Miami Vice TV series on Blu-ray

[RedDragon86]

8 hours ago, James said:

Yeah I have the same release and I think it is a bit low. It's the voice that's low and you can barely hear it and have to turn it up a bit, but the music tracks seem normal to me. I usually watch late at night with my TV volume on 10 but for season 3 I have to turn it up to 12. 

Thats exactly it, the dialogue is low in season 3, it was the same on DVD, in seasons 1&2 the voices have much more bass in the audio.

 

[RedDragon86]

3 hours ago, bodie said:

This is why broadcast stereo should have been included - the show was not designed in 5.1. It's fine if it works, but the Mill Creek and Elephant releases are preferable because (aside form other issues) they have the option for stereo.

Will the Elephant release audio be in English?

[bodie]

8 minutes ago, RedDragon86 said:

Will the Elephant release audio be in English?

Yes the Elephant is the only one with lossless English Stereo mixes (in DTS HD) where the Mill Creek stereo was Dolby Digital 2.0 (192kbps) - a major plus in the column of the Elephant, as is their better encoding of the video.

[Dadrian]

Will the Elephant discs play on a standard USA Blu Ray player for televisions? Sorry if this was already discussed.

[Matt5]

Hopefully Millcreek (USA) and Fabulous Films (Europe) in conjunction with Elephant (France) will re-release this set if the picture is better.

Edited March 27, 2019 by Matt5

[bodie]

2 hours ago, Dadrian said:

Will the Elephant discs play on a standard USA Blu Ray player for televisions? Sorry if this was already discussed.

amazon.fr list it as "Toutes les régions"

[bodie]

19 minutes ago, Matt5 said:

Hopefully Millcreek (USA) and Fabulous Films (Europe) in conjunction with Elephant (France) will re-release this set if the picture is better.

There is only one set of masters, so it's just who has done the best job. To date it is Elephant. But there is word that Koch in Germany may do it, which may be better still judging by their work on Airwolf among many other TV Blu-ray sets.

[Matt5]

5 minutes ago, bodie said:

There is only one set of masters, so it's just who has done the best job. To date it is Elephant. But there is word that Koch in Germany may do it, which may be better still judging by their work on Airwolf among many other TV Blu-ray sets.

Good to know thankyou.

[Dadrian]

7 minutes ago, bodie said:

amazon.fr list it as "Toutes les régions"

They must be in cahoots with Zolan. 

[jpaul1]

the little book is very ccol when you want to pick up a random episode, but you have no clear idea of which one you want to see. a quick look, and you're set

[RedDragon86]

I now know why the volume is lower and doesn't pack a punch like seasons 1&2 (the fabulous films release) for some reason on my surround sound it only uses the 3 speakers (front 2 and centre) like its 3.1 instead of 5.1. My subwoofer is off, which has a big effect on they entire experience and so are the rear speakers too.

The third season sounds so tinny compared to the first two.

[bodie]

17 hours ago, RedDragon86 said:

I now know why the volume is lower and doesn't pack a punch like seasons 1&2 (the fabulous films release) for some reason on my surround sound it only uses the 3 speakers (front 2 and centre) like its 3.1 instead of 5.1. My subwoofer is off, which has a big effect on they entire experience and so are the rear speakers too.

The third season sounds so tinny compared to the first two.

I'm a bit of a purist now, having previously only had the 5.1 mixes on DVD, I'm kind of obsessed with the original stereo mixes that are included on the Mill Creek (US) and Elephant (FR) releases of the series

[Augusta]

I am a purist also (if I allow anyone to put me in a category at all).  If a film or show was made in Black-n-White, THAT's the palette of resources the film team worked within, and it earns them praise for exploiting the resources they had in that time period, to do a superb job telling a story to the audience.  

At the time, Mann's team was the ONLY people using stereo on a tv program, so you can bet they squeezed the max out of a two-speaker mix, and made sure not a minute of the show would sound boring in stereo (…not today, where most engineers take basic stereo for granted so much, they wouldn't even KNOW how to tell a story successfully with less than five channels). 

I personally only want to hear DTS and 5.1 if it was part if the original production.  

[Augusta]

I just received Mill Creek's DVD box by mail.  Just put my boat in the DVD collector's ocean, and already I'm lost!!

I'm used to Mill Creek's hobo-quality boxes for these NON-bluray collector sets.  The Rockford Files image here is their typical construction--Big square flimsy overcoat face-box, with a black colored inner-sleeve box stuck half-poking out of the bottom of the cover box, saying words like "Must see television", or "Binge, Binge, Binge".  It's a clunky look for a DVD media box, and always makes your kids think the box hasn't closed properly.  The image of Jimmy's car in blurred motion was the only saving grace about the Rockford Files box.  The overall color hue of the car and Garner's face and blazer, give a spot-on feeling of the sunny So-Cal tv series.  

Otherwise I would have poured lighter fluid on Mill Creek's box---I pity the box construction so much.

So I expected the same box style in the Miami Vice set I just ordered.  I expected the same "Must See Television" black box sticking half out of an over-box… the version we see all over the internet.  Like the second image below.

 

But the box that just arrived AIN'T that kind of box!  Yes, it says it's from Mill Creek.  And it says it's the 2016 release.  But I'm scared to open it (thinking this could be some sort of re-marketing scam to get rid of old Universal discs, or some release of a non-remastered version now that the Bluray has been out for so long).  

