I had this set on pre-order from the end of 1995. The release date was put back twice (maybe three times, if memory serves) to July 1996. Around June I found a site that was moaning about the poor transfer of the original films to DVD; something about the wrong aspect ratio, I think.
I ended up cancelling my pre-order & didn't buy the set.
I'll see if I can find the details with a bit of creative Google usage & post again if I'm successful.
Has anybody else got this DVD box set (already) & can comment on the quality of the transfer?
Thanks.
BFN,
fp.
EDIT: A review of the set (with the original cover)...
[
http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=62278 ]
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...Overall
So, for the £29.99 asking price, what do you get? Six rather fetching coasters is the answer. Optimum have really dropped the ball with this release, which is a hodge-podge of different sources, only around half of which come even close to being watchable. By putting this release out and charging a premium price for it, they are showing utter contempt for their customers. Their thinking, I would assume, is that children will be happy enough with them, but quite honestly, when these shoddy presentations (or ones similar to them) were served up to me when I was a child, I was far from satisfied. In any event, I'd hazzard a guess that most Asterix fans these days are adults who, rightfully so, have come to expect better from Optimum.
To make matters worse, at the end of last year, when we first became aware of the DVNR artefacts present on the French DVDs, DVD Times reviewer David Mackenzie contacted Optimum, warning them of the problem, in case the French releases ended up being used as a source. Not only was his email not replied to, his advice has clearly been ignored point-blank, and, to add insult to injury, ironically-named Optimum have committed far greater crimes against these films than the French distributors ever did. As such, I cannot possibly recommend this release in any way. To put things into perspective, I've seen VHS releases that are more watchable than these.
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