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

[EricP]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

WB makes one disc for the world, which means they're trying to shove as many dub tracks as possible on the disc to save money. Unfortunately for dub lovers that precludes lossless on more than one, maybe two tracks. If memory serves WB has implemented a system where only he local menus show up based on the region code/language settings it reads on your player, but the other ones are still there

I know Warner Home Video Benelux (The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg) do some of their discs on their own with independent authoring houses.
Warner France receive their discs done either in UK, US or Germany but they don't have any editorial choices to do. (no codec or authoring choices, it's all decided elsewhere)
And their discs are the same as for many other countries thus the 5-6 different languages on the disc and NONE in HD !

So no, their discs aren't all done only once for the entire world.
In fact, it seems much more complexe than that and the situation is very different from one territory to another.
Or maybe this is title depend - maybe some titles are done for the world (or specific but numerous countries) and some titles are left to the local distributor office.

But it seems Warner is one of the only Major to do so as many other major titles in France (to take an example) have both english and french versions in HD quality.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Arkham Asylum- Yes, beat it on Hard. Finally a great Batman game, can't wait for the sequel. The developers should be very proud

Guess you didn't have or missed the one for the Sega Genesis.

[Jeff Kleist]

Played it and the SegaCD version of returns with the extra driving sequences

I maintain, first real Batman game

[Jeff Kleist]

Well Beast, ad leaked, guess there's your answer on Oz

[Beast]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Well Beast, ad leaked, guess there's your answer on Oz

Yep. Very nice. Hope it still has the MGM Documentary as well. Probably, given the price.

[Jeff Kleist]

Don't count on it

It looks like it's the 2 Blu-ray set that Europe is getting plus a DVD copy. $34.99 is just full retail on the disc, and theyprobably won't discount it for awhile to avoid undermining the gift set too much.

That's pure informed speculation mind you, based on the usual pricing on WB titles

[Beast]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Don't count on it

It looks like it's the 2 Blu-ray set that Europe is getting plus a DVD copy. $34.99 is just full retail on the disc, and theyprobably won't discount it for awhile to avoid undermining the gift set too much.

That's pure informed speculation mind you, based on the usual pricing on WB titles

I'll probably still get the boxset then. Give the watch to my Mom as one of her Birthday gifts.

Sides, the swag in the big box is kinda nice. The book looks like it's gonna be a beauty.

[Eastkhan]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Played it and the SegaCD version of returns with the extra driving sequences

I maintain, first real Batman game

not even the "small" Batman from NES days has any chance? I once thought that game was the best have to play the Arkham Asylum I guess...


Speaking of Oz; I attended this special screening they were doing. I am disappointed. The picture looked really soft, it had the look of Lowry's Sunset Boulevard & Casablanca; this shiny, scrubbed look I was not fond of. I could not notice any grain as well.

I heard that Oz was scanned on 8k, and its BD getting excellent reviews, what do you think happened in my case, wrong (calibrated or out of focus) projection or the 2k projector (in my theater) not sufficient to reflect the true potential of the material on big screen? Or perhaps these digital copies are different than what we will be getting on BD (besides the uncompressed status I mean; filtering etc.)?

I am not a technical expert, I'd like to have some info about why this might be the case here. Anyone attended one those special screenings, what were your thoughts? Or anyone with the knowledge of the overall look of the film, saw it on special screenings before, I'd appreciate your comments.

Thank you

[Jeff Kleist]

Speaking of Oz; I attended this special screening they were doing. I am disappointed. The picture looked really soft, it had the look of Lowry's Sunset Boulevard & Casablanca; this shiny, scrubbed look I was not fond of. I could not notice any grain as well.

Oz is soft filtered big time naturally. Partly to create that nice dreamy feeling, and partially to hide the wires and the fact that the backdrops are uncomfortably close to where the actors are standing (when she's dancing down the yellowbrick road from munchkinland, the shot cuts when she's about 2 feet from the wall )

Don't forget that Oz was and still is a piece of 3-strip Technicolor porn in an era where color films were a new shiny thing. The same went for the original Star Trek 30 years later, which is why the sets are full of all these garish colors and washes. The network went all-color in 1966 and wanted to make sure everything was eye candy.. I don't really like how they like to get rid of a lot of grain, but I can't dispute that however they're doing it, it's not through simple DNR. The resolution on the virtually grain-free How The West Was Won was breathtaking

I haven't seen it yet, but everyone I've seen, including Robert Harris and Bill have been nothing but praise. I never worry about WB's classic department, George Feltenstein and his crew have their heads on straight, and their passion is genuine. It takes a very long track record for me to trust a group of people on that level. Pixar, Harmonix, WB Classics, and DS9 episodes which look terrible in the teaser and focus on Jake Sisko.

(seriously. by season 6 it's like "That looks awful, I can't wait for next week!")

