Twilight Time Discussion Thread

[baheidstu]

Originally Posted by ROclockCK

With very few exceptions, these all-English U.S. editions were also the most desired in terms of packaging, even if not significantly different or better than all/alt-region product in terms of actual disc content. In fact, I had routinely better success finding bilingual Canadian editions with identical disc content at a more affordable price, simply because many Americans (and Canadians) still freak when they see any French on the package.

I've read more than a few comments from users who refuse to buy any import from Europe because they don't like all the ratings logos on the discs! Seriously guys?

[klauswhereareyou]

Originally Posted by baheidstu

Absolutely, TT are just as niche as imports. I had never heard of TT until I started coming to the blu-ray.com forums and clued in to them when I started reading disc reviews of some of their releases! If I was just a regular consumer who shopped at Best Buy or HMV, I would never have known that a blu ray of Body Double or In Like Flint even existed. It took me the same amount of effort scouring the internet to find those titles as it did to get my Aussie import of Beverly Hills Cop II.

Yeah I think their comment would be geared more towards more normal "Joes" and "Janes" that don't shop on-line for movies, or do very little of it. I think there are a lot more people out in the "real" world clued into the fact that there are different regions, different regions sometimes get different releases, and that there are such things as region free players (PS 3 anyone???) then there are people that know what Twilight Time is, which is why we get so many comments on here to this day like "crap Fright Night came out 3 years ago where is it, why is it sold out, etc....)."

[klauswhereareyou]

Originally Posted by baheidstu

I've read more than a few comments from users who refuse to buy any import from Europe because they don't like all the ratings logos on the discs! Seriously guys?

I'm more worried about what's on the actual disc, but as we all know OCD can be a crippling condition.

[Seymour]

Originally Posted by Imrahil2001

Yeah, I'm one. I have one import. Those UK ratings are serious eyesores.

You spend a lot of time staring at the covers of your blu-rays, I take it?

[Dex Robinson]

Originally Posted by klauswhereareyou

I'm more worried about what's on the actual disc, but as we all know OCD can be a crippling condition.

Wait a minute...do you mean to tell me that there are movies on these discs?

I've been reading the blu-ray.com forum for years and thought this was all about slip covers, steel books, digibooks, posters, reversible cover art and collectible lobby cards.

So all those discs I've been tossing in the trash had movies on them?

[klauswhereareyou]

Originally Posted by Dex Robinson

Wait a minute...do you mean to tell me that there are movies on these discs?

I've been reading the blu-ray.com forum for years and thought this was all about slip covers, steel books, digibooks, posters, reversible cover art and collectible lobby cards.

So all those discs I've been tossing in the trash had movies on them?

Yeah I know it's a shock, but yes it's true.

[MacEachaidh]

Originally Posted by ROclockCK

But that's always been more-or-less true. Even during the days when I was trying to hunt down hard to find, out of print DVDs, I discovered time and again that auctions of the Region 1 (N. Am.) edition almost always had significantly higher bids (sometimes double, triple, and quadruple).

I'm not at all clear how this relates to what I said, but in any case I wasn't arguing against the situation, no matter how much it occasionally puzzles me. (It's clear that a significant number of people in the US buy "domestic" whether it's the better version or not.) My point was that it's not any argument that I can see for region-locking releases.

With very few exceptions, these all-English U.S. editions were also the most desired in terms of packaging, even if not significantly different or better than all/alt-region product in terms of actual disc content. In fact, I had routinely better success finding bilingual Canadian editions with identical disc content at a more affordable price, simply because many Americans (and Canadians) still freak when they see any French on the package.

Yeah, all else being equal, then I am often swayed by packaging as well, moderated by relative price. Some of the really deluxe releases I've deliberately gone away from the US version, though, simply because the US UCE-style releases are often overblown and simply too much for either my interest or my storage space! I have a few Canadian releases, but very few, simply because they're often considerably more expensive than either the US or UK releases.

Strangely, I don't have a lot of local releases (in my case, Australian), largely because they're often overpriced. That might change, though, if only because some of the titles TT has released (for instance, Journey to the Centre of the Earth) are starting to find their way onto local shelves.

