Borgen

[McCrutchy]

Borgen Series 1 and 2 Box Set Blu-ray

Arrow has already released the first season of the Danish TV series Borgen, and will be releasing the second series and a box set on 4 February.

Does anyone have the UK release of Season 1 to confirm the audio specifications? I am curious to know if the sound is lossless (and if it is stereo or multi-channel), as the first season's Danish BD appears to have only lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 audio.

So far, it looks like the UK release will be the only Blu-ray option for Season 2, as the Warner pan-Nordic release was apparently DVD-only.

Note: The third season is premiering in Denmark on January 1st.

[malcy30]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

So far, it looks like the UK release will be the only Blu-ray option for Season 2, as the Warner pan-Nordic release was apparently DVD-only.

Note: The third season is premiering in Denmark on January 1st.

I have the Danish BD of S1 which is English friendly for the episodes and loads of extras but you need to understand Danish for those. Okay for me as lived there for years and can get by.

The sales of the BD were poor hence they did not release S2 on BD only DVD. In fact very little Danish TV is on BD as they have not put The Killing on BD yet unlike here. Only recent show on BD is Bron / Broen (The Bridge) which I think is also on BD here.

[Zot!]

Originally Posted by malcy30

The sales of the BD were poor hence they did not release S2 on BD only DVD.

malcy, is this just speculation on your part, or were sales actually mentioned as a reason for S2 not coming to BD?

The only reason I'm interested in the Scandinavian releases of these shows is because the UK release of the Bridge was for some reason fairly messed up (2.0 audio only, burned-in subs, and squeezed on to 2 discs rather than 3). It sounds like The Killing collection remedied at least some of these concerns.

It would be great to know how Borgen stacks up.

[malcy30]

Originally Posted by Zot!

malcy, is this just speculation on your part, or were sales actually mentioned as a reason for S2 not coming to BD?

The only reason I'm interested in the Scandinavian releases of these shows is because the UK release of the Bridge was for some reason fairly messed up (2.0 audio only, burned-in subs, and squeezed on to 2 discs rather than 3). It sounds like The Killing collection remedied at least some of these concerns.

It would be great to know how Borgen stacks up.

Bit convoluted but a friend of the partner of one of my friends in our Copenhagen office was on the crew. She works as a production assistant there and has been on the shoots for both The Killing and Borgen.

I asked her to check about the BD for me. Was her comment that sales were poor, however not surprised as S1 was DKK400 so just over £40 and not reduced. They dropped the DVD prices some time after release but BD just went OOP, is hard to find.

Denmark Borgen S1 BD obviously has removable subtitles in Danish and English, with only Dolby 5.1 on 2 disks.
As I said the extras are obviously all Danish with deleted scenes and featurette.

Have the Swedish BD of The Bridge as now spend more time in Stockholm than Copenhagen. Again removable subtitles including English.

[Zot!]

Originally Posted by malcy30

Bit convoluted but a friend of the partner of one of my friends in our Copenhagen office was on the crew. She works as a production assistant there and has been on the shoots for both The Killing and Borgen.

I asked her to check about the BD for me. Was her comment that sales were poor, however not surprised as S1 was DKK400 so just over £40 and not reduced. They dropped the DVD prices some time after release but BD just went OOP, is hard to find.

Denmark Borgen S1 BD obviously has removable subtitles in Danish and English, with only Dolby 5.1 on 2 disks.
As I said the extras are obviously all Danish with deleted scenes and featurette.

Have the Swedish BD of The Bridge as now spend more time in Stockholm than Copenhagen. Again removable subtitles including English.

Thanks! I appreciate the info! I was disappointed by the UK Bridge, in comparison to the Scandinavian release, it seemed pretty crippled. It seems The Killing and hopefully Borgen will be an improvement.

[McCrutchy]

I e-mailed Arrow regarding the audio and Aspect Ratio of their Borgen releases:

I can confirm that both series one and two of Borgen have 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio with an 2.20:1 Aspect Ratio.

2.20:1 appears to be the OAR for the series.

