Babylon 5 coming to blu-ray? (1 Viewer)

[Sam Favate]

There's a Facebook group called "Babylon 5 - Some Behind the Scenes Stuff," and they recently posted a link to a podcast, in which a Warner rep says Babylon 5 on blu-ray is being "discussed in the highest quarters."

This is the podcast: http://podcaster.fm/podcasts/viewEpisode.aspx?podcastitemid=13480836&title=MGM+and+TNT+Dynamite

It's the Warner Archive podcast, and this has George Feltenstein, Sr VP for Theatrical Catalog Marketing. The B5 quotes are around the 42:30 mark.

Here is the quote:

“Babylon 5 is an extraordinarily important franchise to all of Warner Brothers. So much so that it is of course very much on the minds at everybody at Warner home video, and bringing Babylon 5 to a next generation shall we say, is very much on the minds of everyone involved. The fact that the show was post produced on video tape and FX were done on video tape makes bringing another iteration a very expensive proposition. But it is being discussed in the highest of quarters.”

“There might be hope, but there is nothing to report that’s a fact. Lets just say that the powers that be are very smart and they know the fan desire is out there.”

I know there is interest here is seeing B5 come to blu-ray. It seems the success of Star Trek: The Next Generation is inspiring others to get the HD ball rolling (X-Files is reportedly coming too).

I'd like to see it happen, and I think it has to happen if future generations are ever to discover the show.

 

[Randy Korstick]

It will be interesting as supposedly the reason the DVD effects scenes are much lower quality than the rest of the show is they only had post production video tape of the special effects and in 1.33:1 were the rest of the show had original 1.77:1 masters. So they had to zoom in the effects and they were poorer quality to begin with coming from video tape. Supposedly the original effects files were lost or erased. So it will be interesting what can be done to improve it.

 

[Walter Kittel]

It will be interesting as supposedly the reason the DVD effects scenes are much lower quality than the rest of the show is they only had post production video tape of the special effects and in 1.33:1 were the rest of the show had original 1.77:1 masters. So they had to zoom in the effects and they were poorer quality to begin with coming from video tape. Supposedly the original effects files were lost or erased. So it will be interesting what can be done to improve it.

I don't know about the status of the original FX files, but the zoom in is exactly what happens on the DVD releases. I stumbled upon an old VHS tape of the broadcast of the final episode of season 2 "The Fall of Night" and comparing the VHS tape of the broadcast and the DVD shows:

a) For the non-FX sequences the sides are opened up on the DVD with no, or little change to the top and bottom of the shot. Originally shot for widescreen, with image cropping for broadcast (I assume.)

b) For the FX sequences the original broadcast presentation is cropped on the top and bottom of the image, effectively zooming in the 1.33:1 A.R. to a 1.78 A.R.

The change between the FX and non-FX sequences is readily apparent while watching the series on DVD. I'm a pretty big fan of this series and would snap up a Blu-ray release with new FX in a heartbeat.

- Walter.

 

[Randy Korstick]

What I remember reading way back when the DVD's were released was that they wanted to go back and do 1.77:1 versions of the FX but the original files had been destroyed or erased. This is back in the late 1990's when drive space was expensive at a premium and the show only had minor success on TV so saving it probably wasn't a top priority since they had broadcast masters. So they had to use the FX from the broadcast masters which were in 1.33:1 and then zoom.
If this is true and It makes sense as to why the DVD's are the way they are then the FX will be the big problem/holdup on a Blu-Ray release.

I don't know about the status of the original FX files, but the zoom in is exactly what happens on the DVD releases. I stumbled upon an old VHS tape of the broadcast of the final episode of season 2 "The Fall of Night" and comparing the VHS tape of the broadcast and the DVD shows:

a) For the non-FX sequences the sides are opened up on the DVD with no, or little change to the top and bottom of the shot. Originally shot for widescreen, with image cropping for broadcast (I assume.)

b) For the FX sequences the original broadcast presentation is cropped on the top and bottom of the image, effectively zooming in the 1.33:1 A.R. to a 1.78 A.R.

The change between the FX and non-FX sequences is readily apparent while watching the series on DVD. I'm a pretty big fan of this series and would snap up a Blu-ray release with new FX in a heartbeat.

- Walter.

 

[Simon Massey]

I would buy this in a heartbeat to be honest. Even an unconverted version with OAR to avoid the zooming in would be a huge improvement, but for them to remaster the effect like TNG would be pretty impressive.

The show was one of those that framed for 1.33, but also protected for widescreen, but I recall the filmmakers saying at the time they were thinking of future widescreen releases so this is one of those grey areas. Personally Id prefer OAR but Id be impressed with anything that improves what has come before.

