Batman The Complete TV Series Limited Edition (11/11)(Blu-ray)(DVD) Available for Preorder (1 Viewer)

[AndyMcKinney]

Amazon's pre-order price on the BD set dropped around $10 to $179 in case anyone wanted to lock in at this better price.

If this is anywhere close to someone's ballpark price, they might as well lock it in anyway, since Amazon's price guarantee states that if the price drops any further, they'll honor whatever the lowest price ends up being, so it's no harm to lock in now if your "sweet spot" is a little lower, as you'd be entitled to the lowest price anyway.

Besides, you can always cancel before release if you decide it never dipped low enough.

 

[Jason_V]

That's even $10 lower than the original low price I ordered at AND my invoice has been updated appropriately.

 

[BobO'Link]

The Amazon listing for the DVD Complete Series set now shows the "32 page Episode Guide" to be a bonus feature. That leaves the rest of the box-o-junk stuff exclusive to the BR set.

FWIW I was looking at the latest issue of "Previews" (a comic and collectible pre-order guide) at the comic store Wednesday. It has the 6" Mattel Hot Wheels Batmobile listed for $75.00 retail. That makes its inclusion in the BR set a very good deal *if* you're in the market for a copy.

I'm still on-the-fence as to which release I want as I fully expect the BR to get another release without the dust collectors but still be at that same price point. Part of me says "Go with the DVD - it's cheaper - and all you want to do is watch the show with good quality" while another part says "But for only a few $$ more you can get BR and even if you don't want the extra junk in the box it's not that much more expensive."

For 2 weeks in a row, one of the guys at the LCS has told me he's seeing on Amazon that they are guaranteeing the lowest price up to 14 days following the release date. He follows that with "but BF is a couple of days past that and I think it'll be lower then". I'm *not* seeing that offer - just the standard "if it's offered at a lower price before the end of the release date you get the lower price." Has anyone else seen such a offer from Amazon?

 

[Greg Chenoweth]

For 2 weeks in a row, one of the guys at the LCS has told me he's seeing on Amazon that they are guaranteeing the lowest price up to 14 days following the release date. He follows that with "but BF is a couple of days past that and I think it'll be lower then". I'm *not* seeing that offer - just the standard "if it's offered at a lower price before the end of the release date you get the lower price." Has anyone else seen such a offer from Amazon?

Here's a link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201133130

 

[BobO'Link]

Here's a link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201133130

Right... that's the "standard" pre-release price guarantee which is only good until the end of the day on the release date. He was talking about one that's good for 2 weeks *after* release date.

 

[Greg Chenoweth]

Right... that's the "standard" pre-release price guarantee which is only good until the end of the day on the release date. He was talking about one that's good for 2 weeks *after* release date.

They don't state that in their policy. It is customers stating how they have received a refund from Amazon.com two weeks after they have received their order. It is not a "for certain" thing that they will do that on every order or release.

 

[Steve...O]

Has WHV announced full specs on this set yet? In particular I'm interested in confirming that English subtitles are included. I can't believe they wouldn't be given the high profile and WHV's track record, but there have been a couple of Amazon reviews that claim it won't be and the product description makes no mention of SDH.

Anyone have access to confirmed info one way or another?

 

[McCrutchy]

Specs at WHV Japan are up at this link. The domestic Japanese version of the set, which is out November 12th, should be identical to the USA and other editions. WHV Japan usually have highly accurate specs, but, as a rule, they only detail original language (i.e. English) and Japanese options.

Again, as a rule, Japan gets the same discs from Warner that the USA (and usually, everywhere else) does, but Japanese audio and subtitles are only available when the Disc Menu language is set to Japanese on your Blu-ray player. So those outside Japan almost never see them, and don't know that they are there. On the other hand, when you access this Japanese "version" (it's actually a playlist), you will get Japanese menu screens with only English and Japanese options, and any other Western (and other Asian) dubs and subtitles will not be available.

Unfortunately, I hope that for once, WHV Japan is wrong.

