Nash, TN DVD Thread?

Hey guys, to better go along with my user ID, I was thinking of starting a DVD thread to kinda up date everyone on the newest DVD news, releases, & issues each week. In no way do I want to step on the toes of the DVD websites (ie. dvdreview.com, joblo.com, etc.) I just wanted to use my DVD experience (currently own 385 titles as of today) and price savy to better inform the NAD group. I try to use my business training and marketing awareness to find the best value that's out there for a particular title.

But I wondered what you guys might want out of this. As I might have told some of you at the cookout, I average at least one new (to my collection) title each week. Which topic ideas would you guys/gals like to see? Ideas: Disc Reviews, Newest releases, who has the best value, stick to one genre (sci-fi) of discs, etc. Let me know what you would like me to report on and I'll try to get at least a weekly post going.

Currently the best value today seems to be at Best Buy where for $20 you can get "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" & "Clueless" (what an odd combo) when purchased together. Currently, (most) Blockbusters are selling their previously viewed DVD, VHS, and (games?) buy 2, get one free. For newer DVD titles they are usually priced at $12.99 each (plus tax) or less, so you could get 3 for $25.98. Personally, I prefer their $2 off sales because sometimes there aren't 3 that intrest me or that I don't already own. Anyways, let me know what topics would interest you guys; if feedback is positive on this issue, I'll start an Official DVD thread. Thank you kindly! ?

 

Scott and I have pre-ordered Stargate: SG-1 Season Four on Amazon. It comes out in September.

I'd hate to buy used DVD's at Blockbuster. Seems like I'd probably end up with a bunch of scratched DVD's.

 

The nice thing about Blockbuster used DVDs is as long as you discover the defect within 30 days they'll refund or replace the disc. I only have had 1 problem with a Blockbuster disc and they replaced with no trouble.

I actually have a bigger scratch problem with brand new discs. Its gotten to where I'll shake a DVD real good before purchasing it. Some companies use really weak sprockets to hold the disc in place. If only one of those sprockets is gone, then it can be enough to let that disc "blow in the wind" and scratch everytime it hits another sprocket. I can't tell you how bad it was to notice a defect in one of my Back to the Future discs, and then after replacing it, having to watch the whole trilogy (again) that weekend just to ensure that there were no defects. I got nothing done those two days.

 

Just a few release updates that may be of interest.
From DVDAnswers.com:
Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Epic Series
Universal Home Video have released the first details regarding the much anticipated "Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Epic Series," starring Richard Hatch as Captain Apollo. This six disc package will contain each and every episode of the show running to 1166 minutes in total. Each episode will be presented in the original full frame aspect ratio and will carry both Dolby 2.0 and Dolby 5.1 tracks. Release date is currently slated as 14 OCT 03.

The Core
Paramount Home Entertainment have now released the disc specs for "The Core" starring Hilary Swank and Aaron Eckhart. Here's a little about the film: In The Core, geophysicist Dr. Josh Keyes discovers that an unknown force has caused the Earth?s inner core to stop rotating. With the planet?s magnetic field rapidly deteriorating, the atmosphere literally starts to come apart at the seams, threatening catastrophic consequences. To resolve the crisis, Keyes, along with a team of the world?s most gifted scientists, including Dr. Ed Brazzelton and Dr. Conrad Zimsky travel into the Earth?s core in a subterranean craft piloted by Major Rebecca ?Beck? Childs and Colonel Robert Iverson. They are ?terranauts? on a mission to detonate a nuclear device that will reactivate the core and save the planet. The disc will be available to own from the 9th September this year and should set you back around $29.99. The disc will include:
Anamorphic Widescreen Transfer
Dolby Digital 5.1 Track
English & French Dolby Surround Tracks
Audio Commentary with director Jon Amiel
Two Behind The Scenes Featurettes
10 Deleted/Extended Scenes with Commentary

X2
Rumour has it that Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment have made the tentative announcement that "X2" will hit shelves on the 17th September throughout the world. The only details we have at the moment is that it will be a 2-disc release, and also out on the same day will be a 4-disc boxset containing "X-Men: 1.5 X-Treme Edition" as well as the "X2" DVD. Please note though that due to the early nature of this announcement, things are subject to change.

from darkhorizons.com
Miami Vice (TV)
"TV Shows on DVD.com" reports that there will be a meeting of regional Universal Home Video companies to look at the viability of putting "Miami Vice" on DVD, and right now its the cost to license the music used in the series which sees to be the main hurdle to overcome.

