The New DVD and Blu Thread

[droosan]

The only Criterion Blu-ray I've purchased thus far is For All Mankind.

Yes, GeorgeC; it's yet 'another documentary' .. but it's a documentary about going to the moon!! Shot and narrated by the guys who went to the moon!!


not a scene from the movie

RIghtStuf's Dirty Pair:Complete TV Series

*runs to the Right Stuf website*

[EricJ]

You'd better, it's an exclusive.
(And sub-only, for a small company out of the wilderness, but the Japanese remasters look amazing for 1985, and hail to thee, RightStuf, for salvaging what was out of ADV's grasp.)

[droosan]

Thanks so much for letting me know it exists!

Looks like there will be two boxed sets; the first, containing episodes 1-13 (available now) .. and a second, containing episodes 14-26 (slated for release in February, 2011).

I've had the 'japanese-language-only' VAP Laserdisc set of the Dirty Pair TV series for many years, but I've been hoping to see an 'english-subtitled' version of it released for almost as long..! And just when I thought the U.S. anime industry had 'given up' on classic anime, it finally happens.

[Dan]

Today's Pick-Up:

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

[Dacey]

I wanted to get that at K-Mart, but they didn't have the Blu-Ray. Oh, well. I can put it on my Christmas list.

[GeorgeC]

Thanks so much for letting me know it exists!

Looks like there will be two boxed sets; the first, containing episodes 1-13 (available now) .. and a second, containing episodes 14-26 (slated for release in February, 2011).

I've had the 'japanese-language-only' VAP Laserdisc set of the Dirty Pair TV series for many years, but I've been hoping to see an 'english-subtitled' version of it released for almost as long..! And just when I thought the U.S. anime industry had 'given up' on classic anime, it finally happens.

Anime isn't dead... it's in a coma. Similar to what the US industry has been for a while with regards to 2-D animation.

ADV could have gotten the original Dirty Pair TV series but what they had (pretty much everything else in the Dirty Pair video catalog!) didn't sell well enough to justify going after that license. Also, they were cash-strapped for the last 5-6 years of their existence before the company reorganized itself as Section 23/Sentai Films. I'd say right now that S23 easily has some of the better domestic releases coming out now and is the only company besides Funimation that is doing serious Blu ray releases.

There's more classic anime being released but in small spurts. Already, the original Go-Lion has been released as well as at least the first third, two-thirds of the Japanese version of Vehicle Voltron.

DiscoTek has released 3 Lupin films as well as the Fist of the North Star feature film. They announced a while back that they're also licensing Project A-ko which has been out of print for at least 5 years now...

[American_dog_2008]

Alpha & Omega and Shrek Forever After is my biggest Blu Ray wishes this year.

[GeorgeC]

I was a bit discouraged by the Have a Laugh reviews...

I had no idea Disney was going to release the edited versions of the classic shorts on video. I knew what they were doing when these started showing up on Disney Channel months ago but I was hoping they would stay TV-only and we'd get cheaper, non-exclusive/non-Treasures releases of the restored shorts.

I don't know what Disney's strategy is regarding its theatrical shorts anymore. Is this company ashamed of its founders and its older films? Do they even recognize any more how important these shorts were in the history of the company and the importance to the feature animation department. Is there ANYBODY left at that company that likes the older films, or is everybody just jockeying for positions of power and money at that company so they can build their mansions in the California valleys? Where are the caretakers?

As good as it is to hear the pictures have been restored I'm not crazy to hear that the "Special Editions" are getting the push here.

Disney is funny in regards to animation. They'll move 3 steps ahead at a time on releases, and then they go ahead and do boneheaded things and take 5 steps back. This is so-WB. It's maddening at times!

[Dan]

My pick ups:

Over the weekend:
- Chicken Litte - Blu Ray Upgrade (Disney Movie Rewards deal)
- Narnia: Prince Caspian - Blu Ray Upgrade

---

Today

Blu Ray
- Avatar - Special Edition
- The Last Airbender (Combo pack; *shrugs* Wasn't great, but I didn't think it was bad either)
- Christmas Carol (the Blu Ray/DVD combo, not the 3D combo)
- Night of the Hunter
- Modern Times

DVD
- Ingmar Bergman: Four Masterworks (Smiles of a Summer Night, Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Virgin Spring)
- Monsters and Madmen (Atomic Submarine, First Man into Space, Haunted Strangler, Corridors of Blood)
- Rebel Samurai: Sixties Swordplay Classics (Kill!, Samurai Rebellion, Samurai Spy, Sword of the Beast)
- Le Samouraï

[Randall]

Man, I wish I had money to burn right now, with all the great titles coming out...

