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AMAZON-Farscape Complete Series $57.99

Old 12-03-09, 07:01 AM
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Re: AMAZON-Farscape Complete Series $57.99

Originally Posted by Josh-da-man
The new Farscape release has most of the material that was on the Starburst sets, but not all of it.

From a review at The Digital Bits:
Damn it. That's bull**** that A&E dropped so many extra features. Not to mention stamping the Dolby Surround logo on the start of every episode as well.

Mine is going back for a refund.
Old 12-03-09, 08:05 AM
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Re: AMAZON-Farscape Complete Series $57.99

If you already have the Starburst sets and prefer the additional extras then you are probably best sticking with it at this point. Selling them won't get nearly as much as they got over the summer. However, this is just one review guys. Another review said they were the same and someone else reported thinking they were better.

I sold my Starburst sets over the summer for $190 and happily purchased this set for $60. I viewed parts of the first episode last night and it looks the same to me. Maybe on a side to side comparison there might be slight difference but I doubt it would be noticeable under normal viewing circumstances. The video never was great but more then acceptable. I feel the new release falls into the same category. I watch on a 92" screen from 12' away so it isn't as if I couldn't notice flaws.

The Starburst edition was loaded w/extra's that I never got around to watching. I think the one's still included will be plenty for me.
Old 12-03-09, 02:23 PM
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Re: AMAZON-Farscape Complete Series $57.99

What I don't get is why A&E would go through the trouble of picking up the license for this show only to make a crappier release. They could have just ported everything over from the ADV discs instead of redoing all the discs using worse transfers.
Old 12-03-09, 02:47 PM
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Re: AMAZON-Farscape Complete Series $57.99

Originally Posted by Josh-da-man
The new Farscape release has most of the material that was on the Starburst sets, but not all of it.

From a review at The Digital Bits:
Thanks for posting the link.

I hate when companies do crap like this, and drop material.
Old 12-03-09, 04:33 PM
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Re: AMAZON-Farscape Complete Series $57.99

Originally Posted by WillardC
What I don't get is why A&E would go through the trouble of picking up the license for this show only to make a crappier release. They could have just ported everything over from the ADV discs instead of redoing all the discs using worse transfers.
Have you compared the two releases yourself? Have you even watched an episode from the new release? If you have and don't like what you see then you absolutely should return them. If not, how can you judge the transfer.

I have yet to see anyone complain about the transfers that had the older Starburst as well. The Digital Bits reviewer states the Starburst are better, but "not by too much". What does that mean? Would someone even be able to tell a difference during normal viewing.

They also say they crammed 88 episodes in 26 disks that were once 48 disks. Well, I would ask what the heck required 48 disks to hold 88 one hour episode in the first place? Disk one contains 4 epsiodes and 4 commentaries. The commentaries take up very little space. That's about 200 minutes on a single side of a dual layer disk. Pretty standard if you ask me.

If you want to call it crappy because they dropped some of the extra's then feel free to seek out the Starburst editions which on sale originally went for about $190. Personally, I think this is a steal for $60.
Old 12-03-09, 05:20 PM
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Re: AMAZON-Farscape Complete Series $57.99

Originally Posted by bsmith
If you want to call it crappy because they dropped some of the extra's then feel free to seek out the Starburst editions which on sale originally went for about $190. Personally, I think this is a steal for $60.
+1. I was going to say that it was probably a cost issue, and if it were a higher SRP then people would complain about that too. Your choice whether you want to buy or not.
Old 12-03-09, 06:53 PM
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Re: AMAZON-Farscape Complete Series $57.99

I *almost* sold my Starburst collection to make a few bucks and pick this up when it was first announced. I chose to wait for the initial verdict/reviews. After reading several I'm glad I waited for no other reasons than the slightly better picture, the better audio mix, and the sub-titles. The extra "extras" on the Starburst sets are nice to have *but* I typically don't watch them unless they are deleted scenes and rarely revisit extras I've viewed simply because I have too much unwatched product to waste on stuff like this.

That said... If you *don't* already own Farscape in any version you'd be crazy to pass up this series at such a great price!

Even though it's priced as such it's hard to see this as a "fire sale" to unload a sub-par product (when compared to prior releases) as A&E *rarely* puts CC or sub-titles on *any* title and the "best" extras *are* on this set (based on reviews). While I think lack of CC or sub-titles is shortsided and ignores a fairly sizeable potential consumer segment it's something I've come to accept from A&E releases. I'd not let that stop me picking up this set unless I fully depended on them for viewing enjoyment.
Old 12-03-09, 08:17 PM
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Re: AMAZON-Farscape Complete Series $57.99

My initial reaction is a little irked that this set doesn't have all the extras. But like BobO, I actually don't watch too many extras on these megasets, just getting all the content is good for me. More content (PKW) and deleted scenes/gag reels are about the only things I'm interested in.

*Maybe* the text based things like bios, backstories, and Cool Facts (nice name there), but I honestly wouldn't watch the rest of them. So for the price, and the space saving, and having everything in one package, I'm satisfied.

