2005 DVD Thread

[Jim]

Anyone pick up the new Titanic?  Yeah, I know its a chick flick but my wife was interested.  Not sure if the deleted scenes or alternative end are done via seemless branching.  Anyone?  If not and the deleted are seperate then she aint interested. 

Side note, that the Walmart in my area had a display with about 30-40 different titles for 4.88.  Some good stuff available. 

Anyone check out Exorcist Dominion?  Wondering if it is any better than the other prequel that was released.

[Cory Chaos]

OK, so I was off by a couple years, but I believe the first DVD player hit the market in 1996.

1996 in Japan, 1997 in the US. First actual DVD's were 4 IMAX films, as if anyone bought those.

Just got off the phone with Best Buy Buddy, who told me that they just got in a bunch of *new* Deluxe versions sans the mini-comic (and the cardboard casing which the whole set came in).  Now it's just in a regular two-disc keepcase. 

There's been some weird reports that there was some supposed middle wave of "comic-ed" Deluxe sets with a "rights/credits correction" slip in the back of the comic itself.
Either way...

"Operation Batman Beings Deluxe Edition DVD wit' comic recall an' discontinuation is now in process!"

[Cory Chaos]

Anyone check out Exorcist Dominion?  Wondering if it is any better than the other prequel that was released.

"The Beginning" was originally Paul Schrader's film. Then, once they hired Renny Harlin to re-shoot some scenes, they ended up allowing his to reshoot the entire film, which ended up being a contrived mess. I've heard much more positive reviews for "Dominion", having been a coherent and intriguing story, unlike what was actually released. It confuses a good many people that come into my work, asking the same thing.

[Matt]

Anyone pick up the new Titanic?  Yeah, I know its a chick flick but my wife was interested.  Not sure if the deleted scenes or alternative end are done via seemless branching.  Anyone?  If not and the deleted are seperate then she aint interested. 

That's too bad, then, because while the deleted scenes and alternate ending are separate, it's still a fantastic package for anyone who considers themselves a fan of the film.  It's got a gorgeous new anamorphic transfer, a great DTS track, three separate commentaries, and much, much more.  It's easily the best the movie's looked and sounded since it was out in theatres.  And the eighteen bones it can be had for this week is a bargain.

[Cory Chaos]

I figured I'd share my DVDTalk post regarding the whole Batman fiasco;

Discontinuation of the Deluxe Editions w/ comic book is the fear here, not necessarily the discs themselves going OOP. I've read a few things now, concerning MULTIPLE editions of the DVD itself.

1) 2 Disc SE w/ Comic - Incorrect Credits
2) 2 Disc SE w/ Comic - Incorrect Credits w/ Correction Slip
3) 2 Disc SE w/ Comic - Incorrect Credits & BB Exc. Cover
4) 2 Disc SE w/ Comic - Incorrect Credits w/ Correction Slip & BB Exc. Cover
5) 2 Disc SE w/o Comic & w/o Slipcase/Slipcover

I'd assume all releases with comic books have been halted indefinately in lieu of a 2 Disc SE in a gateway. That would suggest that the sets with comic books are the most desirable, especially those with the white correction slip, as well as the lenticular slipcased Best Buy editions.

If ANYONE can vouch that ANY of these exist, it would really clear things up. Has anyone purchased a Best Buy lenticular covered edition WITH the corrected credits? Given the gimmick cover was a first run promotion, I'd assume they all have the incorrect credits, and possibly the slip, unless the error wasn't caught until after initial shipments were made.

[Mikey D]

I got the deluxe BB w/ incorrect comic and correction slip (#2 on the list) from Amazon.

[Cory Chaos]

I'm starting to believe the set was never issued with just the incorrectly credited comic. Just the error w/ slip, and the corrected version. the first one I bought the day it was released was corrected, and wasn't from Best Buy. I figured that since Best Buy had a limited promotion with the slipcase, perhaps their orders will filled first, because of the special handling w/ the lenticular covers, thus getting the first batch of error comics.

[Darth Broem]

Anyone pick up the new Titanic?  Yeah, I know its a chick flick but my wife was interested.  Not sure if the deleted scenes or alternative end are done via seemless branching.  Anyone?  If not and the deleted are seperate then she aint interested. 

That's too bad, then, because while the deleted scenes and alternate ending are separate, it's still a fantastic package for anyone who considers themselves a fan of the film.  It's got a gorgeous new anamorphic transfer, a great DTS track, three separate commentaries, and much, much more.  It's easily the best the movie's looked and sounded since it was out in theatres.  And the eighteen bones it can be had for this week is a bargain.

I am actually quite interested in getting this mainly for the 45 mintues of deleted scenes.  Plus I actually like this movie quite a bit (runs and hides for cover). 

[Matt]

I am actually quite interested in getting this mainly for the 45 mintues of deleted scenes.  Plus I actually like this movie quite a bit (runs and hides for cover).

Eh, **** 'em, I say.  You like it, you like it. 

