My wife and I used to own the 10th anniversary celebration of Les Mis on VHS then we bought the DVD because we love this musical so much but to great disappointment. The full VHS tape was not on the DVD. They cut out much of the ending celebration and talks by the writers/composers.

Does anyone know if the superbit will restore all the original footage or is it just an enhanced version the DVD I currently own? I am satisfied with what I have now but would spring for this again if the end footage is restored.

Ktrek

According to its Amazon specs sheet, it's going to be in widescreen anamorphic, which is already an improvement over its current fullscreen release. Didn't see anything about restored footage, though.

i guess we should look at minutes length for the two dvds.

Will the SuperBit be the stage musical version?

Now if only they'd include the "Stage By Stage" documentary on the disc, it would rock.

My letterboxed laserdisc is 160 minutes and the Superbit DVD is supposedly 134 (according to Amazon). But I'm wondering if Amazon isn't just taking that 134 minute runtime from the old DVD which is that length. Since they're finally releasing it on DVD in widescreen (like the LD) and adding Dolby Digital and DTS tracks, you'd think they'd at least reproduce all the footage that was on the LD. Oh well, if they don't I'll just keep my LD for those extras.

Anyway, I pre-ordered this as soon as I heard about it. DTS!

It's not a performance of the musical - it's sort of a hybrid of a performance of the musical and a traditional concert. I doubt it will have the interviews because that would be considered a supplement and cut into the bitrate and make the bits less than super.

I never did pick the original release because I was hoping they would redo it as a non-flipper. This disc was made in the days before dual-layer discs were feasible.

ktrek, does the DVD have the part at the end with the different men who have played Valjean singing together?

I'm not him, but yes, it has the big closing number will all of the Valjeans from around the world.

Yes it does have the Valjeans but without the intro part it seems out of place and is very poorly edited. I sure hope they restore the whole thing for the superbit! :-(

Ktrek

By the way if the superbit is 134 minutes then that means even more has been cut. Probably the Valjean sequence. The DVD I have is 147 minutes!

Ktrek

I've checked out my LD and you have to be right, the DVD can't be 134 minutes. The program is about 139 minutes just to the end of the regular part of the show. Then there's "Thank Yous" (about 8½ minutes), the Valjeans (about 8 minutes) and the end credits (about 2 minutes). So the LD is actually a bit short of the "approximately 160 minutes" it claims. And I think they must have cut out the "Thank Yous" from the first DVD.

My guess is that the new DVD is either the same length as the old DVD or they've put back the "Thank Yous" and it's the same length as the LD. I hope it's the latter.

The LD does not have talks by the writers/composers. Are you sure you're not confusing that part with the "Stage By Stage" program?

when someone actually gets this let us all know the final answer!

I inquired at Sam Goody today and I found out that the Superbit edition comes out October 7th. I plan on buying it regardless just to have the widescreen and the better picture quality. My wife and I watch this one over and over!

Ktrek

I am looking forward to this release!

Now, Amazon.com has it listed as "NOT AVAILABLE". ????

Has anyone been able to find copies of this yet? Sam Goody says it is available but they are not stocking it. I'm wondering if Best Buys will? Amazon may be my only hope here!

Ktrek

It's been delayed and it appears the delay might be indefinite. Many sites have removed it from their listings, others say it's not yet released.

It's been delayed because there was an error in printing. Instead of the musical, the 1998 feature film version of Les Miserables was printed on it instead. Oops.

I know this for a fact - I received a copy of the Superbit to review, found this problem, and received word from the studio that they knew about it and were recalling the DVDs. No word on when it would be released with the correct movie on it, though.

You're kidding me. Geez. That just seems like something that shouldn't have happened.

This is ridiculous. Let's at least hope that when they do it again, they do it really right.

Hopefully it comes out soon and has all the content. My dad wants a copy for Christmas, and I certainly wouldnt mind one for myself.

Brian

Wait, you mean that the movie that was burned onto the disc was the Liam Neeson movie, not the musical? HA!

At least that's the only problem. Hopefully, this will still see the light of day at some point.

I saw somewhere that this title has been cancelled altogether. Can anybody confirm this?

jmoneta

No idea here - still interested in it.

Any word on the state of this DVD? I was looking foward to it. Considering the show closed on Broadway after 15+ years, last May, this seems like something they would want to get out the door.

It would have been a even BETTER idea for them to release it around the show's closing to boost sales, initially. Oh well...

I gave up waiting and bought the R2 release.