[MatthewA]

This was supposed to have come out in May. Has anyone been able to find it? I have found no reviews or comments on the presentation quality.

[Doug Wallen]

Picked this up last week and it appears no work was done on the transfer at all. Also at the beginning of each act (after commercial break), the screen stays blank while the audio plays and after 15 seconds or so the picture fills in. I do not know if this was the original plan for broadcast or not.

It is nice to have the show available, but it is not as clear as some other Paramount discs (eg. Hawaii 5-0, Wild Wild West, etc.)

Doug

[MatthewA]

Could the visual breaks have been NBC's IDs?

[FrosteyV]

I picked it up for cheap at Best Buy, and the transfer is better than the current VHS tape which I have, but not on the order of transfer of something like the Untouchables or The Fugitive.

[MatthewA]

Better than VHS, maybe. But far from great. I have watched the first two parts, and it looks like what I imagine watching it on NBC in 1978 would have looked like. This seems to be an early 1980s transfer; it doesn't even have 3:2 pulldown!

This is an independent production that Paramount only has the DVD rights to because they inherited Worldvision library. They may not have had access to the negatives or any film master, since they're usually pretty good about remastering.

There was a region 2 version out for years; can anyone who has it tell me if that is any better?

[Jeff Willis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MatthewA

Better than VHS, maybe. But far from great. I have watched the first two parts, and it looks like what I imagine watching it on NBC in 1978 would have looked like. This seems to be an early 1980s transfer; it doesn't even have 3:2 pulldown!

This is an independent production that Paramount only has the DVD rights to because they inherited Worldvision library. They may not have had access to the negatives or any film master, since they're usually pretty good about remastering.

There was a region 2 version out for years; can anyone who has it tell me if that is any better?

Matthew,

Thanks for the info on the R1 release. Since this one's on my "big-time" list, I'm going ahead and getting it at the current DD sale.

I did buy the R2 set a couple of years ago and, without having seen the new R1 release, going by your (very good) description of the R1, I'd say that it's about the same quality.

It's a shame that this miniseries hasn't been remastered by now.

[FrosteyV]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MatthewA

Better than VHS, maybe. But far from great. I have watched the first two parts, and it looks like what I imagine watching it on NBC in 1978 would have looked like. This seems to be an early 1980s transfer; it doesn't even have 3:2 pulldown!

This is an independent production that Paramount only has the DVD rights to because they inherited Worldvision library. They may not have had access to the negatives or any film master, since they're usually pretty good about remastering.

There was a region 2 version out for years; can anyone who has it tell me if that is any better?

I have the region 2 release, and believe it or not, I think the new release is better.

[DanFe]

Is the region 2 release cut?