Addicted though I am to almost all types of TV and film, Sci-Fi always has been and probably always will be my first love. Undoubtedly that is to do with my technical bent, but must also be the wide open opportunities the genre provides for new stories, allegorical commentary on contemporary or historical situations or visions of potentially better, or worse, futures.
When the day finally comes that I find the perfect solution for indexing and categorising my DVD collection I will surely find that the largest percentage of it is taken up with Sci-Fi. On the occasions that I am looking for something to just throw in the DVD player and enjoy it is Sci-Fi that I turn to most often. Like over the weekend when I had time in the flat to myself, always an opportunity to watch something with the volume cranked right up. What better to enjoy at ear drum splitting volumes than a good old fashioned Sci-Fi romp. Why is it then that I am always disappointed? Why is it that I stand and stare, searching the collection for almost an hour, never satisfied with a choice as my eyes hover on any particular title?
As I scan the spines of my collection, as my sight rests on each box, the whole story of that show or movie flits through my mind. Like a flick book going at a thousand frames a second. In that moment I will decide no and move on through the collection. Arriving at the end I will usually start looking at random points on the self, thinking that there must be something that I have missed, that I have forgotten that I own. Some perfect piece of Sci-Fi that will satisfy my desires.
Those desires are for the two things that I want most from Sci-Fi on screen. I would settle, and mostly do have to, for one of those things done well, but I still burn for something that does both perfectly. What is it that I want? I want space opera, involved and emotional character driven plotting, and I want massive and intricate space battles that go on and on.
There's plenty in Sci-Fi, and my collection, that offer one or the other done well, some offer both to near perfect levels, but none of this satisfies me. Star Trek, in all incarnations, is weak on both points (yet it is of my childhood and wonderful in so many ways that I forgive and love it). Some standout episodes come close, especially in the two-parters (Improbable Cause/The Die is Cast spring instantly to mind).
Star Wars, through all its episodes, would in an early, more innocent age, have provided all that I want. But now it all seems too simple, the operatic story to small and the battles to short and without depth. The opening space battle to Episode 3 would be a winner, but the comic stylings of Obi-Wan and Anakin left me caring little for them by that point in the saga.
Battlestar Galactica shows promise, and is fresh in my mind having just watched the latest season 3 episode, but the space battles are too fast cut, to confined to a single aspect, to small conflicts. Can it ever reach the heights that I would like with such a small fleet on one side or will some maguffin always allow for an out for Adama, Thrace and the others.
The list goes on and on. Babylon 5, high on the operatic scale and moments of battle wonder but not enough. Alien/s/3/resurection, great films (each in their own way) but low on the 2 axis that I required. The Fifth Element, some literal opera but little else for me.
To me space opera should involve stories with galaxy spanning impact, fate of the race stuff played out in the relationships of great characters. Near to pure good versus evil stuff. Characters I truly love, characters I truly hate. Heroism that could end in destruction. I want to care, want to sit on the edge of my seat with worry and then leap up in celebration, or collapse with sadness. That's what I want the story to do for me, I want to feel it in my throat.
While the above could be offered by any genre, and is in wonderful ways, my other requirement can only be provided by Sci-Fi. When I talk about "massive and intricate space battles that go on and on" what I want is a scale that is almost unbelievable. I want a whole hour of a space battle, that we have been brought to through the operatic story that I described before. But I don't just want to see explosion after explosion, lasers flashing all over the place. I want every moment of the battle to have meaning. Each bank of a ship, each impact to have resonance to the story. To see the battle from many perspectives, each one that I have cause to want to see. But not the Bay style flash cutting between them, more standard story based editing, moving from one strand of the battle to another in a directed way.
All I ask is for just one film, one episode of a series to embody the perfection of these two things and I will be happy to watch it again and again and again. Never more to complain that there's nothing to put on during those times I want the experience to flow over me. If I could have only one selfish wish this would be it.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Work to be done ...
After a period of having little to do at work things are finally picking up which is good. I was getting very bored. Just a quick post to check in with you all. More tomorrow (technically today, but life gets very complicated if you start thinking that way), looking like it will be a rant on sci-fi ...
Monday, January 29, 2007
TV DVD collection update ...
The better half has been working hard over the weekend so I have had some time to myself to sit back, relax and enjoy my DVD collection. Pulling random titles from the shelf to enjoy specific episodes of shows or films I have not seen in a long time. This is a little unusual for me, normally I don't like watching odd episodes of things, preferring instead to watch complete seasons or whole series straight over a few days/weeks.
