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B5 DVD Review

J

Joseph DeMartino

Moderator
The first review of the B5 double-feature disc has appeared on an Australian DVD site. (The disc is being released in Oz about three weeks before the U.S. version arrives.)

Here's the link:

DVD.AU Net - B5 Review

The disc sounds like what I expected: barebones, but probably the best the two films have ever looked and sounded. The comments about film grain and sound quality should be taken with a grain of salt. Reveiwers who spend most of their time looking at big budget theatrical films have standards that almost no TV movie is going to meet. Overall I'll be happy if the U.S. release matches the description on this site.

In the meantime I'm just happy to know that somebody on this planet actually has his hands on an official DVD of the show, released by Warner Bros. I've been lobbying so long to get them to do this, and have been diappointed so often in the past, that part of me has been worried that they'd cancel the release at the last minute.
smile.gif


Regards,

Joe

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Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
joseph-demartino@att.net
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Joseph DeMartino:
.In the meantime I'm just happy to know that somebody on this planet actually has his hands on an official DVD of the show, released by Warner Bros. I've been lobbying so long to get them to do this, and have been disappointed so often in the past, that part of me has been worried that they'd cancel the release at the last minute.
smile.gif

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

If you're like me, you won't really believe it until the DVD is in your hands, and soon thereafter playing on your system.

Three weeks to go.....

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KoshN
-------------
Vorlon Empire

"To Live and Die in Starlight"
pilot movie for "Babylon 5 - The Legend of the Rangers"
January 2002 on The Sci-Fi Channel.
http://www.scifi.com/b5rangers/
 
I can't wait!!!
smile.gif


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No one here is exactly what he appears.
G'Kar - Andreas Katsulas

Nothing's the same anymore.
Commander Sinclair - Michael O'Hare

Babylon 5
 
That's great news! I can't wait for it to be released. It seems like it's been a long time since we started hearing all of the B5 DVD rumors, and now it seems that our wishes have finally come true...even if it is just a couple of the TV movies for now.

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All my life I've had doubts about who I am, where I belong. Now, I'm like the arrow that springs from the bow. No hesitation, no doubts. The path is clear.
-Ambassador Jeffrey David Sinclair, War Without End
 
As far as I know, Australia is Region 3.

While I think that it's a Region 3 release, I recall seeing in the review that it is in NTSC format. I do not know if Australians use PAL, NTSC or both, so if you have a stand-alone player you may have to verify that your system supports NTSC.

If you are using a computer to watch DVD, there should be no problems -- most DVD-ROM drives are either region free or can be made region free... and a PC monitor is outside the PAL/NTSC hassle.
 
I read on DVDExpress.com that the release date for the DVD is 12/4/01. Anyone know if that is legit or not?

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'I don't believe in the no-win scenario' - JTK
 
Yes, that should be the "street date", at least for America. About other places I don't know -- mainly because I plan to oder my copy via Internet. It would otherwise reach here in... well, less than a full century.
smile.gif
laugh.gif


[This message has been edited by Lennier (edited November 11, 2001).]
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Lennier:


I do not know if Australians use PAL, NTSC or both, so if you have a stand-alone player you may have to verify that your system supports NTSC.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Here is Australia PAL is the standard.



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Deviot
Lincbot@yahoo.com.au
 
I thought it was region 4.And so it begins...the waiting
smile.gif


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"When it is time, come to this place, call our name, we will be here" -Walkers of Sigma957
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Here is Australia PAL is the standard.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

But the Australian disc is nonetheless NTSC. Multistandard televisions and DVD players (even those that aren't also region-free) are much more common outside the U.S. than they are here, so maybe Warner Bros. is trying to save a few bucks by not doing a separate PAL transfer. (From what I've read several recent Warner Bros. releases in Australia have been NTSC-only.)

And the disc is definitely Region 4. Australia and New Zealand fall into Region 4, along with Mexico, Central & South America, the Caribbean and most of the Pacific island nations. Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Borneo and Indonesia, that is, mainland southern Asia, make up Region 3.

(Remember, the regions follow distribution patterns for U.S. films in overseas markets that were mostly established between 1920 and 1950. Theatrical prints are expensive to produce and time-consuming to transport, so it is rarely possible for a film to open all over the world at the same time. Different parts of the world therefore get access to the same small set of prints at different times. DVDs follow the same regional pattern so that films released on disc in the U.S. aren't imported in large numbers into countries where they haven't finished - in some cases started - their theatrical runs.)

The U.S. release date remains December 4th. The Australian release date is November 21st, so Australian critics got their review copies now. U.S. review copies will probably go out to the DVD press in another week or two. Thus far I am not aware of a confirmed release date anywhere else in the world. The Region 2 Project site hasn't even posted any new rumors about U.K or European release plans since reporting that Amazon.com was taking pre-orders for the Region 1 release.

