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DVD Review: Back to the Future Trilogy (Widescreen)

da3dAlus writes "The Back to the Future trilogy has probably been one of the most highly anticipated DVD releases, mainly due to the age and enduring popularity of the movies. No matter how many times the movies have been shown on TV, I guarantee that nobody has seen the Back to the Future series like this before." da3dAlus gives the Robert Zemeckis-directed trilogy a 9.8 out of 10; read the rest of his review below, as well as a warning about the transfer quality.

All 3 movies have undergone audio and video re-mastering. Audio was updated to the de-facto 5.1 digital surround, and all film was not only digitally transferred, but cleaned up and rendered crystal clear. The bonus material not only gives additional value to the DVDs, but also helps to answer numerous questions about the movies, including time travel, plot lines, and the characters themselves. My intentions here are to generally review the DVD, but not reveal any of the specific deleted scenes, for those that still want something to remain a surprise.

To begin, the movies themselves are intact, as originally shown in the theaters. Unlike recent DVD releases of 80s classics (ie. the gun-to-walkie-talkie edits in E.T.), there were no political corrections made. While this is not usually something of concern, there were TV edits made that removed "the Libyans" from the first movie, shortly after the 9-11 events. All that aside, the DVDs are a pretty standard affair, with each one being themed after the respective movies: Part 1 in the 50s, Part 2 in the future, and Part 3 in the old west.

For a DVD box set that has been over 15 years in the making, Zemeckis and team definitely deliver. This set has all that you would expect of any feature-packed DVDs, including deleted scenes, outtakes, original trailers, and behind the scenes features. The movies themselves contain additional commentaries, and an option that pops up an icon for additional production notes and factoids during viewing. Even the deleted scenes have an option for viewing with commentary by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale.

The larger behind the scenes features include a "Making of" for each of the three movies, and an overall "Making of the Trilogy" that spans all three DVDs. Among the smaller behind the scenes features are the evolution of special effects, production Q&A's, making of the DeLorean time machine, and the original discussion of the time-travel plot lines.

Among the only drawbacks I noticed were a few minor flaws in the DVD menus. While viewing the bonus material, some features returned to a pure black menu. However, the problem isn't critical, as pressing the Menu button on your DVD remote will eventually take you back to the main menu. It's just distracting to have such a flaw that appears on each of the DVDs.

Overall, I'm extremely pleased with the conversion of the movies to DVD format, and even more so with the additional material on the DVDs. Personally, I know I've had questions about what I thought were plot holes in the whole time travel theory, and Zemeckis made sure to include plenty of notes, FAQs, and Q&As to clear up any confusion, or add to it, depending on your acceptance of his answers. Bottom line: if you've ever waited for an answer to your "whys" or "what ifs" --- or if you just want to enjoy the movies as they are, then look no further than the Back to the Future trilogy.

However, hang on a second: NetGyver writes with a reason to hold off on buying this trilogy:

"The Digital Bits is reporting that the widescreen matting has been done in error on the BTTF Part II and III discs in the trilogy box set. The results very from minor to extremely irritating. Here is a side by side frame comparison between the full-screen DVDs/Laserdisc/and widescreen DVDs for you to view.

The widescreen DVD set is considered defective and Universal has an exchange program on the way where you can mail in discs II and III for replacements. But that won't roll out until late February 2003. There is no word for disc replacements for other regions besides North America, at least for now. This a fix for those who already own the widescreen DVD set. The corrected DVD batch will arrive in U.S. stores in late February according to Universal Studios."

Slashdot welcomes reader-submitted features and reviews, and thanks da3dAlus for this one.

447 comments

  1. Marty! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Back! To the future!

  2. Wonder what special features.. by SteveDude · · Score: 1

    ..appear on the DVD. I love the Back to the Future trilogy as I think a lot of geeks due with all that hi tech equipment and such. Of course with the movie being so old I wonder what kind of stuff would appear on the DVD and I bet the quality is amazing.

    --
    Steve
    1. Re:Wonder what special features.. by thx2001r · · Score: 1

      There's also 2 music videos in the trilogy box as well as tons of original production art and concept work (if you're into that as I am).

      The video quality and remastering is spectacular (even side by side with the laser-disc screencaps I've seen). It is truly nice! Also, in the first movie you get the original theatrical ending (sans the "To be continued..." blurb added later).

      The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound is spectacular (beats the living daylights out of the video tapes and is, of course, carefully and meticulously remastered) and sounds just as good as any DTS feature I've watched. What I understand is that the team wanted to fit more extra features (believe me each DVD disc is absolutely chock full!) on the discs so they opted away from the DTS sound. Bob Gale said, in not so many words, that the Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS sound were virtually indistinguishable anyhow. Personally, I'm happier having the extra features on the DVD. I mean, it's already three DVD's, if they wanted to do DTS and tons of extra features they would have had to make double sided DVD's that are annoying (In my opinion) and so much more prone to being ruined if not handled extremely gingerly.

      Aside from that, I've read a lot about how the video formatting (the widescreen version) is flawed or something like that... I found pictures of what the flawed DVD looks like and what the laserdisc looks like... I'll have to say, it doesn't look anything like an issue of matting... they simply zoomed in more on the character's face than the laser disc did!

      With that said, I didn't find it annoying (or even notice the "flaw" until numerous enthusiast sites pointed it out). It is one of my favorite movies, but I don't think it takes anything away from the enjoyability of the movie.

      In any case, as the following site states, there apparently will be a way to exchange the "flawed" discs 2 & 3 in February for ones that have been corrected... I've sent email to Universal myself to make sure the address there is correct just now (don't want to send my DVD's I've waited years and years for to the wrong address!). While I'm waiting to hear from the Horse's mouth on this one, check out this link with info about the exchange...

      http://www.thedigitalbits.com/mytwocentsa65.html #b ttfexplained

      --

      -Joe
      If we're all god's children, what's so special about Jesus? - Jimmy Carr

  3. 1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    What the hell is a jigawatt?

    1. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      those are the negro watts

    2. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by AriesGeek · · Score: 5, Informative

      Actually, Doc Brown is the only person that I've ever heard pronounce "giga" correctly. Yes, it's true. Look it up some time.

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      Insert offensive troll-style sig here. Please mod or respond appropriately.
    3. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by dmarkle · · Score: 2, Interesting

      WOW! I just looked it up at m-w.com. I can't believe it. Jigawatt is actually the first listed pronunciation of the word "gigawatt". Incredible. Now I have really learned something. And now for you: The peak output capacity of Grand Coulee Dam in Washington State is 6GW! That's about enough for 5 deloreans!

    4. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by geekoid · · Score: 2

      I did.
      from dictionary.com:

      "- /ji'ga/ or /gi'ga/ "

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    5. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by suman28 · · Score: 2

      That must be what Will Smith calls Gigawatts

    6. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by scorp1us · · Score: 1

      I doubt that. the soft 'g' sound (sounds like 'j') comes only from the combination of g followed by e, and only that combination. This soft 'g' has origins lying in French...
      So to be completely correct, 'gi' is a hard 'g' and not 'ji'. Example: 'Gia'. Pheonetically, it's not 'Jea' but 'g-I-a'

      Whomever came up with it in 1962 was wrong. Having said it first, doesn't make it right!!

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    7. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by Fredbo · · Score: 1

      I pronounce it correctly. It just grates when I hear someone mispronounce it. I am happy that Doc Brown knows how to pronounce it, it probably would have wrecked the movie for me if he he didn't...

    8. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by AriesGeek · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Sorry, dude. I call them as I see them. And Doc Brown pronounces "gigawatt" correctly. Since when has the english language been so straight-forward that you can say something like "Whomever came up with it in 1962 was wrong."

      Example: "ghoti" spells fish. "gh" as in "trough". "o" as in "women". "ti" as in "station".

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      Insert offensive troll-style sig here. Please mod or respond appropriately.
    9. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      der, um yeah... both pronunciations are correct according to every dictionary I've seen.

      retard much?

    10. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by derch · · Score: 1

      Dictionary.com and m-w.com both give pronunciations as "/ji'ga/" or "/gi'ga/."

      Perhaps it's pronounced "ji'ga" is your dialiect's pronunciation, but that doesn't make it the only correct pronunciation.

      Stop being so anal.

    11. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by Rosonowski · · Score: 2

      Actually, both pronounciations are right, according to The jargon file, but it's really a matter of preference.

      --
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    12. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by Anonvmous+Coward · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      "Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? (Score:2)
      That must be what Will Smith calls Gigawatts "


      I didn't realize Scott Adams was a /. frequenter.

    13. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by derch · · Score: 1

      As a follow up to my own post, other dictionaries give both pronunciations of gigawatt.

      They're both correct.

    14. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Whomever came up with it in 1962 was wrong

      The correct word is whoever. Whom[ever] is the correct form for an object, not a subject.

    15. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by DudemanX · · Score: 1

      Does this also mean that when speaking about hard drive sizes we should prounounce it "jigabyte"?

    16. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by Tin+Weasil · · Score: 1

      You are not a what?

    17. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by knisa · · Score: 1

      Gin, Giaraffe...

      Steve

      --
      This space for rent.
    18. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by aaribaud · · Score: 1
      Count yourself happy. In the French dubbing, they have him say "un virgule vingt-et-un gigowatts". Yes, no spelling error, that's a o and that's a horrible mistake. And, to fill it up, he utters the final "s" clearly. I'd rather hear the English soundtrack.

      Albert, French--but you would have guessed. :)

    19. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by SkywalkerOS8 · · Score: 1

      The "ghoti" example is hilarious! And I concede that giga can be pronounced "giga" or "jiga" but then why is it spelt 'jigowatt' in the novelization of the movie and in the subtitles and "anecdotes" on the new DVD? I believe it is a made up unit of power that resemble a real one.

    20. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's a few people I know that still say jigabyte. And rooter instead of router. And JIF instead of GIF.

    21. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by kalidasa · · Score: 2

      The ghoti example is from Shaw. And the novelization was probably written by a dimwit who didn't know how to spell gigawatt. And the "jigawatt" pronounciation would be entirely a modernism (and mostly an English/French thing), as the word it is from is from a language that never pronounces the "g" softly (Greek).

    22. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you're English it *is* a router (pronounced rooter). A router is a tool for working wood. If you lot wanted to corrupt the pronunciation, why didn't you just change the spelling to 'rowter' and then nobody would be in any doubt.

    23. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by scorp1us · · Score: 1

      Foriegn. Not derived from English, German or Latin (the two main parts of English)

      Gin is Dutch
      Giraffe is French

      Nice try though.

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    24. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by SkywalkerOS8 · · Score: 1

      That still doesn't explain why it is spelt 'jigowatt' in several places on the new DVD. I don't think taking a pot-shot at the author of the novel fixes that.

    25. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by scorp1us · · Score: 1

      While I'm at it: region, origin
      They both had old-english roots containing of ge, as in: regere 'to rule' [a region]
      And for 'origin': origo (ori-go): latin, to be born.

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    26. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by BdosError · · Score: 2

      In one message by scorp1us: This soft 'g' has origins lying in French...

      In a later message, also by scorp1us: Giraffe is French

      From these two statements I would infer that the "gi" soft-g construction is valid.

      Besides, m-w.com lists the origin of Giraffe as Arabic.

      --
      Complexity is Easy. Simplicity is Hard.
    27. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by scorp1us · · Score: 1

      It is, but you have to go through latin first. ... from Italian giraffa, from Arabic dialectal zirfa...

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    28. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      GIF *is* pronounced with a soft 'g'. Or, at least thats the way a lot of us on CIS Graphics forum pronounced it when the format was first released, and I still pronounce it to this day. Choosy graphics chose GIF. I even wrote one of the very first GIF display programs (for Amiga) and called it GIFFY because it had a significant speed optimization for the decompressor code.

      All you peons who changed the way it was said over the years are wrong...

      But I digress. :)

      -->Steve Bennett

    29. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by scorp1us · · Score: 1

      My bad. I meant go through Italian first. Keep em coming though! :-) I like these challenges!

      FYI: the complete transition is:
      (Most recnet)
      Engish giraffe -> French girafe, -> Italian giraffa, -> Arabic zirfa
      (Oldest)

      Note that G+i in itiallian is very much a 'j' sound.

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    30. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by ShavenYak · · Score: 2

      Because 'rowter' might be pronounced like 'rotor' and get people really confused.

      --

      Hey kids, there's only 5 days left 'til Yak Shaving Day!
    31. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by AsmordeanX · · Score: 1

      Are you pronouncing potato(po-taa-toe), tomato (toe-maa-toe), and schedule (sh-ed-ule) correctly as well?

    32. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by EvanED · · Score: 2

      Including, I might add [since not everyone has access to it] the OED.

    33. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      GIF *is* pronounced with a soft 'g'. Or, at least thats the way a lot of us on CIS Graphics forum pronounced it when the format was first released, and I still pronounce it to this day.

      It is reported that of the 3 people who developed the format, 1 pronounced it with a hard g and the other 2 with soft.

    34. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by benzapp · · Score: 2

      gigantic, based on the same root as giga

      --
      I don't read or respond to AC posts
    35. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by Saeger · · Score: 1
      I say Giblets, you say Jiblets. Them be fight'n words?

      There is never only one true way to pronounce something (how f'n boring - but anal-retentives are like that I guess). Be glad that since your post got +5, that your "jiga" opinion may gain some mindshare in meme-space.

      --

      --
      Power to the Peaceful
    36. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 2

      A great deal of English words come from French, I think it is probably #3.

      That's what is so frustrating for people learning English, to spell or pronounce something correctly, or to make the "correct" plural, you have to go back to the origins, but the thing is that much of English has German, Latin and French as its primary origins, then there are words from Greek and who the hell knows how many other languages.

      Because of the diverse background, I think there are 3000+ phonetic sounds in English, which I think is the highest in the world. A lot of word meanings I think are subverted from their root meaning. I would love Japanese (~106 sounds) but they have a scary tendency to borrow a foriegn word, usually English and subvert _again_ to suit their own needs. I actually don't mind the Chinese characters, it is a lot more straightforward than English.

    37. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by nexgolai · · Score: 1

      I always thought it was from "Gigas" therefore putting forward a new pronunciation G-eye-Ga-watt

    38. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by fuzza · · Score: 1

      And for that matter, what's with Doc's pronunciation of the first part?

      "One point Twenty One"

      HELLO??? Virtually _any_ scientist or engineer knows that you would say

      "One point Two One"

      and _never_ mix the parts after the decimal into whole-number pronunciations.

      But hey, I guess maybe Twenty-One sounds better on screen...

      --
      Can't find examples of evolution? No matter, neither could Dawkins
    39. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All you peons who changed the way it was said over the years are wrong...

      Sure, it is the same ignorant peons that pronounce graphics with a hard 'g'.
      Who'd of thought that the rest of the world would be left out of Compuserve's stupid Jif peanut butter inside joke?

      I'm glad to hear that you guys pronounce it the same way to this day.
      As another sane person pointed out, the rest of us prounounce it shitty-patent-encumbered-obsolete-8bit-format. Or something like that.

    40. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by Dirtside · · Score: 2

      He's not a number. ;)

      --
      "Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
    41. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by dickens · · Score: 1

      I'm from upstate NY origintally, and I always said "Root 90" when I meant Interstate Route 90.

      After I became a unix guy I deliberately started saying "Rowte" when I meant route to avoid confusion with the word that is spelled "root", as in root account. I now find myself saying that even when I am talking about roads rather than computer networks.

      And for the record I say "Jif" like the peanut butter. Don't know why. Like many words, I read it hundreds of times before I heard another human pronounce it.

    42. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by jskline · · Score: 1

      You really oughta get out more...!!!

      --
      All content in this message is copyright (c) 2008. All rights reserved. RIAA is prohibited here.
    43. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by atheken · · Score: 1

      giga-what? giga-who? they had a song about jiggas, or gigas, whatever.
      is a giga-watt 1,000,000,000 watts?
      interesting that they need
      1.21 giga-watts at 1:21 AM, what was the date anyway? Do they tell us why that is in the special DVD set?

    44. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by Pat__ · · Score: 1

      Actually the Arabic word is Zarafa not Zirafa but I guess it does not matter nor does it relate to giga in any way :-)

    45. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because you know GIF is a jraphics format.

    46. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by Fizyx · · Score: 1

      And how do you pronounce giraffe, gigantic, or(dare I say it) GIF?

      Stupid jit.

    47. Re:1.21 JIGAWATTS!?!?!?!!? by carlos_benj · · Score: 1

      So, you can get your kicks on rowte 66? I think not! Besides, how do you differentiate your route from a rout now?

      --

      --

      As a matter of fact, I am a lawyer. But I play an actor on TV.

  4. I travelled back in time... by Entropy248 · · Score: 2, Funny

    To make this first post mine...
    Ha!

    1. Re:I travelled back in time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you quoting a Back to the Future Valentine's Day card? That's literally the GAYEST thing I've ever heard. Holy crap.

    2. Re:I travelled back in time... by cHiphead · · Score: 4, Funny

      looks like u didnt travel back far enough

      --

      This is my sig. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
    3. Re:I travelled back in time... by WPIDalamar · · Score: 2

      But doing that you branched time, so that the people living in your time would never see it... but the new branch would see it, and you would return to this new branch, and so it would appear to work, and I must be in this new time branch, but does that mean I'm not the real me, and if so ... oh ... my head hurts.

    4. Re:I travelled back in time... by xinit · · Score: 3, Funny

      Better luck getting the settings right next time... your clock was off by at least a couple minutes.

      --
      --- http://foo.ca
    5. Re:I travelled back in time... by Joey7F · · Score: 2

      Time travel for a first post?

      What a collosal waste of time travel!

      At least go back to the powerball drawing or something!

      --Joey

  5. Cool by avesti · · Score: 1

    I loved these movies when they came out. Of course I have not seen them in several years. ButI find movies that an entire family can watch and enjoy come few and far between these days.

  6. With just a little effort... by Damek · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...we could all work together to make the world a better -- OOOH!!! SHINEY!!

    1. Re:With just a little effort... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Way OT...

      I just finished reading all of the Hitchhiker books. Where does the "Oooh! Shiney!" bit come from? I was quite sure that it came from the Hitchhiker books, but if it did I must have missed it. What character, and in what book?

    2. Re:With just a little effort... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      that isn't from the hitchhiker books

      boycott the MPAA! Buy this DVD set!

  7. Man....memories by sickboy_macosX · · Score: 1

    I remember the first time I saw Back to the Future, I wanted to be like Marty Mc Fly. and then I started using computers, and now my parents are scared. And My Wife is Scared for Life! Good Review by the way

    --
    --- /* In Soviet Russia, the Mac OS X kernel panics you! */
    1. Re:Man....memories by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So how does that work out with you and your wife living in your parents basement

  8. I was going to mention the defects by delorean · · Score: 1
    but the eds included it!

    Good job... I for one will go ahead and wait for the better disks in Feb... though it burns me up. But, hey, I get to drive a Time Travel car everyday I want to! :-)

    --
    "You may all go to hell and I will go to Texas"
    Sen. Davy Crocket to US Congress, Nov. 1, 1835
    1. Re:I was going to mention the defects by cayenne8 · · Score: 1

      Well, I went ahead and got mine at the intro. sale price...and will just switch them when the replacements come out. Got it at best buy for $37.99...list on the sticker was $49.99. What prices ya'll seeing out there? C

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    2. Re:I was going to mention the defects by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When Feb. comes, how are you going to tell the difference at the store between the bad old ones and the good new ones.

    3. Re:I was going to mention the defects by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What about the defects with your time machine? I have mine maintained by Delorean One, but I still need to jump start it if I haven't driven it in a few weeks. God damned Lucas electrical system. Sometimes it reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw on an MG: Every part falling off this car is an example of the best British engineering. Still, I love my D (October '81, 21,000 miles) and will NEVER sell it. Just the other day I was taking it out for a spin and was stopped at a light on Sunset Blvd (Los Angeles). A guy comes running up through the stopped cars, jumps in front of me takes two pictures of my car, gives me a thumbs up and went running back to his car. NOT something that happens if you drive a Mercedes or Porsche.

  9. time machine by pandrew · · Score: 3, Funny

    Great, now that the DVD's are out, maybe I can begin to convert my 93 Accord into a time machine!

    1. Re:time machine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Only if you can get it to 88mph. Maybe on a downhill...

    2. Re:time machine by Moloch666 · · Score: 1

      Record your steps so I can do mine as well.

      Litte broken image there, the page isn't linked anymore.

      --
      Understanding is a three-edged sword. -- Kosh Naranek
    3. Re:time machine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      HAHAHAHA! Handles like a sports car? HAHAHAHAHA!
      HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

      HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

      You're killin' me, man!

    4. Re:time machine by Moloch666 · · Score: 1

      I must reply... thanks for the troll. Seriously you would be surprised what that thing could do. Note I did say handle like a sports car, but not accelerate and top speed like a sports car.

