Opinions and Updates on when Malcolm in the Middle will come out on DVD in the U.S

MITM97

New member
This has been a long running subject but I would like to see if anyone has any idea when the complete series seasons 1-7 will come out including bonus features on either Blu-Ray or DVD in the U.S or other countries. I am aware of the music rights issue and payments and if any has any idea please share as I've searched the internet and other media to no avail, hopefully you guys know something and feel free to share your opinions below Thanks! :)

P.S- Its a crazy idea but I've had thoughts to start a petition to get the full U.S release started and to see if Fox would even care.
 

Richiepiep

Administrator
Hi there MITM97,

Thanks for your message!

Well, as you may have read near the end of this thread (from page 23 onwards), the complete series S 1-7 is being released right now on DVD in France and Germany in widescreen (with better image quality than the earlier British releases), and with additional extras for seasons after S1, such as looks behind the scenes and an interview with creator Linwood Boomer.

Details of the German releases (roughly identical to the French ones) can be found here.

The French and German DVDs both feature the original soundtrack, including all the original songs (no replacements), alongside a French and German dubbed dialogue track respectively.

There are no English subtitles, however, just French and German ones respectively, because this also happens to be a rather expensive copyright issue. And they're all region 2 of course, so you need some sort of region-free player (hardware or software) if you're in the US.

Still, from what I've heard from all distributors (British, French and German), Fox has put only minimal effort into going through their vaults and coming up with decent episode masters, let alone those extras we all long for. In this sense, we must be extremely glad that we have the episodes now in this type of resolution, and with those extras, even though we know there's lots more stuff that Fox has been reluctant to release so far. And believe me, especially the Malcolm France team has invested a great deal of effort into contacting and collaborating with Fox.

Another problem with some of these potential bonus features, like cast interviews and music videos, is that there are other companies involved, like television networks or music publishers, which actually compounds the copyright issues and thus the costs.

So I believe it's quite unlikely any other releases will see the light of day, also because 'Malcolm' on DVD hasn't exactly been a runaway success so far. Blu-ray hardly appears to be an option, not just because the DVDs are a tough sell as they are, but also because of technical limitations. MITM was shot on Super 16mm film stock, not 35 mm, 70 mm, or digital high definition, so the image quality may actually look worse on Blu-ray.

And it's highly unlikely Fox would consider re-scanning the image, and run the risk of such an expensive release.

But of course, we can always keep hoping for a miracle!

Best wishes,

Rich
 
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MITM97

New member
Thanks and yes we can only hope for a miracle, for now as I reside in the U.S I will have to rely on Netflix and the Season 1 DVD to get my MITM( my favorite show among others like Breaking Bad and Knight Rider (1982-1986). Maybe one day we'll see a more broad and increased release including the U.S and of course the extras!

P.S- I have thought of getting a region free DVD player just trying to find the right one that's reasonably priced and works well, been thinking of getting seasons 1-7 UK version. Thanks again for the info!
 

Richiepiep

Administrator
Quick reply! ;)

I don't know what set-ups you use, and you may prefer watching all episodes on a large TV-screen, but if you'd think of watching episodes on your desktop PC or laptop, there are a lot of little software add-ons that can make your DVD application region-free.

I've been using a little program from Fengtao software (DVDFab) called 'DVD region-free' for more than 10 years now, which works on all software players, and has an unlimited user licence.

Also, freeware programs like VLC media player are region-free by nature - unless the DVD drive hardware prevents it.

Best,

Rich
 

Richiepiep

Administrator
Yes, it really pays off if you can get your hands on a Region 2-DVD from someone, and try to play it with for instance with the free VLC player (available from a trusted download site like download.cnet.com):

http://download.cnet.com/VLC-Media-Player/3000-13632_4-10267151.html

to see if it works. If it does, I bet you can play the European MITM disc sets!

Of course, lots of people hook up their PCs to their TV-screens now, sometimes wireless, to use as an alternative bigger monitor.
 

MITM97

New member
As mentioned above I live in the U.S and I'm curious is the UK MITM box set release Seasons 1-7 the same as the broadcasted U.S release on Fox meaning the episodes are uncut with the original music and dialogue (scenes). Hopefully someone knows for sure and thanks in advance.

P.S- I've been looking at this UK website called zavvi.com is this a reliable source, I saw the box set is much cheaper than on Amazon.
 

Richiepiep

Administrator
Hi again!

Yes, the UK MITM box set definitely contains only uncut episodes with all the original songs, so no replacement songs.

All episodes are presented in widescreen, unlike the US DVD release of S1 and the early broadcasts of the series on TV.

Apart from the UK S1 release, which is a straight copy of the US S1 DVD release, there are no subtitles and no extras either.

Thanks for mentioning zavvi.com. I don't see it listed there right now though. It appears to be sold out.

The price I found for the box at zavvi is £57.49/$89.10 which is indeed a lot cheaper than the £79.95 (or £71.69 from other sellers) listed on Amazon.co.uk

Rich
 
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