[gambra]

Is the video on the Arrow discs actually progressive like the listings say or are they 25/50i since I assumed it's filmed in PAL?

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by gambra

Is the video on the Arrow discs actually progressive like the listings say or are they 25/50i since I assumed it's filmed in PAL?

I did not ask, as I assume it will be 1080/50i.

[jimmybing]

Is this brand new packaging, or is it just a slipcase for the two separate season sets? Would this play on a Region 1 player, or is it locked? Thanks for any help.

[Zot!]

Originally Posted by jimmybing

Is this brand new packaging, or is it just a slipcase for the two separate season sets? Would this play on a Region 1 player, or is it locked? Thanks for any help.

Maybe someone else could confirm the region locking for you. Regardless, be aware that it is very likely 1080/50i. If your set-up cannot play 50i, this would not work.

I assume it is just a slipcase. Furthermore, there is another season coming, so the "collection" seem premature.

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by jimmybing

Is this brand new packaging, or is it just a slipcase for the two separate season sets? Would this play on a Region 1 player, or is it locked? Thanks for any help.

I don't have the individual releases, but this is a slipcase with two separate double disc amarays that are marked for individual sale, so I'm 99% certain these are exactly the same as the individual releases.

Also, like The Killing, the specs on the two releases are different for each season. Season one is 1080p23.976 with DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio, and season two is 1080/50i with DTS-HD HR 5.1 audio.

[Zot!]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

Also, like The Killing, the specs on the two releases are different for each season. Season one is 1080p23.976 with DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio, and season two is 1080/50i with DTS-HD HR 5.1 audio.

More weirdness, as I assume that the Nordic Season one is 50i, albeit with DOLBY 5.1. Thanks for the info!

edit: I bought the Nordic release of season 1, and can confirm that it is 1080/50i with Dolby DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and contains (unsubtitled) extras. Beautiful package too. Probably not a big deal, but if I am going to buy a BD, I rather it not have 25fps->24fps slow-down. Dang reverse-PAL just won't die.

[hagios]

I want to check this out, before I decide to get it!

The Scandinavian drama, from creator Adam Price, is a dazzling exploration of the intersection between politics and the media that everyone should be watching. The television masterpiece returns to American screens — on KCET and LinkTV — on Oct. 4 for its third (and likely final) season. Minor spoilers ahead

source

[FastAndFluid]

It's a fantastic series. They had intended to shoot just two seasons (the Season 2 extra's show them assuming that's the end) but the writer decided the show had become so big he could put a third season together after a long break.

It will be interesting to see if the guy who plays the spin doctor goes on a crazy diet or has his huge weight gain written into the show. Both he and the guy who was the head of the news room in Borgen star in the rather excellent film "A Hijacking" (written by "Borgen" writer and directed by him too) which came out on Blu a few weeks ago but "spin doctor" actor plays the chef of the hijacked boat who's a bit of a porker. Both the series and film are highly recommended!

[derek_1999]

http://www.dr.dk/DR1/Borgen/Episodeguide.htm

Season 3 started to air back in March.

When it was first airing, I watched a couple of episodes on-line (on DK's equivalent of the iplayer) - but now it seems they're not available to the UK.

[nitin]

so the quality of the UK blus for season 1 and 2 is good then?

[rgfinch]

Originally Posted by nitin

so the quality of the UK blus for season 1 and 2 is good then?

Yes, both look excellent on blu. Interesting that they used a 2.2:1 ratio for a TV series - appears to have been shot digitally.

[OceanBlue]

Have an off-topic question regarding the Swedish Blu-ray boxset of the first series of the original The Bridge series (and apologies if it sounds like a daft question) - does the front cover of the Swedish Blu-ray set have "Bron" or "Broen" on it?

[Sky_Captain]

It looks like this:


It's also DVD sized. I'd avoid it, as the subs are atrocious, missing entire sentences throughout.

[OceanBlue]

Which is the best Blu-ray release to get of the first series of the original The Bridge series? It's rather confusing.