      You actually had a valid point sport and accord don't go together.

      --
      Understanding is a three-edged sword. -- Kosh Naranek
  10. You know, Jigawatts by megabyte405 · · Score: 1

    like that 40 jigabyte hard drive you have in your computer, anonycow.

    *shakes head*

    I guess anonycows can't see past interesting pronounciation. There was a time, in the past, when giga-anything wasn't in the vernacular.

    --
    I recognize people by their sigs. Is that a bad thing?
    1. Re:You know, Jigawatts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, Mister Smarty Pants... The soft 'g' pronunciation is a perfectly acceptable. In fact, m-w.com lists it first; which I take to mean it is preferred.

      How do you say "giant"? That word comes from "giga".

      I'm inclined to wonder if the hard 'g' pronunciation was even considered correct before advances in computing ensured that the prefix occurred frequently in print.

      PS: I bet you mispronounce "GIF", too.

    2. Re:You know, Jigawatts by SpryGuy · · Score: 1

      The correct pronunciation of "GIF" is "JIF", as in the peanut-butter. I know this because I worked at CompuServe, with the people who invented the thing, and remember the way THEY pronounced it, and the pronunciation guide they wrote into their documentation.

      Anyone who pronounces it "GIF" as in "GIFT" (rather than as Giraff and Giant and Gin), is pronouncing it wrong. And yes, that includes the clueless customer service reps that CompuServe now employs (or should I say "AOL" now?)

      --

      - Spryguy
      There are three kinds of people in this world: those that can count and those that can't
    3. Re:You know, Jigawatts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Except that you sound like a retard when you say jif or jiga.

    4. Re:You know, Jigawatts by AyeRoxor! · · Score: 2

      "Except that you sound like a retard when you say jif"

      I always thought that people that said GIF with a hard 'G' sounded like the people who pronounce Warez "war-ezz"

      People to whom it sounds silly to speak proper grammer are they themselves the intellectually inferior. :)

    5. Re:You know, Jigawatts by kalidasa · · Score: 2

      Giga is from the Greek word "gigantes," "giants." In Greek, gamma (=g) is always pronounced as a hard G like in Greek, not as in Giant. So, no, it's not jiga.

    6. Re:You know, Jigawatts by ShavenYak · · Score: 2

      But WHY did CompuServe insist on pronouncing it with a soft G, when the word the G stood for (Graphics) was pronounced with a hard G?

      --

      Hey kids, there's only 5 days left 'til Yak Shaving Day!
    7. Re:You know, Jigawatts by Jay+L · · Score: 2

      I always thought that people that said GIF with a hard 'G' sounded like the people who pronounce Warez "war-ezz"

      Ditto. Plus:

      GIF was invented by CompuServe.

      The people at CompuServe say "jif".

      Therefore.

    8. Re:You know, Jigawatts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      which is why I prefer to use jay-pegs and pee-en-gees.

      That, and I don't want anyone suing me when they change licence agreements *again*. <paranoia />

    9. Re:You know, Jigawatts by srn_test · · Score: 1

      Wheras I always pronounce it "Crappy 8-bit patented image format". :)

    10. Re:You know, Jigawatts by StillAnonymous · · Score: 1

      Exactly! It IS possible for them to invent a standard and pronounce the acronym wrong.

      As for the giga/jiga issue, I do realise it was originally meant to be pronounced "jiga", but giga has now become the standard. Besides, when you talk about 2 Jigs of RAM, it sounds like you talking about fishing, not computers.

    11. Re:You know, Jigawatts by Vinnie_333 · · Score: 1

      Thanks. The nex time I want to know how to pronounce a word, I'll ask the kind folks at CompuServe because they all, evidently, have master's degrees in English.

      --

      "We shall party like the Greeks of old! You know the ones I mean." - HedonismBot
    12. Re:You know, Jigawatts by Ozymandias_KoK · · Score: 1

      It was originally supposed to be Giraffics after the animals, they just messed up the spelling is all.

    13. Re:You know, Jigawatts by carlos_benj · · Score: 1

      Wooden legs for birds and a gaggle with bladder control issues?

      --

      --

      As a matter of fact, I am a lawyer. But I play an actor on TV.

  11. I'm keeping my "defective" copy.... by rickthewizkid · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ... and possibly buying another. In a few years, the "defective" discs will probably be collectors items. It seems that is the case with laserdiscs or CEDs (RCA Select-a-vision discs) etc.

    Just my 88 miles-per-hour worth...
    RickTheWizKid

    1. Re:I'm keeping my "defective" copy.... by sys$manager · · Score: 5, Funny

      I hope you're not a financial planner. I'd hate to see what you'd do for other investments.

      You don't have a closet full of beanie babies in plastic bags, do you?

    2. Re:I'm keeping my "defective" copy.... by blixel · · Score: 3, Funny

      In a few years, the "defective" discs will probably be collectors items

      Hey man - I got some Enron stock you can buy.

    3. Re:I'm keeping my "defective" copy.... by antis0c · · Score: 2

      Haha funny you say that, I remember my grandfather getting into an argument about some baseball cards he owned as a child. Some Mickey Mantle cards to be exactly. I do beleive it went along the lines as you wrote.. Good thing he didn't take the advice your spewing out..

      Yeah, a 40 dollar DVD is a highrisk investment, I sure hope he doesn't lose his house over it.

      --

      ..There's a-dooin's a-transpirin'
    4. Re:I'm keeping my "defective" copy.... by klui · · Score: 1

      I have the Star Wars Trilogy Definitive Collection LD with the unintentional deleted scene in Empire Strikes Back. What is this flawed version worth? I personally doubt people will pay significantly for this version but hey I'm willing to negotiate. :) www.jax-inter.net/~datalore/starwars/THX.htm

    5. Re:I'm keeping my "defective" copy.... by Ozymandias_KoK · · Score: 1

      You are missing the point. Some may end up being high dollar value later, but you have to compare that against the total value -- I.E., you spend $40 on item X that one day turns out worth something, but what about all the other items you collected for $lots and aren't worth anything. (sorta like how people remember gambling wins but not the losses as much -- if it truly paid out more than you paid in, casinos and the like wouldn't be in business real long.)

  12. I predict.. by Anonvmous+Coward · · Score: 1, Redundant

    .. that this article will comprise mostly jokes about travelling back in time to fix an article on Slashdot or nerdy arguments over percieved inconsistencies in any of the movies.

    Hopefully now that I've pointed that out, a bunch of moderators will be able to use their 'Redundant' button.

    1. Re:I predict.. by haedesch · · Score: 1

      don' t forget the: 'slashdot readers are hypocites cause they buy dvds and are against the MPAA!!!' - trolls

    2. Re:I predict.. by sconeu · · Score: 1

      Nah. It's Monday. We love DVDs on Monday. On Tuesday, we hate CSS, Region Coding, and the MPAA.

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
  13. Nixing the Libyans by cje · · Score: 2

    While this is not usually something of concern, there were TV edits made that removed "the Libyans" from the first movie, shortly after the 9-11 events.

    I can believe that overly-nervous TV executives would want to cut this out, but I'm at a loss to actually figure out how they would do it. The Libyans are sort of a central plot point to the film (after all, they are the whole reason that Marty ends up in 1955 to begin with!) Has anybody seen this edit?

    --
    We're going down, in a spiral to the ground
    1. Re:Nixing the Libyans by spanky1 · · Score: 0

      I'm sure all they did was dub over the spoken word "Lybians". Reminds me of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. The TV edits are so lame. Like when Bill & Ted hug and say "Fag", the TV edit says something stoopid like "Fool!"

    2. Re:Nixing the Libyans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The didn't remove "the Libyans" as in the people in the Volkswagen bus chasing them.

      They removed "the Libyans" as in what Doc yells when he sees them.

      IIRC, they just jump over him yelling that and we are to infer from his reaction to seeing them that they are "bad" people. Notwithstanding they wear turbans and are dark-skinned.

    3. Re:Nixing the Libyans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wonder why they don't do similar edits and remove the Nazis from World War II movies. "Look, it's those damn *snip*ENEMIES!!!"

    4. Re:Nixing the Libyans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      we are to infer from his reaction to seeing them that they are "bad" people. Notwithstanding they wear turbans and are dark-skinned.

      Like we needed much help deducing THAT one.

    5. Re:Nixing the Libyans by Lxy · · Score: 3, Funny

      BTTF 3 TV edit. Buford is outside waiting for Marty to fight. Buford counts to 10, starts yelling. Marty says "He's an asshole", with the camera directly on his face. On TV, they replaced it with 'idiot'. Possibly the worst edit I've ever seen, since you can VERY plainly see what Marty said.

      --

      There is no reasonable defense against an idiot with an agenda
      :wq
    6. Re:Nixing the Libyans by pthisis · · Score: 2

      The Die Hard TV edit is the worst. "Yippeykayay, motherf*cker" turns into "Yippeykayay, yippeykayay", and "son of a b*tch" turns into "sourpuss".

      --
      rage, rage against the dying of the light
    7. Re:Nixing the Libyans by jasonbw · · Score: 1

      My vote for the worst was during the network tv showing of police academy, when g.w. bailey's (i can't believe i remembered that) character says to steve guttenberg "Nobody (PLAYS) with me."

    8. Re:Nixing the Libyans by agallagh42 · · Score: 1

      Actually, my favourite dub was from the same movie. The little quiet black woman screams "Freeze asshole, before I blow your goddamn nuts off!!". The TV people changed that to "Freeze eggroll, before I blow your gosh darn knees off!".

      Classic :)

      --
      Carpe Cerevisi - Seize the Beer
    9. Re:Nixing the Libyans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's at least one version of Die Hard which is actually pretty funny.

      "Yippey-kay-yay, Major Falcon"...

    10. Re:Nixing the Libyans by OvertlyPedantic · · Score: 1

      Can't be as bad as the T.V. edit of 'Risky Business' 'Sometimes you have to say what the F***, If you can't say it, you can't do it' changed to 'what the heck'

    11. Re:Nixing the Libyans by Disco+Stu · · Score: 1

      Galaxy Quest has a pretty bad one -- and it's in the actual movie, not just the TV edit. There's a scene where Sigourney Weavery says "Screw that!" while her lips very obviously mouth the words "Fuck that!"

    12. Re:Nixing the Libyans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I may be wrong, but I thought I saw it on TV once where "Libyans" were replaced by "terrorists"....

    13. Re:Nixing the Libyans by reverseengineer · · Score: 2

      My vote for the worst edit ever is "Die Hard With A Vengeance." Fot those of you who haven't seen it, at the very start of the movie, the villain threatens to blow up buildings unless John McClane (Bruce Willis) follows his instructions. His first instruction is to go to a street corner in Harlem with a sandwich-board with the message in huge red letters, "I HATE N*GG*RS" Obviously, since it's Harlem, and John McClane is white, and most of the residents of Harlem are not, there looks to be trouble. However, in the cable TV edit, the words on the sign have been altered to read, "I HATE EVERYBODY" Not quite the same effect. I mean, I've watched plenty of movies where dialogue has been edited, but that was probably the only one I've seen so far where written text was altered.

      --
      "FDA staff reviewers expressed concern about the number of patients who were left out of the study because they died."
    14. Re:Nixing the Libyans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      "Possibly the worst edit I've ever seen, since you can VERY plainly see what Marty said."

      That probably means that the censor knew the s/he was only working for the good of soccer moms and overall it didn't really matter.

    15. Re:Nixing the Libyans by Condor7 · · Score: 1



      My favorite is Heartbreak Ridge. They changed dozens of instances of "Cluster Fuck" to "Cluster Flop".
      The funny part is: They missed one. At the base party the commanding general walks up to Eastwood and asks "Been to any cluster fucks lately?".

    16. Re:Nixing the Libyans by maxjenius22 · · Score: 1

      best ones: from dusk till dawn: "if you can find cheaper kitty anywhere...fork it!" half-baked: "what's that we used to eat all the time back in the day? Oh yeah, pudding!" mallrats: instead of saying he farted when she went down on him, he said he threw up when she made out with him. "What can I say? When I relax, I get sick."

    17. Re:Nixing the Libyans by jcenters · · Score: 1

      The funniest one I've seen is a TV BTTF 2 edit, in which Marty gets knocked backwards by "Psycho Hoverboard" Biff. In the original, Marty cries "Holy shit!" In the edit, they took out MJF's voice and spliced in Sylvester Stallone saying "Holy cow!"

      Freaked me out as a child.

      --

      vi ~/.emacs

    18. Re:Nixing the Libyans by wpanderson · · Score: 1

      Most UK network TV edits of the Die hard movies use "Yippey-kay-ay, Kemo Sabe" ... satellite and cable channels rightfully leave the originals alone :)

      --
      neuro at well dot com (when I post, it's my opinions, no-one elses)
    19. Re:Nixing the Libyans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The worst one I can remember was ABC's showing of Forrest Gump. When Forrest comes up with the phrase "Shit happens", the TV censors changed it to "It happens". Then, when they showed the bumper sticker, they whited-out the "s" and "h" so that it also said "It happens". Nevermind the fact that there was a large white space at the front of the bumper sticker.

    20. Re:Nixing the Libyans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I saw one version of Back to the Future 2 and when Marty jumps in the water after being chased by griff or whatever he yells "holy geeze" instead of holy shit!

  14. Noticeably misframed shots in the WS edition... by antdude · · Score: 5, Informative

    From this story:

    "Back to the Future redux - 12:43am

    Thinking about picking up that Back to the Future trilogy box set this week for a stocking stuffer? You may want to hold off on that. Amid numerous consumer complaints over noticeably misframed shots in the widescreen edition of Parts II and III of the trilogy, Universal Studios Home Video announced yesterday that they will be repressing the discs with corrected framing, and these repressed versions will be included in all future runs of the box set.

    While the shots - some of which ruin crucial jokes and visual gags - may be relatively minor to some, what to do if you've already picked up the set and want the corrected versions? A Universal spokesperson has told us that consumers unhappy with the current version (widescreen only - the full frame edition is not affected) can call the Universal Studios Home Video Consumer Hotline at (888) 703-0010 to request an exchange. While repressed versions of discs 2 and 3 (disc 1 remains unaffected) won't be available until February, Universal will provide corrected versions to those who have already purchased the set. Consumers will need to send the discs back to Universal at their own expense. Stay tuned for any further updates as the story develops..."

    --
    Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  15. E.T. modifications by Zathrus · · Score: 5, Informative

    Unlike recent DVD releases of 80s classics (ie. the gun-to-walkie-talkie edits in E.T.)

    You know that the ET DVDs have both the original, unedited version released in 1982 and the modified 2002 release on them, right?

    No, I didn't think you did.

    1. Re:E.T. modifications by notcreative · · Score: 1

      While we are pointing out things that no one cares about, he should have used "e.g." rather than "i.e."

    2. Re:E.T. modifications by Oliver+Wendell+Jones · · Score: 2

      Ah, then that explains why I looked like a fool. My sister who is 22 had never seen E.T. before. I rented it a couple of weeks ago and was telling her about how Spielburg had P.C.'d the movie by changing guns to walkie-talkies and changing the line about going out for Halloween looking like terrorists, and then lo and behold, she says "terrorists" and everybody had guns... guess I played the wrong version of the movie. Guess that also explains why I didn't notice any new scenes updates...

      --
      A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing -- Emo Phillips
    3. Re:E.T. modifications by jfedor · · Score: 2

      and then lo and behold, she says "terrorists" and everybody had guns... guess I played the wrong version of the movie.

      You mean the right version? :)

      -jfedor

  16. Unfortunately misframed... by Obiwan+Kenobi · · Score: 2, Informative
    Universal, in an astounding display of audacity, is planning on leaving the BTTF's last two films mis-framed until February.


    Check out the Home Theater Forum for evidence.


    Here is Universal's official response, as found on The Digital Bits:


    Thank you for your email. Universal Studios will exchange Back to the Future parts 2 and 3 for copies with the updated framing in late February 2003. You may send the DVDs back now or wait until February. Please send Back to the Future disks 2 and 3, without the case, and a letter with the following information: Name, Full Mailing Address, Daytime Phone Number, Reason for Return and Return Address. Send to:

    Back to the Future DVD Returns
    PO Box 224468
    Dallas, Texas 75260

    Thank you,
    Universal Studios Customer Service

    Those in Canada can call 866-532-2202.

    As for me, I'm waiting until February to get a correct version of all three films. The fanboy who reviewed this got a bit carried away.

    1. Re:Unfortunately misframed... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Running OT III

      When running OT III the solo auditor handles body thetans as he would any other PC, for the general idea is to run them standardly and not ARC break them. He does not scan through anything in order to find body thetans.

      When a solo auditor can find no more body thetans he can attest, or run a pressure area down and handle as per his running instructions.

      The pre-OT could be exterior and the Interiorization processes can be run in Review to help him through.

      Here are three reasons why a pre-OT might have trouble whilst running BT's on Incident II -

      (1) It is the wrong area;
      (2) it is not the volcano of the BT being run;
      (3) it is not an Incident II, but another incident of a
      different date.

      Check (1) and (2) if you are having any difficulty in running Incident II and handle by locating the correct area or finding the volcano of the BT being run. If it is not a II, simply check for the date and if different run it.

      OT III Errors

      Amongst OT III errors are "a BT run on Incident I fails to blow". There are three reasons:

      (a) Auditor is trying to run a cluster with an Incident I. The right thing to do is date and get the character of the incident that made it a cluster and then run Incident I's on those left when it breaks up. Or get Dianetic auditing.

      (b) There is an earlier Incident I on the same BT. Find it and run it. The BT has a chain of them all by himself.

      (c) Another BT is copying the Incident I just run so it looks like it didn't blow. Failure to ever run Incident II can also cause a bog. Routine Dianetic auditing by a Dianetic HDG who is also on or above OT III using triple flows and LDN OT III also handles bogged OT III pre-OT's.

      Cluster Formation - Cumulative

      In doing a cluster one is likely to find it is made up of other earlier clusters. This looks like this. 1898 impact horse accident. When engram 1898 run on R3R, that part blows. No F/N occurs, TA remains up. Remainder will grind after the blow. Earlier portion dates as 93,000,000 years ago, electric shock. When run onR3R, that part blows, no F/N. TA remains up, will grind if run
      further. Earliest portion dates as 72 trillion implant. When run onR3R, all blow, F/N.

      A cluster or engram which is a cluster can repeatedly F/N as BT's blow. Dates as 778 million explosion. After run once or twice an F/N occurs as one BT blows. Run again to second F/N as two more BT's blow. Remainder blow with a wider F/N. The cluster has gone. This happens (repeating F/N) when picture persists and meter check reveals it is not a copy. It will be more BT's in same cluster. So above repeating F/N occurs when pre-OT is moved through it. Clusters are found by meter dating, listing for type of incident and run as an engram. Clusters can occur at Incident II and Incident I. They can also occur at 1 quadrillion, which is the

      Clearing Course materials. They also occur at random dates for different reasons.

      * * *
      I have lately been C/Sing a number of failed OT cases and have found them all running well on solo now. The errors are made as follows:

      (1) The solo auditor cannot audit, needs more training.
      (2) Cases are not well prepared with Dianetics.
      The remedy for all of these is to:

      (a) Run the PC for at least a score or two of Dianetic items by R3R, done of course by a good HDG, (b) then do a GF 40.

      And then repeat it until necessary auditing is complete. These two actions take care of the majority of difficult cases on OT III.

      The real End Phenomena of OT III and OT IV is exterior with full perception. You can and should accomplish full stable exteriorization on doing the materials of III.

      Further III remedies:

      (3) High TA. This comes from not completing the Incidents I
      and II on body thetans.(4) The solo auditor puts too wide an intention on the BT and
      runs two or three when he is intending to run only one.(5) A cluster just won't break up. The remedy is a Dianetic
      session listing for impacts or incidents that would cause a cluster and doing R3R. The principle of earlier similar holds good. When this is completed, the solo auditor is sent back to solo to clean up the BT's shaken loose and to continue with OT III.(6) Rudiments go out on BT's. The remedy of course is to
      locate BT's who have out-ruds, put in the ruds and run Incident I, at which the BT should leave.(7) A theta-bopping meter sometimes puzzles a solo auditor on
      OT III. This means a BT is trying to exteriorize and can't. The remedy is to complete the partially run Incident II or Incident I or in extreme cases put the ruds in on the hung up BT.(8) One-hand electrode giving wrong TA read baffling the solo
      auditor with floating needles with a high TA. The remedy is to have two-hand electrodes handy and trim the trim knob so the one-hand electrode reads the same as two-hand electrodes.(9) A suppressive body thetan sometimes isn't auditable. The
      remedy is to run Grades IV or V on him.(10) By far and large the corniest error and which has been
      very prevalent is not knowing the materials of OT III or the content of Incident II or Incident I.

