Mr March

Damn, some of those pictures look fantastic. I like the lineart personally. Those front and rear linearts of the YF-19 in Battroid mode are fantastic. I'd die to see full size versions of those!

Intersting pictures. The space battle sure would be a welcome sight. We don't often get the chance to see giant space battles in Star Wars. But when we do, it's fantastic. I've seen the Episode III preview on my Star Wars DVD set so the Darth Vader pictures are nothing new. The suit looks great though. In fact it looks even better, if that's possible. More than likely it's just the small refinements and modern costume techniques that no one but a Wars fan like me would notice I'm really looking forward to the final episode. I'm sure I'll love it.

Interesting, though I'd rather watch the trailer for myself.

Just saw the film last night. It was delightfully cheesy and somewhat entertaining in an adolescent kind of way. Basically the film is what you would get if modern filmmaking technology was available in the 1940's. The story reads just like an old golden age comic book including all the dated science fiction technology, the ridiculous logic leaps, the cliched characters, and the end-of-the-world plot. Sky Captain was hit and miss for me. I appreciated the fact that the film wasn't trying to be anything other than what it was; a dated but bold tale of high adventure with genuine humor and great visuals. So many modern films try to be something they are not, so it's refreshing to be given the dope straight up. However, Sky Captain is part on an era of storytelling that I never did think of highly. Unlike George Lucas and his age group, I did not grow up on Flash Gordon. A modern film presented to me like a golden age comic book (with 1940s-50s storytelling standards) just doesn't do it for me. I was rather taken with the Indiana Jones-like feel of the film, but it wasn't modernized enough for a younger generation. My suspension of disbelief was hindered, which I admit is a silly standard coming from a science fiction and fantasy fan such as myself. Nevertheless, Sky Captain failed to reach the level of that odd, internal benchmark of mine. Another thing that bothered me is my own "sophisticated" (using this loosely) tastes for mechanical monsters. Unlike anime, most of the "giant robot" stories in North America have not progressed in design significantly. Nor have the original designs aged well. Unlike the U.S.S. Enterprise and the X-Wing Fighter, simplistic giant robots with can-shaped heads and unsightly ball-joints look just as dated now as they did then. Compared to japanese giant robot designs of even 20 years ago (like our own Macross Valkyrie or the Gundam), the mechanical monsters in Sky Captain really failed to impress me. Which is again an odd criticism since I think the Iron Giant is a worthy North American animation. Nonetheless, the criticism is honest. I wish North American artists would advance the design of giant robots like they have with small scale robots (Robocop, Terminator, Star Wars, et cetera). It's a shame North American writers always need to return to the silly golden age designs whenever they want to tell a story featuring giant robots. Well, that's about all for my review. I did enjoy my time in the theatre watching Sky Captain, but it isn't a film I'd rush out to watch again. Won't be buying the DVD on this one. "Lense cap..."

I get steamed about the fella who is often driving home at the same time I am. His sticker reads "My border Collie is Smarter Than Your Honor Student". The sticker itself is just so stupid on so many levels, it's actually difficult to say why it makes me angry

Not exactly news to me, but a very interesting article nonetheless. I try to follow a few subjects about new technology and research, just to keep myself up to date as I write about sci-fi. Anti-matter is so much fun

Wow, I've never even heard of that before. That sucks!

Oh my gawd...

Maybe Vol 2 hasn't been released domestically yet. I found THIS listing on Amazon.ca, and it cites an Oct 5 release date. I have no idea who this "C.B.S." is though. I'll have to recheck my copy of #1. October 5th! That's blackmail! Damn them and their lousy distribution

Yes we do, but I never look through fliers or papers unless they already happen to be on my table at the cafe

Really? So it's just my local Best Buys that suck? Surprise, surprise. Seems so. When I lived in Fort Mac, many of the chain stores were the same way. Our Wal Mart wouldn't receive new releases for weeks after much larger cities like Edmonton or Calgary already stocked the product in their Wal Marts. It sucked and I'm glad I don't live in Fort Mac anymore

