BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (and Galactica 1980) On Blu-Ray!

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AndyDursin
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Re: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (and Galactica 1980) On Blu-Ray!

#16 Post by AndyDursin »

sprocket wrote:Per Amazon, 10 disks on the German release vs. 9 on the UK version ... we'll have to see what the differences are.
The 10th German disc is a DVD with lots of extras on there. I'll dig it out and see.

John Johnson
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Re: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (and Galactica 1980) On Blu-Ray!

#17 Post by John Johnson »

I found this on youtube. Listed as The ABC Sunday Night Movie.

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Re: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (and Galactica 1980) On Blu-Ray!

#18 Post by John Johnson »

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Re: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (and Galactica 1980) On Blu-Ray!

#19 Post by John Johnson »

We’ve confirmed with Universal Studios Home Entertainment that they are going to be releasing the classic Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series on Blu-ray here in the States in the months ahead. Very likely this is going to be a Region A/English version of the same set that’s been available in German for months now (and which we reviewed here on The Bits). We’re told to expect an official announcement sometime before the end of the year, which would mean the street date is likely to be sometime early in 2015. Rest assured, we’ll keep you all up to date.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/columns/m ... 11114_1115
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AndyDursin
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Re: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (and Galactica 1980) On Blu-Ray!

#20 Post by AndyDursin »

People still read Digital Bits? Most of the "news" comes from message boards. lol

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Re: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (and Galactica 1980) On Blu-Ray!

#21 Post by John Johnson »

AndyDursin wrote:People still read Digital Bits? Most of the "news" comes from message boards. lol
Sometimes. :D
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DavidBanner

Re: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (and Galactica 1980) On Blu-Ray!

#22 Post by DavidBanner »

I regularly check the The Digital Bits, and I've met Bill Hunt. Found him to be a decent, enthusiastic guy who genuinely loves this material. It's true that his enthusiasm sometimes overrides what should be obvious realities (he hopes past hope that somehow an Abyss or True Lies is pending anytime soon). But I haven't seen any issues with him being chronically unreliable or problematic.

Regarding BSG, it sounds like Universal is simply bringing the same Blu-ray set to the US as was available in Europe. I had an order out for the UK set but it got postponed. So the issue now is whether or not all the extras will carry over - if they do, this is a nice little set to pick up. The only weirdness is what Bill Hunt noted as the Galactica 1980 episodes having the BSG titles on them.

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Re: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (and Galactica 1980) On Blu-Ray!

#23 Post by AndyDursin »

I never said he was unreliable (okay he's been wrong year after year about True Lies and The Abyss lol) or that he wasn't a good guy. More that most of his scoops these days come out of material leaked or discussed on message boards...or is mere common sense like BSG. I wrote a year ago this would come out in the US once it started popping up in multiple European territories. The German release was it's own thing but clearly the UK edition was the writing on the wall for a release in most major outlets.

Universals international discs are mostly reprisals of the US editions with minor alterations and vice versa so I'd expect it to be identical to whatever shows up in the UK.

He used to have all kinds of scoops but they seemed to have slowed down. Kind of like the TVshowsondvd guy who once posted a news article after I emailed him about an Amazon listing (with no credit given of course lol).

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Re: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (and Galactica 1980) On Blu-Ray!

#24 Post by DavidBanner »

I agree that the scoops for pretty much everybody have slowed down over the past few years - mainly because the sheer amount of releases has been slowing down, and I think because nearly all of the "Grail" titles have already come out in one form or another. Not too much left to scoop about for any of the sites.

But Bill Hunt has certainly gotten information out when he can - in the current situation most of what he does seems to me to be disseminating press release material as it gets to him. Not too much in the "rumor mill" area anymore.

The wishful thinking about The Abyss and True Lies seems to stem from many fans really hoping that James Cameron will take some time to work on those titles, and that Fox will put some money into them. Sadly, that doesn't seem to be the case - partly due to those being older titles now, and partly due to Cameron not having much enthusiasm to spend time revisiting them rather than focusing on his new movies. To be fair to everyone, Cameron has had 5 years since Avatar came out, and during that time he could have spent maybe a week looking over new transfers of those two movies if he really wanted to. But he clearly doesn't want to - or at least doesn't feel it's that much of a priority. And that's his call.

The real attraction to sites like The Digital Bits and the others over the past 16 years has really been about everyone wanting to know about new DVDs coming out and about their various "Grail" titles that were being held back. There was a time when I used to check multiple sites for updates on multiple fronts, but those days are long behind me now. We've entered a world where the newer movies aren't as interesting, and the most noteworthy releases tend to come from Criterion, Shout Factory or Twilight Time. Once in a blue moon we'll get a specialty release like My Fair Lady, but that's quite few and far between nowadays.

