SAaB Coming to DVD

I do have a region-free DVD player its just the P&P and waiting to get it shipped from America that puts me off buying online.
 
OT: I was impressed with how expensive the ST:OS boxes were in the US.They are alot cheaper here, dunno why.
 
This show is actually my favourite all time sci-fi series, even though it only lasted a season.
Some people mentioned The Angriest Angel and the final two eps ("As we lay us down to rest..." and "... tell our Moms we done our best") as some great tv viewing and I wholeheartedly concur. After the first few eps are out of the way and character development has settled in, the show just takes off and I can't wait to get my hands on this set. Rumour has it that Morgan & Wong (the producers) wanted to provide a heap of extras for the release with audio commentaries and stacks of bonus features which they were willing to organise and pay for themselves, but FOX couldn't be stuffed with it and released a bare bones set.
While I'm deleriously happy this is finally getting a proper release there's now a bit of a sadness hanging around that I'll never get to see these extra features that were planned.
 
Im driving almost an hour away to the closest Best Buy to pick-up my copies of SAaB and Millennium Season 3 thanks to their big sale this week. Glad I saw it when I did.
 
So, I'm assuming you guys recommend Space: Above and Beyond?

I've never watched it; however, I'm a big science fiction fan. I love The X-Files especially, but don't really like Star Trek. So would you recommend S:AaB?
 
Darklightr said:
So, I'm assuming you guys recommend Space: Above and Beyond?

I've never watched it; however, I'm a big science fiction fan. I love The X-Files especially, but don't really like Star Trek. So would you recommend S:AaB?

It's nothing like Star Trek, and has a lot in common with Wing Commander. If your not familiar with it, its about a bunch of space fighter pilots on a carrier that are battling for humanity against an alien force...

From what I remember it was fairly dark in tone and more serious than alot of shows.
 
Be sure to check your SAaB discs!!

Anyone who buys SAaB from Best Buy, be sure to check your discs. I purchased a set during the sale and the first disc had a defect making the second episode (Farthest man from home) unwatchable with stuttering and skipping. Figuring this to be an isolated incident I went to the store this morning to exchange it. Two people in front of me were exchanging their copies because of the EXACT same thing with disc 1.

This made me rather suspicious that this wasn't an isolated incident. I asked the customer service rep if she would mind opening the set up so I could examine the discs before I left the store. Sure enough, the set had the same problem. After going through four sets of discs off the shelf (each with different defective discs) the store rep allowed me to mix and match different discs from the different sets to make a single good (hopefully) set. I'll be going through them this week to see if they are truly good (at least there aren't any noticeable marks on them--although some have the look like there was water trapped between the layers.

Whoever Fox got to master these discs should be banned from making any more discs. The discs feel cheap and flimsy (as well as the cases they are in) and I am afraid they will become damaged after very little handly. I feel they will break just trying to get them out of the cheap cases.

Also, although I have not noticed it myself yet, one of the above mentioned customers in line in front of me said that the DVD menu shows a picture of the Babylon 5 station.

All in all, a great show given extremely poor justice on DVD. I may have to repurchase them from another retailer (in hopes of getting a better made set) once Best Buy no longer has the exclusive on selling them.

Incidentally, the marks on the discs were not simple scratches which could be cleaned up by a skip/disc/game doctor device. These were unusual patterned type streaks on the disc BELOW the outer disc layer.
 
Gunslinger2 said:
Anyone who buys SAaB from Best Buy, be sure to check your discs. I purchased a set during the sale and the first disc had a defect making the second episode (Farthest man from home) unwatchable with stuttering and skipping. Figuring this to be an isolated incident I went to the store this morning to exchange it. Two people in front of me were exchanging their copies because of the EXACT same thing with disc 1.

I had a moment in that episode where there was a sudden skip of about 3 or 4 frames but didn't think anything of it. Theres really no point in exchanging discs at this point - anything you buy out there is liable to have the same (or similar) defects. Best to wait until FOX does a recall.

Gunslinger2 said:
Whoever Fox got to master these discs should be banned from making any more discs. The discs feel cheap and flimsy (as well as the cases they are in) and I am afraid they will become damaged after very little handly. I feel they will break just trying to get them out of the cheap cases.

While I'm no fan of dual-sided discs myself, there seems nothing wrong with the packaging it's self. The thin DVD cases are becoming a regular occurance with shows like Millennium or Profit (both smaller shows that were incredibly undderated). Personally, I perfer them because it takes up a lot less space on my shelf. One season of six disc slimcases is about the same size as three DVDs from a "clamshell" DVD case. My Prisoner DVD collection takes up a big chunk of my shelf, while the entire run of Millennium - which is eight discs (and many episodes) longer - takes up only a little more than half of the BBC spy show.

Gunslinger2 said:
Also, although I have not noticed it myself yet, one of the above mentioned customers in line in front of me said that the DVD menu shows a picture of the Babylon 5 station.

(The menu flub had been pointed out on #wingnut earlier last week. You might've just missed it.)

Yeah, I had hoped that it was only on the first disc, but upon flipping it over to watch Episode 4 - there it was again, even with different menu art. To quote the other movie I watched yesterday "Someone made a big goddamned mistake".

Gunslinger2 said:
I may have to repurchase them from another retailer (in hopes of getting a better made set) once Best Buy no longer has the exclusive on selling them.

Best Buy would have nothing to do with the production of defective DVDs. Point your finger at FOX and its subsidiaries instead of the seller. Again, just wait for a recall and keep your recept handy.
 
I agree with you that the clam shell type cases are the norm and, for the most part, suffice. I have bought other TV series sets with the same type of case (Greatest American Hero seasons 1 -3). However, the clam shell cases with SAaB are more flimsy than GAH's and the center disc holding clips are more difficult to remove the discs. Considering that the discs themselves are cheaply made, it feels as if the discs will break just trying to remove them from the case.

I was assuming that, because Best Buy had the exclusive, they were rushed to market too soon. I was hoping that once they are released for sale elsewhere, the Quality Control on them would have time to improve (and be less likely to have the issues mentioned before). Buying them from other than Best Buy would ensure you would not get the first run leftovers.

However, I know what happens when you "ASSUME"... :D
 
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