Originally posted by lostatmidnight
My favorite rip joint, scarecrow.com has it for 59.95....

Originally posted by lostatmidnight
My favorite rip joint, scarecrow.com has it for 59.95....

Originally posted by kino eye
Please, let us know what's it like when you'll have watched it.

There has been much debate lately as to whether or not the mysterious Catalyst Logic Twin Peaks: Pilot is legit or not. A 1998 article in Asia Biz Tech wrote this:

Ritek Inc. and Catalyst Logic Co., Ltd. obtained authorization from Orion Network Systems Inc., United Artists Theater Group and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. (MGM) for DVD production and distribution in Taiwan. This follows the success of InfoDisc Technology Co. Ltd. in obtaining authorization from Warner Advanced Multimedia Operations to produce DVD for Warner Brothers Records.

That allows Ritek and Catalyst Logic to join CMC Magnetics Corp., Prodisc Technology Inc. and InfoDisc to compete for the distribution and production rights for the eight largest film makers in the United States.

Twin Peaks: Pilot
Catalyst Logic Co. Taiwan / 2000 / 90 min / Not Rated
Reviewed by Brian Kursar on Monday, April 2nd 2001

Well, this is the first time I have ever written a review, so I'm going to try and keep it short and sweet, and just cut straight to the chase. I read great DVD reviews all day on sites like DVDfile, so I think I'll borrow their review format with this disc.

As many may know, about a month ago, copies of a supposed Twin Peaks: Pilot on DVD started floating around on various auction sites such as Ebay. Known on the internet as the "Hong Kong Twin Peaks: Pilot DVD" (probably because the first dealer to sell the DVD on Ebay was from Hong Kong) many, including myself were skeptical and understandably called it a bootleg at first glance. Taiwan is well known to have a very "thumb to nose" attitude when it comes to International Copyright Laws, and has been a source for movie bootlegs in general. The fact that it is not Regionally Coded, and also bears the "Republic Pictures" logo (a subdivision of Spelling Entertainment which was shut down many years ago) definitely raised some eyebrows. (For those of you that don't know, Region 0 DVD's can be played in all DVD players, and not just in the players of the specified region.) Well, I will tell you that we all were wrong. Upon getting a rave review from a really cool Ebay recipient of the DVD, I quickly contacted the seller on Ebay and arranged to get a hold of a copy for myself.

It seems that a company from Taiwan called Catalyst Logic has put out a limited release of the Twin Peaks Pilot as part of their "Silver Screen" series. Now in the US, I didn't think Republic Pictures had any rights to the Twin Peaks Pilot, otherwise we wouldn't have all these legal delays on the Pilot (owned by Warner Bros.) and Series DVD's (owned by Artisan), however, in this instance, Republic Pictures has their name all over this Catalyst DVD. They even have trailers for other Republic Pictures movies included on the DVD. Alright. Enough babble about legal issues on this one. Illegally released or not, it was officially distributed and released in Hong Kong, and here's what I have found:

Video:

This is the best the Twin Peaks Pilot has ever looked. (Well, aside from the big screen at last years Twin Peaks Fest) The disc has a surprisingly crisp and clean picture. I played this with a switchbox against the Warner Bros. Pilot Laserdisc, and the DVD did to the Laser Disc what Agent Desmond did to Deputy Cliff in FWWM. However, beware there are noticeable artifacts, but not so many that they detract from the presentation. The dark scenes were done very well IMHO. Minor dust specs on the print every once in a while, but much cleaner than the laserdisc. Overall, I would say that I would never touch my laserdisc again after purchasing this DVD. (Unless I wanted to watch the European ending which is absent from this DVD)

Audio:

The audio has received a FULL aggressive 5.1 remix. Lots of the sound effects are appropriately panned to the rear surround speakers. One thing you definately want to do is turn your back speakers down a bit, as they can often be distracting. The bass seems to be a bit much at times, but again, a slight adjustment on your Home Theater system can easily correct this. One specific moment that was a good use of the rear surround is when the translator mentions how "Health und Industry They Go Hand De Hand". The response laughter of the Norwegians are panned to the back speakers and give a "Room Full of Laughing Norwegians" effect. It is clear that whomever remixed the sound did so from a sound reel master.

Now the downside. There are a few things that bother me about the sound. First off, when comparing it to the Laserdisc, I noticed right away that it seems that whoever mastered the movie (I assume) transferred it from a PAL Master. It's the only explanation I can think of for why the pitch of the sound is about a half step too high. Also, the sound although pretty good for the most part, sounds a bit out of phase in the Center Speaker during parts with music in the backgrond. Although it is annoying at times, it is not completely a loss, as with the nice crisp picture, and a decent 5.1 remix, it is easy to get used to.

Supplements:

Well, there's not a lot here. You get a nice Scene Access menu, along with Character Biographies for Joan Chen and Kyle MacLachlan. You also get treated to some awful Republic Pictures trailers for "One Against the Wind", "Class Cruise", "Live Nude Girls", and "Witchboard 2: the Devil's Doorway". My advice... skip them.

Parting Thoughts:

All I can say is that I was very surprised by this release. Whether or not Catalyst Logic legally had the rights to put this release out or not, the great picture quality, and the remixed audio (although 4% faster that it should be) is a nice addition to a Twin Peaks Fan's collection. The DVD comes only with a 5.1 soundtrack, as the original 2-Speaker Surround soundtrack is absent. Finally having the Pilot as it aired on Television as opposed to the extended European version is a Twin Peaks Fan's dream come true. I would highly recommend this to any Twin Peaks fan that wants to get a clean copy of the Pilot on DVD. At this point, who knows when Artisan and Warner Bros. will be getting their acts together.

Your best bet for picking up one of these is on Ebay or seeing if your local DVD Dealer can special order a copy. Catalyst Logic RP-87 1017 UPC 4717985610174.

Twin Peaks: Pilot
Catalyst Logic Co. Taiwan / 2000 / 90 min / Not Rated
Reviewed by Brian Kursar on Monday, April 2nd 2001


DISC SPECIFICATIONS
Specifications
- DVD-Video
- Dual-Layer Disc
- Region 0
- NTSC

Aspect Ratio(s):
- 4:3 Full Frame

Dolby Digital Formats:
- English 5.1 Surround

Subtitles/Captions:
- English Closed Captions

Standard Features:
- Scene Access

Additional Features:
- Character Biography

List Price:
- NA
Released On:
- NA

Originally posted by Electric2k
WB will EVENTUALLY release this. I will wait (if it were a reasonable price, I'd be all over this as well).