      OT III is a vital grade. One fronts up to it and does it. When he is really done, the rewards of OT III and IV exceed his wildest dreams.

      Rudiments Going Out on BT's

      When the ruds go out on BT's during the session the solo auditor recognizes the following:

      BT critical = withhold from auditor BT antagonistic = bypassed charge in session No TA = problem BT sad = ARC Break Soaring TA = Overrun or protest (also more than one BT being run in error or it's a cluster) Auditor tired = no sleep or incomplete Incident I's Auditor dope-off = bypassed F/N or not enough sleep Auditor no-interest = out ruds on BT's

      A solo auditor who isn't sure what it is, but runs into trouble with a BT is smart to end off the session quickly, write down the full observation and get it to the C/S. The solo auditor who knows what he is looking at as per the above scale (and the C/S the C/S would give), handles it promptly.

      BT critical = w/h = pull the withhold BT antagonistic = BPC = assess proper list (such as L1C) and handle No TA (or case gain) = problem = locate the problem and handle BT sad = ARC Break = locate and handle itsa E/S itsa Soaring TA = O/R or protest (also more than one BT being run in error or it's a cluster) = find which and handle (running more than the one intended comes from too wide an intention) Auditor tired = no sleep or incomplete Incident I's = check which it is and handle Auditor dope-off = lack of sleep or bypassed F/N = check on sleep or rehabilitate F/N Auditor no-interest = out-ruds on BT's = put in ruds

      OT III Auditing

      OT III pre-OT's got a reputation of being hard to run on Dianetics early on in Dianetic re-development. Only five reasons exist for this.

      (1) A person that high on OT grades audits fast and a
      comm-laggy Dianetic auditor can drive him up the wall.(2) Too quiet or too blurred TR 1.
      (3) A tendency to evaluate instead of using TR 4.
      (4) The numerousness of BT chains on the same item (the BT's
      being separated now) making several chains on the same item, which if not all run separately leave the PC ARC Broken with the bypassed charge of unrun BT's.(5) The OT II who is still on OT III and has been on it a
      while probably himself has no pictures and all the pictures he has are BT pictures.

      The lower grades PC (before Clear) reacts as a composite Being, all on one chain, so to speak. He is separated into himself and the individual BT's and clusters of them when he gets to OT II, and so audits differently. He easily misowns the pictures thinking they are his. The big blowdowns you get on such a PC's item indicates several BT's have it in common. A solo III however will be found to have the same item on more than one BT in many cases.

      The reason for low TA is unflat OT III phenomena. If a person has had a low TA in lower grades the keynote is to take it easy as auditor and C/S. This applies also to any auditing given on upper OT levels.

      That a PC's TA goes below 2.0 is a certain indicator of unflat OT III. He's still got some. When a person cannot handle OT III he is too much at effect. He cannot project his intention. And so he can't run OT III. The new OT I and OT II, particularly OT II, are designed to increase a PC's ability to project his intention to others. If he can't, they overwhelm him and you get low TA or "none on III". Harsh, overbearing auditing or life incidents have to occur, apparently, to drive the TA down.

      Overts, disagreements expressed as obsessive agreement and other lower level matters are at the bottom of this in any Being.

      But any case of low TA I have ever found has been:

      (1) Overwhelmed in life;
      (2) unable to project intention;
      (3) physically inactive;
      (4) loaded with BT's;
      (5) tends to go out of valence easily.
      In all this number (4) is the important point.

      Endless OT III and low TA are alike - inability to project intention, PC at effect. Remedy by lightly causing PC to come to cause, to be able to project his intention and thus flatten OT III. That will complete and finish off low TA.

    2. Re:Unfortunately misframed... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh, give me a break. Have you ever worked on DVDs? Even assuming that the actual fix doesn't take too long (and I have to say that I'm not competent to judge that), they still have to completely QC two new DVDs, twice or three times as carefully as before, because nothing's more embarrassing than to replace defective discs with defective discs. Then they have to have a bazillion of them pressed, because only slightly behind in embarrassment is running out of replacements for a known-defective product. And if you're lucky, they'll change the packaging so that people can tell the difference between the broken and fixed sets, which takes even more time...

    3. Re:Unfortunately misframed... by Dimensio · · Score: 2

      And if Universal had bothered listening to people four months ago when the misframed release hit Australia, they could have avoided quite a bit of this problem.

    4. Re:Unfortunately misframed... by elmegil · · Score: 1
      The fanboy who reviewed this got a bit carried away.

      Or didn't watch the widescreen versions.

      --
      7 November 2006: The day Americans realized corruption and incompetence weren't addressing 11 September 2001
    5. Re:Unfortunately misframed... by elmegil · · Score: 1

      And before I get flamed for ignoring the title, the editors frequently rewrite titles. Nowhere in the fanboy review does he say "widescreen".

      --
      7 November 2006: The day Americans realized corruption and incompetence weren't addressing 11 September 2001
    6. Re:Unfortunately misframed... by poot_rootbeer · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Universal, in an astounding display of audacity, is planning on leaving the BTTF's last two films mis-framed until February.

      Exactly how are they supposed to fix the problems BEFORE February?

      It takes time to re-master and press a large run of corrected discs. Settle down.

    7. Re:Unfortunately misframed... by Dimensio · · Score: 2

      Well, they could have paid attention when people pointed out the same misframing problems in the R2 and R4 releases FOUR MONTHS AGO.

    8. Re:Unfortunately misframed... by ultramk · · Score: 5, Funny

      The fanboy who reviewed this got a bit carried away.

      Ok, let's see. You used the words "an astounding display of audacity" when referring to the DVD release of a mid '80s sci-fi film, you keep up with a site called "The Digital Bits", and you're calling this poor shmuck a fanboy? I mean, for god's sake, your nickname is "Obiwan Kenobi"!

      you know, not that there's anything wrong with that...
      *grin*

      m-

      --
      You catch enchiladas by picking them up behind the head and holding them underwater until they don't kick anymore -VeGas
    9. Re:Unfortunately misframed... by milkman_matt · · Score: 2, Funny

      Exactly how are they supposed to fix the problems BEFORE February?

      time travel? :)

      -matt

    10. Re:Unfortunately misframed... by CableModemSniper · · Score: 1

      hehhe, it reads like the trouble-shooting section of a bad manual. I love it.

      $ man 3 ot

      --
      Why not fork?
    11. Re:Unfortunately misframed... by sircrown · · Score: 1

      And where did he say that he compared it frame for frame with his Laserdisc copy of the movie?

    12. Re:Unfortunately misframed... by elmegil · · Score: 1

      Well I don't know that it would have been necessary to do a frame for frame comparison. It's pretty obvious from the screenshots that what happened was that they put a letterbox matting on the non-widescreen image. You'd think the reviewer might have noticed if you couldn't see the pink shoes, for example.

      --
      7 November 2006: The day Americans realized corruption and incompetence weren't addressing 11 September 2001
  17. Proof: by Aggrazel · · Score: 2

    I traveled back in the future to post this comment just today, knowing full well a Back to the Future post was on the way!

    I still want my hoverboard. And my regenerated spleen. Never know when having an extra spleen could come in handy.

  18. Heavy! by Scrameustache · · Score: 2
    ARGH!
    Must...wait...after...xmas....maybe...paren ts...hi p enough...to get it for me...

    And when I do get 'em, I can go into ubergeek mode and start showing people the resseblance between it and Buckaroo Banzai! : )


    Joy

    --

    You can't take the sky from me...

    1. Re:Heavy! by delorean · · Score: 1

      I remember Buckaroo Banzai. What resemblance?

      --
      "You may all go to hell and I will go to Texas"
      Sen. Davy Crocket to US Congress, Nov. 1, 1835
    2. Re:Heavy! by cei · · Score: 1

      Ever notice that the Flux Capacitor and the Oscillation Overthruster bear a slight resemblence?

      --
      This sig intentionally left justified.
    3. Re:Heavy! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Ever notice that the Flux Capacitor and the Oscillation Overthruster bear a slight resemblence?

      You mean the way a penguin resembles a duck?

    4. Re:Heavy! by delorean · · Score: 1
      the flux looks like an uterus.

      Haven't seen BB in years....

      --
      "You may all go to hell and I will go to Texas"
      Sen. Davy Crocket to US Congress, Nov. 1, 1835
    5. Re:Heavy! by Scrameustache · · Score: 2
      I remember Buckaroo Banzai. What resemblance?

      • The flux capacitor and the device that holds the oscillation overthruster
      • The use of a car to travel through time/dimensions
      • Doc's future silver jacket and John Parker's silver jacket
      • The guy in charge of props : )

      But the most obvious one is the flux capacitor, its the same "triangle of lights" design.

      --

      You can't take the sky from me...

  19. Wow by peterpi · · Score: 1, Troll

    Ooh great, now you too can see films at least ten years old in the comfort of your own home!

    1. Re:Wow by aaribaud · · Score: 1

      So how about the seven samurai? That's 1954, which makes it a 48 years old movie, and yes, I've got it on DVD. :)

      Albert.
      --
      Gorobei! GOROBEI!

  20. Gun edit in ET by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    is explained here

  21. This isn't anything new by Ezubaric · · Score: 2

    > answer numerous questions about the movies,
    > including time travel

    We knew this all along. The flux capacitor. It's what make time travel possible!

    --

    ----------
    I am an expert in electricity. My father held the chair of applied electricity at the state prision.
    1. Re:This isn't anything new by geekoid · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'd tell you how it worls, but I'd have to hit you with a toilet first.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  22. Ads ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    Is it just me or does this this "story" sound more like a press release, rather than "news" ?

    Is this a new ad system on /. ?

  23. plot holes by Satai · · Score: 4, Informative

    Well, I am a card carrying member of the BTTF fan club, and I remember from one of the four magazine issues I recieved a Q&A section, where the magazine was given the question of why did the future family exist, when Marty and Jennifer were brought forward -- the future they traveled to should have been a future where they disappeared in 1985. The answer was a blunt "we messed up," with an explanation that the future HAD to exist, because the ending of the first movie had the statement "Something's gotta be done about your kids!" and they couldn't very well go back on that, eh?

    1. Re:plot holes by Rude+Turnip · · Score: 1

      You know, I'm really busy at work today, but I felt compelled to reply to this. Sure, they disappeared in 1985, but if they have future selves living in the future with kids and all, that obviously means that they came back to the present (1985) eventually. I don't see any holes in the plot here...

    2. Re:plot holes by FleshWound · · Score: 2

      I'm finding that just a bit hard to believe. It's pretty obvious that as long as they actually went back to the time they came from, that they never would have "disappeared," so no such event would have occurred.

    3. Re:plot holes by SomeoneGotMyNick · · Score: 5, Informative

      They didn't mess up....

      In order for them to exist in the future, they would have eventually needed to make it back somewhere between 1985 and 2015. Preferably no later than 1995 in order to have time to have kids that would be as old as they were in the future. They had a whole 10 year window to return to. Having an existence in that particular future proves that they eventually made it back to their proper time.

      An analogous example would be when Bill and Ted told themselves to remind themselves to leave the keys, tape player, and garbage can in the appropriate spots so things could have gone the way they did (what a paradox if they failed, though)

    4. Re:plot holes by 91degrees · · Score: 1

      An analogous example would be when Bill and Ted told themselves to remind themselves to leave the keys, tape player, and garbage can in the appropriate spots so things could have gone the way they did (what a paradox if they failed, though)

      This was used quite cleverly in one of the Monkey Island games, where you meet a version of yourself from the future. You have to avoid a temporal paradox by doing exactly the same as the alternative version of Guybrush did before.

    5. Re:plot holes by entrager · · Score: 2, Interesting

      While a bit off-topic, I feel this is the perfect time to visit the idea of paradoxes and time travel. It may be argued that this can be explained by them eventually going back to 1985 and getting married, having kids, etc. This is a valid argument, but what about a more exotic situation?

      Example: What if Marty from the future killed Marty from 1985? How could that happen?

      Simpler example: Imagine a billiard ball that has a trajectory that takes it into a time portal that goes back in time by a small portion of a second. However, before the ball makes it to the portal, it comes out (naturally, it went back) and knocks the original ball off it's trajectory so that it never hits the portal. This situation actually has a fairly logical conclusion (believe it or not). Suppose instead that the ball was headed towards the portal, but in such a way as to miss it. However, when the ball goes through the portal (hold on a sec...) it goes back and hits itself onto a trajectory that forces it into the portal (there it is!).

      I know this example is confusing, so I provided these links to better explainations. The second link has a nice diagram demonstrating this. Credit must be given to Kip Thorne for coming up with this solution to the famous "Grandfather" paradox.

      Anyone else have any thoughts on the idea of time travel and paradoxes? I am of the opinion that these paradoxes prevent time travel from occuring. Another popular belief if that time travel is possible, but only in the forward direction. Yet another belief is that when you travel through time, you actually enter a different "universe" from our own. This theory is directly tied in to the "multiverse" theory. Any other insight?

    6. Re:plot holes by cheezedawg · · Score: 2

      That doesnt seem like a big plot hole to me because the 1985 Marty and Jennifer did make it back to 1985 at the end of the movie. Now what confused me was why the future family didn't know the 1985 Marty and Jennifer were there. Did the future family just forget that they had travelled forward in time 20+ years ago? If I went forward in time, I think I would mark it on my calendar to go visit myself on the day that I get there.

      --
      "The defense of freedom requires the advance of freedom" - George W Bush
    7. Re:plot holes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So how did the new ball hit the old ball? In order for that to happen, the new ball must be moving at a a velocity greater than the old ball at the same point, and if it's the same ball, than how is that possible ???? whew. my brain went into a spin.

    8. Re:plot holes by AnyoneEB · · Score: 1

      How to time travel forward is known: just go at relativistic speeds (near light-speed). Of course, we don't have the technology to go fast enough for this effect to be measurable without very precise insturments. If time travel backwards is possible... I don't know.

      --
      Centralization breaks the internet.
    9. Re:plot holes by Dimensio · · Score: 1

      Ah yes, and amongst the items traded was a flintlock pistol. Of course, you could shoot your future self with it...

      "I guess gun owners are more likely to shoot themselves".

    10. Re:plot holes by meringuoid · · Score: 2
      In order for them to exist in the future, they would have eventually needed to make it back somewhere between 1985 and 2015. Preferably no later than 1995 in order to have time to have kids that would be as old as they were in the future. They had a whole 10 year window to return to. Having an existence in that particular future proves that they eventually made it back to their proper time.

      No; the Marty who had travelled in time was not the Marty who crashed into the Rolls and went on to become a loser. He returned to 1985 in cowboy gear and (presumably) made a success of his life, being able to ignore being called chicken. The Marty who became a loser is one who did not travel in time - never saw his own fate, never not-confronted Mad Dog Tannen.

      This needn't be a major plot hole because there are countless possible consistent histories involved. It's more of a philosophical problem. What happened to Marty in BttF2 changed his future; he saw what lay ahead of him and had to change it. That future no longer exists, so Marty OUGHT to have met his successful future self. So... if he goes to the future and sees it's all roses, how does he know to avoid becoming... ick. It's the grandfather paradox again.

      --
      Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
    11. Re:plot holes by meringuoid · · Score: 2
      Now what confused me was why the future family didn't know the 1985 Marty and Jennifer were there. Did the future family just forget that they had travelled forward in time 20+ years ago? If I went forward in time, I think I would mark it on my calendar to go visit myself on the day that I get there.

      The future Marty visits is not the future that eventually comes to be. He saw himself as a loser who gets fired for being a party to fraud, who still couldn't say no for fear of being called chicken. After seeing this future, and after his experience in 1885 with Mad Dog Tannen, Marty is able to overcome this personality flaw and set out to a more prosperous future. The future he saw in BttF2 no longer exists. In some alternate reality, Loser McFly is still there, but he never travelled in time, and so doesn't expect to meet himself - that's where the plot hole comes in, because by the time we meet him Marty has already left 1985, so Loser McFly's future ought not to exist.

      Perhaps Loser McFly is a Marty who didn't go to 1885 to rescue Doc Brown, but even then I'd expect his future to become very different, simply because he would take deliberate steps to prevent it coming about. He can't be one who never visited 2015, because Marty is already in 2015 when he's introduced.

      --
      Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
    12. Re:plot holes by beej · · Score: 2
      The three movies, viewed together, are full of such holes. It's a complete mess. The best approach is to damn the torpedos, and just enjoy the hell out of them, because they're fine movies and excellent entertainment.

      If you have difficulties, just remember that what you see on screen is what must have happened, because it's there on film! Duh! ;-)

      Remember when Doc wakes up at the beginning of BTTF3, sees Marty, slips backward on the hoverboard, and lands ass-and-hands on the pipe organ? Oh yeah.

      "'And take good care of Einstein for me--' ...Einstein?"
      "It's your dog, Doc. It's what you call your dog in the future."

      And who can forget: "Of course your President has to be an actor; he has to look good on TV!"

    13. Re:plot holes by Physics+Dude · · Score: 1
      This situation actually has a fairly logical conclusion (believe it or not). ...

      NOT! The example you give is not confusing (except perhaps to you)... it's an entirely different situation and is CERTAINLY not a solution to the paradox! The sites you quoted don't provide any 'logical conclusions' and or solutions to the original given paradox either! They basically change the situation and don't deal at all with the paradox. They only talk about a way for the ball to 'interact' with itself without causing the paradox. They don't give any reason, let alone proof, that the paradox wouldn't/couldn't occur. Well, Duhh!!!! How stupid can you get?

      Can't people think for themselves anymore!!??

      #$%!&@ freshmen... trying to interpret the BS of other @!#$@!#$ freshmen!

    14. Re:plot holes by entrager · · Score: 1

      Actually I'm citing the work of Kip Thorne, recognized by many groups and one of the most genius minds in astrophysics. Thorne's hypothesis is that in order for the ball to go through time and interact with itself, it MUST follow one of the infinite number of scenarios in which the effect leads to the cause, as is the case here. This infinite number of scenarios is one of the major problems many have with the hypothesis.

      As far as your accusation of freshmen interpreting freshmen, I suggest you look into Thorne's credentials a little more before dismissing him as an unreliable source of information.

    15. Re:plot holes by Physics+Dude · · Score: 1
      I was actually debating weather or not to susbtitute 'Ph.D. Physicists' for 'freshmen', but didn't see enough difference to bother with. ;)

      The point is that Kippyboy is INFERRING that the trajectories must be causally consistent without ANY logic or reasoning to back it up! Thus, he doesn't show ANY solutions to the paratox, but merely says in effect "Oh, that can't happen". That's why I said "Well, Duhhh!!!"... That's why they call it a PARADOX!

      What I couldn't figure out is why you interpreted his work as a "solution" to the paradox, and that's what led to my 'mumbling' at the end about people not thinking for themselves, etc... :)

      Do you understand what I'm saying yet?

    16. Re:plot holes by Restil · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Marty left 2015 thinking his life WAS roses. He didn't know that the upscale (1985) neighborhood his future self lived in had turned into a ghetto. He only thought his kids had problems, and after the encounter with Biff's grandson, he figured that problem was solved too. His only reason for ever picking up the sports almanac was an effort to have a fallback in case he needed one, although the likely reason was simply one of momentary greed, since his desire was spawned by the solicitor commenting on his wish that he gambled on the Cub's world series upset.

      It was Jennifer that had a firsthand look at his bleak future. The Rolls Royce crash, the firing, the spoiled kids, etc. She probably would have mentioned something about it, but she fainted before she got a chance, and never woke up until the end of the third movie. Marty actually came to terms with his peer pressure problem when facing a much bigger threat (a gun battle) rather than a dangerous car race. As a result of that, he resisted the taunt to race at the end of the third movie, missed his opportunity to hit the Rolls Royce, and rewrote his future.

      The point is, he never had to meet his future self to make that happen. He had an independent assessment of where his life was going if he didn't change his behavior, and changed it appropriately before it detrimentally afflicted his future.

      -Restil

      --
      Play with my webcams and lights here
    17. Re:plot holes by 91degrees · · Score: 1

      Hell! I never tried that!

    18. Re:plot holes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      According to my limited understanding of how superstring theory works, that future was pretty much forced into being when Doc Brown came back and uttered "Something's got to be done about your kids."

      If as soon as they left 1985 their children didn't exist, then they wouldn't have existed when the Doc went to the future... which simply couldn't happen. If their children didn't exist, they would have no reason to travel forward in time, and wouldn't have done it.

      It seems like this would create a paradox, but according to my understanding of superstring theory paradoxes don't exist so much as space time re-orders itself to "fit the facts."