 

Battlestar Galactica is going to be released on a 6 disc boxed set on October 21st. From the info I have read, it appears this will include the real Galactica and not Galactica: 1980.

One of Audrey Hepburn's films, Wait Until Dark, is going to be released on August 5th.

Quantum Leap is supposed to be released on DVD this year.

Stargate SG-1's fourth season is being released in September. Rumor has it that Season five will be out in early 2004.

The Indiana Jones trilogy will be released as a four disc set on early November.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers will be released on DVD in August, with the Special Extended Edition to follow in November.

I've just learned that M*A*S*H the series is being released on DVD a season at a time. IMHO that is one of the best TV shows of all time.

I'm still hoping to see Knight Rider released on DVD, as well as Space: Above and Beyond and Earth 2. I wouldn't mind seeing The Explorers and Flight of Navigator as well.

 

Per joblo.com/dvd/releasedates
While horror is not my cup of tea, I realize there is an interest in it, so it should be noted that there are several classic horror films coming in 2003, but are not listed below. Please see the above link for those additional titles. Here are some release dates that may be of interests:
15 JUL 03
M*A*S*H (Season 4)
Friends (Season 4)
29 JUL 03Daredevil (2-disc set)
05 AUG 03
ST: Deep Space 9 (Season 4)
Soylent Green (1973)
Leatherface - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III
Halloween 25th Anniversary (unconfirmed)
12 AUG 03Duel - Collector's Edition
19 AUG 03
Roughnecks - The Starship Troopers Chronicles - The Zephyr Campaign
26 AUG 03
LOTR: The Two Towers (2-disc set)
The Simpsons (Season 3, finally!)
02 SEP 03
Alias (Season 1)
Angel (Season 2)
Outer Limits (Season 2)
Stargate SG-1 (Season 4) (5-Disc Set)
CSI (Season 2)
The Simpsons (Treehouse of Horror)
23 SEP 03
24 (Season2)

04 NOV 03
ST: Deep Space 9 (Season 6)
Adventures of Indiana Jones (4-Disc Set)

18 NOV 03
LOTR:The 2 Towers (Platinum Series Extended Edition) & (Extended Edt. Collector's Set) (4-Disc Set)

02 DEC 03ST: Deep Space 9 (Season 7)

 

Aliens Quadrology with the directors cut of Alien 3 is also supposed to be released in November. I think it supposed to be 9 DVDs (2 per each movie & 1 full of extra interactive DVD-rom stuff).

The Ultimate All-New Alien Boxset, loaded with hours of never before seen extras!

Aliens: will allow viewers to choose between the Theatrical version, which has never been available on DVD before, and the Cameron, Director?s cut

Alien 3: will include David Fincher?s 2 hr. 50 min original version of the movie, which has never been released.

Alien Resurrection: will feature an alternate opening and ending (crash on Earth).

And for the 9th bonus disc, which will include over 3 hours of material:

Alien Legacy ? Was a free mail-in offer
Alien Evolution ? BBC Documentary
Darkhorse Alien Comics
Darkhorse Alien vs. Predator
Complete Laser Disc features ? so can throw away laser discs and have everything imaginable in this boxset
DVD-ROM
[image=http://www.btinternet.com/~garrymallen/ALIENQuadrilogy.jpg]

 

Cool--glad you started this thread, Zach! It's like the DVD version of "More Toy Finds.... Again". Just a quick two cents from me...

