Transformers 20th anniversary box set? (1 Viewer)

[Greg K]

Can someone tell me more about this?

Here are a few links to Ebay auctions for this item:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...6353869626&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...6353927114&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...6353859887&rd=1


Is this for real? Who released it? When? There appear to be two other sets as well ("Limited precious collection in DVD", "Precious complete collection in DVD", and "Precious collection in VCD").

What can anyone tell me about this? Are the discs region-free? Are these the horrid Rhino (United States) versions of the episodes, with incomplete animation and awful new sound effects? Are there burned in subtitles, or can the episodes be watched in English without any subtitles?
__________________

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

The links in your post don't work. All I can tell you is that I've never heard of any of those sets before.

 

[Greg K]

I've gotten a little more info. It's an official 25-disc box set released by Thousand Cranes in China recently.

It seems that it does have English audio but the menu options are all in Chinese.


http://www.tfclub.com/tffans/rom/200412070001.shtml
(regular packaging)

http://www.tfclub.com/tffans/rom/200412060001.shtml
(fancier packaging)

http://www.tfclub.com/tffans/rom/200412070006.shtml
(menu screen shots)

 

[Joshua Lane]

All the ebay auction specs list the English audio as being 5.1, so I'm going to assume that's the Rhino-produced track. Whether they actually licensed the track from Rhino, I don't know... China doesn't have the strictest of copyright laws.

That being said, the fancy box does look awfully nice.

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

Unlike Rhino, who may have broken some child labor laws by having five-year-olds trace pictures for their boxes.

 

[MichaelAaron]

Hello everyone. I'm a newbie, and this is my first post.

I just ordered this Transformers 20th Anniversary box set from an eBay seller. I'll definitely post a review of the sound quality/English dubbing [I know that there are some StarTV dubs of either Headmasters or Masterforce which truly stink]. I do hope that it's the Rhino 5.1 dub.

The Optimus Prime art on the box is actually from Dreamwave Productions, which has been publishing the officially-licensed Transformers comic books. Might be "borrowed" for these DVDs.

 

[Daniel Kikin]

The set looks great, I'd be curious to read a review before deciding if it's worth selling the Rhino R1 sets and buying these instead.

 

[Greg K]

I do hope it has the original broadcast audio and not the Rhino stuff.


A few questions for anyone getting this set:

1. Is the audio the original audio, or the Rhino version, with new, crappy sound effects?

2. Is the picture based on the 1" broadcast versions, or the incomplete 35mm versions used by Rhino?

3. Are the white-lettered episode titles cards/writer credits included for all season 2-3 episodes?

4. Are the opening/end titles correct for each season? Are the commercial bumpers included (as in the Rhino releases)?

5. Which version of Five Faces of Darkness Part 4 is included, the one with the dialogue below (used by Rhino and in original broadcast), or the version missing the dialogue (original VHS release)?

Cosmos: "Come in on a seventy-two degree trajectory!"

Decoy Pilot: "Our engines have just gone critical!"

Quintesson: "Our decoy worked! Cybertron is now helpless!"


6. Which version of Dark Awakening is included? The "So long...Prime" version, or the the one with narration advertising "The Return of Optimus Prime"?

7. Are the historical trailers at the end of various season 3 episodes (detailing the Autobots, Decepticons, Quintessons, etc.) included?

 

[Greg K]

From what I've heard, this Chinese set seems to be a mix of Rhino audio with Rhino and VHS dub episodes.

I'm deeply tired of all this. All I ask is to have the G1 series in its original, unaltered form. Is that so hard?

To this end, I've started a thread about this aimed at Paramount in the Studio Feedback Forum. Fans, please chime in, and spread the word:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=222307

 

[Joshua Lane]

I think it is... the original materials might be in poor shape, or worse yet, damaged.

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

Where did you hear this from?

 

[Joshua Lane]

Having access to that stuff is great, but if the masters themselvers are damaged or of poor quality, then what?

 

[Greg K]

I heard about the Chinese set from a few people who got it, but I'm still not sure.

And Rhino used the 1" masters to splice in some missing/corrected shots for some episodes (and "Countdown to Extinction" is entirely 1"), and the quality didn't look too bad.

They could always splice in the "corrected" sections and use the 35mm version for the rest. If Rhino had done that in a thorough way, then we'd have no problems.

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

But it wasn't damaged. That's what they used to make the DVDs! The only problem with the 35mm masters (for the first season) was that some scenes were incomplete. But the completed versions of those scenes were contained on the 1" broadcast master. (I know that the completed versions were on the broadcast master because of the 47 minutes and 54 seconds of split screen comparisons between the film and 1" master tape that were included as a bonus feature on the Season 1 DVD set.) By replacing the incomplete footage with the complete versions from the broadcast master, they could have fixed these errors. But they didn't do that. In some cases they tried to fix the mistakes themselves, with disasterous results.

I have posted screenshots of A FEW of the errors on this site. (Note that there are hundreds more errors that I did not post screenshots of.)

And if all that wasn't bad enough, they went and added in extra sound effects. That was just pure stupidity and had nothing to do with the condition of the original elements.

 

[Greg K]

I've seen a few screencaps and such from the Chinese set. Looks like some kind of dub (VHS?) of the Rhino versions for sure. Sigh.




"But it wasn't damaged. That's what they used to make the DVDs! The only problem with the 35mm masters (for the first season) was that some scenes were incomplete. But the completed versions of those scenes were contained on the 1" broadcast master. (I know that the completed versions were on the broadcast master because of the 47 minutes and 54 seconds of split screen comparisons between the film and 1" master tape that were included as a bonus feature on the Season 1 DVD set.) By replacing the incomplete footage with the complete versions from the broadcast master, they could have fixed these errors. But they didn't do that. In some cases they tried to fix the mistakes themselves, with disasterous results."


The *are* problems with the later seasons as well, but season 1 is where most of the problems are.


"And if all that wasn't bad enough, they went and added in extra sound effects. That was just pure stupidity and had nothing to do with the condition of the original elements."

I think they wanted to have 5.1 surround effects without actually remixing the audio into 5.1, so they just threw on new sounds.


It's really very embarrassing and frustrating...especially to see so many "fans" not even notice or care about this.

That's why I've started the thread to Paramount in the studio feedback forum, to try and generate some interest in making things right.

 

[Eric Emma]

How the quality and what not on these DVDs I think I might pick them up, it's like a 100 bucks for the whole thing and that's way cheaper then trying to buy it from Rhino.

 

[Mike Miskulin]

I recently received the set from an ebayer, and I sampled a few episodes. The video appears to be a rip of the Rhino set (though other, low quality sources may have been used). The bumpers all appear to have been edited out, and the English audio is Rhino's crap-tacular 5.1 mix. There are four episodes per disc and the menus are kinda cool. If you can stomach the 5.1 remix and are willing to stumble around the Chinese menus, this ia a good substitution (and cheaper) than buying the Rhino sets. Plus you get the movie as well!

Any specific questions, ask and I'll get to 'em as time permits.

mike.

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

It sounds like its even worse than the Rhino versions.

As far as specific questions, I'd like to know the same things that Greg K posted earlier.

Here are some other things to look for if you want to know for sure if they used Rhino's transfer:
Here is a list of errors from Rhino's Season 1 set. I also have a page that illustrates A FEW of the errors from one episode with screenshot comparisons.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

What Id much rather see is a proper comparisson review between Rhino's series and the newer UK sets. A complete Transformers series was just recently issued in Europe which comes packaged in a really cool looking metal tin.