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| Top: 2022 reissue. Bottom: Original 2018 release. |
Okay, this'll be quick. My copy of the 2022 reissue of The Outer Limits: Season 1 Blu-ray showed up today, a full five days AFTER Season 2 got here. Not really much to report--- it's the same deal as Season 2, with one interesting little twist (and when I say "little," I'm really saying "so profoundly insignificant that only crazy people like Yours Truly would even notice, much less care about").
No booklet. We knew this was happening. They've removed the corresponding blurb from the back of the slipcase.
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| Left: Original 2018 release. Right: 2022 reissue. |
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| Top: Case #2. Bottom: Case #1. |
That insignificant detail I mentioned pertains to the Blu-ray cases. The first case contains four discs (episodes 1-20), and the second case contains three (episodes 21-32). So while the second case is a true standard Blu-ray case, the first is a slightly wider version to accommodate that fourth disc (you basically have two hinged plastic disc holders inside instead of one). See? Insignificant.
The package is definitely slimmer than the original 2018 release, so it does score a point or two for demanding less shelf space. But the deletion of the booklet---- which was, in essence, a Junior Mint Cliff's Notes version of Schow's Outer Limits Companion--- is a deal breaker. Skip it and track down the 2018 version.
Next time: Who's Zoomin' Who? (no, for real this time)
A-HA! The 2022 version and that "TV Guide" style list on the back of each case addresses the biggest gripe I have with the 2018 package. It actually provides an "at-a-glance" reference of which episode is on what disc! The 2018 package pisses me off as there is no list of which episodes are on what disc or even a numbered episode list anywhere. For example, let's say I want to watch "The Children of Spider County" (don't ask me why, just play along!!!). I have to page through the booklet and count the episodes to find out that tCoSC is episode #21. I think this is a major oversight of the 2018 version and Kino probably recognized and corrected it while realizing they could save money on not printing the booklet.
ReplyDeleteI mean, it's a damned crime that Schow's musings are absent in the 2022 version and yes, I think they would have been wiser to just print episode title with the air date while also noting the accompanying commentary.
I suppose you could criticize me for not knowing the episode numbers by heart...call me a fake fan, I guess.
About that extras list...that issue already irked me so I whipped up my own list. I'll save you the work:
ReplyDeleteBlu-ray Extras Include:
• 24 Audio Commentaries
• THE GALAXY BEING - Audio Commentary by Film Historian David J. Schow
• THE HUNDRED DAYS OF THE DRAGON - Audio Commentary by Film Historian Reba Wissner
• THE ARCHITECTS OF FEAR – Audio Commentary by Film Historian Gary Gerani
• THE SIXTH FINGER — Audio Commentary by Film Historian David J. Schow
• THE MAN WHO WAS NEVER BORN — Audio Commentary by Film Historian Gary Gerani
• O.B.I.T — Audio Commentary by Film Historian Craig Beam
• CORPUS EARTHLING — Audio Commentary by Film Historian Craig Beam
• NIGHTMARE — Audio Commentary by Film Historian David J. Schow
• THE ZANTI MISFITS — Track 1: Audio Commentary by Film Historian Tim Lucas
• THE ZANTI MISFITS — Track 2: Audio Commentary by Film Historian Gary Gerani & Steve Mitchell
• THE MICE — Audio Commentary by Film Historian Reba Wissner
• CONTROLLED EXPERIMENT — Audio Commentary by Film Historian Reba Wissner
• DON'T OPEN TILL DOOMSDAY — Audio Commentary by Film Historian Reba Wissner
• ZZZZZ — Audio Commentary by Film Historian Tim Lucas
• THE INVISIBLES — Audio Commentary by Film Historian Tim Lucas
• THE BELLERO SHIELD - Audio Commentary by Film Historian Tim Lucas
• SPECIMEN UNKNOWN — Audio Commentary by Film Historian Craig Beam
• THE MUTANT — Audio Commentary by Film Historian David J. Schow
• THE GUESTS - Audio Commentary by Film Historians Craig Beam and David J. Schow
• FUN AND GAMES — Audio Commentary by Film Historian David J. Schow
• THE SPECIAL ONE – Audio Commentary by Film Historians Gary Gerani and Michael Hyatt
• A FEASIBILITY STUDY - Audio Commentary by Film Historian David J. Schow
• PRODUCTION AND DECAY OF STRANGE PARTICLES — Audio Commentary by Film Historian Tim Lucas
• THE FORMS OF THINGS UNKNOWN — Audio Commentary by Film Historian Tim Lucas
I assume you won't object if I repurpose your list(s) for a proper post?
DeleteOf course, I'm fine with you using it. I was hoping to save you some time if you were working on providing the details.
DeleteWord has just come through that Mediumrare Entertainment, a UK company, will release a new version of the now out of print Australian Via Vision complete original series, on both bluray and dvd, on December 12, 2022.
ReplyDeletePresumably the audio and video quality will be at least equal to the Via Vision set, which was superior to the domestic Kino Lorber release, and hopefully the booklet will be reissued as well.
Via Vision used Kino's disc masters (they simply grafted the exclusive supplements onto them). They did *no* additional audio or visual work on the episodes. The 2018 Kino, 2022 Kino and the 2020 Via Vision sets are IDENTICAL in terms of image and sound quality. The Via Vision set is superior *only* in terms of supplements.
DeleteI wouldn't be too quick to skip this reissue of the 2018 set. The mastering is better, with better contrast and detail, and the audio is a bit more dynamic to my ears. Apparently Kino Lorber decided to upgrade the picture and sound and forgo the booklet as a tradeoff. Not everyone will notice the improvement, as it's still not quite as good as the Via Vision set, but almost.
ReplyDeleteI hate to burst your bubble, but this is simply not the case. The 2022 Kino discs are IDENTICAL to their 2018 counterparts (they have the same authoring date; I checked each of the 11 discs, and they match). Kino removed the Fox logo from the outer packaging for the reissues, but it's still present on the actual discs. Just for the hell of it, I ripped episodes from both versions and directly compared them. There's *zero* difference. Kino did NO additional work on the episodes (image or sound). If they had, I'm pretty sure they would've made some announcement about it.
ReplyDelete