What was point of getting rights for The Movies?

[coola]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but, when Funimation announced they got rights for DBox Z, they also got right for The Movies? If so, then i have to ask, what was the point? Its been almost 10 years, and only Movies release we got, was another Funimation remaster, i've lost hope we will ever get DBox The Movies in US, as well as Original and GT

[TheGreatness25]

As legend would have it, the Dragon Boxes didn't sell well. This has never been confirmed, but there's a pretty good argument for it regarding the release suddenly becoming a limited edition thing -- and the fact that the movies were never released actually adds fuel to that fire. From a business standpoint, I feel like someone at Funimation crunched the numbers and felt this wasn't even a venture that was worth it. Maybe the movies came in a packaged deal along with DBZ (after all, they do have the name). I don't know.

But what I do find strange is that they did release their Blu-rays. I'm not sure which came first -- the acquisition of the DBox movies or the Blu-ray release because I'm sure that the steel boxes came out in conjunction with the orange bricks. But if the Blu-rays came out after they got the rights to the DBox movies, I don't know why they wouldn't use those. I understand them not wanting to produce the packaging and them wanting to squeeze more out of it by doing multiple releases than just one; I get that. But why not use the DBox footage with their own packaging?

Unless they thought that the DBox footage looked "old" and worse than their remastering? I mean... I can see that being the thought process. After all, we have a thread dedicated to changing the colors and whatnot. It's possible that Funimation just found the footage to be ugly and rather than remaster that, it would be easier to just use what they already "remastered." I don't know. But I might be in the minority here, but I find their Blu-ray movie releases to be stunning and with the DBox movies also being cropped, it's not as bad as when they did it to the series.

Even back in like 2013, I came to the realization that I wasn't going to put too much faith in them releasing it, so I just got the Japanese ones. Might be harder to play (depending on your set-up) and no subtitles or dub track (if you're into that), but hey, it's still a nice trophy to have... even if it did set me back $350 or $450 (I forget).

[Forte224]

What is the overall consensus on the blu ray movies? Generally it's pretty positive isn't It?

where you at? Not as good as DBox but good, right?

[VegettoEX]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but, when Funimation announced they got rights for DBox Z, they also got right for The Movies? If so, then i have to ask, what was the point? Its been almost 10 years, and only Movies release we got, was another Funimation remaster, i've lost hope we will ever get DBox The Movies in US, as well as Original and GT

The only place I've ever seen this mentioned was the original press release.

I inquired multiple times after that announcement about the specifics of the movies, and each time it was either outright ignored or met with a generic "current focus is the TV series" answer.

I'm not convinced they ever actually had what they thought they had.

[Robo4900]

What is the overall consensus on the blu ray movies? Generally it's pretty positive isn't It?

where you at? Not as good as DBox but good, right?

They're arguably better. Japanese audio is infinitely worse, which is a big problem, but the video is actually very nice.
Only issue is that their HD master of DB movie 2 is screwed up, but I suppose that's not on Blu-Ray(At least, not yet?)... But yeah, the BDs are fine. I wish Funi would put the Dragon Box audio masters to use(Or perhaps license them in the first place?), though; the DBox movies use the original magnetic cinetape masters of the audio, so it's really great quality, and would be the thing that would make these BDs strictly better than the DBox DVDs.

But yeah, at this point, doing a US DBox movie DVD release would be pointless, really.

[coola]

Even back in like 2013, I came to the realization that I wasn't going to put too much faith in them releasing it, so I just got the Japanese ones. Might be harder to play (depending on your set-up) and no subtitles or dub track (if you're into that), but hey, it's still a nice trophy to have... even if it did set me back $350 or $450 (I forget).

I've actually got DBox The Movies from one of users here back in 2007 during vacation , for merely 150$, boxset and Dragon Book included, only thing that was missing were Scouters, i didnt minded that,and seller also included original SSJ Goku figure as "surprise" Considering how cheap dollar was to zloty back in 2007, i'd say it was great deal

What is the overall consensus on the blu ray movies? Generally it's pretty positive isn't It?

where you at? Not as good as DBox but good, right?

They're arguably better. Japanese audio is infinitely worse, which is a big problem, but the video is actually very nice.
Only issue is that their HD master of DB movie 2 is screwed up, but I suppose that's not on Blu-Ray(At least, not yet?)... But yeah, the BDs are fine. I wish Funi would put the Dragon Box audio masters to use(Or perhaps license them in the first place?), though; the DBox movies use the original magnetic cinetape masters of the audio, so it's really great quality, and would be the thing that would make these BDs strictly better than the DBox DVDs.

But yeah, at this point, doing a US DBox movie DVD release would be pointless, really.

