It Takes A Thief - Page 4

Does anyone know how this compares to the r4 Madman set of Season 1? Presumably they have used better prints.

I hear that the Madman set is much higher quality.

I was wondering the same thing and that's the reason I've held off buying this box set. Although, if the prints are complete and uncut, quality takes a back seat for me if there are no alternatives left.

I never care about the packaging for DVDs or boxed sets. Long ago I removed all my DVDs from their boxes and began storing them in binders from Case Logic. Each binder holds about 96 DVDs and takes up very little space. My enormous collection went from a monster down to one large bookcase and all the DVD cases are stored in the attic. The only original "box" kept out is the egg from the Alien blu-ray set--it's much too nice for the attic.

To me, packaging is a big deal because half the fun in having a TV on DVD collection is being able to arrange the titles on my shelves according to my own particular arrangement which is chronological. Shows that debuted in say the 1965-66 season are then followed by shows that debuted in 66-67 and so on down the line. It's like having TV history unfolding on the shelf. Bad packaging can mess the dynamics of that in addition to harming the discs potentially (the only one where it was impossible to keep them in the case was "Car 54 Where Are You?" I keep the discs out of it but I still leave the empty case on the shelf!)

No screen captures yet comparing R1 with German and Australian releases? Mine should come any day but I'm tempted to just send it back unopened and go with one of the other regions if they are better.

There's an older thread here somewhere with captures from the German set, as I recall they looked pretty good, so if the new release looks as good as that there's no problem. If not, I'll probably go with the German release as its content seems more interesting than the Australian.

Here's the link to the German site  with screen caps:

 

http://www.dvd-forum.at/review/5534-dvd-ihr-auftritt-al-mundy-1-staffel-teil1

 

Here's a screen cap from the German site compared to a screen cap from Antenna TV.

Quite an improvement!

 

Edited by Ron Lee Green - 11/21/11 at 12:43pm

I commented on the R2 German Season One set in the older "It Takes a Thief" thread, about the two shorter versions of the pilot, a 64+ minute version and a 63 minute version with a German only track.

The R2 64 minute version is the same as the pilot on the Complete Series R1 set and looks to be the exact print to me in exactly the same picture quality, except that the music still plays on the end credits on the R2. The 63 minute version on the R2 set told the story better as it was a different cut with different scenes added and other bits left out.

After looking at more episodes on both the R2 S1 set and the R1 S1 set, they look exactly the same to me in picture quality. (see edit below) The runtimes on the R2 set are shorter due to PALness. The German releases stopped with S2 Part 1 and I don't have that.

I doubt that Universal would have provided Madman with different better prints. From online descriptions I don't think the Madman set has the 75 minute broadcast pilot version, but does have the 98 minute feature version that also is on the R1 S1 set. Didn't anybody on the board buy the Madman S1 release?

So I think this R1 Complete Series set is the best we are going to get with "It Takes A Thief".

EDIT: I have compared more episodes: German S1 vs E1 S1 and now I am running into episodes where the German release has better color, framing, and sharpness. Toddr2 has the Madman release of S1 and says it is better than the E1 based on the screenshots on this thread and that Madman is releasing S2 and S3 in March 2012.
Edited by Bob Gu - 11/22/11 at 12:43pm

Amazon has stopped selling it at the time of this posting (9:00pm).

My guess is that too many people were sending it back because of damaged boxes, missing discs, poor video quality, or maybe they read the poor reviews and just don't want it.

 

Here's what the page says when I went there:

Item Under Review

While this item is available from other marketplace sellers on this page, it is not currently offered by Amazon.com because customers have told us there may be something wrong with our inventory of the item, the way we are shipping it, or the way it's described here. (Thanks for the tip!)

We're working to fix the problem as quickly as possible.

 

Edited by Ron Lee Green - 11/22/11 at 7:59pm

Well, I got stuck with a missing disc in the first package I was sent. The second one though was fine.

My set arrived fine last week, but I agree the packaging is annoying and really well, a mess. I would rather standard cases and no additional items. In any case, a season 3 episode I watched was not as good as season 2.

I wish the video quality was better, but it's still better than how I've watched it on tv, so I can now watch them a little better and whenever I want.

The only nice thing about the box is that I can put the discs in plastic sleeves and then store them in the same box instead. Much more convenient!

My set arrived in good condition . i haven't watched any of the episodes yet . But i have scanned through many . The episodes seem to be in decent condition . The picture quality is soft and slightly grainy on some episodes . Sound is ok . If i had paid around $50 for the set i would have been fine with the results . But for $98 i expected a little more remastering then seems to have been done .