I am very happy with my TV collection, the film side of it needs much more work though. When I first started my DVD collection I always used to buy movies in pairs, one modern and one classic, which is a practice I should return to.
Last year was the big push for the TV side of the collection. I was on a project up in Leeds, in a hotel 5 days a week I would get through a complete season of something each week. In that time I got through;
That was all on top of the weekly DVDs that were burnt on a Sunday of the previous weeks TV recording from Sky+. Looking back it is scary just how much cash I went through on these things, but they kept me going while I was away from home or on long train journeys. It also got me up to date on a lot of the shows that I wanted to collect, especially back catalogue stuff. Now I am mostly waiting for current shows to be released, the only back catalogue stuff I still have to catch up on is Star Trek (currently only half of DS9, some from the previous release of TOS which need to be replaced and no Voyager or Enterprise).
The next sets due to arrive are Stargate: Atlantis season 2 and Dead Zone season 3 on top of the Tremors 1-4 boxed set. Then it's just waiting for current series to roll around to releasing this years seasons. Perhaps the gap will allow me to catch up on some film buying.
How about you and the wonderful world of TV DVD? What are you in the middle of collecting? What are you happy to have completed? What do you want to start collecting?
I am very happy with my TV collection, the film side of it needs much more work though. When I first started my DVD collection I always used to buy movies in pairs, one modern and one classic, which is a practice I should return to.
Last year was the big push for the TV side of the collection. I was on a project up in Leeds, in a hotel 5 days a week I would get through a complete season of something each week. In that time I got through;
- X-Files (all 9 seasons)
- Lone Gunmen (1 season)
- Harsh Realm (1 season)
- Dawson's Creek (6 seasons)
- Stargate: Atlantis (1 season)
- Dark Angel (2 seasons)
- The 4400 (2 seasons)
- The Dead Zone (2 seasons)
- Lost (1 season)
- Battlestar Galactica (mini-series and 2 seasons)
That was all on top of the weekly DVDs that were burnt on a Sunday of the previous weeks TV recording from Sky+. Looking back it is scary just how much cash I went through on these things, but they kept me going while I was away from home or on long train journeys. It also got me up to date on a lot of the shows that I wanted to collect, especially back catalogue stuff. Now I am mostly waiting for current shows to be released, the only back catalogue stuff I still have to catch up on is Star Trek (currently only half of DS9, some from the previous release of TOS which need to be replaced and no Voyager or Enterprise).
The next sets due to arrive are Stargate: Atlantis season 2 and Dead Zone season 3 on top of the Tremors 1-4 boxed set. Then it's just waiting for current series to roll around to releasing this years seasons. Perhaps the gap will allow me to catch up on some film buying.
How about you and the wonderful world of TV DVD? What are you in the middle of collecting? What are you happy to have completed? What do you want to start collecting?
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Holocaust Memorial Day ...
Yesterday in the UK it was Holocaust Memorial Day, recognised internationally by the United Nations as International Holocaust Memorial Day. The 27th of January was chosen because it is the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration and extermination camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, seen as a powerful symbol of the horrors of the Holocaust.
Today the National Commemoration for Holocaust Memorial Day is being held in Newcastle. Please take the few moments required to pause and think about the meaning of this. You could take that time to watch the following video (produced by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust), which is in two parts.
Today the National Commemoration for Holocaust Memorial Day is being held in Newcastle. Please take the few moments required to pause and think about the meaning of this. You could take that time to watch the following video (produced by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust), which is in two parts.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Repetitive dialog injury ...
I found this video on YouTube the other day and just have to share it with you. Many characters in TV and film have signature lines or styles of line, just think about the many Arnie-isms you have heard, and that's across lots of different films.
These things are mostly fun for the audience, they are familiar and as such put a wry smile on your face, even when the lines themselves aren't that good. As a writer what you really wouldn't want is someone splicing together lots of them in sequence, thus highlighting how repetitive and stupid they can be.
My heart goes out to the writers of CSI: Miami. The series isn't that great, but no one deserves this. However big props to stewmurray47 for putting this together, very funny. (this requires sound so maybe wait till you get home after work)
These things are mostly fun for the audience, they are familiar and as such put a wry smile on your face, even when the lines themselves aren't that good. As a writer what you really wouldn't want is someone splicing together lots of them in sequence, thus highlighting how repetitive and stupid they can be.
