I don't know if the rest of you guys need a new thread on DVD gits already but a new video store just opened at the mall so I have some new purchases :).

1)VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED/CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED. Since my family is entirely from England (my Mother having been born and raised in Preston, Lancashire and arriving in Canada as a teenager aboard RMS Aquitania in 1949)I'm allowed to make two stereotypical observations about the British: They can't cook and they make slow movies. That being said, this is a pretty good double feature from Warner Brothers. Both movies are anamorphic widescreen and there are good extras including commentary tracks. VILLAGE is the classic. It's rather plodding by modern standards but it's entertaining for those with the patience to watch the story build. CHILDREN is a bit of drag. To tell ou truth, I dozed off for about 15 minutes while watching it. Excellent value although these films aren't exactly barn burners.

2)THE BAD SEED. Also from Warner Brothers. This 1956 film is about an outwardly sweet little girl who is, in reality, a psychopathic hellion. Trust me, after 30 seconds of watching this movie, you'll HATE that girl! The movie is based on a stage play and shows it's theater roots. An interesting film with some bad acting. Lots of extras including commentary and featurette.

3)FREAKS. A cult classic in the truest sense. Completing my WB trifecta, this was my first ever viewing of the movie. I can't really describe it. You have to see it. Again, some awful acting. However, it's a compelling view that you just have to keep watching...like either a great piece of art or a train wreck. More terrific extras including a wonderful documentary that's longer than the movie. Commentary track included.

4)THE BLACK SCORPION. No, not the Willis O'Brian classic from the mid 50's (which, by the way, I have and very highly recommend). This is the Roger Corman/Showtime Joan Severance superhero movie from 1995 (I think that's the year). Strangely enough, I seem to have identified at least three different DVD releases of this movie. One U.S release has a Joan Severance commentary (that would be nice), one does not. I have a third version which I would imagine is probably exlcusive to Canada as the transfer seems to have been done by a Quebec company in 2003. The bad thing about my version is that it has NO extras...not even a menu! Seriously. It's like an old time DVD. You put it in and it starts playing. Nothing appears when you hit the "menu" button and there are no scene selections. It does, however, have chapter stops so you can skip through various chapters but you have to guess at which chapters are which! But it's not all bad news. Although I haven't viewed the whole movie, I've checked out substantial portions and the transfer is magnificent! And it only cost the equivalent of $7.00US. Not a single extra but the movie is just gorgeous and that's what really counts.

"Don't Look Now"- I saw this as a teenager and it's the only movie I can remember that ever really creeped me out while watching it. I still think it's Nicolaus Roegs best film. No extras but the trailer, the transfer from a so-so print, nothing spectacular. The ending is still one of the most memorable ever, to say nothing of Julie Christie in her prime. Holds up really well.

None this week, since I bought a haul on a recent trip to Vegas. Selection is limited here in Laughlin, okay it's non-existant, and in Bullhead there's really only K-Mart and WalMart. Hastings is good for ex-rentals (2 for 15 bucks frequently, like Kill Bill, Master and Commander etc). In Vegas my better half got:

Event Horizon, okay until the references to hell eliminated all hope of credibility. My girlfriend said something a little less dignified.

ST:TNG The Jean Luc Picard Collection: haven't seen any yet, but the missus says the picture's not great, nowhere near as good as the Firefly DVD's.

I got:

First Men in the Moon: loved it as a kid, and this is the version to see. The picture is tremendous, widescreen, the soundtrack is well presented in a sort of virtual DD, in fact DGTL SciFi shows up on the amp, but still sounds like an older film. Since it was before my time I never saw it at the theater, now I have the opportunity to get close to that experience.

Quatermass and the Pit: expensive, but worth it. Audio and video remaster. As good as I remember it. A movie from when sci-fi had imagination.

The Best of Thunderbirds: Not as clean as the recent release of the 2 T-birds films, but pretty impressive. 2-disc set, 15 bucks. Excellent picture quality. What's not to love?

The Munsters Season One is due out on Tuesday.

Night Gallery, season 1

The Lost Boys, 2-disk special edition
(GOD was there hair in the 80s!!)

Witch Hunter Robin, disk 6

Wolf's Rain, disk 2

100 Classic Cartoon Mega Pack (http://www.dvdplanet.com/product_listing.asp?productid=43573&format=DVD)

CSI season 3

Futurama #4

Babylon 5, the movies

I am almost at the point where I want to get a DVD player...

