Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray) - Page 2

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

And doesn't Best Buy honor or match their web prices? I know you said it was an on-line only deal for the two Trek sets, But times being as tough as they are....

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

They (BB) do match their own web prices. So how is this BB deal gonna be done? TOS and the film sets don't street on the same date. Would we have to wait until May 12th and pick them up at the same time if we were to do it in-store, if that's even possible?

FYE has TOS up for $79.99 - $69.99 after rebate. If you're a backstage pass member, you can get it for $61.99 after rebate. So far, this is the cheapest I've seen for TOS...if the whole FYE rebate deal is your thing. I currently have this preordered with Amazon at $77.xx.

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

I just checked Best Buy's website for the pricing on the Star Trek S1 BD set. It's listed at $5.00 higher then Amazon, or $77.99 at Best Buy.

But the remarkable thing I found was that they list the episodes and they included The Cage at the top of the list. Just one version is shown. Which breaks with past SD sets that include the full color version and the black and white/color version on the Third Season sets.

Is this a mistake on Best Buy's part? It would certainly be cool to have The Cage now with the First Season set. I suspect it's an error.

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

No mention of The Cage in The Digital Bits' review: Blu-ray Review - Star Trek: The Original Series - Season 1

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

thanks.. check on it..

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

Thanks Julian for that link to the Digital Bit's review of the Star Trek BD S1 set. I knew it had to be a mistake on Best Buy's part that The Cage was included!

I just read the review and it sounds great! I'm really happy that we have the ability to change from the Remastered CGI effects version to the Broadcast version on the fly and in full HD. That's great.

I'm glad I have held onto the HD-DVD of S1 as he mentions some missing features.

What's interesting about his review of this set is how he says the higher capacity of the BD disc allows for a much better, lower compressed transfer that yields a much higher quality picture. That's great, I thought the HD-DVD was an eye opener for me! I never saw so much detail before on Star Trek, and it was my very first experience with any Hi Def format disc.

A little side note, and I hope you'll excuse this diversion, when I read his comment about how much better the BD disc was to the HD-DVD, I wasn't sure what to think. I don't really follow Bill Hunt or have any feeling for or against his stand on Blu Ray. But I have read past comments that he is very pro Blu Ray and will preach the superiority of it over HD-DVD, which may have clouded his reviews. That point is moot now and I never invested into one format over another. If the BD is really that much better, then I am really happy to hear that! Star Trek got me into HD-DVD and now Blu Ray has me for Star Trek again! Thanks and I hope you'll excuse me for that last bit. I have no real interest in dredging up old arguments about formats. I just had that thought in the back of my mind after I read Bill say the BD was so much better then the HD-DVD version.

I can't wait till the 28th! This is the most anticipated of the Star Trek releases for me, even over the films! Great transfer and great content with the delightful bonus of the broadcast versions.

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

He's never "preached its superiority" in technical terms (especially since at the time BD-50s were uncommon); it's been about how a format war was damaging for the industry (it certainly kept me from buying anything hi-def-viable on disc for a few years), and therefore supporting whoever had the better hardware and software support.

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

Thanks for that clarity. I probably only heard part of one side of the story. And I never got into the format war discussions. I know Bill is a friend of the HTF.

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

It's too bad Bill hasn't gotten over the end of the war. Blu ray won, no reason to keep kicking HD-DVD now. I wish he would move on, and just focus on news and reviews. A mention here and there about HD-DVD when appropriate is fine, it just seems he takes any opportunity to keep fighting the format war.

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

I would have thought that offering a comparison to the previous high-definition edition of this season was perfectly appropriate...

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

Considering Bill does mention HD DVD only occasionally, I'm pretty sure he's gotten over the format war. Most other reviewers online are comparing the BD to the HD DVD just like he is, and I doubt they're all "kicking HD DVD" rather than doing the legwork to make a valid comparison. The fact that they're coming to the same conclusion he is makes it even less likely the mention is out of spite.

Here's another reviewer looking at the Bourne Trilogy, noting improved PQ over the HD DVDs. If you read his other reviews or his posts on AVS, you'd see he's an equal-oppurtunity hater. Would you claim he's not over the format war?

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

Thanks for the additional notes. I agree reviews of the new BD TOS S1 set would have to have a mention of the HD-DVD's to compare against. Nice to hear that other reviews are coming to the same conclusions.

Would be interesting to see if anything was done in this release to re-frame the image. I highly doubt they did anything other then take the files and prepare them for Blu Ray. I only mention it because the new remastered Star Trek is now showing more of the 35mm image area then originally. In Errand of Mercy, there is a medium shot of Spock at his station with Kirk off to the side. The larger exposed image area reveals the lower unfinished plywood on the set floor on the lower left side of the frame.

I'll know in a week!

