Question about "The Gathering" video

[ranger32]

Question about \"The Gathering\" video

Hi, guys. Do any of you know if the original version of "The Gathering" pilot that aired in '93 was ever put out on VHS tape? I looked on Amazon.com and one on VHS there is said to be the re-edited version (same as DVD),but
the customer reviewers seem to be talking about the DVD version. I think they just put the DVD comments on the VHS product. (It has a picture of G'Kar's face on it.)

Someone did say that the original version was available on VHS from Columbia House. I looked on their website and they only have the DVDs (re-edited version) now. I saw a
"Babylon 5: The Collector's Edition" VHS available on ebay and Amazon with "The Gathering" on it, but I don't know if it's the original or not. It has a blue cover with a picture of the station and some small pics of Sinclair, Garibaldi, Ivanova, etc. around it. Apparently, there are two (or more) episodes on it, but they are not listed on the cover.

I have the re-edited version on DVD, but I would also like to have the original. I know it's on laser disc, but I don't have an LD player. I also know it's on AOL for free now, but I started to watch it and their video quality sucks! It's choppy and small. Also, you can't save it to your computer. So, my best shot would be VHS. Did they put it out on VHS? If so, which one is it?

Thanks.

-Mike

 

[Jan]

Re: Question about \"The Gathering\" video

IIRC, the first few of the Columbia House videos were the original version by accident and the re-edited version was substituted pretty quickly. How many of them were the original and how many the re-edited, I never heard. I'd suggest that if you see it on Ebay, you ask the seller to check which version it is. It should be easy to tell even for a non-fan because Christopher Franke did the score for the re-edited version and Copeland did the original so all they'd have to look at is the credits.

It seems to me that I've heard that some of the German DVDs have the original also but I'm not certain of that.

Jan

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Re: Question about \"The Gathering\" video

Right, Jan. When Columbia House first got the rights to B5 they offered the Gathering (by itself on the "2 hour" tape) as tape number one, and Warner Bros. sent them the master tape for the original edit. CH grossly underestimated the demand for B5. When they started taking order they almost immediately exhausted their inventory of tapes, and The Gathering went on backorder. By this time JMS was aware of the mix-up and prevailed upon WB to supply CH with the 1998 re-edit. So when CH went back into production, it was with the revised edition of The Gathering that they shipped. (I know. I was one of the first to order the B5 collection from them. Their order department was so overwhelmed that they lost my original order. By the time I got that straightened out, the tapes were on backorder. When I finally received my copy they had switched over to the new version.)

I've also been told that the early German DVD release was the original edit - because the TNT re-edit had never been sold overseas and was therefore not dubbed into languages like German. Apparently later German releases were identical the the UK release except for the addition of German subtitles and were therefore the 1998 special edition.

All of the Warner Bros. VHS and DVD releases in the U.S. have been JMS's producer's cut, not the original, despite what the boxes say. (They all have the 1993 credits.)

Regards,

Joe

 

[Elenopa]

Re: Question about \"The Gathering\" video

The original video release in the UK was the original version, because that's the only version there was at that stage.

When I got it on DVD, it was still the original version, which I was a bit disappointed at as I thought the UK hadn't got the re-edit. Later when there was a discussion about the DVD releases, I realised that I *should* have had the re-edit, so bought another DVD. It was the re-edit, but the packaging is exactly the same.

I now have two DVDs that look exactly the same, but are different versions. Makes it a surprise when I start watching.

 

[ranger32]

Re: Question about \"The Gathering\" video

All of the Warner Bros. VHS and DVD releases in the U.S. have been JMS's producer's cut, not the original, despite what the boxes say. (They all have the 1993 credits.)

Regards,

Joe

I'm confused about your last statement: "They all have the 1993 credits." Do you mean the credits are the same on the boxes of all the video tapes or that the credits are the same on the actual movie (when you start watching it)? (I was going to take Jan's advice and ask the ebay sellers to look at the music credits on the movie, but if the box credits are all the same, they would have to break the factory seal and play the movie to see it. Most sellers probably wouldn't bother to do that.)

If some people DID get the original version through Columbia House, they may be selling it now on ebay. So, again, is there any way that I can find out from a seller if it's the original?

Can any of you tell which is which from the box descriptions that I gave?

-Mike

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Re: Question about \"The Gathering\" video

The boxes all have the original credits. (Actually, I'd have to check the R1 boxed set release, and the cheapo "TV Favorites" re-issue of the transfer from the first R1 double-feature disc. But all other U.S. releases had the 1993 credits on the box and the correct credits on the actual film.)

Unfortunately, the box descriptions you gave don't help. All the Warner Bros. commercial VHS releases had blue covers and most had two episodes per tape. (The Gathering had just the TV movie, which is twice the length of a normal episode. Since The Sci-Fi Channel in the U.S. split the film into two episodes and aired it as part of season one, it is possible that eBay sellers are listing it as a two parter.)

I'm not aware of any way to distinguish between the first batch of tapes released by Columbia House and the later ones. I doubt they changed the packaging.

Regards,

Joe

 

[ranger32]

Re: Question about \"The Gathering\" video

Okay, I'll just have to watch it again on AOL. (AOL's video quality sucks!!)

Thanks to all of you for replying.

-Mike