Something to Think About For Those Complaining About the Lack of DVD Features...

[Leto II]

Okay...for months now, I've been reading people's postings both here and on Usenet, watching them salivate in anticipatory glee concerning the initial Warner Home Video DVD release...

...and then, starting about one week ago, I begin coming across the moanings and wailings and kvetchings from those individuals who, apparently, were unaware all of this time that this cursory release was to be bare-bones-only (mostly over on Amazon.com), and that these people are now howling for the heads of WHV's own heads (pardon the comparison) to be given over to them on silver platters for a lack of inclusion of any of the so-called coveted "extras" that DVD fans so crave these days.

And thusly, I thought of an essay that I encountered awhile back on an excellent website, The Lard Biscuit, which splendidly articulates the distinguishing characteristics between those who view DVDs in a reasonable light...and those who are rabidly obsessed with the medium.

Some cogent passages:

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>
One of the cool things about DVD is that it can give the viewer more than just the movie, in the form of supplemental features. These can include behind-the-scenes documentaries, interviews, commentary tracks, deleted scenes, and other goodies. I enjoy getting extras on DVDs, and the really good ones can make the DVD a more valuable and entertaining total package. But here's what DVD freaks seem to forget when it comes to the extras: they are extras. Supplemental features should be regarded as an added bonus, not as a requisite attribute that makes or breaks a DVD.

DVD freaks have acquired a misguided sense of entitlement about extras. Studios are now expected to serve up a heapin' helpin' of supplemental features with every DVD they release, or else the freaks feel cheated. We've been spoiled so rotten by the coolness of supplemental features that their presence has become more important than the movie itself.

I've always been under the impression that the purpose of buying a DVD was to watch a movie. If a DVD contains a movie I like, complete and in its original aspect ratio, with a gorgeous picture and kick-ass sound, then that DVD has done its job. That DVD is everything I want it to be, and I will be proud to own and enjoy it -- even if it has absolutely zero extras. To me, supplemental features are nothing but gravy, and I have never pitched a hissy fit over a DVD that was lacking them. Roughly half of the DVDs in my collection contain no supplements aside from maybe a trailer and subtitles, and I like them all just fine that way. Know why? Because I like the damn movies on 'em, that's why!

Sometimes music CDs contain bonus tracks or CD-ROM multimedia features for your computer, and those added things are cool. But you never hear anyone complain that they bought a CD and it "only" has the album on it. No one gets upset if a book "only" has a novel in it. For some reason, though, it's completely different with DVDs. When a DVD comes out with "only" the movie on it, the DVD freaks immediately denounce it as a "bare-bones" ripoff. And even when a DVD does contain extras, people will almost always complain that they aren't good enough, and there ought to be more. "Only a director's commentary? Where's one by the star?" "Just a 30-minute documentary? It should have been at least an hour long!" Give 'em an inch, and they'll whine for a mile.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

For more, here's a link to the entire article. And here's a link to some of the other interesting genre essays on the site. Just something to mull around for a while.

And by-the-bye, Joe DeMartino has done an excellent job in this forum, answering questions, debunking myths, and whatnot. Simply put, I'd just track down any of his postings in this area for the answers you may seek (here or on Usenet).

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[This message has been edited by Leto II (edited December 11, 2001).]

 

[A_Ranger]

Well said Leto. I'm sick and tired of reading posts complaining about the lack of features. What matters is that are finnaly receving Babylon 5 in a lasting medium that is almost perfect. No more tapes getting messed up by the vcr, no more tapes wearing out and getting poor visuals, no more sound crapping out because of the vcr, etc. Top notch sound and visual quality that will last. That is what matters.

If you want those supplemental features, check at the damn web. Lurker's Guide has more meaningful stuff that most dvd's with so-called "supplemental features."