      So all in all it doesn't seem to me that this is a plot hole, so much as it's a really complicated area of temporal mechanics. :-)

      I'm only posting as an AC cuz I'm too damn lazy to fill out webforms. :-)

    19. Re:plot holes by aWalrus · · Score: 2
      The Marty who became a loser is one who did not travel in time

      That's right. The future was rewritten and Marty didn't get fired, or maybe even got a different job eventually (As evidenced by the vanishing ink of the "YOU'RE FIRED!!" fax he received, which his gf kept.
      --

      --
      Overcaffeinated. Angry geeks.
    20. Re:plot holes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But I thought the most obvious hole was when the older Biff stole the Delorean and delivered the almanac to the younger biff but was then able to return to an unchanged future when he should've been in................
      fcuk it, who cares?

    21. Re:plot holes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      You'd get your point across better if you weren't such a dick about it.

      It's a discussion, not a battle to the death. Chill out man...

    22. Re:plot holes by DunbarTheInept · · Score: 2

      But at the end of the THIRD movie, they *are* back in 1985 together and ready to get married and have kids. I don't see the problem.

      --

      Don't label something "offtopic" unless you know the topic well enough to tell what's on topic.

    23. Re:plot holes by 1u3hr · · Score: 2
      Biggest plot hole I noticed was in BTTF2 when old Biff takes the Delorean back to 1955, gives young Biff the almanac, then returns to his original time. He should have ended up in the "new" future where Biff is a billionaire.

      Of course, you might say that there are multiple timelines, so though a new timeline was created, he "somehow" was returned to his original one. But that opens a very large can of worms. And what does old Biff get out of this? Either his life is unchanged, or he erases himself and his world. (Both results are implied at different parts of the film.)

    24. Re:plot holes by Physics+Dude · · Score: 1

      Sorry. I was having a bad code day. ;)

    25. Re:plot holes by divbyzero · · Score: 2

      Many of the paradoxes / plot holes can be eliminated if you subscribe to the inertial theory of history modified via time travel. Loosely stated, if a time traveller engages in some action that changes history, then (1) the change does not propogate forwards through history immediately, but rather over a span of time proportional to the severity of the change; and (2) history automatically rearranges itself so as to keep the change localized in effect rather than propogating out infinitely, again proportional to the severity of the change. Of course this is all utter BS, but my friends and I have found that it helps make time travel fiction much easier to swallow. :-) There are some hints in BTTF that the author also subscribed to this theory, such as the slowly disappearing photograph in Part 1.

      --
      But my grandest creation, as history will tell,
      Was Firefrorefiddle, the Fiend of the Fell.
  24. On the incorret matting of disc 2 and 3 by Dystopium · · Score: 0, Redundant

    According to Dvdfile

    "A Universal spokesperson has told us that consumers unhappy with the current version (widescreen only - the full frame edition is not affected) can call the Universal Studios Home Video Consumer Hotline at (888) 703-0010 to request an exchange. While repressed versions of discs 2 and 3 (disc 1 remains unaffected) won't be available until February, Universal will provide corrected versions to those who have already purchased the set. Consumers will need to send the discs back to Universal at their own expense. "

  25. Great thing about DVD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is that it's easy to skip past the parts in part two that you just saw in part one.

    1. Re:Great thing about DVD by AKnightCowboy · · Score: 1
      Is that it's easy to skip past the parts in part two that you just saw in part one.

      Not to mention you can just skip past that whole third movie altogether since it's irrelevent to the whole story. It's like somebody decided they needed to turn a two part series into a trilogy for no apparent reason so they tacked on some stupid story about traveling back to the old west. Clearly it was the worst of the three and should never have been made. I fear the same thing will happen with the last Matrix movie. Usually when they make two movies at once and release them so close together the last one sucks.

    2. Re:Great thing about DVD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually (it's been a while so I may be wrong), but in the first movie, when Doc is explaining the time machine to Marty (at the beginning), the time he types in that he'd like to visit is... 1885. And then he enters 1955 to show Marty different things, etc. So, there was at least some thought somewhere in the original about the old west.

    3. Re:Great thing about DVD by entrager · · Score: 1

      I fear the same thing will happen with the last Matrix movie.

      The difference here however is that the Matrix has always been planned as a trilogy.

      Usually when they make two movies at once and release them so close together the last one sucks.

      What other examples are there? Are you suggesting that the same fate will fall upon the Lord of the Rings, in which 3 movies were all shot at once?

  26. Slackers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Looks like the Slashdot Slackers are at it again.

    They might be asleep at the wheel, but I am not:

    - - Yahoo Buys Search-Software Maker Inktomi - -

    News at 11

  27. Shamelessly stolen from The Onion: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    We, as a nation, have suffered. Wounded and confused, we wonder
    whether life will ever be the same again. But for all our pain, we can
    heal, if each one of us pitches in. We all have a part to play,
    whether donating blood, contributing to relief charities, or writing
    high-quality fan fiction to help a grieving nation forget its troubles
    for just a little while.

    Such is the burden I have assumed.

    Since 1997, through good times and bad, I have been there,
    creating rousing tales of events that did not actually take place in
    the official Back To The Future universe but could have. And now, in
    this time of crisis, I humbly offer these tales to the American people
    to help soothe their jangled nerves.

    Certainly, I am neither the most prolific nor the most acclaimed
    of America's many Back To The Future fanfic authors. But I like to
    think that my work is among the most heartfelt, the most human. Take
    my recently self-published fanfic novella Think, McFly, in which Marty
    briefly becomes trapped in 1975 Hill Valley.

    Let's not dwell on, for the purposes of this brief discussion,
    my historically accurate portrayal of the era, right down to the TV
    blaring All In The Family (a sly allusion to the whole theme of the
    film series). My depiction of Marty as he discovers yet another layer
    of the intertwined histories of his hometown and family surely
    approaches the depth of Robert Zemeckis' own work. In one scene, I
    have Marty encounter his 7-year-old self and, along with the reader,
    discover why being called a "chicken" has become such a personal
    curse. Who else in the online fanfic-writing community has taken such
    a bold leap of imagination while remaining completely true to the
    spirit of the film series? Can you name even one? I thought not.

    But I am not here to cast aspersions on other BTTF fanfic
    authors. (Not even the wildly overrated Marion Gehl.) Now is the time
    for Americans to stand tall and united in the face of an ultimate
    evil, not to nitpick about who obviously doesn't understand what the
    films are even about. And it certainly isn't the time to actually dare
    to claim that Claudia Wells was a better Jennifer than Elisabeth Shue.
    But, then, it never is. (She didn't do anything!)

    But I digress. Back To The Future is a timeless story of
    universal human experiences, like the quest for self-knowledge,
    overcoming adversity, and going to the school dance with your mother.
    It is this spirit I seek to honor and uplift through my works.

    Consider my upcoming 1920s adventure, tentatively titled
    Density. In it, Marty and Doc find themselves in the year 1925, only
    to meet Marty's grandfather, Cyrus McFly, operating a "speakeasy" out
    of a familiar-looking beverage hall in downtown Hill Valley. The naïve
    young Marty romances a pretty young flapper who turns out to be his
    own grandmother. As if that weren't enough, to ensure the proper flow
    of time, he must mix things up with the Hill Valley crime syndicate,
    led by Bart Tannen, the eventual father of Biff! Particularly deft is
    my passing mention of a congenital heart defect in Bart, which helps
    foreshadow why Biff is raised by his grandmother in the '50s.

    Still hurting? The weary and dispirited among us can turn to
    Biffco, a recently completed novella that reveals more tantalizing
    details about the powerful alternate version of Biff that appears in
    the middle of BTTF2. I don't want to give away the ending, but let's
    just say that the age-old conundrum of how the elderly Biff
    encountered his younger self without creating a time paradox will
    finally be answered.

    These are merely one man's meager efforts, to be sure. Such
    fanciful tales are far less than is needed to salve the wounds of
    Sept. 11. But, hopefully, they're enough to assure America that better
    days lie ahead. Better days and even better Back To The Future fanfic.
    Specifically, my nearly completed masterwork: It's an ambitious,
    never-before-attempted Back To The Future/Star Trek crossover titled
    Trek To The Future.

    Operating on the premise that Hill Valley is a suburb of San
    Francisco, my magnum opus takes the events of Star Trek IV: The Voyage
    Home and throws Marty, Doc, and Jennifer into the mix. While Kirk and
    crew stumble around the year 1986, attempting to save two humpback
    whales before returning to the 23rd century, Doc and Marty hover about
    the fringes, "helping" where necessary and borrowing Starfleet
    technology in myriad ingenious ways. It may well be my finest hour as
    a fanfic writer when Doc modifies a phaser to generate the necessary
    1.21 gigawatts (I refuse to use the unscientific and meaningless
    "jigowatts") of power for the DeLorean.

    Trek To The Future's coda, in which Bryce McFly, the
    24th-century descendant of Marty, is a skittish Starfleet Academy
    cadet menaced by half-Klingon Ba'Qa Tannen, will surely represent a
    high-water mark of American fan fiction. And the throwaway gag about
    Picard being descended from Principal Strickland will be masterfully
    rendered.

    No, these humble offerings don't match the healing power of,
    say, an all-frills DVD box set of the trilogy (we're still waiting,
    Universal!), but it's important that each of us does what he or she
    can.

    Sadly, the flux-capacitor technology masterminded by Dr. Emmet
    Brown remains a fantasy. As such, we cannot go back in time and change
    the terrible events of Sept. 11. But we can draw strength by drawing
    close to one another and holding fast to the faith that tomorrow will
    be a brighter day. And also by reading my Back To The Future fan
    fiction. My next story should be up on the site as soon as my renewal
    money order to Dreamhost clears.

  28. Among the only drawbacks I noticed... by mcmonkey · · Score: 1

    Were the last two movies.

    The original BTTF was good entertainment, but 2 and 3 were complete stinkers. If memory serves, both sequels were filmed at the same time or back-to-back. Which does not leave me optimistic for the Matrix sequals.

    (LOTR isn't in the same category, as they aren't sequals, just a story told in three movies.)

    1. Re:Among the only drawbacks I noticed... by phreakmonkey · · Score: 1
      Umm, if I remember correctly, the three Matrix movies were written as a single story told in three parts also. The writer wrote the screenplay for all three before starting production on the first movie.


      The reason the second two films have taken so long is that halfway through filming of the second movie one of the lead actors died in a plane crash and they had to start over to remain true to the original screenplay.


      - PM

    2. Re:Among the only drawbacks I noticed... by Pope · · Score: 1

      I'll be one to disagree with you about Pt 2. It was a great extension of the time paradox idea put forth in the first movie. Part 3 was just part 1's plot again, kinda like how Return Of The Jedi blew up another Death Star!
      OK, that was stretching it. :)

      BTTF 2 and 3 were filmed back to back in order to have the actors available and not aging too much between films, since the elapsed time of the films isn't that much.

      Ah, I love 'em. Good entertainment, IMHO.

      --
      It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
    3. Re:Among the only drawbacks I noticed... by mcmonkey · · Score: 1

      I posit the upcoming Matrix movies are sequels even though the story line throughout the three movies was conceived as a whole. The Star Wars saga was conceived as a whole, yet all of the Star Wars movie are sequels. (Episode 4 is a sequel to the upcoming Episode 3 (4 comes after 3) as Episode 1 was a sequel to Episode 6 (1 was filmed and released after 6))

      What do the Matrix and Star Wars movies have that the LOTR movies (except for the ROTK) don't have?

      Endings! The Matrix had an ending. It can be treated as a single movie and stand on its own merits.

      On the other hand, the FOTR ended but did not have an ending. If it was taken as a single movie, you'd have to consider FOTR as one of the biggest loads of crap ever produced. The darn thing just ends in the middle of the story!

      The upcoming Matrix movies are sequels, the upcoming LOTR movies are continuations, not sequels, and LOTR is not an acronym; it is an abbreviation. :p

  29. Re:News For Nerds? by MoreDruid · · Score: 1
    arren't you forrgetting somethink?

    Matrix

    Matrix Reloaded

    Matrix Revolutions
    I'll take those before _any_ Terminator movie, but YMMV

    --
    The best weapon of a dictatorship is secrecy, but the best weapon of a democracy should be the weapon of openness.
  30. Re:News For Nerds? by Torinaga-Sama · · Score: 2

    We are a more diverse group of individuals than you may think.

    Most of us, I am sure, have movie intrests that stem beyond the 4 series you mentioned. Besides, have you seen the trash the first two have put out recently(rheotorical)?

    Crispen Glover owns your soul.

    --
    (/local/home/curiosity)-#who -u|grep thecat|cut -c 44-49|xargs kill -9
  31. Leah Tompson by roccothegreat · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I cant wait to see the making of Leah Tompson's huge HOOTERS in the second Movie. "Mom . . . your so . . . BIG!", said Marty McFly.

    1. Re:Leah Tompson by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      how could this be offtopic, you stupid slashdot homos. That is a quote from the fuckin movie. You guys are stupid.

  32. /.ers guilty admission by teamhasnoi · · Score: 3, Funny
    You would have slept with your mom, if your mom was Lea Thomson.

    Dirty birds...

    1. Re:/.ers guilty admission by CaffeineAddict2001 · · Score: 2

      I dunno...

      You could rationalize it as:
      Well, she's not really my mom, she barely even knows my would-be dad exists yet.

      But then you come to the horrifying conclusion that this consumation would probably make it so you would no longer exist.

      Either that or make you your own father. *cringe*

    2. Re:/.ers guilty admission by Gomer+Pyle · · Score: 1

      Actually, there's some interesting comments about how the filmmakers and actors delt with the "incest" angle of the film.

    3. Re:/.ers guilty admission by Nightpaw · · Score: 2

      But she's so hot!

  33. Must... Try... To... Give... A... Shit... by schwatoo · · Score: 0, Troll

    Back to the Future? Please. Who cares?

    --
    I have trouble with passwords among other things.
  34. Re:News For Nerds? by DeltaSigma · · Score: 2

    Why does Terminator get in while the Alien saga doesn't?

    What with all the physics articles lately relating to small micron process using various organic materials, one would think the influence of Giger to be very important at a time like this.

    His art, afterall, was usually based on a combination of the organic and the industrial.

    I don't like your ambiguous list, I call for a poll!

  35. Fuzzy DVD printing by ddkilzer · · Score: 1

    Has anyone else noticed that the images on the DVDs themselves for Parts I and II are really fuzzy? I hope Universal corrects that by Feb 2003 as well.

    1. Re:Fuzzy DVD printing by Dimensio · · Score: 2

      Chances are that the print itself was soft for the first BTTF (and that one isn't being replaced). BTTF2 might look fuzzy because the bad transfer was also zoomed (for absolutely no conceivable purpose), but apart from that I doubt you will see an improvement.

    2. Re:Fuzzy DVD printing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think he's talking about the pictures on the labels of the disks, although I haven't seen them myself so I'm not sure.

  36. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  37. Busted DVDs by kitzilla · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Apparently Universal expects us to go back to the Future to get those replacement DVDs.

    --
    This is my post. There are many others like it. If you don't like what you read here, go try one of the others.
  38. No guarantee of success by Wireless+Joe · · Score: 1

    The Back to the Future trilogy has probably been one of the most highly anticipated DVD releases, mainly due to the age and enduring popularity...

    Age and enduring popularity are no guarantee long-term of success; just ask Nora Bayes. The most popular vaudeville entertainer for the first quarter of last century. Anyone heard of her now?

    Maybe it was the transfer quality that made people forget.

    (Thank you for enduring this attempt at humor).

  39. What BTTF is really about by fleener · · Score: 5, Funny

    Anyone with an oedipal complex knows what the triology was really about. How many times did we see Marty in bed with his hot mother (or hot maternal kin) next to him?

    1. Re:What BTTF is really about by Tar-Palantir · · Score: 1

      Why do you think I want the DVDs? :)

    2. Re:What BTTF is really about by Plutor · · Score: 1

      Three times:

      1) In 1955, meeting his young, nubile, teenage mother for the first time. (Part I)
      2) In the alternate 1985, when his mother is married to zillionaire Biff Tannen, and has been the victim of bad breast enhancement surgery. (Part II)
      3) In 1885, when he wakes up in the bed of Maggie McFly, his great-great-grandmother. (Part III)

    3. Re:What BTTF is really about by girish · · Score: 1

      A little off topic but Terminator was about this too, well some say that John O'Connor doesn't send a friend back in time to sleep with his mother to create him, but he sends himself. Well, he wants to send the person he trusts the most to do the job, and who does he trust more than himself? Donno, just some food for thought.

      On a side note, the Preview for T3 sucked. (Saw it before LotR: TTT)

  40. With A Little Help From My Friends: +1, Patriotic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    #!/usr/bin/perl -w
    # 531-byte qrpff-fast, Keith Winstein and Marc Horowitz
    # MPEG 2 PS VOB file on stdin -> descrambled output on stdout
    # arguments: title key bytes in least to most-significant order
    $_='while(read+STDIN,$_,2048){$a=29;$b=73;$ c=142;$ t=255;@t=map{$_%16or$t^=$c^=(
    $m=(11,10,116,100,1 1,122,20,100)[$_/16%8])$t^=(72, @z=(64,72,$a^=12*($_%16
    -2?0:$m&17)),$b^=$_%64?12 :0,@z)[$_%8]}(16..271);if ((@a=unx"C*",$_)[20]&48){$h
    =5;$_=unxb24,join"",@ b=map{xB8,unxb8,chr($_^$a[--$ h+84])}@ARGV;s/...$/1$&/;$
    d=unxV,xb25,$_;$e=256| (ord$b[4])>8^($f=$t&($d>>12^ $d>>4^
    $d^$d/8))>8^($t&($g=($q=$e>>14&7^$e)^$q*8^ $q>=8)+= $f+(~$g&$t))for@a[128..$#a]}print+x"C*",@a}';s/x/p ack+/g;eval

  41. Great Scots! by Doomrat · · Score: 1

    Great Scots!

    There, now nobody else has to do it.

    1. Re:Great Scots! by phorm · · Score: 1

      I'm sure the people of Scotland were overjoyed.... I'm fairly sure the term is "Great Scot" though.

      While on the topic, anyone know the origin of this term?

    2. Re:Great Scots! by Doomrat · · Score: 2

      Well in that case, I'm sure that Scot is overjoyed.

    3. Re:Great Scots! by Enzondio · · Score: 2

      Well, someone has to do it right.

      If I recall it's just "great scot", not "great scots".

      Yes, I'm a pedantic bastard.

    4. Re:Great Scots! by Doomrat · · Score: 2

      Pedantic is fine, just that you're a little late. See first reply.

    5. Re:Great Scots! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Great Scott!

      From the German Gott. A replacement, like darn for damn and dickens for devil.

    6. Re:Great Scots! by Enzondio · · Score: 2

      Great Scot! You're correct.

      I can't be held responsible for what happens between my page refreshes damn it.

    7. Re:Great Scots! by Doomrat · · Score: 2

      I gain amusement from the fact that moderators rate all of my comments "-1, Overrated" before anybody has actually rated them yet.

    8. Re:Great Scots! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's because there's no "-1, Dumbass" moderation.

    9. Re:Great Scots! by phorm · · Score: 1

      Indeed he probably is. I wasn't trying to be a grammer Nazi (or whatever other type is associated with movie catchphrases), I was more interested in finding the meaning of the term. It did give me a chuckle though, but perhaps my geeky sense of humour is warped.

    10. Re:Great Scots! by Doomrat · · Score: 2

      No, I'm glad you corrected me - I'm not so sensitive that I feel bad when somebody points out that I got a line wrong from a film which I haven't seen in quite some time. :)

  42. Spelling nazi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's "shiny".

    1. Re:Spelling nazi by Damek · · Score: 1

      You obviously never met the dog my family had when I was growing up. His name was "Shiney".

  43. Sleepwalking by dcuny · · Score: 2, Insightful
    I recall reading a review of the second film, where the reviewer wrote that it looked like Michael J. Fox sleepwalked through it. And, in fact, he may have - I think he was still shooting a sitcom at the same time. But apparently Parkinson's was starting to set in as well.

    Anyhoo, I missed the second film, and the third got such bad reviews that I didn't even bother trying to go.

    Still, my hat's off to anyone who can work a day job, a night job, and battle a degenerative nerve disease.

    And "Mister Fusion" was inspired.

    What do you mean, rambling? This is Slashdot!

    1. Re:Sleepwalking by spathi · · Score: 1

      I know for BTTF part 1, he was working on Family Ties during the day and then shooting BTTF at night. Its all in the documentary on the dvds, very interesting to watch.

      Also the directors commentary is very interesting to listen to on BTTF part 1, as they don't do the standard 'we will talk about the scene thats on the screen' they just talk about the entire movie.

      Another great feature are the popups, they come up on the screen every few seconds with an 'interesting fact' can get kind of annoying though, so make sure their disabled if you really want to watch the film. Also note, I have the region 4 version, but i think the region 1 is the same, but with more extras ? (besides the obvious fact one is PAL and the other is NTSC) All the transfers seemed fine to me, its been out here since october.

