What's happening to BVHE US?

[2099net]

Has it been infiltrated by BVHE UK employees?

Firstly, the Chicago debarcle - the rest of the world has had a normal 2 Disc special edition released for a while now so there's no reason for the US release to (a) be so late and (b) not have the previously announced CD being as you've had to wait.

Secondly the Tarzan fiasco - why does everyone else get a re-release of the 2 disc edition and the US not? Why has it been advertised as a 2 disc release for months (and at least 2 weeks ago the official site had a trailer still stating it was a 2 disc release). The Emperor's New Groove is even more annoying - there's nothing "New" about a disc with only an extended sneak peek, when there's a whole second disc of content being ignored.

[glenn]

And don't forget that a) it looks like we are we are going to miss out on the first five episodes of both Ducktales and Rescue Rangers when they are comming to DVD and b) why haven't we seen a press release for the boxes yet?

[Wonderlicious]

Call me mean, but Tarzan getting treated poorly via a single disc and a false press release in Region 1 kinda makes me happy; it's about time people in the US discover what it's like for some European countries getting mediocre DVD releases.

[ichabod]

The answer is simple, BVHE US have been taking advice from a newly implemented release system designed by BVHE UK.

[Spottedfeather]

Where did you see that Ducktales and Rescue Ranger are missing episodes on the dvd releases ? I'm sorry to hear that, because these were two of my favourite shows when I was a kid.

[Scabbie]

Secondly the Tarzan fiasco - why does everyone else get a re-release of the 2 disc edition and the US not?

Uhm... In Holland it wasn't a re-release of the 2-disc set. We never had a 2-disc set before we got the new dvd last june.

And it makes me, actually, a bit happy too. We get often a 1-disc set when you guys get a beautyful 2-disc set. Look at these films: Snow White, Emperor's New Groove, A Bug's Life, Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Alice in Wonderland, Pocahontas, Sleeping Beauty and Brother Bear never had a 2-disc set in Holland.

[jamminjake245]

I still don't think it will be a 1 disk. It will be 2. The trailer on the site and all the DVDs say 2 disk.

[nunval]

You are in good company: at least you in USA get a gift set of Cinderella, we in Italy a mere single disc edition, bad bad thing and unexplicable, since the VHS was always a big big hit and in cinemas "Cenerentola" has always been a top movie! So I say: what's happening to Buena Vista ITALY ?

[PatrickvD]

I usually buy the R1 releases as I think the packagaing and extras are overall more consistant but this just pisses me off big time. What does this mean for Lilo & Stitch? Will the U.S. never get a 2-disc set?

[Luke]

I'm glad you said it, Netty, because I was starting to think of these foul-ups while posting the press releases in the wee morning hours today. <i>Tarzan</i> and <i>TENG</i> are really bad news, because A) there's no reason not to use the second disc material from the former and B) the Ultimate Groove is going out-of-print in favor of a reissue of the single-disc. It doesn't bode well for future reissues if they think a slipcover can overshadow a missing second disc. I'm still skeptical to see how the Muppet movies turn out -- if all of Disney's bonus features, plus the newly-announced material, and both viewing formats including 16x9 OAR, I will be pleasantly surprised. Sounds like we're getting a taste of the baffling decisions (and inaccurate or late news) that BVHE customers in Europe have become used to.

[Joe Carioca]

While I´m sad for those who didn´t own the 2-disc "Tarzan" the first time arround, I´m actually worried if this is going to have any effect on future releases. Does this mean Disney may become scant with its multi-disc releases?

[That1GuyPictures]

Yeah, I think that BVHV is retarded.
They advertise things using millions of dollars,
but they can't design good cover art anymore,
many films are transferred using old video tape masters,
and they poorly promote their DVD's, sometimes only issuing partial press releases even though the discs are already being pressed.
What is so hard about advertising your discs and being true to your word?
Personally, I'm angered that they issued a trailer for a 2-disc set, and then backed it down to one. That's called false advertising.
The Emperor's Groove is a great movie, and it had a great 2-disc set. But this extra release is retarded, and no one will buy it.
All they had to do was slap new labels on both of the original 2-disc sets, and I would have purchased both for the new cover art so that my release shelf would all match.
Most people don't have these 2-disc releases and would upgrade if the price was lower.
Personally, I'm not going to be buying either at this point.
Buena Vista, GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER!

[Lars Vermundsberget]

Call me mean, but Tarzan getting treated poorly via a single disc and a false press release in Region 1 kinda makes me happy; it's about time people in the US discover what it's like for some European countries getting mediocre DVD releases.

