dx23

Tvshowsondvd.com is reporting that Acorn Media will release the Series 1 of the UK version of Life on Mars in July. More info here:

http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Life-Mars-Series-1/11423

Hopefully, Buena Vista releases the now cancelled US version around the same time and on Blu-ray.

chase3001

Too bad they didn't release this in blu-ray. I guess i'll have to go ahead and buy the UK blu-ray versions.

Easy

Holy shit! I think they just set a new "greed" record. $60 for eight (8) episodes in SD. No thanks.

marty888

If you can accomodate R2 discs, you can grab Series 1 and Series 2 for about $15 each series at Amazon UK, based on current exchange rates.

Damfino

The high price might be due to the cost of clearing all of the music. I hope so, because that would be the only rational excuse for this.

The Valeyard

Back in August, I imported the R2 versions of Season 1 & 2 for 48 bucks. I'm sure it'd be even cheaper now.

DJariya

I actually think FOX has the rights to the U.S. version. ABC Studios is just a co-producer of it.

theWitcher

The UK Contender versions didn't clear all the music from the BBC broadcast versions. But -- hopefully -- this version at least clears all the music from those DVD versions.

Rypro 525

well to be fair, it be a 5 disc set if they'd essentially copy the UK dvd. which i own

Rizor

Hmmm. Comes out on my birthday. But I picked up the UK versions about two months back.

jjcool

$60 bucks does seem a bit steep. We're talking HBO steep. I will ahve to see what the sale prices are like closer to the release date.

Giles

word is that the UK version is vastly superior to the US version. Looking forward to renting this from Netflix.

Ted Kontos

A vast understatement. One of my favorite series ever (UK version, of course)!
As is its spinoff series "Ashes to Ashes".

Easy

I found I could flash my player's firmware to make it multiregion and I did just that. Both series are on the way. Thanks for the tip.

Torchur317

Don't believe the hype, The U.S. version is much better....

macnorton

I checked this out...there were a total of 8 songs from the first series (Lou Reed, and about 5 Deep Purple songs that got replaced...don't recall the other two). Series two had a total of two replacements, which isn't bad.

From what I read, if you didn't see the show first run, you might not even notice it.

Easy

Yeah, I thought long and hard about jumping in but I saw that a couple Deep Purple songs were replaced by Uriah Heep which was a legit 70s band. At least they didn't just dump in crap generic elevator music. Besides, I have serious doubts the Region 1 will do any better and it will certainly be far more expensive.
It might also be worth mentioning here that according to several forums I've read the blu-ray was not taken from an HD source.

Ted Kontos

Yeah, and Bea Arthur's version of Fawlty Towers whipped the pants off of John Cleese's original, too!

macnorton

I agree at least some effort was put in to make it work, rather then generic crap to replace it. When I was looking up series 2, a Tom Waits song had been replaced and I got a chuckle. In the US version one oc the characters mentions it and no song was played when the flashback scene came up. But all in all a total of 10 songs throughout the series isn't bad at all. i have the list, I will post it later.

The Blu-ray is a different story. From what I read, it was filed in 16MM but all the effects were done in SD. So there is a possibility to have a decent HD image from 16MM footage, but with the effects they would simply be up-converted.

Rizor

The replacements aren't bad at all. But my personal favorite use of music from the show, besides the title song by Bowie, was "Wild Horses" by The Rolling Stones in episode 4. When I first got the series on DVD, I instantly put on that episode and was disappointed to see it wasn't there.

But they still managed to keep songs by The Who, Paul McCartney, and all the Bowie songs. So it's not a complete loss.

BTW, this is a good guide of the music from the show and the songs that were replaced.
http://domeofstars.com/forum/index.p...=1519.msg45359

Giles

I of course watched the first episode of 'Ashes to Ashes' and the ending of 'Life on Mars' was ruined

Easy

Life on Mars sets arrived and I have to say I am very pleased with the purchase. I can't stop watching... the show is superb.

dx23

The Complete UK Series of Life on Mars (Seasons 1 and 2) is going to be released July 6.

http://www.amazon.com/Life-Mars-UK-C...-wl_item-added

calhoun07

Are the Blu-Ray imports able to be played on any US Blu-Ray player/TV? I've heard the international Blu-Rays are region free but then I see some titles listing region code letters and I know my Samsung Blu-Ray player is NOT region free as it will not play my region two DVDs.

dx23

I just saw that too on Amazon and was going to ask the same. They are UK releases.