So many things are out which I want to see...

G.I.Joe
Seinfeld
Brady Bunch
Munsters
etc...I would only get a DVD player and DVD's is because of the classic TV shows that are out.

The Warner Bros. Horror Titles
The Munsters
B5-the Movies
Duel
Sugarland Express
Abbott Costello Vol. 3
Latest Batch Of Mgm Elvis On Wb
This Tuesday Is Midnight Movies Day!
The Virgin Of Nuremberg
Found Special Edition Of Basic Instinct And Sleepwalkers For $5.00 In Wal-mart Bin, Also Quick And The Dead With Sam Elliot

"Don't Look Now"- I saw this as a teenager and it's the only movie I can remember that ever really creeped me out while watching it. I still think it's Nicolaus Roegs best film. No extras but the trailer, the transfer from a so-so print, nothing spectacular. The ending is still one of the most memorable ever, to say nothing of Julie Christie in her prime. Holds up really well.I agree that this is Roeg's best film. Roeg's editing style of cutting back and forth between periods of time works perfectly in telling this Daphne Du' Marier story.The movie also features one of the most erotic and realistic lovemaking scenes ever filmed between two serious actors. There have been rumors for 30 years that they were really "doing it" and Christie and Sutherland have never made statements to disabuse anyone of that notion. The ending is an absolute shocker. And Roeg's use of color in this film is brilliant. I had a friend years ago who watched it on late night TV back in the early Eighties after hearing me rave about it. He told me he didn't understand why I thought it was such a great movie. Then I remembered that he had a black & white television set! I've had this DVD since the day it was released and if I had to pare down my collection to only 10 titles it would certainly survive the cut.

As stated in another thread, my one purchase this week was "The Martin Scorsese Collection" this past Monday. I've already listened to all the commentary tracks on "Mean Streets", "After Hours", and "Goodfellas". Two more movies to go.

Almost picked up "COMBAT! Season 1" yesterday. I loved this show as a kid but I'm a little afraid that it won't hold up for me as an adult. It's relatively cheap though. I may go back and pick it up today.

^^I just got the "Goodfellas SE", it looks and sounds much better than my old flipper movie.

On the bad list, "Paycheck" shares the honor's with "The Greek Tychoon" as a movie I couldn't finish. To quote "Get Shorty" "I've seen better film on teeth".

I am almost at the point where I want to get a DVD player...

:eek: :eek:

I agree with your last post John P :).

I didn't quite know what to make of that statement either.

Mathew, if you wait long enough, you won't have to worry about it - either the format will change on us again in 10 or 20 years (at which point you'll have to start deciding all over again if you want to get it), or you'll die of old age ;).

Busy week for me. (probably very light by most of your standards :D )

Firefly season set
Dogsoldiers
5th Element

I've actually been busy this weekend burning DVDs of the second season of Twin Peaks along with The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. Using the lasers for Twin Peaks and adding bonus material. Using Columbia House tapes for Brisco and adding bonus material.

Steve

Well the reason that I haven't gotten a DVD yet is I can get everything out on VHS...FOR ALOT CHEAPER! I like to watch a film from beginning to end...Not watch just certain scenes like the DVD offers...

I can get everything out on VHS...FOR ALOT CHEAPER!

Where I live, you can't get ANYTHING on VHS at all!

I'm serious.

BEST BUY closed down their one last aisle of VHS about 3 weeks ago.

FUTURE SHOP (big Canadian chain actually owned by Best Buy) carries no VHS tapes (and this is in a 35,000 sq.ft mega video store).

HMV (Canada and the UK) carries no VHS.

CDPLUS (another Canadian chain) just opened up a brand new movie/music store in town. Not a VHS tape anywhere.

WAL MART does carry children's VHS.

Also, I would quibble with the the "everything" for "a lot cheaper". Like some others here, I just bought the ABBOTT&COSTELLO Vol.3 set of 8 movies on DVD for $22.98CDN or about $17.50US ($2.20 per movie). I mentioned THE VILAGE OF THE DAMNED/CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED double feature with a pair of anamorphic widescreen prints for about $7.00 each...and you CAN'T get anamorphic widescreen on VHS.

