Press Release Imprint Press Release: Space:1999 Ultimate Edition (Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

[ScottRE]

A lot of mine align with yours. Those that differ are noted...

1. Breakaway (realistically sets up the premise in gripping fashion)
2. Another Time, Another Place
3. Guardian Of Piri
4. Force Of Life
5. The Last Sunset (hope given and crushingly taken away)
6. Dragon’s Domain (true horror)
7. End Of Eternity
8. War Games
9. Space Brain (a great example of the moon randomly chaning the destinies of other civilizations)
10. The Testament Of Arkadia

 

[ScottRE]

Having just received the Imprint Television/ViaVision “Space:1999 Ultimate Set,” I popped in a few discs for inspection.

Before I continue, I should note that I’ve had Space:1999 on every format since the 90’s. I think I’ve bought and rebought this series more than any other. There was little reason to multiple dip other than this set has the movie versions put out in the early 80’s and broadcast under the Super Space Theater umbrella. For the longest time, that was the only way I could watch any episodes and I always loved this series. Both years.

First, to my great joy, the set is not region locked. The set itself it very sturdy in a nice shelf friendly box. While the orange may seem like an odd choice, it actually reflects the colors of the spacesuits which were worn often throughout the series. The art is great with some pictures we don’t normally see on the covers. Usually they lean hard on Martin Laudau and Barbara Bain but the second year is a nice focus on Tony Anholt and Catherine Schell.

There is also a fine making-of booklet done by Fanderson.

The episodes are the same transfers made by Network and used on the A&E first reason release, Network’s own complete series and the Shout box sets (the Shout set defaults to the mono sound mix this set defaults to the surround mix).

With the exception of a very few, EVERY extra from previous releases is included.

The movies versions are a treat and were a staple of my childhood. Destination Moonbase-Alpha is in HD but no real work was done on it. It looks fine and feels like I’m back in the early 80’s watching it on TV.

The other 3 movies are SD and look, frankly, terrible. Pretty much like professional VHS transfers. Interestingly, Cosmic Princess is a reconstruction of the movie. I don't know if the other are yet, but as far as this one, the opening and closing credits and a few scenes which were drastically altered are taken from what looks like a crummy VHS broadcast copy. The rest are old 16mm prints of the episodes themselves. So the quality of the picture shifts based on the scene. Disappointingly, in the effort to improve the picture quality for the majority of the film, they lost the audio changes made for the movie version. Barry Gray's music was added to some scenes which is not on the actual episodes. So this isn’t an accurate recreation. Judging from the edits, the source print was pretty terrible, so they made a judgment call. I would have preferred the whole program as it was, but I see why they did it. I understand this was done for the Germany release some time ago.

Anyway, if you have any interest at all in this series and haven’t made the jump to Blu Ray, this is the set to get. Region free and packed with content. I honestly don’t know if this release can be improved upon. Honestly the only thing I would like back would be the original ITC logo bracketing the episodes. But we have the “close enough” version on the first film.

 

[Nelson Au]

Hey Scott, thanks for the review of this Australian blu ray set.

I have the first blu ray release of the first year, and like you, I have purchased the past DVD sets. I was planning to pick up the Shout set that would cause a double dip of the first year in order to get the second year on blu ray. From reading your post, it seems like the Shout set would be good enough for me. I never saw the movie versions you mentioned so my history with the series was the syndicated broadcasts.

I think for me the first year was the better year as with most fans and a handful of episodes from the first year are ones I genuinely enjoy. The rest of the series is harder for me to enjoy. But I do want to grab the Shout set for the second year and maybe it will be fun to revisit the second year in higher def.

With that said, I’m a big fan of the Supermarionation series! I’m really glad Thunderbirds got a blu ray release. As a kid though, I really loved Fireball XL-5 and Supercar. I just loved the shows as a kid and I think it was hardware, the robot, the vehicles that I love the most. But it’s harder to watch as an adult now. I’ve enjoyed revisiting Stingray too. Captain Scarlett is a hard watch too. I never saw Joe 90. I have UFO on DVD too but I rarely watch it. Of all the shows Thunderbirds is the favorite.

Its interesting, the premise of all these Anderson shows including Space:1999 have the great production design, great special effects and miniature work, but for me sometimes the writing or stories are where I have trouble getting into.

 

[ScottRE]

I would recommend the Imprint version if you want all of the special features from the Network sets as well. I know these are a little more expensive, but it really is the most complete assembly of the series and the extras.

Also of note is the Hi Fi sound mix on the Shout set isn't the same or as balanced as the Network (or A&E) sets. If you want to utilize the Hi Fi sound mix, I really do recommend the Imprint set. It just sounds much better. If you plan on stickling with the original mono and don't care about the bonus features, the Shout set is great. The show looks amazing and identical in each release.

 

[Nelson Au]

Hmmm, Scott. You certainly are making it difficult for me! The Shout set is $100 less and I like the cover art better. But the contents of the Imprint set does sound good. I read through the review on the Digital Bits and the comments about the audio match yours.

The Imprint set does sound like the better offering between this set verses the Shout set. I hate to not support Shout, but because I never got that set, and I only have the first year blu ray, I decided to pull the trigger on the Imprint set. Gosh darn it, more money out of my pocket!

