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The Invaders - Page 26

post #751 of 819
1/29/09 at 3:27pm

Re: The Invaders

I wish my copy of Season 2 from DeepDiscount would hurry up in the post.
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post #752 of 819
1/29/09 at 6:23pm

Re: The Invaders

I am wondering if Deep Discount ships in order that orders were received. I pre-ordered my copy from them the day it was solicited on TVShowsonDVD.com. They shipped my copy of Invaders season two to me 5 days before release date and I got it Monday. Just a thought. Maybe the later you order it, the later it gets shipped. Now as for taking a long time in the post, it'll get longer if they stop delivering mail on Tuesdays!
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post #753 of 819
1/29/09 at 9:27pm

Re: The Invaders

I did receive my copy on release day - no notice of shipping though and my order still registers as "pending" (?)

No matter, I'm thoroughly enjoying this set.
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post #754 of 819
1/30/09 at 7:26pm

Re: The Invaders

Got my set in the afternoon mail and have just finished Condition: Red and Saucer. Its been longer than I care to think about since I have seen these and I was so eager to get home and begin this set. I was glad to see that the image quality improved for Saucer. I am so glad to finally have this set in my hands.

Doug
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post #755 of 819
2/2/09 at 7:26am

Re: The Invaders

I finally found a Best Buy that actually stocks "The Invaders" S2 and was able to get it for the $24.99 internet price (thanks to fellow posters in this thread who alerted me on this!)

Last night I watched "Condition: Red" and really enjoyed it, in spite of the print quality not being quite up to S1 standards. I realized a few seconds into it that I had viewed it only a couple months before when a visiting relative brought his still inferior illicit copy. Next up is "The Saucer" which I know frame-by-frame thanks to "Goodtimes Video". After that it's basically all new ground to me!
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post #756 of 819
2/2/09 at 10:24am

Re: The Invaders

Quote:
Originally Posted by michael_ks
I finally found a Best Buy that actually stocks "The Invaders" S2 and was able to get it for the $24.99 internet price (thanks to fellow posters in this thread who alerted me on this!)

My local Best Buy had a couple copies and they matched the website price at $24.99 for me, too, so I have no complaints to pass along about the last B&M media source standing in the BB/CC war.

I also watched the first episode on a PS3 Blu-ray player with HDMI connection (supposedly with some upconversion), and it looked quite excellent. But the way Roy Thinnes eyes glow bright blue almost unnaturally, I'm beginning to suspect he's an alien, too.
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post #757 of 819
2/2/09 at 12:09pm

Re: The Invaders

I've also been watching these upconverted on a Panasonic Blu-ray player to a 1080p plasma tv, and they look amazing, especially the outdoors scenes such as those in the excellent "The Saucer". The grain stands out more as well, but the improved resolution makes the show look like it could have been filmed yesterday.

I'm guessing this is because Paramount's syndication bible indicates the seasons were digitally remastered in high definition. Other CBS-P shows on DVD such as "Streets of San Francisco", "Star Trek: TOS" and "Hawaii Five-0" look equally incredible when upconverted.
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post #758 of 819
2/2/09 at 12:51pm

Re: The Invaders

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff*H
I've also been watching these upconverted on a Panasonic Blu-ray player to a 1080p plasma tv, and they look amazing, especially the outdoors scenes such as those in the excellent "The Saucer". The grain stands out more as well, but the improved resolution makes the show look like it could have been filmed yesterday.

I'm guessing this is because Paramount's syndication bible indicates the seasons were digitally remastered in high definition. Other CBS-P shows on DVD such as "Streets of San Francisco", "Star Trek: TOS" and "Hawaii Five-0" look equally incredible when upconverted.

