Farscape: The Complete Series

[KingSimba]

Release date: 14th/November/2011
Distributor: AETN/A&E Networks

[MarcelS1]

Hoping for English subs.

[fadenschnute]

Originally Posted by MarcelS1

Hoping for English subs.

Same here. I've been holding off on buying the DVD set because off the missing subs. Fingers crossed.

[Surfdude]

Awesome news (and slightly irritating at the same time as I spent most of the weekend just gone transferring my Farscape DVDs onto my hard drive to free up some shelf space).

Any idea if it'll be re-mastered for blu-ray? I was under the impression we wouldn't see a blu-ray release in the near future as the VFX were rendered in SD and the various studios involved were reluctant to remaster all the CGI.

Also, I've not seen any mention of The Peacekeeper Wars. I seem to remember there were some rights issues originally but presumably these were resolved as the DVD boxset includes the mini-series.
Seems a bit silly to release a "complete" set without the finale.

I hope the blu-ray release is better than the DVD boxset. The episodes themselves were fine (which is ultimately what matters) but the set seems very cheaply made and not very professional.

[Indiana Jones]

If these have been fully remastered or at the very least have HD live action footage with SD effect shots (ie Firefly and Atlantis S1) then I will upgrade but if the are simply upscales then definitely no sell.

As for whether or not The Peacekeeper Wars will be included, I would hope so as there is no rights issue in the UK, just in the US.

[fadenschnute]

The classic Sci-Fi series the way it was meant to be seen--in crystal clear HD.

All 88 episodes of the blockbuster series remastered from the highest quality source material and presented in stunning high definition.

Over 15 hours of bonus features including a brand-new documentary featuring interviews with the cast and crew.

Special Features--over 60 minutes never seen before on DVD exclusive to Blu-ray including:

• Includes English Subtitles for the Hard of Hearing (HOH)

Season 1
• Actor commentary for DNA Mad Scientist with Ben Browder and Claudia Black
• Producer commentary for DNA Mad Scientist with Rockne S. O'Bannon and David Kemper
• Play commentary for Family Ties with Rockne S. O'Bannon and David Kemper
• Commentary for Jeremiah Crichton (When Bad Things Happen to Good Shows) with Ben Browder, Claudia Black, Rockne S. O'Bannon, and David Kemper

Season 2
• Play commentary for Die Me, Dichotomy with Ben Browder, Claudia Black, and David Kemper

Season 3
• 19 TV promos
• Deleted scenes
• Behind-the-Scenes Interview: Rebecca Riggs (Commandant Grayza)
• Behind-the-Scenes Interview: Paul Goddard (Stark)

Season 4
• Deleted scenes
• Play commentary for John Quixote with Ben Browder and Claudia Black
• Play Commentary for Bad Timing with Ben Browder, Claudia Black and David Kemper
• A new Farscape documentary

Source

We get subs but "The Peacekeeper Wars" don't seem to be included.

[MarcelS1]

• Includes English Subtitles for the Hard of Hearing (HOH)

Well that's awesome news! I think now I will buy it! But not for 96 pounds! I think I will awhile till price drops a bit.

[Indiana Jones]

I would still like to hear from someone involved in this set what they have actually done.

Would be nice to think they have put each episode back together from the 35mm film elements, scanned them at 1080p and spliced in SD shots where needed (ie space shots, pulse pistol shots) but I cant help but fear the words 'highest quality source material' refers to the PAL SD masters for Seasons 1-3

[Pyoko]

Yeah, I can totally see it being:

"remastered" = "upscaled"

"the highest quality source material" = "the SD digibetas" (the only complete source material)

[MacEachaidh]

Yeah, really would like this set, BUT ... as others have said, not if it's just upscaled and not HD-mastered. And not for £96.

That's about $140 in Aussie dollars, which is just too ... well, it's a lot less than the Aus release will cost, so maybe I'm simply being greedy?

[nametag]

slightly surprising if the UK release doesn't include PK Wars like the DVD release did - the US couldn't get them packaged together due to a difference in the rights which didn't affect the UK release, but maybe they never went through the effort to source an HD version or something...

I've detailed this in the US forum but it's virtually impossible that seasons 1-3 will be anything more than an upscale. Henson has said himself that the PAL masters are the highest quality versions of those seasons out there, and creating a full HD version would cost millions of dollars per season to re-render all the effects, while the live-action footage would need to be re-composited from the film negatives from scratch, costing a lot more time and money. On top of that, he indicated he wasn't sure he could find the original film if he tried. So even a Farscape-style HD live action/SD CGI seems out of the question.

Season 4 was widescreen and broadcast in HD though so there's hope there. I'm happy with my Limited Edition set from back in 2006, but I'll be interested to see what reviews and screenshot comparisons with the DVDs reveal.