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We're all born as molecules in the hearts of a billion stars, molecules that do not understand politics, policies and differences. In a billion years we, foolish molecules forget who we are and where we came from. Desperate acts of ego. We give ourselves names, fight over lines on maps. And pretend our light is better than everyone else's. The flame reminds us of the piece of those stars that live inside us. A spark that tells us: you should know better. The flame also reminds us that life is precious, as each flame is unique. When it goes out, it's gone forever. And there will never be another quite like it

 

[superbob]

Thank you, finally some positive thoughts!
Yes the dvd isn't wonderful, in actual fact from the little bit that i have seen it sucks. No special features , the sound is feeble etc, etc.......
However what must be taken into consideration is that the step has been taken. WB is looking to milk a situation which , in essence, is wrong. The problem is that we need to prove the buying potential thats lying out there. I say buy the dvd, grit your teeth about the quality because it's still a damn site better than over sensitive video tapes!

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"I am Grey. I stand between the candle and the star. We are Grey. We stand between the darkness and the light. I come to take the place that has been prepared for me"

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Yes the dvd isn't wonderful, in actual fact from the little bit that i have seen it sucks. No special features , the sound is feeble etc, etc...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, speaking as one who has actually watched both movies on the DVD, more than once, I would like state emphatically that they do not suck.

"Feeble" sound? Most of the complaints I've seen are from people getting distorted sound in certain bass-heavy scenes because their speakers can't handle it.

On my system both movies sound fine. No distortion, no feeble sound. The dialogue is clear, the surrounds are used and the subwoofer gets a bit of a workout. Not at all bad for a Dolby Digital 2.0 reproduction of a Dolby Surround soundtrack. (And since no one who knows anything about DVD production expected WB to spend the huge amount of money that would have been required to re-mix the two TV movies in DD 5.1, about the best we could reasonably expect in any case. I will say that I think the DVD soundtrack sounds fuller and clearer than the previous LD release. The dialogue, especially, sounds a little "thin" on the LD.)

The Gathering has some image problems - but they're in the source material. When they took the original negatives out of storage to do the re-edit, JMS and company discovered that they had been chewed by rats and damaged by water. They did the best they could in putting together the new version, but sometimes they did not have a perfect take for a scene that needed to be restored. The sharpness of DVD unfortunately magnifies the flaws, as well as the virtues, of the original material.

It still looks better on disc than it ever did on tape or broadcast. ItB looks better on DVD than it did on laserdisc - and that's saying something.

Regards,

Joe

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

 

[GaribaldisHair]

Frankly (never having watched a DVD) I don't see what all the fuss is about extras. My wife and I bought X-men on VHS, complete with "extras" that have been watched once and then ignored!!

Sad as I am I would probably buy the DVD even if I hadn't got a DVD drive in my PC. Apart from wishing to support any B5 releases to make sure they continue, this will be the first opportunity those of us in the UK Have had to see the re-edited version of "The Gathering".

The only extra I would really be interested in is an interview with Christopher Franke about putting together his epic scores.

Like that's going to happen !!

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DaveC
"Want to talk socks?"

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Frankly (never having watched a DVD) I don't see what all the fuss is about extras.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It is the kind of extras that can be done on DVD (and before that on laserdisc) which can't be done on VHS that make the difference - at least to serious fans of the material at hand.

Commentary tracks come to mind immediately. As a rule the director, or star, or (less often) writer or producer (or some combination of these) will sit in a screening room and watch the film, listening through headphones and just chatting about the movie as it plays. Some tracks are as good as the movie itself, some of them are better. (The commentary track for Bound is a hoot, especially since the whole cast was invited but they couldn't all make it in time, so you hear people coming in late and getting caught up with what's happening.)

Apollo 13 has three commentaries, one with director Ron Howard, one with some of the technical production people and a third with the real Jim Lovell and his wife Marilyn. Dead Again has two: the producer and writer on one, director and star Kenneth Brannagh on the other. (It is interesting to hear different versions of the same anecdote, or note things that the were terribly important to one person and hardly mentioned by another.)

The Terminator 2 and Abyss special editions have hours of behind-the-scenes footage, S/FX tests, interviews and more on them. Some films have "subtitle commentaries" which pop-up interesting facts about the production while you watch. I'm not sure I've even gone through all the stuff on the Toy Story / Toy Story 2 Ultimate Toy Box, so packed with stuff is it.

The Alien SE laserdisc included the complete shooting script, as well as partial early drafts, and production notes. The Superman SE has screen tests of various actors who were considered for the different roles. Some of this stuff is worth watching over and over again, in a way that the short interview snippets the accompanied the X-Files "best of" VHS release don't.