Which reminds me...you say you like to watch a film from beginning to end. Do you also like to watch it cropped? Do you mind missing up to 40% of the film? How many of those VHS tapes are widescreen at all?

Case in point: THE ALLIGATOR PEOPLE from 20th Century Fox. Sure enough, last year, Wal Mart had stacks of this film on VHS at blow out prices. $2.00 a pop...brand new from Fox. I read the box. The movie was filmed in 2.35 Cinemascope and the VHS was pan-and-scam full frame. Fox has now announced this same title for DVD (released next month IIRC). It will be anamorphic widescreen. But, yes, it'll probably cost $9.00 or $10.00. At least we'll get the whole movie.

I have to agree... VHS is pretty much dried up everywhere as far as new stuff goes. There are plenty of places to buy old, used VHS. But try and find some of the new stuff! Last summer I tried to get my dad the new 007 movie, but it only came out on DVD! It finally came out on VHS for Christmas, but it cost more than the DVD!

And those Abbott and Costello movies that Brent mentions... most of those never even came out on VHS. You want to buy the Star Trek series on VHS? Better has a lot fo shelf space. That's 80 tapes. On DVD, it only takes up as much room as a handful of tapes.

VHS still has a lotta life in it as a format for timeshifting. Its cheap and reliable. But DVD has pretty much replaced it as a format for video collectors.

Steve

My purchase this week was the First Season of Knight Rider on DVD. I haven't watched it all yet, but I do like what I see so far as the video transfers look good. The pilot episode has a commentary track with Glen Larson and David Hasselhoff on it and although it is okay, it could be better as Dave seems a bit distracting in places with his silly comments. Still, some good information about the production was gleemed from it and we get to hear the tale about the migrating bullet wound in Michael Knight's shoulder and how several of the cars used in the series became available for use.

Disk three has two documentaries on it that I haven't watched yet and Disk 4 contains the Knight Rider 2000 TV movie that aired on NBC in the early 1990s. It makes a good reference for building the AMT kit at least. It may not be high drama, but it does help to relive those memories of a time when every kid wanted to drive a 1982 Trans Am with a cylon scanner eye in the front end. In my case it was worth the purchase anyway.

I like to watch a film from beginning to end...Not watch just certain scenes like the DVD offers...
I have no idea what this means, Matthew. DVDs have the entire movie on them, start to finish, just like VHS. And THEN some, often having behind-the-scenes extras, director's cuts with ADDITIONAL scenes... What do you mean by "just certain scenes?" :confused: Do you somehow think you're getting LESS with a DVD? The fact is you're getting much, much more.

Well the reason that I haven't gotten a DVD yet is I can get everything out on VHS...FOR ALOT CHEAPER! I like to watch a film from beginning to end...Not watch just certain scenes like the DVD offers...
Um, Matthew, you can watch a DVD from beginning to end. Really.

And in addition, you can also random-access scenes from a menu, in case you want to show your buddies some really cool scenes you liked.

and no rewind fees!

... and I've never had to take apart my DVD player and pry the twisted and destroyed DVD from around the tape heads.

If you don't like the movie you can always use it for a coaster.

Few years back before I got a DVD player I started getting a lot of the cheap tapes. They destroyed my VCR. I took it to the srvice center and they told me the cheap tapes (such as Legend, Dark Crystal etc) have really coarse FE Oxide on them, which actually abrades the heads. I bought a DVD player soon after, and due to the difference in quality have replaced most of my VHS collection.

As far as cost goes: I just got (yesterday) Andromeda Vol 1 (5 episodes and bonus materials on 2 discs) for 4.99 and My Big Fat Greek Wedding also for 4.99 at K-mart.

I just picked up the 4-disc Special 65th Anniversary Edition of Gone With The Wind. Fully restored. Lots of documentaries, including the excellent The Making of a Legend: Gone With The Wind, produced in 1989 for the 50th anniversary.

I also picked up season five of Voyager. Not for any particular love of the show, but it includes a featurette on Rick Sternbach and his Delta Quadrant ship designs that sounded good.

Dazed and Confused SE
The Rapture

The first 5 Marx Brothers films all in one set. Glorious!!!

Warner Bros cartoons set #2, with some REAL classics!

Alias season one. I've never seen the show at all, but I've heard good. Waiting for 90 minutes to spare to watch the pilot.

