2006 DVD Releases Thread

[Cory Chaos]

Did you guys get your preorders in for 9 To 5: Sexist, Egotistical, Lying, Hypocritcal Bigot Edition yet?

Dolly..in DTS? I'm so there.

[Dimetrodon]

More for me.

Picked up the third season of the 70's show, and my 5 dollar movie. Gotta love the 5 dollar bin.





I have much more on the way too. Been saving up for a very large purchase online.

[Cory Chaos]

Got a bunch as of late. Found "Pinocchio" for $8 today.

[Dimetrodon]

Got a bunch as of late. Found "Pinocchio" for $8 today.

The Disney one?

[Cory Chaos]

Affirmative. First time I've seen it at a pawn shop, because they usually sell their Disney movies on eBay for ridiculous amounts.

[Brian]

Sorry, this might be a stupid question...but I figured someone here would know for sure.  We were going through and making a little list of DVDs we haven't picked up yet but are already released, and one that came up was ET.  Just a quick look on Amazon, and it appears it must not be "for sale" anymore, as the listings are just used copies or through other vendors.  Plus, at our local Target, they seem to have a more bare bones (and fullscreen) version for $13, and we were looking for widescreen (it does look to be available on sites such as Deep Discount DVD though, so who knows).  Long story short, was the "special edition" or widescreen version of this only available for a limited time...and if so, is there any word of it being released again sometime soon?  Its not like we need the movie right now or anything, I was just curious because we'd eventually like to pick it up.  Thanks for any info.

[ruiner]

DVD  E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial (Full Screen Edition) 
DVD  E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial (Widesceen) 
DVD  E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial (Full Screen Collector's Edition) 
DVD  E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial (Ultimate Gift Boxed Set) 


Here's a listing I found on Amazon.  I think the first two versions (bare bones) are still in production while the last two are OOP.

Just my guess.

[Matt]

Ignoring the different fullscreen/widescreen releases, there's basically been three separate releases of E.T. on DVD.

Back in 2002, Universal released two different versions:  A two-disc set, which contained both the original 1982 cut and the 2002 20th Anniversary Special Edition cut, and a four-disc Ultimate Gift Set, which contained the 2002 cut on the first disc, the 1982 cut on the second, a third disc of bonus features, and the fourth disc, which was the soundtrack CD.  It also contained a nice hardcover making-of book, as well as a certificate of authenticity and a film frame.  All of the versions released in 2002 are now out of print.






Last year, Universal re-released E.T. as a one-disc set--and only as the 2002 Special Edition cut, dropping the original 1982 version.   



Here's a DVDTalk thread which covered the new single-disc release:

Universal dumbs down for re-releases of E.T., Cape Fear, and Meaning of Life 08.23.05

From that thread:

Universal has just sent us some interesting news regarding the upcoming single-disc re-release of E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. Even though this edition shaves off some of the better extras from the two-disc set, including the full-length documentary, it will add an isolated track featuring John Williams' famous score. This track is exclusive to this release. The rest of the disc features the 2002 cut of the film in 1.85 anamorphic widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1 EX and DTS ES Surround tracks, "The Reunion: E.T.'s Family and Friends" and "Behind-the-Scenes with Composer John Williams" featurettes, E.T.'s Interactive Space Tour, the trailer, production photos and concept drawings. Look for this E.T. on August 23rd with a retail $19.98.

So, basically, stay away from the current version which is selling at Target and Amazon, and probably pretty much everywhere else.  With that, you lose the 1982 version, and only gain the isolated score track.  (There are separate widescreen and fullscreen releases for this disc, by the way.)

The 2002 releases are far superior--try and find those if you can.  Preferably, the Ultimate Gift Set, which may be quite hard-to-find and pricey these days, but contains the most bonus features.  (This was released in widescreen only.)  The two-disc set should be a little easier to find, and much cheaper than the box.  (The two-disc sets had separate fullscreen and widescreen releases, as well.)

[Matt]

Oh, and I would guess that with the single-disc 2002 version released last year, that will probably be the last issue of E.T. to the current DVD format.  Although, next year is the 25th anniversary, and I wouldn't totally rule out a re-release to tie in with that, hopefully featuring the 1982 version once more. 

But I'd bet we don't see the 1982 version again until after Blu-Ray/HD-DVD kicks in.  That is, unless Spielberg decides to pull a Lucas and only make the Special Edition version available from now on--making it even more important to grab one of the original releases if that's what you want.

The saga of E.T. on DVD. . .  what a long, strange trip it's been. . .

[Rob]

Well I think that answers that.

[Matt]

Well I think that answers that.

The only person here who's a bigger E.T. fan than me is Brent.

True fact.

[Cory Chaos]

Downside to all of that is that the 1982 theatrical version is in Dolby Surround, which is more or less 2 channel, and a disgrace.

[Matt]

Downside to all of that is that the 1982 theatrical version is in Dolby Surround, which is more or less 2 channel, and a disgrace.

Actually, the 1982 versions on both the 2- and 4-disc sets feature Dolby Digital soundtracks, and the 2-disc version also has a DTS track that was dropped from the 4-disc set's version for some reason.  There are no Dolby Surround 2.0 tracks on either of the 1982 versions.

More here (664 posts--see you next month):

*** Official E.T. Discussion Thread *2 Disk Set Includes Original Version of the Film!

[Cory Chaos]

I haven't watched the 1982 version yet, and the back of the case had the 2 channel Dolby Surround logo, with the DTS and 5.1 logo's for the SE. I didn't know that the options automatically carried over.

[Matt]

Did you read any of that HTF thread I linked?

The E.T. DVDs were a major fiasco at the time.  Well, I should clarify that--the discs themselves turned out fine for the most part (with the exception of the more-expensive box set 1982 version not getting the DTS track), but the end product differed wildy from what was originally announced, and even from what was listed on the packaging. 

They were announced in mid-2002 with the news that the 2-disc set would only contain the 2002 SE cut, and that the only way to get the 1982 cut was to buy the big-ass box set, which of course pissed a lot of people off.  Then, less than two weeks before the release date, people started getting early copies of the 2-disc set, and found out that it actually had both cuts.  It's believed that Spielberg decided at the last moment to include both versions on the 2-disc set, which led to a lot of confusion, and the packaging being incorrect.  And with reviewers being sent messed up copies (if they were even sent review copies at all), which led to even more confusion, you basically had people who were having to put the discs in their players before they knew what all was on them.

So yeah, it was a big mess.  (Hey, it was a Spielberg-related Universal release--they had to **** up something, didn't they?)