Capricorn One - UK BD (2014 edition)

Recently I got the 2014 edition of "Capricorn One" BD from UK.

Before this edition, there was another BD released in 2007 in UK,
which was reviewed by DVDBeaver
in comparison with US DVD from LionsGate.

While 2007 BD was barebone,
2014 BD has some notable special features,
which I will describe below.

I don't know if 2014 BD has difference in A/V quality from 2007 BD.

Basic specs

Disc: BDx1
Region code: B
Runtime: 123 mins
AR: 2.35:1
Audio: English DD 2.0
Subtitles: English
Publisher: Network

Package

Menu

Main Menu

Background is animated.

Popup Menu

It has the same design as the main menu.

Scene Selection

Subtitles

Special Features

• Original theatrical trailer (3 mins)

• What If...?: The Making of "Caprocorn One" (7 mins)

  More like EPK than making-of.
  Main actors, director, and producer briefly talk about the premise.
  Some behind-the-scenes footages are included.
  
  
  
  

• On Set with Capricorn One

  These rough-looking footages have no narration or text to explain when, where, who, etc.

  • Desert Filming (38 mins)

    At an abandoned gas station and Telly Savalas's airfield.
    
    
    

  • Studio Filming (4 mins)

    On the set of "Mars."
    
    

• Gallery (4 mins)

  Slideshow (no sound) of various stills, such as posters, lobby cards, publicity photos, etc.

Brief comparison with US DVD and BD

US DVD from LionsGate
has audio commentary with Peter Hyams and
a featurette on the zeitgeist of the USA at the time.

They are not found in both UK BDs and
US BD from Shout! Factory, which is essentially barebone.

Screenshots with subtitles

Conclusion

With good video/audio quality and nice extras not found in the US discs,
I think this 2014 edition of UK BD is worth getting
if you can play Region B disc.

Or rather, this may be another reason for you to go region-free.

Buy at Amazon UK

Dark Star - Japanese BD

Japanese distributor TC Entertainment will release
John Carpenter's "Dark Star" on blu-ray on Apr. 3, 2015,
in 2 editions.

• 1-Disc Standard Edition (cat#: TCBD-0435) (Buy from Amazon JP)
• 2-Disc Limited Edition (cat#: TCBD-0434) (Buy from Amazon JP)

Specs

Basic Disc Specs

Region code: A
Video: VistaVision/16:9 enhanced/1080p HD *1

Audio:

• English dts-HD MA 5.1
• English dts-HD MA 2.0

Subtitles: Japanese

*1: Some of the special features are in SD,
which must be NTSC.

Main feature:

Includes 2 versions of the movie,
83mins theatrical cut and 73mins director's cut.

Special features:

1-Disc edition

• 3D Guide to the Dark Star Ship
• Written Intro by Dan O'Bannon (w/ Japanese subtitles)
• Trivia
• Posters and Stills gallery
• Original and Japanese trailers

2-Disc edition

has everything in 1-disc edition, PLUS:

• Making-of *2
• Interview with Sci-Fi Author Alan Dean Foster
• Interview with actor Brian Narelle

*2: Presumably "Let There Be Light" documentary.

Also, the 2-disc edition comes in a box packaging.
with some 20-page booklet (presumably in Japanese only),
a set of 8 postcards featuring foreign poster artwork.

Notes

The 2-disc edition seems to be a good combination of
US VCI's "Thermosteller" edition and
UK Fabulous Films and French Carlotta editions.


To my understanding,
US edition has lots of special features but doesn't have the director's cut.
Both UK/French editions have 2 versions of the movie, but
only has "Let There Be Light" documentary (117mins) as special features.

Japanese 2-disc editon has 2 versions of the movie
and most of the special feautures from VCI edition.
The only omission is
Audio Commentary by "Super Fan" Andrew Gilchrist.

As always with Japanese BDs, the price is very high.
So, not many people consider to get it
but if you are a kind of "collector", maybe?

Or, if you already have US VCI edition,
you may want to get Japanese 1-disc edition
only to see shorter director's cut.
Japanese BD is expensive but region coded A
(and SD materials are NTSC),
while UK/French BDs are region coded B
(and SD materials are likely PAL).

The Man from Earth - UK DVD

I recently got the UK DVD edition of the movie.


It's rare for me to choose DVD when BD is available,
but I did so for 2 reasons:

• Among BDs and DVDs released in US, UK and France,
  UK DVD is the only one with extras.
• It seems the movie is not much benefited from higher video resolution
  after reading the reviews of US BD on DVDBeaver and Blu-ray.com.

Disc specs

Region code: 2
Video: PAL
AR: 1.78:1
Audio: English 2.0 / English 5.1
Subtitles: None
Running time: 87
Studio: Anchor Bay UK

The Package

Standard DVD case without booklet.

Menus

Top menu is animated, with the end title song played.

Chapters

Audio setup

• 2.0 Stereo
• 5.1 Dolby
• Commentary with executive producer Emerson Boxby and author Gary Westfahl
• Commentary with producer/director Richard Schenkman and actor John Billingsley

Extras

Added to the commentaries listed above,
there are 4 brief "behind-the-scenes"pieces:

• On the Set (4:00)
• The Story of the Story (2:12)
• Jerome Bixby's Sci-Fi Legacy (3:49)
• From Script to Screen (2:11)

They are more like chapters of a single "making-of" featurette.
seemingly all shot on/around the set.

We see producer/director Richard Schenkman,
executive producer Emerson Bixby,
and all of the principal cast, talking about the project,
their links to "Star Trek", etc.

Personally, I'd like to hear more from actors
on their acting rather than "I was in this Star Trek episode."

Video quality

I have no complaints.

A few shots of nature background may look much beautiful in HD
but overall I think SD is "good enough" to enjoy this movie.
(Still, I wish BD has the same extras as DVD.)

Audio quality

No problem here too.
As expected, 5.1 and 2.0 doesn't sound much different,
as the movie is almost entirely a conversation.
I felt slightly more comfortable with 2.0, though.


Overall I'm glad that I chose this edition.

Knight Rider - Japanese BD boxset

NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan released
"Knight Rider Complete Blu-ray Box"
in Japan today (2014-11-27).

The set contains all 4 seasons (84 episodes) on BD,
plus 2 bonus DVDs.

Buy at Amazon Japan



Links

• The publisher's product page
• Japanese official website of the show

(They are in Japanese only, of course.)


Basic disc specs

• Discs: BDx24 + DVDx2
• Region code: All
• Audio: English dts mono / Japanese dts mono
• Subtitles: Japanese
• Total running time: 4355

Supplements

• Birth of Knight Rider
• Design gallery
• Photo gallery
• Behind the shooting of Knight 2000
• On musical score
• Audio commentary with David Hasselhoff and Glen A. Larson on the pilot episode
• 2 bonus DVDs (English audio with Japanese subtitles):
  • Knight Rider 2000
  • Knight Rider 2010
  (Caution: I'm NOT sure if DVDs are also region ALL, as it's not explicitly stated.)
  
• Booklets:
  • Episode guide (40 pages)
  • Initial pressing only: Reproduction of Japanese dubb script for the pilot episode (192 pages)

According to the advertisement,
This is the "world's first release of Knight Rider on Blu-ray"
and it's "HD transfer from the original films".


For Japanese customers, the big "catch" is the additional Japanese dubbs with the original voice cast,
for the cut scenes and missing episodes from the original Japanese broadcast.

Of course it adds nothing for foreign fans,
but I think such effort shows the publisher's care for this release.