Robotech Macross Saga Remaster

[azrael]

words escape me.

if only every dvd release could be so lucky as to have new masters suddenly appear

Exactly....

This just really shows how badly you can milk a product to the point where the cow is all bones.

All in all, all I have to say is, WHERE THE HELL IS MY MEGAZONE 23 SET!

With my boot...up HG's ass. <_>

[MrDisco]

there's a fairly detailed response from Steve on animeondvd for anyone who cares to read it. i'm too annoyed to bother pasting it here.

[BankofKev.]

The full quote...From animeondvd.com....

Steve Yun 

Studio Rep 

Reged: 07/08/03 

Loc: Hollywood 

  Re: Robotech Remastered: Extended Edition

[Re:]    11/20/03 08:47 PM       

I'm going to post a little information about how Robotech Remastered came about and hopefully that will give everyone some insight and perspective on this:

(Shin and DLW, feel free to correct anything that looks off)

So, in 1999, AnimEigo springs a surprise announcement at Anime Expo: that they've licensed Macross DVD rights from Harmony Gold. Later on down the line, they announce that they're going to do a thorough remastering of the footage. The following year at Anime Expo, ADV announces that they've licensed Robotech for DVD, with no plans to remaster the footage.

When we released the split-screen images of the Macross DVD's, there was an uproar from fans. "Why isn't Robotech being remastered like Macross is?!?" they asked. We tried to explain that Robotech is a mass-market title (being dubbed into English after all), and to hit the mass market, you had to make them economical, and to make the economically priced meant that remastering was going to be out of the question. However, we felt some pangs of disappointment amongst our fans, and no matter how rational our arguments for keeping the Robotech DVD's affordable were, it was hard to argue with 640x480 screenshots of dazzling digitally restored footage. Especially when they were put in split-screens comparing the old Robotech footage with the new remastered Macross footage. Ouch.

In January 2002, ADV licensed Southern Cross and Mospeada from Harmony Gold.

Sometime in the fall of 2002 after convention season ended, we got some crazy ideas in our heads.

I called up Shin Kurokawa (who was primarily responsible for the remastering of Macross when he used to be at AnimEigo) and asked him for his opinion. "If we had remastered footage of Southern Cross and Mospeada, do you think we'd be able to take that remastered footage and re-edit it back into Robotech? We don't even have restored footage of Mospeada or Southern Cross. Shin, would you be interested in restoring two entire series and then re-editing them back into Robotech?" He pauses for a moment and says "Steve, I used to wake up in the middle of the night, crying in my bed... because I had nightmares that you would ask me this question some day!" Shin was still mentally recovering from the sleepless nights spent working on the Macross restoration (the twitch is almost gone) and felt that re-editing of Robotech from restored footage would be a daunting task, especially since the original edit decision lists were lost. However, it was definitely doable in his opinion and even expressed interest in working on it. Unfortunately, he had several other projects on his plate at the time.

We pitched the idea to ADV, and they said they'd think about it.

In January 2003, ADV announced the Mospeada DVD's, and set a street date for March of 2003. This was to be a straight transfer, with no restoration, for an economical US$80. HG had a conference with ADV and asked them to see about delaying the Mospeada release and brought up the subject of remastered footage again. The idea would be that if ADV restored the Mospeada footage, they could use that restored footage for both the Mospeada and Robotech DVD's. ADV had recently upgraded their video facilities, and seeing that the planets were aligned for this sort of thing to happen, they decided to put the Mospeada DVD's on hold and remaster the video.

The Mospeada DVD's were mysteriously delayed with no explanation...

An amazing 5 months later, ADV had the remastered Mospeada footage completed, and ready to ship in June! And at no extra cost to the fan! How was this possible? Because ADV had warmed to the idea of a Robotech Remastered DVD release earlier this year, they were able to split the cost of remastering the footage across Mospeada and Robotech and justify these remastering costs. The same with Southern Cross.

And even before that, back in 2000, ADV had no idea whether Robotech was going to be the massive success that it is. They didn't know if it was going to be worth the remastering. Before they could even conceive of justifying remastering costs, ADV had to see Robotech fly off the shelves first, which it did with flying colors. This is partly why Robotech Remastered will be released at an MSRP of $30 a box set, at $2.50 per episode, matching the cost of the MSRP of the original DVD release of Robotech. Two dollars and fifty cents per episode!

The first DVD volume of Robotech Remastered will be hitting shelves two and a half years after the first volume of the original Robotech DVD's hit shelves. The announcement of Robotech Remastered is coming three and a half years after the announcement of the original Robotech on DVD. It's been plenty of time.

If ADV was really out to milk it and hold fans upside down by their ankles, they would've waited to announce this after Christmas.

Carl Macek used to say remastering Robotech would be virtually impossible because at the time it was true. We used to say it probably wasn't going to happen because we really didn't think it was going to happen. But we kept our pipe dream, remembering how badly fans wanted Robotech to be remastered after seeing the Macross screenshots, and we kept checking around conceivably possibly maybe if perhaps perchance it was possible. Harmony Gold and ADV only started laying the groundwork to make Robotech Remastered possible in January of this year, and only late this year did we have a deal with ADV to actually make it happen.

[bandit29]

Here's some more from Steve since he doesn't post here anymore ...

The original contention was that Harmony Gold and ADV were trying to milk the fans by having planned a remastered release all along, and I addressed this by showing that the remastering was only recently conceived of.

As for an incentive for fans to buy... this is why the price point is set so low. You have to look at the fact that this is a drastically remastered and re-edited DVD release. This is the selfsame video that was retransferred and restored from film by AnimEigo and ADV, with 5.1 audio mixed from discrete audio tracks, not a fakey mix made from mixed stereo tracks. All of this is being placed at the same price point as the original release, which was already ridiculously affordable at $15 per 6 episodes, MSRP (not to mention street prices).

http://forums.animeondvd.com/showflat.php?...sb=5&o=&fpart=5

[TheLoneWolf]

I talked to Tom Bateman in the IRC chat. It's more footage from the original shows that was dubbed in 1984-1985. They're putting these scenes into the show. He didn't say what it was, but it's "more the violence" than nudity or ethnic gesture.

As a Robotech fan, I'm pleased to see a remastered version of the series. I am also glad that I never bought the DVD's (got the LD's). Anyways, I wonder how accurate Bateman's above statement is. For well over the past decade, I've been following Robotech's closely, read up on it as much as possible, and even spent a couple of hours talking with Dennis Bateman on the subject. Yet, this is the *first* time I have heard that there was a "previous cut" of Robotech (excluding the dubbed Macross). I can see how the dubbed Macross included violent scenes, since it was meant to be an OAV (note that te Macross footage cannot be re-used since the characters had different names and music). But Robotech was concieved as a public broadcast from the get-go, I find it hard to believe that HG would dub the violent scenes, then say "oops, we forgot, this is for TV." Either the people working at Harmony Gold were completely incompetent, or Tom Bateman is playing us for fools. More than likely, this is a retcon job by HG and ADV, similiar to what George Lucas did with the Star Wars Special Editions.

Now this brings two complications:

- HG/ADV are going to need to rescore the scenes with the extended/added footage.

- HG/ADV are going to need to re-dub the new scenes.

While this sounds doable, I wonder how smoothly these scenes will flow with the old footage. We've all scene what a diseaster the SW SE's movies were, I hope ADV and HG try their best to avoid this.

One thing I'd like to see is HG go back and fix all the continuity errors, specifically the years and dates.

[JsARCLIGHT]

Remastered? New footage?

Does Greedo shoot first in this one, too?

(goes back into his corner and goes back to sleep)

[treatment]

Just to be fair...

Actually, iirc, those "violent" scenes were originally english-dubbed and were not cut/colored-out in at least the Macross-dub (philippines) and the original Robotech-dub (US). I believe Macek made the decision to cut those scenes out in the regular US broadcast-release, however. I heard/read Macek re-included those scenes on the Perfect-whatever version vhs-tapes, but I don't have those tapes to verify.

Iirc, Robotech.com used to have clips of these cuts, but I haven't visited that site since it was first goin up (Steve Yun is still an active member of the Ars-forum where I hang out most of the time). I'm not sure if those clips are still up there.

So, yeah, it should not be a ret-con since it was always there, but was just taken out for the US-broadcast and the first/second dvd-releases.

Fwiw, that was always the thing that bothered me with the Robotech-dvd's as to why it was still cut off/colored-out from the original and subsequent brick dvd-releases prior to this upcoming Remaster. They had the clips so they always had it, but just did not include/spliced/stitched them to the source-reel of the Robotech-dvd's. *shrugs*

As for the video and audio remastering, meh. I gave my first-generation Robotech-dvd's to someone else and already have the vastly-superior Animeigo set with the original japanese-vocals and japanese-bgms. I rather not listen to Minmei(Reba West) in 5.1 since I already abhor her vocals in the original mono.

