The New DVD and Blu Thread

Post by **Randall** » November 12th, 2007, 10:16 am

That does look pretty cool!

And did you see that Harrhausen set on the site? Looks amazing.

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » November 12th, 2007, 1:17 pm

droosan wrote: But the real 'crown jewel' of my blu-ray collection, thus far, is a japanese disc titled The Art of Disney, which contains a documentary video on the museum display from a couple years back .. consisting of materials from the Disney Animation Research Library, along with nearly 200 pieces from early Disney features which were recently 'rediscovered' in a japanese university.

The documentary, of course, is in japanese (with no subtitles) .. so it might only be of 'marginal' interest, except for the fact that:

Every single piece of artwork displayed in the collection is accessible in a full-screen 1920x1080 slide show!

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edit/addendum: I should mention that there is also a standard DVD release of The Art of Disney, as well (which aparently does contain english subtitles for the documentary ). However, you'd need to have a 'multi-region' player in order to play it.

Sony has set-up a three-region coding 'scheme' for blu-ray .. but, happily, the U.S.A. and Japan are in the same region.

Yeah, that's the nice thing about Blu-Ray. At least the NTSC regions are in the same CODING zone!

Wish they'd done this for DVD. Region-coding is such a pain for that format... It's not as if it stopped people who WANTED the stuff from Japan or US first and vice-versa. Dumb, dumb, dumb!

Post by **Ben** » November 12th, 2007, 3:42 pm

BOY...am I tempted...

Close Encounters on DVD and BRD tomorrow. I already have the Ultimate Collector's or whatever it was, from before. I have the original theatrical cut on Criterion LaserDisc.

But I still am tempted, and here's why: DVD - $28.99 / BRD - $32.95.

Hardly anything in it. Do I really need this in BRD (the Digital Bits say it's not that great), or even DVD?

Probably not...but I want it...

Post by **Ben** » November 12th, 2007, 3:53 pm

Can't remember where I got up to, but recent orders include:

Paris, Je T'Aime (Two Disc Limited Collector's Edition)
Star!
Batman - Return to the Batcave
Devil Doll
Roxie Hart
Casino Royale (40th Anniversary Edition)
The Carl Stalling Project (both CD volumes)
Chinatown / The Two Jakes
Hot Shots! Part Deux
Preston Sturges - The Filmmaker Collection
Spider-Man 3 (2-Disc Special Edition)
Stanley Kubrick - Directors Series
A Christmas Carol (Ultimate Collector's Edition)
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones - Volume One
That's Dancing!
The Jazz Singer (Three-Disc Deluxe Edition)
Cult Camp Classics 1 - Sci-Fi Thrillers (Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman 1958 / Giant Behemoth / Queen of Outer Space)
Where Eagles Dare
Felix the Cat: The Complete 1958-1959 Series
Surf's Up (Widescreen)
Twilight Zone - The Movie
Poltergeist (25th Anniversary Edition)

Think that's about where I came in. Kubrick just got here, so I think we're going to start looking at that tonight!

Post by **Dacey** » November 12th, 2007, 4:46 pm

Casino Royale (40th Anniversary Edition)

Hold on a second...there was a "Casino Royale" before the Daniel Craig film?

Post by **Randall** » November 12th, 2007, 5:19 pm

Yes, Ben, you DO have to get the BluRay edition. My copy will ship soon, and will be the first BluRay disc I have in my possession, though no player yet. What better film to inaugurate my collection with than an early Spielberg? Even if the video looks dated, it'll be better than anything seen previously, and the seamless branched versions is pretty cool; the BluRay even includes a running tally of edits on the 3 versions. Neat. Although, I never bought it on DVD or laser, so that made my choice easier.

I have numerous other BRDs shipping in December (including 2001, the Disney/Pixar ones and Spidey), but with Amazon's BuyOneGetOne deal this week, I took advantage and ordered another 8! I figure, if I'll buy them eventually, I might as well order them now when I can get free ones. (For the record: Casino Royale, Fifth Element, Final Fantasy, Ghost Rider, Open Season, Monster House, The Wild, and Sky High.)

