So I finally broke down and bought the BG DVD set...

[Kester Pelagius]

It was about $10 cheaper than I remember seeing it on the shelves for in previous months. Suppose I could have waited to see if it would have gone down another $10 bucks but. . .

Curiosity and all.

Still think it was over priced. And I have to agree with those who said the video quality should have been better but, you know, after sitting through the commentary track for Saga of a Starworld it's doesn't seem all that bad. Alas, I see no mention of further commentaries in the accompanying booklet.

So, just out of curiosity, does anyone else feel this boxed set was overpriced by about 30-50 percent?

That and I think the Larson interview was too short. Nice, but too short.

[thomas7g]

I don't like the cheap dvds with info on both sides. That bothers me. I also would have prefered a box that fits on the shelf a little easier. I also would have liked more commentaries for the other episodes. But beyond that I am really ahppy with it. it was made directly from the original so its as good a quality as you can get from 25 year old film. And anything more would have cleaned up the film, but I think there would have been a teeny loss of detail. it might have been worth it. But it is the best quality in existence so I'm happy.

Having thought BSG was "dead and buried", I lept at the chance to buy the DVD's. I watch them daily, at leats one episode and my kids watch it with me. I love it! I'd watch it if I had it on Beta tapes -remember Beta video casette players??

[Rowan]

Originally Posted by Phoenix

I'd watch it if I had it on Beta tapes -remember Beta video casette players??

Hang on let me check....YUP! he's got it bad I'm afraid... Battlestar Galactilitis...I'm afraid there is no cure...poor Phoenix

[Muffit]

Hi Kester!

I for one think the set was /very/ reasonably priced. The TNG sets were $100+ at release, for about the same number of eps. $4 an episode is an unbelievable bargain to me . I am SO pleased with the prices of DVDs in general. On average, I have been paying $14 a disk. And that's for quality ten times that of my VHS copies. Plus, they are almost all anamorphic widescreen, which my lasers can't even come close to.

'Course, maybe you're a bit younger than me . I paid $75 for a VHS copy of Ben Hur for my older brother for Christmas in 1979 -- and it was USED! And I was saving for years to shell out $1500 for the Star Trek TOS VHS set (never got it, thankfully!). That would be $500 a season nowadays, not including cost of living changes (which would probably make that about double today).

So be of good cheer! Relatively speaking, it's an incredibly affordable price when a stupid pair of shoes costs even more! Besides, wouldn't /any/ price be welcome to /finally/ have our beloved show on our own shelf???

Wishing you all the best,
Muffit

[amberstar]

Originally Posted by Phoenix

Having thought BSG was "dead and buried", I lept at the chance to buy the DVD's. I watch them daily, at leats one episode and my kids watch it with me. I love it! I'd watch it if I had it on Beta tapes -remember Beta video casette players??

Count me in with Phoenix, I lept at the chance to buy the DVD's. To me their worth their weight in gold! To me the quality is really good considering it had been 25 years since the original had seen daylight

Amber

[Kester Pelagius]

Originally Posted by thomas7g

I don't like the cheap dvds with info on both sides. That bothers me. I also would have prefered a box that fits on the shelf a little easier. I also would have liked more commentaries for the other episodes.

Yeah, I've noticed a lot of supposed "special edition" DVDs seem to be double sided discs. Worse, the boxes rarely, if ever, flatly state this fact. Which, IMO, is borderline fraud. As for the box, I agree, it could have been done much better. Looks cheap. Probably was done on the cheap.

Of course had there been more commentaries I would probably not notice these "issues" as real problems.

Heck, even typing this message I can't help but think of the neat cut scenes of the Ovions. And what about the Imperious Leader? Though now I understand why that mysterious fugly action figure was made.

[Kester Pelagius]

Greetings Muffit,

Don't you just love the dancing animated muffit?

Originally Posted by Muffit

'Course, maybe you're a bit younger than me . I paid $75 for a VHS copy of Ben Hur for my older brother for Christmas in 1979 -- and it was USED! And I was saving for years to shell out $1500 for the Star Trek TOS VHS set (never got it, thankfully!). That would be $500 a season nowadays, not including cost of living changes (which would probably make that about double today).

Ah... first run. First run VHSes were 'spensive.

That said, I paid close to $40. Probably costs half that now on DVD, if not less.