Although, I do feel like most RT-fans got screwed with this announcement and their previous RT-purchases.

Such is life, I say. Either you wanna double-dip, or boycott it altogether. HG and ADV oughta do the honorable thing and offer some sort of trade-in offers, tho. But that's just my opinion on it.

--treatment---

Edited November 21, 2003 by treatment

[bandit29]

From what it sounds like HG is using the old audio they found and using the remastered video. And using the timecodes on where to edit, cut/slow down etc the animation.

I was reading on RT.com that not all the scenes that are in the original Japanese versions will be in the new extended versions of RT. Only the scenes that they have audio for.

[wrylac]

words escape me.

if only every dvd release could be so lucky as to have new masters suddenly appear 

Exactly....

This just really shows how badly you can milk a product to the point where the cow is all bones.

All in all, all I have to say is, WHERE THE HELL IS MY MEGAZONE 23 SET!

With my boot...up HG's ass.

Looks like neither of you have experience with video/film archives. It is very plausable and likely true that this stuff was buried some where, where no one knew where it was. WB and MGM might have meticulous logs from decades ago but I've never seen a small production company keep anything straight for more than a few years.

[Macross_Fanboy]

Well, I'm just glad that I only have three sets. I'm gonna trade those in for store credit and buy F-Zero GX.

[Keith]

Ha! I can still rile up studio reps for answers!!

[azrael]

Looks like neither of you have experience with video/film archives.

Looks like you have more trust in this company than all of us here. But that's just you.

Such is life, I say. Either you wanna double-dip, or boycott it altogether. HG and ADV oughta do the honorable thing and offer some sort of trade-in offers, tho.

When was the last time you saw any company do the honorable thing?

And considering ADV is middle-man in all of this (HG is using their video facilities, their reproduction house, etc), I'll leave them out of the picture for the moment. But that's just me. <_>

[TheLoneWolf]

Actually, iirc, those "violent" scenes were originally english-dubbed and were not cut/colored-out in at least the Macross-dub (philippines) and the original Robotech-dub (US). I believe Macek made the decision to cut those scenes out in the regular US broadcast-release, however. I heard/read Macek re-included those scenes on the Perfect-whatever version vhs-tapes, but I don't have those tapes to verify.

The philippines Macross dub is an altogether different animal. The characters names were not even the same as the U.S. Robotech. I also have all of the Perfect Collection, and none of their RT episodes differ from the previous VHS, LD, and DVD releases.

Iirc, Robotech.com used to have clips of these cuts, but I haven't visited that site since it was first goin up (Steve Yun is still an active member of the Ars-forum where I hang out most of the time). I'm not sure if those clips are still up there.

While I only visit RT.com infrequently, I've never seen clips of this nature. It's possible I just have had bad luck.

So, yeah, it should not be a ret-con since it was always there, but was just taken out for the US-broadcast and the first/second dvd-releases. 

Since I haven't seen solid proof showing otherwise (notwithstanding HG reps, since we know how honest they are), I still believe it's nothing more than a retcon job. Not necessarily a bad thing, especially if they pull it off well. I just think HG/ADV are trying to avoid people percieving it as a retcon job due to the whole George Lucas fiasco.

Oh yeah, the audio is supposed to be DD 5.1. Now, is this going to the same old dual-mono DD track, or are we finally going to see a true stereo release?!

edit: syntax

Edited November 21, 2003 by TheLoneWolf

[Apollo Leader]

...which will also help to reach out to new fans of anime today.

Tommy Yune

Harmony Gold

I think Tommy and company should be "reaching out to fans of anime today" by promoting their Macross, Mospeada, and Southern Cross DVD releases instead of butchering the 3 series a second time over... but hey, that's just me.

Looks like Animeigo's restored Macross footage is being used afterall so my speculation was wrong there.

Edited November 21, 2003 by Apollo Leader

[treatment]

The philippines Macross dub is an altogether different animal.  The characters names were not even the same as the U.S. Robotech.  I also have all of the Perfect Collection, and none of their RT episodes differ from the previous VHS, LD, and DVD releases.

We're just talking about the cut footages, not character-names as the Macross character-names were known to have been regionalized/localized internationally. By HG or BigWest, I can't remember.

Fwiw and these are from my memory, but it should be in the Animeigo-release, the cut-footages were like the

[*] Roy and Hikaru eyeballin Minmay's butt

[*] Roy checking out some more ass from Skull-1 control

[*] The smoking bullet-holes on the Zentraedi

[*] Minmay's hair-importance

[*] bloody bullet-holes on Roy.

I'm not sure if there are more stuff than these and frankly, I really don't care nor do I really give a crap on RT-version since I pretty much know the Animeigo set contains all the scenes that were cut from Robotech US-release. Somebody else can prolly do a side-by-side/scene-by-scene comparison between Animeigo's, original Legacy, and the upcoming Re-masters.

The vocals were of the Macek-dubs (US-release) so you can hear more annoying Reba West regarding Minmay's hair inside the VF1D.

But like I said, I just heard/read that these scenes and dialogue-stuff were included in the Perfect-Collection. But you verified that they weren't, so I guess Macek never did included it at all.

While I only visit RT.com infrequently, I've never seen clips of this nature.  It's possible I just have had bad luck.

They were there before in like real-video or avi format or something. Can't remember. I'm not sure if these scenes were in the extras-discs of the Legacy-boxes.

Since I haven't seen solid proof showing otherwise (notwithstanding HG reps, since we know how honest they are), I still believe it's nothing more than a retcon job.  Not necessarily a bad thing, especially if they pull it off well.  I just think HG/ADV are trying to avoid people percieving it as a retcon job due to the whole George Lucas fiasco.

Afaict, you won't need any proof other than what you'd already seen in the Animeigo-set. I don't think HG will re-dub the english-dialogues at all. That'll be a more expensive proposition. The only advantage with this cut-footages will prolly be the proper pacing of english-dialogues, instead of the always-rushing nature of the Robotech-dialogues.

Oh yeah, the audio is supposed to be DD 5.1.  Now, is this going to the same old dual-mono DD track, or are we finally going to see a true stereo release?! 

Yeah. lol! Like I stated earlier. The robotechies can now prolly listen to Reba West's Minmei in 5.1!!! ; Edited November 21, 2003 by treatment

[MrDisco]

Ha! I can still rile up studio reps for answers!!

haha. oh well looks like i'm in the bad books now

[Keith]

Here's a question on the philipines dub. Where the robotech songs used? Or were some other vairent of songs used (i.e. the vocals).

I'm wondering now if that was maybe what became of HG's attempt to dub Macross, only releasing 3 episodes in the U.S., but perhaps having finished the dub before deciding to do robotech, then releasing it in the phillipines.

[Skull Leader]

For Robotechies:

*Nelson laugh from the simpsons* Ha ha! You're gonna buy more Robotech!"

This is rich.... did anyone else besides me see this coming a mile away? Especially after such blanket statements that assure the fans that it absolutely will NOT be done... right? LOL, next thing they'll do is limit it to 10,000 sets and then produce 30,000...

I'll say this for Harmony Gold... I think they're predictable if anything, but that's just me

Edited November 21, 2003 by Skull Leader

[Hurin]

I think we need to differentiate between what Hollywood does with many DVD releases, what New Line Cinema is doing with Lord of the Rings, and what HG is doing with Robotech.

1. Yes, it is annoying that several different versions (Special Edition, Super-Special Edition, and then Superbit Special Edition with Super-vision) come out for many DVDs nowadays. But, in reality, the actual feature is completely unchanged from DVD to DVD. Meaning, the digital transfer of the movie is identical between releases, for the most part. So, you're given a choice. If you want to buy a later edition (perhaps for the extras), that's your call. And, in the end, this really doesn't compare to the Robotech issue becase we're usually talking about $20 here, while the Robotech releases go for much more.

2. Lord of the Rings Extended Editions are a whole different animal. I see nothing wrong with releasing two different versions of the film when one is substantially different (46y minutes is not a minor diffrence). Especially since it has never been a secret that extended editions have been on the way. Having a choice is a good thing. I go off on this topic rather vehemently here.

3. The big difference here is that HG apparently lied directly to its fanbase in order to encourage sales the Robotech DVDs. If that is true, that is despicable. But is par for the course.

Though, really, I wonder if it was actually planned. I wonder if they really never did have plans to remaster the DVDs and really did believe it was beyond their capability. But, when Animeigo remastered Macross, they realized that they had a chance to do it "on the cheap" and changed their minds.

Either way though. They said it was not possible (I'd love to actually see a quote. Though, if it's at RT.com, I'm sure it has been purged). That was obviously a lie, iether way.

Best Regards,

H

Edit: Typo that fundamentally changed the meaning of the "They said it was not possible. . ." I had a double-negative in there.

Edited November 21, 2003 by Hurin

[BoBe-Patt]

man, I'm just happy I skipped all the robotech dvd's altogether. I'm just happy with my Animego Macross DVD set.

[1st Border Red Devil]

your response is basically 'they're a corporation so just accept what ever they do and gosh darn it don't rock the boat'.

sorry i don't accept that.

as a consumer we should make our concerns heard. it is far worse to not say anything and have companies believe what they're doing is the right thing.

Good God almighty. If you dont like it.....DONT BUY IT! That is how you, as a consumer, make them realise that its the wrong direction for them to take. I again will say that if they had done this at first, there would STILL be people screaming to have UNALTERED (dont snicker) Robotech. Not everything is a fragging conspiracy. Jesus...watch less of the X-Files.

[Smut Peddler]

your response is basically 'they're a corporation so just accept what ever they do and gosh darn it don't rock the boat'.

sorry i don't accept that.

as a consumer we should make our concerns heard. it is far worse to not say anything and have companies believe what they're doing is the right thing.

Good God almighty. If you dont like it.....DONT BUY IT! That is how you, as a consumer, make them realise that its the wrong direction for them to take. I again will say that if they had done this at first, there would STILL be people screaming to have UNALTERED (dont snicker) Robotech. Not everything is a fragging conspiracy. Jesus...watch less of the X-Files.

Nah, I'll be shoplifting as many, and as often as possible in protest. J/K

[ogami]

HG sounds very unresponsible to me...

Why they did't do the total remaster at the first time??? AND the last DVD release is not long time ago...

If HG has the heart to do a good remaster, they should have done it last time.

It is good that Macross Zero/7/Plus/DYRL didn't fall into HG's hand.

[MrDisco]

Good God almighty. If you dont like it.....DONT BUY IT! That is how you, as a consumer, make them realise that its the wrong direction for them to take. I again will say that if they had done this at first, there would STILL be people screaming to have UNALTERED (dont snicker) Robotech. Not everything is a fragging conspiracy. Jesus...watch less of the X-Files.

lol no need to pop a vein

being vocal and deciding what to do with your cash is the best combo for getting the point across. if people said nothing and just didnt buy the product they wouldn't know why exactly the product hasn't sold.

x-files? conspiracy? not at all. my simple point is this: yes its wonderful that new masters were found and what was previously impossible is now possible. i think some recognition of why this project is viable should be acknowledged - that being people who purchased the entire series under the assumption that it was the definitive release. a simple statement such as "And as our way of saying thanks to the loyal RT fans in north america who made this possible we're offering $5 off each boxset. Simply send in proof of purchase of your existing legacy set and we'll send a $5 coupon/rebate".

[Smut Peddler]

HG has done nothing but screw over its fanbase for over 20 years now, I don't see how this could suprise anyone.

[EXO]

I guess to be a modern day RT fan requires a lot of bending over...

[Nightbat]

Good God almighty. If you dont like it.....DONT BUY IT! That is how you, as a consumer, make them realise that its the wrong direction for them to take. I again will say that if they had done this at first, there would STILL be people screaming to have UNALTERED (dont snicker) Robotech. Not everything is a fragging conspiracy. Jesus...watch less of the X-Files.

Hmm...

I use that same kind of stance when voting's up

I don't vote for ANYONE in my country since I have no trust in any party of our government

Yet when I say that to someone I am considered an Ostrich, putting my head in the sand

or, I have suspended my right to give critisism on the ruling parties

or, I am in a way responsible for things not improving

Hmmmm...

So you should just sell your soul to the devil and expect customer-service and a warranty???

I hear the devil laughing now

[Jemstone]

I guess to be a modern day RT fan requires a lot of bending over...

LOL !What can I say other than "they like it up the ass"? I've been following this whole debacle on Anime on DVD forums since it began. I feel no feel sympathy for guys like Mr Disco and CAG since they are finally getting slapped in the face by HG like most of the rest of us already experienced (in one way or another). I guess in the end I find it all funny because I no longer care about Robotech, moved on and will not allow myself to be a "victim" of HG's bad business practices and lies again. Tommy Yune's post is what cracks me up the most. The anime fans of today want to see true and unaltered animes. Not edited and redited hack jobs of original Japanese classics.

[Apollo Leader]

At least one good thing has come out of this Robotech "remastering" and that is the lower costs for the Mospeada and Southern Cross boxsets. They could have easily gone for over a $100 each if ADV hadn't split the development costs.

I look at it this way, when those Robotechies go out and buy their "remastered" Robotech DVD's, they are paying for part of our Mospeada and Southern Cross DVD's.

[MrDisco]

good to see you too jem. haven't seen you post as much lately.

[Hurin]

Hmm, taking a look at the picture on rt.com, it looks like both sides are of the same size (i.e. not zoomed out like the AnimEigo remaster).

Now that it's safely ruled out, I again would have to say that they remastered the tape sources. . .

Uh, it looks like there is further information available. . . but I just have to say that basing your conclusion on one image on the RT site is a bit, uh, inconclusive. If you're talking about the image of Milia that is split (that is no longer showing up on the site, btw). . . there is no indication whatsoever that this is an actual representation of the restored image vs the actual image. Rather, it is most likely a simulation.

Indeed, I even have my doubts about the "split" demonstrations they did for the Animeigo DVDs. Are they true side-by-side representations or are they "simulated?"

In any event. . . that promotional shot of Milia's face being split down the middle doesn't indicate squat.

H

[MrDisco]

what exactly do you mean when you refer to a 'zoomed' image?

and i thought they are using the animeigo remastered footage...no?

[Apollo Leader]

what exactly do you mean when you refer to a 'zoomed' image?

and i thought they are using the animeigo remastered footage...no?

When Keith said "zoomed out", he meant that Animeigo used more of the outer edges of the Macross film then did Robotech. Otherwise saying, you literally get more of the picture with the Animeigo Macross DVD's then you did with Robotech.

[MrDisco]

so if HG/ADV is using the AnimEigo footage (which Steve Yun claims they are) then it would follow we would also get the zoomed out footage. or do you suppose they will crop it out to keep the look the same?

[BankofKev.]

words escape me.

if only every dvd release could be so lucky as to have new masters suddenly appear  <_<

Exactly....

This just really shows how badly you can milk a product to the point where the cow is all bones.

All in all, all I have to say is, WHERE THE HELL IS MY MEGAZONE 23 SET!

With my boot...up HG's ass. <_<

Looks like neither of you have experience with video/film archives. It is very plausable and likely true that this stuff was buried some where, where no one knew where it was. WB and MGM might have meticulous logs from decades ago but I've never seen a small production company keep anything straight for more than a few years.

To back up Wrylac's point here is a post I made on RT.com

Enjoy:

So has HG finally done it? Have they really screwed over their fans?

No.

Some of you are looking at this from a fan perspective and not a production/business/industry perspective.

What Steve has posted in the forums ,and on the main page with Tommy, is what happens in this industry often until very recently.

Want a non-HG example?

In the 1980's Star Trek Fans were clamoring to see the original 1964 Star Trek pilot “The Cage” Since very few people outside of NBC or Paramount have ever seen it. Well Paramount sensing the demand released “The Cage” on VHS… Sadly due to sloppy vaulting procedures there was not a complete color print. So paramount released the The Cage in on VHS with a mix of color and B&W footage…

ST Fans screamed at paramount for a full color version. Paramount told them that there was none and that there probably would never be one since despite exhaustive sereaches they simply could not find the missing color footage.

Well somebody had that color footage and in early 1988 contacted Paramount and worked out a deal with them. Well Paramount was able to show The Cage in full color on television (via a TV Special The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation To The Next hosted by Patrick Stewart (he even says this is a “rare color print” on the special).

Paramount then re-leased the cage on VHS in Dec. 1988.

Now was Paramount screwing their fans? No.

Another example of sloppy vaulting is The Abyss…All the production sound (carefully recorded by Lee Orloff) was lost and was a major hurdle for James Cameron when he released his Abyss Special Edition on LD in 1993….

Was 20th Century Fox screwing over its fans? No.

A more recent example involves X-men…

Look at the first DVD of the film? No Extra’s it’s just the film….

The came X-Men 1.5 a few months later…Now for those of you who want to invite a class action suit against HG no doubt you already succeed against 20TH Century Fox Home entertainment, New Line (for the LOTR DVD’s) and several others.

Sadly folks when shows were made no one ever envisioned that there would be formats to view this material. Remember back in 1985 VHS home video was just starting to make its way into American households and that was only through rentals not sales…

So often this material is forgotten, disgarded or misplaced or ruined in a flood….

And it costs lots of money to find/re-mix/restore to today’s Broadcast Standards. Having worked in post production , it costs quite alot to bring a mono mix to Dolby 5.1 …

Bankofkev

I made a edit on spelling...D'oH!

Edited November 25, 2003 by BankofKev.