I shall have to think about that Casino Royale 40th just because I never bought that film before. And Return to the Batcave is one I will probably break down on someday, with its lower price now. Adv. of Young Indy shall have to wait. Other new ones I have: Looney Tunes Vol. 4 and 5, Seinfeld S9, and the Steve Canyon DVD.

Post by **droosan** » November 12th, 2007, 6:23 pm

Wendy's Jane wrote:
Casino Royale (40th Anniversary Edition)
Hold on a second...there was a "Casino Royale" before the Daniel Craig film?

Actually, there are two versions of Casino Royale that preceded the Daniel Craig film.

The first was a 'TV movie', aired as an episode of the anthology series Climax! in 1954 (pre-dating the EON/Broccoli film series by nearly a decade) .. featuring Barry Nelson as the American(!) secret agent, James Bond! The storyline is essentially that of the novel .. and is, thus, similar to the Craig film.

The second version was the 1967 feature, which essentially is a 'spoof' of the EON Bond series (sort-of a 'contemporary' Austin Powers) .. even to the point of starring several different actors as James Bond! The storyline for this film bears little relation to that of the original novel (which is also a trait it shares with many installments of the EON Bond franchise).

--------

Casino Royale was the very first James Bond novel .. and Ian Fleming, being both relatively unknown and 'inexperienced' at the time, had sold the film rights to this novel for a lower sum than he probably should have; $600 for the initial 'option', and then $6000 granting the rights 'in perpetuity' to George Ratoff (the producer of the TV version). Ratoff died in 1960, and the rights to Casino Royale went to his widow, who sold them to Charles Feldman (the eventual producer of the movie spoof). Thus, the rights to the first James Bond novel remained 'out-of-reach' for EON and the Broccoli family for nearly 50 years!

So now you know .. the rest of the story.

Post by **Ben** » November 13th, 2007, 9:18 am

In the Tv movie, James is actually rather funly called "Jimmy Bond". It's hysterical. Peter Lorre is a villain with a cane that is actually a gun and had to actually say the words to mark out the gadgetry for the spy-naive audience: "careful Mr Bond I have a cane in your back, but it is not a cane it it really a gun".

Brilliant, brilliant stuff, and the fact that it was live made it all the more so bizarre. It's on the original MGM edition of the 1960s Casino Royale as an extra. The new 40th edition does not carry it over.

Rand...I'll likely go BRD for CE3K.

Post by **Randall** » November 13th, 2007, 10:50 pm

The new CR doesn't carry the telepic?!!? Hm, guess I'll have to look for the old one.

My BuyOneGetOne BluRay order shipped yesterday from Amazon.com as it turns out, so I guess I'm getting all those other Sony (and two Disney) discs before CE3K. Oh, well. Not like I have a player yet anyhow.

Post by **Ben** » November 14th, 2007, 7:16 am

You could always watch CE3K first!

As far as I understand from all available sources, the new CR 40th doesn't have the telepic or original interview with Val Guest.

The film now spreads across the first disc (with new commentary) and the second disc is all new featurettes.

That's what the specs seem to indicate anyhoo...

Post by **Ben** » December 6th, 2007, 7:31 pm

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

What do I dooooooooooo??

Next Tuesday, Blade Runner comes to DVD in the must-have package it deserves.

Thing is...DVD or Blu-Ray? There is only ten bucks in it and I don't think I'm going to lean towards HD-DVD...

...but having just paid out a lump sum to laser my eyes, plus we bought a top-line HDD/DVD recorder this month, I don't think I'm stretching to a Blu-Ray player this side of Christmas. So, I know that Rand was buying up BRDs before he got a player, and I've started a Wish List at Amazon with several titles I'll likely start to get soon, but should I go Blu for the Blade?

I nearly went HD-DVD last year for the Forbidden Planet set, but glad I got the standard-def as I wouldn't have been able to watch it, and now HD looks like it's going downhill, but can not be counted out just yet.

