A Few Words About A few words about...™ Alien Anthology -- in Blu-ray (2 Viewers)

[DVDvision]

So can anyone confirm there is a way to play the alternate, music only tracks, without that bloody title card right there in the middle of the screen saying what track is playing ? Or is that a software bug ?

Cause I want to watch Aliens with the alternate James Horner music track, without having a bloody title card over the film image for 2 hours.

 

[JonZ]

The high price and not enough love shown to films 3 and 4 = Im waiting for the individual releases.

 

[johnSM]

Originally Posted by Jay_J
I want to able to plunk the blu ray in, and have it work from the start.

Completely agree. I think I'm going to stick with my PS3 actually, and sell the Oppo unless these problems are resolved swiftly.

On a positive note this set is getting some amazing reviews - disc issues aside - and the screen shots I have seen of all 4 films look jaw dropping. Not to mention the fact they went the extra mile with little things like new ADR for some scenes in Alien 3, as well as giving one the option of being able to see the 'Here Jonsey' scene in Alien with the original (theatrical) colour timing vs. the slightly different timing of the newer remastered version(s). 65+ hours of extras too - whew! And all that for £37 here in the UK - that's less than £10 for each HD film, with the extras thrown in for free! If that's not insanely great value for money I don't know what is!

 

[snoopy28574]

I wonder if the the first two films were scanned from the original camera negatives ?

 

[dpippel]

It looks like this is region free. I'd imagine the SD supplemental material on the UK release is PAL and would be problematic for US buyers. Still, at $56.97US shipped from Amazon.uk, it's temping. Thoughts?

 

[JoeBond]

Originally Posted by dpippel
It looks like this is region free. I'd imagine the SD supplemental material on the UK release is PAL and would be problematic for US buyers. Still, at $56.97US shipped from Amazon.uk, it's temping. Thoughts?

It is region free and I believe I read somewhere that the SD supplemental material is in NTSC 480p so should play fine on Region A players. I don't think major studios release Blu-ray's in the UK with PAL SD bonus content even Universal's release of Psycho on Blu-ray in the UK has NTSC SD for the bonus content. No need to worry since I plan on going the UK route once I figure out if this playback issues that are brought up in this thread are a problem or not.

 

[Nelson Au]

If you'll forgive me a bit by mentioning The Twilight Zone Season 1 blu ray set. Several of us are having the same playback problems with that disc, disc 4 won't play and freezing at the same point on one episode. After reading this thread, it gives me some hope it could be a firmware update, a much newer update that could solve the playback problems. I wonder if that disc has the same potential anti-piracy elements added to it that Mr. Harris mentions? There aren't as many bells and whistles on that set as the Alien set appears to have.

I'm for sure going to be in line Tuesday morning to pick-up Alien Anthology though!

 

[urbo73]

Originally Posted by johnSM
Completely agree. I think I'm going to stick with my PS3 actually, and sell the Oppo unless these problems are resolved swiftly.

Don't jump ship if you still have DVDs and care about supplements that need upconversion, because the OPPO is better than the PS3.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Originally Posted by Robert Harris
QC on these releases is intense and multi-layered. The companies that press the discs, Technicolor, deluxe, etc. generally have a wall of players and test examples to make certain that they work in each type of Blu-ray player. If I were hazard a guess here, this could be as simple as someone testing discs, going out to lunch and skipping a player upon return.

Having been in the DVD/BD QC industry for years now, I can safely say it is not as simple as employee disregard. Many, many, MANY issues are approved with the intent to fix with firmware updates or a replication run change (called a "phase in"), and not all studios have extensive compatibility testing, simply because the cost in labor hours can be a deterrent.

 

[TheBat]

oppo is probably aware of the problems, but cannt do much until they get a copy of the boxset which is released on tuesday. you going to have to be a bit patient. the oppo is the best player out there. I would think twice about selling it unless you want the new 93.

Jacob

 

[Brandon Conway]

Originally Posted by urbo73
OPPO 83 is a better player than the PS3 in many aspects. PS3 may load faster, be more compatible with quirky titles, but it's not as simple as Brandon makes it out. I would never sacrifice IQ, and the OPPO is the leader in that area still. There is OPPO for IQ and there are the rest IMO. Brandon, what players would you recommend above the OPPO - just curious. They would need to have "source direct" as an option and do an equal or better job deinterlacing/upconverting. I have yet to come across one, or I would buy it!

Part of what I would recommend stems from my lesser enthusiasm for Oppo's audio/video output bells and whistles, so take that into account. I think the new Samsung 3D players, such as the 6900, are really good. I like the newer Sony players, such as the 470. All Panasonics since the 3rd gen (35/55) have been rather solid, though I don't like their 3D players, ironically. Just my opinion, of course.

I will say this - Oppo will get a fix for this issue in a short while if their history of customer feedback is any indication. That's one area where they win handily, IMO.

