This is true. The disc could most likely have been improved by dropping the useless dub (did someone actually say they thought this was a good dub?!), the annoying animated menus, and the commentary track that isn't even translated.

Well, I'll give you the dub track -- drop it -- but there's no way TVA would drop the un-subbed commentary! Let's not forget, a sizable portion of Canada speaks French!

I just got my BOTW 3 disc version from Digital Eyes this morning. I must say the cover art is very cool! Much cooler than my Universal 1 disc edition. Anyways, to the more important stuff :

- Picture quality is not that much different at all from the Universal release. Contract seems to be turned down a notch, and the darker scenes have a *little* bit more grain to them., mainly during the horse stable scene towards the end of the film where Fronsac shoots arrows. Overall the picture quality is great, and wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, compared to my Universal disc. In case your wondering, I'm running AR component video through my 32" Sony Wega flatscreen.

- Subtitles. Some people say that they are better on the TVA 3 disc version? Seems to me it may be the opposite? The subtitles are shorter, and it seems the content is different. Two examples: 1. When Fronsac is first introduced to the Aristocrats and the intended looks at his pictures and in the TVA version the english subtitle is : "to sketch the beast?", whereas the Universal release he says "to capture the beast?". These two phrases are totally different in meaning, so I'm wondering which one is correct. 2. Also when Mani, Marquis, and Fronsac and shooting pumpkins in the courtyard, Fronsac says, "The Beast's first mystery is it's fame", where as in the Universal disc he says, "The first mystery of the beast is it's celebrity." Now, I don't know French, but I could hear him say "celebrity", yet in the TVA version it's translated as fame, but in the Universal version it's celebrity. Anyone proficient in French know which version of the film has the more accurate subtitle?

- Extended version. I haven't watched every second of the TVA disc, but I didn't see any extra/longer fight sequence at the beginning when they are fighting in the rain. Is there an option in the menus I have to access to get the full version of the fight scene?

- Extras. I haven't checked them out yet, but tonight I'll see what they are like. I have two whole discs to explore, and I'm pretty excited about it!

Normally, I do not like dubbing and prefer the subtitles. But, since this was a more visual movie with action and so on, I enjoyed it with the dubbing.

The only critique that I have was Fronsac's dubbing. I thought his voice was odd sounding.

The first time that I viewed it, was with the subtitles. The next day, I watched the dubbed version. I enjoyed the second viewing the most.

Go figure!

Just finished the entire 3 disc version and I love it! The documentaries are fascinating and really give good insight to the film, as well as the history of France in relation to the beast. The documentaries also have great interviews with the cast, and talk about every aspect of filming. Some of the best documentaries I've seen in awhile.

The actual film is great, especially with the few added scenes (finally found the extra one). Really added to the plot and character development.

All in all this 3 disc set is incredible! I just wish the commentary had English subtitles, and I wish they didn't have the fancy animated menus and english dub track, that way the picture quality could be slightly improved to match or surpass the 1 disc Universal release. Nonetheless, the transfer still looks very good.

Consider this example from early in the film: The voice-over narration is translated as "As for the man who followed him like a shadow he was a foreigner and you knew nothing about him" on the Universal disc, but "The man who shadowed him was a mysterious foreigner" on the TVA. Which do you think has better grammar?

The English subtitles on the Universal disc are a "dubtitle". If you turn on the English dub and the subtitles at the same time, the wording is identical.

NaturalMystic - I agree with pretty much all you said.

The two bonus discs are truly watchable, and I borrowed the Universal edition to compare the picture with my Canadian set on my 53" calibrated Pioneer RPTV. I was surprised that I didn't find them as different as I expected. A couple of scenes did betray a better image on the Universal, but this was with me looking hard for it.

With the Pianist, I did pick up the Universal US edition as I found that one to have an obvious difference to the Canadian. With BOTW, I just went with my Canadian set.

Wow, I didn't realize this! I noticed the difference between the subtitles and the dubbing, but I didn't know that the US version subtitles were identical to the dub.

I would have enjoyed the subtitles more if I had watched the US version.

I still really like the French DTS sound or I would buy the Universal and swap the first disk of the TVA with it.

Ooohhh, now it makes sense. You're right, Josh. I do remember that beginning part, and I always wondered why it said, "and you knew nothing about him". Now that I think of it, the TVA subtitles are better because they are terse and to the point. When subtitles are lengthy you tend to read the entire time and miss the visual imagery. Now I'm realizing why the TVA version is superior to the Universal release. As stated earlier, the transfer is almost identical. Just a little bit more grain on the TVA version, but it's not that bad.

Right, who is the "you" the narrator is talking about? The audience? The narration slips in and out of second-person tense. That is not good writing.

The TVA subtitles were written by a native English speaker and have much better English coherency. The Universal subtitles (and dub script) sound like they were written by someone for whom English is a second language.

Just thought I'd give impressions of the DTS track on the TVA 3 disc version. I finally got my first HT system (Onkyo 660), and I can now use DTS.

I've listened to many of my other DVDs with DTS since having my new system and I must say that BOTW is amazing! I couldn't believe how thunderously loud, and aggressive this DTS mix is. It used the surrounds almost the entire movie, and the dialogue and ambient sounded incredible. Unbelievable sound! The DTS track is another great selling point to get the TVA version. I listned to the DD 5.1 track, and it's good, but not as impressive as DTS. It felt like the beast was actually in my bedroom!

The 3-disc set is set for an apparent re-release on 10/28 and at DVDSoon it is priced at $26.98CDN/$20.56US (w/free shipping). Might be the time to jump on this.