From The Earth To The Moon

[Monster]

ok anyone have this set??? i love it when it was on hbo...

and was woundering how the quality was on it an if it has good extras...... also is it worth buying... or is the apollo 13 dvd better to get...

thanks

[Enron]

I have it and it is a great set. There are four disks. Three with 4 episodes each on them in letterbox and an extras disk. Very high video and audio quality. To be honest, I haven't ever looked at the extras but it has a whole disk of various material dealing with the space program (news clips, speeches ect.).

The Apollo 13 disk is great too and alot cheaper. One great feature of that disk is the feature commentary by CMDR. Lovell.

One other disk you might want to check out if you're into the history of the Apollo program is a documentary called "For All Mankind." It shows you everything that happens on a trip from the earth to the moon using NASA footage. It is on a Criterion DVD and is great.

[blakely614]

i have this on the way from deepdiscountdvd.com ($74.99 w/no tax). this is a blind buy for me but i figured i loved 'apollo 13' so i'm sure to like this. i've only ever heard good things about it anyway.

i'm very interested in 'for all makind' also but i'm not paying $35 for it, criterion collection or not.

[MEJHarrison]

Originally Posted by Enron

There are four disks. Three with 4 episodes each on them in letterbox and an extras disk.

From the Earth to the Moon was filmed in 1.33:1. They shouldn't be letterbox.

[trevanian]

Originally Posted by MEJHarrison

From the Earth to the Moon was filmed in 1.33:1. They shouldn't be letterbox.

I'm pretty sure that it was shot with the idea in mind of 'protecting' the matted extended frame so it could run okay on widescreen sets. Lots of TV shows have been doing this since the early 90s, sort of a super35 in reverse (I remember an American Cinematographer article on QUANTUM LEAP mentioning this over a decade back.)

In fact, the V miniseries from 83 is on dvd in matted widescreen ... I don't think that was as a result of expecting HDTV, but probably with the idea of a shortened theatrical release overseas, so they'd frame to allow the tops and bottoms to be lost.

I did an article on the fx for FROM EARTH a few years back, but don't have the interview transcripts anymore. Otherwise I'd see if there was anything about what aspect ratio the effects were finished in.

[Moose]

Its a great set!

[MEJHarrison]

Originally Posted by trevanian

I'm pretty sure that it was shot with the idea in mind of 'protecting' the matted extended frame so it could run okay on widescreen sets.

I don't know what the intention was when they filmed this series although I'm familiar with the process as Babylon 5 did the same thing. And I don't have the actual set at this time. But it was aired full frame (here in the US). Five reviews I just read all said the discs are full frame. Serveral online retailers list it as full frame. DVDProfiler lists it as full frame. I've read articles in various DVD forums where people who owned the set reported it was full frame.

So, the Region 1 version of this shouldn't be letterboxed. If it is, you either have a different region, a boot-legged copy that was released letterboxed, some bizarre version no one has heard of or you're simply mistaken.

I just don't want the Monster looking all over creation for the letterboxed version since as far as I know, there isn't one.

[trevanian]

Oh, got your point now, no prob. I only saw it on cable and via some HBO-made tapes, and those were fullscreen as well.

[1138]

Awesome series. I loved both this and Band of Brothers.

[Dilmo]

From The Digital Bits:

HBO has revealed that they're preparing a newly-updated DVD box set of Tom Hanks' From the Earth to the Moon mini-series for release on 9/20 (SRP $99.98). The original box was one of HBO's first ever DVD releases, and it was presented in the series' full frame aspect ratio. For the new 5-disc set, you'll get all the episodes in anamorphic widescreen video, complete with both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 audio. Extras will include a mix of new and old bonus material. We'll post the complete spec list when it's available. No doubt this updated set is connected to HBO's planned HD-DVD release of the mini-series due later in 2005 (and first announced back in January). Since the episodes had to be remastered in high-definition anamorphic widescreen for HD-DVD, why not reissue them in regular DVD anamorphic widescreen too?

[Dilmo]

This need to be moved to software.

[Reaver]

Originally Posted by Dilmo

From The Digital Bits:

I never did pick this up, and once again my patience has paid off. Excellent...

[dhmacg]

I wasn't sure from earlier posts, but will this look right in 1:78 ratio?

[Dilmo]

Originally Posted by dhmacg

I wasn't sure from earlier posts, but will this look right in 1:78 ratio?

I'm sure it will look fantastic! I'm glad I held off also.