Don't waste your time with Canadian Best Buys, Mr March. They only seem to get the big, high profile releases on their street dates. Other titles, particularly anime, seem to only show up a few weeks later. I'm still waiting for them to get THX-1138 in stock. The Best Buy here in Calgary was actually right on time for the Vol. 1 release of Ghost in the Shell (but I didn't pick it up until two weeks later). A&B Sound was the same as well. Future Shop, A&B Sound, and Best Buy also got THX-1138 on the release date as well, both the Directors Cut and the original (that director's cut edition looks fantastic btw). So I'm kinda stroppy because they are late with this release I'm gonna go check again today. I need some pork chops and a toilet brush anyway

Damnit! I went to Best Buy yesterday evening and they still did not have volume 2. Of course, I want the special edition release. Love those sound tracks and at $25 for two DVDs plus a CD soundtrack, how can I argue?

42 baby!

I'm sorry. Here I am just loving these pictures and checking this thread everytime there's an update, yet it must look to you as if no one cares cause we're hardly posting Your work is very good. I'm impressed with the smooth curves of your Zentradi capital ship turret. That must have taken a while to perfect. The missiles look very close to the animation. These fine 3D productions would make some great shots for a CG video animation. Are you going to experiement with 3D replication of the weapon effects as well? It would be a dream to see you duplicate the infamous "splitting ship" effect of the zentradi destroyers when they fire their primary cannon.

Well, that sounds lousy. I'm still waiting a bit to buy mine. I'll have to see what happens in the next few weeks. Thanks for the links btw. Sad that this release had to be so problematic.

My sympathies. I had my vehicle stolen once before, so I know what it feels like. It was found some days later abandoned near a 7-11. I felt so wronged. It's funny how weird you feel when it happens. For the first while you're in denial that it's gone and you keep saying "They can't do that! It's illegal!" Good thing you got it back. Sorry about the Yammies though. That really sucks.

"Oh, will you two just sleep together and get it over with" - Janeane Garofalo

The sad thing is this mislabelled DVD set is probably going to be worth something because the release will be limited when Bandai corrects it with a new pressing. Now that's what I call ironic

Nice! I particularly like the color. It suits the Monster.

Yeah. A lot of the "issues" are ultimately a matter of preference. Only Lucasfilm knows if they're truly flaws or not. The rest of us are limited to our opinions. However strong or substantial they may be, they're still opinions until proven fact. Still.. I hope you're more fortunate than I was and that you get a properly-encoded copy. Encoding problems aren't exaggerations to me. I want a clean copy, damn it. To be perfectly honest, this thread here on MW is the only place I've heard of any potential encoding problems. I've been jumping around from digitalbits, to amazon.ca, and to a bunch of other sites with reviews and no one has mentioned the error you're refering to. Not saying it doesn't exist or that I don't beleive you, but I think this is a very isolated issue in the grand scheme of things. At this point, it's the risk you take whenever you buy any DVD, so it's really not that big a deal to me. Regardless, I'm glad you posted and I'm glad I waited.

This is what I was waiting to hear. Sounds like the "problems" with these DVDs have been exaggerated by a lot of people with microscopes and tweezers. Sounds like the sets are certainly worth buying, but like all DVD releases, they aren't without a few small flaws. I think I'll go ahead and pick them up. The bad press had me all worried, but it pays to be patient.

Hmmm, after reading the responses here and on Amazon.ca, I've decided to hold off purchasing this set. My friend has the DVD set and is going to watch it this evening, so he'll tell me the full skinny. I'm guessing at this point the audio/visual problems aren't nearly as bad as some have said (especially since I don't have a expensive AV setup and I own a regular tv). Still, no harm in being cautious. That's why the internet is so great...you get to hear all this stuff ahead of time

The background is a $2 piece of blue material from a fabric store bargain bin, believe it or not. I've gotten so much use out of that thing.... Hehehe. Low budget studio photography at it's best. I love it

They look good for a quick and dirty setup. The background really helps the subject standout. Oh yeah, very nice custom by the way