My heart goes out to the writers of CSI: Miami. The series isn't that great, but no one deserves this. However big props to stewmurray47 for putting this together, very funny. (this requires sound so maybe wait till you get home after work)
Friday, January 26, 2007
Nothing to say ...
Since I started writing to the blog again I have made a serious attempt to blog something everyday. Not just any old mindless crap, but something that I have thought about for more than 30 seconds at least. It was obvious that I would not be able to post something everyday, I had no illusions about that, but by posting twice on occasion I have managed to keep up my average and hopefully the quality as well.
When I write a post it is either directly into Blogger's new post editor, for quick posts where I probably won't want to break from writing till I am done, or using Google Docs, for times when I know that I am going to be writing in sections over sometime. This is one of those times where I am writing straight into Blogger.
There have not been many days so far where I am stuck for something to write about. I am always thinking about articles I could do or even better series of articles (inspiration is easier when it's on an established theme). A couple of lunch times a week I will go and sit in Starbucks on Tottenham Court Road with my notebook blocking out things to write about. Other days I will be stuck with nothing to write about until late in the day, or night, when something will pop into my head.
Today there is nothing. I have quite a few articles in note form, lots of ideas and a couple of articles part written. But nothing that I could finish tonight. So instead I offer you this post about how I have nothing to write. Too late to re-read so mistakes a-go-go I am sure.
Time to dream ...
When I write a post it is either directly into Blogger's new post editor, for quick posts where I probably won't want to break from writing till I am done, or using Google Docs, for times when I know that I am going to be writing in sections over sometime. This is one of those times where I am writing straight into Blogger.
There have not been many days so far where I am stuck for something to write about. I am always thinking about articles I could do or even better series of articles (inspiration is easier when it's on an established theme). A couple of lunch times a week I will go and sit in Starbucks on Tottenham Court Road with my notebook blocking out things to write about. Other days I will be stuck with nothing to write about until late in the day, or night, when something will pop into my head.
Today there is nothing. I have quite a few articles in note form, lots of ideas and a couple of articles part written. But nothing that I could finish tonight. So instead I offer you this post about how I have nothing to write. Too late to re-read so mistakes a-go-go I am sure.
Time to dream ...
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Holy crap, there's another Fanning out there ...
I have just finished watching the first episode of The Lost Room, the new mini-series staring Perter Krause (of Six Feet Under and Sports Night fame) along side Kevin Pollak and Nurse Hathaway ... sorry Julianna Margulies.
The series has a fantastic premise, the setup and pilot as a whole was brilliant. Well paced, looking amazing, good characters all around and not too shabby dialog. What more could you ask for.
Well I would have liked a bit more warning before someone springs one of the children of the corn on me, or as they are better known, the sisters Fanning. I didn't even know there was another one.
In case you are not following a word I am talking about, I should explain. You will have seen elder sister Dakota (all of 13), and believe me you will have seen her. She has had more of a film and TV career than many a seasoned pro. She always plays the cute and innocent daughter of the family in trouble, unfortunately she has the manner and facial expressions of someone about 4 times her age. This worked wonderfully in the Steven Spielberg produced Taken, where she was part alien and meant to be like that, but in other things it's just a little creepy.
Well I can now report that younger sister Elle Fanning is exactly the same. Consider yourselves warned should you watch The Lost Room, which you should cause it was ace.
The series has a fantastic premise, the setup and pilot as a whole was brilliant. Well paced, looking amazing, good characters all around and not too shabby dialog. What more could you ask for.
Well I would have liked a bit more warning before someone springs one of the children of the corn on me, or as they are better known, the sisters Fanning. I didn't even know there was another one.
In case you are not following a word I am talking about, I should explain. You will have seen elder sister Dakota (all of 13), and believe me you will have seen her. She has had more of a film and TV career than many a seasoned pro. She always plays the cute and innocent daughter of the family in trouble, unfortunately she has the manner and facial expressions of someone about 4 times her age. This worked wonderfully in the Steven Spielberg produced Taken, where she was part alien and meant to be like that, but in other things it's just a little creepy.
Well I can now report that younger sister Elle Fanning is exactly the same. Consider yourselves warned should you watch The Lost Room, which you should cause it was ace.
Do not adjust your TV, the transfer to widescreen is almost complete ...
The transfer to widescreen TV has been taking place over many years. During this period different stations have taken different approaches. Many still only broadcast in square (4:3 ratio), TV in the UK has been moving toward widescreen for quite some time. During this transitionalletterboxing more and more of their material as it becomes available only in widescreen. Some, like the BBC have moved entirely to widescreen (16:9 ratio), or at least that is how it may have seemed.
