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B5:TLT Actual DISCUSSION Thread

Could it be that the number of pre-orders exceeded the number of B5-TLT units they are scheduled to have in stock on July 31st?

I'd say that's a pretty safe bet. ;)

#5!

:D :beer: :D :beer: :D

Rounding out the Top Ten:

1. Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series

2. The Queen

3. Night at the Museum (Widescreen Edition)

4. The Secret (Extended Edition)

5. Babylon 5 - The Lost Tales

6. Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series [HD DVD]

7. Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series [Blu-ray]

8. Deja Vu

9. Casino Royale (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)

10. The Last King of Scotland (Widescreen Edition)

So this little direct-to-video title is attracting more orders than the hi-def versions of one of the biggest and most-hyped TV events of the past year, the latest incarnation of James Bond and a multiple Oscar (tm) nominee. Not bad. Not bad at all. :cool:

Joe
 
So this little direct-to-video title is attracting more orders than the hi-def versions of one of the biggest and most-hyped TV events of the past year, the latest incarnation of James Bond and a multiple Oscar (tm) nominee. Not bad. Not bad at all. :cool:

Hmmm.. Planet Earth (3 times), the Queen, Casino Royale, Last King of Scotland. Long live British cultural imperialism..! :) :) Just kidding.. :D
 
I want to order two dvds from Amazon but I am curious if anyone knows exactly how long that free shipping takes. I do not want to wait two weeks before I get the dvds. Does Amazon use media mail for its free shipping service.

thanks
dennis
 
I want to order two dvds from Amazon but I am curious if anyone knows exactly how long that free shipping takes. I do not want to wait two weeks before I get the dvds.

For me, it usually ends up taking 1 or 2 days longer than Standard Shipping. For a savings of $5.95, I'll take that delay. ;)
 
I want to order two dvds from Amazon but I am curious if anyone knows exactly how long that free shipping takes. I do not want to wait two weeks before I get the dvds. Does Amazon use media mail for its free shipping service.

thanks
dennis

It all depends upon how big a release it is. On Big Pre-releases like the harry Potter books, it arrives the release date (shipping from Berkley to Sacramento, CA). on Smaller releases like the Waltons Season sets, they apparently don't stock them in Berkley, so, it ships from back East somewhere. Also depends upon where you live. if you live in or around a big city hub, shouldn't really take much longer, if at all.
 
There was a strange switch in that recently where I live. It used to be it could be as quick as a paid mailing classification. Or maybe a day later or so. But then I noticed they won't ship your order out right away when you get that kind of shipping. So the order would sit for days, then get shipped.

Once shipped, it arrived within three days, I think. But I wondered if they wanted to boost their paid mail service by simply holding on orders that aren't first day air or second day.

Also, UPS itself is a pretty reliable company. My postman makes far more mistakes than my UPS driver, and I do a lot of ordering online since I live in a remote area.
 
So this little direct-to-video title is attracting more orders than the hi-def versions of one of the biggest and most-hyped TV events of the past year, the latest incarnation of James Bond and a multiple Oscar (tm) nominee. Not bad. Not bad at all.


I agree. The question is, how long will it maintain a Top 10 spot. That will be even more telltale. These first few days, a flurry of activity is to be expected. If it maintains for a few weeks, things are looking great.

I'm still amazed the Firefly Series set is STILL on the Amazon Top 100. Its in the 80s somewhere...but its still on the Top 100 after all this time...
 
It is a question of how many of the devoted B5 fans have already purchased a copy. Among those who visit message boards and who have been awaiting its release, I would expect that the pre-order level is already fairly high.
 
Its obviously not got the mass appeal of Bond, but its also had zero publicity other than JMS posting and a few websites mentioning it. So #5 is not bad, considering. It could be that seeing it in Amazon sales ranking is the first folk will ever hear of it. Most other sci-fi fans are I know are unaware of it, until I tell them.

Either way, its all good news for green-lighting some more. Warners must realise that a niche product like this is going to do well on Amazon & web sales.
 
Warners must realise that a niche product like this is going to do well on Amazon & web sales.

Indeed ... which is why they may well wait until they see sales figures from traditional retail outlets as well. Anyone know the relative split these days between online sales and traditional retail in the DVD market as a whole?
 
I agree. The question is, how long will it maintain a Top 10 spot. That will be even more telltale. These first few days, a flurry of activity is to be expected. If it maintains for a few weeks, things are looking great.

I'm still amazed the Firefly Series set is STILL on the Amazon Top 100. Its in the 80s somewhere...but its still on the Top 100 after all this time...

Sure, but, being strong out of the gate has got to count for something positive.
 
