Back from Hollywood: A brief summary of our trip, plus: CLONES, SPIDER-MAN and MORE! (1 Viewer)

[Dan Brecher]

Could have been 8. There's certainly still one or two I can't remember whatsoever... What the hell they were is really bugging me now too.

Adamn, yes, you're quite right regarding Beneath the Dome.

Dan

 

[Roberto Carlo]

That's why HD-DVD needs to stay a niche market. The best it can be (OAR, 1080p, MLP encoded PCM audio, etc.), without input from Walmart and other "evil" and misinformed corporations.

If those are your only choices, well, of course. Fortunately, they're not. For all of the concerns and misgivings about Walmart et. al's malign influence, the fact remains that for every movie only, such as "Big Fat Liar," that is only available in MAR, there are probably 10 that are available in OAR, many, if not most, exclusively so. What's more, thanks to mass-market forces, I am looking forward to picking up definitive versions of two of my favorite films, "Amadeus" and "Singing in the Rain," tomorrow for $35 plus tax.

I remember well what it was like to be part of a niche market, laserdisc: high prices, inconsistent quality, very few added features. I don't wish the same for HD-DVD.

 

[Barry Woodward]

Dan, so far you've given these 7 as deleted scenes:
-Padme Addressing the Senate
-Obi and the Analysis Droids
-Padme's Family Dinner scene
-Padme's bedroom scene (where anakin views 3d pics of her achivements)
-Obi and Mace on the Jedi Landing Platform
-Padme/Anakin Address Dooku on Geonosis
-Geonosian Council gives sentance on Padme & Anakin
Here are other possibilities:
-Extended Coruscant Chase
-Yoda and Mace talk about the asassination attempt on Padme, the Darkside, the Sith and bringing balance to the Force.
-Anakin and Obi-Wan's encounter with the Outlander Club bouncer.
-Anakin's first nightmare on the refugee ship.
-Extended conversation between Anakin and Padme while walking to the Naboo palace.
-Extended meeting with the Queen.
-Extended Obi-Wan vs. Jango fight on Kamino.
-Obi-Wan spying around on Geonosis and slicing up the massifs.
-Padme putting C-3PO's coverings on.
-Padme gives C-3PO an oil bath while discussing her feeling for Anakin.
-Extended Tusken slaughter and aftermath.
-Anakin tells Padme to stay on the ship after they land on Geonosis and they have an argument.
-Alternative Anakin and Padme capture scene.
-Extended Mace and Jango fight in the arena.
These are definitely not on the DVD:
-Obi-Wan learns of the "Lost Twenty" Jedi
-Extended version of the Yoda/Dooku lightsaber duel
-Jedi Raid on the Droid Control Ship
Could there be more deleted scenes included on disc 2 as easter eggs?

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Adamn, yes, you're quite right regarding Beneath the Dome.

'Kay. I agree it is a very cool piece that I'm glad is on the DVD. I just didn't want to mislead anyone into thinking it was a brand new and seperate thing

 

[Dan Brecher]

Barry, it was none of those possibilites, although the 1138 gag reel blooper does have an outtake from the bit where Anakin tells Padme to stay on the ship once they land on Geonosis.
I actually remembered one other. The first of the Naboo extensions is the extended arrival scene where Padme talks more about her past as they walk across the courtyard of the royal grounds with bags and R2 in tow.
So from memory;
-Padme Addressing the Senate
-Obi and the Analysis Droids
-Extended arrival on Naboo
-Padme's Family Dinner scene
-Padme's bedroom scene (where anakin views 3d pics of her achivements)
-Obi and Mace on the Jedi Landing Platform
-Padme/Anakin Address Dooku on Geonosis
-Geonosian Council gives sentance on Padme & Anakin
There's 8 for you. That may have been it, though I thought 9 were on offer. I really can not recall. The saving grace of the tedious Padme family scenes is the gorgeous slinky blue outfit Portman wears. Oh my goodness....
Dan

 

[Barry Woodward]

Thanks!

 

[MatS]

3)Wal-mart putting pressure for p/s titles or they wont carry dvd. Id like to see wal-mart do that. I really would for the simple fact that they wouldnt sell the only movie format out there. VHS is dead. There movie sales would drop to almost nothing. Thats a huge chunk of change for a retail chain. If people dont see a dvd they want at walmart they will do like people do when another store is out of it. Go to bestbuy, circuit city,target, k-mart, the wiz, good guys or any other place that carries dvd's. Any place there is a walmart, there is a k-mart or a target not to far away

Very true, I don't think that there is anyway they would not carry the format if only offered in WS. The problem the studios have is, Walmart has xxxxxxxxxxxxx (very large number) stores. At the end of the day the studios are more concerned about how much product they can ship/bill. If threatened that Walmart won't take their product you still can't shove all that product into the other retailers as their shelf space does not expand equally as Walmart decides not to stock.

