Independence Day Fox UK Blu-Ray Release.

[stuart1976]

Just saw this HMV today for £27

No way was I going to buy it at that price, but had a look at the extras and it's very poor compared to the Special Edition DVD released years ago.

I had hoped that Fox would do what any movie fan would do, cram everything from the best edition currently available - in this case, the Region 1 Five Star Collection 2-disc DVD in THX, which not only has the extended edition of the film (9 minutes of deleted scenes restored) AND the original theatrical cut, but has a ton of extras, including the excellent Jeff Goldblum-hosted HBO 'making of' from '96, and much more. Here, the only extras are a scene-by-scene (euphemism for 'scrappy') Emmerich/Devlin commentary, seperate FX commentary, and HD trailers.

What's up with FOX BD releases, most of them seem very poor compared their DVD counterparts.

[Goooner]

Fox have got to be just about the worst of all the Blu Ray studios, lack of extras, guaranteed to be region-locked and totally ridiculous price-structure, it's almost as if they don't want HD to take off

[inzaman]

Originally Posted by Goooner

Fox have got to be just about the worst of all the Blu Ray studios, lack of extras, guaranteed to be region-locked and totally ridiculous price-structure, it's almost as if they don't want HD to take off

I agree, Fox are a real nightmare when releasing their titles early in the formats life imo; they were the same with DVD if i can remember correctly, I wish their first attempt were up to their 5 Star editions that will no doubt eventually be released

[Indiana Jones]

Originally Posted by stuart1976

Just saw this HMV today for £27

No way was I going to buy it at that price, but had a look at the extras and it's very poor compared to the Special Edition DVD released years ago.

I had hoped that Fox would do what any movie fan would do, cram everything from the best edition currently available - in this case, the Region 1 Five Star Collection 2-disc DVD in THX, which not only has the extended edition of the film (9 minutes of deleted scenes restored) AND the original theatrical cut, but has a ton of extras, including the excellent Jeff Goldblum-hosted HBO 'making of' from '96, and much more. Here, the only extras are a scene-by-scene (euphemism for 'scrappy') Emmerich/Devlin commentary, seperate FX commentary, and HD trailers.

What's up with FOX BD releases, most of them seem very poor compared their DVD counterparts.

It is a shame but I have come to expect it from Fox, they were the same with their first DVD releases and while I wont pay £27 I am happy to buy their releases as I want to see the films in the very best picture and sound quality.

[Markoos]

Anyone know what the specs for this release are? Obviously not going to buy it at that price, but wouldn't mind picking it up down the line if it's a decent encode.

[Indiana Jones]

Originally Posted by Markoos

Anyone know what the specs for this release are? Obviously not going to buy it at that price, but wouldn't mind picking it up down the line if it's a decent encode.

Its an MPEG-4 AVC encode with English DTS-HD audio, sure there are some reviews of it about and hopefully my Japanese copy will turn up tomorrow so will let you know what I think of it.

[BenchyUK]

That baffles me too. Fox are always raving about their support and comitment to Blu-Ray but they release the shodiest transfers there is compared to the other BR backers

[pjclark1]

Bluray B United Kingdom - (Fox)
Commentaries:
Audio Commentary by Director Roland Emmerich and Producer Dean Devlin
Audio Commentary by Visual Effects Supervisors Volker Engel and Douglas Smith
Extras:
Teaser
3 theatrical trailers
Bonus trailers
High Definition Exclusive Bonus features:
-ID4 Datastream -trivia track
-Alien Scavenger Hunt BD-Java interactive game
Subtitles:
English HoH, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, and Finnish
Aspect Ratio:2.35:1
Picture Format:1080p 24fps
Soundtrack(s):
English DTS-HD Master 5.1
Case type:
Amaray (Keep) Case
Notes:
Using AVC MPEG-4 compression.

screen caps here
http://home.worldwidedvdforums.com/f...p?f=59&t=14956

[Jakeh1969]

Fox prices in retail stores are a complete joke.

I pre-ordered it from www.thehut.com when they had a 10% discount voucher promotion running so got it (I think) for about £14. I wasn't intending to buy it at the time but it seemed too good a deal to pass up.

If you go onto one of the DVD price comparison sites then you should be able to pick this up for below £15. Still not great for what is a back catalogue title but a whole lot better than £27 in HMV!

[Dave H]

I got it for £14 from the Hut as well.
and the picture and sound are great
I don't watch the extra's so that doesn't bother me.

Dave.

[Urien Rheged]

£14.95 at DVD.CO.UK

What's the PQ like? Amazing, very good, good, average?
I'm tempted but only if the PQ is excellent.

[Indiana Jones]

Originally Posted by R1PLEY

£14.95 at DVD.CO.UK

What's the PQ like? Amazing, very good, good, average?
I'm tempted but only if the PQ is excellent.

I have the Japanese release and compared to my R2 DVD its a big step up and definitely worth £15 butfor me the audio was the biggest improvement.

[pjclark1]

Originally Posted by R1PLEY

What's the PQ like? Amazing, very good, good, average?
I'm tempted but only if the PQ is excellent.

Picture is good, sound is very good
Look for yourself plenty of screencaps here
http://home.worldwidedvdforums.com/f...p?f=59&t=14956

[Urien Rheged]

Originally Posted by pjclark1

Picture is good, sound is very good
Look for yourself plenty of screencaps here
http://home.worldwidedvdforums.com/f...p?f=59&t=14956

Thanks. Yes, I've seen them before. From what I've read the PQ is 'good' but not 'great'. That's what worries me. Decisions, decisions...

[BenchyUK]

At £14.99 from dvd.co.uk, I am very tempted

Never bought it on dvd so if they picture is decent then i too will buy it. Highdef digest haven't got a review for it. Also they have the US release (next month) as an MPEG2