‘Farscape’ Coming Back To DVD - Finally!
July 3, 2009 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
If you missed collecting “Farscape” on DVD during its initial release, we have good news for you. The long out-of-print series is coming back to DVD this November.
The set will be launched at a panel at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con and is being picked up by A&E Home Video. The set will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the show.
When a freak accident during an experimental space mission catapulted Astronaut John Crichton (Ben Browder) across a thousand galaxies to an alien battlefield, a cult classic was born with the epic, adventure-filled TV series Farscape. The award-winning fan favorite show, which ran from 1999-2003 on Sci Fi and was named by TV Guide as one of television’s best cult shows ever, is about to blast off again on DVD courtesy of a pact between A&E Home Entertainment and The Jim Henson Company. Read more
Doc Savage On DVD - A Warner Archive Selection
Warner Brothers has opened up their archives for you to be able to order movies from them on DVD that have not been available before now. And one of them is George Pal’s Doc Savage: The Man Of Bronze.
Ok, I’ve read about 70-80 of the Doc Savage pulps in my collection, so I have a pretty good vision of what he and his Fabulous Five are like in my head, but I do have a spot in my heart for this movie. Yes, it’s cheese beyond cheese, and the acting is questionable, but I saw it at the theater during its brief run. I was eleven years old and very impressionable. I think I will be picking this up.
Here’s the official synopsis of the movie…
Based on the first of Kenneth Robeson’s 181 adventure-packed Doc Savage books, Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze hits the screen with all its gee-whiz, gung-ho spirit intact. And its bold protagonist, who along with having a herculean body is also a surgeon, linguist and inventor, remains determined to do right to all and wrong to no one.
Ron Ely (TV’s Tarzan) plays the strapping Savage in this high-camp, big-heroics tale of his trek into the Valley of the Vanished to confront the power-hungry Captain Seas (Paul Wexler). And behind the camera are pros who know how to get the most out of this entertainment bronze mine: veteran fantasy film producer George Pal (The War of the Worlds, The Time Machine) and director Michael Anderson (Around the World in 80 Days, Logan’s Run).
Studio: Warner Bros.
Theatrical Release Date: 05/01/1975
Screen Aspect: 16 X 9 FULL FRAME
Packaging Type: Amaray Case
If you’re wondering about the quality of the video, here is what Warner has to say…
Important Note: This film has been manufactured from the best-quality video master currently available and has not been remastered or restored specifically for this DVD and On Demand release. Click here to preview this film’s video quality.
Here are a few clips for you to enjoy while you’re waiting for your copy to arrive: Read more
New GE Breakthrough: 100 DVDs On One Disc!
April 30, 2009 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
Okay, here’s a quick question: how many DVDs do you own? If you have less than 100, then there is now a way to put them all onto one disc.
It would appear that General Electric is the one who is responsible for this technological breakthrough. The company who has been “bringing good things to life” have used holograms to make this good thing a reality.
This could eventually lead to micro-holographic players that could play CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, and these cool holographic discs. These discs could hold 500 GB of memory, and it is possible to produce these holographic discs at 10 cents per gigabyte. That is a lot cheaper than the $1 a gigabyte for a 25 gigabyte disc.
As I said before, these micro-holograms can create a capacity of putting 100 average DVDs on one disc, and it is possible to put 20 Blu-rays discs on one. These jam-packed holographic discs will come in handy when it comes to high resolution formats like 3-D television, which is getting bigger everyday.
I hope that the Research and Development at GE are celebrating the six years of work to make this revolutionary technology. Of course, it will probably take a while before the consumer can get their hands on it, and even longer before it is cheap.
New GE Breakthrough: 100 DVDs on 1 Disc!
‘Twilight’ the Top Selling DVD of 2009
April 1, 2009 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
The vampires in Twilight might be chaste, but fans of the movie are making sweet love to the DVD, making it the biggest home video release of 2009. That might not be saying much - it is, after all, just the end of the first quarter - but 5.6 million units sold in eight days is a big number.
Twilight is already a 300,000 DVDs ahead of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, which was released in early February. And this is really just the first phase. Apparently, only 3% of the business comes from Blu-ray sales, and that’s because Target and Best Buy have a deal to sell the Blu-ray exclusively until May 5th. Still, do the math: That’s 168,000 Blu-ray sales in eight days. Not too shabby.
Warner To Release Over 5,000 Never Before Available Movies on DVD
March 23, 2009 by tcgames · 2 Comments
Warner Bros has produced over 6,800 theatrical films, but only 1,200 or so titles are available on DVD today. But tonight the studio has announced that they are opening their movie vault, through a new website — WarnerArchive.com. Until now, the limited sales potential of some films and tv shows has prevented Warner Bros from making the titles available to the public. The new site is an on-demand manufacturing operation which allows customers to purchase long tail titles. Movies will cost $19.95, and will be shipped in a shrink-wrapped case with cover art within five days of purchase.
Of course, not all 5,000+ titles will be available instantly. Warner Bros Home Entertainment has released 150 titles available now and intends to add “20 classic films and TV episodes each month” with over 300 titles expected by years end. Variety says that likely upcoming TV titles could include Maverick, 77 Sunset Strip, Bourbon Street Beat, Bronco, Lawman and Hawaiian Eye. The site even hosts polls, asking customers which films they would like to see added to the Warner Archive collection next.
Twilight Sells Over 3 Million DVD Units
March 23, 2009 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
Summit Entertainment announced today that the home entertainment release of the studio’s action-packed, modern day vampire love story Twilight sold over 3 million DVD units in its first day of release. The DVD launch commenced this past Saturday morning at midnight with nationwide events during which time Summit and its retail partners provided Twilight fans with the chance to celebrate the DVD release of the film. “‘Twilight’ at Midnight” allowed participating retailers the opportunity to stay open late as fans lined up in impressive numbers to purchase the DVD of the epic romance at midnight parties.