Anybody ever check the discounted DVDs at Wal-Mart? I was able to pick up all four Batman movies for around $30, when the box set of all four usually runs closer to $70. Sometimes they have some decent stuff in the $5.88 bin, but most of the time they're worth about $5.88. I think you can buy every movie Dolph Lundgren ever made there...

As far as the complete season DVDs go, it seems like they haven't gotten around to making many of the shows that I want. So far, I have the first two seasons of the Simpsons, the first season of South Park, and the first season of Futurama (nice packaging!). I'd really like to see Happy Days, the Andy Griffith Show, and Seinfeld get this kind of DVD treatment.

And not to stray too far off course...who else could go for some Original Trilogy on DVD???

 

I think the OT DVD's could warrant there own thread. Wait, we already did that!

Yeah Happy Days is another great series that needs to be put to DVD. I'm still hoping to see Space: Above and Beyond and Earth 2, two excellent but short lived SF series from the mid-90's put on DVD.

I still want widescreen versions of all of Kubrick's films, but I doubt that will happen any time soon.

 

Toymaster, this thread is just my little way of adding to the organization.

As you probably saw in the 5.88 bin (at least I think they had a few of these in there) they've released many of the Andy Griffith shows in individual sets, but have yet to come out with complete season sets (which is by far the best way). I think Paramount learned to go with the complete sets after they saw the level of sales from the original Star Trek series that were sold in 2 episode discs. They had much more unit sales success with the complete box sets of Next Generation.

The DVD community is at a loss to explain why such a popular series as Seinfeld has yet to hit disc. Jerry Seinfeld was interviewed recently about the DVD issue. He said right now its two separate things. One is the distribution rights and currently Sony owns them. Two is trying to find extras. He said that they never expected to need all the extra footage, so right now they're going through archives looking for gag reels and extra footage, but currently no one knows where the stuff is. But the issue is under serious study. They are trying to iron out who will do commentaries, interviews, etc. They (the crew of "Seinfeld") never liked the outtake footage that amounted to the actors getting tickled and unable to say their lines, but each year they made a gag reel of (according to Jerry himself) has some very funny stuff on them. It sounds like they want to do the box sets up right (i.e. "The Shield," "The Simpsons") and not just put them out there in a bare bones edition (i.e. "Cheers," "Frasier"). The world continues to hold its breath in anticipation. I've given you the highlights of the interview above, but if you really want to read the complete interview here is the link: www.dvdexclusive.com/HTMLNews/NewsQASeinfeld.html

Continue to let me know the kind of content you guys want, & I'll research and dig through all the info out there to find you the best scoop possible. Currently I'm already thinking of having a few separate threads to avoid a cluster of info. Separate topics such as: Release date rumors and news, DVD reviews of titles of interest, and possibly a separate thread for DVD values & preorders (such as the $9.99 deals that could be found for the AOTC disc; I found that deal by accident while you guys were sharing the exact info on this very forum). I want us to be able to take advantage of marketing ploys and loss leader strategies (one course from that Masters in Bus. Admin., you know) to give everyone the opportunity of getting their favorite titles for the best price. This is very much the DVD version of the "More Toy Finds...Again" thread. Thankfully DVD manufacturers (unlike the sadists over at Hasbro with the 237 versions of Luke, the Fett's, Vader, etc.) put their product out there to reach the greatest market. The price is the only thing that is ever changing and the greed of the parent corporation (Mediaplay, who no longer matches competitor's ads) is the only variable. Long live smart consumer behaviors! (DVDMaster steps off his soapbox and tries to blend back into society)

 

Just wanted to point out that I changed the release dates up above. Major changes were:

Moving 24 Season 2 down a couple of weeks
Upcoming release of 1981's "Dragonslayer"
The original feature film "Battlestar Galactica" will be re-released the same day as the 6-disc set

I didn't add it above, but it was also announced that Smallville (Season 1) will be released in a 6-disc/21 episode set on 23 SEP 03. It will include never before seen footage, interviews, & other bonus material.

