Santa Claus : The Movie - October 26, 2010

[Clark Kent]

Originally Posted by bboisvert

And licensing was my assumption from the start. Until, that is, I found out Lionsgate put it on their new DVD. How can it be a licensing issue if they released it to DVD?

Because Lionsgate probably only paid for the right to include the commentary on the DVD format and cheapened out on this BD, contracts for licensed extra features often are for specific formats only. On a movie like this, a commentary might run an extra $10,000 or $20,000 to license for a new format or release. Studios are cutting corners left and right because of the decreased volume in media sales.

That is the reason MGM was including their extras for a while exclusively on the included DVD in their Blu-ray releases. That way they did not have to renegotiate the licenses for the extras or pay new money out.

[kdo]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

Studios are cutting corners left and right because of the decreased volume of media sales.

Yes, they certainly are.

[horizonline]

This reminds me when I used to get what films I wanted. Sigh.

[Cliff]

Originally Posted by kdo

If you read closely over that review you linked, it's quite obvious that Lionsgate took the cheapest possible route on this title.

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

Because Lionsgate probably only paid for the right to include the commentary on the DVD format and cheapened out on this BD, contracts for licensed extra features often are for specific formats only.

Or...
they actually had next to nothing to do with this title and Studio Canal called the shots. Lionsgate merely distributed what they were delivered by SC. There's a reason why titles like this and The Studio Canal Collection differ technically and creatively from the catalog Lionsgate usually releases. Why would this release suddenly utilize a 2.0 PCM track when Lionsgate uses DTS-MA (even for 2.0 titles such as this)? Merely porting over a release isn't something a studio does because they're trying to 'cheap out,' usually it's the only legal way to get something released.

Now I don't like the commentary being left off the BD and I don't understand why Studio Canal didn't deliver a 5.1 lossless track instead of a 2.0 PCM (especially since Santa Claus had a theatrical 70mm six-track audio mix, so even if you couldn't access the remixed 5.1 master you could always try for the original theatrical mix. Although given the elements disaster that faced the Superman films, Santa Claus might have been no different), but blaming Lionsgate for going the cheap route could have been avoided with a little common sense and research.

[kdo]

Originally Posted by Cliff

Or...
they actually had next to nothing to do with this title and Studio Canal called the shots. Lionsgate merely distributed what they were delivered by SC. There's a reason why titles like this and The Studio Canal Collection differ technically and creatively from the catalog Lionsgate usually releases. Why would this release suddenly utilize a 2.0 PCM track when Lionsgate uses DTS-MA (even for 2.0 titles such as this)? Merely porting over a release isn't something a studio does because they're trying to 'cheap out,' usually it's the only legal way to get something released.

Now I don't like the commentary being left off the BD and I don't understand why Studio Canal didn't deliver a 5.1 lossless track instead of a 2.0 PCM (especially since Santa Claus had a theatrical 70mm six-track audio mix, so even if you couldn't access the remixed 5.1 master you could always try for the original theatrical mix. Although given the elements disaster that faced the Superman films, Santa Claus might have been no different), but blaming Lionsgate for going the cheap route could have been avoided with a little common sense and research.

Point well taken, thanks for bringing that information to light. Based on your statements, it would seem that Studio Canal did in fact call the shots, and should thus be blamed, and not Lionsgate (my apologies)...regardless, it's such a shame that this title didn't receive better treatment.

[kdo]

I tossed this disc in today to once again compare it to my old Anchor Bay DVD, only this time on my new plasma. This was (and in many ways still is) a crushingly disappointing Blu-ray release for me, and I guess there's always going to be a part of me that just wants to pretend that this one looks and sounds better than it actually does. As it is, after really concentrating hard on both the video and audio aspects of both discs, I did find, if it's any consolation, that I was willing to ever so slightly bump up the A/V ratings I initially gave the Blu (a half point each), and I've made those changes to my review (even though I consider the new scores somewhat "generous"). I still feel this release is rather poor overall, and cannot recommend it over the DVD, despite the increase in fine detail due to the HD resolution.

[kdo]

My apologies for continuing to harp on this release, but in light of having recently rewatched and compared this to the DVD release, I figured I'd give this one a shot while tweaking the video settings of my display in order to achieve the best possible picture I could (something I really dislike doing, but sometimes provides acceptable results). I also did this to a lesser extent for "The Road Warrior" and "The Natural." Anyway, I tried a whole bunch of different things, but what it ultimately came down to, at least on my display, was bringing down the "color" setting significantly, and dropping the "contrast" setting ever so slightly. It seems to me that the biggest problem regarding this disc, is that the transfer wasn't properly color-balanced, which might be why some of the scenes look so oversaturated. Anyway, that's just my layman's opinion, I could be wrong.

