Eater Egg is back to its intended function, same as on the R1 S1 set.

Regards,

Joe
 
Re: Thanks, Adrian

Yeah, S1's was a pretty cool easter egg.


Listen, I don't want to start a new topic but I'm wondering about something on the S5 DVD set. In it's list of speacial features S5 has something on 'New and Extended Scenes'. What's that about? Anybody know? ::looks at Joe::


-SG
 
Re: Thanks, Adrian

Yeah, S1's was a pretty cool easter egg.


Listen, I don't want to start a new topic but I'm wondering about something on the S5 DVD set. In it's list of speacial features S5 has something on 'New and Extended Scenes'. What's that about? Anybody know? ::looks at Joe::


-SG

I think that's actually deleted and extended scenes. But I have no idea how much of this material there is or whether any of it will be incorporated into the episodes themselves, or they'll just include these variants of familiar scenes in the bonus material. Also don't know if this stuff will strictly be from S5 or if it will cover the full five seasons. Based on what JMS has written over the years about how tightly they tried to write and edit the episodes, I doubt there is going to be a lot of this stuff included, and am quite certain that none of it will materially change anything. But it could be interesting to see a slightly different take on some familiar material.

"Deleted scenes" are a fairly common feature on movie DVDs and truth be told I usually find myself agreeing with whoever said, "Cut this, it's crap we don't need it" to a given scene. Often these are nice little scenes in and of themselves, sometimes with a bit of humor or an insight into the character, but incorporated into the film they just would have killed the pace. Sometimes they're scenes intended to provide the audience with information, or remind them of a plot point so they can follow the story (this is especially true of mysteries and thrillers.) Then when actual test audiences watch the film they just find these scenes annoying because they have no trouble following the plot and the exposition just becomes redundant and makes the picture drag. So out the scenes come.

Bottom line, most deleted scenes are deleted for a reason, and having them on DVD is a nice little glimpse into the film-making process, but that's about it.

Regards,

Joe
 
One sure way to find any easter egg, and anything else that is obscure, is to go through the disc title by title, chapter by chapter. This must be done by actually entering the numbers, not just pushing the >| button, because that will jump over the easter egg, and some other things that are stuck odd places in the menu. It is a sure way of seeing EVERYTHING on the disc, including everything on complex branching menus, where it is easy to miss things. It IS a tedious operation, though.
 
Re: Thanks, Adrian

Bottom line, most deleted scenes are deleted for a reason, and having them on DVD is a nice little glimpse into the film-making process, but that's about it.

One major exception, of course, being TV shows that orginated somewhere like the UK and were then edited down for US TV purely to make room for commercials. There are times when the versions of "Mystery Monday" shows on BBC America have some real "head-scratchers" in them because 15 - 18 minutes per hour of the story has been removed.

This is the main reason that I have been somewhat tempted to pick up the DVD's of MI-5 (that would be Spooks to those of you from the UK). Of course, in that case it was A&E, not BBC America, that chopped it up and aired a shortened version here.
 
New and Extended Scenes

Listen, I don't want to start a new topic but I'm wondering about something on the S5 DVD set. In it's list of speacial features S5 has something on 'New and Extended Scenes'. What's that about? Anybody know? ::looks at Joe::

-SG

One possibility - I remember reading an interview with Neil Gaiman who wrote the episode "Day of the Dead". I remember him saying that they filmed of lot of Rebo & Zooty scenes that were eventually cut from the episode due to time restrictions.

I hope these scenes will be included :)
 
Re: Thanks, Adrian

Yeah, S1's was a pretty cool easter egg.


