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

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

#61 Post by John Johnson »

AndyDursin wrote:John
if it's a matter of saving $40+ I'm okay with it. Lol

I sold my German set so I might pick this up. I don't want cropped 16:9 transfers and you can always buy the movie Blu Ray for $5 if you need it (which I dont). The US release seems ridiculously overpriced.
I haven't made up my mind if I going to buy the original series or not. I used to follow it back in the day, but it's not something I have much of an interest in now.
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AndyDursin
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Re: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (and Galactica 1980) On Blu-Ray!

#62 Post by AndyDursin »

My Aussie set came in today and I'm happy I sold off my German release. This is a more conveniently packaged and attractive release, region free, though spartan in that it doesn't even have an episode guide.

If you only want the 4:3 transfers and want to save $40, I'd definitely pick it up -- still on sale at JBHifi as well.

https://www.jbhifi.com.au/movies-tv-sho ... es/644656/

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

#63 Post by Eric Paddon »

What about the bonus content from the original DVD release?

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

#64 Post by AndyDursin »

Eric, the deleted scenes and commentaries are all there, with the featurettes on the last disc -- I would almost guarantee these will be the exact same discs the U.S. is going to receive in a few months.

The sole element that's lacking is packaging - there's no guide to what episodes is on what discs. But on the other hand, if you want to save some $$ and don't mind it, this is a good deal.

The US Definitive set will have the 16:9 transfers plus the movie, but if you want the movie, you can just buy it separately for the $5-$7 going rate it fetches these days. And IMO there's not much use for the 16:9 crop jobs.

The German Blu-Ray release I had was produced basically the same way, but had a bonus DVD comprised of 2003 convention videos with various cast members. I wasn't that into it, so I sold it off.

JBHifi is very reliable and I had the set in about a week. With the exchange rate it's about $42, even with the shipping.

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

#65 Post by Eric Paddon »

The other question then is, what about PAL speedup? I despise that completely which is why the number of foreign region releases I have is very few, and when it comes to the Galactica music that's the ultimate dealbreaker.

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

#66 Post by AndyDursin »

It's HD -- no PAL speed up here. (Very, very few Blu-Rays released overseas are encoded in PAL, so most of the time, that's nothing to worry about).

Even the special features in standard def are NTSC encoded on this release which means it's been produced for international sale.

BTW the sale price is only good thru Sun 1/11

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

#67 Post by TomServo »

Not sure if Galactica fans here had seen news about the release of this book, called "Battlestar Galactica Vault":



I picked it up at the bookstore this week (yes, an actual brick & mortar bookstore!) and have enjoyed it. It does cover both the original and rebooted series and understandably, more space is devoted to the new series since it did run longer, have its own DVD movies and a prequel series. However, it's a comprehensive enough look that the original series is discussed in context of the reboot, plus the overall mythology explored by both. There are neat extras in the book such as pages from the original pilot script, art, behind-the-scenes photos and more. I know that BSG isn't a show that generates an unending stream of books, as with Star Wars and Star Trek, so I was happy to see this published and it's a nice lead-in to the upcoming Blu-ray release of the original.

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

#68 Post by John Johnson »

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

#69 Post by Eric Paddon »

I had to cancel my Blu-Ray order a couple weeks ago when I wondered if I was ever going to get paid but with a healthy infusion of funds now I reordered it (probably cost me $4 more as a result). Oddly, I had to replace my S2 Trek Blu-Ray just now when I saw a bad disc in the set ("Mirror, Mirror" freeze-up)

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

#70 Post by Eric Paddon »

Got my set and watched "Saga" in the correct 4:3 set. I think image wise I can see more detail on this but my goodness the menu screen is the WORST I have ever seen for any Blu-Ray or DVD release, with a confusing interface that uses symbols instead of plain English and then when I figured out which symbol was for the "Episodes" option these people don't give you the episode title they give it to you in numbers, which confused me because at first it seemed like a chapter heading option. It looked like a menu screen from a foreign region release frankly.

The TV version of Saga has one change to it that has never been present at all in the TV cut before. For the scene where the Ovion and the Cylon exchange words the Ovion dialogue is subtitled. The TV cut *never* subtitled this exchange before (I even have an ABC recording to prove that) but the scene in the theatrical cut did subtitle it.

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

#71 Post by AndyDursin »

Got my set and watched "Saga" in the correct 4:3 set. I think image wise I can see more detail on this but my goodness the menu screen is the WORST I have ever seen for any Blu-Ray or DVD release, with a confusing interface that uses symbols instead of plain English and then when I figured out which symbol was for the "Episodes" option these people don't give you the episode title they give it to you in numbers, which confused me because at first it seemed like a chapter heading option. It looked like a menu screen from a foreign region release frankly.
Exactly, that's because it IS the same release I bought from Australia for $40 back at Christmas. Those menus are produced for worldwide releases though they seldom come to the US.

I bet Universal put money in the widescreen set, which is exclusive to this country, so those menus are likely less basic. On the other hand, I'm not into 16:9 cropping for 4:3 if I have another option (which we do here!).

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

#72 Post by Eric Paddon »

Well that is a real gyp regarding the menus by porting over the foreign release to the US market when it comes to the proper format. I am absolutely opposed to the idea of reformatting material into something that removes part of the screen image because that is pan/scan in reverse. Shame on Universal for that.

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

#73 Post by AndyDursin »

To be fair to them, this package probably isn't going to sell huge numbers. I'm surprised they even released a version with multiple aspect ratios in the first place, so if they had to save money by just using the foreign release for the 4:3 transfers, I can understand it. It's all the same encoding/transfer/sound anyway on the foreign releases, just the menus are authored differently (at times).

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

#74 Post by John Johnson »

Universal has just sent over a statement regarding the missing content in both the Remastered Collection, and the Definitive Collection, which were released a few weeks ago:
There is missing footage during the episode, THE MAGNIFICENT WARRIORS, on disc 3 of the widescreen version of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA on both the Remastered Collection and Definitive Collection. The issue is being fixed and consumers can get a replacement disc by emailing USHEConsumerRelations@visionmediamgmt.com.

Consumers should include, "Battlestar Galactica Classic Collection: BD" in the subject line of their email and the following text in the body of the email, "I would like to receive a replacement disc for (Disc 3, Episode "The Magnificent Warriors")."

Within 24-48 hours, consumers will get a response asking for their mailing address in the United States or Canada. Shortly thereafter, they will receive a postage-paid envelope for them to mail in their disc with the missing footage from THE MAGNIFICENT WARRIORS. 2-3 weeks later they will receive a replacement disc with the complete episode.
Excellent job by Universal for identifying the problem, and setting up a replacement program so quickly.


http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Battle ... info/21172
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Eric Paddon
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Re: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (and Galactica 1980) On Blu-Ray!

#75 Post by Eric Paddon »

Since I had no intention of ever watching the widescreen version I'm not going to bother. If they did it like the Batman people did where you didn't have to send in the old disc, I'd feel different but they overcomplicate things too much there. (this is how I didn't end up with that replacement disc for Bionic Woman. They never even acknowledged the e-mail I tried to send for replacement info!)

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