News post: B5 series on DVD is go!

[davethedivine]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR> If your DVD looks bad on your computer, Blame Micro$oft and their incredibly bloated OS that consumes 95% of the computer's resources just getting the icons drawn on the main screen. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
WINBLOWS???? C'mon! I assumed that the people here, if not anywhere else, would be enlightened enough to use Macs! Hmmph! I guess being a B5 fan[atic] isn't enough.

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Religion is the opiate of the masses.
-Marx

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Cheers for the reply Joe,

I guess UK actors aren't too fussed about professional pride when it comes to including out takes on the Who DVD's

There are no documentaries on the Who releases but they manage to include commentaries with actors and directors who get paid a modest fee (renting a recording studio shouldn't cost that much), the BBC trailers (in this case PTEN?) and any related interviews that were shown on the BBC at the time of broadcast. Test footage of visual effects is sometimes included plus floor plans, locked camera footage and deleted scenes.
The Who DVD's also include on screen text production notes and isolated music scores.
I think even with the restrictive union laws and complicated structure of Warners that some of these extras could be put on DVD's.
It just needs enthusiasm from whoever is assigned to the DVD's.

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'I plan to live forever, or die trying' - Villa Blake's 7

[This message has been edited by orac (edited January 22, 2002).]

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Would B5 extras really be that costly to add?
The BBC manage to stick loads of great extras on the Dr Who DVD's and if you read their restoration website, its all done on a really tight budget. The people who restore the Dr Who DVD's are fans and the BBC don't pay them extra for doing it.
It just needs enthusiam on the part of Warners or the help of a couple of B5 fans within the industry itself.
There must be so many bloopers from B5 plus unseen footage etc.

You can visit the Dr Who Restoration Site at:
http://www.restoration-team.co.uk/

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'I plan to live forever, or die trying' - Villa Blake's 7

[This message has been edited by orac (edited January 22, 2002).]

 

[Sinclair]

Looks like the future of B5 is going to be a good one, if they do indeed release the series on DVD in the near future. I hope they decide to do seasoned boxed sets, but I'll be happy with just the individual episodes.

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"I welcome you and present this place to you as a gift. I am called Valen, and we have much work ahead of us."
-Valen, War Without End Pt.2

 

[Ranger One]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by jnk5y:
I'm just waiting for "the best of" box sets such as the best of vir or best of kosh. I don't want some box that goes by season, that wouldn't make any sense at all.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I have the feeling that jnk5y was making a sarcastic statement.

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To alcohol, the cause of, and solution to, all life's problems. -Homer Simpson

 

[Sinclair]

I hope not, I wanna see the best of Byron!

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"I welcome you and present this place to you as a gift. I am called Valen, and we have much work ahead of us."
-Valen, War Without End Pt.2

 

[spuzzum]

www.thedigitalbits.com posted this today:

Looks like Warner will finally make all you Babylon 5 fans happy, by releasing the complete first season of the series on DVD this fall. We're waiting for more details on this release, but we've been told Warner intends to release a lot of TV product before the year is over. And word is they're happy with sales of the single B5 disc they've released thus far.

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"No matter where you go, there you are."
-- B. Banzai

 

[pharmelink]

The quality of the first DVD was not that great, considering they've got the resources to do better.

But it did allow for me to give my two purchased VHS copies to a friend so that he could have it.

As with everything there is getting something done, and getting it done right. And I feel they just barely got it done.

Hopefully, they'll follow the Farscape DVD examples for content and quality (not for selling however; 2 episodes per disc, sold seperately....)

Would very much love the entire season on one package.

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Thanks.

Paul

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Paul:

They just barely got it done by design. Warner Home Video had little confidence in B5's drawing power on home video after the failure of the VHS tapes, and have always been generally averse to releasing television shows. (B5 was the only one-hour drama they ever released on VHS. They're other TV releases were all animated kid's shows, and rarely even planned as complete releaseas, as B5 was.)

Warner Bros. only put the first DVD out after years of fan pressure, and because the success of The X-Files inevitably made them wonder if their cult show might have similar legs. But they didn't really think it would. So they released it in the spirit of the guy who buys one lottery ticket a week. It would be nice if he hit the jackpot, but he doesn't think he will, and he's sure not going to "invest" a lot in buying extra tickets that will only marginally increase his odds of success.

So Warner Home Video released the first disc as a "test" (which is exactly what I had suggested they do in 1999 - put the same two movies out as a barebones double-feature disc and see how they sold.)

I don't think we can judge the eventual series release from the first movie disc. It was always a way to get the show out in the marketplace as cheaply as possible (both in terms of production cost and sale price) to see if anyone bought it. Since WHV privately believed that virtually no one would, this minimized their financial risk.

Now they know there is a market for the show. But they also know, from all the same fan feedback that forced them to release the disc in the first place, that fans will not buy a substandard release of the episodes. They were considering a full-season set approach to B5 even as they were releasing Friends and South Park in "best of" sets precisely because they knew that's the only thing that would sell.

Now WHV (and the industry at large) seems to be "getting it" when it comes to releasing TV shows on DVD. See this thread for the latest info on the B5 release, and for links to a couple of articles on both that release and the general subject of TV shows on DVD.

Regards,

Joe

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

 

[The2ndQuest]

When did WB lose the CGI files and stuff?

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Billy Buehler
www.denimfilms.com
"And this...is wrong too.."

 

[KoshN]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by The2ndQuest:
When did WB lose the CGI files and stuff?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, JMS hasn't said (and I have asked), I suspect it was discovered as they started work on To Live and Die in Starlight and needed to look for the files.

Warner Brothers probably misplaced or threw out the files all along, season by season[1], as Babylonian turned the files over to them. This must have only become a problem after Netter Digital went under. Prior to that, Netter Digital probably had copies of all the files because they were actively working on Babylon 5, the B5 movies, and Crusade, and would have legitimate need of the files on a daily basis.

[1] They have an amazing knack for doing stupid things.

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KoshN
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Vorlon Empire

http://www.scifi.com/b5rangers/

 

[Dave Thomer]

Actually, given the switch in effects companies from Foundation Imaging to Netter Digital, I'd be willing to bet that the material wasn't lost until after the end of Crusade, when things looked darkest for B5's future and there wasn't an immediate reason to keep them handy. I'm pretty sure that after season three, WB still had all the data to hand to ND -- at the very least, we'd likely have heard if they hadn't.

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Dave Thomer
This Is Not News

 

[sbs]

It is fantastic news that the first series of B5 will be released onto DVD. Although since I am in Australia, I hope that there will be a Region 4 release, just as it was the case with The Gathering/In the Beginning DVD, or that at least the release will be multizone, so it can be distributed worldwide. My fingers are crossed!

 

[Várzea]

I'm sure JMS would like to make some comments about the series, but perhaps they'll make the boxed sets and if sells good, they pop up another set with all the extras. But anyway: YEEESSSSSSS!!!!!
I just hope WB doesn't forget their million of fans in South America, but if they sell it in Brazil its fine as far as i'm concerned...

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If you drink wine, you should be able to enjoy the hangover or learn from it, if you can't do that, dont drink wine.