Video: 16x9 Full Frame (1.78:1) Note: 4:3 Material is specified 4:3, like this, or this, out the same month.

Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (no lossless) but there will also be a Japanese: Dolby Digital Mono track.

Subtitles: In addition to English SDH, (and the French, German, Italian, Latin Spanish subtitles already specified) there will be Japanese subtitles, as well.

Discs 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 and 11 all have 264 minutes of content. Disc 3 has 220 minutes. Discs 6 and 9 have 132 minutes, and Disc 12 has 44 minutes.

Disc 13, the bonus disc, has 155 minutes of content.

Discs 6, 9 and 12 are single-layered BD-25s.

Even if I weren't concerned about compression (WHY are there any BD-25s in here, anyway?!), the lack of lossless mono (or at least 5.1, if you must) is unacceptable. Let's not mention the 1.78:1 spec, which should be outright incorrect, based on information we were told before.

In case any of it changes, here is the relevant info I am seeing at WHV Japan, also translated via Google. Remember, only the English and Japanese options are specified:

本編：1080p High Definition MPEG-4 AVC
スクイーズビスタサイズ / 16x9FF1.英語(ドルビーデジタル5.1ｃｈ)2.日本語(ドルビーデジタル1.0ch)1.日本語字幕2.英語字幕（For The Deaf and Hard of Hearing)3.吹替用字幕Main: 1080p High Definition MPEG-4 AVC
Squeeze vista size / 16x9FF

1. English (Dolby Digital 5.1ch)
2. Japanese (Dolby Digital 1.0ch)

1. Japanese subtitles
2. English subtitles (For The Deaf and Hard of Hearing)
3. dub for subtitles [Japanese subtitles for the Japanese dubbing]
本編：DISC1:約264分 DISC2:約264分 DISC3:約220分 DISC4:約264分 DISC5:約264分 DISC6:約132分 DISC7:約264分 DISC8:約264分 DISC9:約132分 DISC10:約264分 DISC11:約264分 DISC12:約44分 映像特典：DISC13:約155分main: DISC1: about 264 minutes DISC2: about 264 minutes DISC3: about 220 minutes DISC4: about 264 minutes DISC5: about 264 minutes DISC6 : about 132 minutes DISC7: about 264 minutes DISC8: about 264 minutes DISC9: about 132 minutes DISC10: about 264 minutes DISC11: about 264 minutes DISC12: about 44 minutes video benefits: DISC13: about 155 minutes DISC1-5:片面2層
DISC6:片面1層
DISC7-8:片面2層
DISC9:片面1層
DISC10-11:片面2層
DISC12:片面1層
DISC13:片面2層["片面1層" means "single-sided, one layer" (BD-25), while "片面2層" means
"single-sided, two layers" (BD-50)]

 

[Nebiroth]

It woul dbe really weird if there were only domestic BluRay sets. In most countries the DVD market is as big, if not bigger, than the BD one. I strongly suspect this is just Amazon reselling the US version - they're Amazon exclusive, at least they are here in the UK.

 

[Greg Chenoweth]

It is not an Amazon exclusive here in the USA. It is also available online at Walmart, Target, Best Buy, WBShop and Barnes and Noble.

 

[McCrutchy]

It would be really weird if there were only domestic Blu-ray sets. In most countries the DVD market is as big, if not bigger, than the BD one. I strongly suspect this is just Amazon reselling the US version - they're Amazon exclusive, at least they are here in the UK.

This is not the case.

It is not an Amazon exclusive here in the USA. It is also available online at Walmart, Target, Best Buy, WBShop and Barnes and Noble.

Precisely, the set will have its own editions in the US/Canada, the UK, Germany, Italy and now Japan, with possibly others to come. The UK edition is exclusive to Amazon.co.uk, and the German edition is exclusive to Amazon.de, but the US/CA, Italian and Japanese sets will be available country-wide.

Having said that, the disc content in all versions of the set should be literally identical.