That's about all for now. Hopefully I'll at least have a quick review of the "Gangs of NY"'s DVD (currently $14.99 @ Best Buy (price wasn't printed in Sunday's ad)) depending on how my family celebrates this holiday weekend. Otherwise I'll at least up date the DVD deals from the Sunday paper. Later!

 

Why havent you included the DVD release of the best all time selling home movie?

The Lion King on Oct 7th

The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror, is that a single episode or a collection?

Any news of a Polterguiest Special Edition. I have been wanting to get that DVD for a long time but have been waiting for a SE.

 

Although the last season or so wasn't the greatest, I'd like to see some season packs of Sliders on DVD.

 

Kolchack: The Night Stalker and Amazing Stories need to be on DVD as well.

 

Hey guys & gals:

Sorry I haven't been back for a bunch of days. Never got to see "Gangs of NY" this weekend so that review never happened, but if you want details on that disc let me know & I can refer you to numerous websites with DVD reviews of this title.

Now to answer questions that have occurred lately:
The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror per TVShowsOnDVD.com:
"Unearthed from the annual "Treehouse of Horror" Halloween Episodes, come some of The Simpsons' finest (and most unsual moments). Expect this DVD to include material from Treehouse of Horror V (1994), Treehouse of Horror VI (1995), Treehouse of Horror VII (1996), and Treehouse of Horror XII (2001)."

Also announced today on that same site was The Simpsons Christmas Special: "Information is scanty so far, but 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is announcing an October 14th release of The Simpsons Christmas Special. It looks to be in the same style as the recently announced Treehouse of Horror DVD, but this time the supplement is a 'Burns montage featurette'."

A recent review was posted for Stargate SG-1 3rd Season Box Set at www.tvshowsondvd.com.

No real deals this week, but Best Buy has a 3 for $30 deal on selected titles see the Sunday ad or:bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=pcmcat2400050001&type=category. New releases this week include the first 2 seasons of Little House on the Prairie, Phonebooth, and Basic starring Master Mace Windu. I'm not sure how "new" Little House is since I saw it in Best buy last week which would place Best Buy (Hickory Hollow) in violation of retail street date rules (meaning that they should receive a hefty fine).

As the Grand Moff noted, The Lion King will indeed drop on 07 OCT. Special features include New Elton John/Tim Rice song, "Morning Report"; Deleted scenes, 3D animation created exclusively for the DVD menus and games, Redrawn characters with more facial details, Enhanced backgrounds with more color saturation, and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound with Enhanced Home Theater (EHT) for the audiophiles out there. Best Buy is running a preorder special on this title (see bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=cat16171&type=category&cmp=).

Speaking of Best Buy preorder specials...they also exist for the following titles (NOTE: These are mostly deals for future purchases): LOTR:The 2 Towers bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=cat16175&type=category&cmp=
Indiana Jones DVD Collection bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=pcmcat800050174&type=category&cmp=
And while this is not a preorder deal, I'm pretty fired up about the extra disk for STS9 Season 4 that will (usually) be available at Best Buy & MediaPlay bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=cat16181&type=category&cmp=. It should be noted that this site has no allegiance to Best Buy Stores, Inc. They just have a good communication system with consumers (but perhaps we could pick them up as a corporate sponsor ? )

While there is currently no news on a Polterguiest (SE) disc, there is a Polterguiest II & III 2 movie set (in one case) slated for release on 8/26. Only extras are trailers & WS versions of the films. FYI, Highlander: The Series (Season 2) will drop on 7/29. Also, on that date is the release of 2 volumes of the Bill Cosby series I Spy, and Profiler (Season 1). The short-lived Jim Henson series The Storyteller's entire run will arrive on DVD on Aug. 26.

No news currently for: Sliders, Kolchack: The Night Stalker, or Amazing Stories[/b

 

The Batman Animated series has also just started making its way to DVD in the last year as well as the old Spider-man cartoons. The first Batman Animated DVD is better than the second as it includes the classic villains. The second DVD has more of the obscure episodes. The third is due to be released in two weeks. Its too bad that they can't make new Batman movies that mirror the style & tonality of the Animated Series. The Tim Burton versions were close & the Schumacher versions were a complete joke, "Holy Rusted Metal Batman!"