      --
      -- spathi.net: My Corner of the Universe
    2. Re:Sleepwalking by Lord+Lazarus · · Score: 1

      Actually, at the time they were filming the second movie, Michael J. Fox's father died. This was also probably pretty bad, because if you recall during BTTF2, Marty has to confront the fact that his father was killed by Biff... Pretty weird stuff... I thought the second movie was good, the third one was totally rediculous though...

  44. ehrr.. tell me again.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    what does the word NEWS mean? NEWS is a DVD set that has been around for half a year or so now? or are you americans actually getting a movie LATER than us europeans now? Nah , i suppose its the usual slashdot editors hey-this-article-looks-nice-lets-not-check-a-thing -and-post-it-straight-away-because-we-are-too-busy -bashing-microsoft-to-do-any-real-work ?

    1. Re:ehrr.. tell me again.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Slashdot seems to be very U.S.-centric. Do you have any plans to be more international in your scope?

      Slashdot is U.S.-centric. We readily admit this, and really don't see it as a problem. Slashdot is run by Americans, after all, and the vast majority of our readership is in the U.S. We're certainly not opposed to doing more international stories, but we don't have any formal plans for making that happen. All we can really tell you is that if you're outside the U.S. and you have news, submit it, and if it looks interesting, we'll post it.

      Answered by: CmdrTaco Last Modified: 10/28/00

      Fag.

  45. Nothing like selling shoddy wares by freeweed · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Rather disturbing, that Universal knows that pretty much all copies of II and III out there are defective (ok, widescreen only), yet just today I saw several hundred being offered for sale in one store alone.

    Isn't this the sort of situation that product recalls are for (I mean beyond 'this meat will kill you')? Why would Universal knowingly allow their dealers to sell defective merchandise? Is the Xmas shopping mania just that strong that we couldn't possibly pull a known defective product? Instead, they'd rather everyone go to the time and expense of mailing these 2 discs back and forth in February.

    --
    Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
    1. Re:Nothing like selling shoddy wares by MoTec · · Score: 1

      Of course the Xmas shopping mania is so strong that Universal would be stupid to pull the product now.

      Plus, most consumers will not complain and of those that do few will bother to send in their disks 2 and 3.

      It's a win/win situation for Universal.

    2. Re:Nothing like selling shoddy wares by milkman_matt · · Score: 1

      Isn't this the sort of situation that product recalls are for (I mean beyond 'this meat will kill you')? Why would Universal knowingly allow their dealers to sell defective merchandise? Is the Xmas shopping mania just that strong that we couldn't possibly pull a known defective product? Instead, they'd rather everyone go to the time and expense of mailing these 2 discs back and forth in February.

      And what about the people who don't read /. or some other type of entertainment news who will never know that they CAN return them for an 'undamaged' version of the DVD.. Some of the people who buy these known damaged discs, will be stuck with them for life due to not knowing that they even have the option to return them...

      -matt

    3. Re:Nothing like selling shoddy wares by NetGyver · · Score: 2

      Your absolutely right, which was the main reason for my post. At first I thought /. just rejected it, no big deal, i just wanted to let the people know beforehand about what i found out afterwards. I'm grateful that /. tacked my post to the dvd review.

      You remember the futuristic jacket in Part 2? As I remember his overly long sleves were quite visable throughout that whole shot. However, on the widescreen version a good chunk of his arms were cut off because of the poor framing. It really ruined the scene because that's how most people see that the jacket shrunk to Marty's actual size--his hands plop out the cuffs of the jacket.

      I got the BTTF box set as an early xmas gift, and have been waiting for this since DVDs themselves started to become the popular. The stores didn't tell my parents, and Universal's site has nothing on the subject.

      I went under the assumption that this would be a perfect DVD set. Mainly because, hey it's on DVD, and in 5.1 Dolby, totally remastered, and in digital form. I'm not a movie buff or dvd critic, but i did notice this flaw without actually looking for it, which is why i went to the 'net for some answers, and forwarded it to slashdot.

      --
      A Penny for my thoughts? Here's my two cents. I got ripped off!
  46. What the MPAA did RIGHT by Lxy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Ever notice that /.'ers get excited about DVDs and not new albums? RIAA, START PAYING ATTENTION.

    I have seen each of these movies at least 3e6 times each. I have them recorded off TV. I own all three on videocassette. I try to watch them when TBS is running them. Even though I can probably recite each movie by heart, guess what: I was waiting for Target to open last Tuesday so I could be the first to own these. Why? I love these movies.

    There's so much techological genius in these movies that the 'making of' stuff is worth the cost of the set to me. I haven't even watched the movies yet, I just opened disc 4 and started watching. GOOD STUFF.

    My point? I paid $39.99 for something I already had. I did it VOLUNTARILY. I can download all this stuff off Kazaa I'm sure. Why didn't I? Because it's GOOD STUFF THAT'S WORTH THE MONEY. Most music that's out these days is pure crap. I had no idea that I could take a dump in a jewel case and sell it for $15.99. It's not rocket science: put stuff in the package that people WANT, and they will buy.

    --

    There is no reasonable defense against an idiot with an agenda
    :wq
    1. Re:What the MPAA did RIGHT by Milo+Fungus · · Score: 2, Funny

      "There's so much techological genius in these movies that the 'making of' stuff is worth the cost of the set to me. I haven't even watched the movies yet, I just opened disc 4 and started watching. GOOD STUFF."

      Every once in a while there's really cool supplemental stuff in a CD, like videos or images or something. I also love reading the editorials written by music historians in the sleeves of rereleases of old albums remastered. I spent hours studying Eddie Vedder's drug-inspired doodles on the Vs. album. Same goes for Thom Yorke's doodles in OK Computer.

      But that's not quite enough. Movies have something that music doesn't have. A large number of people are impressed by and can appreciate visual special effects. It's therefore obvious that people would want to pay extra for a DVD with a large section devoted the the creation of the film. I spent hours watching disc 2 of Attack of the Clones, even though I don't really dig the film. And how many people saw the movie just to see the special effects?

      On the other hand, most people I know laugh at me for how thoroughly I read album sleeves and band biographies. They look at me funny when I stop and say something like, "Listen to this guitar line - isn't that cool? He routed his guitar through a flanger and a phase shifter in series...etc." There just isn't the demand for that sort of thing in the public. People just want to hear their Moby (or whatever). They don't want to know what kind of wah-wah pedal he uses or how he looped a particular sample. That's one reason why some technically brilliant bands aren't all that famous, like Kraftwerk, for instance. Their sound engineering is INCREDIBLE, especially considering that they were among the first to use a lot of the technology and techniques so common in music today. (The recording, mixing, and mastering for Electric Cafe (1986) was entirely digital.) I would repurchase all of my Kraftwerk collection at a higher price if there included notes about the making of the album, but I'm a music geek.

    2. Re:What the MPAA did RIGHT by MrChuck · · Score: 3, Insightful
      And I'm sure Sony the music magnate is trembling while Sony the movie studio dances that you paid $40 for $1-2 of media.

      I'll presume that the efforts of the editors would add another $2 and royalties to the director and Speilberg, Inc add another $1-$2. Maybe a buck or two for the artists to all split.

      50% markup and that makes Sony (the movie studio) $15 (37%) for no effort and the locally owned store* that you bought it from $20 (50%).

      You show them!

      - - - -

      * I know you didn't buy it from Blockbuster, which forces edits of movies. Perhaps if EVERYONE went in and asked for "last temptation of christ" (banned cause it's not christian enough for the owners), we could start a movement.

      And walmart refuses to carry material White Alabamans consider too offensive for you. Nice.

    3. Re:What the MPAA did RIGHT by cjpez · · Score: 1
      Rock it.

      I'll probably have to say something else to avoid the lameness filter, but right on.

    4. Re:What the MPAA did RIGHT by poot_rootbeer · · Score: 2

      What's your point?

      The buyer of the $40 DVD box set is not doing it to punish Sony Music. He is doing it to reward Sony Home Video for value-adding the product. Hopefully Sony Music will get the hint and start adding value to their releases as well. Everybody wins.

    5. Re:What the MPAA did RIGHT by Lxy · · Score: 2

      It's not about markups dude. Yeah, I know there's a hefty profit margin for Sony, Universal, et al.

      Ever go to a restaurant and order soda with your meal? What, it's $1 at fast food joints, probably $2 at a fancy place. What does it cost them? In fast food, the cup itself costs more. I think the cost of a 32 oz soda is something like 3 cents. Does it feel good now? Yup, that's right, McDonald's charged you $1.20 for a soda that cost them ~10 cents. At fancy restaurants it's even cheaper... the glasses are just washed and re-used, the only thing you consumed is the soda and a straw.

      Imagine my surprise when I discovered *GASP* that there's a MARKUP on everything we buy!!! Hey, this holiday tin only cost 39 cents for them to make! Why is it $5? Markups, paying off the artists, it's all about making sure people get their cut and the stores turn a profit. Don't like it? Don't buy it. Like the $5 holiday tin? Buy it then. It's your money, if you want it, buy it!

      What is a movie worth to me? Most movies I buy are $10-$15 on DVD. Ok, it costs $20 for my wife and I to go see it in the theater, so it's probably worth it for an evening of entertainment. What? I get to KEEP it? Even better!

      It's all about what it's worth to YOU, not how much people are making off it.

      The RIAA is different... they publish shit I don't want, then when I don't buy it they call me a thief. They assume that CDs are a neccesity, that we can't ever live without it. If we're not buying it, we're obviously stealing it. There's just no other possibility. It can't be that nobody wants our product, it is, after all, a NECCESSITY TO LIVE!

      Look at the reverse though... if they put out an album with good artwork, interviews from the band, and a cool looking disc, maybe it's worth $15 even though the RIAA is getting rich off it. Again, what is it worth TO YOU.

      --

      There is no reasonable defense against an idiot with an agenda
      :wq
    6. Re:What the MPAA did RIGHT by MrChuck · · Score: 2
      But there have been album connoisseurs forever.

      One thing I miss about CD's was sitting there listening to it with the album cover and all it's detail.

      Oh, and it's hard to focus on the little tiny Pink Floyd covers when you're baked. :) I miss that.

      On one hand, there's no sound to me like the sound of the needle landing and finding the groove.

      On the other hand, it's nice to have high end after playing it 30 times.
      And not getting up to flip them every 20 minutes.
      And not having them warp.
      And not having to carry them when I move (we weighed 250lbs of records).
      And skips.

      Ripping them all to mp3 means I still get that needle/groove sound, but can carry them all in an iPod.

      (does the fact that I paid the RIAA license to use the music mean that I have a right to the CD quality version of it? If I own 20 Dylan records, can I just use my pal's CD version? I paid them, right? Hell, I'll sling bob $20 for it - more than he'd get from the corp.)

    7. Re:What the MPAA did RIGHT by Captain+Bumpsickle · · Score: 1

      Hey, you SOB! I'm a White Alabaman! And I consider your post offensive to my sensibilities.

      I hereby demand that Taco edit it and post a White Alabaman-friendly version immediately.

    8. Re:What the MPAA did RIGHT by The+Night+Watchman · · Score: 2

      I'd say that the real technological genuis would have to have come on your part, in your ability to open and view a fourth DVD in a three-DVD box set :-)

      /* Steve */

      --
      "Every jumbled pile of person has a thinking part that wonders what the part that isn't thinking isn't thinking of"-TMBG
    9. Re:What the MPAA did RIGHT by HungWeiLo · · Score: 1

      $40 / 3 = $13.30 per movie

      $18 per movie soundtrack

      Total:

      $54 for all 3 movie soundtracks
      OR
      $40 for hours of repeatable entertainment.

      --
      There are a huge number of yeast infections in this county. Probably because we're downriver from the bread factory.
    10. Re:What the MPAA did RIGHT by Van+Halen · · Score: 1
      Most music that's out these days is pure crap. I had no idea that I could take a dump in a jewel case and sell it for $15.99.

      Most movies that are out these days are pure crap. I had no idea that I could take a dump in a DVD case and sell it for $19.99. Your point? Yes, you love these movies, as you say. Great, I have no problem with that - I enjoyed them when I saw them too. But to assert that there is some fundamental different between the MPAA and the RIAA because you like a particular movie but not most music is ridiculous.

      I think the MPAA and RIAA are really not very different at all. They both sell packaged entertainment produced for very similar media. One is audio only but has the advantage that you can enjoy it while concentrating on something else. The other requires more full attention to enjoy but has the advantage that it includes video in addition to the audio. Not much else is different for the consumer.

      So you like movies and don't care much about music. Great. Personally, I like a select few movies and a select few musical artists or albums. My opinion is that the rest of it (well over 99.99%) in boths cases is pure crap. For the ones that I do feel are good, I'm like you in this instance: I'll gladly pay for a good product, even if I own the same thing on another medium. Remastered CDs are a good example - I own two copies of a few that I really like because it was worth it to me to get the improved sound quality of the remaster.

      I'm rambling, but my point is only that your generalization about the MPAA vs. RIAA simply cannot be made based on your personal preference alone. As you say, put stuff in the package that people WANT, and they will buy. Music or movies, doesn't make a difference. Or in the case of many consumer sheep, just tell them that they want it, even if it's crap, and they will buy. ;-)

    11. Re:What the MPAA did RIGHT by Logsama · · Score: 1

      I don't like everything BlockBuster does to be sure (damn Full screen crap), but they do have the Criterion Collection DVD of "last temptation of christ" in the greater Sacto CA area. And all Wallmart cares about is profit, not art. try DeepDiscountCD.com or cdbaby.

    12. Re:What the MPAA did RIGHT by xamel · · Score: 1, Informative

      Since when does blockbuster edit its movies/games/etc? I had a friend blab on about this the other day. I rent things from BB and have NEVER noticed a cut / edit / etc that wasn't in the full movie, and I rent a variety of films (Gladiator, SPR, Kite, etc.)

      Another rumor going around is that Blockbuster doesnt rent out "M" rated games, because it cuts down on customers, which is also total bullshit. I rent M rated games (every Resident Evil game ever made,Eternal Darkness) all the time. So before you people go bashing blockbuster, how bout you actually RENT something from them?

      --
      GOD DAMNIT , MODERATE ME!
    13. Re:What the MPAA did RIGHT by PowerBook2k · · Score: 1
      Perhaps if EVERYONE went in and asked for "last temptation of christ" (banned cause it's not christian enough for the owners), we could start a movement.


      Strange, because I found it here, which indicates that they both rent and sell "The Last Temptation of Christ".
    14. Re:What the MPAA did RIGHT by JMan1 · · Score: 1

      "Ever notice that /.'ers get excited about DVDs and not new albums? RIAA, START PAYING ATTENTION."

      Yeah, I'm sure it has nothing to do with the easier availability and storage of mp3s than DVD-quality movies.

    15. Re:What the MPAA did RIGHT by thx2001r · · Score: 1

      All true, but Wallie World sold it for $37 the day it came out! Plus, the put it out on the shelves (24 hour supercenter) at 12:00 am on Tuesday (as they do with ALL DVD New Releases in my town).

      Shameless plug for Wal Mart, but at Midnight on the night Episode II was released, it was $9.97 on DVD in your choice of Standard or Widescreen! That's worth Staying up for, considering it sits on their shelves now for a whopping $21!!!

      --

      -Joe
      If we're all god's children, what's so special about Jesus? - Jimmy Carr

    16. Re:What the MPAA did RIGHT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry, but my local blockbuster has "Last Temptation of Christ." I saw it there just last Wednesday.

    17. Re:What the MPAA did RIGHT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The RIAA is different... they publish shit I don't want, then when I don't buy it they call me a thief. They assume that CDs are a neccesity, that we can't ever live without it. If we're not buying it, we're obviously stealing it. There's just no other possibility. It can't be that nobody wants our product, it is, after all, a NECCESSITY TO LIVE!

      Umm, if you dont want it, then surely you didnt download it. If you didnt download it, the RIAA doesnt hate you.

      OTOH if the RIAA DOES hate you, you must have downloaded something nasty. Which invalidates your statement that you didnt want it.

      I agree with everything else you said, but this makes no sense.

    18. Re:What the MPAA did RIGHT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The reality is that movies are too big and messy for most people to fling around as warez. Sure, there are a few, but it's just not easily done. Meanwhile, you can trade music (mp3s being the most obvious format) with a modem if you're patient.

      Once you see bandwidth and disk space ramped up to the point where Joe Sixpack can shoot entire movies around, it will happen.

      Why do you think they're running around trying to make all this DRM stuff happen now? If they can lock down the content before enough fat pipes exist, they can make it much harder to create the warezed content in the first place.

    19. Re:What the MPAA did RIGHT by jnik · · Score: 2
      I know you didn't buy it from Blockbuster, which forces edits of movies. Perhaps if EVERYONE went in and asked for "last temptation of christ" (banned cause it's not christian enough for the owners), we could start a movement.
      As others have mentioned, Blockbuster tends to censor NC-17 releases (they had an R cut of showgirls made, for example).

      I feel this perverse need to point out the irony of your example. Wayne Huizenga, founder of blockbuster, and Paul Schrader, writer of Last Temptation, both attended Calvin College (my alma mater). Funny how the world works.

    20. Re:What the MPAA did RIGHT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      BB carries only the R-rated version of any film. Period; "family-friendly policy." They refuse to carry anything unrated or NC-17. Go look at Pi or Requiem for a Dream -- they're the R-rated versions, not the unrated ones. And for both of them, it makes a difference.

      - josh, who paid nearly 50$ for those two movies because the unrated ones cost far too much (but doesn't mind because they're worth it).

    21. Re:What the MPAA did RIGHT by Ozymandias_KoK · · Score: 1

      Stop trying to confuse us with the facts!

  47. I would hope by Binarybrain · · Score: 1

    that most of you have refused to buy DVD players like I have.

    1. Re:I would hope by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey Binarybrain, eat a dick you big doofus.

  48. dear Back to the Future fans... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Hey, thanks for buying the new DVD set. We knew you guys wouldn't resists.

    Universal Studios appreciates your business. Especially since $3 from every sale goes directly to a needy Senator, who is working hard right now to make sure the entire legal system in this country is designed to line our pockets with cold, hard, cash and take away your control over the things you buy.

    That's right! Enjoy your DVD today, because tomorrow you may need to pay $4.99 to "re-key" your shiny new DVD+ player so it will play.

    That's what we call progress! And you're funding it!

    Thanks again,

    Universal Studios

    1. Re:dear Back to the Future fans... by sahrss · · Score: 1

      Fuck that! Feel free to mod me down; shrug. I'm serious: the above pisses me off enough to stop me from buying a dvd for a good amount of time. I know it's not real, but it is true . *growl*

  49. For those curious about the widescreen misframing by Dimensio · · Score: 5, Informative

    You can find comparison shots here, here and here, with more to be seen here (warning, that site is very intensive and not the best designed. It's also in German, but the pics are right in one of the frames if you let it load completely and scroll down a bit).

    Keep in mind that those screenshots are just examples. The framing for ALL of BTTF 2 and BTTF 3 is messed up in the same way EXCEPT for special effects shots (those were hard-matted on the print, so there was no need to apply any matting to the transfer).

    I've already called Universal and arranged my return, but the screwup is inexcusable given that it's been known for four months and Universal didn't acknowledge the issue until Wednesday.

  50. Rent them by AGTiny · · Score: 1

    I'm glad I decided to just rent these from Netflix instead of buying them. I was surprised to see all 3 available "Now" instead of having a huge wait!

  51. DeLorean by Aggrazel · · Score: 1

    On my wish list of things I would buy should I win a ton of money to waste in the lottery is a DeLorean complete with Mr. Fusion mock up, and a flame thrower device that blasts fire when I hit 88 miles per hour.

    That and a kick-ass sound system to play the theme music wherever I went.

    Just need that hover conversion kit ...

    *sigh, childhood dreams*

  52. Baby Geniuses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Holy Living Fuck, that movie sucked ass. I would have aborted those little fuckers.

  53. Bad menus? by spectecjr · · Score: 2

    Get a better DVD player. Yours is defective.

    No problems with the menus on my system. (Pioneer, twin laser).

    What's yours?

    Simon

    --
    Coming soon - pyrogyra
  54. It's worse than you think... by Dimensio · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The movies have been available in regions 2 and 4 for months, and they have the same misframing problem there. People noticed it as soon as they did comparisons to the widescreen Laserdisc (which has a slightly less wide and incorrect aspect ratio, but at least the matting that is there is applied correctly), but Universal allowed the problem to slip into the R1 release and they didn't acknowledge any problem despite repeated inquiries until Wednesday.

  55. What really annoys me, by pecosdave · · Score: 1

    is there any real reason to have two different versions to begin with? DVDs have the ability to have both widescreen AND full screen on the same disk. If I'm not mistaken it's not even two different video tracks but the same track with a pan and scan formula built in that takes very little room, any experts care to correct me if I'm under a misconception?

    --
    The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
    1. Re:What really annoys me, by Chazmyrr · · Score: 1

      You are under a misconception. The pan and scan is done ahead of time and is a separate video track.

