This is a series of writings that I did from 1990 to 2002 reviewing and putting to “Paper” my thoughts about the movies I collected at the time on Laserdisc and then DVD. (And there were a lot of movies too.) Within these writings are elements that ultimately paved the road to the world of professional calibration. The total collection of writings came to about 100 MB of material at the time so be prepared for something that will be long. It may actually be amusing to see how I use a particular film as some spring board to talking about calibration.
The writings also play out like a diary of sorts as it is possible to piece together just what type of person I was at the time and my frame of mind. My daughter started to go through some of these and she got a good laugh out of it. Most of it was written before she was even born. I made it a rule not to change anything that I wrote when I was doing this. I would only correct for spelling and grammar and nothing else. Because this material was not originally intended for others to look at, the paragraph structure is pretty messy so be warned.
It’s raw and it’s also potentially offensive at times. Onto Part 6 … the letter B.
BABE MCA
| B005 |
7.0 |
1.85 |
DPL |
LDCA |
Category: Science Fiction / Comedy / Fantasy
The film came from Laser Movie’s used bin after I had a chance to view it on satellite on the pay per view channels. The price was right and the film is spotless. A very sharp transfer with wonderful colour saturation. This film will become our little pig’s favourite film in time. A relatively modest budget went into this Australia made film and it got nominated for a best picture award. The film is funny, cute and refreshingly different than most films as the perspective of things is actually somewhat warped. The film was banned in Red China … guess it really is another Animal Farm type story. All the voices have been dubbed into American style English except for James Cromwell’s voice. MCA is re-issuing this one with the original DTS audio tracks. The DVD is a full frame version, but it is in AC-3. I am passing on that one. I cannot believe that there is going to be a sequel to this gem of a film. A great way to ruin the fable quality of the film. The sequel did very poorly at the theater, but apparently it is a superior film such as The Empire Strikes Back is to Star Wars. I was perhaps unfair so I will give it a chance when it comes out on DVD. The DTS version of the original film will be issued on DVD in the same full frame format as the previous release.
BABE – PIG IN THE CITY MCA
| B006 |
7.5 |
1.85 16×9; 1.33 |
5.1 |
Trailers |
DVD-9 |
Category: Science Fiction / Comedy / Fantasy
The film came from Future Shop for $25 and change. I had seen it at A & B Sound, but passed on it because the price was too high for my liking. The film is presented on a dual layer DVD with both versions of the film. The menu system is more elaborate than most other DVD releases and I will have to look again for the full frame version as the first viewing was not obvious. There are not too many extras, but two poor condition trailers are included along with the trailer for the first film. All trailers are matted at about 1.85:1. Image quality is very nice as is the audio, but the film lends a certain level of confusion. I called it a film in search of a point as I felt the events of the film were generally pointless. Farmer Hoggett has little more than a cameo appearance in this film. Mickey Rooney also appears in this film and strangely, he is devoid of any dialog. He may be credited, but he has little more than an extended cameo as well. David said that there were too many monkeys in this film and he is correct about that. I could have used less screen time for the monkeys. Is this film better or worse than the first, well I would have to side with the first film as being twice the film that this one is. Too much money, but not enough thought into the story. The slapstick was also most annoying as was the obvious use of Babe the puppet pig. The furry pig was most disappointed that those sequences since it reminded him of his heritage.