Originally Posted by Muffit

So be of good cheer! Relatively speaking, it's an incredibly affordable price when a stupid pair of shoes costs even more! Besides, wouldn't /any/ price be welcome to /finally/ have our beloved show on our own shelf???

Technically, I already had it.

Bought the "theatrical" version of the pilot on VHS. I also recorded one of those BG marathons off of sciffy way back before they started playing it regularly.

Fan of the series? Me? nah. :laugh:

[Kester Pelagius]

Originally Posted by Phoenix

Having thought BSG was "dead and buried", I lept at the chance to buy the DVD's. I watch them daily, at leats one episode and my kids watch it with me. I love it! I'd watch it if I had it on Beta tapes -remember Beta video casette players??

Wasn't beta big in California for a while?

Speaking of old tech. I remember 8-Tracks. I wore out the Star Wars movie sound trek. As in the tape snapped in that spot the loop was glued together. Anyone remember THAT bit of trivia about 8-Tracks?

Star Wars and BG. Now there were good orchestal scores!

[Rowan]

Oh dear it looks like it's spreading I'm pretty sure Kester has this Battlestar Galactilitis too 8 track tapes you say....hhmmm yup I think he has a severe case of this as well!

Yes I sure do remember 8 tracks! We wore out the Bee Gee's greatest hits I think. Hell, I was 9 years old and we "stole" the tape from a buddy's brother but I sure do remember those!

I've been putting off getting the Battlestar Galactica DVD collection, but I think it's about time and take the plunge. However, I've seen 2 different sets of the complete series collection. One is packaged with a 3D Cylon head and the other is not. What does one include that the other doesn't?

[BST]

Apollon,

If you can still obtain it, get the set with the Cylon head. To the best of my knowledge, it was a limited release, i.e., "future collector's item". The set, without the Cylon head, has the same stuff inside, only the packaging is different.

[Muffit]

Hi Apollon! One addendum to what BST said (and thanks BST!) -- I also heard the non-3d set is smaller - a regular size DVD width/height package - for folks who didn't like the oversize 3d set. The downside to this is, the wonderful booklet that comes with the 3d set is downsized considerably for the newer set. I too recommend you get the 3d cylon head set. If it's too big for your DVD shelf you can simply remove the standard DVD package inside and put that on your shelf. You can then save the cool Cylon head outer packaging for future collector's item...


P.S. You'll LOVE the set!!!

[thomas7g]

The benefits of the dvd to me are:

The best possible copy of the original series you can get without computerized enhancement. But putting the images through a filter will add in some areas but almost always subtract somewhere else. It's possible to look better, But considering we got the MOST ACCURATE version possible I am VERY happy with it.

I also love the added lost footage!

Great commentary on the pilot!!!

And that really nice documentary at the end.

The booklet and design is nifty too!

Beyond that, alot of corners are cut kinda cheaply. But then we got the main things we wanted.

[Eric Paddon]

My one gripe with the booklet is the fact that almost all the photos inside have been reversed in the wrong direction. Notice the parts in the hair on the wrong side for just about everyone?

I really found the Cylon head packaging annoying from a storage standpoint. And using the package inside on the shelf doesn't work well because not only is it not sturdy, it doesn't have the show's name on the spine.

The discs though are the best that Universal has put out for any TV series, and given how stingy they've been with a lot of other great series in their vaults, we should be grateful Galactica got the royal treatment (now if only Universal would get off their butts and release "Columbo" on DVD!)

Thanks for the info.

I'll try and find the collector's edition, but even if I get the standard set, I'm sure I'll enjoy every minute of it.

[ernie90125]

I'm really upset with my copy of the DVD box set. This is because I live in the UK, we got a different PAL release. The things missing include :

The Audio Commentary everyone seems to like.

One hour worth of outtakes.

The booklet in the Cylon Head packaging.


My favorite part of it was the documentary. That was great.......

Ernie90125

I have another question. Is the DVD collection in Widescreen or Full Screen format?

[Eric Paddon]

It's fullscreen because that is the original TV format. The artificial widescreen in the theatrical version of the pilot actually shows less information overall.

Thanks Eric.

I just picked up the DVD set. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the "collector's" package with the 3D Cylon head, but I'm extremely happy with the standard set.

[skippercollecto]

I own the DVD set with the Cylon head, and rather than trying to fit it in with my other videos and DVDs on the bookshelf, I placed it ON TOP of the bookshelf. It makes for a very large shiny eyecatching knickknack.
Mary