If the video quality is lesser, that will definitely be disappointing, however.
Old 12-03-09, 09:17 PM
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Re: AMAZON-Farscape Complete Series $57.99

Well, my quick count of my Starburst sets adds up to 46 discs. How much compression went into the complete set to fit it all onto 26 discs?
Old 12-03-09, 09:52 PM
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Re: AMAZON-Farscape Complete Series $57.99

Shoot, I was tempted by this and listed my Starburst sets to sell, now it's OOS to purchase
Old 12-03-09, 10:00 PM
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Re: AMAZON-Farscape Complete Series $57.99

Originally Posted by starman9000
Shoot, I was tempted by this and listed my Starburst sets to sell, now it's OOS to purchase
It's in stock right now. Search for "Farscape: The Complete Series".
Old 12-03-09, 10:15 PM
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Re: AMAZON-Farscape Complete Series $57.99

Originally Posted by david2708
Well, my quick count of my Starburst sets adds up to 46 discs. How much compression went into the complete set to fit it all onto 26 discs?
Well considering that the remastered Star Trek the Original Series disks are dual layer and fit 4 one hour episodes per disk (same as Farscape new complete set), I'd say quite possibly the same amount of compression as those. I suppose that means that regardless of the reviews, the remastered Star Trek TOS must be overly compressed crap.

Honestly, forget the disk count. It is has absolutely no bearing on the video quality in this case. Including 4 episodes per dual layer disk is perfectly fine. As I said before, the more interesting question is why they felt the need to spread the Starburst sets across 46 disks.

I have captured some episodes of shows off of TV and encoded them for DVD. I can pretty much make an hour long episode fill an entire disk if I want but it doesn't make the output visibly any better. It all depends on the quality of the source to begin with. With the quality I can capture, I can fit 5 one hour episodes on a single layer DVD with no visible degradation then if I encoded one episode to fill the entire disk.

Now take the excellent video quality of the Star Trek episodes. They look pristine based on compression that fits 4 episodes per dual layer disk. Lets face it, Farscape from the beginning never looked as good as Star Trek does now, so there is no reason to think that fitting 4 episodes of it per dual layer disk will cause any harm.
Old 12-03-09, 10:25 PM
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Re: AMAZON-Farscape Complete Series $57.99

If somebody here wants to look at their Starburst sets and check the files sizes of the VOB's for the first 4 episodes and possibly even check the bitrate, I would be willing to do the same for the new complete series. The transfers are obviously at least a little different due to the Dolby logo at the beginning so we really can't compare that. But based on file size and bitrate we should be able to determine if any additional compression has come into play.
Old 12-03-09, 10:43 PM
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Re: AMAZON-Farscape Complete Series $57.99

Originally Posted by TheBigDave
It's in stock right now. Search for "Farscape: The Complete Series".
Woops I meant to post this in the Walmart/Bing thread.

I suppose after tax at Walmart, it's not much different getting it from Amazon instead so I should just do that.
Old 12-03-09, 10:46 PM
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Re: AMAZON-Farscape Complete Series $57.99

But isn't WalMart's BCB 20% right now? Unless you're in NY or CA, you're probably paying less than 20% tax, right?
Old 12-03-09, 11:03 PM
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Re: AMAZON-Farscape Complete Series $57.99

Originally Posted by kenbuzz
But isn't WalMart's BCB 20% right now? Unless you're in NY or CA, you're probably paying less than 20% tax, right?
Yes, but it's not available at Walmart right now, so I could order at Amazon get it in 2 days and be done for 57.99. Or hold off and hope it comes back in stock at Walmart while the price is still low and the 20% off deal is still on.
Old 12-03-09, 11:57 PM
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Re: AMAZON-Farscape Complete Series $57.99

My two cents: If the original Starburst editions had more extras, I'm OK with that. People that bought those earlier DVD's paid a lot more for them then I paid for the new complete series set. I think it's actually a nice homage from the publishers to the people that bought the earlier editions for them to have more goodies.

Last edited by Rob052067; 12-04-09 at 04:08 AM.
Old 12-04-09, 12:32 AM
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Re: AMAZON-Farscape Complete Series $57.99

Originally Posted by bsmith
Well considering that the remastered Star Trek the Original Series disks are dual layer and fit 4 one hour episodes per disk (same as Farscape new complete set), I'd say quite possibly the same amount of compression as those. I suppose that means that regardless of the reviews, the remastered Star Trek TOS must be overly compressed crap.
Yeah, almost all television shows do four hour-long episodes per disc. All Treks, Babylon 5, Buffy, Angel, Firefly, X-Files, 24, Lost, Alias... all of these do 4/disc.

