Escape at Dannemora (1 Viewer)

[ScottH]

No idea why there isn't already a thread on this amazingly done miniseries. I don't follow the award shows but whenever this is eligible I gotta think it will run away with the Emmy's. Patricia Arquette, Paul Dano and Eric Lange all deserve nominations. You could certainly make the argument for Benicio but I feel like he didn't step out of his usual character as much. As the father of a teenage daughter I didn't even realize the Eric Lange character was Mr. Sikowitz. One of the most well done miniseries I've ever seen. Well done Ben Stiller (who also deserves a nomination).

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I was working for the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services when this prison break happened, and I remember getting the news clippings from the state troopers every morning as the manhunt continued.

Definitely on my "to watch" list the next time I subscribe to Showtime.

 

[Matt Hough]

I dropped Showtime a couple of years ago, but I hope it will either come to one of the streaming services I'm subscribed to now or that it will come to disc eventually. I would love to see it.

 

[Bernard McNair]

We recently watched Escape at Dannemora. We found it to be an engrossing series with Patricia Arquette superb in the lead.
The storytelling was well paced and I loved the way in which Ben Stiller saved some significant parts of the exposition till the final episodes.
Not light viewing but well worth the investment of time required. Highly recommended to those members of the Forum who have not had the opportunity to see it as yet.

 

[ScottH]

I was working for the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services when this prison break happened, and I remember getting the news clippings from the state troopers every morning as the manhunt continued.

Definitely on my "to watch" list the next time I subscribe to Showtime.

Adam, you will love it. I will say though that I think the less you know about the actual story, the better. I knew the general story, but very little of the details so most of it was fresh to me.

 

[Malcolm R]

I live in the area where this happened and was subjected to constant wall-to-wall news coverage for weeks. You couldn't pay me to watch a film about it.

 

[The Drifter]

Just saw EAD (on the DVD set) and felt it was incredible. Definitely one of the best mini-series I've ever seen. The fact that this was based on a true story made it all the more gripping.

Really liked the attention to detail re: the escape, and also appreciated the rock/pop soundtrack - especially the '70's music.

One of my favorite episodes was the 6th one (2nd to last), which was a "flash-back" episode showing how Sweat (Dano), Matt (BDT), and Tilly (Arquette) had gotten to the point that we saw them at the beginning of the series. I especially appreciated the 1993 flash-back - the early '90's alternative/progressive rock soundtrack brought back a lot of memories of this era.

 

[Matt Hough]

I did get to review the DVD set. That review can be found here. It is a brilliant mini-series, but it deserves to be seen in better quality than the DVD set offers. I hope it eventually streams in HD on one of the streaming services I have. I'd love to watch it again and not be distracted by video artifacts.

 

[The Drifter]

I did get to review the DVD set. That review can be found here. It is a brilliant mini-series, but it deserves to be seen in better quality than the DVD set offers. I hope it eventually streams in HD on one of the streaming services I have. I'd love to watch it again and not be distracted by video artifacts.

Agree with this wholeheartedly. While the mini-series itself was superb, the DVD presentation/PQ left a lot to be desired at times - and, I also noticed a "slowness" during the "motion" scenes; this is something I've seen when streaming sometimes, and also after I got my first DVD player in 2003 & played movies on my old computer - it seemed to occur because the computer memory couldn't catch up to the DVD "motion" - not sure what the correct term is here to describe the problem - i.e., the DVD was "loading" too slowly.

In any case, these quality control issues may have been something we had to put up with in the early 200X's (when the DVD format was much newer) - but is unacceptable for a DVD set in 2019. Note that I don't blame the DVD format per se - since I've seen a lot of older & current DVD's with solid, decent PQ.

It would be nice if this mini-series would make it's way on Blu at some point, but not sure that will ever happen.

 

[ScottH]

Wait, what? They still release DVDs? Let alone DVD without a simultaneous Blu-ray release? What is the logic behind that?

 

[The Drifter]

Wait, what? They still release DVDs? Let alone DVD without a simultaneous Blu-ray release? What is the logic behind that?