[ROclockCK]

Originally Posted by klauswhereareyou

I'm going to assume if TT ever puts out a disc other than the package and an isolated score (which for this movie would be a real bonus since there is a lot of wall to wall music going on, than something like say Hard Times where it's like maybe every ten minutes or so you get a short music cue). there will be less extras than the Arrow disc.

To quote Spencer Tracy in Pat & Mike referring to Katharine Hepburn: "Not much meat on her, but what's there is 'cherce'."

As noted elsewhere klauswhereareyou, I rarely watch an entire movie end-to-end with the isolated score on; Journey to the Center of the Earth, Mysterious Island, and The Fury being exceptions because there's so much music throughout, and it's a reel kick hearing those original pre-mixdown tracks in all their dynamic glory with image only, divorced from dialogue and foley effects. Typically though, I just transfer the lossless ISTs to hard drive, edit out any air between tracks (there are lots of tools available for doing this pretty quickly), then output to CD for listening in my car etc.

Although I realize this is unquestionably a niche-within-niche collector preoccupation, for me, the inclusion of the IST (however spare it might be for some titles) is a key value-add with these hybrid-media TT limited editions.

[jstxanothrxstory]

For those of you who've seen The Fury, should I go ahead and bite the bullet on TT's release or just wait for Arrow's release in October?

[klauswhereareyou]

Originally Posted by ROclockCK

To quote Spencer Tracy in Pat & Mike referring to Katharine Hepburn: "Not much meat on her, but what's there is 'cherce'."

As noted elsewhere klauswhereareyou, I rarely watch an entire movie end-to-end with the isolated score on; Journey to the Center of the Earth, Mysterious Island, and The Fury being exceptions because there's so much music throughout, and it's a reel kick hearing those original pre-mixdown tracks in all their dynamic glory with image only, divorced from dialogue and foley effects. Typically though, I just transfer the lossless ISTs to hard drive, edit out any air between tracks (there are lots of tools available for doing this pretty quickly), then output to CD for listening in my car etc.

Although I realize this is unquestionably a niche-within-niche collector preoccupation, for me, the inclusion of the IST (however spare it might be for some titles) is a key value-add with these hybrid-media TT limited editions.

It's cool that you're able to do that, but for me the IST would be a lot more valuable if somehow TT could let you play the film with the isolated score, but only the parts that have scoring, because I'm not going to go through the trouble of extracting the score from the disc (which is that even legal??).

[CrazyHorse42]

Originally Posted by jstxanothrxstory

For those of you who've seen The Fury, should I go ahead and bite the bullet on TT's release or just wait for Arrow's release in October?

If you're multi-region, then I'd go for the Arrow release. It will have a new transfer and plenty of extras.

I bought the TT disc and, being a De Palma fan, was glad to have it...even though it's an average transfer (I have the extended soundtrack CD, so the IST wasn't a huge selling point) but the forthcoming Arrow disc should easily better it in many ways.

I'll be double dipping on this one.

[Sherlock_Jr]

Originally Posted by Dex Robinson

Wait a minute...do you mean to tell me that there are movies on these discs?

I've been reading the blu-ray.com forum for years and thought this was all about slip covers, steel books, digibooks, posters, reversible cover art and collectible lobby cards.

So all those discs I've been tossing in the trash had movies on them?

Yep, so many people care about everything but the movie. Makes me wonder.

[klauswhereareyou]

Originally Posted by CrazyHorse42

If you're multi-region, then I'd go for the Arrow release. It will have a new transfer and plenty of extras.

I bought the TT disc and, being a De Palma fan, was glad to have it...even though it's an average transfer (I have the extended soundtrack CD, so the IST wasn't a huge selling point) but the forthcoming Arrow disc should easily better it in many ways.

I'll be double dipping on this one.

Interested to see if the Arrow transfer is any different from the TT one.

[ROclockCK]

Originally Posted by MacEachaidh

I'm not at all clear how this relates to what I said, but in any case I wasn't arguing against the situation, no matter how much it occasionally puzzles me. (It's clear that a significant number of people in the US buy "domestic" whether it's the better version or not.) My point was that it's not any argument that I can see for region-locking releases.