...But, I did manage to splurge a bit this week with Avatar, plus I picked up the Man From U.N.C.L.E. briefcase set for just $78 today at Costco!

[EricJ]

Blu Ray
- Christmas Carol (the Blu Ray/DVD combo, not the 3D combo)

...I HOPE you're referring to the George C. Scott version, that I only just found out was coming out this week.

[Ben]

I was a bit discouraged by the Have a Laugh reviews...

George...you didn't read the review!

Yes, they put these edited versions out on disc, but they're by no means the versions that get the main push in those releases. On the packaging, there's little mention of the "cut" editions, and on the discs it's the original-length cartoons that get top billing in the running order and the menu selections.

It's true that the cut-downs should remain TV only...BUT...as I said in the review, if doing these versions and putting them out on disc is what it takes to fund the exceptional RESTORATIONS OF THE ORIGINAL CARTOONS, then so be it. If that's the reason whoever needs to give to get the classic shorts looking and sounding this good, then that's the price to pay...no-one says you need to watch them, BUT this DOES mean that pristine editions of the originals will exist for later collectors/Blu-ray editions.

With that going on, it's basically a little foolish to say that they don't "recognize any more how important these shorts were in the history of the company and the importance to the feature animation department", since through this formant THE ORIGINAL CARTOONS are getting BETTER THAN EVER restorations!

Like WB has found out, restoring hundreds of animated shorts isn't done for free, and they need to recoup that money. Disney has actually been smart in finding a way to make the restorations pay for themselves: spend the money to restore the original shorts (priority job done) and then pay for that by issuing a cut-down that can play (and be offset, money-wise) on television, selling those "new" editions around the world. Not only that, but at least kids are then able to SEE the old characters and shorts, and hopefully become fans that will then buy the original editions.

So think of it as a way for them to pay for these restorations, which can THEN find their way to disc in better/collectors editions/Blu-rays where you'll be pleased that they look as good as they do. Certainly the difference between Clock Cleaners on this disc compared to even the Treasures tin is night and day.

And if THAT's not a way of them looking after their library and keeping it preserved, then I don't know what is!

[GeorgeC]

Okay, okay, Ben!

Obviously, my "partial-dyslexia" kicked in and I skimmed over part of your review! (It happens -- I've got partial text-blindness. Usually the result of reading too fast and not quite catching some things.)

I still say Disney no longer recognizes what it has, and that's a darn shame that they have to resort to these tricks to sell classic cartoons. Where's the marketing department?

They had shows through the 1990s that showcased classic shorts but they ended up putting them in the graveyard hours and later showing infrequently. With few exceptions, most of Disney's TV animation output has been disappointing and the new incarnations of Mickey and Friends have been so neutered that Dora the Explorer is almost more interesting to kids!

<Sigh>

At least they haven't totally gone the WB route and released edited versions of cartoon classics with Disney features. It was pretty sad to see edited WB shorts on the home video releases of Space Jam and Looney Tunes: Back in Action...

[Ben]

Okay...I'll let you off...just this once!

But I do think Disney knows what they have, and I would certainly rather them having to do these crazy cut-downs that fund proper, original length cartoon restorations than having the cartoons exposed through House Of Mouse type offerings, where they were still cut down anyway and also lost their front and end title cards.

At least this way, Disney makes a few bucks that fund the restorations, and eventually we collectors get all the original toons looking better than I ever thought we'd see them.

[GeorgeC]

From TheDigitalBits.com, Friday edition --

"Here's something exciting for you animation fans: Disney is due to release Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind as a Blu-ray+DVD Combo on 3/8/11 (SRP $39.99)! Extras on the Blu-ray will include The World of Ghibli, Creating Nausicaa, Enter the Lands, a Studio Ghibli Trivia Challenge and the original Japanese storyboards, while the included DVD will likely be the same disc as released previously by the studio. "

************

I told ya all so!

The scheduling is a bit later than I expected... I thought closer to half a year rather than 8-9 months since the Japanese release. Not quite as close as Ponyo's delay from Japan was, but better than nothing.

(The BD + DVD Combo is new for a Ghibli release.)

Castle in the Sky will probably get an American Blu ray release next year, too. It's being released December 22nd in Japan this year along with My Neighbors the Yamadas. No word yet on official American releases of these films.

Nausicaa is already out in the UK as of October 18th... http://www.theblurayblog.com/2010/08/mi ... ease-soon/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nausicaa-Valley ... 224&sr=1-1