I, for one, would love to hear JMS discuss "Severed Dreams" or "Babylon Squared" on an alternate audio track while the episode plays out. Or Peter Jurasik and Andreas Katsulas talking about a key Londo/G'Kar episode. What was it like for the freelance writers, especially Trek alumni D.C. Fontana and David Gerrold to write for B5? I'd like to know.

And you can never tell - that Chritopher Franke interview may have been taped for the never-aired Sci-Fi Channel Sciography segment on B5.

I agree that extras are just that, "extra", and that the main thing is the episodes themselves. But chances are we're only going to get one DVD releaese of this series, so I'd like to get as much out of it as possible. (Besides, if Fox can include deleted and alternate scenes, TV promos, behind the scenes segments, Chris Carter mini-interviews, commentaries on key episodes and scenes in other languages on the X-Files sets, there's no reason that Warner Bros. should do any less for B5.

)

Regards,

Joe

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

 

[madtrekker]

I have noticed that several TV series have started out on DVD with a test release to gauge interest. In most cases if the DVD is successful, THEN the company behind the releases may consider adding extras. This first release will likely have been done as cheaply as possible to minimise any losses should it turn out that there is no market.

Therefore I was not surprised to see The Gathering and In The Beginning released without extras, but I am hopeful that once Warner start looking at releasing the series they will consider what extra material can reasonably be included or created for the DVDs.

Chris

 

[B5_Obsessed]

Just a quick poll:

Did anyone else think that the music was mixed in too low on this? I kept turning up the sound to hear the music and then Londo would come in practically shouting over it.

I don't have a home theatre system, so I'm running on regular stereo directly from my television through large speakers.

It this thing mixed for surround sound and would a home theatre sound system solve my problem?



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"Draal gave Zathras list of things not to say.
This was one. No.... *tsk tsk*
No. Not good.
Not supposed to mention... "one", or... THE one.
Hmmmm.
You never heard that."

 

[superbob]

look, my whole point is that whatever the individual may think of the dvd, be it good or bad, we have to encourage the sales in order for wb to continue producing the Babylon series.
I'm not here to argue the ins and outs of the quality of the dvd. The mere fact of durability is enough reason to buy it.

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"I am Grey. I stand between the candle and the star. We are Grey. We stand between the darkness and the light. I come to take the place that has been prepared for me"

 

[Kribu]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by superbob:
look, my whole point is that whatever the individual may think of the dvd, be it good or bad, we have to encourage the sales in order for wb to continue producing the Babylon series.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Quite right. It just seems that most of the people here have already bought the DVD (or several copies, as gifts), and since they now have it in their hands and are in a position to finally check out the quality, they would like to discuss it.

Besides, if people buy - and complain about quality, but still buy - it, perhaps the hints (and wishes/recommendations how to make the next disks better) will some day get to the suits at WHV, and help make the episodes' DVDs even better.

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"Narns, Humans, Centauri... we all do what we do for the same reason: because it seems like a good idea at the time." - G'Kar, Mind War
Kribu's Lounge | kribu@ranger.b5lr.com

 

[sputnik]

well as i was one of the first to start a discussion on the dvd (after release) - and without a doubt slammed the lack of extras - allow me to retort (he says in his best samuel l jackson impression!

)

the argument about extras being just that may well hold true over in the states but certainly in the uk dvds are typically £7 or £8 more than a VHS release.

and i refuse to accept that enhanced longevity alone should get me to fork out extra cash. yes the picture and sound quality is better, and longevity does help, but by the same token the cost of dvds is less than the cost of video tapes (just like the long running argument, over here at least, about the cost of cds compared to their creation costs). hell if people are interested in a better picture alone then why did betamax die and vhs prevail? the former was a superior format, the latter won out.

dvd is a new and DIFFERENT format. new and different things can be done with them (such as separate audio tracks over the picture). if i just want to see a film i'll buy VHS. i want, nay demand!, the extras (special features may be a better term) that this format can provide - especially when i'm being told to pay an extra eight quid for it.

but thats a generic whinge that i trot out with regards to dvds (and to be honest i quite like being tagged as a dvd freak!)

