Maybe Australia might get it. One of my Firefly DVD sets s from there and it has the steel packaging.

(EDIT to correct spelling, typing from the phone can be a hassle sometimes)

[ edited by Numfar PTB on 2013-02-17 01:08 ]

Numfar PTB | February 17, 00:10 CET

I bought Firefly on DVD when it came out on DVD in the UK nine (?) years ago. For some reason it was sold as a "special edition". Been holding off from buying it on Blu-ray but the collector in me wants this.

Simon | February 17, 00:12 CET

Tempting. Is there anything extra on this that isn't on the DVDs or the non-steelbook blu-ray, which is less then half the price?

Does look shiny though.

Vandelay | February 17, 01:19 CET

Having already bought a couple of dozen DVD sets over the years, is the image quality on the Blu-Ray actually noticeably better? For all but very recent, high-budget productions, I gather it's generally hard to tell the difference.

blackmarketbeagle | February 17, 01:42 CET

I was just told today,( by a friend that looks at things side-by-side) that the blueray and DVD look identical.

espalier | February 17, 02:00 CET

Thanks espalier, that's about what I thought. Can't imagine there was much TV being shot in 1080p 10 years ago...

blackmarketbeagle | February 17, 02:13 CET

For what it's worth, the menus are much better on the Blu-ray.

Bishop | February 17, 04:19 CET

I think there is a drastic difference in quality between the DVD and BD but I guess that depends on your home set up. I don't understand the steelbook thing though. Can someone explain that to an American. We don't have this thing over here.

IrrationaliTV | February 17, 06:00 CET

blackmarketbeagle: Firefly was shot on 35mm Film. It can be scanned at up to 4k before no more detail is available. That's 4 times the resolution of 1080. Most likely it was scanned at 2k originally, with the final output of 640x480 for 4:3 standard def television.

The short: Until about 5 years ago, almost ALL TV and movies in the US were SHOT at greater than 1080p. It wasn't until HD televisions became a thing that it could be appreciated. So blu-ray collections of older TV shows may very well be noticeably sharper than their DVD counterparts, and very often are.

My (quite likely outdated, and/or misremembered) understanding is that the CG effects were only ever rendered at 640x480, and that on the original blu-ray the picture is sharper than the DVD but falls apart on the effects shots. Those shots likely look not the same as, but worse than on a DVD playing on a standard def TV because the lower resolution is being blown up to a higher resolution HD screen off the blu-ray. I've never seen the Blu Ray myself, so it's speculation and heresay on my part.

Side-by-side comparisons depend on tons of factors, from the media, to the player, to the TV,to the settings on the TV, to the distance one sits from the TV, etc... You'll often get widely differing opinions from different people. That's also why some people will think one blu-ray looks great and another looks terrible while someone else disagrees.

(FWIW, Dr. Horrible, Season 2 of Dollhouse (and Epitaph 1), and Avengers were all shot at 1080 and are the lowest resolution captured of anything Joss has done. Buffy S1,2 were 16mm, S3-7 were 35mm. Angel, Firefly, Serenity, and Dollhouse Season 1 were 35mm.)

ETA: "The Short" section, so that only a few people get bored with the tedium that follows.

[ edited by bobw1o on 2013-02-17 06:38 ]

bobw1o | February 17, 06:25 CET

The Blu Ray might not blow me away, but I find it a really nice improvement over the DVD: it's clearer, sharper and more detailed.
Yes, the special effects are a bit underwhelming, but they never distract me :)
However, the audio on Blu Ray is the best improvement for me: a very nice HD Master Audio 5.1 track. The DVDs can't really compare on that front.

Anyway, this new edition sounds interesting, I might buy a second Blu Ray set :P

Cronin | February 17, 10:06 CET

I think it's just a marketing attempt to slow down the declining sales of physical media. I am actually wondering if this was supposed to be an HMV exclusive. The Skyfall Steelbook certainly was before HMV's current woes, and then Amazon nabbed it.

Simon | February 17, 11:59 CET

HMV have had more than a few exclusives along those lines. The "Reel Heroes" repack of Serenity or the Cabin in the Woods steelbook spring to mind right away, so I think it's entirely possible. I too have that `special edition` tagged dvd set, which is missing on more recent runs.

And while the difference is not stunning with the blu ray over the dvd (Dollhouse S1 is far more noticably upgraded, for example), it is appreciable at times and if it can look a little better (not to mention the bonus commentary/special features being a little better - and the menu setup a LOT better!) then might as well take it.

...Although this *is* kind of milking it a bit. I think I'm up to about 9 copies of Serenity alone at this point...

[ edited by apollo11 on 2013-02-17 12:17 ]

apollo11 | February 17, 12:16 CET

Yes I bought the R4 Serenity Tin DVD when it came out and I got the HMV Serenity DVD with the free postcards as well.

Simon | February 17, 12:21 CET

@Cronin - I often find that the audio improvement on Blu-Ray is the most noticeable difference. The upscaling done by the player usually makes the picture quality on DVDs much better, so it matters less which format it is when it comes to the image.

There is still definitely a difference though, but often not enough for me to personally double dip, particular when it comes to TV.

Vandelay | February 17, 13:20 CET

I should not buy it a third time ... but I might.

The picture quality on Blu-ray is definitely better, except for the special effects which are still in standard definition.

harryK | February 17, 17:10 CET

It would be nice to see Angel Season 5 come out on Blu-ray. Amazon Video on Demand and iTunes sell the HD episodes, wouldn't mind owing physical copies.

Simon | February 17, 18:07 CET

Yeah, I agree about wanting to see Angel on bluray.
As for the Serenity blu-ray. It felt worth the double dip for the visual commentary. (My dvd only had an audio commentary IIRC)
So the Firefly blu-ray's mighty tempting...Just to have the full story on HD!

Jas | February 18, 00:20 CET

Angel on BD won't happen. I know it was discussed a few years back before the bottom fell out of the DVD market. It won't make financial sense to do it now. Not enough people buying physical anymore.

IrrationaliTV | February 18, 05:31 CET