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Re: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (and Galactica 1980) On Blu-Ray!

#25 Post by AndyDursin »

Not too much in the "rumor mill" area anymore.
Yeah that's what I was referring to. His site used to be a major destination for people interested in the medium. The other day was the first time I had visited it in literally months.
The wishful thinking about The Abyss and True Lies seems to stem from many fans really hoping that James Cameron will take some time to work on those titles, and that Fox will put some money into them.
Hunt has, at least a few times, written from time to time that "they're being worked on." Of course this has gone back to 2008, 2009, 2010...over and over. He's been wrong every time...or his "sources" have been.

It just makes no sense that TRUE LIES, especially, is not on Blu-Ray. THE ABYSS did just okay back in '89 but TRUE LIES was one of the biggest hits of the mid 90s and one of Arnold's biggest hits altogether. Either way, these aren't films from the 1950s that are going to require a lot of restorative work. They've aired in HDTV, there are masters out there. They don't even need to put a lot of money into them. They could just release whatever master they have lying around and call it a day like they have with so many catalog titles. It's just...bizarre...especially when you realize crap like CHAIN REACTION, SPEED 2 and SHOWGIRLS are all out from that era!
Sadly, that doesn't seem to be the case - partly due to those being older titles now, and partly due to Cameron not having much enthusiasm to spend time revisiting them rather than focusing on his new movies. To be fair to everyone, Cameron has had 5 years since Avatar came out, and during that time he could have spent maybe a week looking over new transfers of those two movies if he really wanted to. But he clearly doesn't want to - or at least doesn't feel it's that much of a priority. And that's his call.
I guess it is but why should it be "his call"? I don't see why Fox should have to sit on a Blu-Ray of TRUE LIES because Cameron doesn't want it out there...it's their movie, they paid for it, shouldn't they be able to release it as they see fit? I understand there's give and take there because they're bankrolling his life at this point never mind his Avatar-Land sequels, and he's busy taking trips down to the bottom of the ocean that were subsidized by his "Dances With Smurfs" fantasy, so they'll do what he wants...but it is ridiculous that TRUE LIES isn't out there. I mean, he's not even writing these AVATAR sequels, would it kill him to spend 10 minutes looking at a transfer and approving it?

It's kind of the same thing with the original STAR WARS. Obviously Fox always wanted to bow down to Lucas and do whatever he wanted in the past since they had a working relationship with him and distributed the sequels/prequels. So they only kept his Special Edition edit in circulation, even though with the original 1977 film, they own it, it's their movie. And now that they don't have any relationship with Lucasfilm and the rest of the franchise is with Disney with Lucas having nothing really to do with any of it -- what's stopping Fox from releasing the original '77 release version? And why should they care if Lucas doesn't like it now? Just release it already, there is a huge audience waiting to buy it.

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Re: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (and Galactica 1980) On Blu-Ray!

#26 Post by Eric Paddon »

Regarding "True Lies" has anyone ever considered the underlying political correctness that might keep it from being released? It was one of the few films Hollywood has made that chose to treat Arab terrorists as......Arab terrorists.

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Re: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (and Galactica 1980) On Blu-Ray!

#27 Post by AndyDursin »

Eric Paddon wrote:Regarding "True Lies" has anyone ever considered the underlying political correctness that might keep it from being released? It was one of the few films Hollywood has made that chose to treat Arab terrorists as......Arab terrorists.
This is also true, though the fact that THE ABYSS is also sidelined would seem to indicate it extends beyond that. Who knows, your guess is as good as mine though Eric!

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Re: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (and Galactica 1980) On Blu-Ray!

#28 Post by Monterey Jack »

Wasn't True Lies intended to be a "four-star" special edition DVD in 2002, only to be cancelled in the immediate wake of 9/11? I could understand pulling it from the schedule back then, but it's been THIRTEEN YEARS...I think enough time has passed for Cameron's rather silly terrorist action/comedy to not offend anyone.

The Abyss' current limbo state makes NO sense to me, however.

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Re: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (and Galactica 1980) On Blu-Ray!