      More importantly in this case, BTTF are some of the few movies that were filmed in full frame. In this case, full frame is how the director intended the movie to be seen. While I generally buy widescreen version, in this case I will buy the full frame.

    2. Re:What really annoys me, by Dimensio · · Score: 3, Informative

      There is a means of adding in 'pan and scan' cues so that a DVD player can 'zoom' and pan around a widescreen image to produce a panned and scanned image, however those cues must exist within the datastream or you just get the entire picture. Only a handful of DVDs actually support that feature (I believe, but I am not certain, that Brotherhood of the Wolf supports it). Also, the DVD must be anamorphic (ie, 'enhanced for widescreen TVs'), and 2.35:1 movies will still have little black bands at the top and bottom.

      BTTF wouldn't work with that, though, because it was filmed at 1.37:1 and then matted down to 1.85:1 for the theatrical presentation. Most 1.85:1 movies are filmed that way, so you actually get 'more' picture on 'fullscreen' transfers of those movies. Mind you, that 'extra' information is usually not intended by the director and it can make the composition of a scene look less professional as a result (sometimes even showing set equipment where it shouldn't be visible). Also, most special effects are done on a hard-matted 1.85:1 frame, so they are still panned and scanned.

    3. Re:What really annoys me, by cei · · Score: 1

      Actually, most films today are filmed full frame with the intent that the framing can be adjusted in editing. I don't know of too many current films with hard mattes, but just about every movie projector in a commercial theater has a matte that they insert behind the lens to conform the image to 1.85:1 (for standard widescreen) or 2.35:1 (for "scope"). In fact, if you know a projectionist and can get a screening with the matte out, you'll usually see the boom and other rigging that the director definitely does not intend to be in the print.

      --
      This sig intentionally left justified.
    4. Re:What really annoys me, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, the DVD spec supports a form called 4:3 P&S. Which, I think it takes a 16:9 aspect blows it up to 4:3 and then uses electronic cues (embedded in another track) to pan left and right.

      So, I think you are right. No one has used it in a DVD that I know of. Either the result must have been undesirable, there is little or no support in mastering software, or studios don't want the expense of recoding the movie for it.

    5. Re:What really annoys me, by Phil+Wilkins · · Score: 2

      (sometimes even showing set equipment where it shouldn't be visible)

      Like Arnie's boxers in the fullscreen T2, IIRC...

    6. Re:What really annoys me, by Dimensio · · Score: 2

      Or John Cleese's pants in A Fish Called Wanda (showcased on quite a few 'widescreen advocacy' pages).

  56. Shut up, lamer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You arent funny.

  57. Re:News For Nerds? by ackthpt · · Score: 1
    We are a more diverse group of individuals than you may think.

    Sure, but heck, this isn't www.imdb.com I'm old enough to have seen each of these movies in theaters and I've never considered them particularly stand-out sci-fi, more like Walter Mitty realized (i.e. dad's a geek, go back in time change things, dad's not a geek and there's a cool toyota in the garage with your name on it) Ok, maybe that appeals to some...

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  58. IN SOVIET RUSSIA by CmdrTypo · · Score: 0

    future travels back to YOU!

  59. Slashdot welcomes sponsor-submitted ads by corebreech · · Score: 2
    "I guarantee that nobody has seen the Back to the Future series like this before."


    Was this story straight out of the mouth of a Universal Studios weasel or what?
  60. Pretty miffed but then what do you do? by prototype · · Score: 2

    Well this sucks. I just picked up a copy of the trilogy for my gf. She's been waiting for it for a long time now and here it is. All wrapped and under the tree. Then the next day I find out about the misframing. Yes kids, it's on the entire BTTF II and III films, not just select scenes. While I'm not a DVD afficiando, I do certainly appreciate watching a well produced DVD. Seeing all the example shots and taking a look at the film myself now proves that the misframing basically ruins the movie. Most of the gags are site gags and without the bottom or top of the frame, it's just not the same movie.

    What really has me peeved is the fact that a) Universal knew about the problem as people in R2-R5 have been yelling about it without any resolution and b) you have to return the discs at your own expense to replace them. Sure, Universal is not going to spend whatever the cost would be to get everyone a copy but now to really enjoy the movie I'm going to have to shell out another $10US or something to get the updated discs.

    And basically, even though they knew about it but might not admit it, there's not a damn thing any of us can do about it except eat up the cost of replacing the discs. Oh well, live and learn.

    1. Re:Pretty miffed but then what do you do? by geekoid · · Score: 2

      Take the movies back to where you bought them, then wait until they released the correct version.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    2. Re:Pretty miffed but then what do you do? by swfranklin · · Score: 1
      I'm going to have to shell out another $10US or something to get the updated discs

      Good grief, man, they aren't requiring you to FedEx overnight the discs! Two DVDs will cost about $0.60 for first-class mail, or $4.30 to send Priority Mail with delivery confirmation.

    3. Re:Pretty miffed but then what do you do? by 0123456 · · Score: 1

      "Most of the gags are site gags and without the bottom or top of the frame, it's just not the same movie."

      A bizarre claim given that the "misframing" of the two shots in question (the inflating jacket and the sneakers) don't affect the joke in the slightest when you actually watch the movie for real; nor are they particularly important parts of the movie. If that "ruins the movie" for you, well...

    4. Re:Pretty miffed but then what do you do? by phreakmonkey · · Score: 1
      nor are they particularly important parts of the movie. If that "ruins the movie" for you, well...

      Uhh, dude? There are large parts of the image misframed that even appear in the "TV" version. Yes, that would ruin the movie for me, too.

      It doesn't ruin the movie for you? Wow.

      I have a 1986 Sony Trinitron television you can buy, it works great but there's this permanent 3" black bar across the top of the screen. None of the "particularly important parts" of the TV shows are ever on the top 3", so it shouldn't ruin the shows for you. It's all yours for $100!

      - P.M.

  61. Nixing the Nazis by yerricde · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I wonder why they don't do similar edits and remove the Nazis from World War II movies.

    Actually, in some video games, they have. Hitler shaved off his mustache and became the Staatmeister in Wolfenstein 3D for Super NES. (id Software was so frustrated at the actions of Nintendo's censors that id sold a Wolf3d engine license to Wisdom Tree, an independent console software publisher, in retaliation.) The USA version of Bionic Commando for the NES had "Badds" instead of "Nazis".


    Hate Dubya? Vote Libertarian-Nazi-Green in 2004!
    --
    Will I retire or break 10K?
  62. Dude by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wheres my car??

  63. Libyan terrorists by josephgrossberg · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Funny how in BTTF, the bad guys were Muslim terrorists after nuclear weapons. How little has changed in 20 years ...

    1. Re:Libyan terrorists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Um, yeah, but from an entirely different country on a different continent. World War 1 and World War 2 in Europe has similarities, but they weren't the same war.

    2. Re:Libyan terrorists by josephgrossberg · · Score: 1

      Why not issue a fatwah, and save me the trouble?

    3. Re:Libyan terrorists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Any good Muslim will stop his homicidal thirst for nuclear weapons if he just finds some good old fashioned camel loving. Very few people know that Mohammed actually died of an enlarged camel penis stuck in his ass.

    4. Re:Libyan terrorists by josephgrossberg · · Score: 1

      Thanks for reminding me why I read Slashdot at a threshold of 3+. :)

    5. Re:Libyan terrorists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thanks for the tip...that would have kept your first mindless comment where it belonged :)

    6. Re:Libyan terrorists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      "Funny how in BTTF, the bad guys were Muslim terrorists after nuclear weapons. How little has changed in 20 years ..."

      But the main bad guy is a big dumb white guy with a grudge ;-) That sounds familiar too.

  64. Hmm.. by someonehasmyname · · Score: 1

    Anyone have a link to the side-by-side pictures that works?

    --
    Common sense is not so common.
    1. Re:Hmm.. by Dimensio · · Score: 2

      Check my previous posting. I provided three individual links to direct side-by-side comparisons (between 'fullscreen', the WS Laserdisc and the WS DVD) and another link to a site with a few more pics.

  65. ZIDZ.COM right-click trap annoyance by Stavr0 · · Score: 2
    Once again, moron webmaster tries to prevent 'image theft'.

    The easiest thing to workaround. Right-click desired image, keep mouse button pressed, dismiss warning dialog with SPACE. Menu appears.

  66. Hmm... by microbob · · Score: 1

    This set has all that you would expect of any feature-packed DVDs, including deleted scenes, outtakes, original trailers, and behind the scenes features. The movies themselves contain additional commentaries, and an option that pops up an icon for additional production notes and factoids during viewing. Even the deleted scenes have an option for viewing with commentary by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale.

    Here is some more info:

    http://www.michaeldvd.com.au/Reviews/Reviews.asp ?R eviewID=1761

  67. OOOOHH! I CAN'T WAIT! by djhankb · · Score: 0

    I've asked Santa for this one, and I've been dyying for it to come out on DVD well, ever since I got my DVD player.
    This was my alltime favorite Movie set of all time (er well maybe equal with Star Wars)
    But Either way I'm glad to see it finally apprearing on DVD, problems with the widescreen or not, I can't wait to get my copy!

    -Henry

    --
    --- #@$DF@#2%@^%3^&*$%FRHG%%[NO CARRIER]
  68. ah censorship by MrChuck · · Score: 5, Insightful
    It truly scares me when the gov't and entertainment companies feel the need to change what was acceptable a few years ago.

    As a student of film and animation, watching the old 20's and 30's cartoons with betty boop and heckle & jeckle and the watermelon eating negros of that time certainly show the changes that have happened. (except with Trent Lott :)

    To go and CHANGE that and show it is wrong. It's important to know where we came from and what attitudes were. Its fine to understand that these attitudes were wrong, but denying that they existed is just horrifying.

    Perhaps charlie chaplin's imitations of hilter should be altered to not offend people. Perhaps all our references to iraqi's as friends should be stricken from the record.

    It's not like I have much expectation from the king of sugar coated movies, steven spielberg, but for him and zemekis to allow the content to be edited for non language (swearing) reasons is just frightening.

    1. Re:ah censorship by olddoc · · Score: 1

      I agree completely. Don't try to erase history.

      --
      Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
    2. Re:ah censorship by Saeger · · Score: 1
      "Those who control the past, control the future;
      Those who control the future, control the present;
      Those who control the present, control the past."

      Only a terrorist would disagree with our Party's righteous motto!

      --

      --
      Power to the Peaceful
  69. Great Scott! by docbrown42 · · Score: 1

    Sorry, I just had to say it. :)

    --
    Ed Wedig
    Graphic design services
    docbrown.net
  70. Re:I won't be buying it by Christianfreak · · Score: 3, Funny

    That's really funny, you know if the MPAA gets its way, pretty soon none of us will actually get to *see* movies (or at least if we do MPAA execs will use the flashy things on us) we'll just go pay 14.95 at the theatre to sit there. At then another 49.95 for the DVD that won't play.

    Might as well enjoy them now :)

  71. Region 1 & 2 differences? by Sho0tyz · · Score: 1

    Are there differences between the R1 and R2 releases? I bought the R2 French edition when it was released in October, and I thought it was mediocre at best. Only the first of the three films has a commentary track, and it's not very good. It's basically an interview about random things. It could have been it's own feature, because it's not related to what's being shown on the screen at all. No commentary at all for the second and third films. The deleted scenes were interesting, but on my DVD there are no commentary tracks for them. The "making of" stuff wasn't bad, but it was basically saying the same stuff over and over again, just like the comentary track. I still had plenty of questions about plot holes etc after watching the DVDs. I thought about waiting for the R1 release, but as a BTTF fan I had to get it right away. Is the R1 release really as good as the reviewer says?

    1. Re:Region 1 & 2 differences? by Dimensio · · Score: 2

      The DTS track was stripped from the R1 release so that more extras (I believe at least one commentary track, amongst a few other featres) would fit.
      Also, the R2 release is PAL and plays at 50Hz at 720x562 resolution while the R1 release is NTSC and plays at 60Hz and at 720x480 resolution.

    2. Re:Region 1 & 2 differences? by NetGyver · · Score: 2

      Besides the widescreen mishap, R1 discs have a LOT of features to enjoy. I can't find the comparisons of R1 and other region discs, but I have region 1, so i'll list what it says and you can compare for yourself:

      BTTF: Part I:

      1. The Making Of Back To The Future
      2. Making The Trilogy: Chapter 1
      3. Outtakes
      4. Candid Q&A with Director Robert Zemeckis And Producer Bob Gale
      5. Enhanced Conversation with Michael J. Fox.
      6. Feature Commentary With Producers Bob Gale and Neil Canton
      7. Did You Know That? Universal Animated Anecdotes (pop up factoids throughout the movie, over 150 of them)
      8. Deleted Scenes With Commentary By Producer Bob Gale
      9. Original Make-Up Tests
      10. Production Archives (which include: "Marty McFly's Photo Album, Behind The Scenes Photographs, The Delorean Designs, and Time Travel Designs)
      10. Excerpts From The Original Screenplay
      11. Theatrical Trailer
      12. DVD-ROM Features With Total Axcess Including the original script, exclusive behind the scenes info, interview, excerpts and more
      13. Michael J Fox Foundation For Parkinson's Research

      BTTF: Part II:

      1. The Making Of Back To The Future Part II
      2. Making The Trilogy Chapter II
      3. Writer/Producer Bob Gale Discusses The Filmmaking Process (production designs, Storyboarding, designing the DeLorean, and time travel)
      4. Outtakes
      5. Candid Q&A With Producers Bob Gale and Neil Canton
      6. Did You Know That? Universal Animated Anecdotes (more pop up factoids)
      7. Deleted Scenes With Commentary By Writer/Producer Bob Gale
      8. Hoverboard Test
      9. Evolution Of Visual Effects Shots
      10. Production Archives (including: Marty McFly Photo Album, Behind The Scenes Photographs, Futuristic Designs, and Vehicles Of The Future)
      11. Huey Lewis & The News "Power Of Love" Music Video
      12. Theatrical Trailer
      13. DVD-ROM Features With Total Axcess Including The Original Script.

      BTTF: Part III:

      1. The Making Of Back To The Future Part III
      2. Making The Trilogy: Chapter 3
      3. Designing The Town Of Hill Valley
      4. Designing The Campaign: Bob Gale discusses the original theatrical advertising and marketing campaign.
      5. Outtakes
      6. Candid Q&A With Director Robert Zemeckis And Producers Bob Gale And Neil Canton
      7. Did You Know That? Universal Animated Anecdotes (more popup factoids)
      8. Deleted Scenes With Commentary By Writer/Producer Bob Gale.
      9. Production Archives (Including: Marty McFly Photo Album, Behind The Scenes Photographs, Production Designs, The Trilogy Poster Concepts.)
      10. The Secrets of the Back To The Future Trilogy.
      11. ZZ Top Music Video "Doubleback"
      12. Most Frequently Asked Questions, Answered.
      13. Theatrical Trailer
      14. DVD ROM Features with Total Axcess Including The Original Script.

      --
      A Penny for my thoughts? Here's my two cents. I got ripped off!
  72. What is it about these movies... by Anonvmous+Coward · · Score: 2

    ...that Hollywood seems to have forgotten? When I think about BttF, I think of those wonderful days back in the 80's when movies were fun and intruging. Remember Ghostbusters? Indiana Jones? Star Trek IV? (heh)

    Anybody else feel like some of the fun spirit of these movies was lost when the 90's rolled around?

    1. Re:What is it about these movies... by porkchop_d_clown · · Score: 2

      Hollywood didn't change - you got old.
      Older, anyway.

    2. Re:What is it about these movies... by Pope · · Score: 1

      Have you seen the "Ghostbusters" DVD? The commentary track is done like a Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode, with the 3 commentators superimposed in silhouette over the movie! It's hilarious, and they get up a few times to point out things on the screen.

      That and the movie is still damn funny. The best comments are the ones where they're explaining how they physically did some of the FX, and that "well, now we'd just use a computer for that."

      --
      It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
    3. Re:What is it about these movies... by Anonvmous+Coward · · Score: 2

      "Have you seen the "Ghostbusters" DVD? The commentary track is done like a Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode, with the 3 commentators superimposed in silhouette over the movie! "

      You know, I have that DVD, and never ran across that! Now I'll havve to dig it out!

      Are you sure that's not a more recent development?

    4. Re:What is it about these movies... by Squozen · · Score: 1

      You'll only see the commentators if you're running your player in 4:3 letterbox mode (ie, you don't have a widescreen TV or a 4:3 TV with a 16:9 mode).

      The MST3K commetators are a nice gimmick, but they don't really move that much. They're interesting in an, 'Oh, I didn't realise the DVD format allowed that kind of thing' way.

  73. Hoverboards by docbrown42 · · Score: 2

    I guess there are some early, practice footage of the hoverboards on the dvds. I remember how nuts everyone went after BttF2 came out, and how almost every kid I talked to wanted on (if only someone had been able to capitalize on that!)

    I've been waiting 17 years for this to come out (check the user name, and my website), and now I only have to wait a few more days to see if someone got it for me for Christmas! WooHoo!

    --
    Ed Wedig
    Graphic design services
    docbrown.net
    1. Re:Hoverboards by Dimensio · · Score: 2

      I remember the rumour (started as a result of a joke told in deadpan fashion by Zemeckis) that Hoverboards were real and parents groups had prevented them from being put to market.

    2. Re:Hoverboards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My understanding is that the real issue is a sufficiently small and efficient power source.

      Anyone tried to work on this at all?

    3. Re:Hoverboards by kaltkalt · · Score: 1

      Yah Dean Kamen has patented it and is due to release them next year. Uses a Stirling engine for its power source. Only prob is they're gonna be pricey - $2,500 each. Oh well, i'll still get one. I hope they come in pink!

      --

      Stupid people make stupid things profitable.
    4. Re:Hoverboards by PinkX · · Score: 2

      As I understood, those hoverboards were powered by superconductors, but again there would be a temperature issue there.

    5. Re:Hoverboards by abreauj · · Score: 1
      I remember the rumour (started as a result of a joke told in deadpan fashion by Zemeckis) that Hoverboards were real and parents groups had prevented them from being put to market.

      I remember Leslie Nielsen doing that on a behind-the-scenes TV special, around the time BTTF2 came out. I don't recall seeing Zemeckis do it.

      As I recall, Nielsen explained about the parents group, and then showed a "real" hoverboard. He said, in a deadpan fashion, that it actually worked. Then he dropped it to demonstrate., and of course it just fell to the floor like a dead weight. Pretty typical of Nielsen's brand of humor.

  74. (Slightly OT) Nintendo's censors by Hormonal · · Score: 1
    Although the end guy is definitely Hitler (It's somewhat gratifying to see his head explode, after trying to time that rocket launcher shot to go in the cockpit og the helicopter.)

    Nintendo has always tried to keep their software clean (Bubble Bath Babes notwithstanding). The original Mortal Kombat had sweat, rather than blood (although I believe there was a code to turn the sweat red.) Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! became just plain ol' Punch-Out!!, and Mike Tyson became Mr. Dream. The N64 was roasted for its lack of software aimed at older audiences, as well as for its lack of software in general.

    I appreciate them sticking to their guns. I've always been a Nintendo fan, even through the N64 years, when the lack of software was a bit of an issue for me. They have relaxed their policies, and some pretty violent/gory games are available for the GameCube, like the RE series and BloodRayne (which I believe actually includes Nazis -- how's that for a full-circle tangent?) All of the Nintendo franchises, however, have stayed kid-safe.

    Here on /., I know the prevailing notion is that censorship in general is evil, and I agree to an extent. Nintendo's relaxed a bit, and as I near my parenting years, I'm at least glad to know that when looking for games for my kids, a Nintendo-designed/published title will be kid-safe.

    1. Re:(Slightly OT) Nintendo's censors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tits remind me of Bubble Bath Babes...

    2. Re:(Slightly OT) Nintendo's censors by yerricde · · Score: 1

      Nintendo has always tried to keep their software clean (Bubble Bath Babes notwithstanding).

      Bubble Bath Babes was published by Hacker and Panesian, both independent console software publishers not affiliated with NCL or NOA.

      The original Mortal Kombat had sweat, rather than blood (although I believe there was a code to turn the sweat red.)

      It was a Game Genie code on the Super NES, a Super Game Boy code on the Game Boy, and a keypress code on the Sega Genesis (A B A C A B B for basic, Down Up Left Left A Right Down for advanced, entered at the "secret code?" screen) and Game Gear (2 1 2 Down Up, entered at the "secret code?" screen).

      Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! became just plain ol' Punch-Out!!, and Mike Tyson became Mr. Dream

      No, that's because the Tyson licensing deal fell through between the first pressing of Punch-Out!! and the second pressing.

