Greg K
Second Unit
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2001
- Messages
- 414
You know, it occurs to me that maybe some of us should get together and work on creating a definitive catalog of the errors in the Rhino DVD sets, and hope that such a list would be helpful to whomever is eventually placed in charge of a re-release.
The ideal goal would be to figure out EXACTLY what would consitute a historically-accurate release of the series (and maybe even the 1986 movie) on DVD.
Any takers?
Certainly, if a DVD re-release did use the original broadcast master tapes, that would solve 90% of the problem (with the trade-off being a drop in image quality). However, it would be possible to splice broadcast-master footage into the production masters that Rhino used. The trick is replacing ALL of the incorrect/incomplete footage, instead of doing it in a piecemeal fashion like Rhino did by way of editing tricks and lousy cut-'n-paste jobs.
And this is all VERY possible, since the broadcast versions of the episodes aren't that hard to find, what with Youtube, official video/laserdisc releases, and even episodes taped right off of tv back in the 80s. All it would take is time to compare those materials with the Rhino DVDs to determine what exactly would need to be done.
Even Sony's release of the 1986 movie isn't perfect, since (among other things) the gong sound of the Rank Film Distrubutors logo can be heard over the newly-reinstated DEG logo at the beginning of the film.
Really, the only things needed to properly re-release the series are correct video (by way of the broadcast masters, or hybrids of the broadcast and 35mm film masters), the correct audio (without added sound effects), episodes in a reasonable order (production, airdate, or other), correcting other oddities/"corrections" (i.e. reinstating "The Master Builders" and "A DeceptAcon Raider in King Arthur's Court", etc.), and producing some good bonus features and packaging.
The ideal goal would be to figure out EXACTLY what would consitute a historically-accurate release of the series (and maybe even the 1986 movie) on DVD.
Any takers?
Certainly, if a DVD re-release did use the original broadcast master tapes, that would solve 90% of the problem (with the trade-off being a drop in image quality). However, it would be possible to splice broadcast-master footage into the production masters that Rhino used. The trick is replacing ALL of the incorrect/incomplete footage, instead of doing it in a piecemeal fashion like Rhino did by way of editing tricks and lousy cut-'n-paste jobs.
And this is all VERY possible, since the broadcast versions of the episodes aren't that hard to find, what with Youtube, official video/laserdisc releases, and even episodes taped right off of tv back in the 80s. All it would take is time to compare those materials with the Rhino DVDs to determine what exactly would need to be done.
Even Sony's release of the 1986 movie isn't perfect, since (among other things) the gong sound of the Rank Film Distrubutors logo can be heard over the newly-reinstated DEG logo at the beginning of the film.
Really, the only things needed to properly re-release the series are correct video (by way of the broadcast masters, or hybrids of the broadcast and 35mm film masters), the correct audio (without added sound effects), episodes in a reasonable order (production, airdate, or other), correcting other oddities/"corrections" (i.e. reinstating "The Master Builders" and "A DeceptAcon Raider in King Arthur's Court", etc.), and producing some good bonus features and packaging.