Babylon 5 on DVD: Vote with your dollars (1 Viewer)

[Henry Colonna]

Theo, don't be stingy with this one - go grab one to support Babylon 5 and help make sure the DVDs make it for all seasons!!

 

[David Lambert]

I have not found it anywhere in Memphis yet, believe it or not!!

 

[TheoGB]

Hmm. I dunno. The problem is that this is the test case but there's the whole issue of anamorphic widescreen versions of the series to be taken into account. I'm sitting on Seasons 1-4 in published VHS. I want to see how the rest of the series pans out. They're probably going to give them to use over here no matter what.
I'll see but I really prefer PAL resolution so I'm inclined to wait and find out what sort of job Warners have done for us. Of course, R4 and R2 are usually identical. *sigh*

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Theo:

About the only technical information that Amazon.co.uk is offering (besides "Region 2 encoded") on the upcoming U.K. discs is that they are PAL. And obviously the R2 and R4 releases will not be indentical in this case, since R2 is PAL and the two movies are being sold as separate discs.

A good reason for waiting (besides PAL) is that there may actually be a few extras on the U.K. version. The series has historically done well on VHS, which means there are a lot of folks who already own both movies (including many who own a widescreen copy of ItB.) Warner Bros. U.K. may have calculated that the best way to tempt an established fanbase into buying new (and relatively expensive) copies of movies they already own is to sweeten the deal a bit. WHV in the U.S. is still trying to figure out if there is a fanbase - at least one willing to pay for a series that is still being broadcast 4 days a week. With the strong pre-orders, WHV may have commissioned a few extras to be prepped that can go on the U.K. release (which would explain the three-month delay) and eventually on a U.S. re-release (if the series establishes itself as a good seller.) All of this is pure speculation.

Final analysis: If you can afford to make a "donation" to the cause, pick up the U.S. version. The better the show does in its native land, the better the odds are we'll get the whole series - not only in the U.S., but elsewhere. Then you can still buy the PAL versions later if it turns out that they will have additional content, or if the picture looks better. We're only talking about the movies, after all, not the whole series, at this point.

If you don't have the spare cash - don't worry about it. Either buy just the U.S. version (it is cheap, especially with the exchange rate) or wait for the R2.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Michael TLV]

Greetings

I just wanted to mention that I had a chance to synch up both my laserdisc of ITB with the DVD on two sets next to each other. The LV ... BTW is 4:3 and not w/s as might have been hinted at earlier.

The comparison was interesting as you could see that about half the time, the DVD showed a bit more on the sides ... and the other times, the LV showed more head room.

I actually found myself preferring the LV version half the time because the framing was better in half the scenes. I found some scenes in the DVD version to be a little too tight for my liking. Add to that, the resolution of these tight shots looked worse than the LV.

While I look forward to more DVD's in the future, I guess I won't be getting rid of my LV's anytime soon. Sometimes, they still are preferable.

Regards

 

[Henry Colonna]

Guys, help me out with something. I just got my "setup" about a month ago and was expecting this tremendous quality from DVDs. There's another topic in the "Hardware" section called "DVD Shimmering" where this is a discussion of what is apparently an encoding effect to DVDs.

The effect that the other topic calls "Shimmering" or whatever is VERY apparent to me in "The Gathering" and significantly less so in "In the Beginning." I've only watched a few minutes of "In the beginning" but where I really do notice it is in the children's faces in the beginning. They look poorly digitized compared to what I on other DVDs such as Gladiator. I have a Toshiba 61H71 with anamorphic squeeze & JVC 75 with progressive scan.

Do you guys see what I see?

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Henry:

I went back and looked at that sequence and don't see the "shimmering" you refer to on my setup. Of course, I'm watching ItB on a 16:9 set, so maybe whatever you're seeing is a result of the downconversion to letterboxed 4:3. Some players handle this better than others. OTOH it may also be that your television is still set to something like its factory default brightness, contrast and "sharpness" levels. These are all wrong out of the box - designed to make the picture look good next to other sets under the harsh lights of a retail store. Get a copy of Video Essentials or Avia Guide to Home Theater on DVD and run through the test patterns to properly calibrate your set, if you haven't already.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Ryan Spaight]

On the subject of Lyta's fate, there's an episode of Crusade (I think it's "Path of Sorrows," but I'm not 100% clear on the title) that features some of the characters revisiting important moments from their past under the influence of an alien artifact.