But there is a workaround: Some of us buy DVDs from wherever we please. The age of DVD is also, coincidentally, the age of the internet.

[Wonderlicious]

But there is a workaround: Some of us buy DVDs from wherever we please. The age of DVD is also, coincidentally, the age of the internet.

True, I am also in that camp. However, whether we have a multi region player or not, there is, at least in my opinion, a mild stigma to do with the whole concept of importing a DVD; the main reason for doing so most of the time is because either a) the local DVD edition is inferior or b) the local DVD edition is non existent. Why should one have to get things from another country due to some fat cats being stupid?

[SailorMarsPrettyScout]

I purchased this tarzan dvd at Dvdempire, since I sold my tarzan vhs copy, and never bothered to order the collectors edition. What is going on with Disney? Why are they doing this? why lie about being a 2 disc when its a 1 disc???!!!

[2099net]

Call me mean, but Tarzan getting treated poorly via a single disc and a false press release in Region 1 kinda makes me happy; it's about time people in the US discover what it's like for some European countries getting mediocre DVD releases.

But there is a workaround: Some of us buy DVDs from wherever we please. The age of DVD is also, coincidentally, the age of the internet.

But the next generation of players will have more robust region protection. I'm not saying they won't be "crackable" but remember, thanks to the pile-of-crap Digital Milennium Act in America, it's illegal to "reverse engineer" any type of digital encryption or decoding.

Just because most of Non-America has multi-region players now, doesn't mean we will have with the next generation. Meanwhile, regions constantly get shafted on what is available (with non-R1 usually, but not always, being the victim). I'm sorry, but if I know that there's a better version available elsewhere, I'm not going to buy the local version, even if it is the only version I can play.

And yet, Studios still blame piracy for falling sales rather than their own management (inferior versions), greed (obvious double-dips such as Sin City) and ignorance (people will buy what we give them), as well as conveniently forgetting there's more DVDs released each week now than at any other time (there's only so many discs people can buy, and now they have more choice).

Recently in the UK, Fox and others have been treating their R2 releases pretty well. Most "global" releases now come out in the UK a week or two before the R1 release, some have exclusive extras and Fox is famous for thier double-disc sets. But trust me, they are only doing this because they have finally wised-up to the fact that if they don't a significant number of customers will import. When the new generation makes playing imported discs harder, look for the UK to be given inferior content on their discs again.

To finally get back onto topic, what I'm saying is, it doesn't matter if people in the US can, in theory, go out and buy a R2/R4 PAL Tarzan 2 disc or a R3 NTSC Tarzan 2 disc. They shouldn't have to. A company should be willing to offer the same product worldwide. And if they don't and they genuinely to think that "people will buy what we give them regardless" then they need to stop moaning about people importing/exporting discs and finally "Get a clue" as to how the global economy (which they are so keen on supporting when it works in their favour) is all about, and can swing both ways.

[Lars Vermundsberget]

But the next generation of players will have more robust region protection. I'm not saying they won't be "crackable" but remember, thanks to the pile-of-crap Digital Milennium Act in America, it's illegal to "reverse engineer" any type of digital encryption or decoding.

Just because most of Non-America has multi-region players now, doesn't mean we will have with the next generation.

We don't quite know what the future will be like. Has there been any sort of "protection" that has not been "cracked"? We'll see.

But if "they" make it more difficult for me in the future one likely consequence is that I'll buy less discs. Good one, don't you think, studios?

[Roger Rabbit]

Plus, no offense to the PAL regions, but because of the way its encoded, the audio is about 5% faster than NTSC regions, so if you've just bought a PAL disc for the first time the audio sounds a little kooky. Anyone who's listened to say the Tarzan soundtrack and then watches the PAL encoded disc will notice a pitch difference.

Now the other way around since most soundtracks are based off the NTSC versions, in the PAL countries it sounds slower. You'd think we'd be able to agree on one standard.

[2099net]

Plus, no offense to the PAL regions, but because of the way its encoded, the audio is about 5% faster than NTSC regions,

Well, you can get a R3 NTSC 2 disc Tarzan!

[Lars Vermundsberget]

Plus, no offense to the PAL regions, but because of the way its encoded, the audio is about 5% faster than NTSC regions,

Well, it's more like 4% to be exact - but, yes, that is one important reason why I prefer to get the majority of my DVDs from North America (even though I live in PAL-land).