Contact coming in October!

Re: Contact coming in October!

I paid through the nose for my copy of this film on DVD...well worth it. It was one of my first DVD's and, though hasn't held up well image wise, is still an engaging and appealing film.

Re: Contact coming in October!

Such a great film. Easily one of my favorite Sci-fi films so I'll be picking this up on day one. No doubt!

Re: Contact coming in October!

Thanks Steve, a purchase for certain.

Re: Contact coming in October!

Just some useless trivia. This was the first major title that was a dual layer DVD. I'm also looking forward to this one. A great movie that I haven't seen since I watched it after it just came out on DVD.

Re: Contact coming in October!

Really? I always thought it was the first release of Terminator 2 (unless you're only talking about new releases and not catalog titles). I hope I haven't been lying to people all these years.

In any case, for some reason I never picked up Contact on DVD so the Blu is a day one purchase for me.

Re: Contact coming in October!

Greatly Looking forward to getting a better copy of this fine film
-however-
I'm kind of torn wondering if I should pick up this edition, or wait for the $90 Boxset-that-won't-fit-on-my-shelf edition, complete with blueprints, postcards, and a $2, 3" plastic, drop chair.

Decisions, decisions...

Re: Contact coming in October!

Definitely picking this one up.....time to retire the old DVD copy. Should look absolutely amazing on Blu-ray.

Re: Contact coming in October!

Nah, CONTACT was indeed the first dual-layered release.

This was at the top of my wish list. Glad to see it's coming.

Re: Contact coming in October!

Just watched it on my ISFed Mit 65711 CRT RPTV and it holds up very well.

The disc has absolutely no "EE," which made it a joy to watch. Getting right up to the screen you can see clear definition between ojects and colors...none of that damn white outline.

Looking at how well it looks on SD, you can just imagine the detail BD will bring out.

Let's pray they don't screw this up as the trends seems to be doing in so many BD releases.

I'll double dip if they do it right, not double dip just because it's on BD!

Re: Contact coming in October!

I need to give this film another chance, as my cinematic world has expanded greatly since my initial viewing.

Re: Contact coming in October!

This is great news, I was just thinking the other day that it had been far too long since I had seen this film. I think on Family Guy a few weeks ago, Stewie made a reference to it and since then I've been eager to check it out again. Great timing!

Re: Contact coming in October!

And also the last serious film that Matthew McConaughey appeared in. Ok, I exaggerate (a little)

Re: Contact coming in October!

I remember well how my old Panny player "choked" on that layer change, too (when Jodie Foster receives the fax.)

I'll be getting this for sure! Very enjoyable film.

Re: Contact coming in October!

I remember buying this back in Dec of 97 on DVD from an online retailer along with the Laserdisc box set for Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996 Disney)

I recently popped it on my old standard TV and noticed bow macro blotcy it looks compared to newer standard DVD releases, with all the extras on one disc it could use the freed up space for compression. I also tried it on my BD player on teh HD tv and it looked better than I expected but a BD release will be welcomed.

I hope it is a 50GB disc release the film deserves 42 GBs just for the film transfer, with WB's something tells me under 30GB for the film lucky if it hits 25GB.

Re: Contact coming in October!

I believe Adam is right. I distinctly recall wondering how Contact could run (without switching sides) since it was longer than the 2 hours and x minutes early DVDs were supposedly limited to.

The layer shift confused me for a second Great movie, and a great early special edition DVD.

Day one for certain.

Re: Contact coming in October!

I don't know if Terminator 2 is considered a major title, but I seem to recall the first DVD of that movie making the same claim....or was it first "anamorphic" title?



Update...the found the claim on a 1998 review from DVD File.com:

"Considering the fact that this one of the earlier DVD's produced, in fact it was the first commercial dual-layered RSDL disc, it really does impress me"

Re: Contact coming in October!

i hope they used a newer master. i've seen this on a H.264 1080p european broadcast and it's the same master used on the DVD. while great back then, can be better today on Blu-Ray =).

l00king forward to it! and by now, WB should be all lossless? one hopes. the wormhole sequence is still incredible, even though it was only 384k Dolby Digital 5.1 back then.

Re: Contact coming in October!

Good one! God that layer switch....I'd even lose the audio stream momentarily as the player 'recovered' back then.

I'm all over this one when it comes to BD. Opening sequence with the universe pull-back should be stunning.

Re: Contact coming in October!

IIRC, the original T2 DVD's claim to fame may have been the first double-SIDED, dual-layer dvd (DVD-18) to be released. Later, the same set was re-released as two dual layer DVD-9s I believe because the manufacturing process was still not as reliable for double-sided DVDs.

Re: Contact coming in October!

Nice to see this one coming. It was one of my first DVDs purchased as well back in '98. Can't wait to have this in good quality HD.

_Man_

Re: Contact coming in October!

That was the Ultimate edition. I was referring to the very first release on DVD

Re: Contact coming in October!

Let's hope this version is at least as good as the Sky-HD h264 1080p broadcast from last year.

Even if the video isn't as good, the audio should be stellar!

Re: Contact coming in October!

I believe T 2 had the press of being the first DUAL LAYERED DOUBLE sided Discs.

Re: Contact coming in October!

Amazon lists T2 as having been released on October 22, 1997, and Contact on December 30, 1997.

However, I'm almost certain that's the wrong date for Contact--I received it for Christmas that year, and recall it being a big holiday title. Does anyone know the actual release date of the Contact DVD?

As for T2, the "Ultimate Edition" was indeed one of the first dual-sided, dual-layered DVDs, though a two-disc configuration was indeed also available. However, there was an earlier DVD release of the film, which was one of the first dual-layered DVDs. I recall hearing that it was indeed the very first dual-layered DVD, but I've heard the same about Contact--with Amazon's incorrect date, I'm not sure which one was truly the first.

Re: Contact coming in October!

I believe contact was released on 12/16/1997

Re: Contact coming in October!

But wasn't there a bare bones DVD edition of T2 released when DVD started but about a year later is when the Dual Layered Double Sided release came out. But I could be wrong.

I do remember that layer change on CONTACT and how all the online reviews were praising the Contact DVD release.

I wish it were being released sooner, but oh well.

Re: Contact coming in October!

I'm there on this one as its a blind must buy. Thoughtful & intelligent sci-fi is a rare thing nowadays and the less is more approach is highly effective.

Still have my original replacement R1 DVD which works. Lot's of copies of this movie on DVD had failures attributed to disc rot which appeared as tiny little dots on the DVD surface. First copy I bought rotted & failed around 1998. Back in the day many players had trouble with this because they could not handle the layer change. Nowadays a decent PC or DVD player handles it without any stuttering.

This DVD is still one of the very best as it contains a lot of decent extras all jammed onto 1 disc along with stellar PQ + Audio. I compared the audio against my NTSC LD and the DVD blows it away. Also contains a very entertaining commentary. Guess it took so long to reach BD as they have to negotiate the rights for music played and so many times in the past this has delayed or even scrapped some movies from a home release as the copyright holders wanted too much $$$.

Re: Contact coming in October!

Maybe now I can pick out which beach in Fiji they used in the Space scenes with Ellie (and didn't credit).