But I will say this, once I finished tinkering, the image looked wonderful. In fact, if the disc had been encoded to appear the way it did by the time I was done messing around with my display, I would've given the video quality on my review a 4 out of 5... Thankfully, the grain structure of this film is still intact, which does make it redeemable to an extent (much like "The Road Warrior" and "The Natural"), so long as you're a person who's not afraid to adjust and play with the settings on your TV. Unfortunately, most people won't bother with this or don't want to spend the time doing it, but considering this film is one of my absolute favorites, and because it's not likely to be re-released anytime soon, it was well worth it for me to sink in the time. I know everyone's display is different, but for anyone who was as frustrated as I was with the image quality, start by bringing down your "color" setting and go from there...

[cinema sickness]

I went to watch my BD copy of "Santa Claus: The Movie" today for the first time and my Sony BDP-S560 player will not recognize the disc. All the firmware is up to date and I have no idea why this might be. Has anyone else had an issue with this release? This is the first time my player has ever done this.

[rafaelsalguero]

I had the same problem with Lionsgate's "THE DEVIL REJECTS"!!

[kdo]

Originally Posted by cinema sickness

I went to watch my BD copy of "Santa Claus: The Movie" today for the first time and my Sony BDP-S560 player will not recognize the disc. All the firmware is up to date and I have no idea why this might be. Has anyone else had an issue with this release? This is the first time my player has ever done this.

Not with it loading or playing.

[cinema sickness]

Originally Posted by kdo

Not with it loading or playing.

loading. it wont recognize the disc at all. the player tries to read it and then says it does not recognize the disc.

[cinema sickness]

Originally Posted by rafaelsalguero

I had the same problem with Lionsgate's "THE DEVIL REJECTS"!!

what did you do? return it for a new copy? and did that solve the issue?

[kdo]

Originally Posted by cinema sickness

loading. it wont recognize the disc at all.

hmmm...well, if your firmware is up to date and this is the first disc you've had an issue with, I'd say there's a good chance it could be the disc itself. I recall mine being somewhat of a slow loader, did you give it plenty of time to load, or does the player just reject it outright?

[cinema sickness]

Originally Posted by kdo

hmmm...well, if your firmware is up to date and this is the first disc you've had an issue with, I'd say there's a good chance it could be the disc itself. I recall mine being somewhat of a slow loader, did you give the disc plenty of time to load, or does the player just reject it outright?

it tries to read it for a minute or two and then just rejects it.

[kdo]

Originally Posted by cinema sickness

it tries to read it for a minute or two and then just rejects it.

Any scratches or damage to the disc? Do you have another player you can try it on? If not, I'd exchange the disc for another copy. That's pretty much all I can recommend. This is the U.S. Region "A" Lionsgate release, correct?

[cinema sickness]

Originally Posted by kdo

Any scratches or damage to the disc? Do you have another player you can try it on? If not, I'd exchange the disc for another copy. That's pretty much all I can recommend. This is the U.S. Region "A" Lionsgate release, correct?

Nope, brand new. Just opened it. Sadly I bought it a year ago so I no longer have the receipt. Doubt the store (Costco) even carries it anymore. And yes it is the US Region "A" Lionsgate release. I do not have another BD player but I'm going to test it out at a friends house.

[kdo]

Originally Posted by cinema sickness

Nope, brand new. And yes it is the US Region "A" Lionsgate release.

...that's strange. Well, I wish you the best in getting it to play.

[Crimson King]

my Lionsgate copy has this strange static screen in the beginning that says:

United States and Deutschland as the choices, I have never had a blu-ray with this option before

after pressing United States a trailer for The Spy Next Door, and an advert for Epix on Demand playes before the menu screen plays.

did I get an import?

My copy was bought new/sealed from Columbia House and says Studio Canal/ Lionsgate, and has a US address on the bottom of the artwork (Colorado Ave, Santa Monica, CA).

[Crimson King]

Originally Posted by Crimson King

my Lionsgate copy has this strange static screen in the beginning that says:

United States and Deutschland as the choices, I have never had a blu-ray with this option before

after pressing United States a trailer for The Spy Next Door, and an advert for Epix on Demand playes before the menu screen plays.

did I get an import?

My copy was bought new/sealed from Columbia House and says Studio Canal/ Lionsgate, and has a US address on the bottom of the artwork (Colorado Ave, Santa Monica, CA).

bump, does anybody here have a copy like this?

[Crimson King]

Originally Posted by kdo

Everyone who purchased it does...it's because the content of this release is identical to that of Region B issue (with the exception of the opening menu offering, in order to bypass the German language aspects of the disc).

Note: You can significantly improve the video quality on this one by taking your TV's color setting down by about 25 points, and your contrast down about 10, it'll look much better...

yep, the contrast seems to be on the bright side.

Glad I kept my Anchor Bay widescreen 20th ann DVD release, since it has THX mastering, the audio commentary, a booklet, and an easter egg.

the deleted scenes, and new stuff is welcome on the blu though.