Supermallet

Ah, but the viewing size is so much smaller that your eye would be hard-pressed to detect the flaws in the SD compression. Would I rather watch Nightmare on my 65" DLP or my iPhone? Obviously the TV. But if I can't, having it on the iPhone is a nice option.

That's funny, I always thought most movies were about the story.

I never said they had to be for everyone. I just think it's reductive to say they should be for no one.

Yakuza Bengoshi

To me this sounds horrible, but, to each his own. I haven't watched a movie on anything smaller than a 15" PowerBook screen in years, and even that seems disappointing. When I'm out and about with a few minutes to waste, I read a magazine, a book, or something off my Sony Reader, or I listen to a podcast of something like This American Life or Radio Lab.

rfduncan

I just wish we had an option to NOT have a digital copy instead of being forced to pay for it in order to get the HD copy.

RocShemp

Yeah, being forced to pay for the digital copy sucks.

But what really bugs me is two gripes about the movie itself on BD. First off, why did they replace Patrick Stewart's opening/closing narration? And, second, although it's great they remixed it in 7.1, most of the time the mix comes across as if the sound mixer discovered surround sound for the first time and decided there should always be something coming out of the rear speakers even if it doesn't make sense for a particular sound element (or bit of dialogue) to be there.

Josh Z

Patrick's Stewart's narration has never been part of the movie. What's on the disc is the narration from the theatrical release and every previous edition of the movie.

Stewart recorded an extended version of the narration, but it has only appeared on the soundtrack album. It was never in the movie itself.

RocShemp

I'd last seen the movie on VHS (I always held out on the DVD in hopes of an anamorphic release) so, as you pointed out, the soundtrack CD really "colored" my memory of the movie.

E Unit

I've really been wondering about this as well - but I'm am pretty certain it was Stewart's voice in the theatrical prints when it first came out in 1993. I kind of wish they had the epilogue as well in the movie that's on the soundtrack.

RocShemp

Okay, so maybe I'm not crazy about the opening but epilogue was created for the soundtrack?

rfduncan

Agreed, but you are incorrect. Patrick Stewart was never the narrator.
Yes. They wanted a way to "wrap up" the story as an audio adventure. It certainly is very fun to imagine the scene being described - "wouldn't you?"

E Unit

Except on the soundtrack of course......been too many years since I really got into it until now. Overall, this is a great addition to the BD collection.


But damn, what a lame Tim Burton introduction. Then I think of Kevin Smith dribbling on and on in his introductions. And here we get the direct opposite with Burton. I mean seriously? No more thoughts on this that are longer than 3 sentences or so?

Josh Z

I prefer the Patrick Stewart narration from the soundtrack album as well, but that's never been in the movie and it wouldn't be appropriate for them to change it.

If you've listened to many of Burton's audio commentaries, you'd know that it's really for the best that he keeps his thoughts brief here. Most of his commentaries are intolerably dull. You can tell that his participation in the group commentary track on this disc has been heavily edited, and that's a good thing. It keeps his usual rambling focused and on-track.

I'd wager that Burton probably recorded a much longer introduction for the DVD and Blu-ray, but only 18 seconds of it was usable.

RocShemp

It's too bad the Patrick Stewart narration wasn't there to begin with given tha it's far superior to what's in the film. And the epilogue in the CD is indeed a lot of fun to imagine.

I agree 100%. I still remember the horrible audio commentary for Planet of the Apes. It took him something like three or four minutes to simply state that he ended the film the way he did because he felt it should be sensless given that he thought the ending to the original made no sense.

E Unit

I agree it wouldn't have been right to change the original narraration, but a seperate track with Stewart may have been a nice addition. I looked up the soundtrack on Amazon, and I was quite surprised how much Stewart sang in it. Which makes me wonder why Burton and company opted to not to put to use his contribution. If I were Stewart, I'd be a bit pissed to have done so much then only have it limited to the soundtrack CD.

The Nightmare Before Christmas: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [ORIGINAL RECORDING REISSUED]

Track Listings
1. Overture - Orchestra
2. Opening - Patrick Stewart
3. This Is Halloween - Danny Elfman
4. Jack's Lament - Citizens Of Halloween Town
5. Doctor Finkelstein/In The Forest - Danny Elfman
6. What's This? - Patrick Stewart And Halloween Cast
7. Town Meeting Song - Danny Elfman
8. Jack And Sally Montage - Danny Elfman And Cast
9. Jack's Obsession - Patrick Stewart And Halloween Cast
10. Kidnap The Sandy Claws - Danny Elfman And Cast
11. Making Christmas - Danny Elfman And The Citizens Of Halloween Town
12. Nabbed - Patrick Stewart And Halloween Cast
13. Oogie Boogie's Song - Ken Page With Ed Ivory
14. Sally's Song - Cathrine O'Hara
15. Christmas Eve Montage - Patrick Stewart And Halloween Cast
16. Poor Jack - Danny Elfman
17. To The Rescue - Patrick Stewart And Halloween Cast
18. Finale/Reprise - Danny Elfman, Cathrine O'Hara, Citizens of Halloween...
19. Closing - Patrick Stewart
20. End Title - Patrick Stewart And Halloween Cast

rexinnih

For years I was wondering where I heard Patrick Stewart giving the narrative. I'd watch me movie and think I was crazy. Now it finally makes sense since I used to have the soundtrack.

joeblow69

I'm surprised no one is complaining about :
I hate this practice so much, I'm thinking I might skip past this Blu-ray altogether. I can't support this kind of crap.

GoldenJCJ

^I can't say I like it too much but I consider it a minor inconvenience to deal with for such a great all around disc. At least you CAN skip them, I've seen some DVDs that don't let you skip the trailers at all.

Besides, it's Disney. We've been dealing with traliers at the beginning of movies for years now.

Supermallet

You don't have to skip the trailers individually, at least not on the PS3. Just hit top menu and it takes you to the main disc menu.

fumanstan

Yeah, I didn't have a problem watching it on the PS3. I was able to get to the menu easily.

Yakuza Bengoshi

That's odd. I have a fully updated PS3 and I get a "this operation is not available here" message when I hit the top menu command during the trailers.

Edit: Okay, actually it seems only the Walt Disney Studios trailer disables the top menu button, the following trailers can be skipped altogether by selecting the top menu button. I'll update the review accordingly.

dsa_shea

Reviewers are forced to watch the trailers. Didn't you know that?

Josh Z

The Top Menu command is disabled on my Panasonic BD50.

E Unit

The top menu button works for me on the PS3. And I didn't see any slower load times than any of my other BD's. And as GoldenJCJ said, Disney's been doing the forced trailer thing for years, hitting the skip button doesn't really ruin my movie watching either.

PopcornTreeCt

I finally decided to order this and Amazon is sold out. I don't think I've ever seen them actually sold out of a product, that I actually wanted.

rfduncan

It is obviously a pretty popular title. I ordered mine from DeepDiscount Wednesday, and they said they were on backorder too. However, they shipped it the very next day. I can't wait!

PopcornTreeCt

Yeah, Amazon ended up shipping mine out today.