Farscape The Complete Series Coming Soon From A&E Home Entertainment

#1

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7/1/09 at 6:46pm

Mark Talmadge
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They can't get this out fast enough. Goodness gracious, this is going to be one heck of a set and it's also coming in season boxed sets and not single DVD releases. Please, A&E, no Double Sided DVD's and get this set out quickly.

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Farscape-Complete-Series-Coming/12228

#2

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7/1/09 at 7:17pm

smithb
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These generally do pretty well on the used market. It will be interesting to see how they price it. I think I paid just under $200 to get the whole series in the Starburst editions. Hopefully, they can do better then that this time around for new purchasers.

It seems like sometimes A&E doesn't always get the best prints available, which is why I bought the Saint (b/w) from R2. But from reading the article this appears to be a joint venture with Jim Henson, so you would think they would be the best available.

#3

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7/1/09 at 7:32pm

Mark Talmadge
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I would say that, compared to how A&E price their DVD releases, to pay a small fortune for these sets. I would expect that these sets are going to cost around $70-80 per each season set. A&E prices their sets almost like the BBC and HBO prices their sets.

#4

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7/1/09 at 9:23pm

smithb
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Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Talmadge

I would say that, compared to how A&E price their DVD releases, to pay a small fortune for these sets. I would expect that these sets are going to cost around $70-80 per each season set. A&E prices their sets almost like the BBC and HBO prices their sets.

Yikes!! I guess I should be thankful that I already have a complete set.

#5

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7/1/09 at 10:32pm

BillBR
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Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Talmadge

I would say that, compared to how A&E price their DVD releases, to pay a small fortune for these sets. I would expect that these sets are going to cost around $70-80 per each season set. A&E prices their sets almost like the BBC and HBO prices their sets.

Precisely why I'm very hesitant to buy this until they put a Blu-Ray release together. They'd have to have some frelling awesome new content to get me to pay $200 when I already have the entire series on standard-def.

"I've been thinking about what we talked about before...it's not enough to survive. One has to be worthy of surviving. That's all."
--Edward James Olmos

#6

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7/2/09 at 6:29am

Jason_V
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I was kinda hoping for a BD announcement at the same time. At this point, I'll probably hold off and wait for the high def version...unless I can find the DVD edition for a steal.

#7

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7/2/09 at 6:37am

Chris S
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With the ebay prices for the Starburst sets I couldn't help but slowly sell off my sets to help supplement my dwindling blu-ray/dvd fund so a complete series does interest me. Even if the initial price is relatively high Costco typically gets the A&E sets at a later point and offers them at a nice discount.

DVD & Blu-ray - It's all about the movies!

#8

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7/2/09 at 9:06am

Joseph Bolus
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I guess the big question here is whether or not the "Complete Series" set will include "The Peacekeeper Wars" (TPKW) mini-series.

There was nothing in that announcement regarding TPKW and it's pretty common knowledge that it was completed with the participation of a production company which was not involved in the series itself.

I would imagine that any Farscape "newbies" will be shocked and confused by the Season Four cliffhanger if TPKW is omitted. AFAIK it's only been released once, and the provided video presentation was below average for an anamorphic widescreen release (excessive EE and other video artifacts); so it would be nice if it was released with the set with a new transfer. If nothing else, this would provide the foundation for what we can expect from the inevitable Blu-ray release.

Joseph
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#9

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7/2/09 at 9:53am

smithb
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I wonder how much better this one will look as a BR release, or how much work would be involved in getting a good BR release. Depending on how the special effects were implemented and the lower quality used to save money in season 4 it may not be an easy task. While older shows like Star Trek TOS and Twilight Zone can look great in HD being transferred from 35mm stock directly. It seems like SciFi shows produced in the 70's through 90's suffer because of effects added after being transferred to SD video. I doubt this one wouldbring in the money to warrant a lot of effort.

#10

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7/2/09 at 1:13pm

Bryan^H
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I'm glad I never bought this before. Can't wait

#11

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7/2/09 at 3:27pm

Sigwolf
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Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryan^H

I'm glad I never bought this before. Can't wait

I'm glad I bought this years ago and didn't have to wait...

#12

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7/2/09 at 5:20pm

Joseph J.D
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Quote:

Originally Posted by Sigwolf

I'm glad I bought this years ago and didn't have to wait...

Same here.....I'm very happy with the complete season sets that I have....as well as "The Peacekeeper Wars".

Recently watched- BSG: Season 4.0[BD], Starship Troopers 3: Marauder[BD], The Happening[BD], Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen (IMAX)[BD], An American Werewolf In London[BD]

Currently watching- Heroes: Season 1[BD], Michael Palin: Pole To Pole, Battlestar Galactica[BD], Magnum P.I.: Season 7

#13

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7/2/09 at 7:57pm

Mark Talmadge
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Don't look for the "Peacekeeper Wars" to be included. According to TV Shows on DVD, it won't be. Since TPW was released by Lions Gate Entertainment, don't look for it to be included. A&E and the History Channel are owned by the same parent company while Lions Gate is another company altogether. You'll need to purchase the movie separately.