The telepath first officer's flashback details what happened to a female telepath near the end of the Teep War. The part was originally written for Pat Tallman as Lyta, but they couldn't come to terms for her appearance and another character was subbed in.

So the official "canon" fate of Lyta has yet to be revealed, but we know what the original plan was.

Ryan

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

So the official "canon" fate of Lyta has yet to be revealed, but we know what the original plan was.

Only if we assume that the only change made to the "Path of Sorrows" script when Pat couldn't do it was the name of the telepath. But I know that isn't the case because I've seen a page from one draft script scene that would have involved another B5 regular in the incident. With Lyta out of the picture, this reference was dropped.
Even as shot "Path of Sorrows" only leads us to assume that the rogue telepath dies in the explosion. We cut from her going to set off the bomb to a high shot of Matheson's shuttle escaping and the building blowing up beneath him. I don't think we ever see the telepath actually die.
So even with Lyta, and few other changes, the episode would have left us with more questions than answers, and left Lyta's fate ambiguous. In other words, it would have been a typical JMS tease, with the details and context to be supplied later, when he told the rest of the story. (Remember our first glimpse of Londo & G'Kar's end? It looked like the opposite of what we now know happened.)
Regards,
Joe

 

[Ryan Spaight]

Good point, Joe -- my use of the word "fate" was perhaps too loaded. "Path of Sorrows" certainly failed the "see the body" test at the very least.

I seem to recall that it was confirmed by JMS at some point that Lyta was dead by the time of "Sleeping in Light", so something bad is in the cards for her at some point in the timeline.

A shame, but entirely consistent with the texture of her character, who was used and abused by nearly every group she came into contact with (Psi Corps, Vorlons, Army of Light). I only hope that when she goes out, it's in a way that gives her a victory of some sort. (Like in Path of Sorrows, though that felt too perfunctory to me. I'm glad it turned out Lyta wasn't actually killed in a flashback.)

Oh, and what was the dropped reference in the Lyta version of "Path?" Spoiler-block or e-mail me if you have a moment.

Thanks,

Ryan

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

I seem to recall that it was confirmed by JMS at some point that Lyta was dead by the time of "Sleeping in Light", so something bad is in the cards for her at some point in the timeline.

I'm hoping that the DVDs do very well, that Rangers gets approved as a series and pulls Farscape-sized ratings for Sci-Fi, and that the books continue to sell or Crusade gets revived. All of that will get Warner Bros. thinking "franchise" again, and greatly increase the odds of our finally getting that Teep War movie we've all been waiting for.
Regards,
Joe

 

[Ryan Spaight]

I'm hoping that the DVDs do very well, that Rangers gets approved as a series and pulls Farscape-sized ratings for Sci-Fi, and that the books continue to sell or Crusade gets revived. All of that will get Warner Bros. thinking "franchise" again, and greatly increase the odds of our finally getting that Teep War movie we've all been waiting for.

Thanks for the extra info, Joe -- very interesting stuff. Lots of poetic justice in those two characters finding their ultimate purpose with each other, so I hope the tie remains.

And fully agreed on all points quoted. I scoured the city looking for a copy of the DVD and finally found one, so my vote is registered there. (I could have preordered online, but I wrongly assumed the thing would be stocked at least at the level of WB's "V" DVD. If my experience is any indicator, every copy stocked at retail has sold.)

And I'll definitely be tuned in to Rangers next month.

Ryan

 

[TheoGB]

Damn, I'm really going to have to try to watch it all again...but can I face my VHS!!!

Weird about Lennier - I thought he was in the final ep. of Season 4. Oh well. Never even saw Crusade so I have no idea about any of it...

