HBO Announcement: Deadwood: the Complete Series

Re: HBO Announcement: Deadwood: the Complete Series

nice, but the suggested is bonkers. Have to see what online specials happen before I'll bite. HBO always over charges on their shows.

Re: HBO Announcement: Deadwood: the Complete Series

Is it just me or is Warner/HBO going completely bonkers with their complete series boxsets this year? There are at least four I can think of off the top of my head: Deadwood, The Wire, The Sopranos, Batman TAS. All within four months of each other. Wouldn't it have been better-for the release schedule and profits-to spread them out a bit over 2008 or even into 2009?

Re: HBO Announcement: Deadwood: the Complete Series

Where's the Blu-ray? The show originally aired in high definition. It would be difficult now to watch it in anything less.

Re: HBO Announcement: Deadwood: the Complete Series

I'd love to see this series (and Rome) on Blu-ray, too.

Incidentally, you can buy the three seasons of Deadwood on DVD for about $80 in the UK, so the RRP for this set seems extraordinarily high.

Re: HBO Announcement: Deadwood: the Complete Series

I live in Australia, where we get extras-free Deadwood releases, and have been hanging out for this complete series release for a long time since I'm an extra features fiend. Now I'm faced with a pricing dilemma. I can get the complete series here, with no extras, for $AU70, or this extras-adorned Region 1 set for a whopping $AU190 due to the poor exchange rate these days.

Could those who've watched the Region 1 sets released thus far do me a favour and give me your thoughts on whether the extras are worth this price difference to a hardcore Deadwood fan?

Thanks.

Re: HBO Announcement: Deadwood: the Complete Series

I have all three seasons in individual sets with extras, and if they are the same on the complete they include:

Season 3
Deadwood Matures - Historical Featurette (nice but other docs exist)
Education of Swearengen and Bullock (featurette that just highlights their relationship)
4 audio commentaries

Season 2
The Real Deadwood 1877 (better than the short featurette, but still expendable)
Making of Season Two Finale (very enjoyable)
9 audio commentaries

Season 1
Making Deadwood: The Show Behind the Show (short, ran on HBO)
The Real Deadwood (again retread)
New Language of the Old West conversation with David Milch (short but interesting)
An Imaginative Reality (discussion with Milch, and Keith Carradine)
4 audio commentaries

The complete series looks like it has a few more, including Milch speculating on the ending, and a Q&A with the cast.

Bottom line. If you live for extras, it's a no-brainer, you must have them.

Personally, I find myself relying less and less on watching extras because, frankly, who has the time? It takes enough just to watch the episodes again. But having said that, I will pick this complete set up when it comes out on Blu-ray and look forward the the cast Q&A* New rule of thumb is that any show that I originally watched in high-def, I can't settle for anything less. Older shows, fine.

*"Firefly" just was issued on blu-ray with the only additional extra being a Q&A with creator Whedon and three cast members. These are never as good as you expect because fans usually obsess more about the show than the people who were on it, so there's never really any great new insights. But it's just fun to see the cast again.

So my final recommendation. Wait for the Blu-ray of "Deadwood" and you'll get the absolute best presentation plus whatever extras this complete set has.

Re: HBO Announcement: Deadwood: the Complete Series

Great, thanks for that. Although the extras don't seem undeniably must-have in a Blade Runner sense, I'll probably still shoot for it, but have a few more days to think before my pre-order ships!

Blu-Ray's a good point though, although I haven't heard a whisper about HBO getting into the game in terms of their longer series, eg Deadwood. Does anyone think their entry will happen in the next year? Unless I've missed something, they've been conspicuously absent from the proceedings...

Re: HBO Announcement: Deadwood: the Complete Series

I heard this from somewhere else, so take it with a grain of salt.

The Sopranos S6 sold poorly on both high def formats, which most likely put HBO off of 1080p for a while. They've moved back their release of Generation Kill on BD; John Adams is supposedly coming next year, too.

I can only imagine how much a Sopranos series boxset would go for if the DVD version is $299 in stores...

Re: HBO Announcement: Deadwood: the Complete Series

And even if they did get into it, I imagine we'd be back to their disproportionate pricing, as when each season cost $100 in defiance of falling prices from other studios. Yeah, who knows what one Blu-Ray season would cost.

So if true - and it certainly makes sense given the lack of buzz - waiting for the Deadwood Blu-Ray may not make sense. Alas...

Re: HBO Announcement: Deadwood: the Complete Series

For what it's worth, HBO has dropped the MSRP on Deadwood DVDs to $60 so IF they released it on Blu-ray, I'd guess the Blu-ray MSRP would be about $100.

Re: HBO Announcement: Deadwood: the Complete Series

That's right, and what I'd expect. I'm just struck by the cyclical nature of it, but definitely not surprised. It's fair enough with a burgeoning format I guess.

However, Mad Men's Blu-Ray being the same price as the DVD is really impressive and a good sign - hell, I see that the Blu pre-order for season 2 on Amazon is cheaper than the DVD!

Re: HBO Announcement: Deadwood: the Complete Series

I just can't get behind $100 Blu Ray TV Sets. I recently bought S6 of Smallville for $15, the blu ray set at the same store was $99. Can't justify the $85 price difference.

Re: HBO Announcement: Deadwood: the Complete Series

I think the "Mad Men" blu-ray is the beginning of a trend toward the studios pushing Blu-ray more and keeping the prices down. I've seen other TV sets with Blu-ray prices minimally above standard DVDs.

But with the comments about HBO still not jumping behind Blu-ray, I'd say JJ should go for the regular "Deadwood" complete set without the extras. You are right, they are not indispensible in this situation. Some features I've re-bought strictly because of 90-minute docs included. This is not such a situation and the extras are not generous or revelatory. (IMHO)

Re: HBO Announcement: Deadwood: the Complete Series

Thanks dude - coming from someone who owns the R1 discs, that's persuasive. My bank balance would no doubt appreciate it too.

Re: HBO Announcement: Deadwood: the Complete Series

I ran through the set today. All the extras have been ported over from the season sets. The exclusives on the last disc may be worth a double dip for fans; it just depends on how much you love you show, I guess.

The Wire, though, it another matter entirely...

Re: HBO Announcement: Deadwood: the Complete Series

What's the story on the wire?

Re: HBO Announcement: Deadwood: the Complete Series

A nice box with really crappy cardboard "pocket" holders for the discs. No remastering job for the last two seasons, video wise. Under 20 minutes of exclusive bonus features. I had a feeling having both of them out on the same day was going to be problematic.

Re: HBO Announcement: Deadwood: the Complete Series

Aww, I see, thanks for the quick response. I never bought the previous seasons of the Wire before, so this complete set should still be good enough if it's a repack of the previous seasons. Getting a good price for it.