The time is right to lauch a renewed campaign to re-release
G1 on DVD since companies like Sony BMG and Metrodome are more likely to listen (due to the added buzz from the 2007 live-action
TF movie, and the fact that the Rhino sets are out of print).
Logically, if Sony gets into the game first and does a good job with a re-release, it would probably trickle down to Metrodome in the UK and elsewhere around the world, as the Rhino versions did.
The live-action movie is already generating hype, and a new and better release of the old series makes sense.
The releases we've gotten in the US (particularly) and the UK have had big problems, and we really do need a good preservation of the REAL series, not some version patched together from incomplete animation and bad computer fixes with "enchanced" sound.
So, with demand building, I'd say that by the time the live-action film is released, there will be new DVD releases of the series from Sony, at the very least. Question is, will they merely reuse the Rhino masters, or will they listen to all the complaining we've been doing for years and years, and fix the situation?
When Rhino got the license and started releasing episodes in a piecemeal fashion on video (based on the 1" broadcast masters) in the late 90s, I thought it was a good thing. Many of these episodes I hadn't even seen during the original run.
But, even then, there were problems.
1. Some episodes had the wrong opening titles, and were missing the white-lettered episode titles/writer credits/end titles.
2. There were numerous little errors on the packaging, like the statwement that Unicron forms a team called "the Unicrons" in the Movie.
3. At first, in Region 1, we got the international version of The Transformers: The Movie on video, with the opening credits replaced by Star Wars-style scrolling text narrated by Victor Caroli, and additional narration at the end of the film. It wasn't until after the Rhino
TFTM DVD came out that the uncut US version was released on VHS.
4. The "Heroes" disc (which was originally supposed to contain "The Rebirth") was initially mispressed, and contained the "Villains" disc's content ("The Ultimate Doom") instead.
But even with these gaffes, I was very, very excited to hear that the series would be coming out on DVD. I eagerly bought the Rhino season 1 set, and sat down to enjoy. I remember that night well.
As "More Than Meets the Eye, Part 1" started, my heart sank. I couldn't be hearing what I thought I was hearing, could I? There was a whole bundle of obtrusive sound effects that had been added to the episode! And then I noticed that the first scene bumper in the episode moved and flipped too fast (as opposed to the more staccato motion of the bumpers from MTMTE). It was as if they'd taken the flipping Autobot/Decepticon symbol and replaced it with one of the faster-moving variations from a later episode! And then I began to notice other such errors and "Rhino-fixes", one after another after another.
I was somewhat relieved when I toggled my "audio" button and could hear the original soundtrack, though. But as I made my way through the DVD set, I noticed that some episodes had the new sound mix on both 5.1 and 2.0 audio tracks. And then I saw the abomination that was "Heavy Metal War"-by-way-of-Rhino. Bleeeeccchhhh! On eof my favorite episodes---utterly ruined and unwatchable!
After finishing with the episodes, I then delved into the extras and the insert booklet, which were confusing, useless, and full of factual and spelling errors in many cases.
UGH.
And it proceeded from there. The purchase of each season set for both Transformers and G.I. JOE was not "Oh, boy! I can't wait to see all these classic episodes again, and on DVD, to boot!", it was "Ohhhh, boy. I just can't wait to see what horrors Rhino has given us this time!"
I've posted several threads at the influential Home Theater Forum website (The one-stop place for such discussions, since the studios keep an eye on the fourms--and participate in discussions, too!) regarding both
TF and G.I. JOE (Which Rhino never even finished releasing before they lost the license!).
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...d.php?t=216647 http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...d.php?t=235653 http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...d.php?t=164121 http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...d.php?t=235650
And here's a great site that reviews the Rhino DVDs (with screencaps of a mere handful of those horrid errors and "fixes"):
http://kenshiroh.tripod.com/
Please feel free to register and voice your concerns! I hope Sony BMG in the US and Metrodome in the UK can get it together and put those shoddy Rhino versions to shame!
It just drives me nuts that these crappy Rhino versions with all sorts of "new" errors and added sounds and such are slowly supplanting the "real" versions.
It's almost along the same lines as the controversy over the Star Wars Special Editions, except here the changes aren't being made by the original filmmakers.
The original versions must be preserved for the sake of historical accuracy! And SOON!
For my part, I'd love to see:
The original series released in full season sets (none of this "Part 1", "Part 2" stuff).
1. The episodes in the proper chronological order, DVD versions based on the uncut 1" broadcast masters (with original mono sound mixes), the PROPER main/end titles and recaps/historical trailers for all episodes (Check out Rhino's version of "Five Faces of Darkness"! Some parts have the FFOD intro, others have the main season 3 intro! UGH!), and the original commerical bumpers, as in the Rhino versions (but with a "watch without bumpers" seamless branching option for everyone who complains about the bumpers).
2. Text or audio commentary. And none of the stereotypical gushing "fan commentaries", either! I'm talking about detailed, fact-laden commentaries (that give original airdates, trivia, things to watch for, etc.) by fans in the know, like me, Chris McFeely, Zobovor, etc.
3.
G1-themed menus that use imagery from the series and background music from the series (none of the CGI-crap from the Rhino sets). There could also be a section where one can listen to the
G1 background music cues, season by season (similar to the Red Dwarf DVDs).
4.
G1-themed packaging and extras based on each season (For example, season 1 would have season 1-themed extras and packaging).
5. GOOD,
G1-themed extras, like a documentary on the history of season 1 and the 1984 toys (for the season 1 set, with each succesive set focusing on the episodes/toys from that year), the origins of the
TF franchise, voice actor/writer/producer interviews (and not having interviews with people from other series--like RID's Neil Kaplan--on a
G1 DVD set!), season-by-season character model sheets/storyboards/scripts (full scripts with stage directions and such, not just dialogue), and season by season toy commercials (for example, 1984 commercials on the season 1 DVD set).
And please, no more Transformers-convention-documentaries-pretending-to-be-worth -while-extras!
Fidelity to the original broadcast versions is vital.
That would be a start.
I've looked for non-US releases that would be better than the Rhino versions, but the results have not been encouraging. Most use the Rhino versions (or even taped-from-tv bootleg versions) as their basis.
So please, make yourselves heard at Home Theater Forum, as well as here. If we coordinate a combined Region 1-2 effort and petition Sony and Metrodome at the same time, everyone may very well be pleased by the results!
And check out the Metrodome's Region 2 Transformers DVD forum for more discussion!
http://forum.transformersdvd.com/