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Theo:
The show ended with season 5, not four. And as it happens, Lennier wasn't in the last episode of either - no matter how you count them. The last episode filmed for S4 was "Sleeping in Light". Lennier is among the "absent friends, in memory still bright" (that is to say, the dead) to whom the group drinks a toast. Of course, once the series was renewed for a fifth season "SiL" had to be saved as the S5/series finale, so the first script shot during the S5 production run was one designed to air as 422 in place of "SiL". But Lennier doesn't appear in "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars" either, as far as I can recall, unless he's in the crowd scene in the teaser when Sheridan and Delenn return to the station following their wedding. His last appearance is in the 521, "Objects at Rest" where he calls Delenn to apologize for leaving Sheridan to his fate during the weapons malfunction aboard the White Star.
Regards,
Joe

 

[Dave Scarpa]

Finally was able to pick this up tonight. I watched In the Beginning and a bit of the gathering. Hey Warner Te Gathering was originally 4x3 so why the disclaimer onthe disk, very odd. I thought ITB was a decent transfer the anamorphic enhancement really helps. It's a bit Dark but I remember it was on TV as well. What a great Movie, definately the best of the 5 they filmed. Also of note what a great performance by Peter Jurasik as Londo. Both he and Andre Katsulas as G'kar deserved Emmy's for Acting in this series, but of course actors in makeup do not jive with the Emmy Voters. When Londo was doing the voiceover describing how valiently the humans fought in the end, it and the music was perfect. Come on WArner more B5 and how about using Dual Layer technology, what's with all the Single layer Disks? What year is this. If you can't find it in you to release a box set how about at least 4 per disk at a $14.98 list ? But really do the right thing. Ditch the snappers, give us season Sets, and if you feel generous remaster the thing in 5.1 DD and give use Anamorphic WS all around. I know we'll probably not see another disk.... this is after all Warner.

 

[Brian E]

I finally found this at a Best Buy near work. Went to Suncoast and nobody there had any idea what I was talking about. Problem is the hub in the damn snapper is broken. If it was a standard keepcase I'd just throw it in another case, but since it's a crappy snapper I guess I have to go through the hassle of exchanging it.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Come on Warner more B5 and how about using Dual Layer technology, what's with all the Single layer Disks? What year is this.

Well, in this case, it probably made sense. Two single sides are probably cheaper to produce than a single-side dual-layer disc with two movies. I'm reasonably sure that they'll go with 4 episodes per one-sided disk when the time comes.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Steve Tack]

Nice to see this thread still going.

I have to say that it sure is nice finally having some B5 on DVD. I've only watched In the Beginning so far, and I thought the quality was inconsistent - some scenes seemed very grainy while others looked fantastic. I suppose that's just variations in the film stock they used or something? What's weird is that in general the dimly lit scenes actually seem to look better than the brightly lit ones; seems backwards.

The colors seem a lot more accurate though, and the audio, while not 5.1 or anything, sounds quite good. And it's so great not having any commercials! And no rewinding - woo hoo.

I did notice a little bit of aliasing on a few of the effects shots. Especially on things like the energy beams. Since the CGI was likely rendered in 720 x 480 and 4:3 aspect, I can kind of understand what's going on there. It's great if the CGI was *framed* for 16:9, but since nothing was re-rendered as far as I can tell, it seems we're losing vertical resolution on the effects shots from the necessary cropping. (I can understand why nothing was re-rendered as there are many reasons why that wouldn't be feasible) Sounds like that's the only option when going the wide screen route with the source material at hand.

Still, most of the time the CGI looked great, so it's definitely a minor gripe.

Bring on the boxed sets!

 

[PhilipG]

Regarding dual layer vs flippers - the flippers can actually store more data (I believe the difference is about a gig), so the quality will be better. Since TG/ITB are two very separate stories I think this is a good decision on Warner's part.

 

[TheoGB]

A DVD-18 would be interesting. If they're releasing them as two separates in this country I wonder if we'll get any better picture from a DVD-9 or if it will still be a DVD-5.
Joseph - I know all that stuff you're saying. I wasn't confused. It was the fact that the final episode of the Season 4 is set after the end of Season 5 that made me think of it. But I really can't remember. I didn't particularly like either S4 or S5's final ep. :frowning: