Season 1 DVD Release Date?

Has any word been officially given from Warner Bros. on a release date yet? Are the dates quoted on websites sheer speculation? I can't say I've researched this fully, but it seems as if the R2 release will be up to a month earlier than the R1 release...

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Amazon.com say: This item will be released on November 5, 2002.

CDUniverse.com say: Street Date Nov 05, 2002

DVDPlanet.com say: (11/5/2002)

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Blackstar.co.uk say: Released: 14th Oct 2002

DVD.co.uk say: Released: 14/10/2002

DVDGaming.com (Region 2 dealer) say: Anticipated release date:- 14/10/02

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DVDConcept.com (A Region 1 importer to the UK) say: DVD Release Date: 05/11/2002

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Now, can you notice any kind of a pattern here? They wouldn't all be making these release dates up now would they? It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to work out that at the moment it seems like Region 2 will be getting their DVD on the 14th October, and that Region 1 will be getting theirs on the 5th November. This is very good news for me, as I'm in the UK. But is this an error, or will these dates hold true? Could anyone explain how these things work please?

I don't see any reason to doubt the dates. The U.S. date, in any event, is official, and comes from Warner Home Video, Inc. (As does the cover art that some folks are showing.) Warner Home Video, Ltd. apparently hasn't released their cover art (which is why U.K. dealers are either not showing a cover or using the U.S. image) but the date information has probably either been announced or leaked by a reliable source.

There's nothing unusual about having different release dates in different countries, especially when the editions are not identical. The U.K. release will certainly be PAL, while the North American version is going to be NTSC. It may just be that Warner Bros. expects to have the PAL version finished first, and doesn't see any reason to delay releasing it. Or it could reflect different marketing conditions in the two countries. The Gathering and In the Beginning were released in Australia three or four weeks before they were available in the U.S., but they didn't arrive in the U.K. until several months after that.

I don't find anything odd in the U.K. getting the S1 set a mere three weeks earlier than we'll have it over here.

Regards,

Joe

The release dates are official.

I haven't spotted any info on the region 1 releases....does any one know for sure what, if any, extras they will have??

And are they going to be in that (IMHO) annoying widescreen format? I got started back on TNT and I liked the way the season 2 and 3 credits play on Full screen. Plus, sometimes it seems like full screen being warped into wide screen on Sci Fi, official or not, I have a few doubts about the legitimacy of the wide screen format for the B5 series....

The Region 1 release will be out 11/5.

It will be in widescreen, and the audio will be remasterd Dolby 5.1

Extra features will include a video intro to Season 1 by JMS, two JMS commentaries (possibly others by other cast/crew), and behind-the-scenes cast and crew interviews.

There's plenty of evidence on the net that B5 was shot in widescreen.

Warner Bros. has not officially released the technical specs on the disc yet. But JMS has said that he recorded an on-camera introduction to the series, an on-camera interview about S1, and commentary tracks for "Signs and Portents" and "Chrysalis". He also said that new interviews have been shot with Richard Biggs, Stephen Furst, Jerry Doyle, John Iacovelli, John Copeland "and others". Claudia Christian and Michael O'Hare were also approached about doing interviews but either declined or weren't able to meet Warner Bros. tight schedule for getting them shot. Maybe we'll get them for a subsequent season.

The soundtracks have been remixed in Dolby Digital 5.1.

The episodes will indeed be in widescreen. Not to get that debate going again, but that's how JMS wants them and that's how they're going to be. This will not affect the opening credits for any of the seasons, since these have always been composed for widescreen. (Actually the credits are composed for a wider aspect ratio than the show itself, approximately 2.0:1 vs. the 1.77:1.)

The first run or two of a couple of the seasons on Sci-Fi was not correctly mastered for widescreen, and there were several other mistakes in them (not Sci-Fi's fault, the contractor Warner Bros. hired to create the new masters screwed up) but this was corrected long ago and JMS reviewed and approved the final versions.

According to what JMS wrote in June, WHV was still in the process of trying to pull together material for the extras, so the list above may not be final. We'll probably get the final, official specs for the releases in all regions before the end of this month.

Regards,

Joe

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
...two JMS commentaries (possibly others by other cast/crew)...

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</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
I did the commentaries on "Signs and Portents" and "Chrysalis", and an on-camera intro and interview. They've also done new interviews with Rick Biggs, Claudia, John Iacovelli, John Copeland, Stephen Furst, Jerry Doyle and others. So it should be a pretty big deal overall, much better than the movie dvd. - JMS on Usenet 25 June 2002 (Emphasis added)

[/quote]

Someone misread this post, and it was widely reported that he had said that the cast and crew were also doing commentaries, but that isn't the case. He clearly differentiated between interviews and commentaries in his own case, then mentioned only interviews with regard to the cast and crew.

Unknown to JMS at the time, Claudia Christian had cancelled her scheduled interview. He reported the fact in a follow-up message the next day.