This shouldn't really be an issue with regards to quality.
Old 12-04-09, 10:56 AM
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Originally Posted by Anono
Wow it was in my gold box deals as well. I HAD to go ahead and get this. I hope this sells well enough to get made into a blu set.
FWIW, it isn't likely that Farscape will get a Blu-ray Disc release anytime soon, according to this post by bsmith:
Originally Posted by bsmith
As for a Blu-ray release ever coming in the future, I wouldn't count on it. Like many shows the CGI effects apparently were added after the it was converted to video (in this case PAL). So the only options would be to try to upconvert the PAL to HD giving something a bit better then what we currently have (but not true HD), or redo all the CGI in HD and add it to an HD master.

This coming from Henson:

"Henson: You're the first person who's asked us about that. We have had inquiries, so I'll just a"nswer it honestly. There is a version of Farscape that is better resolution than what anybody in America has ever seen, because we shot on the British-Australian video format which is PAL, 625 lines of resolution. So it has better color resolution and better image resolution than American broadcast television. It's isn't high-def, though. It's 625 as opposed to 720 or 1080. So there is something better than what people have seen on TV. So it would bump up to high def and look better than a regular DVD, much better, but it wouldn't look as good as what people would think of as high def. So I'm not sure whether anybody will ever want to do it. If we were to do a Blu-ray release, which I think should happen at some point, it's never going to be high, high-def resolution. But it will be better than what people have seen on DVD. So at some point I'm sure we will revisit a Blu-ray release. I think I once budgeted it and I think it was something over $4 million a season to actually go back and upgrade the effects to high def. And that was when we still had the film in vaults. ... So maybe for the 20th anniversary? "

At $4 million a season it would have to be of Star Trek TOS following to warrant the expense to put out that kind of release.
Enjoy Farscape on DVD, that's probably the best we're going to get for the foreseeable future.
Old 12-04-09, 11:03 AM
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Re: AMAZON-Farscape Complete Series $57.99

Originally Posted by lizard
FWIW, it isn't likely that Farscape will get a Blu-ray Disc release anytime soon, according to this post by bsmith:Enjoy Farscape on DVD, that's probably the best we're going to get for the foreseeable future.
Same reason that Star Trek: TNG, DS9, and Voyager probably won't see a Blu release, correct?
Old 12-04-09, 11:35 AM
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Re: AMAZON-Farscape Complete Series $57.99

Originally Posted by NCC1701E
Same reason that Star Trek: TNG, DS9, and Voyager probably won't see a Blu release, correct?
Actually those are even worse, the shows were transferred to Tape then edited so they would have to re-edit all the shows as well from the film. That's assuming they have even kept it around and it was stored in decent shape.
Old 12-04-09, 11:51 AM
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Re: AMAZON-Farscape Complete Series $57.99

Originally Posted by Drahksenzu
Actually those are even worse, the shows were transferred to Tape then edited so they would have to re-edit all the shows as well from the film. That's assuming they have even kept it around and it was stored in decent shape.
I've held off buying TNG, DS9, and Voyager in hopes that new releases would come out, but I guess it's unlikely.
Old 12-04-09, 01:34 PM
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Re: AMAZON-Farscape Complete Series $57.99

Originally Posted by NCC1701E
I've held off buying TNG, DS9, and Voyager in hopes that new releases would come out, but I guess it's unlikely.
Oh yee of little faith....never underestimate the desire of Paramount to make a quick buck.

I guarantee that they will (if they haven't already) hired a bunch of goons to upscale these to 1080p with whatever magic algorithms they concoct all for the purpose of re-releasing these on Blu-Ray. It's not a matter of if, just when.......
Old 12-04-09, 02:48 PM
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Re: AMAZON-Farscape Complete Series $57.99

Originally Posted by cheapdvdho
Oh yee of little faith....never underestimate the desire of Paramount to make a quick buck.

I guarantee that they will (if they haven't already) hired a bunch of goons to upscale these to 1080p with whatever magic algorithms they concoct all for the purpose of re-releasing these on Blu-Ray. It's not a matter of if, just when.......
It is a matter of ROI. So it being the Star Trek world I can see it eventually getting done, but not anytime soon. I imagine as the implementation of CGI continues to get cheaper and as long as the original film is in good shape. But I think it is wishful thinking to get in the next decade.
Old 12-14-09, 01:44 AM
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Re: AMAZON-Farscape Complete Series $57.99

It's been this price for at least 2 weeks now - and it FINALLY shows up in my Gold Box tonight. However, after tax it was still $58. Still, tax was the big factor that kept me from buying at this price. Only saw bits of the show when it aired on SciFi. I always thought it looked great, but it wasn't the kind of show you could jump into mid-season. I liked what I saw, but couldn't really follow the plot.

Part of me wanted to wait because A&E product is often drastically discounted - though not usually this soon - and I thought it might go even cheaper one day. But in the end, I got paranoid I would miss out. Case in point: the most recent Monty Python Megaset came out last November with the same MSRP as this set. It got as low as $45 on Buy.com, but now appears out-of-print on Amazon and a copy cannot be found for under $100 on Half.com. Getting the complete Farscape for $65 (after buying the mini-series) seems like a solid (semi) blind buy.

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