Xena, Hercules Season 1 Universal Release (04/20/2010)
 

April 20th Universal will release Xena: Warrior Princess Season One and Hercules:The Legendary Journeys Season One. The Anchor Bay release of Xena's first season looked terrible, probably due to being shot 16mm. Otherwise, the Anchor Bay sets were full of great extras that I guess won't be included. The only omissions I can think of from the AB sets that I would hope for, and would require a double dip for me -

1. Episode Previews (Battle On!)
2. Play All feature ( I think there is a good chance, being Universal)
3. I would really like the original montages over the end credits rather than the credits over black as they appear now. The montages ran with an advertisement for the fan club, but I thought they were well put together, only problem was they squeezed the credits to the side, so I guess it would require some post work, which I guess Universal wouldn't want to pay for.

Re: Xena, Hercules Season 1 Universal Release (04/20/2010)
 

I already have all the Xena sets, so I would be interested to see if there is anything new added. On the flip side, I have a question about Hercules. I tried showing my nieces some Xena and became aware that the show was a tad too violent (hadn't seen it in awhile and hadn't watched it with auntie eyes). They liked it a lot, but I just can't show it to them yet. They are now 8 and 5 years old, is Hercules okay for those ages? I never really watched the show, only the crossover episodes.

thanks,

sue

Re: Xena, Hercules Season 1 Universal Release (04/20/2010)
 

Rob Tapert has always said Hercules was for the kids, I never really watched it either other than the crossovers & the Bruce Campbell shows. One that is for sure for the kids is the Bruce Campbell episode "Porkules" where Kevin Sorbo was injured & couldn't work, so Hercules is turned into a pig, and the show is a take off of "Babe." Pretty bad episode though.

Re: Xena, Hercules Season 1 Universal Release (04/20/2010)
 

Not to a kid, I bet :) Thanks for your help.

Re: Xena, Hercules Season 1 Universal Release (04/20/2010)
 

Not only do I have all the Xena sets, I also have the "10th Anniversary" set which includes all of her greatest eps in one 7 disc DVD box. (BTW, the first season eps included in that set look just as bad as they did in the original AB Season 1 set.)

If this new Season 1 release from Universal looks substantially better I might consider purchasing it. What would really clinch the purchase, though, would be if the set was presented in anamorphic Widescreen. There have been lots of rumors over the years regarding the aspect ratio of he Xena eps. All the AB sets were presented in the 4:3 aspect ratio -- which was the AR of the original US syndicated run. But there are indications that all the Xena eps were originally shot protected for 16:9. Heck -- the "Video Commentaries" which were included in the AB sets frequently showed the cast viewing the eps on a Widescreen monitor! So that would be a nice upgrade from the 4:3 grainy AB Season 1 sets. (I don't suppose there's any hope for an eventual BD release?)

Re: Xena, Hercules Season 1 Universal Release (04/20/2010)
 

Cleaned up picture and/or anamorphic widescreen and I would repurchase the whole series.

Re: Xena, Hercules Season 1 Universal Release (04/20/2010)
 

I already have Herc and I want Xena, but its better be bullshit that the bonus features arent included! Arent there commentaries and interviews galore on the AB sets? Hercules is packed pretty good.

Re: Xena, Hercules Season 1 Universal Release (04/20/2010)
 

According to DVDCompare, Season One of "Xena" only included a "Xena Chronicles" featurette (no length listed), a photo gallery, "series trivia", and cast/crew bios, as well as a DVD-ROM screensaver. "Hercules", on the other hand, included eight commentary tracks and three feature-length episodes.

Re: Xena, Hercules Season 1 Universal Release (04/20/2010)
 

I'd forgotten how sparse the extras are on Xena Season One, because all the other seasons are packed. In addition to what you listed , there was also a 30 minute best buy exclusive doc disc.

Yeah, I wasn't a fan of the 10th Anniversary collection, they put the time compressed director's cut of the final episode in the collection, instead of the original version, which I prefer, because Tapert ruined the DC by trimming the last couple seconds, the final shot, which was one of the most heartbreaking, yet life affirming images ever in a television drama.

Re: Xena, Hercules Season 1 Universal Release (04/20/2010)
 

I may be wrong here, but I dont think the Hercules TV movies will be on the first season like they were in the AB release.