#14

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7/3/09 at 2:16am

Joseph Bolus
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Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Talmadge

Don't look for the "Peacekeeper Wars" to be included. According to TV Shows on DVD, it won't be. Since TPW was released by Lions Gate Entertainment, don't look for it to be included. A&E and the History Channel are owned by the same parent company while Lions Gate is another company altogether. You'll need to purchase the movie separately.

Well that's very disappointing!! I don't see how they can call this a "Complete Series Mega-Set" without the resolution to the story!! (This would be like viewing "The Fugitive" without "The Judgment" or "Battlestar Galactica" without "Daybreak"!!) Surely when they made the deal with Lions Gate there was some verbiage in the various contracts which would allow TPW to be marketed with the series!!!! In any event, if that's the case I'll just wait for the Blu-rays ...

Joseph
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#15

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7/3/09 at 3:20am

Mark Talmadge
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Um, that's because it IS a Complete Series set as is indicated by the Press Release on TV Shows on DVD. The Farscape: Peacekeepers Wars is a movie. Farscape the Television Series and Farscape The Peacekeeper Wars are two different entities. A&E/History Channel have the rights to the Television Series. Lions Gate Entertainment has the rights to the movie. Same as with the Firefly television series and the Serenity movie. They are owned by the same production company but distributed by two different companies.

Farscape the Peacekeeper Wars is a TV Movie and is not considered part of the television series.

#16

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7/3/09 at 5:42am

Joseph Bolus
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Mark,

That's a good analogy that you're using with "Firefly" and "Serenity". The difference is that "Objects in Space" -- the last episode presented in the "Firefly" TV set -- actually provides some partial closure while "Bad Timing" -- the Fourth Season finale' for "Farscape" -- ends with an *extreme* cliffhanger!! I just think that "newbies" will be a little upset (and confused given the fact that the set will be advertised as "Complete".)

Ah well: "It is what it is" as they say ... (Perhaps I'm just looking for an excuse to wait on the Blu-rays ...

)

Joseph
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#17

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7/3/09 at 5:45am

Jason_V
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I have the same issue with the upcoming BSG "complete" series box set. Frankly, it's not "complete" without The Plan and the Face of the Enemy webisodes.

However, in Farscape's case, I'll grant a ton of clemency because Peacekeeper Wars and the series are owned by different people. The chances of ever getting everything in one package have to be between slim and none.

#18

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7/3/09 at 7:02pm

Chris S
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Another series with a similar unresolved ending would be the Stargate SG-1 collection not containing the subsequent direct to dvd film. It would more a point of concern if TPW was as hard to find as the original series. Thankfully that's not the case.

DVD & Blu-ray - It's all about the movies!

#19

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7/3/09 at 11:34pm

Mark Talmadge
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I don't know why everyone is making such a big fuss. Studios don't generally release movies of a particular television series that served as an official finale for very good reason, they don't consider it as part of the television series. If they did, then it would be included as part of the official season set. (Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Battlestar Galactica, I Dream of Jeannie, Farscape, etc)

To put it plainly, Farscape the Complete Series is just that, the complete series. The title "The Complete Series" refers to the Television Series, not the movie. The movie isn't considered part of the television series. It is, after all, what the industry refers to as a telefilm or television movie not a television series.

Everyone assumes that The Peacekeeper Wars is a part of the television series. It really isn't. The television series was canceled with the fourth season. It just so happens that Jim Henson Productions decided to produce a telefilm event to conclude the cliffhanger left over from the television series.

This is why Star Trek Generations, First Contact, Insurrections and Nemesis isn't included with the Star Trek TNG Complete Series.

#20

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7/24/09 at 7:01pm

smithb
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New info on the Farscape megaset:

www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Farscape-The-Complete-Series/12357

It's coming out November 17, 2009 at an SRP of only $149, which is pretty good considering the previous pricing (cover art posted in link above). While I have the entire collection (Starburst edition) it is a mix of the earlier DVD-18's and the later DVD-9's. At 25 disks there is no reason they shouldn't be able to fit 88 episodes on DVD-9's and the new packaging looks to take up less space. While I wasn't going to do it, this new price and better packaging and disk pressing convinced me to sell off my old collection while I still could.

I'm sure I could have gotten more by selling them individually on places like ebay, half.com, and the like but I didn't like the hassle of piece mealing it, so I sold the entire collection to one of the online used resellers for $192. This more then covers the new set even if I had to pay SRP (which I doubt). Looking forward to November 2009.

