mattyp4

Does anyone know if there's going to be a non-Digibook release of this title?

I thought I heard something about the Digibook being limited for Rocky Horror. But with all the recent non-Digibook Walmart exclusives as of late, I wasn't sure if there was going to be something similar for Rocky Horror.

Or, has anyone seen the Digibook content for this title? How does it compare to other Digibooks?

BuckNaked2k

From what I heard, this is Fox's first digibook, so who knows.

You might find more information in this thread.

TheDuke

Yeah, there will be a non-digibook version. Apparently the digibook version out now is actually just a limited edition version. Not sure when they will start making the ones in normal cases, though.

Matthew Chmiel

Just spent the entire morning playing around with the release.

The biggest thing to rave about is this is the best the film has ever looked and sounded, blowing the two-disc DVD release from 2000 right out of the water. The 4K restoration is magnificent and it's awesome to hear a brand-new DTS HD-MA 7.1 track mastered from the original mono track. The Blu-ray release is worth it for the transfer alone.

However, the extras are a mixed bag.

What's carried over from the two-disc DVD set:
- All three versions of the film (US and UK edits, plus conceptual opening available for either version you watch).
- Commentary with Richard O'Brien and Patricia Quinn.
- Superheroes and Once in a While.
- Outtakes and Alternate Footage.
- Rocky Horror Double Feature Video Show (laserdisc documentary).
- Theatrical Trailers.

What's not carried over from the two-disc DVD set from 2000:
- Extended branching feature with shadowcast footage.
- Participation audio track.
- Excerpts from VH1's Behind the Music, Where Are They Now and Pop Up Video.

What's new:
- The Midnight Experience.
- The Search for the 35th Anniversary Shadowcast.
- Rocky-Oke: Sing It!
- Mick Rock photographs.
- Featurette and music video from the original VHS release.

The extended branching feature doesn't matter for this Blu-ray release as the full length PiP track from The Midnight Experience is a huge upgrade, but dropping the participation audio track is really disappointing. I would've loved to hear it alongside watching the PiP track.

I'm also upset that the VH1 footage didn't make it over to the Blu-ray release in any capacity, let it be the excerpts from the DVD or the full-length programs themselves. I'm sure this has to deal with licensing from Viacom. It would've made up for the lack of an encompassing documentary (why Fox or someone else hasn't put this together yet is beyond me).

However, the new extras are worth watching at least once. The Midnight Experience is a cool Blu-ray feature and the hour-long reality show documentary that accompanies it is entertaining. It's also nice to see some of the materials from the 1990 VHS make its way over.

Oh and the fact that I can hear instrumental versions of the entire soundtrack?

Again, I'd recommend the for any Rocky Horror fan as the transfer is phenomenal; however, the lack any "formal" documentary and the dropping of some features from the original DVD release sucks.

stingermck

They dropped the Audience Participation track?

Its been several years since Ive been to one, that was how I was going to watch the film first thing. Also disappointed about the VH1 doc. Oh well, its still on the way from Amazon.

Matthew Chmiel

I didn't notice this that much when I was watching the film, but looks like Fox managed to fuck this up:

Source

I'm about to pop in Moulin Rouge, here's hoping for the best!

doctorthodt

Prepare to be blown away. Fox just rocketed to the top of the list in terms of catalog release quality. Can't wait to check out The Sound of Music in a couple of weeks.

BuckNaked2k

Wow, that's unbelievable. That's reason enough right there to institute a disc replacement program.

Matthew Chmiel

I'm hoping Fox owns it and does such a replacement, but again, we're dealing with Fox.

akubrick1

I'm not one to normally even pay attention to menu design but I've never seen one so appropriately designed for its content. Nostalgia for the Science Fiction films of the past on display matches "Science Fiction Double Feature" lyrics. Crazy to say its worth a purchase for that?

Supermallet

Well, with that error I'm going to hold off on a purchase of Rocky Horror.

Eric D.