my main bugbear about this recent B5 release is that WHV are releasing it to gauge interest in releasing the series. my *personal* opinion is that to encourage sales of this disc (and renew people's interest in a series that ended first run some years ago) some extras would have helped.

tag 'em freaks or not - there ARE people who can be swayed into purchasing a disc because it has extras on it. as joe says, a good commentary track can make a good film superb. there are films that i like on vhs that i just won't buy on dvd. why? 'cos there are no additional features to kickstart me into making that purchase.

this isn't a one-shot deal as film releases are (and even there a bare bones release is often followed a year or so later with an extras packed SE). this release could be setting up the market for the entire series to be released on DVD.

yes WHV want to see if it will be financially viable, but they also WANT it to be financially viable. it would allow them to make more money off us. i have the entire series on VHS - they could be about to get a load more money off me for pretty much the same thing (i know, i know, better picture, better sound...).

so i stand by my complaint. more effort in the presentation and inclusion of extras *might* have generated a bigger market...

our hope now has to be that WHV do decide to release the series (box sets please!) and do include special features/extras...

cheers!

sputnik




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[GKarsEye]

Just to add to Joe's list of great DVD audio commentaries, the one on Spinal Tap is great. If has the four "band members" in character watching the "documentary."

However, I generally find commentary tracks boring, and extras are cute but do not bear repeated viewings. OK, so I'm no film expert, and most of the time I just don't care about how the director thought of his old car when he picked that camera angle, blah blah blah. Just show me the goddamn movie, please.

And yes, the sharper picture, ease of maneuvering through a film, much better sound (if mixed properly), original aspect ratio, and lack of degredation are worth any increase in cost between VHS and DVD. As I've said before, watching a film on VHS is watching a movie on TV; watching it on DVD is properly watching the film. It's a completely different viewing experience, like paying the extra money to see a movie at the cinema instead of renting it.

By the way, the VHS / Beta thing was political. I don't know the details, but if one format has stronger support and marketing than another, than it will win more business.

I haven't received the DVD yet, but from what Joe D and others describe, it sounds great. OAR, Dolby 2.0 (at least) sound, and excellent picture quality. These are the things that we, as B5 fans and consumers, should expect. It looks like they delivered.

Besides, how many times are you actually going to watch extras? Once. And any info you're going to get out of it probably exists on the web. I agree that people are getting too caught up with the extras. I myself see it as a novelty that quickly got tiring.

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"You do not make history. You can only hope to survive it."

 

[Technomage Roanna]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Kribu:


Besides, if people buy - and complain about quality, but still buy - it, perhaps the hints (and wishes/recommendations how to make the next disks better) will some day get to the suits at WHV, and help make the episodes' DVDs even better.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

And here's the address to write to:

Warner Home Video
4000 Warner Blvd
Burbank, CA 91522

In case any of you are inspired to share your comments/suggestions with WHV.

Ro



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A ship in a port is safe, but that's not what ships are for.

Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>but by the same token the cost of dvds is less than the cost of video tapes (just like the long running argument, over here at least, about the cost of cds compared to their creation costs).<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I assume you're talking about the manufacturing costs in which case the short answer is, "No, DVDs are NOT cheaper to produce than VHS tapes." They are cheaper to replicate than VHS tapes. Blank discs are cheaper than blank tapes, and the equipment needed to mass-produce copies is smaller, cheaper to buy and cheaper to run.

But replication is only a fraction of the production cost.

To make a VHS tapes you need to do a film-to-video transfer, tweak the picture and sound, and turn out a master copy from which to mass-produce the retail tapes.

To make a DVD you need a digital film-to-video transfer (hi-def if you want to do anamorphic) Then you need to downconvert it to DVD resolution and compress it - a process that is as much an art as a science with variable bit-rate compression. You can easily go through three or four complete video and audio compression steps before you've properly balanced compression vs. quality. You have to mix multiple soundtracks for home systems, design and create menus, license supplemental materials - or create them from scratch - and finally pull the whole thing together in a single package. Which now has to be tested to ensure compatibility with the huge variety of DVD players out there.

DVD movies are software, not some linear analog playback system, so creating a DVD has all the requirements of doing a VHS tape plus many of the requirements of writing a new computer program.