That's why I didn't quote you directly MacEachaidh; that was a more general comment I was making about recent posts in this thread concerning the predisposition of North American (specifically U.S.) consumers to overwhelmingly prefer home video releases native to country first, region second, and overseas only as a last resort.

Originally Posted by MacEachaidh

Yeah, all else being equal, then I am often swayed by packaging as well, moderated by relative price. Some of the really deluxe releases I've deliberately gone away from the US version, though, simply because the US UCE-style releases are often overblown and simply too much for either my interest or my storage space! I have a few Canadian releases, but very few, simply because they're often considerably more expensive than either the US or UK releases.

Not always. This was even less true with DVDs. At one point I was getting a lot of Canadian edition MGM titles for $5 bucks which were already out of print stateside and costing 3 or 4 times as much. Identical discs, and the same in every other way except for the inclusion of the movie title in French, plus some bilingual liner notes on the back cover.

Originally Posted by MacEachaidh

Strangely, I don't have a lot of local releases (in my case, Australian), largely because they're often overpriced. That might change, though, if only because some of the titles TT has released (for instance, Journey to the Centre of the Earth) are starting to find their way onto local shelves.

Approach that one with caution though, because I've heard that its audio is 2.0 lossy, and there's even a question about its aspect ratio (some reports saying its 2.35:1 'Scope has been reformatted to fit 1.78:1 HDTVs).

[klauswhereareyou]

Isn't the "game changer" with blu ray European releases is the fact that now almost everything isn't PAL, so there are no ghosting or playback issues (running time differences). I know back in the dvd days this was an issue and a reason why some in North America would shy away from European discs.

[ROclockCK]

Originally Posted by klauswhereareyou

It's cool that you're able to do that, but for me the IST would be a lot more valuable if somehow TT could let you play the film with the isolated score, but only the parts that have scoring, because I'm not going to go through the trouble of extracting the score from the disc (which is that even legal??).

For personal use only? I don't see why it wouldn't be legal. Soundtrack fans have been doing this with home video ISTs for decades...at least when the studios have bothered to include them.

"Fair use" and all.

[klauswhereareyou]

Originally Posted by ROclockCK

For personal use only? I don't see why it wouldn't be legal. Soundtrack fans have been doing this with home video ISTs for decades...at least when the studios have bothered to include them.

"Fair use" and all.

Hey..I've got no problem with it, just wondering especially after all the "Piracy is not a victimless crime" stuff shoved on discs now (but thankfully not on Twilight Time ones).

[jstxanothrxstory]

Originally Posted by CrazyHorse42

If you're multi-region, then I'd go for the Arrow release. It will have a new transfer and plenty of extras.

I bought the TT disc and, being a De Palma fan, was glad to have it...even though it's an average transfer (I have the extended soundtrack CD, so the IST wasn't a huge selling point) but the forthcoming Arrow disc should easily better it in many ways.

I'll be double dipping on this one.

Thanks for the advice. I was gonna pick it up since it's almost sold out, but if it's not worth it, I'll just wait to the Arrow release is up at ImportCDs.com.

Decided to get Enemy Mine, The Rapture, Experiment in Terror and The Kremlin Letter with The Disappearance. Hopefully I'll be able to grab them.

[spawningblue]

So The Fury is under 500 copies? Any of their other titles hit this number yet? I heard Hard Times and possibly the Driver were getting close?

[klauswhereareyou]

If you care about an IST get the Twilight Time The Fury, otherwise I'd say wait for the Arrow one. I can't imagine the picture looking any worse unless it's got heavy DNR, and there are actual making of extras on the Arrow one. But as far as the cover goes, for those that actually care the original poster is on the TT one (but for some reason not the original font, and it appears to say the FUMY), but the Arrow one is not the original poster, but it does retain the original font for The Fury.

If The Driver or Hard Times get low..buy those. No other region releases on the horizon, and unlike The Fury, they have topnotch PQ.