Maybe Discotek would do it? They sell lots of oldschool anime, they even released Dr. Slump Movies not too long ago

[Forte224]

What is the overall consensus on the blu ray movies? Generally it's pretty positive isn't It?

where you at? Not as good as DBox but good, right?

They're arguably better. Japanese audio is infinitely worse, which is a big problem, but the video is actually very nice.
Only issue is that their HD master of DB movie 2 is screwed up, but I suppose that's not on Blu-Ray(At least, not yet?)... But yeah, the BDs are fine. I wish Funi would put the Dragon Box audio masters to use(Or perhaps license them in the first place?), though; the DBox movies use the original magnetic cinetape masters of the audio, so it's really great quality, and would be the thing that would make these BDs strictly better than the DBox DVDs.

But yeah, at this point, doing a US DBox movie DVD release would be pointless, really.

Interesting, what makes them better? And are the DVD collections just as good (minus the resolution)? I've struggled to find comparison images. I see threads about it but the image links are usually broken. I'm considering the blu rays now despite having the DBox movies.

[AnimeMaakuo]

It’s been 13-15 years since the release of the Japanese Dragon Boxes. Why the hell hasn’t Toei released the series on Blu-ray or in 4k? They’ve neglected the series and fans that brought them good fortune and now expect the same for their other installments. Nope, can’t fool me!

FUNimation screwed the pooch by releasing the series one-hundred times, leaving behind embarrassing mistakes created by amateurs, each one more worse than the other (except for the Level sets). The sad part is watching people buying into their bull crap. If only FUNimation hadn’t saturated the market with their 50th DBZ “remaster”, we could’ve had the Level sets in their entirety.

It truly amazes me how two companies with a plorith of resources managed to f’ up something of this magnitude. I don’t see the point in rewarding someone when they continue to beat you on the head with a stick. And with all the evidence to support this argument, fans are still buying into their nasty, hyped DBZ releases only to discover it’s flawed (for the hundredth time). But hey, don’t make me out to be the bad guy. Just because they misled everyone for years doesn't make me a bully for pointing it out.

In short - Toei and FUNi have no interest in preserving DB, DBZ, DBGT in best possible way. Their goal is to entertain you with cheap thrills until the name no longer means anything.

[Robo4900]

Maybe Discotek would do it? They sell lots of oldschool anime, they even released Dr. Slump Movies not too long ago

Won't happen. Funi handle all their home media releases internally.

Interesting, what makes them better? And are the DVD collections just as good (minus the resolution)? I've struggled to find comparison images. I see threads about it but the image links are usually broken. I'm considering the blu rays now despite having the DBox movies.

Honestly, if you're gonna go DVD, I'd say go with the original singles so you can get them open-matte. The closed-matte DVDs are fine, but honestly at DVD resolution, the DBox movies do end up just about winning out over the Funi DVD collections. Though, since the DBox movies don't have subs(Or dubs), I guess you won't really be going wrong by getting the closed-matte DVDs... Still though, you get to see a lot of cool stuff by going open-matte, and the DVD singles generally go for quite cheap, so that's the route I'd recommend for DVD.

But yeah, the Blu-Rays of the movies are good; the grain reduction is stronger than I'd like, but it's not destructive, it just pulls things back to a very clean look, which actually ends up looking pretty nice on a big TV. The colours are nice; a little over-contrasted/over-saturated, but not to a bad degree, really. It's honestly just a solid HD transfer of this material. No real complaints; the detail level is very nice, the image is very sharp... It's just good. Definitely worth buying. I prefer watching open-matte, so I tend to stick to the oldschool DVD singles and such, but that's the only real reason I don't just watch them on BD.

Honestly, the only things to hold against the movie BDs are the fact they don't use the high-quality audio(Which is Toei's fault), and the fact they haven't issued the OG Dragon Ball movies on BD yet(Though, if they did, they'd have to fix movie 2's screwy framerate issue).

I actually get the feeling Funi were so impressed with the results of the movie BD masters that they insisted the remastering team try to get the same results out of the series, which is why the Z series BDs are so strongly grain-scrubbed, over-contrasted, digitally sharpened, and everything else that went too far for the third-generation(Possibly fourth-gen, that's never really been clarified) 16mm film masters they were working with.

[sintzu]

I think the most likely answer is that they never had them and the announcement that they did was a mistake. Someone back in 2010 said in an interview that Raging Blast 2 would have GT characters in it so it wouldn't be the first time they got something wrong. They also said Z's season Blu-Rays would be in the format that gets the most votes only for them to do the opposite.

[ABED]

I just assumed the DBoxes were going to be limited. Marketed towards fans of the original and the price point all pointed towards being a limited release.