 

[McCrutchy]

Amazon.com have added the back cover for the US edition. The specs here claim English: Dolby Digital Mono audio.

Still no lossless mono audio. A crying shame, and only from WB.

Good thing they made sure I can have all 120 episodes as Digital HD downloads though, because that's the most important thing.

 

[TravisR]

From what I've read, it's basically impossible to tell the difference between a lossless and lossy mono track.

 

[McCrutchy]

From what I've read, it's basically impossible to tell the difference between a lossless and lossy mono track.

I don't think that's true at all. I've definitely been impressed with lossless mono audio on numerous releases, and I don't see why Batman, which was created and executed by professionals, should be any different. Dolby Digital 1.0 is 192 kbps. LPCM 1.0 at 24-bit is 1152 kbps, that's pretty large difference, and I think even for mono, the difference between lossless and lossy is audible. At least that's my opinion, from the discs that I've experienced.

Of course, once you have the set in hand, you could hypothesize that lossless audio would not make any difference, but you'll never know for sure without hearing it. I am assuming that when this release was put together, the audio was remastered as well, but either way, it should still be on the release.

That's the major sticking point, whether lossless makes any practical difference or not, it should be on such a high profile release, eight years into the Blu-ray format.

And from any other studio, we would have gotten some kind of lossless audio. Just like the number of discs, this is just WB cutting corners with a high-def presentation again. It should be 18 BDs (like the DVD set) with lossless mono, not 13 BDs with compressed mono.

 

[FanCollector]

The back cover copy includes a reference to "Bat Rarities! Straight From the Vault." Has that listing been part of the publicity material before? Is it possible that some of the desired contemporary extras could fall into that category? It would certainly at least explain Mr. Furmanek's participation in the set.

 

[TravisR]

I don't think that's true at all. I've definitely been impressed with lossless mono audio on numerous releases, and I don't see why Batman, which was created and executed by professionals, should be any different. Dolby Digital 1.0 is 192 kbps. LPCM 1.0 at 24-bit is 1152 kbps, that's pretty large difference, and I think even for mono, the difference between lossless and lossy is audible. At least that's my opinion, from the discs that I've experienced.

Of course, once you have the set in hand, you could hypothesize that lossless audio would not make any difference, but you'll never know for sure without hearing it. I am assuming that when this release was put together, the audio was remastered as well, but either way, it should still be on the release.

That's the major sticking point, whether lossless makes any practical difference or not, it should be on such a high profile release, eight years into the Blu-ray format.

And from any other studio, we would have gotten some kind of lossless audio. Just like the number of discs, this is just WB cutting corners with a high-def presentation again. It should be 18 BDs (like the DVD set) with lossless mono, not 13 BDs with compressed mono.

I agree that lossless audio should be standard on any release but given that the soundtrack in question is a nearly 50 year old mono track from a TV show, I'm not really worried about its exclusion either.

 

[Sam Favate]

The back cover copy includes a reference to "Bat Rarities! Straight From the Vault." Has that listing been part of the publicity material before? Is it possible that some of the desired contemporary extras could fall into that category? It would certainly at least explain Mr. Furmanek's participation in the set.

This could also mean there is great stuff in there like the PSA and/or Batgirl pilot.

 

[McCrutchy]

The specs at WHV Japan have been altered to the 1.33:1 aspect ratio, and English: Dolby Digital Mono audio.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

Why was there ever any doubt about the aspect ratio? The trailer for this set was 1.33:1. I'd believe that before a retailer site.

 

[Greg Chenoweth]

Here are the aspects from Amazon.com's website for the bluray set. This is the correct aspect ratio for the series:

[*]Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Box set, Full Screen, Limited Edition
[*]Subtitles: French, Latin Spanish
[*]Subtitles for the Hearing Impaired: English
[*]Region: All Regions
[*]Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
[*]Number of discs: 13
[*]Studio: Warner Home Video
[*]DVD Release Date: November 11, 2014
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