Gizmo

Anyone? This comes out a week from today, and I havn't heard anything on it.

Adam Tyner

Fox initially sent reviewers a 2-DVD version with just the first and sixth of the set. DVD Talk was sent the full version a couple of days ago, and as soon as it arrives in my mailbox and I have a chance to wade through it in its entirety, I'll post a review. I'll do what I can to have it up before this time next week.

Gizmo

Ok cool. I remember last time the 1st and last disc were sent pretty early....thats why I was wondering why a review wasn't posted sooner.

Adam Tyner

Between then and now, I decided I was no longer going to write reviews of incomplete sets. I thought Fox might have changed that 2-disc approach since they sent the full fifth season of Buffy without any prodding, but apparently that was a one-time thing.

Josh Z

We have that policy at DVDFile as well. Honestly, how can we review the supplements if we don't have all of them?

Fox is very erratic with their box set screeners. Sometimes they ship in advance, sometimes we get a copy months after street date. It's very frustrating.

Here's my review of the Region 2 set. The Region 1 will likely be very similar.

http://www.dvdfile.com/software/revi.../angel_s3.html

Nick Martin

As I have said before, this is the review I'm looking forward to the most.


It's a pretty safe bet there won't be any "Previously On Angel"
segments, though.

Doughboy

Which is why I don't mind paying extra for the R2 sets. Plus it doesn't hurt that I was able to get it last March.

If they do omit the "Previously on Angel" intros, I'll be morbidly curious to see what the beginning of Episode 20 "A New World" will look like.

Adam Tyner

There aren't. As a result, several episodes begin with their opening music cues lopped off.

Because of a combination of a sudden trip out of town and my inability to put fully packed bags in my car, the review won't be ready by Tuesday. Looking through the extras listed in Josh's review, nothing much seems to have changed, aside from the lack of "previously"s.

I agree with his comments about the audio as well -- without delving into spoiler territory, one episode in particular has a car chase, is littered with explosions, etc., and there's almost no bass whatsoever. To say that it's unimpressive doesn't begin to describe it -- almost like it's pumped through TV speakers rather than a home theater. Just strangely anemic. Video seemed reasonably detailed to me, though exceedingly dark at times. One random example: In "Birthday", there's a shot where Cordelia peels back wallpaper to reveal a message. I don't remember for certain -- it's been a couple of years -- but I feel fairly confident that I was able to clearly see the address scribbled on the wall. On the DVD, the wall is an inky smear that completely hides the message, diminishing the intended effect of that shot. It's rare for visual information like that to be obscured, but the blacks do have a tendency to run together. There's also some slight, infrequent aliasing, and some shimmery shots...one of the final glimpses of the pile of cash in "Provider", for example.

Hopefully between that and Josh's review, that'll be enough to tide you over, unless you're looking forward to me rambling at length about the content of the season. (Short version is similar to many other Buffyverse seasons -- weak premiere, the initial set of monster-of-the-week self-contained episodes are great, flounders a bit in the middle (most people loathe a certain character introduced this season in an older form; I find the emphasis on an earlier incarnation much more annoying), things steadily improve as the finale approaches, there's a completely out-of-place episode near the end, and the season finale turns out to be a mixed bag. I'm of the opinion that Angel steadily improved with each of its first four seasons; I think season four was more consistent, but there are individual moments in season three that are brilliant. Lots of unexpected twists and overlapping plot lines to maintain interest throughout. I'd also peg Amy Acker as one of the cutest actresses on television, but this being the longest parenthetical note ever written, I should probably stop and wait until I head home before saying much more....)

Lara Means

Season 3 was a great season and thats enough to warrent a purchase. Everything else are just the cherry on top.

Doughboy

What about the commentaries? I know the one for "Lullaby" begins during the "Previously on Angel" intro. Did they edit that at all or are the opening remarks just cut off?

Adam Tyner

I haven't listened to the commentaries yet, unfortunately, but I'll tell you as soon as I get back in town.

Mike Long

The commentary on "Lullaby" begins at the show's opening with the two speakers introducing themselves. Having not heard/seen the R2 version, I'm not sure if the opening remarks were cut, but the commentary is correctedly synched throughout.

My wife and I tore through this set, watching all 22 episodes in four nights. Season 3 was great, with the stories being very engaging and moving along at a nice pace. I haven't really checked out the extras yet, but the audio/video quality is excellent.

Doughboy

Interesting. They must've edited some of it out, cuz Tim Minear and Mere Smith talk from the "Previously on Angel" intro all the way through the end credits(including a "Grrr Argh" imitation ). In fact, some of their comments during the intro reference clips from previous episodes. An example:

"Here's Angel from a scene from a first season episode because we didn't really have a good shot of him with the scrolls."

Obviously without the "Previously on Angel" on the R1 disc, the commentary wouldn't make much sense if that was left in.