      They have relaxed their policies

      This came after Nintendo fans defected to the Sega Genesis because the Genesis version of Mortal Kombat 1 had a blood code and the original fatalities. Thus, Nintendo relaxed its policies, and Mortal Kombat II was the first 17-rated game for the Super NES. (The first M-rated game published by Nintendo was Conker's Bad Fur Day for N64.)

      However, I didn't find any censorship in the Back to the Future 1 game for NES that I rented once because I didn't get very far. It wasn't all that fun, and I gave up on it and went back to Mario.

      --
      Will I retire or break 10K?
    3. Re:(Slightly OT) Nintendo's censors by Hormonal · · Score: 2

      I stand corrected on all counts. Thanks for setting me straight.

  75. They missed one point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Shite on a silver platter is still shite. I don't think any amount of digital remastering, cleaning up or anything short of rewriting and reshooting could fix this series.

  76. Region 2 release by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I bought the region 2 version when released september 18th, where I've seen no artifacts whatsoever. The picture is so good, you almost forget the first movie is 17 years old! I was kinda suprised no comments like this had been posted before me, but maybe I'm the only one living in Europe who reads slashdot? ;-)

    1. Re:Region 2 release by Carrot007 · · Score: 1

      Region 2,4 version actually.

      Which i bought from australia (region 4) when it came out there (1 or 2 months before uk release) and it actually cost cheaper than the uk version did in most places when it came out ;-)

      --
      +----------------- | What is the question!
  77. Re:News For Nerds? by Torinaga-Sama · · Score: 2

    Back to the future brought the concept of Time travel to a mainstream audience. The movie is inherently geeky. It has the geeky skater kid. Geeky dad. Geeky professor with a Delorean. It has garage science!

    And while I agree with you that it isn't stand out Sci Fi, but for the time (1985) it was a reasonably good mainstream SciFi movie and I think it had at least a little bit of bearing on my own personal devlopment as a geek (as well as other geeks of our era). It wasn't all Star Wars.

    --
    (/local/home/curiosity)-#who -u|grep thecat|cut -c 44-49|xargs kill -9
  78. Re:For those curious about the widescreen misframi by BrookHarty · · Score: 2

    Its not the corporations responsibility to inform you of defective products. The only loophole is for products with safety concerns. And many people had to die to get those laws passed, and its rather limited product range.
    -
    My government supports terrorism.

  79. DeLorean Gullwing Door For Sale by BigBlockMopar · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Hey all,

    I've got a driver's side door for a 1981-1983 DeLorean DMC-12 for sale, and since this is already a DeLorean forum, I though. "What the hey".

    Driver's side door, minor dent around the lock cylinder, and a smaller one which looks like it might have been inflicted by an errant shopping cart. (It was replaced because the car was otherwise a 100-point show car.)

    This door is great as a conversation piece, or as a replacement door for a driver, though not appropriate for a show car.

    Info and photos will be provided to serious enquiries only.

    Go to my website and message me with the form.

    --
    Fire and Meat. Yummy.
  80. What movie are you talking about? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Are you talking about Back to the Future?

    There are only 3 discs.

    1. Re:What movie are you talking about? by Lxy · · Score: 2

      There are FOUR DISCS.

      BTTF I
      BTTF II
      BTTF III
      BTTF - Stuff we couldn't fit anywhere else

      --

      There is no reasonable defense against an idiot with an agenda
      :wq
    2. Re:What movie are you talking about? by Dudio · · Score: 1

      Mine only has three, and the Amazon listing confirms that this is the correct number. Are you talking about a non-Region 1 set by any chance?

  81. Disney made the same mistake with one of theirs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    From what I can gather from the 3 side-by-side comparisons I've managed to find, the transfer process involved taking the fullscreen format and cropping the top and bottom, to create a fake 16:9 "widescreen" version. Disney did the same thing with their early-90's re-release of "Cinderella" (I think, could be wrong), and Siskel and Ebert raked them over the coals for it. And rightly so.

  82. Re: Shiny reference by JSkills · · Score: 1
    I thought it came from Baldur's Gate Throne of Bhaal. There's a little weird apprentice in the game who, if you let him, will rummage through your pack to see if he can find any items he can "upgrade" for you. During the course of this, he constantly says "oooooooh! Shiney!".

    I may be off on what the other guy was referring to, but this is the only thing that immediately popped into my head when I read it.

  83. Hello, McFly? by SparkyMartin · · Score: 1

    Why?

    1. Re:Hello, McFly? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why, because he is a disciplined, moral geek who refuses to buy DVDs because THEY INFRINGE UPON HIS RIGHTS! The MPAA is evil, don't you read slashdot?

      Nevermind that said geek (being the geek he is), has a top of the line computer with a DVD drive. A portion of the price of that drive goes towards royalties of DVD producers, like the MPAA, but nevermind that. He has to play GTA3 on his ps2, which is also a licensed DVD player.

      Said geek probably also only wears hemp clothing made by hippies in Oregon, because mass produced clothing is made by poor people in sweatshops, and he doesn't want to support that, even if a sweatshop is the best job available in underdeveloped countries.

      The moral, responsible geek also eats from a 'guiltless grill', meaning no animal products touch his perfect lips. Nevermind that animals die everyday, killed by the combines that harvest the veggie's grain and other crops, and since the veggie isn't eating the animal, it died for no reason (unlike cows bred for meat).

    2. Re:Hello, McFly? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Methinks you've had just a bit too much eggnog!

  84. Re:For those curious about the widescreen misframi by Dimensio · · Score: 2

    I'm referring to the fact that people in regions 2 and 4 have been 'informing' Universal of the defect in the product for months, and Universal did not act (and allowed the defect to slip into the R1 release) on it at all.

  85. Re:News For Nerds? by ackthpt · · Score: 1

    Ok, what you said, but for me it was Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension and other off-the-beaten-track of Hollywood stars stuff. Michael J. Fox was just to much of a *star* for my tastes. Imagine Britney Spears or Leonardo DiCaprio in the next Star Wars movie and you can probably get my feeling on the whole thing.

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  86. In other news... by Mysticalfruit · · Score: 2

    Huey Lewis and the News will be releasing a DVD video box set of their greatest hits... It's speculated to be only half as annoying as the botched widesceen conversion of the back to the future (BTTF) Trilogy...

    --
    Yes Francis, the world has gone crazy.
  87. What's with all the "extras"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Am I the only one who doesn't care about all the "extras", "bonuses", and "making-of" crap they put on DVDs these days?

    When I buy a DVD, I want a good copy of the movie, and maybe a copy of its theatrical trailer. I don't want 3-d menus that take 5 seconds to select from. I don't want interviews with the director's cat. I don't want a 2-disc set for a movie that fits on 1 disc.

    As far as I can tell, that extra crap is just an excuse for them to charge more money for a movie than it's worth.

    Would they have had framing problems if they'd spent more of their time working on the movie instead of adding a bunch of "extra features" to it? I doubt it. Would people who love BTTF still buy it? I'd bet most of them would.

    Better yet, why not have a "just the movie" DVD for one price, and a "movie + extra crap" DVD for a higher price? Then they'd see how many people really like that stuff.

  88. Re:News For Nerds? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Giger is overrated. Frazetta rules! Industrial, yeah right. Like Drano. Moron.

  89. Now we see the violence inherent in the system by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Help! Help! I'm being repressed!

  90. Re:News For Nerds? by ackthpt · · Score: 1

    Alien and Aliens, for sure, after that, they kinda went downhill. IIRC there's yet another one in the planning. I'm not sure who's the Company here, the spooks trying to get one of these things back to earth to use as a killing machine, or the people who keep milking the Aliens and Ripley for yet another B movie.

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  91. widescreen just chops off the top & bottom!!! by Quazi · · Score: 1

    I heard a rumor once (from a Wal-Mart employee) that I shouldn't buy the widescreen version of a movie because it's missing the top & bottom of the picture. At the time I ignored him (I knew better), but now! My gawd, HE'S RIGHT! (in this case at least) What the hell happened to the whole "DVDs are made in widescreen to reflect the artist's true representation of the movie since it was originally shot in widescreen??"

  92. 1984? by ziplocpagen · · Score: 1

    I know I shouldn't remind anyone of this, but it appears ol' George predicted this and reported the "editing" of past events and entertainment.

  93. Re:widescreen just chops off the top & bottom! by Dimensio · · Score: 2

    He's right in that it's missing the top and bottom of the picture, because it should actually be missing only the top.

    Widescreen represents the image as it was shown theatrically and typically as the director filmed it. Even when a movie is filmed at a 1.37:1 ratio and matted down, the director is typically only paying attention to the 1.85:1 or 2.35:1 section of the filmed frame that is intended for its theatrical exhibition. Opening up the mattes for a 'fullscreen' presentation can destroy well-composed shots as well as reveal things that should not be in the frame (set equipment, anachronisms in period pieces, etc).

    Also note that the special effects shots were hard-matted to 1.85:1, so those ARE panned and scanned on the fullscreen release.

  94. 'Misframing' is a joke by 0123456 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    One thing you'll find is that many of the most vocal proponents of the 'misframing' of these DVDs are people who've never seen them. I watched all three over the weekend and counted about half a dozen shots which looked like they could have been framed better, most of them in the first future sequence of BTTF2... that's it. Frankly, I was so utterly unconcerned by the slightly odd framing in those shots that I doubt I'll even bother sending my disks back for replacements if they release a version with those few shots changed.

    Most, if not all, of these comparisons have been between the movie and the laserdisk. Yet the laserdisk apparently wasn't even released in the correct aspect ratio, so who's to say how it was supposed to look other than the director? Until and unless the director or one of the other major creative production staff actually come out and say 'no, they were framed wrong, thanks for getting them to fix the movie', I'm going to presume that the version we got was the version intended and keep it, rather than a new version that's been edited by committee. Oddly, some of the people making the most fuss about these disks are some of the people who make a big fuss whenever a movie is released in a different form to that which the director intended... yet now they want to control how the movie is framed regardless of what the director may think.

  95. Pranksters unite! by HungWeiLo · · Score: 1

    It's high time for another prank-calling session to Schuck's (or your favorite auto parts shop) and ask for a flux capacitor for a 1986 Ford Taurus!

    --
    There are a huge number of yeast infections in this county. Probably because we're downriver from the bread factory.
  96. Eric Stoltz? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I heard the DVDs were delayed so long because they wanted to include some of the footage shot with Eric Stoltz, before Michael J. Fox replaced him. But Stoltz blocked it. If that's true, I guess you can't blame him, but it would still have been interesting to see.

  97. One of my all-time favorite movies. by da3dAlus · · Score: 2

    I still remember watching the original film on VHS back in '86 or '87, and I always told my folks that there would be a sequel. Well, after watching the special features, I learned that originally the whole "We gotta do something about your kids, Marty!" was more of a closing joke than a setup for the next film. Anyway, no matter how many times I saw the original film, nothing was cooler than watching the DVD and seeing the DeLorean roll off Doc Brown's truck for the first time. The audio was great, and my floor shook to the rumbling of the engine. Also, hearing Alan Silvestri's work in CD-quality sound really makes the movie come to life even more. I highly recommend anyone who liked the movies to watch them again on DVD. It really is a whole new experience.

    --

    Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion.
    1. Re:One of my all-time favorite movies. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The big sign that said "To Be Continued" at the end of the first movie kind of gave away the fact that a sequel was forthcoming. To me anyways.

  98. Re:For those curious about the widescreen misframi by 0123456 · · Score: 1

    "I've already called Universal and arranged my return, but the screwup is inexcusable given that it's been known for four months and Universal didn't acknowledge the issue until Wednesday."

    The most likely explanation being that it _wasn't_ a screwup and they deliberately reframed those few shots to remove problems (crew or equipment in shot, that kind of thing)... since it's only a very few shots that are framed strangely, and most of the movies are fine. But hey, I'm sure that a few websites know better than the director what the framing was meant to be.

  99. uh huh, yeah, I've been waiting for this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Oooo... back to the future on DVD. Can I sign up to get the special box set of "STOP OR MY MOM WILL SHOOT" now?

    Seriously, BTTF I-II-III are CRAPPY MOVIES. It's attention like this that keeps them MAKING crappy movies!

  100. Re: a little more info by Kappelmeister · · Score: 2

    Yes, this is true, though I think directors today have to intend for both framings.

    If you compare a widescreen DVD with the same movie on TV, you'll find that pan-and-scan doesn't just chop of the sides. They are forced to chop off less of the sides if they also reveal more of the top and bottom, since both changes make the frame closer to the 1.33:1 of TV.

    Directors know this is going to happen, and they have to account for it. They can't let a microphone or a dolly track appear right above or below the frame, though sometimes (as the parent indicated) one slips by. The viewfinders that they use don't have just one rectangle, but several: one for theatrical release, one for TV, and now ones for HDTV and other "future" scenarios, all superimposed.

    This is a little sad because it means directors can't explore the edges of their frames any more. They're forced to compose every shot so that the characters appear in the intersection of all the rectanges -- in trying to please every distribution scenario, everything has to be in the boring center of the frame.

    I'm glad the general public is starting to come around to letterboxing, so maybe we can eliminate pan-and-scan once and for all.

    A side note too: the prints that are shipped to theaters aren't matted; it's up to the projectionist to use the correct lens (anamorphic or no) and the right set of physical mattes. Whenever you see a boom lower into the frame it's almost always the projectionist's fault. I actually went to complain to the usher at a neighborhood theater that the movie wasn't matted right, but she looked at me like I had two heads.

  101. brain melting by subgeek · · Score: 2

    the first time i saw back to the future in the theatre, marty followed up his dad's explanation about the alien that told him he would melt his brain with, "let's just keep this brain melting stuff to ourselves." the next time i saw it in the theatre and every subsequent time i've seen it in any format (tv, vhs) that line was not in the movie. has anybody else out there seen a version that had that line in the movie?

    --
    you probably shouldn't have read this.
    1. Re:brain melting by kalidasa · · Score: 2

      You sure you're not misremembering? I always remember there being a scene in Return of the Jedi that isn't there (Luke "installing" the light saber in R2D2, only you only see Luke's hands, so you're not sure what you're seeing until the lightsaber shoots out). Near as I can tell, I must have read something like it in the novelization.

    2. Re:brain melting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I had the VHS boxed set back in the day, and on the 4th tape (behind the scenes, hosted by Kirk Cameron!), they mentioned this scene. Apparently they DID cut some parts of this scene, but I can't tell you if they made the cuts before or after it was screened for the public

    3. Re:brain melting by Slur · · Score: 2

      Wow, now that you mention it I seem to remember Michael J. Fox saying "Let's just keep *** to ourselves" in almost everything he's been in!

      --
      -- thinkyhead software and media
    4. Re:brain melting by Aciel · · Score: 1

      Yeah, my boxed set has that on the first DVD. I noticed it when I was watching last night.

    5. Re:brain melting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That line is intact in the scene on the DVD. I'm pretty sure that it was in the laserdisc version as well. I personally have never seen the movie with that line removed, but you can rest assured that it's back. :)

      I had a similar disappointment with the new Superman DVD. Overall, the DVD is fantastic, but there is one 10 second scene that was restored in the ABC tv version, but is mysteriously still absent in this new DVD. All the other footage has been restored except for this one, and nobody seems to know about it but me.

      The missing scene would be located at timecode 125.49 on the DVD. The army rocket that Lex Luthor reprogrammed to hit Hackensack, NJ is being pursued by Superman. This always seemed a little odd to me, since Supes is coming from Metropolis, which is geographically right next door to Hackensack. He should take the rocket HEAD-ON. Well, the ABC version answered the question:

      We see Superman flying west. We know because he's heading to the left (later, when he's chasing the rocket, both are heading right). We see him spot the rocket up ahead. He stops and hovers in mid-air, his arms prepared to catch the rocket. Instead, the rocket zips right around him, continuing on its pre-programmed course. Superman spins and looks after it in surprise, then sets off in pursuit of the rocket. The next shot is of the two farmers painting the fence that both the rocket and Superman fly directly over.

      I never understood the omission of this scene. It explains why he's chasing behind it, and utilizes the military guy's comment that the rockets are equipped with the new P-20 low-level avoidance systems. The scene looked really cool, and I doubt that it was cut for time (ten seconds?!? Not likely).

  102. Are DVD 'Extras' worth the $$$ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Having seen/owned/rented many DVDs and watched all of the 'extras', I can only think of one or two which had actual value from the extra features.

    Extras
    1. movie trailers - good to have - nice to watch just before the movie
    2. outtakes - mostly no good unless stunts gone bad
    3. computer models - ok
    4. behind the scenes - these are mostly a complete waste of time in that they are a 24 minute advertisement for the movie with all of the actors just cheerleading how good the film is.
    5. director's commentary - only rarely worth watching
    6. extra footage in movie - usually not worth watching since a longer version of a good movie does not necessarily make the movie any better.

    Please add the following to the dvd extras:
    1. All of the movie trailers including
    international/non-english ones.
    2. movie poster stills

    1. Re:Are DVD 'Extras' worth the $$$ by jon+doh! · · Score: 1

      4. behind the scenes - these are mostly a complete waste of time in that they are a 24 minute advertisement for the movie with all of the actors just cheerleading how good the film is.

      try a behind the scenes for an older movie. Pink Floyd The Wall features a behind the scenes segment filmed before the MTV style of camera shots. It was actually quite interesting and wasn't an ad for the movie, instead it really took you into the production of the movie.

      well worth a look.

    2. Re:Are DVD 'Extras' worth the $$$ by ChuyMatt · · Score: 1

      OK... this is IF you don't like the stuff. Now, i personally LOVE commentary and outtakes, as it gives some insight into the actual production of the movie and evolution of the characters. Behind the scenes is ALWAYS great for me to see the way they did everything, because that interests me. Just a pet peeve, i suppose, for anyone, especially ACs to not preface opinions as such. It sounds really self absorbed, as if your opinion was the only thing that mattered.

  103. Try Hollywood Video by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not that they're a great store -- last time I went, I had to try 3 times to get a copy of a movie that wasn't unwatchably-fucked-up -- but they do stock Last Temptation of Christ.

    (The guy at the counter even told us how he thought it compared to other Scorcese movies. How's that for polite service?)

  104. Confusing by nemesisj · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "For a DVD box set that has been over 15 years in the making"

    Am I the only one wondering how a DVD box set could be in the making since before DVD's existed? Maybe this guy just meant that was the last time the movies had been seen in the theaters, but it sounds a little silly.

  105. BTTF 2 (& 3) by Frogg · · Score: 1

    I worked on the Commodore 64 version of the BTTF2 game (ah, the joys of hand optimised 8-bit assembly language! ;). We did a lot of work from an early draft of the script...

    ...an interesting fact that many people might not know is that the stories in BTTF2 and BTTF3 were originally destined to be crammed into just the one movie.

  106. Re: Shiny reference by eclectus · · Score: 1

    Of course, he could be referring to Sluggy Freelance, too.

    --
    This signature is a waste of 42 characters
  107. Best edit ever. by ipinkus · · Score: 1

    I was remembering how TV censors changed "Son of a bitch" (which isnt that bad to begin with) to "Slug in a ditch"... I couldn't remember where it was from, Google helped though. Turns out I'm not the only one that thinks this edit is hillarious.

    1. Re:Best edit ever. by 1u3hr · · Score: 2

      In Four Wedings and a Funeral the very first line is "Fuck fuck fuck" as Hugh Grant realises he's slept in for another wedding. In the TV version he says "Bugger bugger bugger". Think for a moment of the literal meanings (vaginal vs anal sex) and wonder if this is cleaner?

    2. Re:Best edit ever. by JimPooley · · Score: 2

      Repo Man!

      They replaced 'fuck' with 'flip', and 'motherfucker' with 'melonfarmer', so...

      "Flip you, melonfarmer!"
      "Don't flipping call me a melonfarmer, you flipper."

      The director Alex Cox said that he liked the TV edited version, as the bowdlerised dialogue made the film seem even more surreal.

      --

      "Information wants to be paid"
    3. Re:Best edit ever. by IngramJames · · Score: 1

      Harry Enfield's classic sketch comes true at last!


      And now our feature presentation, Good Blokes. You may like to know that this film has been specially ruined for television.


      Did you fun my wife? Did you fun my wife?


      Nah I didn't fun your wife, she just sucked my cake


      Fun you, mother-funster!

      --
      'No rational religion claims "supernatural" exists, that's an atheist slander.' - seen on slashdot.
  108. Re:I won't be buying it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    so many many of ours rights are being stripped away now, why not go ahead and take them all away from us. Let's get it over with already!!!

  109. Sorry ... But I don't get it by rudy_wayne · · Score: 1

    This place is always full of posts about how greedy and evil the MPAA/RIAA are. And you're right -- the MPAA/RIAA are quite possibly the greediest, evilest scumbags in history.

    So why is it that every time Hollywood turns out some more lame crap (LoTR, Back to the Future DVD set, etc) everybody here can't wait to rush right out and pump more $$ into the pockets of the MPAA.