Taxi, season 1. My wife says, as 70s series go, it holds up a lot better than Barney Miller's first season. I point out Steve Landesburg hasn't joined the cast of BM yet in S1.

More episodes of "Wolf's Rain" and "The Last Exile" animes.

Finally completed my Farscape collection, one or two disks at a time.

Picked up a couple at our teensy, tinsy BX since I got here: "Firestarter" two-pack which has the first movie and includes the SciFi Channel "Firestarter Rekindled" movie, which wasn't too bad.

Also picked up the "Starship Troopers/Starship Troopers 2" two-pack. I kinda liked the second, but there were more moments where it blew chunks that could have been written differently. I actually kinda liked the twisted ending where the Fed's take Dax's image and use it to their advantage. :devil:

Also picked up "Silverado" for less than $10. One of my favorite modern-day westerns. And you gotta love a movie that has John Cleese as a sheriff! :thumbsup:

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Jeffrey Griffin
Griffworks Shipyards (http://members.aol.com/Griffworks/shipyards.html)

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Star Trek Scale Modeling WebRing (http://q.webring.com/hub?ring=startrekscalemod)

I think I've told some of you but I broke down a few months ago and obtained a DVD player...yup! Man was I missing out! This thing is WONDERFUL! All I really get are TV shows on DVD. I've gotten in the last two months...

Dukes of Hazzard season one
Tom and Jerry
Both Looney Toons volumes
All G.I. Joe
Wacky Races
Flintstones
Scooby Doo seasons one and two
Jetsons
Dallas
Mork and Mindy
Punky Brewster
All of the Universal monster boxed sets
Fleischer Superman boxed set
Batman animated series volume one
Munsters
Land of the lost
Ric Flair, Shawn Micheals


Can't wait for Flintstones season two, TopCat, Dukes of Hazzard 2, Batman 2, Superman 1...

Also really wish they would release the Incredible Hulk 70's show on DVD in season mode. Also wish StarBlazers would come out!

Also picked up "Silverado" for less than $10. One of my favorite modern-day westerns. And you gotta love a movie that has John Cleese as a sheriff! :thumbsup:

"As you may have guessed, I'm not from these parts."
(long silence)
"No...."

:lol:

Well, today, I say my jurisdiction ends right here!

Lots of awesome dialogue in that movie! My favorite that involves John Cleese's Sheriff Langston:

Deputy: Well, let's go. He ain't hittin' nothin'.
Sheriff Langston : You idiot, he's hit everything he's aimed at!
Deputy: Well, they ain't out of our jurisdiction 'til they reach the flattop.
[Sheriff Langston's hat is shot off his head]
Sheriff Langston : Today, my jurisdiction ends here. Pick up my hat.

Another of my favorite scenes:

[Paden has gotten his horse back and they're "kissing" each other]
Cavalry Sgt. : How do I know this is your horse?
Paden : Can't you see this horse loves me?
Cavalry Sgt. : I had a gal do that to me. It didn't make her my wife.

Dang! Now I'm all kinds of hyped up to see the movie and I don't have a DVD player anywhere I can go watch it.... :(

Oh, well. I can always run the movie thru my imagination, I guess. :dude:

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Jeffrey Griffin
Griffworks Shipyards (http://members.aol.com/Griffworks/shipyards.html)

* * * * * *

Star Trek Scale Modeling WebRing (http://q.webring.com/hub?ring=startrekscalemod)

Also really wish they would release the Incredible Hulk 70's show on DVD in season mode. Also wish StarBlazers would come out!

Star Blazers has been out, http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005QCWK/103-6570469-4291825?v=glance .

Why isn't StarBlazers at Best Buy or someplace like that?

Mal and Emmet are loading up to go rescue Auggie, knowing it's gonna be the fight of their lives. Emmet knows Mal favors a rifle, so he holds up a spare pistol to his friend.
"You want one of these?"
Mal hefts TWO Henry rifles, and is wearing crossed bandoliers of ammo -
"This aughtta do."

I love it!

Why isn't StarBlazers at Best Buy or someplace like that?

The one here in Plano, Tx. has had them as well as a pretty good size isle of Anime.