Listen, I don't want to start a new topic but I'm wondering about something on the S5 DVD set. In it's list of speacial features S5 has something on 'New and Extended Scenes'. What's that about? Anybody know? ::looks at Joe::


-SG

I think that's actually deleted and extended scenes. But I have no idea how much of this material there is or whether any of it will be incorporated into the episodes themselves, or they'll just include these variants of familiar scenes in the bonus material. Also don't know if this stuff will strictly be from S5 or if it will cover the full five seasons. Based on what JMS has written over the years about how tightly they tried to write and edit the episodes, I doubt there is going to be a lot of this stuff included, and am quite certain that none of it will materially change anything. But it could be interesting to see a slightly different take on some familiar material.

"Deleted scenes" are a fairly common feature on movie DVDs and truth be told I usually find myself agreeing with whoever said, "Cut this, it's crap we don't need it" to a given scene. Often these are nice little scenes in and of themselves, sometimes with a bit of humor or an insight into the character, but incorporated into the film they just would have killed the pace. Sometimes they're scenes intended to provide the audience with information, or remind them of a plot point so they can follow the story (this is especially true of mysteries and thrillers.) Then when actual test audiences watch the film they just find these scenes annoying because they have no trouble following the plot and the exposition just becomes redundant and makes the picture drag. So out the scenes come.

Bottom line, most deleted scenes are deleted for a reason, and having them on DVD is a nice little glimpse into the film-making process, but that's about it.

Regards,

Joe

In most cases, I agree, but I like deleted scenes because sometimes, there's a lost subplot (see Keith Gordon's Mother Night) or a scene or two that helps explain why somebody acted a certain way (some of the scenes taken out of the theatrical versions of the Lord of the Rings movies spring to mind).

My question is this: are the Season 5 set's deleted and extended scenes just for Season 5, or do they include all of the seasons? The reason why I'm asking: In Between the Darkness and Light. There's an obvious cut where Sheridan gives Michael a nasty look after pumping round after round into the dead guard, but then later, they're both buddy-buddy. It was so obvious--especially since one of the season's big subplots was the relationship between the two--that JMS admitted that there was a scene cut out of the final version of the episode because of time.

It would be nice to finally see that resolution.
 
Re: Thanks, Adrian

(some of the scenes taken out of the theatrical versions of the Lord of the Rings movies spring to mind)

Well, those films are a whole different kettle of fish. Jackson basically wrote and shot the films he wanted to make, then cut them as well as he could to meet the requirements of the theatrical marketplace. So in effect the theatrical versions are "the we won't make your bladder burst" edition, while the Extended cuts are the "complete" edition.

The Rings films are a spectacular exception to the general rule.

Regards,

Joe
 
Re: Easter Eggs

Out of curiosity, what was the content of the Season 1 and Season 4 Easter eggs?

The S1 Easter Egg was only included on the Region 1 set and consisted of the promo for the first season that ran on PTEN stations in the U.S. (The other extra that was exclusive to R1 on the S1 set was the individual episodes promos. They were included on the international editions starting with S2.)

The S4 Easter Egg is a CGI demo showing partially rendered and fully rendered versions of a station "fly-by". At least that's what I hear. I have a problem with the arrow keys on my remote, they sometimes register two "hits" when you only press them once and I haven't been able to get the damned thing to play. :)

Regards,

Joe
 
Re: Thanks, Adrian

Well, those films are a whole different kettle of fish. Jackson basically wrote and shot the films he wanted to make, then cut them as well as he could to meet the requirements of the theatrical marketplace. So in effect the theatrical versions are "the we won't make your bladder burst" edition, while the Extended cuts are the "complete" edition.
Sorry to contradict Joe, but that is not actually the case.

Peter Jackson has been quoted (on more than one occasion apparently - although I have only heard it once, during a BBC interview with Jonathan Ross) as saying that he considers the Theatrical Editions to be the "definitive" versions, while the Extended Editions are nice extras for the fans.

Cheers,
 
Re: Thanks, Adrian

Peter Jackson has been quoted (on more than one occasion apparently - although I have only heard it once, during a BBC interview with Jonathan Ross) as saying that he considers the Theatrical Editions to be the "definitive" versions, while the Extended Editions are nice extras for the fans.

