Mill Creek releasing He-Man

[Mr. Shokoti]

Thanks for the info Emiliano. While I enjoy some of the current advances in home entertainment technology, I'd never consider myself a "tech guy".

[BCI Guy]

The fact that some people from BCI work at Mill Creek must have helped

Yup. Dan did those. He worked for me for almost 7 years at BCI (and for a couple years before that at a company called Simitar Entertainment). He's been at Mill Creek since BCI shut down.

He's a fantastic designer. And he has the advantage of not needing ER's approval on anything. I'm also assuming (based solely on CM's awful She-Ra art) that Classic Media isn't asking for any changes.

If this'll have the missing Orko scene, then this'll be definitive version.

They won't have it.

Classic Media would likely be more inclined to allow it to be reinserted (it would have to be from VHS, since the original is lost) than ER, but Mill Creek is a budget company. They aren't going to reauthor or alter the masters that BCI used.

[acidophilus]

Great news! A good price on the full season too. I'll have to pick up a set when I see them.

[vancak]

At least it looks like Mill Creek is putting some effort into these sets. The cover art absolutely blows away the garbage they did with the She-Ra releases. I may have to re-buy the complete seasons depending on what else is included with the sets.

As for a blu-ray release, Emiliano was right about the quality. The video and audio will be about the same as on DVD (although the DVD quality, at least on the BCI sets, is great). The only benefit of blu-ray is that you could fit way more episodes on each disc.

Emiliano, count me in as someone who would love to see your MotU artwork released in a book. By the way, are you going to be doing any more art for IDW's Transformers comics?

[Emiliano]

By the way, are you going to be doing any more art for IDW's Transformers comics?

At the moment is very unlikely.
I'm doing lot of Transformers work, but on the toys

[CarKrash]

I picked up most of the BCI sets at a discount price, with one over MSRP.. So I'm pretty happy with those sets. Unless, they include something spectacular in the extras, like new documenteries and interviews.. or even the commentary Busta did for the Region 2 releases.. then I'll skip these. I don't expect Mill Creek to go above and beyond. In fact, I wouldn't be suprised to see the volumes end up in the 5 dollar bin at Walmart alongside MYP's Orgins set.

[Busta Toons]

The digital masters created aren't in high definition (they have been done a long time ago) and all the analogic sources have been destroyed.
DVD are the best we can get.

I'm going to agree and kind of disagree with Emiliano on this one...

Having the series on Blu-ray would see benefits...but obviously not "real" high definition benefits...

I have seen numerous examples of good quality upscaling - It's never as convincing as high definition, but it is better than DVD, because (of course) the bit rate is ridiculously higher...

The MAIN benefit to having the series on Blu-ray would be that there would be NO loss in quality - No matter what you think, as good as the DVDs look, they're not as good as the digital masters...

The bit rates on both the Contender and BCI releases have a a hard time dealing with the transformation sequence...on Blu-ray you would see NO loss whatsoever...

[JafariStew]

Great news for those still missing out!!

[Mr. Shokoti]

I'm going to agree and kind of disagree with Emiliano on this one...

Having the series on Blu-ray would see benefits...but obviously not "real" high definition benefits...

I have seen numerous examples of good quality upscaling - It's never as convincing as high definition, but it is better than DVD, because (of course) the bit rate is ridiculously higher...

The MAIN benefit to having the series on Blu-ray would be that there would be NO loss in quality - No matter what you think, as good as the DVDs look, they're not as good as the digital masters...

The bit rates on both the Contender and BCI releases have a a hard time dealing with the transformation sequence...on Blu-ray you would see NO loss whatsoever...

If that's true, I'm wondering if we'll ever see MOTU on Blu-Ray. Considering the fact that they're still re-releasing them on DVD as well as the fact the Blu-Ray is never going to be as big as DVDs(Sony's battle with HD-DVD kept a lot of consumers from buying the new hardware until a winner was declared which took too long) makes me think we'll either have to wait for whatever comes after Blu-Ray(unless downloading is the future).

[super-munkyboy]

This is great news fr me. I can finally get Bravestarr and hopefully the second Season of He-man which I am missing. I can't complete the spine mural, as I refuse to pay the horrible prices it goes for.

YAY!

