Search - Battlestar Galactica - Season One [HD DVD] on HD DVD

Fraking amazing

Jason | NC, USA | 12/11/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"First off, the show is 5 stars or more. Best show currently on cable TV as far as I can tell. But this hd-dvd leaves PLENTY TO BE DESIRED.



First, they reused the same menus as were used in Heroes season 1 on HD-DVD, this is fine with me, as that menu scheme is very nice. The interactive parts of this hd-dvd release (the U control stuff) is great, but I'll never view the show this way but once, if that.



I own the original dvd of this (season 1 and the miniseries stand alone dvd), I was highly looking forward to watching this on HD-DVD. But I was sadly disappointed!



The video quality on the mini series is horrible, looks like 480p! Watching the miniseries on dvd upconverted generally looks better, save a few scenes. Also the audio gets out of sync quite a few times during the show.



The TV shows look substantially better than the mini-series, with many scenes looking very good, but not as noticeable of an upgrade as say, heroes or smalleville, which I also own, and are also on HD-DVD. Those releases are/were fantastic, with pristine transfers. This looks like it was rushed. And pity that, I would be fine with spending 40 dollars, 50 max for this, but 100? or even amazon's low price makes me feel like I'm apart of some cylon conspiracy.



If the video not being up to standards is not enough, the case arrived crushed due to be shipped in an envelope (first time this has ever happened to me from amazon) and the discs were scratched (seems this is the default, not the exception from others reviews).



With that said, I whole heartedly recommend this series to any and everyone, it is amazing. The best thing about the HD-DVD is the phenomenal sound, this was a huge upgrade, I cant really applaud any other parts of this release.







In closing, this show is fantastic, the video quality leaves much to be desired, they should re-master the mini-series, as this looks very bad here. The HD-DVD is still better than the DVD, but not by much.



I hope universal will release season 2, 3, and Razor on HD-DVD soon. However, I will not be pre-ordering those until after I read more reviews. The dvd's I have look fantastic as is (upconverted) so if the picture quality is no real improvement, I have no real need to spend double the money.



I must note, I am not against spending 70 dollars for a TV show (I do have both sopranos seasons in HD, and they cost far more) on an High Def format, but I am against getting sub-par transfers, Heroes, and Smallville both on HD-DVD blows this out of the water in terms of picture quality, and packaging. This show deserves better, we deserver better.



So say we all!





PS, if you are having problems getting the discs in or out of the case, twist the disc's and they come right off or on, pulling will likely pull the glue off of the packaging."

Amazing show - HORRIBLE PACKAGING

Cory R. Bevilacqua | Boston, MA | 12/06/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I love BSG - what an amazing sci-fiction/drama epic. No complaints about the show, or their presentation on HD-DVD - they look wonderful.



But the packaging is ABYSMAL. Cheap cardboard flaps, little rubber nubs, and 6 very scratched discs is what I found when I opened my Amazon package. Thinking it was just a fluke, I went online to see other people's experiences. Nope, the forums are ablaze with complaints of scratched discs. Good job Universal!



Cutesy packaging is fine, but it needs to protect the discs first and foremost. These increasingly cheap boxsets with damaged discs are really getting old (I'm looking at you too Star Trek season 1 HD DVD....)."

Scratched discs spoil value

J. Ryder | Missouri | 12/10/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"UPDATE: Filling out a support request at universalhidef dot com (URL's apparently get deleted) for scratched disks seems to open up an RMA-replacement opportunity. I received an email saying they would exchange the scratched discs with new ones. Hopefully this works and hopefully they come in standard packaging. I'll let you guys know.



UPDATE2: I just returned the discs for a refund. I dislike the RMA process anyway, and the problems go beyond scratched discs.



I am not criticizing the show, but I am very disappointed with the packaging of the set. Placing the discs flat on paperboard does not jive with those who want scratch-free discs. Discs four and five have show-stopping scratches that the Toshiba HD-A2 can't read through, resulting in skippy playback.



I recommend you buy the set - many of the discs show no scratches. Move the discs immediately to standard DVD cases and COMPLAIN to Universal about the scratched discs. They should recall these and ship out new discs in adequate packaging."

Keep your fingers crossed for a recall...

Matt | 01/01/2008

(1 out of 5 stars)

"It truly hurts to give this a one-star rating. The last thing I want to do is turn someone off to a show as great as Battlestar Galactica, but the sad reality is that this box set should be considered a war crime. I won't get into the details of how disappointing the transfer is, the flimsy packaging, the stupid rubber nubs (hint: twist don't pull), the scratched discs, the audio-sync problems, the video skipping, or the lackluster extras; other reviewers here and elsewhere have done an adequate job of that. My real goal here is to add another voice to the growing chorus of people heartbroken by this travesty in the (likely deluded) hope that Universal issues a recall and maybe does it right next time. In the mean time, I'm returning this and sticking with my original DVD box set."