That's what I've read too.

It seems to be mostly the fans that see the Extended Editions as being the "real" versions.
 
Re: Thanks, Adrian

Someone asked me what I thought of the S4 easter egg (I think): It was okay, I guess, but I have to also ask "what's the point?" on that one. It wasn't really worth hunting for, IMHO.

I really liked the bloopers (or "gag reels") on the other DVDs, but they shouldn't have been easter eggs because someone may have missed them. I would have completely missed them on S2 & 3 if I hadn't read that they were there (I didn't know anything about DVD easter eggs until now). I wish they would have had a gag reel on S1. I would have liked to see some Sinclair bloopers.

As for S5 DVD, I would like to see the advertisement for season 5 included (a general ad for the show that TNT put together that I thought summed up the series efficiently and made it sound as epic as it was). It could be the easter egg and the gag reel could be presented as an extra (as it was in S4).

I guess easter eggs are fun when you find them, but for me, they can be kind of annoying to hunt for. I would rather they just put all the extras where you can see them.
 
Re: Thanks, Adrian

Jackson has denied that the EEs are "the director's cut" and has said the theatrical version is what was intended for the theater and in no way inferior to the EEs. Politically speaking that's really all the man could say. New Line does not want people to get the idea that the "real" films are the Extended DVD Editions or too many of them might be tempted to skip the film in the theater and not buy the theatrical cut on DVD. And given the realities of showing films in a theater the theatrical versions are the "correct" version for that venue. But the EE's are in many ways a superior verison for home viewing. In short there are two different "valid" versions of the films. (And I think Jackson leans towards the EE but that he can't say so publicly.) This is simply not the case with most other films that include "deleted scenes" on their DVD versions. They don't spend the money to complete FX sequences that they knew would never be seen in the theater, etc. So my central point remains accurate: the Rings filsm are an exception to too many of the "normal" Hollywood rules to be lumped in with other films that have "deleted scenes" on the DVD.

Regards,

Joe
 
Re: Thanks, Adrian

Jackson has denied that the EEs are "the director's cut" and has said the theatrical version is what was intended for the theater and in no way inferior to the EEs. Politically speaking that's really all the man could say. New Line does not want people to get the idea that the "real" films are the Extended DVD Editions or too many of them might be tempted to skip the film in the theater and not buy the theatrical cut on DVD. And given the realities of showing films in a theater the theatrical versions are the "correct" version for that venue. But the EE's are in many ways a superior verison for home viewing. In short there are two different "valid" versions of the films. (And I think Jackson leans towards the EE but that he can't say so publicly.) This is simply not the case with most other films that include "deleted scenes" on their DVD versions. They don't spend the money to complete FX sequences that they knew would never be seen in the theater, etc. So my central point remains accurate: the Rings filsm are an exception to too many of the "normal" Hollywood rules to be lumped in with other films that have "deleted scenes" on the DVD.

I wasn't questioning your basic argument Joe, I agree!

However, in making the point in his BBC interview Peter Jackson was also very specific about the reason why he considers the TEs to be the definitive versions.

Basically because his primary motivation is in making movies for the movie theatre and not for DVD/home viewing. Hence, as far as he is concerned, the TE is the definitive cut of each of the movies because his goal was to make the LotR trilogy for the movie theatre.

He also said specifically that the EEs were a good thing becuase they allowed him to put back material that had to be cut for time reasons (such as the Saruman stuff from RotK) but that this was for the fans' benefit rather than his own.

I take your point about why public statements that the EE is the "proper" film would be undesireable to the studio. However, PJ explained his position (and the reasons for it) so specifically and with such clarity that I find it hard to agree with your assertion that he "leans towards the EE but that he can't say so publicly".

Besides, if he considers himself a director of movies for the big screen then it is absolutely natural that the version released in that medium should be the one he considers "proper".

Me, I prefer the EEs, but I honestly don't think that he does.

Cheers,
 

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