Re: Xena, Hercules Season 1 Universal Release (04/20/2010)
 

Might be interested in the Xena sets since I already own all of the Hercules sets (heck I even sent off for the Collector coins). I'm okay with the quality but if there are 16x9 versions running around, it would be hard to turn down the Hercules set as well.

Re: Xena, Hercules Season 1 Universal Release (04/20/2010)
 

If Uni is releasing the full series again I would snag these in a heartbeat. I sold my Hercules set and regretted it ever since and by the time I got around to getting Xena it was RETARDEDLY priced and OOP

Re: Xena, Hercules Season 1 Universal Release (04/20/2010)
 

Hi i have a question,

in spain sell the serie in audio spanish castilian but is very diferent to latin spanish, universal studios will add spanish subtitles xena ,or going to another set for latin america ? not all speal and undestand english and want audio or subtitles in spanish.
(sorry my english is very bad)
juan karlos

Re: Xena, Hercules Season 1 Universal Release (04/20/2010)
 

Looks like these come out tomorrow and there has been NO news on bonus features or anything..... shitty

Re: Xena, Hercules Season 1 Universal Release (04/20/2010)
 

There were 5 feature-length episodes of "Hercules":
"Hercules and the Amazon Women"
"Hercules and the Lost Kingdom"
"Hercules and the Circle of Fire"
"Hercules in the Underworld"
"Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur"

Re: Xena, Hercules Season 1 Universal Release (04/20/2010)
 

You are correct. The 5 movies that launched the series will not be included. The set is only 3 disks with the 13 episode season 1. I've not heard if Uni is planning to re-release the movies.

Re: Xena, Hercules Season 1 Universal Release (04/20/2010)
 

They will probably release a stand-alone set containing all the movies...


Do you know if the R2 releases of Xena are better than the Anchor Bay ones?

Re: Xena, Hercules Season 1 Universal Release (04/20/2010)
 

^I don't know, but I doubt they are as Xena was filmed with 16mm for Season 1. This is the cause of the significant grain on the image and many of the contrast issues. It would take some very serious "re-mastering" to make it look much better than the AB release.

Re: Xena, Hercules Season 1 Universal Release (04/20/2010)
 

Got mine from Target this morning. $19.99 each.

Both come in Keep Cases.
Disc 1 of each set has trailers for other Universal TV Shows on DVD and you can watch all episodes via a Play All feature. Also you can select which episode to watch as well via the menu.

I haven't gotten around to seeing what's on the other discs.
All discs have artwork. Not of the actors but of a circular design on each. I think the Xena one is supposed to represent her unique weapon.

I watched a few episodes of Xena and it look rather good. Now keep in mind that I can't compare it to the Anchor Bay release since I never was able to get those. I did notice some slight blocking in scenes that contain smoke or fog, but otherwise the picture looked rather good to me and about equal to what I remember seeing on TV back then.


By the way I got to Target at 8:15 AM and all they had on the shelf was 2 copies of each.

Re: Xena, Hercules Season 1 Universal Release (04/20/2010)
 

So there were no bonus features?

Re: Xena, Hercules Season 1 Universal Release (04/20/2010)
 

To get a good idea of how bad some episodes can look watch "The Royal Couple of Thieves". It'll only take until the opening credits to see *lots* of grain and contrast issues. This is possibly the worst overall looking episode of season 1. On the AB set many scenes in this episode look almost as bad as what you'd expect from a PD release as far as grain/noise in the image. The opening scene of the monks looks like it was filmed through gauze. When I first saw it I thought my player was going out. There is no "blocking" (I assume you mean pixelation) look in scenes anywhere on the AB set.

Re: Xena, Hercules Season 1 Universal Release (04/20/2010)
 

do we know if Universal has a release slated for the rest of the seasons?? or is this their way of "testing the waters"?

Re: Xena, Hercules Season 1 Universal Release (04/20/2010)
 

Other than the promo trailers, there are no Bonus Features.

Re: Xena, Hercules Season 1 Universal Release (04/20/2010)
 

Anybody willing to post a few pictures of the Xena first season set? I've seen it described, but I do better with a visual. I never got around to the AB one, so I am naturally curious. Thanks.

Re: Xena, Hercules Season 1 Universal Release (04/20/2010)
 

Yeah it would be great!