Regards,

Joe

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Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
joseph-demartino@att.net

[This message has been edited by Joseph DeMartino (edited November 11, 2001).]
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Three weeks to go...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Eagerly awaiting it, and by the time the disks arrive, I will be ready to watch it.

I'm still amazed how much one TV show could alter my computer upgrade schedule. You see, after a great deal of consideration, I finally decided to favour the PC-based approach on watching DVD (mainly because of its flexibility).

Processor - upgraded, tested, needs no overclocking to smoothly play DVD.

DVD-ROM - installed, flash memory rewritten. Resistance is futile, your region codes will be assimilated.
smile.gif


Video card - upgraded, no longer a historical artifact from Valen's times.

Sound card - a decent card with decent sound as my requirements are not high.

Monitor - a new 19-inch desktop particle accelerator will be installed and ready by the time it is needed.

Memory - still running on PC100 memory, but switching to PC2100 DDR is a matter of weeks.

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"We are the universe, trying to figure itself out.
Unfortunately we as software lack any coherent documentation."
-- Delenn
 
I ordered it too, Joe. I followed your lead by telling everyone I know to order it.
What a time for entertainment!
Just think, we'll have B5 DVD, then Lord of the Rings, then B5 Rangers!!!!
Yippee!
Jendia

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"You look as though you've been terrified into another and better incarnation."
Dukhat to Delenn
 
Thanks Joe for providing the link to the review. While I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my dvd I am a little disappointed. I was hoping that there might be some nice extras on the dvd like maybe some of the bloopers, but it looks like that isn't the case. But...still can't wait to see it.

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"And what is it that you're getting Adira, a washed up old republican, dreaming of better days?" - Ambassador Londo Mollari, Born to the Purple
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>I was hoping that there might be some nice extras on the dvd like maybe some of the bloopers...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

There was no chance that Warner Bros. was going to spend money on costly special features on this first disc. They're still skeptical about the potential market for the show on DVD, and they view this as a test disc. From their point of view it would be crazy to increase their potential loss on the disc by spending more money to produce supplemental materials. But they are certainly aware of fan interest in such things (and they can see what this kind of "value added" material has done for Fox and their X-Files discs) so I wouldn't be surprised to see some supplements included with the eventual episode discs and/or boxed sets.

But I wouldn't count on ever seeing the bloopers. JMS has indicated that at least some of the actors are opposed the bloopers being made commercially available under any circumstances, and they have the final say. Things produced for the blooper reels are not covered by existing contracts, so almost everyone involved would have to be agree to release them (and a payment and royalty schedule worked out for all of this.)

Then there's the matter of music rights. Each of the blooper reels includes a section of action edited in time to a then-current popular song. Warner Bros. would have to pay for the use of the music if it were included on the DVDs. While an individual flub might turn up here or there (in the context of a "making of" documentary, for instance) So I don't expect that we'll ever see the complete reels even if the whole series is released. (None of the other U.S. series I'm aware of has included the blooper reels, either. The British Sci-Fi spoof Red Dwarf has a "Smeg-ups" video available, which may also be out on DVD, but that's the only example I can think of.)

Regards,

Joe

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Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
joseph-demartino@att.net

[This message has been edited by Joseph DeMartino (edited November 12, 2001).]
 
Well, I guess I know what I'm putting on my christmas list!
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Rommie
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Keeper of Rommie's Quarters
Commanding Officer of Zeta Squadron
Sworn to Protect the GODDESS
Recipient of the Golden Rommie
"Harper is sweet, but he believes pretty much anything I tell him. Oh I'm sorry, I may have a brain the size of a planet, but I can't tell the difference between one pretty rock and another."
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Joseph DeMartino:
But I wouldn't count on ever seeing the bloopers. JMS has indicated that at least some of the actors are opposed the bloopers being made commercially available under any circumstances, and they have the final say. Things produced blooper reels are not covered by existing contracts, so almost everyone involved would have to be agree to release them (and a payment and royalty schedule worked out for all of this.)
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Thanks a lot for the additional info. Unfortunately when you put it that way you can understand why it won't happen. I guess I'll have to settle for whatever I can get. Still counting the days.........


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"And what is it that you're getting Adira, a washed up old republican, dreaming of better days?" - Ambassador Londo Mollari, Born to the Purple
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Joseph DeMartino:
But the Australian disc is nonetheless NTSC. Multistandard televisions and DVD players (even those that aren't also region-free) are much more common outside the U.S. than they are here, so maybe Warner Bros. is trying to save a few bucks by not doing a separate PAL transfer. (From what I've read several recent Warner Bros. releases in Australia have been NTSC-only.)

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yeah sounds right all the people I know here in Australia have DVD players that run multi regional.



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Deviot
Lincbot@yahoo.com.au
 
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