Unfortunately, it still happens - even today. There are still recent TV shows & movies that have only gotten DVD releases only, and no Blu releases. Too many to list, but just off the top of my head:

Vice Principals (HBO series) S02 - DVD release only
Legion S02 - DVD-R release only

 

[ScottH]

Unfortunately, it still happens - even today. There are still recent TV shows & movies that have only gotten DVD releases only, and no Blu releases. Too many to list, but just off the top of my head:

Vice Principals (HBO series) S02 - DVD release only
Legion S02 - DVD-R release only

Wow...I really had no idea. I mean, is there really still a market for DVDs? I know Bluray kind of got lost in the transition of DVD > Streaming but is the market for DVDs larger than that of Bluray? I honestly didn't even realize major studios were still producing DVDs.

 

[Malcolm R]

Wow...I really had no idea. I mean, is there really still a market for DVDs? I know Bluray kind of got lost in the transition of DVD > Streaming but is the market for DVDs larger than that of Bluray? I honestly didn't even realize major studios were still producing DVDs.

It depends on the film. Generally BR is selling more copies than DVD, but family films and comedies still seem to sell proportionally more on DVD (sometimes close to 50/50). A few examples of recent home releases (Figures from: the-numbers.com):

 

[The Drifter]

Yes, while those of us on this site (and others like it) know that Blu is in almost all cases a far superior format to DVD & that it may even be the best thing since sliced bread, it's also obvious that John Q. Public is, in general, ignorant and/or indifferent to the differences between Blu's & regular DVD's. In fact, I can safely say that there are still some folks out there who are still ignorant of the fact that Blu players are backwards-compatible, and can also play regular DVD's

That being said, I believe that the studios are also partially blame here for not promoting the format more than they have. Here we are in 2019, almost 13 years after the Blu format made it's debut (in 2006). And, most retail stores are still pushing DVD's over Blu's in almost all of the cases I've seen.

You would think that 13 years after the debut of a superior home video format, it would have become more popular than what we're seeing.

That being said:

-With the HUGE popularity of streaming I can see why more people aren't jumping on the Blu bandwagon. Even though most streams I've seen are inferior to most Blu's I've seen, convenience will typically trump expense - i.e., the convenience & relative cheapness of streaming will almost always win out vs. buying/renting (if you can even do that anymore) physical media.

-Also, the convenience of online stores is another reason Blu's aren't being sold more in physical stores. I.e., it's a lot easier (and in many cases cheaper) to order Blu's online than to go to a physical store to buy them - hence, another reason why Blu's aren't as easy to find in brick & mortar retail stores.

 

[Malcolm R]

In fact, I think I can safely say that there are still some folks out there who are still ignorant of the fact that Blu players are backwards-compatible, and can also play regular DVD's

Yes, you are correct, and I've seen this in action at the local Walmart. I was in electronics one time when a customer was looking to buy a new DVD player. I asked him if he'd considered a blu-ray player, and he replied something like, "but then how would I play my DVD's?"

That being said, I believe that the studios are also partially blame here for not promoting the format more than they have. Here we are in 2019, almost 13 years after the Blu format made it's debut (in 2006). And, most retail stores are still pushing DVD's over Blu's in almost all of the cases I've seen.

Yes, the mistake was continuing DVD-only releases indefinitely after blu-ray was released (still to this day). They should have been DVD/BR combo-packs only for a period, then BR only at some point.

 

[The Drifter]

Yes, you are correct, and I've seen this in action at the local Walmart. I was in electronics one time when a customer was looking to buy a new DVD player. I asked him if he'd considered a blu-ray player, and he replied something like, "but then how would I play my DVD's?"

Agreed. People who know that I'm a Blu/HD aficionado have even asked me recently as to whether or not a Blu player also plays DVD's - and the Blu format has been around for 13 years! Unbelievable on one hand, but actually not too surprising - unfortunately

Yes, the mistake was continuing DVD-only releases indefinitely after blu-ray was released (still to this day). They should have been DVD/BR combo-packs only for a period, then BR only at some point.

Agreed. Though having a Blu/DVD combo release adds perceived value to the set, I typically unload the DVD's (usually by giving them to friends/family, or donating them) and keeping the Blu. I.e., I'm not going to watch the DVD if I have the Blu. So, there's no real reason to keep making these. And,by continuing to produce these combo sets, this just makes it less likely that people would shift over exclusively to Blu.

Again, however - streaming - which I love too (for various reasons I won't go over here) is definitely another reason people haven't fully embraced Blu as a mainstream format. I.e., note there are also people out there who don't even own a DVD/Blu player at all - and stream exclusively; I know some younger co-workers (20's/early 30's) who are in this situation.

 

[Malcolm R]

Joyce Mitchell was released on parole today. Most people around here are not happy.