- Joined
- Jul 3, 1997
- Messages
- 66,759
- Real Name
- Ronald Epstein
I suspect it should be worth a double-dip to you. The set you have (if it's the US one) was rushed into production because the US office wanted Fawlty discs before the UK got around to doing DVDs, so those are simply straight dubs from 'off-the-shelf' master tapes with no clean up/restoration. The basic masters to Fawlty that have been doing the rounds have looked (IMO) pretty grubby.Originally Posted by EricSchulz
I have the FT set and the picture quality is just OK. But it IS FT, so I had to buy it! I hope the extras on this new set make it worth a probable double-dip for me.
The R1 DVD boxed set of the Blackadders does indeed have the unedited Christmas Carol. I bought it for that very reason!Originally Posted by AndyMcKinney
Unfortunately for Blackadder, though, the line about 'nailing up the dog' from Christmas Carol is still edited out (no idea if the R1 DVDs were unedited, but at least the American VHS release was uncut, so I'll be hanging onto that videotape).
Okay, didn't know that. Maybe I'll find a secondhand used one of that disc, since the upcoming set is going to contain the edited version.Originally Posted by Jonathan Kaye
The R1 DVD boxed set of the Blackadders does indeed have the unedited Christmas Carol. I bought it for that very reason!
I read once in a print interview with Cleese that he supervised a slight trimming down of the episodes in order to improve the comedy timing, and these new versions are what we've seen since. If that is true, I would assume they used the original broadcast masters as the source and the revisions are a generation down from those. (Again, if the story is true), would you know which masters are being used for this new release? If the originals, will the DVD be conformed to match Cleese's revisions? I couldn't argue against either approach.Originally Posted by AndyMcKinney
As I understand it, they most likely went back to the original 2" masters (or the digital tapes that were made from those masters)
From what I understand, they went back to the original 2" masters (or the 1990s digital tapes made from such), not to any later masters. They also went to the trouble to re-instate a sequence that was edited out of the previous discs (R2 anyway) that was cut due to a tape glitch on the original master.Originally Posted by Jay Pennington
I read once in a print interview with Cleese that he supervised a slight trimming down of the episodes in order to improve the comedy timing, and these new versions are what we've seen since. If that is true, I would assume they used the original broadcast masters as the source and the revisions are a generation down from those. (Again, if the story is true), would you know which masters are being used for this new release? If the originals, will the DVD be conformed to match Cleese's revisions? I couldn't argue against either approach.
Well, I know some people on Roobarb's forum have reviewed it (I think one person reviewed the R1 and another the R2). I don't know if the R1 reviewer offered a comparison, but it was said the new discs are a definite improvement over the previous R2 in picture quality, particularly in the case of the film sequences that they were able to re-insert from the originals.Originally Posted by EricSchulz
This is coming out on Tuesday. Has anyone seen any reviews that will help me decide if I will be double-dipping?
Sounds like they really went all out. I wonder if there's any chance of something similar for Monty Python.Originally Posted by AndyMcKinney
From what I understand, they went back to the original 2" masters (or the 1990s digital tapes made from such), not to any later masters. They also went to the trouble to re-instate a sequence that was edited out of the previous discs (R2 anyway) that was cut due to a tape glitch on the original master.
Also, some (but not all) of the original film sequences were located, cleaned-up and re-inserted back into the episodes. These sequences are said to look a lot better (the film from "Gourmet Night" was amongst what was found). Those familiar with some of the Doctor Who releases (like "Earthshock") will be familiar with how much re-inserting the film improves the looks of those sequences.
Well, I know some people on Roobarb's forum have reviewed it (I think one person reviewed the R1 and another the R2). I don't know if the R1 reviewer offered a comparison, but it was said the new discs are a definite improvement over the previous R2 in picture quality, particularly in the case of the film sequences that they were able to re-insert from the originals.
Also of note are the new commentary tracks with Cleese. Some R2 fans who found the "director's commentary" too boring found Cleese's commentaries a lot more entertaining (and the old R2 commentaries were also retained, BTW).
BBc Resources were in charge of the resoration for this, so they did do actual restoration work to the video. They didn't just blast it with a DVNR filter.