Mike Long

The "Grr Argh" mimic is included.

Josh Z

Man, I thought Season 4 was an unmitigated disaster, truly the creative nadir of the show. Things have greatly improved with Season 5 so far, thankfully.

As I recall, Season 4 of Buffy had this problem, and the US box set simply cut off the introductory remarks ("Hi, I'm so and so...").

Adam Tyner

I wasn't fond of the Jasmine arc (though there were some decent moments throughout, and I thought "Magic Bullet" in particular was a standout) or Cordy for the entire length of the season, but as a whole, I enjoyed it quite a bit. There are a couple of season five episodes I like -- "Legacy", particularly -- but I've been immensely disappointed so far. I think they've really squandered the Wolfram and Hart setting and have made poor use of the supporting cast. That's probably a discussion better suited to another forum, though, but I'd be interested in pursuing it elsewhere... Diff'rent strokes and all...

Nick Martin

This Show means so much to me, that NOTHING they do disappoints me so much that I end up not liking certain episodes.

It's like life, in that you take the good with the bad, and it's not always fair. Ever since Tuesday October 5 1999, I committed myself to these characters and stories, and I'm staying with them for as long as it exists.

I have never agreed with the consensus that each season starts off with bad episodes just because the overall arc hasn't begun.
I have always enjoyed those meandering stories.

I also find it refreshing when a stand-alone is placed in the middle of an arc, as it usually lightens things up a bit, and gives you room to breathe in all the intensity.

I don't have many things to enjoy in my life, so (as pathetic as it sounds) ANGEL will always be very important to me, as it gives me something to look forward to.

Nick Martin

Heads up! I got this exerpt from another review site at

http://www.scifispace.com/html/articles.php?&id=754


Unfortunately, I found 2 glitches on the screener set I received (disks 1 and 6 of the set that are supposed to be the actual production disks): The first episode, Hearththrob, has several places with dropped frames during cuts - about 3 I think. Nothing major on this one but it is glaring. The biggest problem was on disk 6 during "A New World" where a glitch in the spot where Connor runs out of the hotel freezes and jumps to the end of the credits with Lilah arriving at Wesleys' apartment. I could see the footage only in reverse - hitting play caused this jump every time. I am hoping this is only happening on the early pressings which should be what the screener review copies were pulled from, but until I see an actual released set, I won't know.


Did anyone else notice this?

mdc3000

I got the set a few days ago and am just getting through it all... with the exception of the "previously on" missing issue (which doesn't piss me off that much anyhow) the set is pretty damn good... at least on par with past Angel sets. I'll give Fox that, they sure can be consistant with the TV product. I think Season 3 of Angel is one of the best (it really started to totally surpass Buffy during season 3) and can't wait for Season 4 to arrive (fall 2004 according to the insert...pretty much expected).

MATT

GET IT!

Mike Long

Neither of these errors occurred with my set.

Adam Tyner

My disappointment doesn't stem from the fact that these episodes are so frequently self-contained...it stems from the fact that the first episode or two of each season (both Buffy and Angel) usually aren't particularly good. I do think season four of Angel got off to a fairly strong start early on, though, if you ignore the Cordy-ness.

Using season three as an example, though, I think "Double or Nothing" is sorely misplaced. Although it's about as mediocre as any episode that season ("Dad" is the other contendor for the title), I think it would've played better elsewhere.

Josh Z

It's hard to tell from that description whether they're talking about disc glitch, or whether they've mistaken some intentional jump cuts during the fight scene that starts the episode for being flaws in the print.

Nick Martin

When I got the set I watched those scenes first, and they were fine.

Actually, when FOX releases a DVD, in Canada, we don't receive imports of the discs , as they are manufactured here, but the cases are from the U.S.

I only bring this up, as gliches might be the result of where the discs were made, and those screener copies could be different from the full sets.

candyrocket786

I noticed dropped frames during most of the fight scenes in the first 4 episodes. Since, I never got to see season 3, these scenes look more like quick edits.

However, there was something strange I noticed during "Hearththrob". Towards the end of the vamp battle, just before Angels kills Elizabeth, both Wes and Gunn stake their respective Vamps, then the "dusting" effect is heard, but the two vamps are still on screen hunching over (one on the car, the other on the street).

I guess I'll check out a "New World" and see if I find any glitches.


- By the way...I purchased my set from Amazon Canada.

Hakim679

I'm noticing a lot of problems all over the episodes where the whole screen looks all jaggy, as though its missing every other horizontal line of resolution and its trying to adjust. It looks like aliasing problems but I'm not sure. Is anybody else getting this? The one I can remember the most is in Birthday when the monster comes and Wes and Gunn fight it, everything gets jaggy and it almost gives it a strobe like affect. The final blow is almost slow motion but the sound is at normal speed.