 

[Zack Gibbs]

Originally Posted by Brandon Conway
Having been in the DVD/BD QC industry for years now, I can safely say it is not as simple as employee disregard. Many, many, MANY issues are approved with the intent to fix with firmware updates or a replication run change (called a "phase in"), and not all studios have extensive compatibility testing, simply because the cost in labor hours can be a deterrent.

Indeed, wouldn't it have to be that way with the ever evolving DRM? I would imagine they test to specifications that they know the players meet, that's why there are standards in place. It's up to the manufacturers to keep the actual players up to date.

 

[Keith I]

For all Oppo BDP-83 users who already have this set: Does it work to start the all the discs with BD-Live connection on? Or should it be off and then after the disc successfully starts to turn it back on to access the MU-TH-ER and BD-Live/Java features?

I have the Oppo Wireless Bridge Kit to access BD-Live features but for Moulin Rouge! and Predators (and other select Fox titles) to start playing, I have to turn off BD-Live connection, clear Persistent Storage, restart player, etc.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Originally Posted by Nelson Au
If you'll forgive me a bit by mentioning The Twilight Zone Season 1 blu ray set. Several of us are having the same playback problems with that disc, disc 4 won't play and freezing at the same point on one episode. After reading this thread, it gives me some hope it could be a firmware update, a much newer update that could solve the playback problems. I wonder if that disc has the same potential anti-piracy elements added to it that Mr. Harris mentions? There aren't as many bells and whistles on that set as the Alien set appears to have.

I'm for sure going to be in line Tuesday morning to pick-up Alien Anthology though!

No, the Twilight Zone discs are authored with HDMV, not Java, and I can't see Image using an extensive BD+ encode. Plus, some people have a Disc 4 that plays fine and others don't on the same player with the same latest firmware. TZ is almost assuredly a replication run issue.

 

[Nelson Au]

Brandon,

Thanks for the insights on The Twilight Zone blu ray issue I brought up. True, after a firmware update, my Sony 550 player was able to play disc 1 and 4. But several copies of disc 4 won't play one episode on the same Sony player model.

That's disappointing to hear that you think it's a replication issue.

 

[MrBoylan]

Originally Posted by Carlo Medina
My PS3 has been solid so far, here's hoping that it handles these discs when they arrive!

The PS3 plays the discs fine. So far, I've tested with seven players, and the OPPO BDP-83 is the worst of the bunch with the zoomed image, but on my BDP-83, hitting "menu" then "play" gets around the problem.

On the BD-C6900, actually unlike Robert I do see a fairly minor issue which is that the Ridley Scott intro to "Alien" is squished to 4:3 (should be 16:9). I have it connected to a 50-inch C8000 series Samsung plasma. I haven't seen any playback issues on the PS3, Panasonic DMP-BD70V, DMP-BD85 and DMP-BDT350, nor an LG BD390, and only that squishing of the intro video on the Samsung BD-C6900.

BTW, our full review is live here:

Alien Anthology Blu-ray Review

Robert - does the Ridley Scott intro to "Alien" Director's Cut play in the proper aspect ratio for you on the BD-C6900?

-CB

 

[Bryan^H]

From Bill Hunt's review, I see that Sigourney Weaver's lone commentary track for all four films never came to fulfillment.

This is unfortunate, as these special features were all I was excited about.
It's not a deal breaker for me, but it is a huge disappointment.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Originally Posted by MrBoylan
The PS3 plays the discs fine. So far, I've tested with seven players, and the OPPO BDP-83 is the worst of the bunch with the zoomed image, but on my BDP-83, hitting "menu" then "play" gets around the problem.

On the BD-C6900, actually unlike Robert I do see a fairly minor issue which is that the Ridley Scott intro to "Alien" is squished to 4:3 (should be 16:9). I have it connected to a 50-inch C8000 series Samsung plasma. I haven't seen any playback issues on the PS3, Panasonic DMP-BD70V, DMP-BD85 and DMP-BDT350, nor an LG BD390, and only that squishing of the intro video on the Samsung BD-C6900.

BTW, our full review is live here:

Alien Anthology Blu-ray Review

Robert - does the Ridley Scott intro to "Alien" Director's Cut play in the proper aspect ratio for you on the BD-C6900?

-CB

6900 might be a firmware setting issue on the player. Some players have separate settings for SD content, can't remember if this one has a "16x9 full" vs. "16x9 wide" setting or something like that.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Question for those with the Oppo - do you have the latest regular firmware (from May), or the newer Beta firmware (from August)? If the player was tested in QC it more than likely was done on the latter. You can download it here: http://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-bdp-83/blu-ray-BDP-83-Support.aspx

I'm not sure it's available via ethernet connection on the player.

 

[TheBat]

there was an issue of a left corner problem with patton using the oppo player. the august beta fixed that. it could be helpful to the alien boxset.

Jacob