So as not to anger the many square telly owners that have still been out there the BBC has taken many steps to ensure that these people can still enjoy the content that is shown. While everything may be shot in widescreen, camera staff and directors are made very aware of what square telly owners will be able to see and therefore frame the action appropriately.
Terrestrial BBC signals have actually been broadcast in a 14:9 compromise ratio as well, to ease the transition, getting people used to black borders.
On the BBC family of channels this transition to widescreen is most obvious on News24. Aggregating content from many news agencies from around the world, black borders can often be seen down the sides of pre-recorded material showing a compromised, not quite full, zoom. Also, and the point of this post, the constant graphics along the bottom of the screen have been very carefully arranged to meet the needs different viewers.
The graphics have long shown a clock, a BBC News24 ident and scrolling headlines. These have, till yesterday, been carefully positioned so that people with square tellies in 4:3 Zoom mode would not miss anything. This compromise has meant the graphics have not used the full width of the screen and have therefore had to take up more vertical space. The industry standard for such things, amongst all the other 4:3 ratio news channels, is to run the headlines straight across the bottom of the screen leaving as much vertical space as possible. In widescreen vertical space is at a premium.
As of yesterday all this has changed and BBC News24 (during a wider technical switch to online graphics provided by Vizrt technology) has changed to a single strip of graphics and headlines all the way across the bottom of the screen.
I think that this shows a general shift to a complete 16:9 ratio widescreen environment across the BBC. This makes total sense. They have managed the transition to I think this signals the beginning of a strong move to a more pure 16:9 widescreenwidescreen very well, but the time has come to look forward to a High Definition future, no matter that that may be many years off, in which widescreen will be the only ratio available.
While it will be some time still to come, I cannot wait for the day when I do not have to obsessively change the way the TV is shaped or sit and stew when someone else does not have it set right. I am sure many people that know me will be equally as glad.
So as not to anger the many square telly owners that have still been out there the BBC has taken many steps to ensure that these people can still enjoy the content that is shown. While everything may be shot in widescreen, camera staff and directors are made very aware of what square telly owners will be able to see and therefore frame the action appropriately.
Terrestrial BBC signals have actually been broadcast in a 14:9 compromise ratio as well, to ease the transition, getting people used to black borders.
On the BBC family of channels this transition to widescreen is most obvious on News24. Aggregating content from many news agencies from around the world, black borders can often be seen down the sides of pre-recorded material showing a compromised, not quite full, zoom. Also, and the point of this post, the constant graphics along the bottom of the screen have been very carefully arranged to meet the needs different viewers.
The graphics have long shown a clock, a BBC News24 ident and scrolling headlines. These have, till yesterday, been carefully positioned so that people with square tellies in 4:3 Zoom mode would not miss anything. This compromise has meant the graphics have not used the full width of the screen and have therefore had to take up more vertical space. The industry standard for such things, amongst all the other 4:3 ratio news channels, is to run the headlines straight across the bottom of the screen leaving as much vertical space as possible. In widescreen vertical space is at a premium.
As of yesterday all this has changed and BBC News24 (during a wider technical switch to online graphics provided by Vizrt technology) has changed to a single strip of graphics and headlines all the way across the bottom of the screen.
I think that this shows a general shift to a complete 16:9 ratio widescreen environment across the BBC. This makes total sense. They have managed the transition to I think this signals the beginning of a strong move to a more pure 16:9 widescreenwidescreen very well, but the time has come to look forward to a High Definition future, no matter that that may be many years off, in which widescreen will be the only ratio available.
While it will be some time still to come, I cannot wait for the day when I do not have to obsessively change the way the TV is shaped or sit and stew when someone else does not have it set right. I am sure many people that know me will be equally as glad.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Jack is back ...
... and he is da shit.
Or as ComicBookApe texted me at 8:56pm tonight;
"What time is it? It's motherfuckin' Bauer time!"
Only one downside to this season so far ... the 6:00am start is going to kill us at next years 24x24.
Or as ComicBookApe texted me at 8:56pm tonight;
"What time is it? It's motherfuckin' Bauer time!"
Only one downside to this season so far ... the 6:00am start is going to kill us at next years 24x24.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Remembering DVD: Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery ...