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

Here's another review:

Review - Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1 - Blu-ray | TrekMovie.com

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

I'm very old to DVD but very new to Blu-Ray, and I hit a snag when I watched this set. For the life of me, I can't figure out how to get the "Starfleet Access" feature to work. When I activate it, it shows the "picture-in-picture" material but won't offer the appropriate sound; I just hear the episode's audio. When I flip among the soundtracks, I still just get the standard episode audio options.

I know folks here don't have this set yet, but I hoped someone more experienced with Blu-Ray might give me a clue what I might be doing wrong! FYI, I have a Panasonic BD-60 player...

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

You need to turn off Audio Bitstreaming (might also be called Audiophile mode, or something similar) on your player; that only sends the main audio track from the program. In order to hear the audio for secondary picture streams, your player needs to create a new audio stream combining the two.

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

Edit: it worked - thanks!

Am I wrong, or is this kind of effed up execution of this feature?

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

Maybe, but there is some logic to designing the Blu-ray standard that way. (It's mainly useful if you have a disc with a codec that your player can't play back, like DTS-HD MA; then your receiver can play it back in full fidelity. There might also be some receivers that can't handle PCM 7.1, but being still in stereo world myself I'm not completely sure about that.)

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

Just a few thoughts...

I still can't believe we're actually getting both versions of every episode. Some people mention it works with the angle feature, other mention seamless branching. Which is it? Maybe I'm being too skeptical but I just find it hard to believe it actually works!

As for the audio, in theory, could I watch the remastered versions with the mono track? Or the original versions in DTS-HD?

I've never purchased TOS on any format before so the missing features don't bother me that much. I can't miss what I never experienced.

All I can say is bring on the movies!

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

I'd expected seamless branching, but--since the angle button works--probably angles. And frankly, given that these are supposed to be shot-for-shot replacements, that probably makes more sense.

If it's angles, definitely. Even if it's seamless branching, probably; they had no problem giving you 5.1 tracks for the original on earlier DVDs, or the mono track on the last remastered sets (judging by The Digital Bits' reviews--I don't have them in hand).

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

The soundtracks of the remastered episodes sometimes contain sound effects pertaining to the replaced action of the new shot (i.e. The scene of the infrared satellites in Operation:Annihilate) so I wonder if they will have a separate 5.1 track (the one made for the 2000 DVD's) for non remastereded versions and if you will be able to play the original mono audio over the remastered.

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

Even thou I sold off my PS3 and I'm yet to get another Standalone Player I preordered this at amazon. Maybe this Xmas I'll pick up a player the price was too good to pass up. By then also my HD-DVD Flippers will probably be toast as they get beat up just looking at them...

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

Heads up! The price of this set just decreased to $65.00 at Amazon. If you've been on the fence about this, go there now and get you one before they up the price again!

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

Thanks for the heads-up on the new Amazon price. I had it pre-ordered for
$72.99, but cancelled that order and placed a new one at the new price.

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

Wouldn't Amazon's low price guarantee automatically adjust it? You shouldn't have to go through all that trouble.

Doug

Edit: Right; I just checked, and my order was automatically adjusted.

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

It does, but sometimes it just feels better to reorder, especially when it's a big difference and your order hasn't updated yet.

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

Great heads-up on the Amazon!

Since I like to buy my Star Trek software at a brick and mortor, so I can see it and pick, I checked Best Buy's price, they've dropped it to $64.99! It could be the first week sale price or the web price, but it wasn't clear that was the case.

Out of curiosity, I recently bought several BD's from Amazon, but never pre-ordered a title before. When you do, do they ship the title to arrive on the day of release, or ship on the date of release, so you get it a few days after release? Thanks!

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

They ship beforehand, but--at least, for cheapskates like me who only get the free shipping--it'll arrive a day or two after the release. For example, my copy of the X-men Trilogy that came out Tuesday shipped Monday and should arrive today.

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

Thanks Andrew! Well, because this is a Star Trek release, I'll go for the Best Buy deal as the price is the same, if it is the same! Instant gratification!

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

I have Prime (which is free(kinda, sorta) 2-day shipping) and I still don't get the title on release date. This however is not a big deal to me. I would burn any possible savings in gas consumption driving to BB and Amazon is usually very competitive with their pricing.

As for returns, jeez, they make it easy. Go online and submit the request and a postage paid mailing label is generated for printing. The last time I did it, they immediately over-nighted a replacement disc and I have 30 days to send the old one back. No questions asked.

I think this is the second price reduction for this set. Are sales less than expected? I ask because, if memory serves, the history of Trek on video is one of over-pricing. Marking it up so much that the casual fan loses interest. I have never owned any season of TOS for this reason, even though I'm a fan. You can bet I've had this one on order for weeks.

Re: Paramount Press Release: Star Trek TOS Season One (Blu-ray)

Yes, I have returned and exchanged stuff with Amazon, so yes, it is easy! But for me, I prefer to get Star Trek stuff the old fashioned way and the deal at Best Buy appears to be the same as Amazon's and BB is only 3-4 miles away. So it works out for me!