Here's New Info on Classic Twilight Zone re-release (1 Viewer)

[Dan Rudolph]

Except Suncoast and Barnes & Noble.

 

[BradD]

This will be saved for the fourth release of the series.:rolleyes

 

[PaulP]

Heh yeah, and who shops there, when you have STL and DDD?

 

[Dave Regan]

$120??? Time to rev up the DVD Burner for these....lol.

 

[Justin_S]

All three version of Twilight Zone coming to DVD?! That sounds great! I only knew the original version of the show was coming out. I'll be getting every set of all three versions, the latest version mainly for the awesome sun episode I saw.

 

[William0]

I was very thrilled that all of three versions of Twilight Zone will be released on DVD! However I learned that only one, the recent version will be provided with captions/subtitles. I have not heard a word about the original and the 80's Twilight Zone, whether they will have captions or not. By the way, I am a very huge fan of that TV show. I can't hear too good and I will be heartbroken if they don't include captions.

 

[Joshua_W]

Now if we could just get the MOVIE out on DVD, we would have "All four incarnations" of the Twilight Zone.

 

[David Lambert]

Funny, I said that 3 months ago... :p)

 

[Jason Seaver]

Four incarnations - CBS did a TV-movie a few years back that adapted two of Serling's unfilmed Twilight Zone scripts.

 

[Jay Pennington]

There was also new TV-movie adaptation of "This Town Has Turned to Dust" on the Sci-Fi Channel a few years ago.

 

[JakeR]

The enthusiasm that's greeted this shameless hack sales job by Image is very, VERY disturbing.

Say a contractor comes to your house and builds you the crappiest back deck money can buy: it's sagging, the paint is peeling, and the thing is nearly ready to collapse in the wind.

A year or two later, the same contractor offers to re-do the job, this time with better material, at only twice the price. You scream, "Honey, you won't believe it! That contractor is back, and this time he promises to do a great job! Let's get the deck replaced!"

People, you shelled out a small fortune for a series set, and now you're all excited because Image is offering more extras and a high-def transfer? Hey, here's a wacky idea: how about Image GETS IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME? So you all don't have to, like, pay twice 'n stuff?

This trend has gotten ridiculous. People continue to pay out the friggin' nose for the SAME product, over and over and over again. Studios had the balls to do it with single releases, and now Image is doing it with a 200 episode TV collection. When does it stop?

When the consumer tells the studios to stuff it, that's when. STOP being utter dolts and paying for the same product two or three times. If studios are "rushing" product out and skimping on features, then they need to hold releases back until the additional material/transfer is up to standards. I'm so g---damn, f---cking sick of these leeches pulling this scam, aided and abetted by people who smile warmly while they're getting robbed in broad daylight.

All the requested material on this thread (Serling's previews, etc.) will likely be left off and added to a new extra-super-deluxe-premium-theyrefallingforitagain edition two years from now, lovingly boxed in cubic-zirconium sheathing and blessed by the Pope.

Stop. Being. Suckers. Image should've gotten it RIGHT the first time. There was NOTHING preventing them from releasing a better set than they did. This is about fleecing ignorant consumers, plain and simple. Why not offer a trade-in on the old release? "Hey, we know the set wasn't up to par. Give us te old set and take 50% off what we think is the right one to own."

Ok, rant over. Anyone here need some contracting work done?

 

[ScottR]

People accuse me of being too picky....but it comes in handy in situations like this. I did my research when the first release came out and read about the poor transfers on the early volumes (video tape sources, lip sync problems, superimposed airdates, video episodes taken from kinescopes, lack of bumpers or many of the "next week" promos) and I decided I would rather not own the series than to shell out money for a sub-par product. I knew with a series this popular, if I just waited long enough, it would eventually be released properly....so no, I'm not outraged because Image spent money releasing sets the first time that I did not buy. I am grateful that the series is getting its proper due...would you rather it not come out at all, just to say that you bought the only release, as poor as that release is? Sometimes materials aren't available to "get it right the first time." Things change, technology evolves. I mean, we don't ask studios for a refund because we had to re-buy a release we once owned on vhs. Star Wars fans aren't crying because they now have to re-buy the trilogy on dvd. That's the nature of collecting dvds...for some reason people think just because something is released in a digital format, that it has to be definitive the first time around. My advice is to really be picky about buying something you "have to have"....if it doesn't seem as if it is definitive for one reason or another, then don't buy it or take it back.....good things come to those who wait (sounds like a good title for a TZ episode.)