#21

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7/24/09 at 8:02pm

Mark Talmadge
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I sold mine as well, had two sets which sold for $250-300 each collection.

I know I'm anticipating this release as well. Apparently, all four single DVD season sets will be released on the same day as well. Best Buy, will probably have some kind of package deal, like they did when X-Files was re-released.

#22

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7/24/09 at 8:05pm

Mark Talmadge
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Talk about stupidity ... someone is actually selling Farscape Starburst volume 3.2 for $1,000.00.

#23

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7/24/09 at 8:43pm

BobO'Link
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I'm not convinced to sell off my Starburst packages yet. I am fortunate to have the DVD-9 sets. These have a full season on 9 disks with 3 disks of "bonus" material per season. The new version will have "six jam-packed disks filled with hours of revealing bonus materials" per season. So you're apparently getting the same product on 6 disks instead of 12. Sounds like it's either highly compressed *or* double sided disks. The full package is a 25 disk set. The DVD-9 Starburst collection is 48 disks for all 4 seasons. This sounds like "The Peacekeeper Wars" is the 25th disk.

While I really like the looks of the new packaging and smaller shelf space this would take up, if this *is* single sided disks with double the amount of data per disk *or* double sided disks I think I'd rather keep what I have.

#24

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7/24/09 at 8:48pm

BobO'Link
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Out of curiousity, where did you guys sell your sets? The places I've checked are offering $2-$5 per for the Starburst editions.

#25

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7/24/09 at 9:10pm

smithb
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Quote:

Originally Posted by BobO'Link

I'm not convinced to sell off my Starburst packages yet. I am fortunate to have the DVD-9 sets. These have a full season on 9 disks with 3 disks of "bonus" material per season. The new version will have "six jam-packed disks filled with hours of revealing bonus materials" per season. So you're apparently getting the same product on 6 disks instead of 12. Sounds like it's either highly compressed *or* double sided disks. The full package is a 25 disk set. The DVD-9 Starburst collection is 48 disks for all 4 seasons. This sounds like "The Peacekeeper Wars" is the 25th disk.

While I really like the looks of the new packaging and smaller shelf space this would take up, if this *is* single sided disks with double the amount of data per disk *or* double sided disks I think I'd rather keep what I have.

Basically, there are 18 hours to each season on 6 disks. That is only 3 hours per disk, which is not a big deal compression wise to a single sided dual layer DVD-9 disk (basically 4 episodes a disk) and a quite common arrangement. For the older sets to be 48 disks they were probably single layer or just did not maximize the space on DVD-9's. Unlike the first set of Starburst sets that were 2 DVD-18 disks. All in all, these should not suffer from compression issues due to space issues. These disks could easily contain another hour of extras or commentaries.

While I can't make it out in the picture the 25th disk is not the Peacekeeper Wars since that is owned by someone else and not actually part of the TV series but an afterwards TV movie. I'm assuming the 25th disk is all extras.

#26

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7/24/09 at 9:28pm

smithb
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Quote:

Originally Posted by BobO'Link

Out of curiousity, where did you guys sell your sets? The places I've checked are offering $2-$5 per for the Starburst editions.

My understanding is that the sets used to go for more then now, probably closer in time when they went OOP and people scrambled to complete their collections. I'm not sure when Mark sold his but on another thread I saw people were commenting on this.

From what I understand, if you want to maximize what you can get you need to sell on ebay, half.com, amazon marketplace or something like that. Personally, that's not worth the time and effort to me, so I sell to one of the online resellers where I get a quote, pack it up and mail it the next day, and get a check within a week. I use newtownvideo.com since I've found they give the best prices, especially for more rare items. They also give a shipping credit when sending in 16 or more items valued at $2 or more and insurance credit when the value is over $50. Their online price quotes are based on supply and demand so for each item selected to send in the price goes down about $1 for the next guy. Since I got $192 that would mean the next person selling the same items would get arround $180. The quotes were all over the place from one collection going for as low as $4 and the highest at $30.

#27

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7/24/09 at 10:14pm

Mark Talmadge
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I sold mine about two years ago. I had the original first releases as well as the Starbust editions when they were still in print.

#28

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8/10/09 at 5:09am

smithb
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Well Amazon has the preorder up for the new complete megaset of Farscape for $104.99.

Not bad considering what it use to go for.

#29

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8/10/09 at 10:00am

Mark Talmadge
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Yeah, I plan on buying the complete series set.

#30

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9/15/09 at 3:50pm

BobO'Link
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Just saw over at TVshowsonDVD.com that A&E is partnering with BB for a limited edition (5000 sets) BB exclusive called "Farscape: The Complete Series Megaset" that includes "The Peacekeeper Wars" mini. No art of the package, but I'm sure it'll be way overpriced and sell out quickly. November 17th release date with a $149.95 MSRP.

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