#29 Post by AndyDursin »

I agree, and TRUE LIES is a cartoony, Bond-like film where nothing ought to be taken TOO seriously -- but Cameron has also grown increasingly liberal in recent years, so it's possible he's afraid of "ethnic sensitivity" like the rest of Hollywood and might be ashamed of it now. Even if AlQeada/ISIS is #1 on the world's enemies list, you'd never know it from the bad European/"evil white guys" Hollywood turns out in movies like the recent Jack Ryan, Bond, Mission Impossible films -- or a movie like NON STOP where one of the vllains is a 9/11 survivor and PTSD-stressed American soldier. Ripped right out of today's headlines, right? lol :roll:

DavidBanner

Re: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (and Galactica 1980) On Blu-Ray!

#30 Post by DavidBanner »

Just to catch up a bit, as I've been busy at work today and couldn't chime in.

As I understand it from Van Ling's comments a few years back at Home Theater Forum, it is up to James Cameron to approve Blu-ray masters for his movies, and I believe that it is in his contracts with Fox and whoever else he works with that he has final say on such things. What I think has happened in the case of True Lies and The Abyss is a combination of him not really wanting to take the time to delve back into them, and of Fox not wanting to spend the dough he would like them to spend to make it worth his time, in his opinion. I can't prove that, but the bizarre display that happened at the recent Terminator 30th Anniversary screening indicates that both Fox and Cameron think the ball is in each other's court. Either way, we're not likely to see the movies come out on Blu any time soon.

Personally, I'm not that big a fan of True Lies. I found it frankly boring and repetitive. A good friend of mine who always went to Schwarzenegger movies on their opening weekend actually fell asleep and began snoring loudly toward the middle of the movie. He was finally awakened by one of the explosions in the finale. I actually think The Abyss is a more interesting story, although it finally drowns under its own weight in the final ten minutes of the movie. Neither is a particularly great movie.

Andy is right that True Lies made a lot of money in 1994, but I wouldn't say it was the most profitable movie of Schwarzenegger's career. Because True Lies cost at least 115 million, due to Cameron, as usual, spending money like there was no tomorrow. T2 cost nearly as much, at 100 million, but it made a lot more than True Lies, for obvious reasons. That said, Andy is also correct that there is a whole pile of dreck available on Blu but not these movies. No argument there.

To ask why it should be Cameron's call whether his movies get put out on Blu-ray is a strange notion. It's his call because he has the clout to have it in his contract, or to have it understood by the studio that it would be a BAD idea to put something out on video without his involvement. By the same consideration, nobody puts out Spielberg's movies without his involvement. You just don't do it. Because you can argue that it was all Fox's money that made Cameron's movies, but then you'd have to forget that it was Cameron who actually made them. Fox bankrolls many movies every year, and many of them don't make the kind of money that Cameron's movies make and have made. Cameron's track record, in terms of box office successes, has meant that Fox has no problem agreeing to go with what he wants, within reason. In the case of these movies, it's quite clear that the two sides aren't seeing eye to eye, and that whatever Fox is willing to do is not meeting with Cameron's approval, in addition to his obvious lack of enthusiasm for revisiting them.

I'm not sure where the idea of Fox bankrolling Cameron's lifestyle came from - he's plenty wealthy at this point whether Fox goes belly up or not. It's true he gets people to finance his deep sea dives as justifications for further documentaries and reality shows. But he's been doing that since Titanic, to be fair. And I don't know about Cameron's politics, nor do I care about them. I know that as a filmmaker, he's been consistent throughout his career for usually trying push the boundaries of what can be accomplished with current technology, even if his stories have been derivative or clichéd. I think he's a great technician - probably the most successful example of a model builder turned director we have. It is unfortunate that he insists on writing the scripts to his movies, as I don't believe he's ever shown much talent in that area. But I can't argue with his prowess in making bigger and bigger bangs. My suspicion is that he will finally spend too much money one of these days on a movie that nobody wants to see - and when that happens, his stock will plummet accordingly. In the meantime, he is enjoying what may be the longest luck streak I think we've ever seen in Hollywood.

Regarding Star Wars and George Lucas, Andy is correct to note that Fox respected his wishes about how he wanted the movies released on home video, particularly after they continued to make money even from the prequels. As a fan of the original Star Wars trilogy going back to 1977, I'd be very happy to see the original theatrical cuts made available on Blu-ray - and we may very well see some cheap 2K scans of those versions made available by Disney as bonus material on the inevitable trilogy re-releases we'll see when JJ Abrams' attempt at a Star Wars movie is inflicted in either late 2015 or May 2016. I expect them to be part of individual movie releases of each of the six existing movies, where one of the new bonuses that will be offered will be HD transfers of the original trilogy. This will be similar to what happened with the 2006 individual DVD releases - only this time, the movies won't just be in the little box in the middle of the screen, and you'll see all the various VFX problems in 2K HD.

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