All that aside , i am happy to have it on dvd . A favorite of mine as a kid . And since i doubt it will be released again ,any time soon . I will enjoy this set . It's better quality then i've seen to this point .

After reading all of the video quality comments on this thread, I was really upset that I had preordered It Takes a Thief. Now having watched the first eight episodes, I can say that I am very pleased with the VQ. I was expecting washed out color such as can be seen in video taped episodes from the 70's and 80's that have made their way to DVD. It is nothing of the sort. I think quality is very good.

I was going to buy the set until I started reading about the poor image quality. Saw some bad screen grabs. I'll have to see some more before pulling the trigger. Otherwise, It Takes A Thief will have to remain along Memory Lane for me.

I got it and to me it looks fine. Its not remastered and its not from 35mm but from 16mm. Of course, I haven't forgotten the days of independent stations where all shows looked like this. They aren't as bad as the Room 222 sets but 16mm is still 16mm. Certainly better than the off-air records I have from 30 years ago.

The episodes don't look outstanding by any means, but anyone who likes the series should get the set. The transfers are disappointing, but certainly not so bad as to warrant not watching the series, or watching edited and even worse-looking copies.

Sounds good enough to me. I suspect perhaps the main reason why Amazon is receiving complaints and taking it off the market for now is because most people are expecting 35mm remastered prints and if it isn't, they think something is drastically wrong. Personally I don't mind 16mm prints because the audio is usually more superior than the remastered 35mm DVDs; which often has a very nobbled sound when put through filters and the like to eliminate any hiss in the soundtrack. The 16mm prints seem to be left as is without tampering. As was the case with Room 222. I was happy with those sets, so if this set is better then I'm all for it.

My overall impression from the clips I've seen (I've not got the set yet, but have seen bits and pieces) is that it looks a bit like the region 1 release of Jason King, which was also shot on 16 mil and was not remastered. It's what you'd expect from archive television from this period when it's not remastered, not horrible, but not great.

Just ordered the German sets -

I agree with everything allready said about this set, good and bad...but, that being said, I'm pleased with this set and enjoying it tremendously!
If you're a fan of IT TAKES A THIEF you shouldn't hesitate to get it, especially if you can get it at a good discount in the future...the colors are fine in seasons one and two, but
a lot of the season three source elements have either a yellow or red shift tint to them, that diminishes quickly 2-3 minutes into their running times, only to return near the episode
ending...I suppose because those are the segments of the original print reel that are most prone to chemical degradation in the yellow, cyan and magenta fix (?) being more exposed to
environmental reagents (?)...I'm no expert...and for all episodes a lot of dust specks, scratches, etc...but as Danny says, nothing excessive at all...and, as Patrick refers, the Dolby 2.0 audio is wonderful, especially in surround sound...I can't get enough of the great Dave Grusin theme (both versions, allthough I prefer the theme in seasons 1 and 2)...the only glitch I've found is in the
opening theme and title credit sequence in the season 2 episode "Boom at the Top" , where a pixelating image of guest star Barry Sullivan appears very briefly and disapears
quickly and the episode continues as it should...certainly this must be some editing mistake in the disc authoring to begin with? Anyway, I'm really enjoying this show again
and just want to put the naysaying in a more complete context...
Edited by Flashgear - 12/10/11 at 3:38am

I really appreciate all the comments about the plusses and less than plusses of this set - in the end I think I'll wait. There a couple of nagging factors besides the PQ issues - releasing the entire series at one time - might be explained by the fact that it's 3 seasons -and not Gunsmoke or even Hawaii 5-0 - but it struck me a little odd. Also I haven't seen a DVD site review of this set - and I check about 10 of them regularly. Again there might be a good explanation for this but I don't know.

I hope people will continue to comment on this set - it was one of my favorites - and I'll probably go for it at some point. Just not now.

Here is the only review i have seen so far from a review site:

http://www.dvdtown.com/review/it-takes-a-thief/dvd/9451

Thanks for the link - I said i check 10 sites and DVD Town probably would be included in the 10 which = I guess I can't say I check 10. In any event the review is consistent with posters here - the DVD PQ isn't stellar but the content creates a slight win.Thanks again. Probably still waiting for a potential lower price.

Here's another review done back in November:

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/51196/it-takes-a-thiefcomplete-series/

 

The official HTF review has been posted:  http://www.hometheaterforum.com/t/317259/it-takes-a-thief-the-complete-series-dvd-review#post_3882672

Actually, that review was posted 12/13.

Well that explains why I didn't see it earlier. I guess the November date must be the day the set was released.

 

Amazon has the set on sale this week for $87.99.