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JayArgonaut

User Group
Members
Join date
29-Jul-2009
Last activity
10-May-2023
Posts
780

Post History

Post
#1295200
Topic
Info Wanted: Star Wars prequels on VHS - Original theatrical versions?
Time

Ryan-SWI said:

By memory there’s a very slighty different shot of Darth Maul during the final duel on the pan and scan version

In many years past, I remember seeing that listed within the IMDBs Alternate Versions section for TPM.

screams in the void said:

Just don’t get in an altercation over the alterations 😃 Interesting thread .

I see you what you did there!

A Day Without Laughter Is A Day Wasted

Post
#1294072
Topic
Info: Movies/TV shows with lack of distribution on home video due to music rights
Time

Another entry is The Wackness (2008). Its original cut was screened at Sundance but due to an inability to licence many of the songs that were used on the soundtrack, it has never been exhibited since. A re-edited version featuring a largely different soundtrack was released on home video - and aired on BBC Two.

Post
#1294041
Topic
Info: Movies/TV shows with lack of distribution on home video due to music rights
Time

My favourite example is the 1987 BBC TV film Coast to Coast. It has never received a home video release and according to the distributor and a co-star, it never will because the cost of re-licencing the Motown laden soundtrack would not be economically viable.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090858/

Dancing in the Street aka Rock & Roll (1996). A stupendous PBS/BBC produced documentary on the history of Rock & Roll and its derivatives. There was a UK VHS release but it has never officially seen the light of day on DVD - or any other digital format and the volume of music involved means that this situation is highly unlikely to ever change.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0375293/

Post
#1293977
Topic
Info: TV shows on DVD edited either due to syndicated prints or music rights
Time

I’ll have to check the Bonanza airings on CBS Justice to see if they’ve managed to escape this revision.

The Ballad of Jed Clampett has been replaced on the public domain sourced episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies due to copyright issues. Reportedly it has been restored for the official DVD releases by CBS but season four does contain other music changes.

Nothing is safe!

Post
#1293774
Topic
Info Wanted: Ghostbusters - UK VHS 'Pan and Scan' Comparison (1985/1999)
Time

Interesting comparison of the pan and scanning choices between the two versions. The differences in the colour timing are also extremely striking. I think that I prefer the 1985 master for the most part.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-g_PQe9iHE

For those who own the P&S Laserdiscs, can you confirm whether they use the same masters as the versions shown in this comparison, or are they framed differently? How about the ABC-TV version also?

Post
#1293756
Topic
Info: TV shows on DVD edited either due to syndicated prints or music rights
Time

SpacemanDoug said:

I can confirm myself that the blu-ray releases restore the music in both the US Mill Creek release and the UK Fabulous Films release, however both releases are not 100% the same

On the US Mill Creek release, the episodes Genesis, Lee Harvey Oswald, and Trilogy Parts 2 and 3 (originally parts 2 and 3 were edited together into one movie) are presented in their syndicated two part versions, as the original NBC versions were movie versions. On the UK Fabulous Films release, Genesis and Lee Harvey Oswald are both restored to their original movie versions, however parts 2 and 3 of Trilogy still remain in their split form.

From what I know, the original movie version of Trilogy Parts 2 and 3 have never been seen outside of the original NBC broadcast, and even the original Universal DVD releases had it split into the two part version (though the same DVD release presented Genesis and Lee Harvey Oswald in their movie versions).

Cheers Doug, I’ll update my list accordingly.

Post
#1293581
Topic
Info: TV shows on DVD edited either due to syndicated prints or music rights
Time

lilmanjs said:

Mill Creek claims that Quantum Leap is back to the original form on their blu ray release. I haven’t seen the dvd releases to know if true or not, but the licensed music is still there. I have yet to get through the entire series though.

If you can confirm that the original music has been restored, I’ll update my list.

Post
#1293536
Topic
Info: TV shows on DVD edited either due to syndicated prints or music rights
Time

crissrudd4554 said:

JayArgonaut said:
Married… With Children: Sinatra’s “Love and Marriage” was replaced with an instrumental version on the season three DVD.

That was on the Sony releases. The remaining seasons also had the song replaced. Also it wasn’t even an instrumental version of that song. It was a completely different piece of music.