 

[Craig Beam]

The early TZ volumes were around $20.00 each. Later volumes were around $15.00 each. The five collections were around $75.00 each, which is about $8 and change per disc. By the time the individual volumes were repackaged into collections, it was obvious that they weren't quite up to modern standards, hence the lower price point. I would wager that the majority of TZ DVD owners bought the later collections versus the individual volumes, so they got them at quite a discount.

"Image should've gotten it RIGHT the first time. There was NOTHING preventing them from releasing a better set than they did."

How many studios were "doing it right the first time" when DVDs were first being released? TZ was among the very first TV product released on DVD, way back in 1998! How many high definition transfers were being done at that time? Frankly, it was Panasonic who took the cheap route with those earlier volumes and released subpar discs... things got considerably better when Image took over, using original film elements instead of videotape masters. They did the best job they could at the time, certainly on par with what was currently being released. I'm sure at the time of the original DVD releases, they had no plans to revisit the series later. Again, the TZ DVDs were originally released VERY early on (1998-2001, with the improved volumes emerging at some point in 2000). DVD technology has advanced considerably over the past six years... It is now possible to produce a significantly better product, thanks to this technology. Should it NOT be utilized? Since The Twilight Zone was already done once on DVD, should it never be revisited again?

Ridiculous.

And Jake... calling us "suckers" and "utter dolts" is both unnecessary and unappreciated. I think each of us here is intelligent enough to decide how our hard-earned money should be spent.

 

[BradD]

I was appalled by his comments as well and I haven't purchased a single TZ DVD yet. I think he went a little OTT.

 

[Randy Gray]

There was also a dramatized radio version a few years back. There's some old time radio sites that have it for sale.

Randy

 

[Robert Ringwald]

It'll be like 80 bucks per season... I can't afford that.

If DeepDiscountDVD.com has another 20% sale perhaps I'll go for it... but not until then.

 

[Carlos Garcia]

To JakeR:

Anyone who bought the original DVD release of the Twilight Zone sets on DVD got to watch all the episodes for all these years...The quality, while not as great as could be, was very acceptible. Now they have re-mastered the entire series, and it will look awesome, so this means it's time to buy the complete new set. You're analogy is totally wrong. Here's the real analogy...Your contractor originally built you a pretty good deck, nice paint job, and pretty sturdy, however, after all these years of use, now they have invented a stronger metal, with a new non-peel paint finish, so while you enjoy your original deck, it still looks nice and feels sturdy, you just "need" to have a new one made of the new material the market now has to offer, so it's time to upgrade.

 

[JakeR]

Carlos,

I'm not so sure that's the analogy I'd use.

DVD is a medium for archival purposes. Whatever product you buy on the format should be intended as the definitive selection. Yes, I understand we'll eventually see HD-DVD, and I have no problem with accepting a march of technology.

What I simply can't swallow is a production house offering a shoddy version and then having the gall to get fans (who simply WANT the TZ, and can't be blamed for their impulse purchase the first time around) to pay over and over for THEIR beta testing.

Why must their be 12 separate versions of "Army of Darkness"? Why must every movie in a catalog go through an evolution that consumers wind up paying for?

Why can't I put a DVD on the counter and be reasonably sure that it won't be obsolete in six months?

We have now arrived at the point where studios release films in bare-bones versions and KNOW that they will revisit it in a year, with additional features. That way, you're paying $40 for something that should've cost you $20. God forbid they delay release by a few months and do it right the first time.

It's insanity, and nowhere have I seen it extend to this level of lunacy than with an entire TV series collection. Why aren't people furious with Image for this? What stopped them from offering the series in chronological order and with high-def transfers in 2002? NOTHING is being offered with this new set that wasn't possible in '02. Nothing.

I report with an awareness of the delicious irony that I now feel like any number of the protagonists in this series who tried to remain rational while the rest of the world went completely crackers.

 

[Sam Favate]

Here's my take on this: I bought a few of the TZ DVDs a few years back; I wanted them all, but tracking down individual discs (40+ of them) was a pain. I'm looking forward to box sets (with extras) of the show in season collections. I can see how someone who bought them all would be upset, but for me, it works out nicely.

 

[ScottR]

Well, maybe they didn't want to initially invest that much money into something that might not sell........it did sell, and now they can afford the upgrade. I'm no more furious with Image than I am with Dell or Gateway or Microsoft, or Panasonic, etc. etc. etc.