    1. Re:Sorry ... But I don't get it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because the userbase of Slashdot does not consist of one single, megalithic opinion. Despite many jokes to the contrary, it is not a hive-mind.

      Some people don't give a fuck about the RIAA / MPAA and have no compunctions about throwing down their money for some entertainment. And others are simply two-faced.

      It's not rocket science, kid. And this gets explained every time this topic comes up, you'd think even the densest of people would get it by now. Apparently not.

  110. CLASS ACTION LAW SUIT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Who's gonna start that shit up??

  111. Conspiracy! by Chelloveck · · Score: 2

    Hmmm... And there's evidence to suggest that John Bigboote survived his gunshot wound and the subsequent destruction of the transport ship, and went into hiding as eccentric inventor Doc Brown. He built the time machine to go back and destroy Buckaroo before he was even born by aiding Hanoi Xan back in the 50s. That would allow Yoyodyne to complete the ship unhampered, and he'd get to return to Planet X.

    But it went wrong, as meddling with history often does. In the non-Buckaroo timeline, Lord John Whorfin didn't build the ship, but was successfully treated and released from the asylum. After that, he and a few of his Red Lectroid friends began studying the earth by masquarading as Prof. Dick Solomon and his family.

    Things become weirder as Lizardo/Whorfin/Solomon falls for someone he believes is an Earthling, but who is actually another alien by the name of Prymatt Conehead!

    --
    Chelloveck
    I give up on debugging. From now on, SIGSEGV is a feature.
  112. gigawatt plot hole by macshune · · Score: 1

    According to m-w.com, gigawatt (pronounced jiga/giga, redundant) wasn't coined until 1962, seven years after Doc Brown invents the flux capacitor. Ugh. Back to work...

    1. Re:gigawatt plot hole by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's no problem, as it's Marty who informs Doc of the 1.21 gigawatt requirement. Also, the prefix giga was officially adopted by the 11th CPGM in 1960, so it's more than likely that it was in common use before that date and Doc would have been aware of its meaning.

  113. You CAN return the DVDs to the store by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You should all know that BY LAW you have the RIGHT to return an item you bought and that is defective. So for example if you bought the DVD at some local store with a "no returns" policy, that doesn't really matter, they STILL have to refund you your money.

    So go back boys and girls and return those discs and wait for the new release in 2003.

  114. How can I find out if my DVD is faulty? by hoytt · · Score: 1

    I got the PAL region 2 verson in a 1.85:1 format. How do I know if my DVD set has the incorrect frames? Is there any place to check this?
    Any useful links/comments highly apprciated.

    1. Re:How can I find out if my DVD is faulty? by jnik · · Score: 1

      How do I know if my DVD set has the incorrect frames? Is there any place to check this?
      Is the disc labelled in any way that would indicate it carries "Back to the Future II" or "Back to the Future III"? If yes, it's defective.

    2. Re:How can I find out if my DVD is faulty? by Dimensio · · Score: 2

      You can look for my other comments in this topic, or you can check out the message boards at http://www.bttf.com/

      I can already tell you, however, that your BTTF 2 and BTTF 3 are mismatted.

    3. Re:How can I find out if my DVD is faulty? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sarcasm at it's best.

  115. Re:With A Little Help From My Friends: +1, Patriot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You're missing the important bit - the six byte player key, or the cryptographic attack to get it, or the CSS shortcut (known-plaintext) attack...

  116. Re:For those curious about the widescreen misframi by ivan256 · · Score: 1

    -
    My government supports terrorism. [objectivistcenter.org]


    Please use the signature field of your user page for your signature, so that those of us who don't want to waste bandwidth with offtopic signatures can choose not to display it.

  117. You're new here, aren't you? (NT) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    no text...

  118. uh oh by Pope · · Score: 1

    I expect the URL for fish.cx to be taken any second now...

    --
    It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
  119. Sigh.. gotta do these guys one at a time. by Backov · · Score: 1

    Note to poster: Slashdot is not a homogenous community. There are people that read/post that could give a rats ass about the MPAA/RIAA.

    Not all nerd were created equal, so clue in.

    --
    In the law there is no overlap between theft and copyright infringement whatsoever.
  120. Re:For those curious about the widescreen misframi by haloscan · · Score: 1

    The point is, the people who purchased the DVD want to see all that they saw in the original screening (plus more maybe because of the bonus features on the DVD).

    Reframing it because they simply didn't like how it looked is like getting the Mona Lisa with the bottom part cut off because it 'was framed strangely'.

  121. I'd rather have the seat cushions! by Slur · · Score: 2

    ar, ar.

    --
    -- thinkyhead software and media
    1. Re:I'd rather have the seat cushions! by BigBlockMopar · · Score: 2

      Volume adjust for Dire_Straits_-_Walk_Of_Life.wav: 4.527
      Volume adjust for Dire_Straits_-_Private_Investigation.wav: 5.620
      Volume adjust for Dire_Straits_-_Telegraph_Road_-_Live_(Remix).wav:
      sox: Premature EOF on .wav input file 2730.667
      Illegal division by zero at /home/bigblockmopar/crip line 1365, <STDIN> line 13.

      --
      Fire and Meat. Yummy.
  122. Re: a little more info by Laplace · · Score: 2

    Huh. interesting. I once projected "The Usual Suspects" in a 16m theater. I thought that the boom mikes regularly dropping into the frames was an interesting touch, but never saw it in any other versions.

    --
    The middle mind speaks!
  123. Shaw was just trolling [ghoti] by miu · · Score: 1
    Example: "ghoti" spells fish. "gh" as in "trough". "o" as in "women". "ti" as in "station".

    There are valid reasons for the 15% of English that is 'odd', and none of those resons allow 'ghoti' to be pronounced 'fish'.

    giga as 'jiga' is correct, but like 'forte' or 'demesne' apt to get a strange look from most.

    --

    [Set Cain on fire and steal his lute.]
  124. Working pics of errors by TheSHAD0W · · Score: 2

    ...Can be seen on Home Theater Forum.

  125. Re:News For Nerds? by DeltaSigma · · Score: 1

    I'll give you Alien 4 was quite... lacking. However Alien 3 I find enjoyable. Oh believe me, I hated it with a passion ever since I saw it. However, later in life, when I learned to look at the movie outside of the science fiction scope, and instead evaluate it as an artistic work, I found it to be incredibly symbolic and very intelligently written and directed. It's hardly my choice for something thrilling, scary, or action packed, but I do find it very enlightening. I guess I'd describe Alien and Aliens as being a perfect mix of artistic symbolism and silver screen entertainment. Alien 3 went more towards the art, then Alien Resurrection, in total disregard for the rest of the series, goes completely stereotypical action, with stereotypical heroes, in a stereotypical sci-fi setting. I find the fourth Alien movie to be the most dissapointing.

  126. Re:Here's Some Real News: War by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Haha. Camel fuckers getting killed IS funny. Thanks for the laugh. You made my day.

  127. Why *only* castrated movie? by Petersson · · Score: 1

    I love this movie series, I could hardly take the fact the movie will be in "some way" castrated. Why they just don't release full-blooded version side by side with the castrated one? Let the people decide what they want. In my case, I can withstand Lybian thugs on my TV-screen...
    And how about "South Park-Bigger,Longer,Uncut", is there going to be some extra version without Saddam Hussein? :)

    --
    I'm not insane. My mother had me tested.
    1. Re:Why *only* castrated movie? by KillerBob · · Score: 2

      Hmm... I bought the DVD set last week (2 days after it was released. I would have bought it earlier, but I was hung over....)

      I'm not sure I recognized any section that was "castrated". I've watched the whole series, and didn't see anything that struck me as castrated. Except, possibly, the few scenes that had been deleted, but they were missing from the original theatrical versions, too. I love the documentaries, and the commentary tracks are good, too.

      To set aside your fears, the Lybians are still in it. The doc still gets shot with the AK-47, which then jams when they point it at Michael J. Fox. And they still crash when they pull out a rocket launcher and point it at the DeLorean. I don't think they could cut that out and keep the feeling.

      Unless you Americans are getting the shaft on it. Mine's the Canadian version, with the French-language track available as well. I'm also not noticing the widescreen matting problems that are reported, so that could be a region-specific problem, too.

      --
      If you believe everything you read, you'd better not read. - Japanese proverb
  128. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  129. Re: Shiny reference by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ahh... That would explain why I never found it...

    All that time, wasted...

  130. Re:widescreen just chops off the top & bottom! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    BTTF was filmed in Full Screen , thats why they had to chop the top and bottom to make it widescreen. For a movie that was filmed in widescreen, you get the full picture when you buy the 'widescreen' dvd. If you where to buy the 'full screen' version of a movie that was filmed in widescreen, they would have to chop off the sides.

  131. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  132. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  133. Re:widescreen just chops off the top & bottom! by ansible · · Score: 2

    What's funny is this is also exactly what happens with the new Justice League show on Cartoon Network. Have a look at the normal and widescreen versions. They just cut off the top and botton, and viola, it is 'widescreen'.

  134. Hey, I'm getting OLD... by Goonie · · Score: 2
    I dunno about you, but I find it kinda scary that 1985 is further into the past than 2015 is into the future...

    By the way, let's see, how are we doing WRT the predictions for 2015? Let's see:

    • Flying cars? Nope.
    • Original Macs a valuable museum piece? Yep, got that.
    • Way-cool 3D projection? Nope.
    • Hoverboards? Nope :(
    • Still making Jaws sequels? Nope.
    • 80's retro? LOTS.


    Not a great strike rate, I have to say :)
    --

    Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo
    --Andy Finkel (J. Klass?)
  135. Re:For those curious about the widescreen misframi by BrookHarty · · Score: 1

    Tough luck, I get to read your sigs, you get to read mine.

  136. CARING.....NOT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    These movies (only saw 2) were "OK" when they came out. Nothing fancy, nothing really special. Just goes to show you that nothing but CRAP came out of the 80's (except me leaving high school).

    Again, 80's movies remastered to dvd's...who gives a shit?

  137. Hoverboards are to be released Holiday 2003 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The technology has been around since BTTF was released but it is now marketable!

    These are real hoverboards and act just like the ones in the movie. Check out my source!

  138. Obligatory Jeff Foxworthy Joke by citizenc · · Score: 2

    Smart people invest their money in stock portfolios. Rednecks invest in commemorative plates."

  139. Re:For those curious about the widescreen misframi by Dimensio · · Score: 2

    It was not 'a few shots'. It is 'every scene in both movies except for special effects shots, because those were already hard-matted on the print'. Further, the screenshots given show excess ZOOMING that isn't even present in the fullscreen release. There no evidence of any 'problems' in the original widescreen laserdisc transfer that would be covered up in the mismatting, though there is strong evidence that some visuals are screwed up as a result of the misframing in the DVD.

    The shots were misframed. The transfer was not made correctly, and Universal has finally admitted as much.

  140. Re:For those curious about the widescreen misframi by gol64738 · · Score: 2

    yea, but maybe your TV is at fault. remember, these films have been reformatted to fit YOUR tv, not mine. duh

    (yes, it's funny, laugh)

  141. Re: Great Scott! The deuce, you say! by Blondie-Wan · · Score: 1
    As well as:

    Co-producer Neil Canton.

    Co-star Christopher Lloyd.

    Hero who sings a classic 1958 song on stage ("Since I Don't Have You," "Johnny B. Goode") but doesn't finish it.

    Friend of hero (*SPOILER*) seemingly killed partway through film remains alive and well at conclusion (Rawhide resurrected for dam site parade in end credits, Doc Brown wears bulletproof vest to thwart terrorists :)

  142. Re:For those curious about the widescreen misframi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Uh, no, it's not funny, and the problem affects the widescreen version, which is not 'formatted to fit your screen'.

  143. I have a question for you... by NetGyver · · Score: 2

    You got yours at walmart too? I have a theory but i haven't tested it yet.

    Could you go to walmart, complain to a manager, and as long as you have a reciept, could you exchange your defective boxset for a corrected version due out in late februrary?

    I was thinking of doing this so I didn't have to wait however long Universal decides on shipping the corrected discs out. I figured if i can return my boxset for a complete and corrected version in feb that that would be the ideal way to go. What do you think?

    I never returned a dvd, let alone a boxset in this fashion to a retailer before, and i'm unsure that walmart would be able to do this.

    I bought widescreen because I wanted to "see" all of the movie--not hacked up pan+scan. I read examples about the differences online and I knew I must have widescreen. And now i get messed up widescreen versions on Part II and III. Isn't that irony? As if the space-time continuium was trying to keep me from seeing the movies like how the director envisioned it.

    --
    A Penny for my thoughts? Here's my two cents. I got ripped off!
  144. THIS is flamebait? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Who modded this as flamebait? That's funny.

    To explain the joke: Back to the Future is ONE OF THE MOVIES. Get it?

  145. Re:For those curious about the widescreen misframi by Dimensio · · Score: 2

    Actually, the widescreen one is 'formatted to fit my screen'.

  146. Dumb and Dumber (was Re:Nixing the Libyans) by smcn · · Score: 1

    Near the end, when Harry and Lloyd are handcuffed to the bed and fighting, Harry says "Fine, just tell me where to sign!" to which Lloyd responds, "On my sandwich, right after you kiss it!" "Sandwich" is supposed to be "ass". As bad as it was, it sure made me laugh.

  147. Re: Key by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's right! Enjoy your DVD today, because tomorrow you may need to pay $4.99 to "re-key" your shiny new DVD+ player so it will play.

    That's OK, as a Hollywood resident, I've been "re-key"-ing their SUV's in return...

  148. Re:For those curious about the widescreen misframi by redcliffe · · Score: 2

    Hmm, I'd have the set bought a few months back in Australia and I haven't seen the problem, at least playing under Ogle on Linux. I'll check again now I know specific scenes to look at.

  149. Now now now don't curse LOTR.... by AbRASiON · · Score: 1

    They were made back to back IIRC no? .... that would be most uncool if the 3'rd one sucked

    no jinx'ing please!

  150. Re:My opinion by NetGyver · · Score: 2

    All Part II and Part III widescreen dvds are defective, and will be sold defective until Universal gets the corrected batch out in stores in late Feb 2003. Since you bought yours prior to late Feb 2003, that means your eligable for a product replacement program that Universal will roll out in...you guessed it..late Feb 2003.

    See article for details.

    --
    A Penny for my thoughts? Here's my two cents. I got ripped off!
  151. Hoverboards are (kinda) real now by ron_aegis · · Score: 1

    Check them out here. They are a bit pricey and heavy too but that's a start :)

  152. "rediculous" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    When are you going to learn to spell this word? It's RIDICULOUS.

    And btw, BTTF3 was brilliant, the best of the 3. It had horses in it.

  153. Um... by autopr0n · · Score: 2

    Note I did say handle like a sports car, but not accelerate and top speed like a sports car.

    Well, if it dosn't accelerate like a sports car, how would you know if it 'handles' like one?

    --
    autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
    1. Re:Um... by carlos_benj · · Score: 1

      Door handles. The door handles are like a sports car's.

      --

      --

      As a matter of fact, I am a lawyer. But I play an actor on TV.

  154. Altered? by autopr0n · · Score: 2

    Actualy, the film was shot with the 'i hate everybody' sign, and then replaced with 'niggers' for the cinema. I doubt the TV production crews would really have enough money to to a nice replacement, so you're probably seeing the orgional shot, not an alteration

    That said, I did see a TV edit of showgirls Where they had the most rediculous painted on bra on the character in her stage performances. It looked like a "My first photoshop" excersize :P

    --
    autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
  155. Of course forward time travel is possible by autopr0n · · Score: 2

    What do you think you're doing right now?

    Aditionaly, higher gravity = slower time. So, if you were to go into orbit around a black hole without spinning apart (for example) and then leave most things would be advanced along farther. Or, if you traveled near the spead of light, etc.

    --
    autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
  156. actualy by autopr0n · · Score: 2

    people have mesured the time-speed diffrence between the ground and an airplane flying at 60k feet using atomic clocks.

    --
    autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
    1. Re:actualy by AnyoneEB · · Score: 1

      I'd say that an atomic clock is a "very precise insturment" wouldn't you?

      --
      Centralization breaks the internet.
  157. paratox? by autopr0n · · Score: 2

    Do you understand what I'm saying yet?

    Why would we? All you're doing is ranting and raving like a madman. As far as I can tell, you're whole argument boils down to "He's stupid, damnit, can't you see he's STUPID!??!!"

    A paradox dosn't mean something can't happen.

    --
    autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
    1. Re:paratox? by Physics+Dude · · Score: 1
      No, That's not my argument at all. I'm not saying he's stupid. I'm saying that HE DID NOT SOLVE ANY PARADOXES. Can I be any more clear?

      I'm sorry that you're having a comprehension problem but I'll try one last time:

      1. The original poster, entrager, stated that "Credit must be given to Kip Thorne for coming up with this solution to the famous "Grandfather" paradox."
      2. I stated that Kip Thorne did not give any solution to the famous "Grandfather" paradox. Instead, he claims the universe must be consistent in a cause-effect way, thus disalowing any paradoxes.
      Please read the work of Kip Thorne if you don't believe me. His papers have been critisized for not giving rational behind those assumptions. I did not intend to cast any dispersion on Kip himself since my initial dispariging remark was targeted at the other website's analysis of Kip's work, and entrager's analysis of it. I personally agree with Kip and his view of things, but I don't appreciate the misrepresentation of it.
  158. Starwars had an ending. by autopr0n · · Score: 2

    Actualy, I think Starwars was created of its own. And indeed, it stands on its own, as does ROTJ. Obviously, if you write a story your mind will spin with alternate and future ideas for it, but that dosn't mean that the whole was created in one step. (like LOTR, or the Matrix).

    Also, the whole LOTR trillogy is a 'sequel' of sorts to the Hobbit.

    --
    autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
  159. "Kissing you is like kissing my brother..." by autopr0n · · Score: 2

    Which is obvious BS. The reason brothers and sisters don't enjoy eachother 'sexualy' has to do with the fact that they grew up together, not that they are geneticaly related. The same behavior can be found in many types of animals (such as birds, etc). Animals that are 'rased' together simply won't mate with eachother.

    On the other hand, brother/sister pairs who are not rased together are often attracted...

    --
    autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
  160. I've got a worse TV edit... by Nermal · · Score: 2

    It's not back to the future, but remember the scene in Ferris Beuler's Day Off, when Ferris is describing his friend and says 'if you put a piece of cole in his ass, in a few weeks you'd have a diamond' (great line, imho). Well, the tv edit changed the line to 'if you put a piece of cole in his hand, in a few weeks you'd have a diamond'.

    Sigh.

    1. Re:I've got a worse TV edit... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ITYM "coal". HTH. Profit!! HAND.

    2. Re:I've got a worse TV edit... by Zebbers · · Score: 2

      who is cole and why did you stick him up ferris' friend's ass?

      oh
      coal

  161. Re:What *did* the MPAA do RIGHT??? by Blondie-Wan · · Score: 1

    I'm in agreement that lots of DVDs offer much more entertainment value for one's dollars than most CDs, but what does the MPAA have to do with creating the DVD?

  162. Re:widescreen just chops off the top & bottom! by tempfile · · Score: 2

    The quote is wrong. It should just go: "DVDs are made in widescreen to reflect the artist's true representation of the movie".

    Many 1.85:1 movies are shot in full frame (1.37:1) and then matted. Zemeckis almost always does it. The artist's intention of the movie is still the widescreen one, even if it shows less picture than the fullframe one.

  163. Re:News For Nerds? by Torinaga-Sama · · Score: 2

    True, Buckaroo kicked much butt, but I didn't get to see that until it was on cable.

    To tell you the honest truth, I wouldn't be that surprised to see either of those stars in the next Star Wars, as it has inflated to more of a mainstream movie than anything else I can think of. That still won't stop me from going to see the next one.

    --
    (/local/home/curiosity)-#who -u|grep thecat|cut -c 44-49|xargs kill -9
  164. Sound differences by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just to clarify the differences between Region 1 and the others:

    Region 2/Region 4: Great sounding DTS 5.1 sound. By all acounts this sounds great throughout the trilogy (after all, BTTF won an Oscar for this!)

    Region 1: No DTS, only the inferior Dolby Digital soundtrack. Allegedly this was scrapped in order to make space on the discs for a makeup tests and other nonsense. I'm not sure what was wrong with a 4-disc set, but there you go...

    (In fact, a further difference between USA-R1 and Canada-R1 is that some extra deleted scenes are, er, deleted!)

  165. Re:For those curious about the widescreen misframi by ivan256 · · Score: 2

    Tough luck, I get to read your sigs, you get to read mine.

    First of all, I don't have a sig. Second of all, If I did you could go turn it off in your preferences because I'd put it in the sig field instead of pushing my off topic adgenda on people who have explicitly opted out.