The should do what they did with the DVDs and test the waters with the TV movies. I remember the DVD sales of In The Beginning is what convinced them at the time to move ahead with a DVD release.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Bringing this back as Babylon 5 is coming to Prime Video next month and JMS has made some rather interesting (and fairly confusing considering what has been published about the show) tweets on the matter.

https://twitter.com/straczynski/status/997029449097871360

https://twitter.com/straczynski/status/997029770037620736

https://twitter.com/straczynski/status/997030017832861701

https://twitter.com/straczynski/status/997030333848535040

https://twitter.com/straczynski/status/997030628729143296

https://twitter.com/straczynski/status/997036714471276544

https://twitter.com/straczynski/status/997037017413308416

https://twitter.com/straczynski/status/997037663235457024

https://twitter.com/straczynski/status/997042096937713665

https://twitter.com/straczynski/status/997043829990608896

https://twitter.com/straczynski/status/997044242479394816

https://twitter.com/straczynski/status/997044829619015681

(had to post individually because it wasn't a thread for some reason)

 

[BobO'Link]

Wow! Just... Wow! The Amazon streaming versions are going to be "remastered" (or rather original scans from the original elements) and 4:3!?! I wasn't interested in the streaming version at Amazon at all until I read those tweets! I'll absolutely be checking out those streaming versions on Amazon now and hoping for a re-release on either DVD or BR should they be what he's tweeted!

 

[GlennC]

I never thought this would be possible; I have Prime so am looking forward to seeing it again. Perhaps if it is successful, WB will eventually do a BluRay release.

 

[mark-edk]

I don't think you can count on Amazon's transfers to be remastered. JMS says "happy to help out pro bono to make this happen. You know where to find me" and he said that like a day or two ago. The show is set to appear on Amazon next month. I think he's saying those materials exist but nobody's ever gone back to them to make new transfers and that he's willing to do it. But I'd be more optimistic if he had actually arranged to get those elements and was paying to have the transfers made, rather than announcing on twitter to whoever happens to see it "you know where to find me". BTW the show has been available for a while on other services (like iTunes) but there is no preview clip.

 

[Randy Korstick]

Yeah I will believe it when I see it with these. Since its been reported for 2 decades that the original Effects files were erased which is why they had to zoom 4:3 master to 1.77 for the DVD's for the effects scenes only. So the only way for a new master for blu ray would be to do them 1.33:1 but the effects would still be from an inferior source compared to the scenes with the actors.so they will still stand out. Personally I will pass on this since it is not a true HD remaster and this shows looks so much better in 1.77.

 

[Sam Favate]

At some point, and I'm not quite sure if we are there yet or not (although I tend to think we are), no one is going to want to watch any shows that are in standard definition -- especially when more and more TVs are capable of Ultra-High Definition.

So, the decision will fall to the studios that own SD properties: Either upgrade the shows and continue to sell discs, streaming and syndication rights, or don't and have a worthless property on your hands.

 

[BobO'Link]

OK... after re-reading the tweets it seems I mis-read one critical one:

As part of our contract, we supplied conformed masters of the 4:3 versions to Warners.

Coming off the hash tag I read it as part of their contract with *Amazon* - NOT the initial one with Warners. Bummer... I'll still check out the Amazon stream just in case.

 

[mark-edk]

I saw a post where somebody had screen grabs from the Vudu B5 seasons and they were all in 4:3 ratio, as originally aired with no zooming or cropping required. The claim was only Vudu had these; all other providers were the 'widescreen' editions. A more recent post (on reddit I think) said Vudu's didn't look very good, "not even DVD quality". I'll be curious to see what Amazon's look like when they go Prime, but reports suggest they will be the compromised widescreen versions.

 

[Jimmyr1960]

Ok something is up. I just listened to the most recent Warner Archive podcast. They were reading listener letters and there was a question about the possibility of B5 getting a release on Blu-ray in the proper aspect ratio. The moderator said that while Warner Archive is not involved, others are beginning work. Since B5 is owned by Warner, my guess is the regular home media division is working on this now. Sounds like great news.

 

[GlennC]

I really hope this is true.

 

[Sam Favate]

I would love this to be true but I follow JMS on Twitter and he’s said repeatedly that Warner won’t do Blu-rays or anything with B5. He hasn’t addressed the WA podcast (because no one has brought it up), but I suspect he’d be shocked.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

HBO Max could be funding it - they’ve thrown a bit of money at restorations of other titles that WAC is/will be releasing on disc, but the primary reason for the investment was the streaming service. That’s probably what’s going on here, if there’s anything going on.

 

[tigereyes]

Definitely a first day buy if they release the series and films on Blu-Ray.
Have the DVD’s but it’s Babylon 5.

 

[Randy Korstick]

Babylon 5 on Blu Ray with restored effects has been a long time dream. But I really hope they are not going to do this 1.33:1 if anything both aspect ratios should be included. It was originally aired 1.33:1 because that was the standard tv of the day but the show was shot protected for Widescreen anticipating widescreen TV's. The show is an epic tale and looks far more epic in widescreen and includes more picture on the sides while loosing nothing significant on top and bottom. I would definitely pass if it is 1.33:1 only.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Eh I'll live with 4:3 Babylon 5 if it means the visual effects actually look decent for once (unlike the live action shots, those weren't composed for 1.78:1).