New Hercules/Xena Releases by Universal (4/20/2010)? (1 Viewer)

[smithb]

Does anyone know anything about these new releases?

I seem to recall the quality of the previous releases were lacking and the cost a little high. But according to Amazon these will have a retail price of $27 a season, which means they might be had for $20 after standard discounts. Coming from Universal vs. Starz/Anchor Bay you would hope the quality would be improved.

 

[StarTrooper]

This is all I've been able to find online:

1. It's going to be 24 episodes on 5 discs. Panzar Davis/Anchor Bay release of the first season was on 6 discs and still had sub-par video quality (and yes, I know it's mainly because the first season was shot on 16mm film, which has lots of grain). Cramming 5 episodes per disc is going require using more compression than what Panzar Davis/Anchor Bay used, so you can pretty much kiss goodbye any chance that the video quality will improve. Only way they could cram 24 episodes onto 5 discs without effecting video quality is if they use double sided dual layer discs, which is something Universal likes to do when releasing TV shows onto DVD.

2. Audio is going to be presented in Dolby 2.0. Anchor Bay release was in Dolby 5.1

3. According to the Amazon listing, it's going to include subtitles/closed captioning for the episodes.

4. Rumor is that NONE of the extras from the Panzar Davis/Anchor Bay releases will be included. They are pulling an X-Files and releasing these sets bare bones.

Honestly, I wouldn't expect much from this release, as I think Universal is doing a rush job on both Xena & Hercules in order to capitalize on the popularity of the Starz orginal series "Spartacus".

 

[cajunhillbilly]

Universal has not put out doublesided disks in a few years.

 

[StarTrooper]

Universal has not put out doublesided disks in a few years.

I picked up Universal's re-release of Xena: Warrior Princess - Season One today, and can confirm that the discs are single sided, dual layer discs.

Video quality isn't as horrible as some people were predicting either. If anything it may be a smidgen better than the Anchor Bay release.

If you don't have the Anchor Bay release, it's worth picking up. Got my copy at Wal-Mart for around $20.

 

[Radioman970]

I picked up Universal's re-release of Xena: Warrior Princess - Season One today, and can confirm that the discs are single sided, dual layer discs.

Video quality isn't as horrible as some people were predicting either. If anything it may be a smidgen better than the Anchor Bay release.

If you don't have the Anchor Bay release, it's worth picking up. Got my copy at Wal-Mart for around $20.

having to repurchase several seasons since my anchor bay of season 1 and 2 had some bad dvds. Glad to hear the quality is good.

 

[BobO'Link]

having to repurchase several seasons since my anchor bay of season 1 and 2 had some bad dvds. Glad to hear the quality is good.

I have Season 1 of the AB release for Xena and can confirm that the Uni release has better video quality than the AB Season 1 release. That season was shot on 16mm (don't remember just how many were shot on 16mm) and Universal did a better transfer job on those seasons.

 

[Radioman970]

Well I was very worried. Can't wait to see them now. I might actually upgrade more if they need it. Thank you for the comment!!

I'm about 4 episodes from being done with Herc s1 this time around. And I'll start Herc S2 and Xena S1 at the same time and rotate as they were originally. I've been doing this with Trek Next Gen and Deep Space 9 (and soon Voyager) and it is damn fun!!