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Understand that an official DVD release of this is currently available in Hong Kong.
How true is this? and has anyone received or ordered this as yet? |
I haven't seen this being sold anywhere. Also, there is no 'pilot' for Twin Peaks. It was a mini series which led to a short lived regular series which then spawned a feature movie. If anything were to make it to DVD it would either be the movie or the mini series.
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Originally posted by renaldow ...there is no 'pilot' for Twin Peaks. |
[QUOTE]Originally posted by CheapBastid
I had heard that one of the release strategies was to get the Pilot out on DVD and see what the market for the series would be. |
Here are the details you seek, RichDB10--go to:
http://www.theblacklodge.com/tpfwwmdvd/index2.html and click on the details for the April 3, 2001 update. Sounds really, really slick, though I'm a little edgy about the PAL-like audio issue... |
oops, I posted before the other info about the website had become available... Lynch had initially promised in a interview that the entire "Twin Peaks" will be put on DVD in the late fall 2000. I would not be surprised, though, to see that the HK people have put it on DVD by themselves, like they did with Star Wars... (an excellent LD to DVD transfer, if you ask me...) The pilot in itself has 113 minutes, so it is feature-length. If the DVD is anything like the Laserdisc version in audio-video quality, we're in for a treat! I wonder if there are any supplemental materials on the DVD, since the LD was sadly lacking those (well, apparently not, since I read the website...) One thing left to do - call my "agent" in Asia and see if he can get it. [Edited by Playitagainsam on 04-07-01 at 08:39 AM] |
How are the Hong Kong DVDs encoded (Region 2? PAL?)?
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Did a quick scan of the HKDVD suppliers I'm familar with and no dice. Looks like the DVD is going for WAAAAY too much for me on e-bay.
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While a copy of the ld pilot would be nice on dvd, I myself will wait for the box set of the series. I don't know how far away it is but it is in production so hang tight everybody. I suspect that like a fine wine the wait is gonna make this series even better.
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Originally posted by madelinebh:
How are the Hong Kong DVDs encoded (Region 2? PAL?)? Please see my link above. It tells you all you need to know. Originally posted by Playitagainsam: I would not be surprised, though, to see that the HK people have put it on DVD by themselves There is no will they or won't they issue here--the TWIN PEAKS pilot (sans the bogus ending of the European theatrical release) has been released on DVD in Hong Kong. Again, reference my link above for details. |
I just preordered mine from Scarecrow. $40 & they said they should have them in about a week. Might be the only opportunity to get the origianl pilot, there have always been legal issues with releasing it in US.
[Edited by WhattheFFF on 04-07-01 at 03:35 PM] |
Originally posted by Filmmaker (sans the bogus ending of the European theatrical release) |
The pilot was only shown theatrically in Europe. Basically, a fifteen-minute wrap-up was added to the end of the pilot--rather than having a vision of someone burying Laura Palmer's locket in the forest, like in the T.V. pilot edit, Sarah Palmer instead has a vision of "Bob". After this point, the film goes into an elongated surreal sequence (much of which is seen in the third episode as Cooper's "25 Years Later" dream, and more effectively, I might add) wherein Laura's killer is discovered (I won't mention the killer's identity here, since it is the same as the T.V. show's, albeit with an altered backstory). This version was meant to be a stand-alone story for European viewers (Europe never got to see the full T.V. show???). Quite simply, for viewers of the show, this extended finale sucks royally, especially since it violates continuity with the show as we know it. A chance to get a DVD copy of the T.V. version of the pilot is simply [/i]not[/i] to be missed, especially in light of rumors that when the pilot does come to DVD domestically, it will be the same extended theatrical version we Americans have been cursed with on home video since day one.
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Very interesting. I just wanted to add that Twin Peaks has been shown on TV in Europe numerous times. They've shown the whole series twice here in Finland (the re-runs ended two weeks ago).
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Originally posted by WhattheFFF I just preordered mine from Scarecrow. $40 & they said they should have them in about a week. |
Intially it was 39.95 but the title has since gone OOP so they had to raise the price to 59.95. Still a good deal considering they are going for well over a $100 on EBay. This could be the only opportunity to get this.
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Originally posted by WhattheFFF Intially it was 39.95 but the title has since gone OOP so they had to raise the price to 59.95. Still a good deal considering they are going for well over a $100 on EBay. This could be the only opportunity to get this. |
I was lucky enough to get my hands on two copies of this DVD at a small B&M in New York City. While I didn't watch it in it's entirety yet, the sound and video quality are quite amazing.
I'm definitely going to put one of these on Ebay immediately, to finance some Criterion pre-orders. |
From: http://www.dugpa.com/index2.html
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. EQUIPMENT NOTES DVD Players: - Panasonic SC-HT80 TV - Sharp 27L-S300 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 I just got mine from Scarecrow last night. I agree with the review above. The pitch does seem high, but it might not be as noticeable for those who have not seen it as many times as I have and basically have the sound and dialogue burned into my brain. I am quite happy with it. I think that this is a must own for serious Twin Peaks fans because this is the first time that the pilot (episode 0) has been available in its original "as aired on tv" form. Who knows what form WB will release it in when they get around to doing it. Artisan will probably release episodes 1-7 before the pilot gets released, and if you have this version, you can at least watch it before watching the rest of season 1. WB released "the European version" on both vhs and laserdisc so I would not be shocked if they f***ed us over on the dvd release too. From WB perspective, they only own the pilot, so why not release the version of the pilot that was designed to stand by itself and not be the beginning of a tv show? I believe this dvd is already OOP so I decided to buy a copy from Scarecrow because eBay prices are higher, and I wanted to make sure I got a copy of this NOW just to be safe. WB will probably release a better quality disc, and I will probably buy that too, but at least I am content knowing that I FINALLY own the REAL pilot. This is a 10 year dream come true. Here's a link to Scarecrow: http://www.scarecrow.com./ http://www.scarecrow.com./News/titles_2/title_00286.htm |
According to today's (July 29) announcement on:
http://www.dvdpricesearch.com/cgi-bin/dvdhtml2 pokerindustries is now selling the twin peaks import for $39.95 |
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As much as I hate to depress those of you that have payed the rather inflated prices being asked on Ebay, Scarecrow, Pokerindustries etc, I have just ordered from DVDShelf in Hong Kong for the princely sum of just over US$8.
Even with the shipping charges, this is a good bargain... although you may want to maximise your shipping ccharge by ordering a few other titles while you are there (it is the same charge regardless of whether you order one or five DVDs). For example, they have both the original Taxi and Taxi 2 (DTS) for a similar price as Twin Peaks. These have removable subs and by all reports are of good quality. Anyway, the link to the Twin Peaks page is: Twin Peaks at DVDShelf Hope this helps some of you, and that it doesn't depress too many of you. regards, Tim... |
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