Series 1 on Blu-Ray

Hi Everyone,

This is making its way around the web today; Series 1 will hit hi-def blu-ray this fall. Though its being released by A&E, they did an excellent job with the Prisoner Blu-Ray release (which was the same HD masters used in the UK release).

No word on specs or extras yet, but it is up for pre-order on amazon ($100 MSRP but discounted 30%): http://tinyurl.com/2ubkgnc

Plus here's an article from the BBC (via the Digital Bits) on the restoration: http://tinyurl.com/24ox7kp

Tom...

Even better news. Network are releasing a bluray edition in the UK - news on their page here: http://www.networkdvd.net/index.php

This would be preferable, I think, since it would be certain to run at
the correct speed for a start, and their DVD set was already fantastic.

However, I have to say I'm uncertain if I would want to but the series on bluray. (For a start, I don't
have a bluray player or a HD television, so there would be a lot of
capital outlay involved in upgrading to the bluray set. Even for my
favourite show.) But beyond that, the point is that the DVDs already look absolutely fantastic, and I'm yet
to be convinced that there would be that much benefit to going
to bluray for the cost involved, especially in these straitened
financial times. I've mused about this on some other forums, but no
one's really come back with an answer that makes much sense to me - but
I seriously have to wonder how much better it can possibly
look. Oh yes, I'm sure the quality will be fantastic, but one wonders
especially on something made for telly 35 years ago, whether the
high-def will in fact cheapen the visuals of the show. And this is my real worry: the DVD is
clear, bright, colouful - not like the murky haze that I had to put up
with on VHS for years - but I'm aware of the fact that the DVD exposes
some of the production techniques - wires and so on - that I couldn't
see before - and for instance, Peter Cushing's ethereal world in
Missing Link looked dreamy and strange when I saw it on VHS - now I can
quite clearly see it's filmed inside a back-lit tent! So this is the
really serious question: do I really want any more clarity? How much is
too much? If it shows us things that the creators never intended...

The Network DVDs used newly struck prints that were remastered in HD. Also, they went back to the original three track magnetic audio tapes (music, dialog and effects) to get a better mono and 5.1 mix. So I'm sure that set looks and sounds great.

However, those masters never saw the light of day in the U.S. We only had the Carlton masters (released through A&E) and these looked and sounded atrocious. Colors were off, the prints were dirty and scratched, and the audio was often flat if not outright muddled. An HD upgrade would be greatly appreciated.

Year 1 had a great cinematic quality to it and it will benefit greatly from an HD presentation. Some screen grabs of the HD restoration is available too: http://www.space1999.net/catacombs/main/pguide/upimhd.html

Althouhgh some of the HD shots were reframed for widescreen presentation, they basically show the quality one can expect.

BTW, A&E released the blu-ray of The Prisoner in the US, using the UK masters. This set received a lot accolades, too, for the restoration and presentation. So hopefully we will have similar quality for Space 1999

Andrew Kearley wrote:Even better news. Network are releasing a bluray edition in the UK - news on their page here: http://www.networkdvd.net/index.php

Andrew, I also got an email about the Network release of Space: 1999 in BluRay but like you I haven't got a BluRay player or HD TV so I will probably pass on buying them. I wish Network would release remastered Year Two which I would definitely buy as I am totally impressed with their Year One release, but I guess if they have released the BluRay editions they will probably not be releasing the ordinary remastered ones. I have the Carlton Year Two set but the quality is nowhere near as good as the Network ones.

i have the network DVD Set but i would really like the blu-ray version.

Andrew

tom_k35 wrote:Series 1 will hit hi-def blu-ray this fall. No word on specs or extras yet

I'm tempted to wait to hear what (if any) extras there will be and whether they will include extras that have never been available on any dvd set before.

Imagine if some of the surviving actors / actresses (including Martin Landau and Barbara Bain) agreed to do in-depth interviews to be exclusively included on the blu-ray extras - that would be really special.

The question I have is what are to be the differences between the R1 and R2 sets, if any.

[quote="SPACE 1899"]

tom_k35 wrote:Imagine if some of the surviving actors / actresses (including Martin Landau and Barbara Bain) agreed to do in-depth interviews to be exclusively included on the blu-ray extras - that would be really special.

We can hope for just about any actor associated with the series, but one of these two. For all I love the portrayal on their characters on the screen, each has treated our show like an unloved step-child for the past quarter century.

s99fan wrote:For all I love the portrayal on their characters on the screen, each has treated our show like an unloved step-child for the past quarter century.

Not sure about that. For example, only last Autumn, Barbara Bain appeared on NDB Media Talk Radio in America and gave a one hour interview, with much of the time devoted to fond memories of Space 1999.

True enough, I had forgotten. Perhaps a change of heart will occur prior to their inevitable deaths.

s99fan wrote:True enough, I had forgotten. Perhaps a change of heart will occur prior to their inevitable deaths.

And hopefully a Space 1999 remake / film with cameo appearances by them will happen before then also.

THAT I strongly doubt. I would expect Martin Wiley's book to be released first (and that has been in limbo for years due to ML and BB refusing to release permission to use their images in it).

s99fan wrote:THAT I strongly doubt. I would expect Martin Wiley's book to be released first (and that has been in limbo for years due to ML and BB refusing to release permission to use their images in it).

mmm - reminds me of the absence of Martin and Barbara pictures in the booklet with the Silva Screen cd release of the Year 1 music, where it states 'regrettably, for licensing and legal reasons, we have been unable to include any pictures of them in this release'.

Just been looking at the forthcoming Space 1999 blu ray special features, listed on the network dvd website -
http://www.networkdvd.net/product_info.php?products_id=1213
and it looks like there are some special features extra to those already present on dvd sets - eg
'these episode featurettes' (selected individual episode analysis - expanded version from that seen on the dvd)
& commemorative booklet.

Does look rather tempting...

For anyone thinking of pre-ordering the Space 1999 blu ray set, I have just been looking at pre-order prices on the web. Quite a difference on various websites - currently the most expensive I found was £79.99 on the network dvd website and the cheapest I found was £57.97 on amazon.co.uk.