[BCI Guy]

If that's true, I'm wondering if we'll ever see MOTU on Blu-Ray. Considering the fact that they're still re-releasing them on DVD as well as the fact the Blu-Ray is never going to be as big as DVDs(Sony's battle with HD-DVD kept a lot of consumers from buying the new hardware until a winner was declared which took too long) makes me think we'll either have to wait for whatever comes after Blu-Ray(unless downloading is the future).

I doubt it. There isn't nearly enough of a market to make up for the cost to produce them And whoever puts it out is going to get savaged by the reviews, because the difference from DVD will be so slight.

[Busta Toons]

I doubt it. There isn't nearly enough of a market to make up for the cost to produce them And whoever puts it out is going to get savaged by the reviews, because the difference from DVD will be so slight.

Unless they sold it on the premise that "Hey, you can see the transformation sequence in perfect quality!" - Though I'm not sure how many sales that would encourage...

I still can't get over looking at the digital masters and seeing the quality of the transformation - Even when I upped the bit rate to 9 (which is the max) it still couldn't handle all that was happening on the screen...

That's the power of Grayskull...too much for DVD!

[Firefly]

DVDs are still in the mainstream, but someday when no one sells DVDs anymore, the popular medium of the time (whether Blu-Ray or the next generation medium) I'm sure will re-release them again whether it is considered much of an upgrade in quality or not.

[vadersfist]

Sounds good to me cause I can FINALLY get the complete series of Brave star even though I have He-man I MIGHT get it again I dunno.

[Jukka]

The MAIN benefit to having the series on Blu-ray would be that there would be NO loss in quality - No matter what you think, as good as the DVDs look, they're not as good as the digital masters...

The bit rates on both the Contender and BCI releases have a a hard time dealing with the transformation sequence...on Blu-ray you would see NO loss whatsoever...

You mean that Battlecat could be seen in clear view?

[GP Legend]

Luckily, I have all the BCI sets for all three He-Man series, as well as She-Ra. I might pick up the Bravestarr release if it is good quality and they actually have good transfers like the BCI release. I only bought the best of Bravestarr release, which I got last year since it was only $10 at a store that was clearing them out.

[Busta Toons]

You mean that Battlecat could be seen in clear view?

Exactly!

[Grimbot]

I doubt it. There isn't nearly enough of a market to make up for the cost to produce them And whoever puts it out is going to get savaged by the reviews, because the difference from DVD will be so slight.

How about manufacture-on-demand?

[Java]

Exactly!

That's one of the things I always noticed. I thought the original masters had that low-quality in the transformation.

But I was surprised that the transformation (mostly with Battlecat) was a lot better with the Contender DVDs than BCI. But at that time I thought Contender "manipulated" the images to make it look better!

I hope some day we get the same quality as the masters.
Anyway, I still need She-Ra S2 in spanish and the series soundtrack!

[Busta Toons]

That's one of the things I always noticed. I thought the original masters had that low-quality in the transformation.

Oh no, the digital masters are flawless!

...except for the odd missing scene...

But I was surprised that the transformation (mostly with Battlecat) was a lot better with the Contender DVDs than BCI. But at that time I thought Contender "manipulated" the images to make it look better!

It was just that Contender's bit rate (from memory) was 6.5 to 7 - I believe (looking at the quality of BCI's encodes) it was 5.5 to 6...

At the DVD production house I worked (where the Contender discs were produced) we re-encoded the crap out of the episodes to make sure they were flawless!

...but the transformation sequence was impossible to beat...

[BCI Guy]

How about manufacture-on-demand?

Blu-Ray MOD would be ridiculously expensive.

[Grimbot]

...but the transformation sequence was impossible to beat...

Not quite. In some episodes it looks fine (though not perfect of course).

[Busta Toons]

Not quite. In some episodes it looks fine.

Yes, but "fine" isn't close to what the digital master was showing...

Trust me, even at the bit rate of 9 you cannot replicate the quality of the digital master...

[Minion]

Quite excited for Bravestarr. I have He-man already from the previous releases so it'd take some pretty awesome extras to entice me in.

[BCI Guy]

I have He-man already from the previous releases so it'd take some pretty awesome extras to entice me in.

There won't be new extras, Mill Creek does not produce bonus features. They can't afford that expense and still sell at super budget prices.

What they'll likely include are existing commentaries because they don't take up much space, and maybe a few of the existing interviews if they have the room for them.