It borrows somewhat from the original but veers away enough to avoid having to pay royalties. 😄

They could’ve hired session musicians to perform an instrumental, unless even paying the publishing was just too much…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2ZdSuAyBeU

crissrudd4554 said:

Fortunately this isn’t an issue in the Mill Creek releases.

The Mill Creek releases have restored the original song throughout? If so, I’ll update my post.

Post
#1293474
Topic
Info Wanted: Star Wars prequels on VHS - Original theatrical versions?
Time

Bluto said:

Is your VHS missing Jango Fett’s headbutts in the fight with Obi-Wan? I seem to remember buying the Australian DVD rather than the UK DVD in circa 2003 for that very reason.

Out of interest, is the UK Blu-Ray of AOTC cut, too? I have never watched the prequels on Blu-Ray.

Bluto

Yes the VHS release is censored for that scene, as with the UK DVD and the UK theatrical release. I ended up finding the German R2, for the same reason as yourself. The cut was waived for the UK Blu-ray release:

https://www.melonfarmers.co.uk/hitss_st.htm#star_wars_episode_2_attack_of_the_clones

Strangely though, ITV airs the censored version of AOTC from what appears to be a post-2012 Disney master.

Post
#1293060
Topic
Info: TV shows on DVD edited either due to syndicated prints or music rights
Time

Cheers: numerous soundtrack substitutions for the DVD releases.

Dawson’s Creek: as above.

Charmed: the Netflix version contains numerous soundtrack substitutions.

Sabrina the Teenage Witch: severe edits to the DVD versions to remove music, including footage with guests stars.

Roswell: much of the soundtrack has been substituted throughout the DVD releases, along with the Hulu versions also.

Post
#1293052
Topic
Idea: AVATAR (2009) - Cinemascope Aspect Ratio
Time

tachikoma said:

Hi, I’m a big fan of James Cameron and find it quite shocking that there’s no copy available of the THEATRICAL CUT of AVATAR as it was shown in 2D cinemas in its original CINEMASCOPE 2.39 aspect ratio. Specially given that Cameron himself has said multiple times that it is how it was originally framed and his preferred aspect ratio for 2D screening (and frankly, much superior and cinematic).

Snip…

tachikoma said:
Given that 10 years have passed since the movie opened and there are still no plans for a cinemascope release, it’s up to us to preserve AVATAR as it was originally intended.

Are you referring to the 3D version, rather than the 2D release? Here’s a 2010 interview with Collider where Cameron confirms that the 16:9 aspect ratio is his preferred format of presentation for the 2D release:

http://collider.com/james-cameron-interview-avatar-blu-ray-also-talks-titanic-3d-and-avatar-2/

What do you think the best format is to view this film in?

Cameron: The film was released in two formats. We released it in 16×9 and cinemascope aspect ratio. Obviously, the 35 mm prints were all in the scope ratio and with the IMAX stuff, we tried to take advantage of the height. The highest and best format for this movie is the 16×9, which plays beautifully. We finished the picture in 16×9 and then we vertically extracted the cinemascope when we were mastering the film for theatrical release.

In the theatrical release of the movie, it played in 3-D in non-IMAX digital theaters in both formats. We did that by selecting whichever theater was going to look best in which format. But, for the home, we wanted to go with the full picture. I really think it helps, with the sense of vertigo underneath the flying creatures, to have that little bit of extra frame down there, when they’re looking down over cliffs. It enhances the sense of height.

Even though I love the cinemascope ratio compositionally, I actually found myself falling in love with the movie in 16×9, as we went along, and I prefer to watch it in that. Everyone thought the best viewing conditions for the movie were in 3-D, but in 3-D what we struggled with was the light levels. We struggled to get the light levels up, in the theaters. You get such a bright, crisp, dynamic picture on the DVD and Blu-ray. Something actually comes back to the viewing experience that you don’t get in the theaters, with the colors and the strength of the contrast.

Post
#1292702
Topic
Info: TV shows on DVD edited either due to syndicated prints or music rights
Time

Wow, it seems that almost nothing is untouched.

Tales from the Darkside:

The DVD release contains an altered soundtrack without the original music score. Episodes released on VHS during the 1980s do contain the original music score throughout.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_from_the_Darkside#DVD_releases

Horror (UK) aired the entire run and I was initially planning to record the whole lot but I had nothing to compare the broadcasts with to confirm that they contained the original music score.

