Ask questions to The Digital Bits team (Bill Hunt, Jeff Kleist et.al.)

[MerrickG]

Do you if the Riddick films will be BD50s?

[HeavyHitter]

Jeff,

Any idea what the next Spielberg Blu-ray will be?

My sheer guess is Saving Private Ryan only because that came on DVD relatively quickly if I recall.

[Jeff Kleist]

No idea on Riddick disc size, probably.

Pitch Black really didn't need a redo from the HD DVD, they could direct port it no problem

Personally I hope they include the Best Buy bonus disc materials on Riddick, those were great

As far as Private Ryan goes, the DW catalog is currently in transition over to Universal, so any of their catalog not created under Paramount will be going there

As I recall, Private Ryan came out at the same time or very close to the VHS and LD. It was not a "catalog" release so much as a "delayed new release"

[mark antony]

Hi Jeff, a few weeks ago I asked about a dir.cut of 13th Warrior, not knowing of the situation between crichton and mctiernan or that the former was terminally ill...now that he's unfortunately passed away, is this a possibility?

[Jeff Kleist]

I'd say it's way too early to say

The Donner cut of Superman 2 really wasn't possible until Brando died (mind you it was fitting it into the Superman Returns budget that REALLY made it possible) from what I've heard, because he wanted his money, with interest while the family was willing to settle for less. The other problem is getting McTiernan to agree to come back, or if there is a tape around like there was with Alien 3 that allows it to be reconstructed. There's certainly a GIGANTIC amount of bitterness surrounding that film that would have to be overcome

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

I'd say it's way too early to say

The Donner cut of Superman 2 really wasn't possible until Brando died (mind you it was fitting it into the Superman Returns budget that REALLY made it possible) from what I've heard, because he wanted his money, with interest while the family was willing to settle for less. The other problem is getting McTiernan to agree to come back, or if there is a tape around like there was with Alien 3 that allows it to be reconstructed. There's certainly a GIGANTIC amount of bitterness surrounding that film that would have to be overcome

Speaking of the Alien films....

Any hope that they are coming soon?

[Jeff Kleist]

I know that they are definately being worked on, but whether or not that translates into 2009 street date remains to be seen, but given that next year is Alien's 30th birthday.........

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

I know that they are definately being worked on, but whether or not that translates into 2009 street date remains to be seen, but given that next year is Alien's 30th birthday.........

Lets hope so.

I really hope Aliens gets a new transfer. Granted its unrealistic to expect that film to ever look great with all the grain and poor lighting.

We shall see.

[Uxi]

Not all of us hate grain. Film has way more resolution than any home video incarnation so the Blu-ray should look great. Whether that need a remaster or not is most likely dependent on the status / quality of the current master.

[Jeff Kleist]

I really hope Aliens gets a new transfer. Granted its unrealistic to expect that film to ever look great with all the grain and poor lighting.

Everyone will be complaining about Aliens when it comes. You can retransfer it till the cows come home and it ain't going to get muchbetter than what it is now

Alien on the other hand should look pretty fantastic. I saw the 25th Anniversary dye-transfer prints, yum

[dialog_gvf]

Can they even do the SE/DC of Aliens and The Abyss in HD, or are they like ST:TMP?

Gary

[MerrickG]

Jeff do you have any ideas as to how the new Transformers Extended Edition bluray is going to be different from the theatrical film?

[Jeff Kleist]

Can they even do the SE/DC of Aliens and The Abyss in HD, or are they like ST:TMP?

Aliens was all film based effects, and there were prints made in the late 80s of the SE version

Abyss also had SE prints

So both should have been finished to theatrical standards

TMP was originally planned for a theatrical run as well, I think something got crossed in the production pipeline, but I've never gotten the full story

Jeff do you have any ideas as to how the new Transformers Extended Edition bluray is going to be different from the theatrical film?

Nothing concrete yet. I've heard 10-15 minutes of new footage, but what it contains is still unknown

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Everyone will be complaining about Aliens when it comes. You can retransfer it till the cows come home and it ain't going to get muchbetter than what it is now

Alien on the other hand should look pretty fantastic. I saw the 25th Anniversary dye-transfer prints, yum

I can imagine.

The 25th Ann DVD looked really good.......for DVD, of course.

[jd213]

I wish Fox would've re-used the D-Theater masters (which I assume were in 1080p and not 1080i like the actual D-Theater tapes) and released Alien and Aliens early on after Blu-ray discs first started coming out, and then re-done them for the 30th anniversary of Alien next year. I would've gladly double dipped if it meant having them both on Blu-ray since 2006. I was tempted to hunt down the D-Theater tapes and a player, but I decided to force myself not to.

[Jeff Kleist]

Franchises like Alien only come out whole hog

Those who haven't tried the reconstructed Alien 3 should definately give that a shot as well

[jd213]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Franchises like Alien only come out whole hog

That wasn't the case with D-Theater, they only got Alien and Aliens.

[Jeff Kleist]

D-Theater was an enthusiast low volume product that I don't think anyone ever thought would be viable more than a year or so. I always felt that it was more of a test bed for the mainstream disc formats. Blu-ray is a mainstream product

[Ernest Rister]

Hate to do it...but the Sleeping Beauty mini-review? It mentions the inclusion of Grand Canyon and then refers to it as a cartoon...

Here is the text:

"The 2-disc release also offers an amazing collection of supplements highlighted by Grand Canyon, the animated original short that accompanied Sleeping Beauty's theatrical run, in high definition and 7.1 sound too."

Sleeping Beauty was not accompanied by an animated short. It was accompanied by a live-action short subject that won an Oscar -- Grand Canyon -- a "live-action Fantasia sequence" as it were. Disney combined his True Life Adventure crew with the ethos of Fantasia (every sound creates a picture) and the result was Grand Canyon.

Clearly the reviewer is confusing Grand Canyon with the Donald Duck cartoon Grand Canyonscope which premiered years earlier in front of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, not Sleeping Beauty in 1959...and again, I hate to say it but this begs the question -- did the reviewer actually watch the disc? Because there are no cartoons on it.

Hate to be the pain in the ass. But apparently someone has to be.

[Jeff Kleist]

I sent it on to the appropriate people