All of the above steps cost money. All of them are part of the production costs for each title.

Now the costs in some countries, and the price differential between DVD and VHS, are excessive - but I have a feeling that has a lot more to do with market conditions, government policy and tax laws than price-gouging by the manufacturers. If it were the latter, DVDs wouldn't be as cheap as they are in the States.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>hell if people are interested in a better picture alone then why did betamax die and vhs prevail? the former was a superior format, the latter won out.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ah, another Urban Legend that refuses to die.

1) Beta was not inherently superior to VHS, or if it had some technical superiority it was so marginal as to be invisble to the naked eye on good players of both types. Because the VHS system was licesnsed to many manufacturers, some of whom rushed out shoddy machines to cash in on the "video revolution", many individual VHS players were inferior to Sony's well-manufactured Beta machines. But they were also inferior to JVC's VHS machines - which were also well-made.

2) Precisely because Sony refused to license the Beta format to other companies, they faced no direct competition and continued to charge premium prices for their VCRs. As a result they lost the market to the cheaper VHS machines. Don't forget, VCRs were not sold as machines for watching movies at home. (The studios not only refused to release movies on videotape, they tried to kill the industry to prevent people from taping their copyrighted shows off the air.)

VCRs were sold for time-shifting and as a replacement for the Super8 movie camera, projector and screen. Since people weren't watching Hollywood movies at home, but rather recording little Johnnie's first steps and watching them with the grandparents, the perceived quality issue was not a big deal. By the time pre-recorded movies became a factor VHS was already so far ahead of Beta that there was virtually no chance of its catching up. And VHS quality, under the pressure of competition, steadily improved.

And yes - people do care about quality. That's why DVD is the fastest-growing new format release in the history of home electronics, beating CD-audio, the VCR, and laserdisc players by huge margins. (DVD outsold audio CD by something like 20 to 1 in the first two years of each format's life.)

DVD is poised to be in over 20 U.S. million homes 4 years after its release - a benchmark the VCR didn't reach until it had been on the market for nearly 10 years. (That figure excludes computer DVD-ROM drives and "HT PCs" and only counts dedicated living room players.) This year sales of movies on DVD in the U.S. exceeded sales of VHS for the first time, despite the fact that DVDs are in only about 1/4 the number of homes. I'd say people have noticed the quality difference.

Regards,

Joe

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

 

[Shaal Mayan]

Well I for one am happy with the bare bones variety cuts or not

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[This message has been edited by Shaal Mayan (edited December 11, 2001).]

 

[Quagmire]

I can't believe anyone actually expected extras. Babylon 5 is just too low on any executives radar screen to invest much in without proof that the investment will not be wasted. Babylon 5 was a syndicated/basic cable scifi show. While we here think of ST as a giant juggernaut compared to most shows on the air it's small, and B5 was small compared to most of the STs. It's only because scifi fans are as devoted as they are and as willing to spend on their favorite shows as they are that any kind of DVD is even considered.

I don't have a whole lot of DVDs but the only one I've used the extras extensively for has been my Fight Club doubble DVD set. Even the commentary tracks on other DVDs usually only get one run through.

That being said I would love to have commentaries for any season sets.

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"Crying isn't gonna get your dog back. Unless your tears smell like dog food. So you can sit here eating can after can of dog food until your tears smell like dog food or you can go out there and find your dog."-Homer in The Canine Mutiny

 

[sputnik]

er... i think some of my points are being missed here.

joe, thanks for the essay

but my point was merely that betamax and vhs were two sides of the same coin.

dvd isn't another side to that coin and yet many people seem to feel that its just another way of getting high quality video images. yes there is greater effort involved in generating a dvd but this is a DIFFERENT FORMAT entirely.

yeah the picture quality is better (*loads* better) as is the sound. but taking a format with all the options/features of dvd (and this does mean more than high def pictures and enhanced audio tracks) and merely reproducing the film does not take advantage of the features of the format.

my argument (*sigh* he says again) is that the extra features that i and other dvd freaks enjoy, would have encouraged more sales from those people (and yeah they do exist) who were 50/50 on buying B5.

that is/was my concern. yes i've bought the dvd, yes i knew it was sans features (no i didn't know it was a flipper but whatever), yes i'm encouraging everyone i know to buy the B5 dvd.

i *personally* feel that WHV did not help their potential market by excluding any extras. those of you who don't like commentaries and extra features can ignore them when on a disc you buy. i *do* like these things - they add to my enjoyment of the film, allow me to get an insight into the thoughts of the filmmakers.

if you don't like extra features on a DVD then IGNORE ME!

i'm not stopping you enjoying the film, all i'm doing is presenting another opinion on the disc and how WHV could have generated more sales, thereby increasing the potential of season releases...

cheers!