 

Today revealed the details of The Matrix Reloaded DVD. From darkhorizons.com:

"The full specs are out for the two-disc set which hits DVD on October 14th, 3 weeks prior to the theatrical release of 'Revolutions.' Amongst the bonus features are these featurettes: Preload ? A behind the scenes overview with on-location footage and interviews with cast and crew; The Matrix Unfolds ? A fascinating look at the Matrix phenomenon and its amazing cultural impact; The Freeway Chase ? Behind the scenes footage shows the viewer how the mind-blowing scene was captured on film; What is The Animatrix?- A glimpse into the history and the intrigue of the Animatrix; Enter The Matrix ? Making of the best-seller video game and the groundbreaking technology used to create it; The Matrix Unfolds ? A review of The Matrix phenomenon and its amazing cultural impact; 2003 MTV Movie Awards Matrix Reloaded Parody; Get Me An Exit - Matrix-inspired advertising; Weblinks to the official Matrix website."

You may remember that Warner Bros. was considering 3 different covers, well it appears that they have selected the final DVD cover art www.theaveragejoes.net/?subaction=showfull&id=1058144364&archive=

 

Just in from Universal are two big Special Edition announcements... on September 9th, they will be releasing the 20th Anniversary Edition of the Brian de Palma / Al Pacino classic Scarface "Say Hello to my little friend.". Also, on August 26th, they will be releasing National Lampoon's Animal House: Double Secret Probation Edition. "TOGA! TOGA! TOGA!" Both discs will be presented in anamorphic widescreen transfers along with new Dolby Digital 5.1 remixes. More specs on these discs will follow in the near future.

 

Yesterday, the details were released for the Collector's 2-Disc Edition of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier aka "Let's let Shatner direct, what could go wrong?"

From dvdreview.com:
The film will be on disc 1 in anamorphic widescreen w/ audio in Dolby Digital 5.1, an audio commentary with William Shatner & daughter Liz Shatner and a text commentary with Michael & Denise Okuda. The cut of the film will be the theatrical version despite efforts on the part of Shatner to revisit the film in the same fashion as the recent release of the first Trek films. Disc 2 will contain the featurettes "Herman Zimmerman: A Tribute", "Cosmic Thoughts" exploring the theological aspects of the film, "That Klingon Couple" discussing the film with Klingon actors Spice Williams and Todd Bryant and "The Green Future?" examining the ecological messages of Trek. Also included is an original interview with Shatner, Harve Bennett's pitch to Paramount, the documentary The Journey, make-up tests, pre-visualization models, test footage of the unused Rock Man sequence, the Trek V press conference, deleted scenes, trailers, a production gallery and storyboards. An easter egg will also be on the set. Overall a very complete package, the 2 disc set will drop on October 14th, with a suggested retail price of $24.99, but you should be able to find it for no more than $19.99.

 

When are Star Wars Episode IV, V, & VI coming out on DVD?????????????????????

I must know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Hate to tell you, but LucasFilm won't start working on the Episode 4-6 DVD's until after Episode Three is released in 2005. I don't expect it any earlier than 2006 or 2007.

 

I fear that Sir George may wait too long for these DVD releases. Now don't get me wrong, I hope only good things happen to GL, but let's be honest men in his age group commonly have acute health issues (heart attacks, organ failure, etc). Now don't go thinking I want or foresee harm coming to Lucas, but if he suddenly passed or had a debilitating health issue (Chris Reeves), it would be a shame that the creator couldn't oversee the format that would likely allow future generations to maintain his creation. Video and film fades & decays, but the DVD format is thought to last 100 years, minimum. Lucasfilm already has said that they were going to put Young Indy out on disc too, but that also is still a long way off from happening.

It's surprising that a franchise that seems so eager to take advantage of any way to make $$ (cough, cough...Hyperspace...cough, excuse me there ) that they wouldn't have at least released the Holy Trilogy (as Kevin Smith referred to it in "Chasing Amy") on a bare bones feature only disc set. Meanwhile, the Asian market has created a Video CD version of the Trilogy that you can find on Ebay and other sites.

