Are the DVDs Edited?

[PennyDreadful]

Hi,

 I'm thinking about picking up the first set of DS DVDs.  Are they edited like the initial MPI tapes were?  Hopefully not!  I want to start slowly replacing my MPI tapes since they take up a lot of space!!

 Thanks,
 Penny Dreadful

[Nelson Collins]

I'm thinking about picking up the first set of DS DVDs.  Are they edited like the initial MPI tapes were?  Hopefully not!  I want to start slowly replacing my MPI tapes since they take up a lot of space!! 

If you are asking what I think you are, then the answer is no.  The first DVD is 40 complete episodes, not edited like the first 8 (I think) VHS releases were.

[PennyDreadful]

Thanks Nelson!  That's exactly what I wanted to make sure of.

PennyDreadful

[Philippe Cordier]

The first DVD is 40 complete episodes, not edited like the first 8 (I think) VHS releases were.

I, too, was glad to have this point clarified.  As I had mentioned in a thread started Dec. 12 and found in Current Talk X, "Dark Shadows on DVD," a recent catalogue I received from MPI did not even show any DVDs for the pre-Barnabas episodes.

But this new information still raises the question of whether or how long the pre-Barnabas DVDs will even be available, if they aren't even listed in MPI's catalogue!

PennyDreadful, you might want to check out the earlier thread for comments people made about pricing, picture quality, and so on.

Last night I was at my local BestBuy store and spontaneouly purchased my first two DS DVD sets (and probably my last two for the foreseeable future, if I pay any attention to my finances).

The ones I got were Collection 12 & 15.  So far I've watched about the first two hours of Collection 12, and I must say it really got me into the show.  It's just so well done and well written - a great story, good acting, incredibly atmospheric.  Also, the story is nicely paced so you get a real sense of the characters and their relationships.  I feel skeptical that any revival series would take the time to do this since today's younger audience seems to prefer fast paced shocks.

I thought the picture quality was surprisingly somewhat blurred on what I've seen on the DVD, though.

I think MB has recommended BestBuy as a place to buy the DVDs, so I decided to go ahead and make the purchase without having checked online prices; having checked now, I'd say their prices are comparable to ordering online.

Not so, unfortunately, for two other purchases I made on the spot:  The second year of "Forever Knight" was $5 more than I would have found at amazon, and the recent Hallmark "Frankenstein" was about $4 more.  Factoring in tax, I basically paid more than $10 more for these two items than I would have ordering online.

[Luciaphile]

I think MB has recommended BestBuy as a place to buy the DVDs, so I decided to go ahead and make the purchase without having checked online prices; having checked now, I'd say their prices are comparable to ordering online.

Best Buy often sells the newest set cheaper than what you might find online. The prices for the older ones are about comparable. I think that's what he was referring to.

[michael c]

i asked mpi if they planned to release the bre-barnabas episodes on dvd and they told me that after they finish releasing the rest of the show's run that they would go back and then release the early episodes on dvd.i don't know where they are currently with the dvd's so i can't say when those might be released.

i think that's what they did with the videos which market the pre-barnabas stuff as "collector's series".

[AdAstra]

Hey Vlad, or anyone else for that matter:
How much are the Forever Knight DVDs?  I haven't seen the show, but I've heard good things.  Is the show on tv anywhere for me to check out?  Has anyone else seen this show, and what do you think of it?  Wouldya recommend it? 

Ciao
~Mel

[Philippe Cordier]

i asked mpi if they planned to release the bre-barnabas episodes on dvd and they told me that after they finish releasing the rest of the show's run that they would go back and then release the early episodes on dvd.i don't know where they are currently with the dvd's so i can't say when those might be released.

i think that's what they did with the videos which market the pre-barnabas stuff as "collector's series".

Thanks Mscbryk, that's what I was thinking was going on -- until I read Nelson Collin's comment:

"The first DVD is 40 complete episodes, not edited like the first 8 (I think) VHS releases were"

Can anyone clarify?  I thought when the DVDs first came out people were saying that they began with episode 1.

Also, does anyone have a comment on what I've found as far as the image quality being slightly blurred?  (At least with Collection 12)
...................................

AdAstra, check amazon for "Forever Knight."  They were the lowest price I found (I think 30 percent off list).  This is the only vampire show besides DS that I've liked.  Especially liked flashbacks to earlier time periods, but these were truly "flashes", lasting sometimes only seconds and at most a few minutes compared to DS's lengthy storylines set in various historical periods.

[victoriawinters]

Hey Vlad, or anyone else for that matter:
How much are the Forever Knight DVDs? I haven't seen the show, but I've heard good things. Is the show on tv anywhere for me to check out? Has anyone else seen this show, and what do you think of it? Wouldya recommend it?

You are in luck in that Season 2 of Forever Knight was just released earlier this month.  They are going for about $40-$45 or so on Amazon.com.  Check around at Deep Discount DVD, etc.  You may find it for less.  It is not currently on TV and has not been for several years.  Three seasons of the show were originally made.  I have no idea what the quality is of the DVDs since I have not seen them.  I do know that Season 1 has no DVD extras like interviews, narrated episodes, etc. and from some reports they did not enhance the TV picture.  I'm still out on whether or not they are worth owning since I haven't seen any of them yet.

But, when the show was on, I really enjoyed it.  I thought it was very interesting and unique for its time.  However, it did make me pine for my Barnabas though.    Barnabas' character was on a similar quest to be more human.  He also had a gal pal doctor friend.  It's always funny to me how other shows will imitate Dark Shadows but not really be it.  But, nonetheless, I'm always glad to see a good vampire yarn.