Thing is I'm not sure when I'll go hi-def (either BR or a combi) and don't really want to wait on looking at the BR stuff. My guess is that the biggest part of the content that's really going to shine in HD will be the new cuts, with the extras I'm none too fussed about seeing in super res, and the workprint cut is going to look choppy and beat up however you watch it.

So...I'm thinking I get the super cool 5 disc DVD now, and pick up whatever standard release version is available come hi-def time...or should I just bite the bullet, buy Blu and sweat it out until I get the player?

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Also...came across this:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000R57W9K

The Digital Bits mentions a "short animated 1939 featurette of Debussy's Claire de Lune" as an extra...WHAT IS THIS?

I know of Disney's aborted Fantasia version that was completed in 1945, but I've never come across any other adaptation and can't find anything online.

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » December 6th, 2007, 11:08 pm

HD-DVD is DEAD in most of the world...

It's been rejected by 70% of Europe, 90% of Japan, and over half the US. The US is the only market in the world right now where HD-DVD is making any kind of impact -- but that depends on the big film of the week. Most weeks, Blu-Ray is still commanding over half the marketshare in the States.

The only people who don't know it are the XBox 360 boys and the people willing to buy whatever Toshiba or M$ is telling them.

Seriously, I've had this discussion and despite the fact that the NUMBERS are saying that Blu-Ray is winning in hardware and software sales, the HD-DVD crowd won't buy it. Not even when you point out the Hollywood studios and most of the PC market are behind Blu-Ray. They won't even accept that Blu-Ray outnumbers HD-DVD in hardware sales in the US by at least 3 to 1.

As for buying a format when you don't own a player to play it, well to each his own.

I DID buy laserdiscs AND DVDs BEFORE I had a player but not much longer than a month before I bought the players in each case. Blu-Ray is actually the first case in which I bought the player (60 GB PS3) a MONTH before the first Blu-Ray film (Paprika) I actually got!

Now, I don't own an HDTV set YET, but guess what's on next year's agenda in addition to computer upgrades?

Regardless of whether Blu-Ray succeeds (probably) or not (unlikely), I'm going to keep getting DVDs as this will be the only to get classic films in affordable boxsets and probably will be the only one to get a lot of animated classics on home video period.

At any rate, the 5-inch optical disc isn't going away any time soon no matter what the naysayers and guys-who-have-been-wrong-all-along at Wired and other tech magazines say.

Post by **Randall** » December 6th, 2007, 11:24 pm

Simple, Ben ol' bean--- and it looks like you've already thought of it... if you're dying to watch the set, get the DVD version now, and upgrade later. If you don't want to double-dip, go Blu now and wait until you have a player to watch it.

Personally, being that I'll be format neutral, it didn't really matter which way to go; but I settled on the HD DVD just because I liked the look of the red case better with the cover. There are other pre-orders that I chose HD DVD because of the extra features (Pan's Labyrinth, Harry Potter V), but I did choose Blu for 2001 and Twilight Zone simply for the box color with those covers (like Blade Runner, all else was equal with those ones).

For a Blu player, I'm actually leaning towards Samsung's new combo player, as it would simplify my home theater set-up, but I'd like to see a review for it first. Once I have my player, I already have a dozen or so titles to play on it.
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In new DVD news, I just picked up the Chuck Jones Collection, which looks quite nice--- ten bucks from Amazon! For that, there's 6 TV specials, plus extras. Hopefully, I can review it in the next few weeks, once I get through the screeners that just arrived.

Post by **Daniel** » December 7th, 2007, 1:13 am

Personally, I would hold off on the Blu-ray edition and get the regular DVD. With the costly stuff you just had/bought, combined with the fact that you don't know when you'll get a hi-def player and you may have to wait more then a year to 'watch' it, well, why not get it for cheaper and enjoy it now?

Post by **Ben** » December 7th, 2007, 5:35 am

Thanks chaps!

And Rand...the Chuck disc has extras? I have the three separates of these titles (each of the standalones plus one Crickett title on each disc) but none of them have anything in the way of extras.

I know it's only $10, but is it a worthwhile upgrade?