There are even tales out there of a deluxe blackmarket version of the Trilogy that includes the deleted scenes that the "Insider" wrote up a few years back, in addition to being the original theatrical versions (e.g., Han shoots first), it even includes the rare Holiday Special from 1978 (something I've never even seen). Rob Burnett, the editor/co-writer/director of the film Free Enterprise (starring William Shatner, Mad TV's Phil LaMarr, and Will & Grace's Eric McCormack, it is a MUST see for any Sci-Fi fan, in many ways it will seem to be a biography of your life; we should have a meeting just for watching this film www.freeent.com/index.shtml) was the first one to mention this mythical DVD in his old column on Kevin Smith's moviepoopshoot.com, but I've never been able to find this Holy Grail of Star Wars.

 

Guys/Gals: I realize my posts get rather long-winded, but since the chapter is mostly Net bassed, this seems to be the best way to communicate news, issues, opinions, rants, etc. Do y'all read these column length posts, OR are they so long that you think, "Here goes Zach again" and just skip over them? Just wondered. Any NADers out there with feedback (positive, negative, otherwise) please feel free to post it here or PM me (especially if you want to tear me a new one ) with the usefulness of this thread to you.

Nevertheless, if your not familiar with Free Enterprise (see previous post) I think I'll have a meeting over at my house so we can all watch this together. Of course, first I need to buy a house (still looking) and get the right theather system, so this isn't something that will happen in the next few weeks, but until then go out and rent/buy this film. You'll thank me for it.

 

Excellant, Smithers no one seems to mind the long posts! Now to begin my Russian novel... Actually, today is just some quick release news that may be of interest.

Smallville Season One Darkhorizons.com reports that the 1st season of the young Superman series will come out on 23 SEP 03 and will contain both the aired & unaired pilot. Season 2 is expected out a year later in Sept. 2004.

Law & Order: SVU & CI (Season 1) the complete season releases for the 2 Law & Order spin-offs are expected out on 21 OCT 03. The 6-disc sets have a suggested price of $59.98 each.

Homicide: Life On The Streets (Season 3) the trend-setting NBC police drama will drop on 28 OCT 03. Price is unknown, but for the first 2 seasons box set (all one set due to short first 2 seasons used as summer filler) costs around $54 - $65. I finally bought it because I LOVED this show, but it was a hard decision knowing there are some STS9's coming up that I want.

Curb Your Enthusiasm the HBO emmy-nominated Seinfeld "sequel"'s original special and complete first season are currently open in the air for a winter release (Dec. '03 or Jan. '04).

G. I. Joe (season 1) an unconfirmed rumor states that Rhino is releasing the first season of the classic 80's series on Veteran's Day 11 NOV 03.

Batman: The Animated Series although announced earlier that this series would not come out on DVD, a San Diego comic's panel revels that plans have changed and that this set will come out sometime in the near future. The same goes for Superman: The Animated Series.

 

From Garth at darkhorizons.com comes the news of the specs for the Finding Nemo 2-disc DVD release.

The transfer comes in anamorphic WS & FS w/ Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks & Pixar's usual breathtaking direct digital transfer style. "Filmmakers' Visual Commentary" contains deleted scenes & recording session outtakes as the creators talk about the challenges & sequences which didn't get to make it into the movie, whilst "Virtual Aquariums" turns your TV into one with animated environments from the film. "Making Nemo" is a special documentary all about the film's making, also "Review The Art Of Nemo" has the animators giving us a guided tour through early artwork for the movie. Over on Disc #2 there's a short film with Jean-Michel Cousteau visting the Great Barrier Reef & running into the film's CG fish cast, a tour of Pixar studios by Nemo voice Alexander Gould, the original "Knick Knack" short (with commentary), and some games & encyclopedia style info for kids. Cover art and more details can be found at Animated Bliss, whilst the set hits shelves on November 4th.