[EricP]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Because online petitions take no effort to sign, and more importantly very little thought. A physical petition takes a lot of work to forge, and even more effort to deliver. It indicates a much greater involvement and passion

Online petitions WILL be ignored. There is no may, if ands or buts about it. They are guaranteed, 100% to be ignored.

Hi again,

Knowing that making a paper petition is almost impossible (mainly due to huge distance between undersigners) what would you suggest to make the message heard ?

This is aimed at European disc production.

Best,
EricP

[Jeff Kleist]

Find an event that attracts likeminded people, go there and give it a go. Don't necessarily stop there. Find people in other geographic locations who will do the same, get the things in enthusiast shops. If you get 100 signatures in 50 locations that's 5000 people

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Oz is soft filtered big time naturally. Partly to create that nice dreamy feeling, and partially to hide the wires and the fact that the backdrops are uncomfortably close to where the actors are standing (when she's dancing down the yellowbrick road from munchkinland, the shot cuts when she's about 2 feet from the wall )

Don't forget that Oz was and still is a piece of 3-strip Technicolor porn in an era where color films were a new shiny thing. The same went for the original Star Trek 30 years later, which is why the sets are full of all these garish colors and washes. The network went all-color in 1966 and wanted to make sure everything was eye candy.. I don't really like how they like to get rid of a lot of grain, but I can't dispute that however they're doing it, it's not through simple DNR. The resolution on the virtually grain-free How The West Was Won was breathtaking

I haven't seen it yet, but everyone I've seen, including Robert Harris and Bill have been nothing but praise. I never worry about WB's classic department, George Feltenstein and his crew have their heads on straight, and their passion is genuine. It takes a very long track record for me to trust a group of people on that level. Pixar, Harmonix, WB Classics, and DS9 episodes which look terrible in the teaser and focus on Jake Sisko.

(seriously. by season 6 it's like "That looks awful, I can't wait for next week!")

Well Jake Sisko never had the same fan hatred that Wesley Crusher had. I think my least favorite Trek main character was either Guinan, Kes or Neelix.

[SpaceDog]

Originally Posted by merrick97

Well Jake Sisko never had the same fan hatred that Wesley Crusher had. I think my least favorite Trek main character was either Guinan, Kes or Neelix.

Kes & The Doctor were the only good things about Voyager. Neelix needed to be used as a torpedo against the Kazon. I liked Guinan a lot as a character, but she was essentially duplicating Deanna's role.

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by SpaceDog

Kes & The Doctor were the only good things about Voyager. Neelix needed to be used as a torpedo against the Kazon. I liked Guinan a lot as a character, but she was essentially duplicating Deanna's role.

Your opinion on Kes. I couldnt stand her and I was very happy when she left the show. My favorite characters on that show were Tom Paris, Tuvok, The Doctor and Torres. I did have a soft spot for Harry as well. Janeway had her ups and downs. Same with Chekotay.

[MerrickG]

Hey Jeff,

What are some good Batman stories you recommend? I have already read Killing Joke, The Man Who Laughs, entire Knightfall-KnightsEnd Saga as well as Mad Love.

[Shand754]

I would recommend the Dark Knight Returns, Year One and Arkham asylum.

Jeff - Do you know what the story is with these Warner target exclusives and when Gremlins might go on sale everywhere? https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=3463

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by merrick97

Well Jake Sisko never had the same fan hatred that Wesley Crusher had. I think my least favorite Trek main character was either Guinan, Kes or Neelix.

I think he was referring to episodes like "In The Cards", which looked awful in the teaser but the actual show was terrific.

[Geoff Gibson]

Originally Posted by merrick97

What are some good Batman stories you recommend? I have already read Killing Joke, The Man Who Laughs, entire Knightfall-KnightsEnd Saga as well as Mad Love.

If I may offer an opinon on some classic Batman fare which gets overlooked but strongly influenced both the Animated Series and the recent films: (1) Strange Apparaitions by the classic team of Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers and (2)Tales of the Demon, a collected edition of the first set of stories involving Ra's Al Guhl and features the art of the quintessential Batman artist, Neal Adams.

[SpaceDog]

Originally Posted by merrick97

Hey Jeff,

What are some good Batman stories you recommend? I have already read Killing Joke, The Man Who Laughs, entire Knightfall-KnightsEnd Saga as well as Mad Love.

Arkham Asylum by Grant Morrison is excellent.

[Jeff Kleist]

Year One, Dark Knight Returns, Arkham Asylum

I think he was referring to episodes like "In The Cards", which looked awful in the teaser but the actual show was terrific.

Yes. The ones that focused on Jake, not the character himself per say. The one where he and Bashir are trapped on the front lines looked terrible in the teaser as well. Heck I think even "The Visitor" looked groan worthy, and ended up winning a Hugo