Remastered Space: 1999 S1 (1 Viewer)

[wvrs158]

EGG-ZACT-LEE.

the "30th anniversary edition" banner is an intentional fabrication.

"30th anniversary" of what? the first season's "30th anniversary" was september 2005, and the second/final season's was september 2006.

they're simply trying to get you to mistake it for the R1 release of the R2 "series one (first season) special edition (HD)" that was released in 2005 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the first season.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

Although they probably did add "30th Anniversary" to try to inspire more purchases (does slapping "anniversary" on a DVD set really shift any more units, though?), I'm not really sure they're intentionally causing confusion. The casual R1 consumer isn't even aware of what's been released in R2.

Maybe once A&E's licence expires, someone else will pick it up and do something better with the ITC shows. I still say that until a new version of Year 2 comes out in the UK, we're not likely to get a rerelease here (what US company would want to only issue a better version of half the episodes, with no prospect of a better version of the rest?), although it could happen (see my post further up noting that this appears to have gotten a Japanese release).

 

[Kevin L McCorry]

Season 2 will be released in the U.K. by Granada/Network on September 10, 2007. No further details available yet.

 

[wvrs158]

i trust that juicy little tid-bit came from a very reliable source.

i can only hope that the second season got the same treatment and that they've loaded it up with loads of never-before-seen bonus material.

now if that doesn't make me run out first thing tomorrow morning and buy a region-free player, i don't know what will.

are there any stores i can walk into and walk out of with a region-free player???

 

[AndyMcKinney]

Sure. Just about any discount store (Kmart, Meijer, Target, W*l-M*rt, etc.) will stocks Philips-branded machines.

You can walk out the store with one, but you will have to apply the "unlocking" code yourself at home. You can't buy one (in a store) that's region-free straight out of a factor-sealed box.

The good news, though, are that Philips machines are quite easy to hack. Usually, a four or five-digit remote control code that takes just a few seconds to do. Go to your store, see what model number(s) they carry, then write all that down. Go home, go to Videohelp.com and look up the player's model name, and you should be able to find the hack code with instructions.

 

[Richard_Gregory]

You won't be able to walk into a highstreet store and buy one already unlocked. However, if the USA is anything like the UK, then it shouldn't be too hard to mail-order a player that comes out of the box region-free - essentially they will have done the work for you. Or alternatively, find models that are easy to unlock, buy one from the store and unlock it yourself.

Many players can be unlocked by keying in simple codes via the remote control, so it's worth looking at the one you already own.

Some players are more difficult - for example, you may have to rent a special remote which sends a stream of codes to do the unlocking. A few players require opening the box to perform modifications which obviously is not recommended as a DIY! And of course it invalidates the warranty. As I recall, Sony are amongst the hardest to rid of the region-nonsense.

If your existing player is one that is difficult, then it might well be easier and cheaper to get another player that is easy to unlock.

If I were buying a new player, I would not even consider buying one unless it either came unlocked or that I could not easily unlock myself.

 

[Michael Rogers]

I have all the American release Space:1999 DVD's, so I will wait to learn if this new set utilizes the more recent UK transfers. If so, it will be a purchase.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

Michael:
As has been said above, this set is certainly just a repackage. With the ITC licence set to expire, there's no way A&E would've paid for new Year One masters just to re-release this at a lower price point.

Also, take into account that Year Two has been announced for an R2 release later this year, and the likelyhood of any new remaster is further away.

Best chance for a R1 will be when the licence expires. Then, maybe the new licence-holder can put out both seasons using the Network "from the original 35mm" remasters (the remastering work carried out by BBC Resources, incidentally) because unlike A&E, they won't have already paid to licence out a previous remastering effort (the Carlton "from 16mm" ones).

 

[Michael Rogers]

Yeah, thought so.

Looks like I am all set until another entity releases them.

 

[Ron68]

Even though this looks like just a repackage, I'm still interested in purchasing it. I don't know when A&E's licence expires but I don't know if I want to wait either. There's no guarrantee that another company will release the series in R1. Has it ever happened with a series before? The extras on the current releases interest me I don't think the video quality will bother me considering I haven't seen this show in about 20 years.

 

[Sam Favate]

DeepDiscount is offering the new "entire series" repackage for about $60, which is a pretty good deal.

Anyone looking to get the whole series inexpensively could do worse.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

Well, the current release will certainly look better than any battered film prints you saw about 20 years ago. I remember seeing some really worn out prints being used by WOR and other stations in the 1980s. I remember seeing an extremely dirty print of Mission of the Darians. Plus, they'll have a bunch more footage in them (unless the last ones you saw were uncut on PBS).

If I thought you'd be interested, I'd ask if you'd be interested in buying a lightly-used second-hand set...

 

[Michael Rogers]

You can say that again, the dirty prints and cuts on WPIX were legendary. For those of you familair with "War Games" WPIX cuts after this conversation with Koenig and Bergman:

Koenig: Say Goodbye to Alpha for me
Bergman: Say Hello to the Planet

to the scene where the planet is radiating energy and blowing up the Eagle with Koenig and Alan Carter. Everything between those scenes is cut. It's like somebody took sissors and cut a chunk at random.

I think even in first run syndication S:1999 was cut on some stations. Hense, the complaints about some of the shows not making sense.

 

[Jay Pennington]

C'mon, be realistic...I love the show but ya gotta admit sometimes it doesn't make sense!

 

[Dave Scarpa]

Yeah the first season on some of the shows even uncut will leave you scratching your head , but thats what I loved about them.

 

[Michael Rogers]

I guess I meant to say that the cuts made it make even less sense in some cases. But I was going by "War Games" which I found a WPIX tape of. That particular episode is pretty ruined by the cut they make.

I like the Space:1999 mysteriousness too. Fans call it the MUF (Mysterious Unknown Force) which the Alpha people seem to be affected by.

 

[SilverWook]

dvdfile.com is saying they are new transfers and sound mixes.

 

[RickER]

Well HELL! Someone please be the patsy for me, and let me know if i need to buy it. OK?

 

[Ron68]

I hope this turns out to be true


The episode I last watched were syndicated on a local channel, during the 70's to early 80's, along with UFO. I remember this show fondly, which is why I'm interested in the DVDs. I don't by used or second hand DVDs

 

[AndyMcKinney]

I'd take that with a grain of salt.

I won't believe there's a newly-remastered set in the USA until someone does a head-to-head comparison.

And then, unless they use the excellent BBC Resources masters (as used by Network), any other form of "remastering" will be second rate at best.