In September 1998 I was living and working in Munich as the 3rd year of my degree. It was the very beginning of DVD as a real consumer technology, outside research labs at the big tech companies. Recently launched in the US and right in the middle of the European launch. For a consumer tech geek like myself it was an exciting time. The work that I was involved in was not hard or complicated, like they would trust a student with anything like that, so I spent a lot of my time reading websites in the fledgling online DVD community. Some of these website still exist (DVDFile, DVD Review, The Digital Bits ) some unfortunately do not (DVD Resource).
Reading these sites I dreamed of owning a DVD player, starting a collection. At that point my height of home cinema achievement was to have a Nicam Stereo VCR hooked up to my Hi-Fi (all of which actually lived back in England). To keep myself going in Munich I had bought a new Hi-Fi (radio, twin tape and 3 CD changer) which would also handle Dolby Pro-Logic Surround playback, but without a TV, video or DVD player all I could do was listen to some soundtrack CDs that had surround sound encoded in them.
Living in Munich was wonderful. It is an amazing city. Biko came over a couple of times to visit and had a great time, and I keep saying that one day I would love to take She-Ra there and show him the places I would go to. I made many friends from the people I met out there. One really good friend was Simon. He was in his late 30's (I'm guessing, and I am crap at that so apologies if he ever reads this and I am wrong about it), he worked at the same company I was working at. He'd lived in Munich for years, mostly in a fantastic bachelor pad. He lived in a top floor corner flat just on the river near the Museum and Imax cinema. This corner flat enjoyed a bedroom that was in the top of a corner turret with a wood beamed rafters over it. It was a great flat, but Simon was giving it up to move in with his fiance.
Simon and I would meet a couple of times a day for coffee, mid way between our respective offices. I wasn't busy and his project was on hold for a while as the client was running acceptance tests on the most recent deliverable, so we had the time to kill. Our legendary coffee breaks would last almost an hour (remember there were a couple each day). Obviously during these breaks we would chat about many things, but me being me the conversation would often turn to the DVD players I would like to get, or the DVDs I would like to own. We both love comedy films and talked a lot about Austin Powers 2, which was rumoured to be in the works at that time. It was only while I was in Munich that I first saw Austin Powers on a rental video at a fellow students flat.
Before Simon and his fiance could move into their new place it needed some serious painting and decorating, and the good friend that I am I offered to help. I am not the most practical person in the world, but I can paint a wall. So a few weekends of help later the place was ready to go. I also helped with the move, shifting stuff out of old flats and into the new one. All of this was actually a lot of fun, and Simon was a friend so obviously I didn't mind helping in the least.
About a week after the big move Simon and I were meeting for one of our coffee breaks when he gave me a present. It was a thank you for the help. A really wonderful gesture from most people, but Simon has a little bit of an evil streak in him so things were not all that simple. The gift was a Region 1 import of the Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery DVD, and I didn't even own a DVD player! ... yet.
He knew what I would do, I swear to you now that he knew what I would do. I am sure that you know what I did. Of course I did, I knocked off of work at 5:30pm, grabbed a friend and went to Saturn (a large electronics chain in Germany) and bought a TV and my first DVD player. The Panasonic DVD A350. By 6:30pm, after a short cab ride home, I was watching my first DVD, hearing it in Pro-Logic surround.
I was up most of the night, watching the film, the film with commentary and all the special features. What a revelation it all was. In one way I was very lucky, as Austin Powers was one of the best of the early DVDs. While Contact will always claim the crown of the first Special Edition DVD, this wasn't far behind. An excellent screen-specific commentary from director Jay Roach and star/writer Mike Meyers as well as 6 deleted scenes. Not much by today's standards but considering the time absolutely brilliant.
Looking back now it is amusing to note the other special features trumpeted on the cover; Star Highlights (clips from other films the stars have been in), Special cameo menu (audio clips from the film over the "full motion" menu!), trailer and cast biographies (thank God these went the way of the dinosaurs as a claimable special feature). Another downside is the horrible Warner specific "Snapper" case, those cardboard cases with the cover art printed directly onto them so if you damage it in any way there's no replacing the case. Finally I was shocked to discover that all of Christian Slater's scenes had been removed from this copy, later discovering that those scenes had never appeared in any US version (theatrical or home release).
So that was the story of my first DVD, something I always think about when I see it on the shelf. To me now the New Line musical stab that they only sometimes use before films will always simply make me think of DVD in general (something ingrained in me partly because my second DVD also had it at the start). Austin Powers is a fun film, it always makes me laugh, and while many would not consider it a stand out film, to me it is a stand out DVD in my collection simply because it was the first. There are many more standouts in my collection, each with their own (personal to me) story behind them and I hope to tell you about some of them soon. In the meantime please tell me about the story, or not, behind your first DVD.
