The Entertainingly Rubbish Current UK DVD's of the Ye Olde Cartoon.

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inflatable dalek
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The Entertainingly Rubbish Current UK DVD's of the Ye Olde Cartoon.

Post by inflatable dalek »

So a few years ago I picked up the individual season sets Metrodome put out to tie in with the Bay films to replace my American Rhino sets on the grounds they happened to be stupid cheap (around a fiver each) and I'd be able to play them on the living room DVD player if I were so inclined.

But over the four or so years since I bought them the fact the packaging doesn't tell you which episodes are on which disc really began to annoy me. I'd have to guess if I fancied watching a specific episode and would literally waste two minutes of my life switching discs. THIS WAS VERY ANNOYING.

So when I saw a new complete series set had been put out to coincide with Age of Extinction and was nice and cheap I thought I'd give it a punt on the off-chance it might actually have episode listings and alleviate my pain.

Annoyingly it didn't. But it has brought me so much more joy through the glorious ineptitude of the back of the packaging:

https://twitter.com/InflatableDalek/sta ... 7705314306

It gets the number of episodes wrong (I wouldn't be surprised if the running time is wrong as well)!

It reads like Engrish thanks to the slightly flawed way of keeping the number thing going ("1 of the...)!

It makes a fuss of a trailer for a ten year old computer game!

Oh, and the pictures cover three different cartoons, none of which are on this set.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate this is a money for old rope release. I don't mind it's just a straight repackaging and don't mind it not using the more recent SHOUT remasters. But it feels as if getting all that wrong would have actually taken slightly more effort that getting it right. Just repeating the blurb from the original complete series boxset would have done better than half heartedly trying to write a new one for a start.

It's a glorious capstone to the delightfully eccentric decade plus of UK releases, including putting out G2 alongside G1; presenting the film in a format it wasn't supposed to be seen in and putting the wrong subtitles on an episode of Headmasters.

I should really send it back to Amazon (the lack of a firm contents lisitng and the Japanese imagery seems to have confused at least one review who couldn't be bothered to watch the product before reviewing resulting in claims the Takara shows are on there) and keep the previous releases as it doesn't do what I wanted and is a bit shoddy. But I think I'm in love.
REVIISITATION: THE HOLE TRUTH
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PLUS: BUY THE BOOKS!
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Tetsuro
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Post by Tetsuro »

Aren't the discs just repackages of the (at this point) ancient Metrodome discs anyway? I wonder if the individual season re-relases are just as bad. I'm under the impression they used thinpaks which I could fit into that giant tin they put out years earlier and still fit in the Takara series boxes too.

At this point, if I was going to re-buy the whole series again, I'd just go for Shout's Matrix box set. At least that one would offer something new, content-wise.
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inflatable dalek
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Post by inflatable dalek »

The SHOUT release is too expensive for a repurchase (at least for me) and would only work on my one blu ray player as well. It's a show I'm likely to put on whilst ironing so so having the living room option is ideal.

I think the two Beast era TF shows are my only remaining R1 DVD's, everything else- mostly films- has been succeeded by blu rays.

Thankfully I've only got one left of those hideous Warner Brother's cases that were completely different to every other DVD case and broke so easily. Considering the He-Man film has a blu ray in at least a couple of European countries I should look into it.

And this is indeed (based on my rewatch of Rebirth anyway) just a repressing- but not a repackaging as the disc labels are all new for this release- of the original Metrodome sets.
REVIISITATION: THE HOLE TRUTH
STARSCREAM GOES TO PIECES IN MY LOOK AT INFILTRATION #6!
PLUS: BUY THE BOOKS!
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Post by Tetsuro »

Well, look on the bright side; at least the re-release doesn't have Beast Within.
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Post by Skyquake87 »

I half thought about buying that set. I had the original Metrodome releases (tin and everything), but they took up so much room and I didn't have much interest beyond the first season, the movie and a few episodes of season three. I sold the lot a few years ago and bought the Maverick Complete Original Series for a massive 84p off Amazon and even though there's the funny Rhino sound effects on this release, plus mis-matched title credits, I found it to be a much nice and well thought out release than Metrodome's efforts. For one, there's some nice artwork of Optimus and Megatron going at it on Sherman Dam on the cover, a lovely gatefold spread of the Autobots and Decepticons charging into battle. And for two, its got some decent extras - the old TV commercials, a couple of bonus season 3 episodes, profiles and whatnot - it just feels like someone gave a sh*t.

I bought the Season 3 Metrodome re-release (the budget one with faux Bay stylings of the Earth and Space with a truly cack picture of Galvatron's face on) and was annoyed there's no episode listing to be found anywhere except on the disc menus, which is bum. I know it was just a cheap budget cash-in re-release, but even the cheapest of cheap TV collections bother to print the episode listings somewhere on the packaging.

I did like the Metrodome 'Takara' sets though. They were decently done, and I didn't notice they'd got the subs wrong on an episode.

I'm still puzzled why no-one never dusted down Beast Wars for a DVD pressing - after having the little-known Japanese series, Beast Machines and RiD (four times!) I'd have thought that would have been a shoo-in.
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inflatable dalek
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Post by inflatable dalek »

I never owned the original Metrodome sets, but the Takara ones were well done (the subtitles going wrong were the fault of the subcontractor. For the next two series they just used fan subs) and considering Chris McFeely advised on both I suspect the blurb on the original release was basically accurate.

Beast Wars is really odd, it's the second best known series over here (the only one to be shown on terrestrial in its entirety!) and if Sony could release Beast Machines they should have the rights to the earlier series as well. Does someone hate it?
REVIISITATION: THE HOLE TRUTH
STARSCREAM GOES TO PIECES IN MY LOOK AT INFILTRATION #6!
PLUS: BUY THE BOOKS!
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Post by Tetsuro »

Doesn't make the subtitle issue on the Headmasters DVD any less annoying, especially considering the exact nature of the flub - still, it's only for one episode, and between that and Shout! DVDs shoehorning IDW terminology into a G1 cartoon where it doesn't belong, I'd still rather choose Metrodome's DVD, faulty subtitles and all.
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