The Curse of Steptoe: increasingly censored during re-broadcasts after complaints from the brother-in-law of Harry H. Corbett regarding the portrayal of Corbett’s second wife, with these cuts carrying over to the DVD - which was subsequently pulled from sale by the BBC.

Peaky Blinders: soundtrack substitutions on the US Netflix versions.

https://www.reddit.com/r/PeakyBlinders/comments/80wswh/is_the_netflix_version_without_the_soundtrack_as/

Post
#1292659
Topic
Info: TV shows on DVD edited either due to syndicated prints or music rights
Time

Some further examples…

The George Lopez Show: replaced theme tune.

Sabrina The Teenage Witch: large scale soundtrack substitutions.

The Wonder Years: 15 songs uncleared throughout the entire series.

Waterloo Road: large scale soundtrack substitutions, resulting in the removal of entire scenes.

Skins: numerous tracks replaced.

In Living Color: significant re-edits to remove music content.

21 Jump Street: large scale sound track substitutions with library music.

Red Dwarf episode Terrorform: removal of Copacabana from home video releases and subsequent broadcasts.

Post
#1292563
Topic
Info: TV shows on DVD edited either due to syndicated prints or music rights
Time

Firecracker00 said:

Good idea, never thought about torrents.

You don’t happen to know if there are any uncut OFAHs episodes that have been uploaded via torrent do you?. To be honest I couldn’t imagine many would. As I said previously, a good way of sourcing them (though probably pot luck) would be via ebay and the like from pre-used tapes that have TV recordings of them. But what are the chances that someone would have an uncut recording of one of the early episodes (complete)?. Maybe an ep from the later series say from the late 80s/early 90s onwards. There is supposed to be an Only Fools and Horses uncut facebook group, but it appears to be a closed group. It claims they have lots of uncut, unaltered recordings of the episodes; whether that’s true I don’t know.

There’s 39GB worth of episodes on MySpleen but even that is incomplete.

Keeping in adherence with the rules here, I suggest that if you search Google using the term “only fools and horses uncut torrent”, you’ll find leads to what you’re looking for. 😉

Post
#1292493
Topic
Info: TV shows on DVD edited either due to syndicated prints or music rights
Time

Firecracker00 said:

I suppose expiration of the music in the Open All Hours ep does make more sense. Still, it is sad they do this, and I’m sure they could retain it if they paid it, but they want to.

They have to justify the cost and if the licence is considered unduly expensive, it cannot be justified and so the music will be substituted with a cheaper alternative or even removed and the scene left without music - as happened with an episode of Bad Girls, where the characters are seen dancing to a track that is no longer present. 😄

Firecracker00 said:

Speaking of Heartbeat again, but when the latter series was shown on repeat viewings on itv3, I believe they changed some of the music there as well, not necessarily Beatles music as such but just a random 60s song. So even on repeat showings on an ITV channel you still can’t watch it as it was originally shown. Why have the rights for music when first broadcast, yet change the music on repeated showings on what is essentially the same channel?. Unless, as suggested above, it is because the licence has expired?. If music rights was such an issue, particularly with a show like Heartbeat, I’m surprised there was any original music left intact.

The licence(s) were very likely negotiated for the immediate broadcast run and then would need to be renegotiated for rebroadcasts and home video. When many of the licences were arranged for older content, home video hadn’t been factored into the equation. Also, some record companies, executives and artists are easier to negotiate with than others. Don Henley and Eric Clapton allowed their songs to be used for free on an independently made documentary because the film-makers couldn’t hope to afford the licence fees and they’d sympathised with their goal. However, that incident is an exception rather than the norm and almost certainly would not occur with a TV series that was produced by a major organsiation.

Firecracker00 said:

I would love to convert the episodes I have convert them to digital for archive, but if put on the internet they’ll just be removed. I’ve seen dozens of shows uploaded to youtube, yet neither the copyright holder nor YouTube seem to have an issue. It seems to me that it’s only certain shows which people regarded as popular (ie Fools and Horses) - and influential? they are so keen on altering. I’ve seen plenty of Heartbeat eps on YT, lots of Open All Hours, Summer Wine, Red Dwarf, etc which they don’t seem bothered about, yet try uploading an ep of OFAH in full and it’s promptly removed.

Share them via a torrent. Much better. 😉