Mystery Science Theater 3000 on DVD. - Blu-ray Forum

Mikezilla3k · 11-12-2019, 02:27 AM

Are the Shout re-releases better than the Rhino sets?

Jay H. · 11-12-2019, 02:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mikezilla3k

Are the Shout re-releases better than the Rhino sets?

They're identical.

Mikezilla3k · 11-12-2019, 02:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jay H.

They're identical.

In video quality?

thatguamguy · 11-12-2019, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mikezilla3k

Are the Shout re-releases better than the Rhino sets?

There's no hard rule. Sometimes Shout is missing footage, sometimes (much more often) Rhino is missing footage. Sometimes they're both missing different footage. Sometimes Rhino drops random frames, sometimes Shout adds random frames. Sometimes video noise is identical, sometimes video noise hits on completely different frames. Sometimes Shout accidentally releases a chunk of the movie in black and white, or crops 20% of the picture. One thing you can say for sure is that with bonus features, Shout will have the same features or better, although in at least one case, the transfer is substantially worse.

The only release that is "identical" that I'm aware of is "Wild World of Batwoman". As a broad generalization, the PQ on the Rhino discs is better than the PQ on the Shout discs, because the master tapes have been slowly degenerating, but there are plenty of exceptions to this as well.

Mikezilla3k · 11-13-2019, 01:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thatguamguy

There's no hard rule. Sometimes Shout is missing footage, sometimes (much more often) Rhino is missing footage. Sometimes they're both missing different footage. Sometimes Rhino drops random frames, sometimes Shout adds random frames. Sometimes video noise is identical, sometimes video noise hits on completely different frames. Sometimes Shout accidentally releases a chunk of the movie in black and white, or crops 20% of the picture. One thing you can say for sure is that with bonus features, Shout will have the same features or better, although in at least one case, the transfer is substantially worse.

The only release that is "identical" that I'm aware of is "Wild World of Batwoman". As a broad generalization, the PQ on the Rhino discs is better than the PQ on the Shout discs, because the master tapes have been slowly degenerating, but there are plenty of exceptions to this as well.

Ah, which releases are the best for each episode then?

thatguamguy · 11-13-2019, 02:46 AM

* volume 1: Shout's "Catalina Caper" is much worse. The Rhino discs have the uncut movies, which the Shouts dropped. I think one of the Shout discs is badly cropped, but I can't remember which.
* volume 2: Shout's "Cave Dwellers" is badly cropped, but Rhino cuts out a lot of footage around the bumper (maybe the most of any cut). Shout's "Pod People" is a much worse transfer for the colors, although the Rhino one is stretched a little bit wide, as is the Rhino "Angel's Revenge". Shout discs have the "MST3k Hour" host segments.
* volume 3: Shout's "Sidehackers" is a worse transfer, but Rhino's "Atomic Brain" is missing the title slate and the stinger at the end. Shout has a solo release of that one if you really want the best release for each title. Shout discs have the "MST3k Hour" host segments.
* volume 4: Shout's "Girl in Gold Boots" is a longer cut with an "uncensored" riff over a scene where the characters smoke marijuana. I don't have any notes here, as I remember it, the Rhino discs looked marginally better (especially "Gold Boots") but overall, with this one, I'd give it to Shout, unless you have a preference for "rated PG" MST3k (no criticism intended if that's your thing, or if you want to watch with your kids, or whatever)
* volume 5: kind of a toss-up. Rhino botched "Merlin's Magic Shop of Wonders", but Shout's "Touch of Satan" is a big step down from Rhino's.
* volume 6: Shout, but if you already have the Rhino, it's not much of an upgrade. The solo release of "Gunslinger" is better than either boxed version.
* volume 7: Rhino's "Hercules Against The Moon Men" and especially "Prince of Space" are much better. Rhino's original release of "Killer Shrews" was accidentally cut, but they did a pretty widespread replacement program, so as long as you can get the replacement disc, Rhino's the way to go. Also, the "Assignment: Venezuela" has two different sources, Rhino's looks much better but has a more prominent burned-in timecode.

I don't have the Shout releases for vol 8 - 12, the only things I know is that Shout has added minor extras, and they messed up "The Horrors of Spider Island" on vol 11.

Solo releases get a little complicated because they've been released in different iterations, but it boils down to:
"Mitchell" and "The Brain That Wouldn't Die" are both released in vol 28 by Shout. Rhino's releases have marginally better picture quality, but Shout wins for those.
Shout's "Singles Collection" has the better "Eegah" and "I Accuse My Parents", and I don't think there's a big difference in "Crawling Hand".
Rhino's solo "Hellcats" is better than the Shout one in the Singles collection, though it's a slight uptick.
Rhino's "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" looks much better than Shout's. (Shout's has nice features, though, including the "MST3k Hour" host segments.) Rhino only released it in a collection called "The Essentials".
"Manos: The Hands of Fate" - the Shout release is cool for all the extras, and the transfer is only marginally worse, but if you're getting Rhino's "Essentials" for Santa Claus, the other disc is "Manos", so I would say just stick with that unless you love bonus features.
If you want the original uncut movie, you'll want the Rhino "Crawling Hand", "Hellcats", "Eegah", "Brain That Wouldn't Die", and the Shout "Manos".