Netflix has the Forever Knight DVDs available for rent along with the original DS DVDs.  So, if you are already a member, you can check out some of them for a spin before buying.

For those of you unfamiliar with Forever Knight, it was a vampire show circa 1989 that came on as part of the CBS late night, Crime Time After Primetime.  It was about a vampire from the 13th C. trying to atone for sins by being a crime fighter.  (Sound familiar Angel fans?)  It did air in syndication on Sci-Fi for a while and was also on USA Network.  But, not in that order.  Then, it then just pulled a Dark Shadows if you catch my drift.

As for the original DS DVDs, Set 1 begins with a compliation of Episodes 1-209 just like the video tapes and then it jumps right into 210 and ends at 250.  As far as I'm aware, they did not edit any of the bloopers and played the episodes from 210 onwards in full without cuts.  The Collector's Edition Videos filled in the Episode 1-209 blanks with the details.  Those were originally released after the series run finished on video.  The same is said to be the plan with the DVDs.

The quality of the sound and picture is far superior to that of the videos since the picture has been digitally enhanced.  Especially, if you watch all the time, they are worth looking into. They are really nice to have in the DVD library. 

[Philippe Cordier]

As for the original DS DVDs, Set 1 begins with a compliation of Episodes 1-209 just like the video tapes and then it jumps right into 210 and ends at 250.

OK, now that I've read the description* of Collection 1 on MPI's website about three times, I figure that this "compilation" you mention is what they're referring to when, at the end of the description, they say:

"Bonus: Special introductory Dark Shadows featurette and exclusive interviews with the actors"

Seems to me they could explain a bit more what this "featurette" consists of!

As far as I'm aware, they did not edit any of the bloopers and played the episodes from 210 onwards in full without cuts.

Hmmm, I'm not so sure about that.  There has been quite a bit of discussion here about bloopers being cut, perhaps the most egregious being the Bathia Mapes appearance when a stagehand or someone shouted out her line when she paused too long -- that part is supposed to have been edited out.

..........

*MPI's description of Collection 1 DVD set:

"40 complete, spine-tingling episodes on 4-discs
Dark Shadows DVD Set 1 contains original series episodes 210 - 250"

..........................

Hope you had a good holiday in NYC, VW!

[Gothick]

Just checking in with another stellar review for Forever Knight.  It is one of the very, VERY few 1990s TV shows I like well enough to have in my tape collection (the other two were She-wolf of London and Poltergeist: the Legacy--I also have some episodes of Babylon 5 and I used to have its sequel, Crusade, but gave those tapes away to another fan).  The first two years were MUCH better than year 3, however, although year 3 introduced a great character--Divia, daughter of Lacroix, played by amazing child actress Kathryn Long.  (Unfortunately she was only in a couple of episodes.)

FK had some really great scripts (and some that were not so great, but that's television) and a wonderful supporting cast of great Canadian actors (it was filmed in Toronto).

As for the DS DVDs, I don't have any of them.  Set 1 of the DVD's I believe began with episode 210 or 211--the "Introduction of Barnabas" storyline.  The DVDs had some bloopers edited out of them because MPI outsourced the prep work to a company that didn't understand that we LIKE having the bloopers on the shows (at least, this is the most plausible story I have heard). Although they keep swearing they are not going to edit future discs, I keep hearing reports of some bit of footage being sliced out.

As somebody else said, I doubt whether the company will release the first 200-odd episodes until after they've gotten to the end of the series.

It's very inspiring to me how long MPI has kept DS in print.  That hard commercial fact alone shows how exceptional our show is!

G.

[AdAstra]

I recently got volume 12 and 15, and before each dvd starts, a screen comes up saying that they are not edited and contain the original mistakes.  I don't know about the earlier volumes though.  I have vol. 6 as well and I don't recall that screen coming up on that.  But I do remember there being bloopers in all the volumes I've purchased.  I hope that helps!
Ciao
~Mel

[AdAstra]

Oooh I didn't think about renting Forever Knight!     There is a video store by me that has dark shadows on vhs, so I would assume they'd have FK.  Anyone know if Hollywood video might have it?  Or anywhere else for that matter!  Thanks.
Ciao
Mel

[victoriawinters]

I figure that this "compilation" you mention is what they're referring to when, at the end of the description, they say:  "Bonus: Special introductory Dark Shadows featurette and exclusive interviews with the actors"

That's the one!

As far as I'm aware, they did not edit any of the bloopers and played the episodes from 210 onwards in full without cuts.

Hmmm, I'm not so sure about that.

I was only referring to set 1 not the others because we know about some things that were edited.

Hope you had a good holiday in NYC, VW!  At some point, I'll finish my blog and let you know so you can see my pictures.

I had a lovely holiday!

Oooh I didn't think about renting Forever Knight! There is a video store by me that has dark shadows on vhs, so I would assume they'd have FK. Anyone know if Hollywood video might have it? Or anywhere else for that matter! Thanks.

I'm not sure they ever released these on video but they may have DVDs to rent.  Hoping you have a DVD machine.  If not, they are really cheap these days.  I've seen them on sale at the grocery store and other places for like $50.  Just keep checking for a good deal on one.

[Nancy]

There are some that are edited, others that are not from what I read of those who have purchased the DVDs. No one understands why there is editing with some and not with others.  If it were to get rid of some of the major bloopers, they were not consistent as other major bloopers were left in. 

Nancy