Reading these sites I dreamed of owning a DVD player, starting a collection. At that point my height of home cinema achievement was to have a Nicam Stereo VCR hooked up to my Hi-Fi (all of which actually lived back in England). To keep myself going in Munich I had bought a new Hi-Fi (radio, twin tape and 3 CD changer) which would also handle Dolby Pro-Logic Surround playback, but without a TV, video or DVD player all I could do was listen to some soundtrack CDs that had surround sound encoded in them.
Living in Munich was wonderful. It is an amazing city. Biko came over a couple of times to visit and had a great time, and I keep saying that one day I would love to take She-Ra there and show him the places I would go to. I made many friends from the people I met out there. One really good friend was Simon. He was in his late 30's (I'm guessing, and I am crap at that so apologies if he ever reads this and I am wrong about it), he worked at the same company I was working at. He'd lived in Munich for years, mostly in a fantastic bachelor pad. He lived in a top floor corner flat just on the river near the Museum and Imax cinema. This corner flat enjoyed a bedroom that was in the top of a corner turret with a wood beamed rafters over it. It was a great flat, but Simon was giving it up to move in with his fiance.
Simon and I would meet a couple of times a day for coffee, mid way between our respective offices. I wasn't busy and his project was on hold for a while as the client was running acceptance tests on the most recent deliverable, so we had the time to kill. Our legendary coffee breaks would last almost an hour (remember there were a couple each day). Obviously during these breaks we would chat about many things, but me being me the conversation would often turn to the DVD players I would like to get, or the DVDs I would like to own. We both love comedy films and talked a lot about Austin Powers 2, which was rumoured to be in the works at that time. It was only while I was in Munich that I first saw Austin Powers on a rental video at a fellow students flat.
Before Simon and his fiance could move into their new place it needed some serious painting and decorating, and the good friend that I am I offered to help. I am not the most practical person in the world, but I can paint a wall. So a few weekends of help later the place was ready to go. I also helped with the move, shifting stuff out of old flats and into the new one. All of this was actually a lot of fun, and Simon was a friend so obviously I didn't mind helping in the least.
About a week after the big move Simon and I were meeting for one of our coffee breaks when he gave me a present. It was a thank you for the help. A really wonderful gesture from most people, but Simon has a little bit of an evil streak in him so things were not all that simple. The gift was a Region 1 import of the Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery DVD, and I didn't even own a DVD player! ... yet.
He knew what I would do, I swear to you now that he knew what I would do. I am sure that you know what I did. Of course I did, I knocked off of work at 5:30pm, grabbed a friend and went to Saturn (a large electronics chain in Germany) and bought a TV and my first DVD player. The Panasonic DVD A350. By 6:30pm, after a short cab ride home, I was watching my first DVD, hearing it in Pro-Logic surround.
I was up most of the night, watching the film, the film with commentary and all the special features. What a revelation it all was. In one way I was very lucky, as Austin Powers was one of the best of the early DVDs. While Contact will always claim the crown of the first Special Edition DVD, this wasn't far behind. An excellent screen-specific commentary from director Jay Roach and star/writer Mike Meyers as well as 6 deleted scenes. Not much by today's standards but considering the time absolutely brilliant.
Looking back now it is amusing to note the other special features trumpeted on the cover; Star Highlights (clips from other films the stars have been in), Special cameo menu (audio clips from the film over the "full motion" menu!), trailer and cast biographies (thank God these went the way of the dinosaurs as a claimable special feature). Another downside is the horrible Warner specific "Snapper" case, those cardboard cases with the cover art printed directly onto them so if you damage it in any way there's no replacing the case. Finally I was shocked to discover that all of Christian Slater's scenes had been removed from this copy, later discovering that those scenes had never appeared in any US version (theatrical or home release).
So that was the story of my first DVD, something I always think about when I see it on the shelf. To me now the New Line musical stab that they only sometimes use before films will always simply make me think of DVD in general (something ingrained in me partly because my second DVD also had it at the start). Austin Powers is a fun film, it always makes me laugh, and while many would not consider it a stand out film, to me it is a stand out DVD in my collection simply because it was the first. There are many more standouts in my collection, each with their own (personal to me) story behind them and I hope to tell you about some of them soon. In the meantime please tell me about the story, or not, behind your first DVD.
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