"Beginning of the End" - I don't own the Shout disc, but my understanding is that it's a worse transfer, and I'm sure it drops the uncut movie
"Wild World of Batwoman" - transfers are absolutely identical; Shout drops the uncut movie
"Red Zone Cuba" - neither transfer is great, but Rhino's is much better

Mikezilla3k · 11-13-2019, 03:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thatguamguy

* volume 4: Shout's "Girl in Gold Boots" is a longer cut with an "uncensored" riff over a scene where the characters smoke marijuana. I don't have any notes here, as I remember it, the Rhino discs looked marginally better but overall, with this one, I'd give it to Shout.

Does this also apply to the Shout single?

thatguamguy · 11-13-2019, 03:46 AM

I think the only time that a Shout solo release and a Shout non-solo release of the same episode are different is "Gunslinger".

I don't own absolutely every variant, and I don't have the "Gold Boots" solo, so I don't want to claim 100% absolute certainty, but I'm relatively sure that the disc contents are the same as the vol 4 release.

11-13-2019, 02:46 AM	#6
thatguamguy Blu-ray Ninja Member since:Mar 2016 Trading Score:4	* volume 1: Shout's "Catalina Caper" is much worse. The Rhino discs have the uncut movies, which the Shouts dropped. I think one of the Shout discs is badly cropped, but I can't remember which. * volume 2: Shout's "Cave Dwellers" is badly cropped, but Rhino cuts out a lot of footage around the bumper (maybe the most of any cut). Shout's "Pod People" is a much worse transfer for the colors, although the Rhino one is stretched a little bit wide, as is the Rhino "Angel's Revenge". Shout discs have the "MST3k Hour" host segments. * volume 3: Shout's "Sidehackers" is a worse transfer, but Rhino's "Atomic Brain" is missing the title slate and the stinger at the end. Shout has a solo release of that one if you really want the best release for each title. Shout discs have the "MST3k Hour" host segments. * volume 4: Shout's "Girl in Gold Boots" is a longer cut with an "uncensored" riff over a scene where the characters smoke marijuana. I don't have any notes here, as I remember it, the Rhino discs looked marginally better (especially "Gold Boots") but overall, with this one, I'd give it to Shout, unless you have a preference for "rated PG" MST3k (no criticism intended if that's your thing, or if you want to watch with your kids, or whatever) * volume 5: kind of a toss-up. Rhino botched "Merlin's Magic Shop of Wonders", but Shout's "Touch of Satan" is a big step down from Rhino's. * volume 6: Shout, but if you already have the Rhino, it's not much of an upgrade. The solo release of "Gunslinger" is better than either boxed version. * volume 7: Rhino's "Hercules Against The Moon Men" and especially "Prince of Space" are much better. Rhino's original release of "Killer Shrews" was accidentally cut, but they did a pretty widespread replacement program, so as long as you can get the replacement disc, Rhino's the way to go. Also, the "Assignment: Venezuela" has two different sources, Rhino's looks much better but has a more prominent burned-in timecode. I don't have the Shout releases for vol 8 - 12, the only things I know is that Shout has added minor extras, and they messed up "The Horrors of Spider Island" on vol 11. Solo releases get a little complicated because they've been released in different iterations, but it boils down to: "Mitchell" and "The Brain That Wouldn't Die" are both released in vol 28 by Shout. Rhino's releases have marginally better picture quality, but Shout wins for those. Shout's "Singles Collection" has the better "Eegah" and "I Accuse My Parents", and I don't think there's a big difference in "Crawling Hand". Rhino's solo "Hellcats" is better than the Shout one in the Singles collection, though it's a slight uptick. Rhino's "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" looks much better than Shout's. (Shout's has nice features, though, including the "MST3k Hour" host segments.) Rhino only released it in a collection called "The Essentials". "Manos: The Hands of Fate" - the Shout release is cool for all the extras, and the transfer is only marginally worse, but if you're getting Rhino's "Essentials" for Santa Claus, the other disc is "Manos", so I would say just stick with that unless you love bonus features. If you want the original uncut movie, you'll want the Rhino "Crawling Hand", "Hellcats", "Eegah", "Brain That Wouldn't Die", and the Shout "Manos". "Beginning of the End" - I don't own the Shout disc, but my understanding is that it's a worse transfer, and I'm sure it drops the uncut movie "Wild World of Batwoman" - transfers are absolutely identical; Shout drops the uncut movie "Red Zone Cuba" - neither transfer is great, but Rhino's is much better Last edited by thatguamguy; 11-13-2019 at 04:02 AM.

11-12-2019, 02:27 AM	#1
Mikezilla3k Blu-ray Prince Top contributor Member since:Feb 2019 Location:Richmond, CA 4K collection:19 Blu-ray collection:268 DVD collection:305 MA collection:56 Digital collection:19 Trading Score:2	Are the Shout re-releases better than the Rhino sets?

11-13-2019, 03:46 AM	#8
thatguamguy Blu-ray Ninja Member since:Mar 2016 Trading Score:4	I think the only time that a Shout solo release and a Shout non-solo release of the same episode are different is "Gunslinger". I don't own absolutely every variant, and I don't have the "Gold Boots" solo, so I don't want to claim 100% absolute certainty, but I'm relatively sure that the disc contents are the same as the vol 4 release.

Best DVD Deals