Thousands of Twilight fans across the nation participated in the “‘Twilight’ at Midnight” event and some were surprised by filmmaker and cast appearances. 2,500 fans attended in Salt Lake City to see Rachelle Lefevre who plays Victoria; 2,000 showed up in Los Angeles to see Ashley Greene who plays Alice Cullen; over 1,000 fans came out to see director Catherine Hardwicke in Dallas; 700 fans lined up in New York for Edi Gathegi who plays Laurent; and 500 fans in Chicago saw Nikki Reed who plays Rosalie Hale.
With over 3 million DVD units sold,Twilight enters the top five best first day DVD releases over the past two years along with Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, The Dark Knight, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Transformers.
Summit Entertainment’s Co-Chairmen Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger stated, “The Saturday release in conjunction with the groundbreaking retail events across the country have proven to be overwhelmingly successful which in turn benefited ‘Twilight’ fans as well as our retail partners. Home Entertainment President Steve Nickerson, the home entertainment group and the entire family at Summit are to be commended for the conceptualization and execution of this unique approach.”
‘Twilight’ to Be Released on Video on Demand, DVD Same Day
By now, every good Twilighter knows that Friday evening/Saturday morning will bring DVD release parties to a store near you. We’ve heard about Kellan Lutz’s plans to watch the Special Edition in his pajamas, Edi Gathegi’s hopes that he has a deleted scene or two, and we’ve even watched some exclusive featurettes early, like this one and this one. But will you be leaving your house Friday night?
As it turns out, you don’t have to. In a rare but increasingly-frequent move, “Twilight” is being released on Video On Demand the same day as the DVD streets. TVN Entertainment, the world’s largest television on-demand company, has announced that Twilight fans will immediately be able to access the film in its entirety on VOD without having to leave the comfort of their own homes.
“It is exciting to be working with a new studio partner, especially one with such strong titles in the pipeline,” Jackie Rome, Vice President of Programming for TVN Entertainment, said in a statement announcing the company’s agreement to release films from the franchise’s studio for the next several years. “Summit is an impressive addition to our studio roster and underlines TVN’s commitment to providing the most exciting, comprehensive VOD service in North America.”
So basically, if you want to pull a Kellan and stay home in your toasty jammies, all you have to do is click a few buttons on your remote control and you’re good to go. Read more
Fox To Remove Special Features From Rental DVDs
March 12, 2009 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
File this in your the “Yet another way Fox has found to inspire geek hate” folder: According to a report by VideoBusiness (Via CNet), 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is going to start stripping rental DVDs SKUs of special features like commentaries and featurettes, in a horrendously misguided attempt to spur retail DVD sales. Retail copies available for purchase will retain all the special features. This policy will begin on March 31st, when DVD releases like Marley & Me, and Slumdog Millionaire will be subject to the features removal. Other Fox films such as The Day The Earth Stood Still, The Wrestler, and Notorious, will soon face the same fate.
It seems nobody is happy about this situation, including video store workers. According to one video store buyer in the article:
Can you imagine explaining this to all of your customers? People will think when they rent, it should have everything on it. And why shouldn’t it? This is just silly, and consumers aren’t going to be happy.
The move raises a number of issues. For example, how will the used DVD market be affected? More significantly, how will the policy affect Netflix, which typically allows you to rent special features discs (or discs with special features already on them)? Will Fox prevent Netflix from receiving the retail copies? Read more
Yet Another Terminator 2 Edition Coming Out On Disc
Terminator 2: Judgment Day will be headed to Blu-Ray on May 19th in a special Skynet Edition. True, there is a one-disc version of the Blu-Ray already available, but this is much, much more than that.
To begin with, Lionsgate Home Entertainment has packed over eight hours of interactive features into the Skynet Edition, which includes over two hours of behind-the-scenes videos and multimedia galleries. There is, of course, no coincidence that Terminator Salvation will arrive in theaters three days later.
The fun doesn’t stop with just the Skynet Edition, however. There’s also a Limited Edition T2 Complete Collector’s Set, which includes six discs and comes with a 14" T-800 Endoskull, perfect for any occasion. Well, almost. The Complete Collector’s Set has everything ever released on DVD for T2 and you’ll also get a digital copy so you can take it with you wherever your iPod goes. Click to enlarge the sweet new Blu-Ray cover art:
Zack Snyder Talks Watchmen DVD Details
February 19, 2009 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
The film is still a few weeks away from hitting theaters but that is not stopping Watchmen director Zach Snyder from spilling details on the DVD release, saying that the film will be released in two other versions.
“We’re hoping that we do, at the time of relase of the DVD in July, they release a director’s cut, which is three hours long,” Snyder said at the Watchmen press junket on Wednesday. “In the fall, they’re going to do the Black Freighter cut, which is all the ins and outs of the Black Freighter, which is the comic book within the comic book. We shot all of those. The final result of that is like a 3-hour, 30-minute/25-minute version of the movie which is everything. It’s the kitchen sink version.
“It’s really three different movies in a lot of ways. I think the theatrical versions, which is radically strange in its own way, fits IMAX. I think the director’s cut, which is almost three hours, is pretty much most of the stuff that we shot, 99 percent of the stuff that we shot, which I like by the way.”
What can we expect from the directors cut.
“It’s more violent, if you can imagine,” he said. “It’s slightly more sexy. It’s more Manhattan nudity. It’s just more of everything.”
