Saving Private Ryan Reviews? (1 Viewer)

[Adam Portrais]

Bully to that, I'll start my copy off at $45!!! Act Now!

 

[Harold Wazzu]

I think the point is that it's BS that we have to buy the set in order to get the DTS track when we all know that's what we wanted in the first place.

 

[Paul_Stachniak]

^Stick it to the man.

 

[Ray_R]

If the audio and picture quality is acceptable and the extras entertaining plus informative, then it's a good release. Hopefully you'll appreciate something that Spielberg and the rest worked so hard on creating, which in fact is a masterpiece in all aspects. Sure, you could have DTS but it'd be pointless because of the damn French Dolby Digital track. I'm eventually going to buy a DTS decoder on my next receiver I buy and have only a select amount of DVD's with DTS on them. Maybe because the DVD doesn't have any extras on the film disc, disc one, the picture and the sound will be moderately an improvement. If not, eh.

Glad I put down the full depsoit because I've been holding off on buying this in hopes for this wonderful film to get the DVD treatment it so rightfully deserved.

 

[Harminder]

Well, I was holding off on buying Saving Private Ryan so I could get the SE and the DTS version. But now that's in the 4 Disc set only, I'm not willing to shell out CDN$40+ for a movie I thought was good but not worth CDN$40+.

So I ordered a new copy of the previous release of SPR DTS from Amazon Marketplace.

 

[Dave H]

No new transfer = No sale

That goes for EVERY new re-release.

 

[MarkHastings]

I don't think there's any reason to be angry about the 2 disc not having DTS (unless you were duped)

Wasn't the original release (with the DTS) an "Exclusive"? In fact, my disc says "Special Limited Edition". So why would there be an expectation for it to be on "commemorative" edition?

There should be no surprise that the DTS has (and still is) an 'exclusive' feature on this title.Didn't you buy the original DTS disc?

In fact, I think this is a wise move on the studios part. Knowing that those who wanted the DTS already have the original DTS, why take away film quality (or lose features) to add it again on the 2 disc set? I'm buying it for the extras...I already have a DTS version.

And if you didn't buy the DTS version when it first came out, that's not the studios fault and no reason to be angry at them.

 

[Magnus T]

"The problem is choice..."

 

[MarkHastings]

When it first came out, you had two choices, and now you still have two choices.

Sounds like a lot of choices to me.

 

[Christopher_P]

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...v=glance&s=dvd


VS.


http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...v=glance&s=dvd


Is the 2nd one the 4 disc set you guys are talking about? It was the one I was planning to pickup but was unsure if there was another 4 disc set.

 

[Paul_Stachniak]

^Yes, however one choice costs 20 bucks (canadian) more then the other - whereas before there was only a 3 dollar difference.

 

[MarkHastings]

Ok, here's the thing that I've been thinking about...

Before there were 2 versions. A DD 5.1 and a DTS. By providing a "DTS" only "Limited Edition", they were able to leave off the DD 5.1 and only go with a pro-logic soundtrack (to comply with the rules about having at least a dolby soundtrack on the DVD). If they only produced 1 disc with DD 5.1 and DTS, they would have had to break the movie onto 2 discs. This would mean a higher cost and a lot of unhappy fans who hate swapping discs to watch the entire movie.

Ok, now they decide to put out the movie again with a bunch of extras on a second disc...How are they supposed to do this without pissing off people? Let's go through each possibility:

1.) Put out the DD 5.1 and the DTS both as 2 disc sets by just adding the extra disc, which would eliminate the "World War II" Collection. Which would defeat their intensions of reissuing this title as a collectors title.

2.) Put both the DD5.1 and the DTS on the same disc, which would result in redoing the entire DVD process and create a 3 disc set which would increase the price.

3.) Put both the DD5.1 and the DTS on the same disc and add it to the "World War II" Collection, which would make the set even MORE expensive (by making it a 5 disc set) and scare a lot of people (who already own the DTS version) away.

4.) Put out 4 versions. a 2 disc set with DD 5.1, a 2 disc set with DTS, a collectors set with DD 5.1, and a collectors set with DTS, this would be SO inneficient for the studio and a complete waste of material.

