Captain's bLog: 0511.11

•  It's great to finally have definitive release information on the Battle Beyond the Stars and Star Wars Blu-rays. Like most of you, I'm greatly disappointed that George Lucas is choosing not to include the original theatrical cuts of the original trilogy in the set - with Blu-ray's seamless branching abilities, it wouldn't be that difficult, but as noted over on the Space: 1970 Facebook page by one angry fan, George doesn't seem to have much regard for the wishes of first-generation Star Wars loyalists, and that's a shame.

I'll probably try and get the set at a discount, if I can. The extensive extras - particularly the inclusion of those vintage TV documentaries - are quite tempting. And I don't hate the Special Editions - in fact, I actually rather like The Empire Strikes Back SE (I think Cloud City is much cooler looking with windows!), but it is frustrating. I'll be hanging onto my Star Wars Definitive Collection laserdiscs, I guess. They still look pretty good on my HD TV, and they definitely sound better the DVDs.

On the other hand, the Battle Beyond The Stars Blu-ray sounds like a fantastic package, porting over all the extras from the out-of-print New Horizons DVD plus some new bonus material. If the picture and sound quality of the disc is as good as Shout! Factory's other Roger Corman Blu-rays, I should be a very happy birthday boy come July.

Now, if Disney would just get to work on a high-definition restoration/remastering of The Black Hole....

•   The response to my "Who Goes There" post was informative and encouraging, and I appreciate everyone who took a moment to introduce themselves in the comments. It's cool to meet so many people who share similar experiences and interests, and appreciate what a labor of love this blog is.

I noticed that a large number of you are from the UK, which surprised me a bit. I don't think there's any deep meaning in it, of course, but it's interesting.

•  Stats: the Space: 1970 Facebook page is now up to around 580 (give or take a couple; it keeps changing) "Likes" and we now have 259 Followers here on Blogger. The Alliance is growing, Star Kids....

•  Coming Soon: a new "Favorite Episodes" post, a review/commentary of the final entry in the "PAX Trilogy," Strange New World, a new Reader's Poll, and the first Space: 1970 "Top Ten" list. Why not? All the cool blogs do it, right? And who knows? Maybe the long-promised Omega Man review will pop up. Anything's possible.

•  Shameless Self Promotion Dept: Remember, I also post regular B-movie and genre TV reviews at my DVD Late Show site, and right now, I'm even running a free DVD Giveaway. Check the site for details.

Anyone interested in my non-70's sci-fi projects should check out my homepage, Atomic Pulp. There you'll find previews of my upcoming comic book and fiction writings, a bibliography of my published works, and links to my various pop culture blogs and websites.

•   And Don't Forget: Season Two of The Bionic Woman comes out on DVD in the U.S. next week! This season includes a couple of Six Million Dollar Man crossovers, including "The Return of Bigfoot" (how's that for timely?). You can pre-order it here: The Bionic Woman: Season Two