posted
Though Paramount hasn't been very active in the US in bringing Star Trek to DVD, releasing only the movies and the Original Series, things have been worse in Europe, where only a few of the movies have been released so far. However, things seem set to change now, with a DVD news site reporting Paramount is planning on bringing all four Trek series out on the new format.
According to the DVD Debate, Paramount is currently planning to start releasing Region 2 DVD box sets as early as June 2001, beginning with Voyager's first season. In addition, the studio is reportedly also planning to release gift boxes and special-edition single DVDs for casual collectors, as well as DVD versions of existing box sets, such as for instance the Seven of Nine box.
DVD Debate published the following release date list, which is apparently still subject to constant change, while it is also not certain exactly how official the list is. Take a look:
The Original Series
-Season 1 / December 2001 -Season 2 / December 2002
The Next Generation
-Season 1 / April 2002 -Season 2 / July 2002 -Season 3 / November 2002 -Season 4 / March 2003 -Season 5 / June 2003 -Season 6 / September 2003 -Season 7 / December 2003
Deep Space Nine
-Season 1 / November 2002 -Season 2 / February 2003 -Season 3 / May 2003 -Season 4 / August 2003 -Season 5 / November 2003
Voyager
-Season 1 / June 2001 -Season 2 / September 2001 -Season 3 / December 2001 -Season 4 / March 2002 -Season 5 / June 2002 -Season 6 / September 2002 -Season 7 / December 2002
If the list is indeed accurate, it would be great news for European Star Trek fans, who would be able to obtain the first three seasons of Voyager and the first season of the Original Series this year already. A report published at the British DVD Times would seem to confirm these rumours, and also includes the extra news that the box sets will end up costing Pounds 89.99 ($130). The site also passed on a rumor saying that the episodes included on the box sets will be remastered, and extras such as trailers, a DVD-Rom Trek video database and per-episode introductions might be included.
Due to the different region encoding and television system used in the US, most American fans will not be able to watch these European DVDs. However, these European releases might also lead to Paramount US deciding to release more of the Star Trek franchise on DVD, perhaps also choosing per-season box sets over single discs.
In related news, the DVD Times also has some news on the 'Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country' Region 2 DVD, which is scheduled for release on the 19th of March. Apparently, a Special Edition of the DVD will be released, which like the regular edition will feature a DD5.1 soundtrack and 2 theatrical trailers. In addition to that, it will also include a demo of the 'Star Trek - New Worlds' game, which most people wouldn't consider enough to call it a true special edition, but apparently it is for Paramount.
However, it turns our that the DVD will in fact be non-Anamorphic, like the Region 1 DVD also was, but unlike all the previous Star Trek Region 2 DVDs. With this in itself already being worrying, the DVD Times also quoted a reader as saying that both the Region 1 DVD and Laserdisc releases of 'The Undiscovered Country' were more watchable than the 'ugly' Region 2 DVD.
Thought you guys might be interested in this...
------------------ Star Trek Gamma Quadrant Average Rated 6.27 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux (with four eps posted) *** "Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!" -Omega 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001 **** "The candidate who slimed John McCain in the primaries and smeared Al Gore in the general election is now the president who pledges to elevate the nation's tone and bring civility to our discorse. Kind of like Michael Corleone brought peace to the mob by killing the heads of the other four families." --Paul Begala, Is Our Children Learning?
quote:In related news, the DVD Times also has some news on the 'Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country' Region 2 DVD, which is scheduled for release on the 19th of March. However, it turns our that the DVD will in fact be non-Anamorphic,
No, STVI was released yesterday. And yes it's non-anamorphic.
------------------ Star Trek Gamma Quadrant Average Rated 6.27 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux (with four eps posted) *** "Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!" -Omega 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001 **** "The candidate who slimed John McCain in the primaries and smeared Al Gore in the general election is now the president who pledges to elevate the nation's tone and bring civility to our discorse. Kind of like Michael Corleone brought peace to the mob by killing the heads of the other four families." --Paul Begala, Is Our Children Learning?
posted
Let's address this from a UK point of view.
Season box sets have become extrememly popular over here recently, no doubt due to the Buffy and Angel box sets, which have sold loads, despite the fact that the episodes have already appeared on Sky TV. At �30 for half a season on VHS, they are quite good value for money, especially when compared with Trek tapes, which are �13 for two episodes.
This does mean that the �90 for a whole season on DVD is good value for money. Personally, I'd prefer it if it was broken down into half seasons, because 90 nicker is a lot to fork out in one go. I can't remember off the top of my head how much the season 1 X-Files DVD box set costs.
"Due to the different region encoding and television system used in the US, most American fans will not be able to watch these European DVDs."
Due to the idiocy of my reporting, I = moron. The television system has little to do with it, since almost ALL TV's now are dual format (actually, I don''t think even that matters with DVD, but I'm not sure).
You know, at least half of all UK DVD owners know how to make their players multi-region. Are you such cripples in the US that you can't go to one of the 9 million web-sites out there that shows you how to make your players multi-region? Or can't you just fork out a few quid and get them chipped? Actually, thinking about it, did none of you eer get your Playstations chipped, to remove the region coding and copy protection, for, er, entirely legitimate reasons? You can do the same thing with DVD players, y'know.
Still, VHS releases are the one area where Europe (or the UK at least) seems to be ahead of the US. If we could get ahead in TV DVD releases, brilliant!
Oh yeah, what's anamorphic mean?
------------------ "And Mojo was hurt and I would have kissed his little boo boo but then I realized he was a BAD monkey so I KICKED HIM IN HIS FACE!" -Bubbles
posted
I just copied and pasted this from the Trek BBS ...
Isn't "anamoraphic" another way of saying "wide-screen"?
------------------ Star Trek Gamma Quadrant Average Rated 6.27 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux (with four eps posted) *** "Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!" -Omega 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001 **** "The candidate who slimed John McCain in the primaries and smeared Al Gore in the general election is now the president who pledges to elevate the nation's tone and bring civility to our discorse. Kind of like Michael Corleone brought peace to the mob by killing the heads of the other four families." --Paul Begala, Is Our Children Learning?
posted
Waaaiiiitttt, they have released the movies on DVD in Pan and Scan? Morons.
------------------ "And Mojo was hurt and I would have kissed his little boo boo but then I realized he was a BAD monkey so I KICKED HIM IN HIS FACE!" -Bubbles
posted
According to Paramount's video/DVD page, all the Trek movies are in widescreen, with some of them having some sort of special 16x9 aspect or, as I like to call it, nerdy video stuff.
Because we all know "Threshold" was soooo much better than "The Best of Both Worlds"...
------------------ "I am slightly disturbed that a news station in the US would use the phrase 'to the max'. What's next? CNN saying 'Totally righteous murders?' BBC News 'Dude, like people were wasted yesterday'. The Times reporting 'Iraq bombed! For Great Justice!'?" -Liam Kavanagh, 22.Feb.2001
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