 

[ScottRE]

Sorry! But I have to tell ya, as a fan of the series since it premiered. this is the best representation of the series I've seen. No buyer's remorse here!

 

[Nelson Au]

Scott, I’m not as big a fan of 1999 as you are, but I do like series. I did check the set and see that one extra not included was the fan made: Message from Moonbase Alpha. I’ll be interested to watch a few of the favorites when the set arrives.

i must confess I also own the early DVD sets and the 30th Anniversary Edition Megaset I picked up a few years ago. Nice to see the Message from Moonbase Alpha short film is included in that set.

 

[Sam Favate]

I did buy the Shout set last year, and I'm quite happy with it. I realize the Imprint set has more extras, but I can't justify rebuying it, especially when the Shout transfers look so good (and word is the Imprint discs have the same image). Cheers to anyone who is getting the new one, but I think Shout did a very good job with theirs, and I am happy with it.

 

[ScottRE]

If anyone has the Shout set, I don't really recommend going for this just for the extras unless you're like me and it's in your top 3 favorite shows of all time. The prints for this are the same as Shout and Network/A&E. Totally identical. So, if that's all you're after, then you've got a fabulous set either way.

@Nelson Au Message from Moonbase Alpha wasn't released on any of the blu ray releases. Some of the earlier DVD bonus features from the various labels didn't make it presumably due to rights issues. You will, however, have just about everything available.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

Scott, I’m not as big a fan of 1999 as you are, but I do like series. I did check the set and see that one extra not included was the fan made: Message from Moonbase Alpha. I’ll be interested to watch a few of the favorites when the set arrives.

i must confess I also own the early DVD sets and the 30th Anniversary Edition Megaset I picked up a few years ago. Nice to see the Message from Moonbase Alpha short film is included in that set.

If you want Message from Moonbase Alpha, I think the only release for that was on the old A&E/Region 1 DVD MegaSet Bonus Disc.

For those of us who bought the earlier 2-disc sets as they came out, A&E did at least sell the Bonus Disc by itself via their website at the time (for around $15 or $20, I think) so that fans didn't have to double-dip just for that one disc.

 

[ScottRE]

Fanderson included it as a bonus feature on their DVD release of the UFO/Space:1999 Documentaries.

 

[Nelson Au]

My copy of the Imprint set arrive earlier this week. it arrived in pretty good shape from Amazon. There was a slight dent on the box and given the thin envelopes Amazon uses, it’s likely it was dented in transit. I think I can live with it, I can burnish it out from the inside.

 

[ScottRE]

Mine got a little tweaked as well. I think that's just the nature of the beast. Mine came all the way from Australia.

 

[Nelson Au]

Thanks Scott for the image. That’s unfortunate yours was tweaked. Wished they’d pack these better.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

Fanderson included it as a bonus feature on their DVD release of the UFO/Space:1999 Documentaries.

Forgot about that. As Fanderson merch is 'club exclusive' (meaning you have to join/pay dues to buy their stuff), the A&E Bonus Disc might be easier to obtain for those that need it.

Looks like eBay has a bonus disc right now for $27.17.

There's also a "Documentaries" DVD on there, but close inspection reveals that it's a bootleg of the earlier VHS version (which did not contain "Message").

 

[Nelson Au]

I do have this set that includes Message from Moonbase Alpha. .

 

[ScottRE]

I held onto my Megaset also mostly for that and for the plethora of local TV station promos. One of them was for WPIX, which is my local 1999 station, so it meant a lot.

 

[Nelson Au]

Scott, I’ll have to check the promos. I remember my local station did the promo here on the San Francisco Bay Area station that aired it and Martin Landau and Barbara Bain where doing the promo to introduce the series.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

I held onto my Megaset also mostly for that and for the plethora of local TV station promos. One of them was for WPIX, which is my local 1999 station, so it meant a lot.

I'm not sure, but I think most (if not all) of the station promos carried over to the blu-ray set (well, the Network set anyway).

I'm like someone else here (maybe you?) who has bought (and re-bought) this series several times over the years. Once the Bonus Disc was announced, I luckily found out it was available separately, because there was now way I was going to buy the A&E sets twice just to get that disc, so ordered it direct from A&E's website.

As it turned out, I sold off all of my earlier 2-volume sets anyway once I found out blu-rays were in the works. Was able to pretty much get back everything I had invested in those, luckily (this was before the bottom fell out of the used DVD market).

 

[ScottRE]

I'm not sure, but I think most (if not all) of the station promos carried over to the blu-ray set (well, the Network set anyway).

I'm like someone else here (maybe you?) who has bought (and re-bought) this series several times over the years. Once the Bonus Disc was announced, I luckily found out it was available separately, because there was now way I was going to buy the A&E sets twice just to get that disc, so ordered it direct from A&E's website.

As it turned out, I sold off all of my earlier 2-volume sets anyway once I found out blu-rays were in the works. Was able to pretty much get back everything I had invested in those, luckily (this was before the bottom fell out of the used DVD market).

Pretty sure it's definitely me.

I will double check my Network set, but I'm pretty sure only one example of each promo. None of them hit the Shout set and the Imprint set only has one market represented.