That mess-up with the song is pretty bad. I guess that pretty much proves that they don't do QC or else there is no way that would get by. Luckily the Mono track is fine and that's what I listen to anyway. I hate when they "update" the sound design, it's just like screwing with OAR.

BuckNaked2k

It's amazing, really. At work, whenever I prepare a PowerPoint presentation, the content, figures, layout, numbers, etc. gets checked, rechecked, and checked again before it gets OK'd. Now mind you, I'm talking about internal, non-critical presentations, that are quickly consumed and forgotten. If something gets through that's found to be incorrect during the presentation, I'll get my a$$ chewed, and be pretty embarrassed.

I can't imagine how these companies allow a project of this magnitude to be released to the public for posterity with a major eff up like this......just amazing!

LosingMyMind

A BD-Live update can easily fix that.

bunkaroo

This assumes the QC folk would even know what to look or listen for. I'm not sure they have a clue. Yet another case where letting some diehard fans give it a once-over would have probably found this error.

Of course I just bought this last night since it was on sale at Target. Oh and for the record, the disc holder (or lack of one) sucks. the discs falls right out if you tilt it towards you. They should have just used a WB-style book if it had to be a book.

Xander

There are also video issues. The blue filter that was used over the scenes in "Brad's room" and the red filter used in "Janet's room" have been removed. Sounds like Fox's QC department blows. I hope they fix this, but won't be holding my breath. Guess I'll be holding onto my DVD copy too.

Supermallet

A friend of mine does Blu-ray QC for a living and even did some work on Rocky Horror. Unless someone happens to be a huge fan of the movie in question, the chances of them catching errors in content (without another source to compare it to) is virtually nil. And besides, they're not paid to track down if each shot has the right filters applied or if the vocal takes are accurate to the master. They're paid to see if the disc doesn't work when inserted into a player, or if you get the subtitle menu when you click on special features, etc.

And even if you are a huge fan of the film being worked on, you may never even get to watch the movie in its native audio, because a big part of QC is testing the alternative language tracks, and it's a whole team working on each title, not one person.

bunkaroo

This is all the more reason to have a sort of "beta" release like they do with software. Get some people signed up with NDA's and let them play with it for a few days or more. If studios solicited fan input prior to release I think many would gladly do it for the free disc.

BuckNaked2k

Yea, like for this title, maybe a few of these folks could have been given early release testers.

dolphinboy

I am with you when it comes to not liking the disc holder, but not for the same reasons. I just don't like anything that doesn't have a hub to keep you from having to slide the disc to remove it or put it back. While this isn't as bad as the ones for BTTF and House, this is my pet peeve. I've never liked it for cds either.

You can, at least, have more control with this one with one disc and no "key" holding it in place, but I still hate it even though BD are resistant to scratching, I don't see why the studios are going to style that tempt fate.

But as far as it falling out. I don't know about that. I tested that with my book and you pretty much have to have the book close to upside down for it to possibly fall and 3/4 of the way to upside down to get it to move. When would you ever do that with the book open?

Eric D.

I agree with you when it comes to stuff like the color correcting mistakes, but not the song. How can they not see that the lip sync is completely off and hear how out of tune it is?

Supermallet

It's a low budget camp musical from the mid-70's. I don't think it's beyond belief that they might hear bad singing and poor lip sync and assume that's how it's always been.

bunkaroo

Mine came out easier for some reason. It was already falling out when I opened it originally. Maybe mine is looser.

bunkaroo

You know it's funny because this kind of thing comes up where I work. There is more of an emphasis on having predetermined testing scripts so we can report percentages complete and such. Problem is this leaves no room for creative testing. We used to do testing based on the experience and savvy of subject matter experts who knew exactly what to look for and were just as effective and usually more so than the current crop and their script technique.

It's kind of the same with these releases. These QC people might be great at turning up technical glitches (sometimes ) but when it comes to content problems it's almost as if the studio isn't even interested in accuracy.

BuckNaked2k

You'd also think the Director might have some say in signing off on the master before it goes to the authoring house.