Who knows? A cast or crew commentary track may be part of the "other" material that WHV was trying to assemble for the S1 set, but at this point we have no evidence that there will be commentaries on any episodes beyond the two JMS named, or that anyone other than JMS will be doing them. Just didn't want people to feel cheated if the final specs are announced with only the two commentaries.

Regards,

Joe

I noticed Season 1 is 22 on Amazon. I just order my season one. Keep ordering. I hope they don't quit as they did with the tapes.

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
Keep ordering. I hope they don't quit as they did with the tapes.

[/quote]

If people keep ordering, they won't quit, simple as that. The reason they stopped the tapes is that people did stop ordering/buying.

Regards,

Joe

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
Someone misread this post, and it was widely reported that he had said that the cast and crew were also doing commentaries, but that isn't the case.

[/quote]

JMS posted the following on Usenet:

[quoteA>ny chance of comentaries by any of the other writers? Or some of the
>cast or crew?

They're currently investigating all possibililties.

[/quote]

Which indicates that the possibility of other commentaries is there. But yes, it's not a definite thing, but that's why I said "possibly".

Hopefully, the full specs/list of features will start appearing soon.

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
They're currently investigating all possibililties.

[/quote]

He posted that on June 10th. Two weeks later, when they had actually started work on the supplements, he drops any reference to actor commentaries. On June ninth, right after word on the DVDs leaked prematurely, he metioned doing commentaries "...if possible, [on] 'Babylon Squared', maybe 'Sky Full of Stars'..." in addition to "Chrysalis" and "Signs and Portents". Again, when things go from the planning stage to the recording studio, he reports only the material that was actually created.

I'm just trying to point out that as production actually started, and more specifics became available, JMS dropped references to things that weren't being done. I mentioned people misreading the post I quoted because I've seen messages on some sites saying that JMS had said that Richard Biggs or Stephen Furst was doing a commentary track, which was obviously someone misreading the message of June 25th or conflating it with the June 9th or 10th posts.

So while we won't know for sure until WHV releases the final specs, I think it unlikely that we'll get more than the two JMS commentaries this time through. I'm hoping that the first season sells so well that Warner Bros. invests a bit more in future seasons (which has been the trend with the X-Files sets) and that we'll get more down the road. I'm especially hopeful that Michael O'Hare will do a commentary for the two parts of "War Without End" in S3, now that he knows how much fan interest there would be in such a thing. It would be the perfect chance for him to reflect on his whole connection with the show, and the evolution of Sinclair's character.

A few years back I wrote out a whole list of proposed commentary tracks by the cast and crew and sent it to Warner Bros. I should see if I still have a copy.

This might be a fun thing to argue about while we're waiting for the S1 set. Given that it would be impractical to have a commentary track on every episode, and that the actors would presumably only have so much time to spare for such things, which are the episodes that would absolutely have to get a commentary track by whom. JMS's "must have" episodes are fairly obvious. I would have named the same four that he mentioned, I think, and even chosen the two he did as the most important. (It might have been a toss-up whether "...And the Sky Full of Stars" or "Midnight on the Firing Line" was more deserving of a commentary - but once I knew that JMS was doing an on-camera "introduction" to the series, I think I would have gone with "...And the Sky" since I thought a "Midnight" commentary would be most useful as a way for JMS to set the stage and discuss his entire conception of the series at the start.)

/forums/images/icons/smile.gif Think I'll go off and start a new thread. /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

Regards,

Joe

By the way, Muchos Thanks for the in depth info Joe.
I would also be betting on more extras in future seasons as the production process gets more established and support for the series on DVD becomes more appearant.

I would be tempted to hope for some hard data type extras along the way. For instance a technical scematic for a starfury (dare I suggest an interactive one??) or breakdowns of areas of B5 itself, maybe with key events from the B5 Arc identified on the station, provided with the pertainant season relaese, of course.

I almost hate to get creative about the possibilities, cuz efforts for DVD extras always seems to lag behind, sometimes WAY behind, the very reasonable possibilites...

How about a revealing ....um nevermind, we don't want this getting moved to the NC-17 venue. I'll just says that Claudia Christion has more to offer than just interviews........ /forums/images/icons/grin.gif

Say Joe, is it my imagination, or did the opening credits cover some of the action during season 3 (4?) credits after Sci Fi showed it in JMS's widescreen vision?

I have VHS tape from both channel's runs and I believe that my TNT version has the credits neatly down below the action and actor's close ups. Perhaps my memory is not what it once was.....

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
On June ninth, right after word on the DVDs leaked prematurely, he metioned doing commentaries "...if possible, [on] 'Babylon Squared', maybe 'Sky Full of Stars'..." in addition to "Chrysalis" and "Signs and Portents". Again, when things go from the planning stage to the recording studio, he reports only the material that was actually created.

[/quote]

As you had mentioned before, JMS tends to only report news about things in which he himself is involved. I'm just saying it's possible that other commentaries have been recorded, whether or not it's likely.