Law & Order-The Chris Noth Years (1990-1995) Coming to Blu ray and DVD

[Kyliefan1]

For the first time ever, the long-running crime drama series is receiving the home media release that it truly deserves.

https://www.elephantfilms.com/law-or...ay-c2x41151897

[PSYCHICGUY]

That's a nice surprise!

Bande-annonce : Law & Order - NEW YORK Police Judiciaire - Intégrale HD - YouTube

Release date: 1 October 2024
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Subtitles: French, English... according to the website. However, the trailer above states it will feature the French dub and the original audio with French subtitles at the very least.
Discs: 20

Extras: La loi et l’ordre : les origines de Law & Order par Alain Carrazé - Wolf & Carrazé : featurette/interview with Dick Wolf - La série par Barbara Villez; Making of; Deleted scenes; interview with Jerry Orbach; 96-page booklet

[OceanBlue]

Will there be an alternative aspect ratio option for Law & Order's fifth season in this Blu-ray boxset? I ask, because if I remember correctly, when it was released on DVD in the States, it was presented in a widescreen aspect ratio.

[DawnShadow]

HELL YES.

I've only ever seen HD masters of Seasons 1-5 in Widescreen so this is awesome.
Trailer below confirms they are indeed 4x3 - and I believe confirms seasons 6-20 are also on the way.

Bande-annonce : Law & Order - NEW YORK Police Judiciaire - Intégrale HD - YouTube

I believe the correct point to switch to 16x9 was mid-way through Season 4 or Season 5, so yes it will be interesting if they don't switch for Season 5, when they actually will switch.

[OceanBlue]

As they did crossovers with the original Law & Order, it would be great if Elephant were to do as well a Blu-ray boxset of Homicide: Life on the Street.

Haven't checked yet on Elephant's website to see if they ship to the UK (regarding the Law & Order: Seasons 1 to 5 Blu-ray boxset).

[DawnShadow]

They've indicated in the Facebook comments that they would love to release Homicide if they are allowed.

[OceanBlue]

It appears Elephant Films do ship to the UK. Unsure yet whether the total price including shipping will be similar to or less than the limited edition Knight Rider Blu-ray boxset released by Turbine. Can't pre-order the Seasons 1-5 Blu-ray boxset yet, but I may end up waiting for comments, observations and reviews on here first.

I know this would be some way off, but if Seasons 6-10 are released on Blu-ray by Elephant, it'll be interesting to see if they include the Law & Order: SVU crossover episode "Entitled, Part One" (and if they do, whether it will be presented in widescreen. I remember when Law & Order: SVU: Season One was released on DVD here, the season was presented in fullscreen).

[OceanBlue]

Earlier, when visiting Elephant Films' website to check for a different title, I noticed that the release date has been pushed back two weeks to Tuesday 15th October.

[McCrutchy]

This is also available on FNAC, as an exclusive:

https://www.fnac.com/a20747647/Law-A...s-Noth-Blu-ray

Here is a snapshot of the back cover, which looks like a j-card for the box:

[Show spoiler]

Somewhat surprisingly, English subtitles appear to be included. However, there is at least one error on that cover image ("5 BLU-RAY" where Elephant's site says "Nombre de disque : 20" and all images say "25 Blu-rays"), so be wary. I expect it's a 25xBD set and they just missed the "2" from "25", which was hopefully caught before printing.

There are also pre-orders on Elephant's site for the individual seasons, but they won't be released until 8 April 2025:

https://www.elephantfilms.com/law-order-c102x4367847

[OceanBlue]

Thanks McCrutchy for posting the above. The release date for the separate season sets for Seasons 1 to 5 was changed quickly then, as a few days prior to your post it said on Elephant Films' website that they were all coming out on the same day as the Season 1 to 5 Blu-ray set (Tuesday, October 15th). Obviously, getting the Blu-ray set of the first five seasons is cheaper compared to buying them separately.

Roughly, what would have been the average runtime at NTSC speed for US television series in the first half of the nineties?

I haven't seen that Law & Order cast promo picture before (the one on the back of the FNAC exclusive release). Appears to be for the third season

[Show spoiler](Richard Brooks and Dann Florek's last season,

and Jerry Orbach's first season (Carolyn McCormick was a main cast member during that period and was credited in the title sequence but I don't think they had a picture of themselves on their ident screen).

I'm very interested in getting the Blu-ray set of the first five seasons, but I'm going to wait for reviews first (eg. confirmation of the aspect ratio for Seasons 4 and 5).

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by OceanBlue

Roughly, what would have been the average runtime at NTSC speed for US television series in the first half of the nineties?