BABYLON 5 #1: The Gathering / The Gathering Special Edition Warner
| B010 |
7.0 |
1.33 |
DPL |
LDCA |
Category: Science Fiction / Drama / TV
Here’s a series that is almost worth getting just for the extensive and exceptional computer effects work. This title here denotes the availability of the movie pilot as a Japanese import. I will undoubtedly wait for the domestic release from Warner now that the series has been launched. Finally found the wild feed on the satellite on Galaxy 6 – 21 on Friday at 8:00 A.M. and Saturday at 3:00 A.M. The bad part is that the uplink in not particularly clear unless you have a very large dish. (It has become much better since I switched receivers.) The stereo channels are intact though, so I may yet be able to hear the show in stereo for the first time. The satellite uplink will be used from now on because the final product is still better than any of the previous methods. There are good episodes and there are dogs … so far, most of the shows have been entertaining and the heavy effects laden episodes contain more special effects than ST-TNG has in seven seasons. This is a show with an actual story to tell. Each episode reveals another portion of the overall tapestry generating even more interest. The constant allusion to the destruction of the station creates a very dark atmosphere. With the end of the initial season up coming, I have to give the show much higher marks than the first season of the Next Generation. With the impending change of actors in the second season for, as of yet, reasons unknown it will be interesting to say the least. I still have some reservations about Bruce Boxleitner as the new commander. Michael O’Hare will still be available for cameo appearances during the season so his character will not be written out. Commander Sinclair is actually vital to the evolution of the program. (Does the character have a middle initial of “M” so as to match JMS himself?) Sinclair’s importance to the story only extends through the third season as his particular story line is then completed for the purposes of the story. There could possibly be a follow up story regarding his adventures in the distant past. (JMS actually had to do some major juggling of his storyline to write out Sinclair and bring in Sheridan. All the pieces were already there including a wife who would die at Z’Ha’Dum (Catherine Sakai) and a future marriage to Delenn.) It’s just not certain who would have gone back in time with Babylon 4. The storyline of the new season is progressing very nicely as the opening monologue has been redone by Boxleitner to reflect the direction of the second season. The year is now 2259. The year the great war came upon us all. So there actually is quite a following of the program out there especially on the Internet where fans can even talk to the creator. It seems more like a forum for nitpickers. The rumor has it that the first season will make its way to Laserdisc by the summer of 1995 and it will be letterboxed at the 16:9 aspect ratio. The show is filmed in the wider aspect ratio and cropped for the standard broadcasts so the discs should look good and reveal more effects. An interesting turn of events on DS9 as Commander Sisko gets promoted to Captain. Was this in response to Captain Sheridan’s arrival on B5? Can we assume that the trek people didn’t want the B5 guys outranking their own? Nice to see that the theory of Anna Sheridan’s demise was linked to the Shadows as suspected. JMS hints at a major set back for the forces of light at the end of this season. The death of the ancient one (Kosh) perhaps. Didn’t happen, but he did reveal himself to the world. Here is a good question for the show, why was the would be assassin of Ambassador Kosh a Minbari warrior caste member? And why were they working with the Narn in this conspiracy? Further to this point, were the Narn even aware of why the Minbari wanted Kosh dead? Will they ever tie up the Laurel Takashima plot line? Her character is the only one that has disappeared without any explanation. I’m thinking that JMS may actually have plans for her at some point in the third or fourth season given that her storyline is a valid direction to pursue. It may actually reveal more information as to why the assassination attempt took place. It has been mentioned that the CGI effects from the pilot feature are much more primitive than those of the series. A close examination will show that this is the case, the new series material tends to have much more detail rendered. TNT is airing this one on January 4, 1998 following the In The Beginning feature. It will be an opportunity to get a better copy of the film short of the Laserdisc release. Word has it that the producers are keen on releasing the series on DVD given Warner’s involvement with that format. Don’t hold your breath. When this one shows up again in January, it will be the new revised edition of the pilot. JMS has gone back and changed the music and redid all the special effects to bring the 1993 show up to date. This will give him a chance to fix that one inconsistency with the jump gates that has ever occurred in the show. The Vorlon jump from hyperspace to normal space can be fixed to become blue again. The character sequences will also be re-edited as JMS has said that he wants to add some 14 minutes of dialog back into the pilot, while removing other extraneous stuff. In a sense, this will be all new again. The pilot has never looked better than when it was on TNT. I cannot believe how good their signal quality is. This new version can best be described as JMS and his Special Edition. There is a lot of revisionist story telling in this one as he has taken material from the series and inserted them into this pilot. He has also removed certain references such as Sinclair as the final commander of B5. He restored Delenn’s original voice and corrected some of the effect glitches, though not all. The final shot of the Vorlon fleet coming through the jump gate is still the wrong vortex colour, but JMS probably knew that. In the early shows, they referred to the jumpgates as vortex generators, but that stopped after the first season. He didn’t have the money to redo the sequence. In fact, there are actually only a few new effect sequences as most of the other material is stock footage from the series. The original effects are still present although they look okay with the improvement in visual quality. It is clear this time around that Laurel‘s access code is used by the Minbari to access Varner’s quarters. Kosh’s thoughts when he greets the fake Sinclair are also an insertion, but he was merely talking to himself. After all this time, the first Laserdiscs have been announced for September 1998. The pilot film and the first four episodes along with the first telefilm. The image quality on these discs are surprisingly sharp especially the special effects. The image is so sharp that it actually reveals the limitation of the computer generated graphics. The Laserdisc release is the re-edited TNT version of the pilot or the Creator’s cut. The director’s version may never be seen again which means the music is also gone.