I like it, and never really knew how much I did until I was going through the new set this week, and realized exactly how much time and money I've spent on Titanic:

Two theatrical viewings
Both CD soundtracks
Widescreen VHS
First DVD
New DVD

And what I've watched on the new DVD:

Movie x4 (by itself, and with all three commentaries)
Alternate ending x2 (above)
Deleted scenes x2 (above)
All the "pods" (mini-docs)
All the other, video-based features

Basically, I've gone through everything except things like the still galleries and original script (482 pages!) and all that.  Even watched the Celine Dion video, for Christ's sake.

So, I guess I really like it.  It's a great flick.  Not a perfect film, by any means, but nowhere near as bad as some people would like to believe.  And considering this is a forum populated with folks who paid to see Phantom Menace multiple times, and bought the same Cantina Han Solo figure several times over, I don't think there's anything to be ashamed about in liking Titanic.

[DSJ™]

I finally picked up Batman Begins last night.

I like to look at the Sci-Fi DVD's in FutureShop but now they have removed that section and mixed them up with the other DVD's so that make it hard to find some stuff. Was a lot better all in one place. 

[Darth_Anton]

I picked up Batman Begins as well. I missed out on the Deluxe Editon last week and was finally able to track it down, with comic, at boarders on sale.

[Cory Chaos]

Anyone springin' for that "Office Space - Extra Special Edition" boxed set with all the goodies? The Lebowski set was discontinued after it's first week, so when it's gone, it's gone, and I fear this will be the same. For $23, it's loaded. Of course, it's another Best Buy exclusive.



Special Features:
- Fullscreen Feature/Widescreen Feature
- Out of the Office: An Office Space Retrospective with Mike Judge
- Deleted Scenes: Peter Lies to Lumbergh, Happy Hour and Chotchkies, Peter Goes off on Nina, and Tom's Mixed Heritage Called into Question
- Thearical Trailer
- DVD-ROM audio
- Visual downloads
-Stapler
- Mousepad
- Coffee Mug
- Magnet picture frame
- Notepad
- Pen/Pencil

[Brian]

Just got off the phone with Best Buy Buddy, who told me that they just got in a bunch of *new* Deluxe versions sans the mini-comic (and the cardboard casing which the whole set came in).  Now it's just in a regular two-disc keepcase.

So, if you're wanting the Deluxe edition, but don't care about the comic, you might start checking your local stores. . .

Thanks for that info, I appreciate it.  I went around looking for the deluxe set this past weekend, and the only place that had it was Barnes and Noble...but it was $32.  I just couldn't justify paying $10-$15 more for the "extras", so I passed and picked up the cheaper single disc version for now.  Once the deluxe set starts hitting retail again (as it sounds it is now), I'll probably end up picking it up too.  I just want to see the Batmobile feature, etc.  I guess I have two versions of each of the LOTR movies, not too mention all the Star Wars we've bought over the years, so what's one more?  We'll see, but glad to hear it is heading to retail again.  Thanks again.

[Matt]

Re: Office Space Gift Set

For $23, it's loaded.

Yeah, loaded with a bunch of useless junk.  I'll get the gift set, 'cause I'm a sucker for things like that, but the disc itself is a major disappointment.  Where's the commentary?  Where are the Milton shorts?  It's nice to finally have an anamorphic transfer of this, and the extras that are on there are nice, but considering the following this film has, this disc is a disappointment.

---

Re: Begins Deluxe

I'll probably end up picking it up too.  I just want to see the Batmobile feature, etc.  I guess I have two versions of each of the LOTR movies, not too mention all the Star Wars we've bought over the years, so what's one more?

Yeah, but with LOTR and Star Wars, there were enough differences in the films to warrant owning the different releases.  With this, the films are exactly the same, so you'd be paying $25+ just for the extras.  I went through all the extras on disc two last night, and was really underwhelmed.  It's mostly just ten or twelve mini-featurettes, all less than fifteen minutes long each, without any kind of a "play all" function.  The way they're arranged on the disc is annoying (it's like a comic book, you've got to play around with the remote, going from page to page, trying to find things to click on).  And the featurettes are in widescreen, but non-anamorphic, which is annoying if you've got a 16x9 display.  And the lack of commentary or deleted scenes almost suggests that a better version might be coming, on down the line.

My suggestion would be to save yourself the cash, and just rent or borrow the Deluxe Edition.  You could get through all the extras in just two or three hours.  Unless you're a Bat-fanatic, and have to own everything, of course. . .

[Brian]

My suggestion would be to save yourself the cash, and just rent or borrow the Deluxe Edition.  You could get through all the extras in just two or three hours.  Unless you're a Bat-fanatic, and have to own everything, of course. . .

Thanks for the advice, that is something I've been thinking about doing too.  I couldn't bring myself to by the copy of the Deluxe version at Barnes and Noble for $32 because I didn't think the special features were worth $15 more to me, which is why re-buying it would seem silly too I guess.  I wouldn't mind seeing them, but maybe I'll just rent it like you mentioned to see them.  The fact that you say you were a little underwhelmed helps me not to worry that I'm missing too terribly much too.  The movie is the most important thing to have, and I've got that at least.  Like I said earlier, I still don't see (aside from the obvious "it makes us more money" standpoint) why they did seperate releases like this, where most major movies (for example: ROTS tomorrow) just have the two disc set as their normal release.  Anyways, thanks again for the info/advice.