Re: Region 4 Babylon 5 series
The following was posted on the aus.sf.babylon5 newsgroup. According to the author this is a direct quotation from a Warner Bros. press release issued today:
</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Watched for, Wished for, Available at Last!
BABYLON 5: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON
Warner Home Video Sets a November 6th Debut for the Classic Sci-Fi Series with 6-Disc DVD Giftset
Warner Home Video releases the first 22 regular season episodes of the Emmy Award-winning series Babylon 5 to DVD on November 6 with the 6-disc giftset Babylon 5: The Complete First Season. Loaded with extras including commentaries by series creator J. Michael Straczynski, the set will sell for $119.95 RRP.
The long-running Emmy-winning television series Babylon 5 takes place in the year 2257 A.D., on an immense space station floating in a stationary orbit in a neutral corner of a distant galaxy. Manned by a crew of peaceful Earthmen and women, Babylon 5 serves as a non-political economic and social hub for the four alien races -- the Narn, Centauri,
Vorlon and Minbari -- who fight to control the galaxy.
Babylon 5 was the first-ever television series to use extensive computer-generated imagery and to shoot and air in a widescreen format.
The series rewarded fan loyalty and broke new ground by maintaining narrative consistency through a five-year story arc, and the show was singled out by NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and other noted institutions for its science-based treatment of futuristic space themes/technology. Babylon 5 won two Emmys (for groundbreaking Visual Effects and Makeup) and earned the Saturn Award for Best Genre Cable/Syndicated Series (1999) from the Academy of Science-Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films.
The 6-disc set Babylon 5: The Complete First Season includes the following:
- All-new digital widescreen transfers [16x9, 1.77:1]
- Soundtrack remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1
- Introduction and audio commentary on two key episodes by series creator J. Michael Straczynski
- Behind Babylon 5 dossier of documentares:
o The Making of Babylon 5
o Back to Babylon 5
o The World of Babylon 5: Take a station tour and explore the humans, aliens, political situations, scientific data, tech files, weaponry and hardware of this unique futuristic era.
[/quote]
The release will apparently be PAL, not an NTSC disc coded as region 4, like the first double-feature TV movie disc. Impoverished Brits might want to consider this set. The RRP of $119.95 translates to around 42.00 pounds, list. Since dealers will undoubtedly be discounting from the RRP, you could come out ahead even after factoring in shipping.
So far none of the R4 DVD sites I'm aware of has been updated to reflect this new information, assuming it is genuine.
Regards,
Joe