Fawlty Towers Remastered DVD Collection $21.99 at Amazon

[Manzana]

This is the lowest it has been (by a whopping $2) at Amazon so far:

http://www.amazon.com/Fawlty-Towers-.../dp/B002LFPAUC

I wasn't sure if many people would care or if it needs its own thread, but for some reason there is no Amazon DVD Bargains thread (just Blu-Rays) so I thought... why not.

BTW, I own the old "Complete" collection set which does not have the John Cleese audio commentaries and 2009 interviews, as well as no Spanish subtitles. I'd be VERY grateful if anyone who owns this new Remastered set could confirm something: does this set have Spanish subtitles?

The box cover only shows English, and there are mixed reviews. Some reviews say there are Spanish subtitles and others say there are English only. So I need someone to actually put a DVD in the player and make sure there really are Spanish subtitles. Thanks.

[davidh777]

BBC rarely does Spanish subtitles

[flansered]

Does the set have any improvement in video quality over the first release?

[Manzana]

Originally Posted by flansered

Does the set have any improvement in video quality over the first release?

I wanted to know that too. In fact, on other Internet sites there was a little discussion of this, and when this question was asked it went unanswered. What you mostly get in a Fawlty Towers DVD set sale thread is quotes of lines from the series rather than any facts on the product.

If you read various reviews off DVD-Basen, there is an amazing abundance of the following line (paraphrased) "I didn't have access to the previous DVD set to do a comparison of the video or audio quality". I finally confirmed there are no Spanish subtitles on the new set despite at least 2 reviews saying the new set had those. I won't call those reviews liars... just lazybutts who don't check what they cut & paste.

http://www.dvd-basen.dk/uk/home.php3...1&land=z&ok=go

AFAIK, besides the packaging there are only 3 differences between the new and old sets:
- There are 12 John Cleese audio commentaries
- There are roughly 38 minutes of 2009 interviews.
- The new set has 3 DVD-9 instead of 3 DVD-5 discs. Critical info such as whether or not the extra space is utilized by new transfers at a higher bit rate are of course not mentioned in any reviews nor anywhere to be found on Google. For all I know, the extra space might only be used by the extra Cleese commentaries on each episode and the new interviews.

The opened old set is worth squat as a trade-in... maybe $5 at FYE, $7 (probably lower now) on Amazon, or $8 on eBay. Until then, I'm not ordering because $21.99 is too much for 12 commentaries and 38 minutes of interviews (as much as I'd really like to hear those). Too bad that material can't be rented at Blockbuster or Netflix who only carry the old discs.

For me to re-buy the price needs to drop further or I need to know that the video transfer on the Remastered set is significantly better.

[jwstl]

Originally Posted by flansered

Does the set have any improvement in video quality over the first release?

Yes. That's why this is set has "Remastered" in the title. In the addition to the new extras, the video has been improved from the previous set. It's never going to look great but any improvement is appreciated.

http://www.bbcamericashop.com/dvd/fa...ion-15371.html

[Manzana]

Originally Posted by jwstl

Yes. That's why this is set has "Remastered" in the title. In the addition to the new extras, the video has been improved from the previous set. It's never going to look great but any improvement is appreciated.

I've learned not to trust the words "remastered" or "improved video" that much. I suppose if I could see screen capture comparisons I might be convinced... or even if someone who owns the new set could say how much space is occupied by the video of each episode (or even the average bitrate) then I could compare to my old set and might give in and buy the new set. But like you said the episodes are never going to look great, so how much better will these be than the old set I already have? They'll probably never get a Blu-Ray release because with old 480 line resolution masters they'd probably look even worse.

DVD Beaver does version comparisons with screen captures for popular movies, but sadly Fawlty Towers would never get that.

[kenbenobi]

I upgraded mine when Amazon had this for about this same price a year or so ago. To me, it was worth it at the time. I actually flipped my old set on Ebay for like $22, which obviously isn't the going rate right now...

[Manzana]

Originally Posted by kenbenobi

I upgraded mine when Amazon had this for about this same price a year or so ago. To me, it was worth it at the time. I actually flipped my old set on Ebay for like $22, which obviously isn't the going rate right now...

Did you notice an improvement in picture or audio quality between the old vs. new sets?

It's amazing how fast prices drop on eBay on things I want to get rid of. Someday I need to sell off my sealed BDs of Life and Band of Brothers before they become nearly worthless. If I'm lucky (which I'm usually not) I might get back almost what I paid.

[kenbenobi]

Originally Posted by Manzana

Did you notice an improvement in picture or audio quality between the old vs. new sets?

It's amazing how fast prices drop on eBay on things I want to get rid of. Someday I need to sell off my sealed BDs of Life and Band of Brothers before they become nearly worthless. If I'm lucky (which I'm usually not) I might get back almost what I paid.

I noticed an improvement in picture, but really didn't pay much attention to audio on a television program that old. I watched it when I first bought it, but haven't touched it since. Can I justify spending $20 to upgrade? Tough call. If you are a huge fan of the series and plan to watch it more than once, probably yes. But is it absolutely necessary to upgrade? Probably not. The old set is watchable, and good enough. Even the remastered set is never going to look good like TV shows of today (obviously).

[Uatu]

For those interested, there is a line of dialogue missing in the original set. In "The Kipper and the Corpse" the part where Basil asks Mr. Lehman "Is it your legs?" was removed for some unknown reason. That bit of dialogue is intact in the remastered version. That and the Cleese commentaries were reason enough for me to upgrade to the remastered version.

[Manzana]

Originally Posted by Uatu

For those interested, there is a line of dialogue missing in the original set. In "The Kipper and the Corpse" the part where Basil asks Mr. Lehman "Is it your legs?" was removed for some unknown reason. That bit of dialogue is intact in the remastered version. That and the Cleese commentaries were reason enough for me to upgrade to the remastered version.

What did you do with your old, opened set? If you find a place to get rid of it for $15-ish, let me know. If you are able to sell it on eBay, I'd like to know how much you end up with. Yes, I should just log in and check completed auctions, but from the few auctions I see and the Buy It Now prices, I think it would require luck to net even $10.