5.) Do exactly what they just did. This way, those who bought the original DTS can buy the cheaper 2 disc set and get the extras, and those who want the DTS (or those who already own the DTS, but want the BIG collectors set) can pay the measly $35 for it.

What I'm thinking is, they wanted to keep the cost of production down by not having to go back and redo the movie portion of the DVD by adding the DD 5.1 and the DTS together. When the discs first came out, it made sense (production wise) to offer a limited edition DTS track to get away with not putting a DD 5.1 on there as well (and save space). Now they can reissue the movie and put the budget toward the "extras" which will keep the final product price down (which is what seems to be the key factor in a lot of these discussions).

Now there are 3 types of people here who would be interested in these sets.

1.) The person who originally bought the DTS version (like me) and I have two options, the 2 disc set (which would satisfy me because I already own the DTS version) or the Collectors set which would give me a lot more stuff.

2.) The person who didn't buy the original movie. They can buy the Collectors Set and get the DTS track they want, and it's only $35. That's a great value considering the original DTS version is OOP.

3.) The person who bought the original DD 5.1 version. All I can say here is, why did you do that? And still, if you want the DTS version, you only have to pay $35. That's not a lot to ask, and if it is too much, then buy the cheaper $19 version. I mean, you originally bought the DD 5.1 over the DTS before, so what's wrong with the DD 5.1 now?

No matter what option they went with, there'd be people complaining (which is very apparent). I gotta agree that Universal/Dreamworks went with the best/most productive choice.

 

[CraigL]

Not true.

I have the Brazilian 2 disc version. Disc one has 5.1 and DTS. Disc two has all the extras. Same with the Korean 2 disc.

it's possible to have the whole movie on there with 2 tracks.

 

[Magnus T]

Mark,

When SPR came out they didn't have the technology to put both DD 5.1 and DTS 5.1 on 1 dual-layered disc. With todays compression they could EASILY fit both DTS and DD 5.1 on 1 dual layered disc (region 2 has both on 1 disc). This is simply a marketing decision. They know home theater enthusiasts like us want DTS and they also know we'll pay double the price for a 4 disc set.

 

[Magnus T]

Oh yeah, by the way, you seem to think only the single disc DTS version was labeled "Special Limited Edition". Both the DD and DTS version was labeled that. Why not do a switch? Release a 2 disc SE with DTS and a 4 disc with DD only. How many do you think would've bought the 4 disc???

 

[MarkHastings]

But that would be bad marketing since the 2 disc DTS version would only have a Pro-Logic Dolby track to it. Then you'd have to hear the complaints from those who do not have DTS recievers complain about the fact that they are being "forced" into buying the 4 disc set to get digital audio, because they'd only be able to use the pro-logic track on the 2 disc.

That sounds a LOT worse to me than the way they are doing it now.

 

[MarkHastings]

I'm not debating that, but I wonder if the video quality is the same? I wouldn't want video quality to sufer by adding a DTS and a DD 5.1 (of a 3 hour movie) on ONE DVD.

 

[Randy A Salas]

Lost in this entire debate is that the two feature-length documentaries that come with the four-disc set, both produced by Steven Spielberg, are absolutely fantastic.

Price for Peace (90 minutes, plus extras) is the perfect complement to SPR because it chronicles the WWII events on the other side of the world, in the Pacific theater.

And Shooting War (90 minutes) is simply devastating, a 90-minute look at the combat cameramen (mostly motion-picture, but also some still photographers) who chronicled the war, including recent interviews with the men. Their actual footage is shown while they relate anecdotes about shooting it. If you thought the depictions in SPR were something, you haven't seen anything until you see the real horrors of war, such as a Japanese woman mistaking the cameraman's camera for a gun and throwing her two kids (including an infant) and herself off a cliff to "save" them. Also, since Tom Hanks is the host of Shooting War, there is continuity with SPR.

Yes, it's annoying that DreamWorks didn't make the DTS SE more affordable, especially since only the first disc had to be swapped out. But you do get something of real value with the 4-disc set. $35 shipped (lowest online price) is a steal for this set. Pretend it's from Criterion, and it will seem like a bargain.

 

[CraigL]

It's fantastic.

And it's not 3 hours

 

[Dave H]

Bjoern did a comparison of the previous SPR DD and DTS and the video quality was identical.