Well, I never owned the series on DVD, but here you can see that the NTSC DVDs generally run about 46-48 minutes per episode:

Season 1 (1990-1991):

https://www.dvdcompare.net/compariso...php?fid=3290#1

Season 5 (1994-1995):

https://www.dvdcompare.net/compariso...hp?fid=64398#1

By Season 20 (2009-2010), the episodes run about 43 minutes each, so they lost about 3-5 minutes per episode over the years in order to accommodate more commercials:

https://www.dvdcompare.net/compariso...hp?fid=64424#1

I was surprised to find that Seasons 1-4 were 1.33:1 on DVD, but Season 5 was 1.78:1. The individual season 5 DVD also claimed to have a mono soundtrack, but that seems odd and probably inaccurate or an error, as I believe the whole series should be either stereo (or 5.1 in later seasons) and never mono. Saying that, apparently Universal screwed up Season 14 by releasing it on DVD in 1.33:1, despite every other season from Season 5 onwards being 1.78:1 on DVD.

If the French release actually presents Season 5 in 1.33:1 (as apparently some PAL DVDs did), that will be interesting. I don't know how the 1.78:1 image was achieved for the US DVD, but I presume that this must have been the first season which was "protected for widescreen". However, in 1994-1995, most people in the US would have seen that season in 1.33:1 on TV. There are multiple claims online that the series actually started shooting in widescreen in 1996, but you would have to watch the episodes to see if shots were actually composed for 1.78:1 or if they were composed for the center 1.33:1 image with dead space on the sides. I understand that the show did not start airing on US TV in 1.78:1 until Season 10, but that could be wrong.

[OceanBlue]

Season 14 of Law & Order was released on DVD in the States in fullscreen (and I'm not sure if the episodes were uncut or not), but I believe it was released on DVD in Australia in the correct aspect ratio (in widescreen).

[badfingerboogie]

Very curious to see how this set turns out, as well as the impending seasons 6-20(?)

Hopefully they include Exiled: A Law & Order Movie in there somewhere, or at least make it available separately.

[OceanBlue]

With the pushed-back release date of Elephant Films' Seasons 1 to 5 Blu-ray boxset still being next Tuesday (15th October), if anyone on here has pre-ordered a copy, hopefully we'll start reading comments, observations etc. Can't order the Blu-ray boxset yet anyway, but anything about the visual and audio presentation of the episodes will be very helpful.

[oliviergregoire]

I've seen it at Fnac, just very expensive.

Does anyone knox the A/R for season 5?

[UnionJackMix]

To be honest, apart from the fact that I abandoned watching the show from my US DVDs when it just became too much for me (too many show and not enough interest) I would very much buy this but if it ends up like another Murder She Wrote then no thank you. That said, Shirley the only way we can get more sets if this one sells enough so...

[OceanBlue]

Originally Posted by UnionJackMix

To be honest, apart from the fact that I abandoned watching the show from my US DVDs when it just became too much for me (too many show and not enough interest) I would very much buy this but if it ends up like another Murder She Wrote then no thank you. That said, Shirley the only way we can get more sets if this one sells enough so...

The obvious similarity being the price, if the reviews are positive and I do decide to commit to purchasing a copy of Law & Order: Seasons 1 to 5, it's one of those 'once in a blue moon' purchases like Turbine's Knight Rider boxset (undecided yet if I'm going to get the standard edition version of Plaion's Miami Vice boxset).

Think it was brought up in the main Kino Lorber thread on here (skimmed through the discussion during my catch-up after the weekend break), that it's more likely Universal would do a North American Blu-ray release of Law & Order (the same with Murder, She Wrote (I'd prefer two half-series sets released within months of one another of Murder, She Wrote), compared to boutique labels like Kino (a risk with the number of seasons). With Elephant Films for example, it's a balancing act, people not wanting to buy the boxsets if the other seasons aren't going to get released, and the label not wanting to release the other seasons if the first boxset isn't selling well.

Hopefully, we'll see an in-depth review of the Law & Order: Seasons 1 to 5 boxset soon, including comments/observations on how the fourth and fifth seasons are presented with regards to the aspect ratio.

[rob2004canada]

Hello Everyone. I just received my copy of this set and can post a picture of the back of it. I cannot unfortunately visually verify the aspect ratio throughout all 5 seasons as I am in Europe on business and cannot play it until I get home. However, hopefully the back cover shot can help. It does list the aspect ratio but of course, that's just a listing on the box.

[rob2004canada]

[Mike0284]

Originally Posted by rob2004canada