[Forte224]

snip

Interesting. I decided to pop in movie 8 today (I have the DVD collection packs already but haven't watched them since before I cared about picture quality) and it looked awful to me. Really bright brights, and really dark darks. As regards the DBox Movies, I have them with subtitles so I'm not concerned there. I think they look fantastic. I was just curious what made the blu-rays better or if they were pretty much similar to the movie collections. Maybe I'll try one out. I do wish there were more comparison shots out there though that were still active.

[AnimeMaakuo]

I think the most likely answer is that they never had them and the announcement that they did was a mistake. Someone back in 2010 said in an interview that Raging Blast 2 would have GT characters in it so it wouldn't be the first time they got something wrong. They also said Z's season Blu-Rays would be in the format that gets the most votes only for them to do the opposite.

At this point, your best bet is to have someone properly color correct the Dragon Box footage (which nobody has accomplished yet). I’m far too busy these days to do it myself, so maybe in a few years if nothing happens I’ll pull $15,000-$30,000 out of my bank and hire a real expert, not the amateurs over at FUNimation.

[Robo4900]

snip

Interesting. I decided to pop in movie 8 today (I have the DVD collection packs already but haven't watched them since before I cared about picture quality) and it looked awful to me. Really bright brights, and really dark darks. As regards the DBox Movies, I have them with subtitles so I'm not concerned there. I think they look fantastic. I was just curious what made the blu-rays better or if they were pretty much similar to the movie collections. Maybe I'll try one out. I do wish there were more comparison shots out there though that were still active.

I suppose it's a matter of taste. The overcontrasting is definitely an issue, but YMMV on whether it's a minor nitpick or an irredeemable problem. I happen to think it looks pretty good. I think this BD master with some Dr. Dre colour matching to match the colours to the Dragon Boxes would be ideal, but IDK if the standard-def footage's colours would have enough detail for the high-def image.

[Forte224]

Fair enough. FUNi has all the blu-rays on sale right now so thanks for the info Robo4900. Those screenshots (that I was totally fishing for) definitely look nice.

[Robo4900]

Fair enough. FUNi has all the blu-rays on sale right now so thanks for the info Robo4900. Those screenshots (that I was totally fishing for) definitely look nice.

Cheers, man.

This video seems to come from the Blu-Ray master too, though the bitrate is very low, so it's a bit blurry and such, but it should give you something of an idea of what Z movie 2 looks like.

[AnimeMaakuo]

Fair enough. FUNi has all the blu-rays on sale right now so thanks for the info Robo4900. Those screenshots (that I was totally fishing for) definitely look nice.

Why reward FUNimation for treating your series like crap? If you want something nicer, write them a message and quit buying their stuff.

[Forte224]

Fair enough. FUNi has all the blu-rays on sale right now so thanks for the info Robo4900. Those screenshots (that I was totally fishing for) definitely look nice.

Why reward FUNimation for treating your series like crap? If you want something nicer, write them a message and quit buying their stuff.

So, you don't like the blu-ray movies? Because that's what I'm talking about. Not the series. I ain't buying that release for sure.

[AnimeMaakuo]

Fair enough. FUNi has all the blu-rays on sale right now so thanks for the info Robo4900. Those screenshots (that I was totally fishing for) definitely look nice.

Why reward FUNimation for treating your series like crap? If you want something nicer, write them a message and quit buying their stuff.

So, you don't like the blu-ray movies? Because that's what I'm talking about. Not the series. I ain't buying that release for sure.

No, I don’t like them. You can achieve a much better effect (color & consistency wise) by remastering the Dragon Boxes. If buying the movies on Blu-ray doesn’t put you in financial ruin, go for it, but keep it mind you’re supporting FUNimation, the company that lied to you repeatedly.

[Robo4900]

Why reward FUNimation for treating your series like crap? If you want something nicer, write them a message and quit buying their stuff.

So, you don't like the blu-ray movies? Because that's what I'm talking about. Not the series. I ain't buying that release for sure.

No, I don’t like them. You can achieve a much better effect (color & consistency wise) by remastering the Dragon Boxes. If buying the movies on Blu-ray doesn’t put you in financial ruin, go for it, but keep it mind you’re supporting FUNimation, the company that lied to you repeatedly.

Nah, there is more detail in the Funi BDs. Their remasters of the series are pretty poor, but they did a good job on the movies. Colours aren't perfect, but it's a fine master.

As for "Remastering" the Dragon Boxes, that's crazy talk. If you want to go out of your way not to support Funi, there's plenty of easy routes to go that don't involve learning the skillset necessary to improve whatever aspect it is of the Japanese DBox masters of the movies that you don't consider adequate... Frankly though, if you prefer the DBoxes, I don't really see why any "Remastering" would be necessary, the DBox movie masters are fine as-is, and for DVDs, look quite nice.