The Merchandise GuideUS DVD
Compiled by Martin Willey
The Merchandise Guide|
USA: Released from Jan 30 2001; VHS sets $29.95 each; DVD sets $39.95, DVD megaset $199.95, DVD bonus disc $14.95, DVD Megaset 30th Anniversary Edition $99.95
Distributed by New Video. These are US issues of the remastered episodes from Carlton. VHS sets are three videos (each with one episode; total 3 episodes per set). Only four video sets were released, comprising the first half of Year 1. DVD sets are two discs each with three episodes; total 6 episodes per set). A Mega-Set was released in September 2002 composed of all 48 episodes over 16 discs including a bonus disc. A Megaset 30th Anniversary Edition was released on 3th July 2007 composed of all the episodes over 17 discs. The episodesThese discs and the British Carlton DVDs were released at approximately the same time. The quality of Year One episodes is mostly identical to the Carlton and Japanese discs, although some episodes are of inferior quality, suffering from obvious changes in colour and grain, and warbling sound. The A&E Year 2 episodes are newer prints, and are generally superior to the Carlton versions. The worst episodes in the Carlton set, such as Devil's Planet, are bright and clear on this set. In other episodes, the Carlton image was good to start with and there is no obvious difference (The Metamorph, Matter Of Balance, although the latter alters one shot to remove a visible clapperboard). Space Warp has slightly brighter colours but a much darker picture. Many of the other episodes have slightly brighter pictures but there is some increase in grain and occasionally poor colour balance (The Mark Of Archanon and Catacombs Of The Moon have greenish, slightly murky Alphan corridors). PackagingThe series is subtitled ExtrasAs extras, the DVDs contain interactive menus, scene selection and photo gallery. The opening sequence comprises the theme with shots from Breakaway (or, for the Year 2 sets, from the opening titles), before the menu appears (assembling in a brief animation). Each photo gallery contains about 20 images. These include shots from the episode, some behind the scenes views, and generic publicity, sets and model photos. A proportion are flopped right for left and a few mislabelled images from the wrong season appear. On the latter Year 1 volumes many of the photos are grainy. Set 4 contains "trailers" for all 24 first season episodes (the "this episode" sequences, used as short promos). Sets 5 and 6 contain Landau/Bain promos for Year 2 (about 3 per disc, all identical apart from naming the station). Two other versions of this appear on the UK Carlton volumes 11 and 12. Set 6 volume 11 contains a short "behind the scenes featurette", a promotional film with scenes compiled from The Metamorph and a single behind the scenes special effects scene (this scene also appears in a much longer form on the UK Carlton volume 12). Set 6 volume 12 contains short "next week" promos by the actors. The bulk of the Carlton extras appear on volumes 13-16, including the trailers, Horizon footage, vintage interviews and Johnson commentary for behind the scenes SFX footage. The Moonbase Alpha text guide and behind the scenes photos appear unaltered from the Carlton discs, with even the captions intact. Bonus DiscA Bonus Disc was released with the DVD MegaSet, initially sold exclusively in the US store Best Buy, and from March 2003 separately from A&E. Megasets purchased from stores other than Best Buy and A&E before 2004 did not have the disc. It contained three remastered episodes, the Keith Wilson interview that had been missed from the earlier volumes, some unusual photos, Message From Moonbase Alpha (also on the French release), and new commentaries by Sylvia Anderson, Johnny Byrne, Christopher Penfold and A&E's consultant Scott Michael Bosco for the three episodes.
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Copyright Martin Willey