See carefully?  See the clever grab-hold tab along the top of the box?  This version has an INNER box that's FULLY stowed inside the cover box, waiting for you to LIFT it up out of theTOP of the cover box. Completely the reverse of the typical Mill Creek box.  And look, Maa-----there's no "Binge, Binge, Must See TV" writing on it!  There's a "Retro Rerun" logo on the top, and even THAT looks like a loose card sitting over the front to real box art.

What gives?  Has anyone seen or bought this box type before?  Am I about to open an inferior early version of the DVD pressings?  I want to be able to send it back if there was a fast one pulled.

[buford_t]

On 3/27/2019 at 11:39 AM, bodie said:

Yes the Elephant is the only one with lossless English Stereo mixes (in DTS HD) where the Mill Creek stereo was Dolby Digital 2.0 (192kbps) - a major plus in the column of the Elephant, as is their better encoding of the video.

I got the Elephant set last month and the picture is, indeed, a lot better on most episodes. Night scenes are much better for sure, at least on the episodes I've watched. The DTS and MA sound mixes are (so far) identical to the US Mill Creek release. I've ripped a few to the PC for comparison. The packaging is ugly, but having the episodes spread over more discs with better video encoding make it worth the money in my opinion.

Edited January 7, 2020 by buford_t

[Dadrian]

6 minutes ago, buford_t said:

I got the Elephant set last month and the picture is, indeed, a lot better on most episodes. Night scenes are much better for sure, at least on the episodes I've watched. The DTS and MA sound mixes are (so far) identical to the US Mill Creek release. I've ripped a few to the PC for comparison. The packaging is ugly, but having the episodes spread over more discs with better video encoding make it worth the money in my opinion.

Forgive me if this was already disclosed, but on the Elephant set: does the stereo mix drop out during the first 10 seconds of the “Cry” sequence near the end of Definitely Miami like the Mill Creek Blu Rays?

Edited January 7, 2020 by Dadrian

[buford_t]

26 minutes ago, Dadrian said:

Forgive me if this was already disclosed, but on the Elephant set: does the stereo mix drop out during the first 10 seconds of the “Cry” sequence near the end of Definitely Miami like the Mill Creek Blu Rays?

Good question. Haven't checked. I'll have a look ASAP and get back to you.

[jpaul1]

just want to clarify a few point. DVD, or Blu-ray are based on the original movies/work. so if the original has some small defaults you can't do better. even in 2040 . for example in some elephant films episodes, sometimes you don't have French audio during one or two scenes. hopefully this happens very rarely. but it happens exactly at the same moments than on my other DVD collection

oh, and btw another small point too. living room readers are much better for watching, than PC readers. i just bought a second hand LG reader for PC, because i wanted to make screenshots, and it's much better on my living room reader. due mainly to the fact that you are far away from the screen. the image renders (much) better

Edited January 7, 2020 by jpaul1

[Sonny-Burnett]

2 hours ago, Dadrian said:

Forgive me if this was already disclosed, but on the Elephant set: does the stereo mix drop out during the first 10 seconds of the “Cry” sequence near the end of Definitely Miami like the Mill Creek Blu Rays?

That was a BIG disappointment to me also, and after writing Mill Creek they told me they weren't going to correct it. 

[buford_t]

4 hours ago, Dadrian said:

Forgive me if this was already disclosed, but on the Elephant set: does the stereo mix drop out during the first 10 seconds of the “Cry” sequence near the end of Definitely Miami like the Mill Creek Blu Rays?

I just watched it and happy to report there is no drop at all on the Elephant set. That's another in the plus column for this set. 

[Dadrian]

Is the original English dialogue on the Elephant set, too? Hell I should’ve gotten those instead maybe.  

[buford_t]

12 minutes ago, Dadrian said:

Is the original English dialogue on the Elephant set, too? Hell I should’ve gotten those instead maybe.  

Oh yeah. The English DTS/MA 5.1 is there, along with English HD 2 channel. The default is the French HD 2 channel of course, but easily changed either by the menu or while the show is playing. 

Edited January 8, 2020 by buford_t

[bodie]

On 1/5/2020 at 6:07 AM, Augusta said:

I just received Mill Creek's DVD box by mail.  Just put my boat in the DVD collector's ocean, and already I'm lost!!

Where did you order it from? Please link us to the page.

From the look of the box, that's just a slip in the front, when you take the film off it, the box art underneath will be more like the online image in not having that text I reckon.

[bodie]

On 1/5/2020 at 5:19 AM, Augusta said:

I am a purist also (if I allow anyone to put me in a category at all).  If a film or show was made in Black-n-White, THAT's the palette of resources the film team worked within, and it earns them praise for exploiting the resources they had in that time period, to do a superb job telling a story to the audience.  

At the time, Mann's team was the ONLY people using stereo on a tv program, so you can bet they squeezed the max out of a two-speaker mix, and made sure not a minute of the show would sound boring in stereo

totally the point yeah

[bodie]

On 1/8/2020 at 12:58 AM, Dadrian said:

Is the original English dialogue on the Elephant set, too? Hell I should’ve gotten those instead maybe.  

;

On 3/27/2019 at 3:39 PM, bodie said:

Yes the Elephant is the only one with lossless English Stereo mixes (in DTS HD) where the Mill Creek stereo was Dolby Digital 2.0 (192kbps) - a major plus in the column of the Elephant, as is their better encoding of the video.