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[Joseph DeMartino]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>joe, thanks for the essay but my point was merely that betamax and vhs were two sides of the same coin.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It was?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>hell if people are interested in a better picture alone then why did betamax die and vhs prevail? the former was a superior format, the latter won out.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Looks to me like you were saying that DVD shouldn't expect to sell based on superior quality alone because if that were an issue Beta would have won over VHS. Where is the point I missed in the above quotation?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>my argument (*sigh* he says again) is that the extra features that i and other dvd freaks enjoy, would have encouraged more sales from those people (and yeah they do exist) who were 50/50 on buying B5.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

And mine is merely that Warner Home Video made the business judgment that the additional sales such extra features might have generated wouldn't be enough to justify the cost of creating the extra material for this disc.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>this isn't a one-shot deal as film releases are (and even there a bare bones release is often followed a year or so later with an extras packed SE). this release could be setting up the market for the entire series to be released on DVD.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It is precisely a one-shot deal as far as WHV is concerned - until and unless it proves in the marketplace that the entire B5 series is worth releasing. That's my point, which you seem to be missing. That's one of the reasons the disc contains two stand-alone TV movies instead of four "sample" episodes.

WHV can be pretty sure of breaking even on a barebones edition even if it sells very poorly. If it sells well they make lots of money and they know they can do the series at a profit. But if they spend 50% or 100% more on the first disc by making it a special edition, they run the risk of actually taking a loss on the thing. And they simply are not going to do that. If they thought they might take a loss on this disc, they wouldn't have released it at all.

Do I think they are being excessively cautious? Yes. Do I understand why they are, given the mindset at WHV and their history with the VHS release? Yes. Do I think the movie release tells us anything about how the eventual episodes will be handled? No - with the single, encouraging, fact that ItB is in anamorphic widescreen.

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 December 12, 2001).]

 

[KoshN]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by A_Ranger:
No more tapes getting messed up by the vcr, no more tapes wearing out
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

No more REWINDING!

Also, they take less room on the shelf!

Finally got all my DVDs entered in my database, and put in alphabetical order in a near perfectly sized bookcase. I'm finally organized!

The CD's are next.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by A_Ranger:
... no more sound crapping out because of the vcr, etc. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

...or because of a bad signal from Sci-Fi and/or the cable company.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by A_Ranger:

Top notch sound and visual quality that will last. That is what matters.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

True.


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

"To Live and Die in Starlight"
pilot movie for "Babylon 5 - The Legend of the Rangers"
January 19, 2002 at 9PM & 11PM EST, January 20, 2002 at 5PM on The Sci-Fi Channel (US).
http://www.scifi.com/b5rangers/

 

[KoshN]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Joseph DeMartino:
It is the kind of extras that can be done on DVD (and before that on laserdisc) which can't be done on VHS that make the difference - at least to serious fans of the material at hand.

Commentary tracks come to mind immediately. As a rule the director, or star, or (less often) writer or producer (or some combination of these) will sit in a screening room and watch the film, listening through headphones and just chatting about the movie as it plays. Some tracks are as good as the movie itself, some of them are better. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


The one I most remember from Laserdisc was the commentary track on "Halloween" (Criterion Collection, two disc set) with John Carpenter, Debra Hill, and Jamie Lee Curtis.

It certainly added a lot to the movie experience.


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

"To Live and Die in Starlight"
pilot movie for "Babylon 5 - The Legend of the Rangers"
January 19, 2002 at 9PM & 11PM EST, January 20, 2002 at 5PM on The Sci-Fi Channel (US).
http://www.scifi.com/b5rangers/