Picked up "Dawn of the Dead" (2004) yesterday and watched it this morning after I got in to work. I thought it was an awesome flick and really enjoyed the heck out of it. The Zombie's RUNNING would've really cranked that situation up a couple dozen notches on the tension scale had it been real! It's one thing for the Zombie's to shamble about by the hundreds, but something else when those same hundreds are RUNNING! And they'd never get tired, so you'd pretty much be screwed.... :drunk:


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Jeffrey Griffin
Griffworks Shipyards (http://members.aol.com/Griffworks/shipyards.html)

* * * * * *

Star Trek Scale Modeling WebRing (http://q.webring.com/hub?ring=startrekscalemod)

Just got the new Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection.

Duck Soup, Horse Feathers, Monkey Business, Animal Crackers,
and The Cocoanuts. And extras.

6 discs, 40-Page Booklet included.

Now I have all the Marx Brothers movies.

Great Stuff!

James :)

Snatched out of the bargain bin....
Red Planet
The Beast
2001
Hot Shots pt.1 and 2
and got in the mail...
The Bone Collector
Along came a Spider and one of my all time favorites: The Fearless Vampire Killers!

Picked up:

Star Trek original series season two
Looney Toons volume 2 Golden collection
Invisible Man boxed set
Prince of Egypt

Will be getting:

Buck Rogers complete series
Seinfeld seasons one through three
Cloak and Dagger (if special stuff is on there..If it's plain, forget it)
Ultimate Matrix boxed set
Flintstones season two
TopCat complete series
Star Trex original series season three

"The Hunters" - didn't even know it was on DVD until I saw it in an aviation book catalog. It's a terriffic Korean War flying movie with Robert Mitchum and Robert Wagner. Some real George flying action with genuine F-86s, and gray-painted F-84s used as "MiGs." I haven't seen the film in ages. Very good, great to see it again. The disk comes with widescreen on one side, and pan/scam on the other. The only extras are trailers and a very short newsreel showing the premiere at the brand-new AF Academy.

I borrowed instead of bought this week. Got my hands on Region 2 PAL releases of Twins of Evil, Vampire Circus, Sorcerers, Witchfinder General and Dr. Terror's House of Horrors. All anamorphic except Dr. Terror(letterbox). Made back-ups on the computer. Now comes the fun part, making the NTSC anamorphic discs.

Robert Altman's "Short Cuts"
"Betty Blue"

"The Hunters" - didn't even know it was on DVD until I saw it in an aviation book catalog.

See what happens when people don't pay close attention to my posts :)! I posted about it on the day it came out about 6 months ago. It's a terrific print.

I don't have any new discs in hand but my order is in the mail so I hope to have it any day. In the mail:

TERROR TRAIN. Can't get this in Canada (some strange rights issue, I suppose) so it's coming from amazon.com.

DEAD MEN WALK/THE MONSTER MAKER double feature from Roan. These Roan DVDs are wonderful. They do excellent transfers of obscure stuff. Their availability is very spotty. They first came out in the early years of DVD and then dissappeared for a long time. Now they seem to be drifting in an out of production. When I see one of their titles available again, I grab it.

THE WOMAN IN THE MOON or, more properly DIE FRAU IM MOND. This is a new restoration from Kino of the 1931 German silent and I really look forward to it. At 169 minutes, it's supposed to be the most complete version of the film ever available since the original theatrical screening.

I picked up the Buck Rogers In The 25th Century DVD collection. I watched the film and scanned through portions of the Jack Palance episodes.

The picture quality is extremely good. Much like the Battlestar Galactica set from last year, though missing the 5.1 remix.

I'm glad they included the pilot in it's theatrical form, rather than the TV version. It'll be fun to watch the series over again. Although it has been around in syndication for years, I have not had the opportunity to catch many of them since their original network run.

Last night, I picked up all three seasons (both boxed sets) of Seinfeld on DVD, the latest Harry Potter movie two-disc special edition, and, last but not least, my Holy Batmania! DVD arrived in the mail from Deep Discount DVD.

I got all three season of Seinfeld as well as the BIG BOXED SET of SNL.

Ride With The Devil
The Rolling Stones' Rock And Roll Circus

I picked up six titles this week:

The Godfather Trilogy
ST Voyager Season Six
Crusade - The Complete Series
Babylon 5 - The Movie Collection
Spider-Man 2
The Terminal (Sp Ed)

I can see the next two weeks being spendy, too!