 

[Dave H]

So, if HD-DVD is going to released at the end of next year, is it worth buying current DVDs? It makes me start to wonder a bit.

 

[Scott_D]

Isn't it likely that in the long run, HD-DVD will be picked up by the masses, and Walmart will force the studios to release P&S only titles in that format? Just like what happeded to regular DVD.

Until there is 75% to 80% saturation of widescreen tvs in homes of the USA will P&S become obsolete.

 

[Tim Glover]

Dan,
Thanks for posting the equipment Fox used to show off the demo. I asked about that so early this morning then just wasn't able to get back to the site until now. Wow!!!! Truly sounds remarkable. And thanks for the detailed review and account of what's on the discs. Nov. 12 can't get here any sooner!

 

[george kaplan]

I'll only make one comment.
I'm not sure what the reasons are, but if studios are 'forced' to release p&s product to maintain economic viability that's one thing. But that's different from p&s only product. I see no acceptable excuse for that ever.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I recall seeing only 8 deleted scenes on the AOTC we saw.

 

[TheBat]

I have a quick question about the spidey dvd.. did anyone from sony give an official statement about the missing teaser from the spider-man dvd?

JACOB

 

[Martin Fontaine]

I think the best examples they did so far for the P&S vs OAR were Shrek and Atlantis.

In the case of Shrek, they had 1 disk in P&S and the other in OAR (With the DTS track on the OAR disk) and extras spread accross the 2 disks. I really wish Fox would have done the same thing with Ice Age. 1 Disk OAR + DTS + Commentary and 1 Disk P&S. Extras spread accross the 2 disks.

The other, Atlantis, had 2 separate releases. One movie only in OAR and P&S for J6Ps, WalMart and Video Rentals. At least, enthousiasts were still able to watch a movie in OAR if the better version was not available. The other version is a OAR-Only, with DTS and Commentary with a 2nd disk full of extras for the true fan of the movie to buy. I bought that version.

Another case I've seen is with Columbia's Super-Bits, they could do more or less like Atlantis with releasing a regular edition with P&S and OAR and then a Superbit (Deluxe on 2 disks maybe) for those who want quality. I didn't buy The One as the only good thing about this movie were the effects and it would be a potential demo disk but the reduced bitrare needed to fit 2 versions just makes it worthless for me to own. If they release a Superbit with DTS and maxed out bitrate, I'll buy it. Same goes with Enough starring JLo, I liked it, but I'll wait for the Superbit if there ever is any.

 

[David Stone]

We have also come to full realization that Walmart controls the DVD industry more than ever. This is the main reason why studios are being forced to release Pan & Scan product -- especially with sales figures showing that Walmart sells more DVDs in P&S than Widescreen.

At the risk of sounding negative, this is very "disturbing" news (I edited my first five comments). How did we get to the point of a single retailer using its influence to dictate the actions of the home entertainment industry?

Sure, Walmart is a strong retailer that usually undercuts the competition with the best price on the popular new releases, but it's not like they're the only retailer on the planet. If they went out of business tomorrow, people would still be buying their new releases next Tuesday.

On a very related note, I was wondering when they would start quoting their fabricated sales figures after the "Harry Potter" fiasco. They fail to mention that they stocked their shelves with more P&S when claiming that they sell more P&S. Gee, if I owned a deli that only offered Pepsi, I could also claim that my customers preferred the taste of Pepsi over Coke based on my sales.

 

[SvenS]

Well I am REALLY pumped for the AOTC DVD now! But we still haven't heard any comments on how the audio was. So guys what were your impressions of the audio?

Also I have to laugh a bit when I hear about Walmart dictating DVD formats (although saddened at the outcome of their influence). I just can't wait for the backlash 4-7 years down the road when most people are watching 16x9 TV's and they then have " those damn black bars on the side" on all their DVD's!

 

[Glenn Overholt]

Yes Scott. If we do get them moving on this, and they end up releasing P&S only, they are going to point their fingers at us! I don't want that.

Glenn

 

[Kenneth Cummings]

By the way on a much lighter note, did you get some time to relex in the sun, Ron? You been working hard for months and it seems you were inside cool studios all week to get a little time to let the world mellow out to you.

 

[Sean Moon]

Great news about Star Wars. I think Lucas and Fox and Van Ling were a little upset over the reception Ep I got, so they wanted to blow our minds on this release. Looks like they are going to.

 

[Terrell]

Although Dan didn't go into audio specifically, here's a bit about what he thought of the audio.

Attack of the Clones and Ice Age really are, for lack of a better word, disgustingly impressive in every way. What we watched of Clones just showed it off to be flawless on all counts, audio and video.