It's really a wonderful thing - giving them a three dimensional quality they never had before - like watching them for the very first time. I think of the old color RCA tube TV with the rounded-edge screen these were originally watched on in my household, and now to finally get to see what the original elements more accurately looked like. I can't wait to re-watch Star Trek when the Blu-rays on that start coming out this summer.
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post #759 of 819
2/3/09 at 7:29am

Re: The Invaders

Unfortunately I've run into a noticeable problem in the set.So far in THE ENEMY,THE POSSESSED and COUNTERATTACK. There's a picture "jitter" (someone on the Yahoo INVADERS group also noticed it)....with the picture slightly skipping upwards in a rhythmic fashion, like a sprocket misalignment in the film projection. It's especially bad in Act 4 and the "Epilogue" of THE POSSESSED. In COUNTERATTACK it seems some scenes have it and some don't, like it was a camera problem. I'm in the middle of THE PEACEMAKER and haven't noticed any problems yet and that one is chronologically after the others. It does the same thing even when you slow the picture so it's in the DVD, not the player. I have read these were older transfers and not done from the original elements. This sucks and Paramount/CBS needs to be informed.
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post #760 of 819
2/3/09 at 8:58am

Re: The Invaders

Just read this post on the Classic Horror Film Board DVD folder:

Well, I've just checked the episodes you mention and that "jitter" is evident on my Region-4 edition (I had pre-ordered it; in theUK the first season was released long before it was in Australia, yet the second season was released there with not a sound about it appearing in the UK - so I assumed a UK release wasn't happening - just after the set arrived, this was announced...)

So my guess is that it is something on the original. Pity, one would assume that with a large enough restoration budget, this sort of thing could be removed - I don't know, by taking each frame and "aligning" it or something.

It;s a shame that not all releases are restored to the same standard as Doctor Who. Something like this would never get past the Restoration Team.
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post #761 of 819
2/3/09 at 5:00pm

Re: The Invaders



A gentleman on the Yahoo INVADERS group(who knows the DVD's producer) sent me this interesting response:

"I was told the restoration was done to the electronic version of the
show, meaning the original telecine transfer must have had that flaw,
which could only be corrected if the 35 mm prints were accessible.
Unfortunately, the prints apparently are not available. No one can
tell me what happened to them, let alone the original 75 minute pilot.
From what I heard from the production executive for the DVDs, the
source material they worked from was electronic, so it's most likely
U-matic or 1 inch master reels of magnetic tape. They cleaned up what
they could, but apparently could not correct the jitter situation."

Since only a few episodes seem to be plagued by this problem, you'd
think it wouldn't have cost THAT much to digitally fix.
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post #762 of 819
2/4/09 at 8:58am

Re: The Invaders

Yet another minor problem...the last episode INQUISITION has a horrendous warble/wobble in the audio, which lasts about 45 minutes of the episode then vanishes. Another guy pointed this out on the FILMSCORE MONTHLY boards, so it's not my player.
I am not trying to be a complainer. I absolutely LOVE this series and want to see it at it's best. These minor flaws are annoying. Are we to just sit back and not say anything when we notice stuff like this? I realize they didn't have the master films to make the sets from but isn't stuff like this correctable digitally? I sense they just didn't wanna spend the time and money to fix them, even though it's only just a few episodes.
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post #763 of 819
2/4/09 at 9:26am

Re: The Invaders

I'm sure the Invaders is considered to be a Niche series from Paramount and they did'nt throw alot of money into it, But I guess it could be worse and they could've used tranfers like the Cannon Set..
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post #764 of 819
2/4/09 at 10:20am

Re: The Invaders

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Scarpa
I'm sure the Invaders is considered to be a Niche series from Paramount and they did'nt throw alot of money into it,...
Exactly.
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post #765 of 819
2/4/09 at 1:25pm

YOU CAN'T WIN THEM ALL!!!!!

Well, just what do you expect for $24.99?!

That should have been an immediate tipoff of something less than perfection (as we would have all liked it to be).

However, I once heard that some of original source elements for THE INVADERS were in reprehensibly wretched condition (literally beyond meaningful salvation) due no doubt to the shameful neglect that this property had obviously fallen into over the years.

This was an independently produced television production and has passed (ownership) hands several times so there is bound to be some inherent carelessness and mishandling in the transition.

Look at the other vintage tv series DVD releases by comparision. Are they really any better? Personally I think that the first season (1967) THE INVADERS DVD set was generally superior to what I saw in THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. complete series release.

It is really unfortunate but perhaps someday better source elements will be secured and this classic 1960s SF tv series will once again be restored to all of its former glory.

Jeff T.
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post #766 of 819
2/4/09 at 2:11pm

Re: The Invaders

I just finished pt 2 of the Summit so I don't think I've got to the bad stuff. But I agree the transfers so far haven't been as good. But heck, I'm sure happy to have this complete series.
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post #767 of 819
2/4/09 at 2:50pm

Re: The Invaders

Quote:
Originally Posted by Charles Thaxton
Unfortunately I've run into a noticeable problem in the set.So far in THE ENEMY,THE POSSESSED and COUNTERATTACK. There's a picture "jitter" (someone on the Yahoo INVADERS group also noticed it)....with the picture slightly skipping upwards in a rhythmic fashion, like a sprocket misalignment in the film projection.

Assuming “The Enemy” is the episode that guest stars Richard Anderson and Barbara Barrie, my copy exhibited none of this.

I am, of course, sorry that yours as well as anyone else’s has exhibited such flaws, Charles, but is it possible that it does not apply to all sets? I don’t see how that could be, if the flaw is in the source material – but, again, I saw nothing unusual. Certainly nothing that would make me stand up and complain… and, for me, things like that DO happen all too often with DVD sets!

…And, when it’s something I’m seeing for the first time (or have not seen in decades, as is the case with THE INVADERS), I watch it very intently – so the jittering would not have escaped my notice.

Please tell me exactly where in the episode does it happen, and I will go back and confirm or deny my findings. Did anyone else see such a problem with “The Enemy”?

I’ll closely watch the other episodes you cite and report.
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post #768 of 819
2/4/09 at 3:04pm

Re: The Invaders

I took a look at "The Possessed" on disc 5 and noticed a very slight jitter at times in the picture, almost barely noticeable, although it definitely was not present in other episodes (haven't yet looked at the other 2 episodes that were cited as having this problem).
The other thing I have noticed as I am working my way through the shows is that the color correction seems slightly off; in particular, the flesh tones almost look orange-ish in a number of places. The remastering work definitely does not seem to be on par with the first season.

However, none of this is detracting in any way from the enjoyment of seeing these great shows for the very first time. This series truly had some outstanding writing and acting, not to mention great guest stars. I'm thrilled to have this in my collection, despite the a-v imperfections.
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post #769 of 819
2/4/09 at 3:41pm

Re: The Invaders

Well, lets remember that Paramount couldn;t be arsed and/or were too cheap to do proper restoration jobs on the various releases of Star Trek:The Original Series and the Movies. The various releases of these had a truly startling amount of dirt and film damage visible - and not just on the effects scenes, either (which due to the way they were created, always have a disproportionate amount of such). Much of this could have been eliminated had a frame-by-frame restoration been undertaken, but it wasn't.

It was only when Paramount created hi-definition editions, with new cartoony...err, I mean, "upgraded CGI effects" that a decent copy saw release (the downside being, the original effects weren;t on there at all, not even as an option). But this was mainly because they wanted to flog the series out for syndication on hi-def TV channels.

So if Paramount treated one a sure-fire-seller-money-machine property like Star Trek in such a shoddy fashion, one can only imagine the budget and time allocated for The Invaders.
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post #770 of 819
2/4/09 at 3:44pm

Re: The Invaders

My copy arrived in the post a couple of days ago. Tested out the discs yesterday, and while I'm pleased I have the final season on DVD I'm not as impressed by the remastered picture as I was with the Season 1 set. And of what I watched of the series finale "Inquisition" there was a problem with the audio.
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post #771 of 819
2/5/09 at 8:07am

Re: The Invaders

Quote:
I took a look at "The Possessed" on disc 5 and noticed a very slight jitter at times in the picture, almost barely noticeable, although it definitely was not present in other episodes (haven't yet looked at the other 2 episodes that were cited as having this problem).

I did the same thing last night, emphasizing Act IV of "Possessed" and to be honest, if I hadn't been alerted to the problem, I might not have even noticed it. I was expecting something way worse than what I encountered. Yes, it is there, but I have to really focus my attention on it in order to witness the jitter.
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post #772 of 819
2/5/09 at 10:33am

Re: The Invaders

Quote:
Originally Posted by michael_ks
I did the same thing last night, emphasizing Act IV of "Possessed" and to be honest, if I hadn't been alerted to the problem, I might not have even noticed it. I was expecting something way worse than what I encountered. Yes, it is there, but I have to really focus my attention on it in order to witness the jitter.

Mike,

What kind of TV are you watching the Invaders and is it your main TV set? If you have an HD flat-panel set, are you viewing via HDMI or the analog inputs, Component, Composite?

I haven't received S2 yet and was interested in the posters' TV displays that they are using to watch most of their TV/DVD's.

The "shimmering" effect on TV/DVD's is interesting. What I found was that when viewing my PAL/R2-4 Bionic Woman sets on my old Sony CRT, there was a small amount of shimmering present. When I bought my HD Plasma set, no shimmering when viewing upconverted HDMI. I did check the same DVD at 480I conversion and noticed the shimmering effects.
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post #773 of 819
2/5/09 at 10:44am

Re: The Invaders

Jeff, I'm watching it on a Phillips 21" flat screen analog, circa 2003. It's the primary set in the house. I haven't checked the discs on my 36" Sony analog curved screen. Gads, I'm behind the times, that's for sure! But I do own 2 converter boxes now, so I'm kind of in the digital age.
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post #774 of 819
2/5/09 at 11:07am

Re: The Invaders

Quote:
Originally Posted by michael_ks
Jeff, I'm watching it on a Phillips 21" flat screen analog, circa 2003. It's the primary set in the house. I haven't checked the discs on my 36" Sony analog curved screen. Gads, I'm behind the times, that's for sure! But I do own 2 converter boxes now, so I'm kind of in the digital age.

Mike, thanks for the info. Yep, you're getting pulled into the digital age

I'll tell you one thing, once you get that 1st HD flat-pnl set, there's no going back My TV/DVD's look far better on my Plasma set than I ever saw them on the old Sony. And that Sony 36" Wega was a good set, the forerunner of the flat-pnl sets. What I've noticed was when watching a show that I know well, Bewitched, watching the "Stevens" home where a lot of filming for the show was shot, I'm seeing color definitions and details that I'd never seen in all those years of watching on CRT's.

Invaders S1 is like watching it for the first time in amazing picture quality.
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post #775 of 819
2/5/09 at 12:45pm

Re: The Invaders

Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Tor1
Assuming “The Enemy” is the episode that guest stars Richard Anderson and Barbara Barrie, my copy exhibited none of this.

I am, of course, sorry that yours as well as anyone else’s has exhibited such flaws, Charles, but is it possible that it does not apply to all sets? I don’t see how that could be, if the flaw is in the source material – but, again, I saw nothing unusual. Certainly nothing that would make me stand up and complain… and, for me, things like that DO happen all too often with DVD sets!

…And, when it’s something I’m seeing for the first time (or have not seen in decades, as is the case with THE INVADERS), I watch it very intently – so the jittering would not have escaped my notice.

Please tell me exactly where in the episode does it happen, and I will go back and confirm or deny my findings. Did anyone else see such a problem with “The Enemy”?

I’ll closely watch the other episodes you cite and report.


THE ENEMY is not as bad throughout the episode as the other 2, but it's most noticable in Act 1 in outdoor daylight scenes. I watch my stuff on a regular 19 inch JVC TV and the jitter is quite obvious in THE POSSESSED and COUNTERATTACK. As pointed out it doesn't 100% RUIN the viewing experience but it is a distraction.None of the other episodes do this and as I said you can see the picture jump upwards when you run it in slow motion so it's in the transfer or disc, not my player. I was told the region 4 set shows the same flaws so check yours again (especially the "Epilogue" for THE POSSESSED.)My suspicion is that it's on every set, not just a few.
I guess having the remastered megaset of the British "UFO" series has spoiled me about what remastering can do. Those DVDs look like they were filmed yesterday.
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post #776 of 819
2/5/09 at 4:09pm

Re: The Invaders

I'm using an upconverting DVD player and a 42" HD plasma and the "jitter" is quite noticeable.

It is on all sets, I'm the one who posted over on the other forums - I own the R4 second season and it's exactly the same.

It;s most unlikely that an authoring error would be identical across both R1 and R4 sets.

And yes, the UFO releases are absolutely superb. Sadly, Carlton released Space:1999 Season One before doing that level of work, so to get the best edition of that you have to buy the somewhat expensive release by Network.

The Carlton release of Season Two is much better, which is a shame, because in terms of the show it is by most measures inferior; there are some truly dreadful stories in it and it was reworked from the unique style of S1 with its "grand space opera" feel which whilst admittedly cold and having scientifically implausible stories was much better than awful stories, forced character stuff and weekly rubber monster suits.
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post #777 of 819
2/5/09 at 8:29pm

Re: The Invaders

Quote:
Originally Posted by michael_ks
I did the same thing last night, emphasizing Act IV of "Possessed" and to be honest, if I hadn't been alerted to the problem, I might not have even noticed it. I was expecting something way worse than what I encountered. Yes, it is there, but I have to really focus my attention on it in order to witness the jitter.

I have to agree with Michael.

I still want to see these in original order – and just completed “The Trial” tonight – but skipped to the Epilogue of “The Possessed” (and hoped there would be no major spoilers) just to see if I noticed any serious problem.

My experience was exactly as Michael described it. If I hadn’t been looking for it, I wouldn’t have noticed anything at all. …And I had to look really hard.

It could vary, as some suggest, by equipment. My main TV is a Panasonic, purchased prior to 2003, upon which I’ve watched all episodes of the set through “The Trial”.

Though I did complete Act IV and the Epilogue of “The Trial” on my Dell desktop, and saw nothing wrong there either.

To digress, “The Trial” was a remarkable episode that conjured up for me images of PERRY MASON – and then Lynda Day (George?) actually refers to Perry Mason.

Most surprising was the open talk of “lack of intimacy” between a man and his wife and a pre-martial pregnancy. Nicely handled “adult themes” for a 1967 Sci-Fi oriented show!

And, I’ll share Roy Thinnes’ affection for the scene where the “Old Couple” of aliens off themselves for the cause!

“The Trial” and “The Enemy” before it are two of the very best!
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post #778 of 819
2/5/09 at 10:12pm

Re: The Invaders

Is it just me or is it safe to say that someone who hadn't seen these shows before should watch the Thinnes intros AFTER the episode because basically all he does is give away half the plot (in some cases more!)--and he does it every single time.

(I thought his intro to The Spores was actually worthwhile...too bad more intros couldn't be like that one).
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post #779 of 819
2/6/09 at 4:56am

Re: The Invaders

Quote:
Originally Posted by Carabimero
Is it just me or is it safe to say that someone who hadn't seen these shows before should watch the Thinnes intros AFTER the episode because basically all he does is give away half the plot (in some cases more!)--and he does it every single time.

I think you can go either way with the Thinnes intros, per you own sensibilities.

I like them very much and elect to play them before every episode. Yes, they sometimes spoil, but an episode guide, or something similar, will do the same. I just enjoy seeing him still involved with the show!

I wish that CBS/Paramount would have continued the same practice with Robert Conrad past the first season of THE WILD WILD WEST… and that FOX could have done the same with David Hedison for VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. I’ll just keep dreaming.

It’s great to have any such moments while these stars are still with us to share.

And, of course, you can always play the Thinnes intros AFTER watching the episodes, to remain totally spoiler free.
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post #780 of 819
2/6/09 at 6:40am

Re: The Invaders

Quote:
I like them very much and elect to play them before every episode. Yes, they sometimes spoil, but an episode guide, or something similar, will do the same. I just enjoy seeing him still involved with the show!

Same here. I enjoy his enthusiasm and the deadly serious tone he uses when discussing the drama about to unfold. Really helps to set the mood and pique my interest.
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