Indeed ... which is why they may well wait until they see sales figures from traditional retail outlets as well. Anyone know the relative split these days between online sales and traditional retail in the DVD market as a whole?

No idea, but I do remember hearing that in the UK more media (Book, CD, DVD) purchasing was done on Amazon and online shopping than in the high street for the first time this Xmas. Not sure how relevant that is overall.
 
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Why only 75 minutes running time for two episodes? I thought because the first two stories were going to be long. Thats why a third was pushed back. Or could that change after the final cut?
Seems 37.5 min each a little short or am I just nit picking
 
Why only 75 minutes running time for two episodes? I thought because the first two stories were going to be long. Thats why a third was pushed back. Or could that change after the final cut?
Seems 37.5 min each a little short or am I just nit picking

No, from what JMS said, the reason why the third segment was pushed back was because it was the most ambitious in terms of effects and just wasn't feasable for the first time out of the gate. He did say he'd lengthened the two remaining segments but never said exactly what the new running length was.

I was among the ones who assumed that the original 90-minute running time would remain but if that would have felt padded then I'm just as glad they're not.

Jan
 
Why only 75 minutes running time for two episodes?

Because they aren't "episodes" and were never intended to be. JMS always envisioned the "Lost Tales" as being like short stories, little sidelights on the B5 universe that never quite fit into the main series, closer to 20 or 30 minutes in length than the 42 or so of the broadcast shows. (Which usually had an "A" and a "B" plot, and sometimes a "C" story as well. The "Lost Tales" are intended to have only one story to tell.)

JMS had spoken rather vaguely in terms of running time. He produced television for a lot of years so he might refer to a given "unit" of story by its broadcast (with commercials) time rather than its running time out of sheer force of habit. (Also don't forget that WB always planned to try to sell the project to broadcast television both here and abroad, so thinking in those terms makes sense.)

Anyway, on that basis the 42 minute series episodes were "one hour" shows, the 91 or 93 minute TV movies "two hour films" and a 75 minute double feature would be a "Ninety minute movie". In which case each segment would actually have run about 25 minutes if there were 3 or them, and 37.5 minutes each means that he did divvy up the time that would have gone into the Garibaldi segment between the other two stories. And in doing so created two segments that really are almost as long each as a full-length series episode without commercials, clocking in roughtly 4.5 minutes short.

So, yeah - you're just nitpicking. :)

Regards,

Joe
 
Anyway, on that basis the 42 minute series episodes were "one hour" shows, the 91 or 93 minute TV movies "two hour films" and a 75 minute double feature would be a "Ninety minute movie". In which case each segment would actually have run about 25 minutes if there were 3 or them, and 37.5 minutes each means that he did divvy up the time that would have gone into the Garibaldi segment between the other two stories. And in doing so created two segments that really are almost as long each as a full-length series episode without commercials, clocking in roughtly 4.5 minutes short.

I'm not sure I follow you here Joe. Are you saying that 75 minutes of screen time translates to 90 minutes if you include commercials? Because I don't think that tracks. 90 minutes of air time on television will certainly include more than 15 minutes worth of commercials. If 42 minutes goes of actual show goes into an hour of time when padded with commercials, then ~84 min. should go into two hours, and ~63 minutes should go into an hour and a half. So this installment of TLT would seem to be too short to be broadcast in two hours, but too long to be broadcast in an hour and a half unless they make some cuts for the TV version. Wouldn't you agree?
 
I guess it’s what you were expecting for your money. Personally, I don’t think it is nit picking too much. Each story is going to be around 37 minutes, I wonder if that includes credits front and back. Remember a single story (episode) of something like the new Doctor Who has a 50 minute running time (with no adverts). So each of these is going to be quite noticeably shorter.

I’m going to love watching them, and I’ve heard the CG is truly stunning. But I got to admit I do have a slight niggle about the time, hopefully it doesn’t seem too quick.
 
Remember a single story (episode) of something like the new Doctor Who has a 50 minute running time (with no adverts).
Closer to 45, and usually under it rather than over it. :)

Also, I think Joe is nitpicking a bit himself. :p I mean, "Because they aren't "episodes" and were never intended to be." is a bit of a nitpicky thing to say. JMS has always referred to them as "episodes" himself, it's fair to call them two episodes. And the range he has given for the running time of the entire DVD has from the start been in the 75-90 minutes range, so it's not that crazy that people were hoping for a 90 minute DVD, and are slightly disappointed that it ended up at the low end of that range. So was I, though Jan's point that cancelling one third of the original story might've led to some padding if they had gone for the full 90 minutes is well taken.
 
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Some of the best B5 episodes seem like they're 2-hour movies, B and C plots included, when they're only 45 minutes. I have no doubt that a good single-plot episode, properly structured, won't feel quick at all.
 

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