DVD-YNAMITE! FOURTH QUARTER EXPLOSION SET TO IGNITE.Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer Tuesday's much-anticipated DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. release of ``The Passion of the Christ'' will face off against the DVD debut of the original ``Star Trek'' television series, kicking off what is widely expected to be a record-shattering fourth quarter for the home-video industry. The crowded release slate over the next four months will also have the summer's four biggest blockbusters - ``Shrek 2,'' ``Spider-Man 2,'' ``Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'' and ``The Day After Tomorrow'' - landing in stores while they are still fresh in the minds of movie fans. These heavy-hitters will be sharing shelf space with surprise box office sensation ``Fahrenheit 9/11,'' special editions of classic films, and an unprecedented number of boxed sets of television series including the long-awaited home-video debut of ``Seinfeld.'' ``It's going to be a consumer paradise; there is something for everyone,'' said Ralph Tribbey, editor of the DVD Release Report, an industry newsletter. ``The competition is going to be so intense during the fourth quarter.'' Competition will be especially tight leading up to the Christmas holidays. Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment announced this week that it will release a two-disc ``Spider-Man 2'' with 10 hours of bonus features Nov. 30, a week after the debuts of ``Seinfeld'' and ``Azkaban.'' ``You have all these big films that opened in summertime and naturally they are going to arrive in that Christmas window and the DVD is the perfect gift,'' Tribbey said. So far, ``Passion'' has been generating the most advanced buzz. It grossed $370 million at the domestic box office this year and a stellar home-video performance is expected with marketing by Fox Home Entertainment targeting the same Christian leaders and groups that drove the film's ticket sales. But the one title ahead of ``Passion'' on the Amazon.com list of best sellers Thursday was the original ``Star Wars'' trilogy A company founded in 1979 by Gene Amdahl to commercialize wafer scale integration and build supercomputers. It raised a quarter of a billion dollars, the largest startup funding in history, but could not create its 2.5" superchip. , which hits stores Sept. 21. The four-disc set includes ``Star Wars,'' ``The Empire Strikes Back'' and ``Return of the Jedi'' plus extras. Also Tuesday, Disney's Buena Vista Home Video will be going after family audiences with ``The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride'' being released as a special edition DVD. This is will be followed Oct. 5 by the Special Platinum Edition of ``Aladdin,'' the animated classic featuring the voice of Robin Williams. On Nov. 9, Warner Home Video Warner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video (for Warner Communications, Inc.). It was re-named Warner Home Video in 1980. will debut a digitally restored four-disc collector's edition of ``Gone With the Wind'' with a slew of bonus features. Then closer to Christmas, Warners will release ``The Ultimate Matrix Collection,'' a 10-disc boxed set retailing at $80. Out Dec. 7, it will include the three ``Matrix'' feature films as well as ``The Animatrix'' and ``The Matrix Revisited'' companion pieces. But competing hard against feature films for consumer dollars are a record number of new TV-on-DVD boxed sets led by the DVD debut of the first three seasons of ``Seinfeld'' featuring commentary from the entire cast. In all, Tribbey said, there are nearly 160 television titles set for DVD release in the final four months of the year, equaling approximately eight per week. The announcement of more television titles is expected after Labor Day Labor Day, holiday celebrated in the United States and Canada on the first Monday in September to honor the laborer. It was inaugurated by the Knights of Labor in 1882 and made a national holiday by the U.S. Congress in 1894. . ``This is where the excitement is, where there's the most enthusiasm among consumers,'' said Gord Lacey lac·ey adj. Variant of lacy. , president of TVShowsOnDVD.com. ``I mean, we all know that 'Spider-Man 2' is going to come out. But there's surprises there like the releases of 'Columbo' and 'Magnum P.I.''' The current television shows on tap include ``The OC: The Complete First Season,'' ``Friends: The Complete Eighth Season ,'' ``Will & Grace: Season 3,'' ``Nip/Tuck: The Complete First Season,'' ``Alias (1) An alternate name used for identification, such as for naming a field or a file. See CNAME record. (2) In the Mac, an alias is an icon that points to a program or data file. : The Complete Third Season,'' ``Stargate SG-1 Season 7,'' ``Dawson's Creek Dawson's Creek is an American primetime television drama which aired from January 20, 1998, to May 14, 2003, on The WB Television Network. The lead production company was Sony Pictures Television. : The Complete Fourth Season'' and ``The West Wing: The Complete Third Season.'' Nostalgia Nostalgia Combray village of narrator and family. [Fr. Lit.: Remembrance of Things Past] Give My Regards to Broadway singer sends well-wishes to home town. [Am. Pop. television is also big business and the coming months will see the DVD debut of scores of old TV shows including the first boxed sets of ``Magnum P.I.,'' ``Columbo,'' ``The Munsters,'' ``Rod Sterling's Night Gallery'' and ``The Golden Girls.'' ``Star Trek  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. The Original Series: The
Complete First Season'' will hit store shelves Tuesday and is
already a hot seller on Amazon.com.
``Studios have really found a way to sell the television,'' Tribbey said. ``On VHS (Video Home System) A half-inch, analog videocassette recorder (VCR) format introduced by JVC in 1976 to compete with Sony's Betamax, introduced a year earlier. , you couldn't give that stuff away.'' The big titles should kick the popularity of the format into an even higher gear. More than 100 million DVD players A stand-alone device that plays DVDs. It contains a DVD drive and the electronics to decode the digital video. The device may play only manufactured DVDs, or it may be able to play DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD+RW discs. DVD players are cabled to a TV or home theater system for display. have been sold since 1997, bringing the number of DVD households to nearly 62 million, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. figures released this summer by the Digital Entertainment Group. ``The one thing we need to remember is that a few less than half of the homes are still without DVD console players and I suspect that a higher portion of those are going to become new DVD-player owners this quarter and this Christmas,'' said Bo Andersen, president of the Video Dealers Software Association, an industry trade group. ``There will continue to be an incrementally bigger thirst thirst, sensation indicating the body's need for water. Dry or salty food and dry, dusty air may induce such a sensation by depleting moisture in the mucous membranes of the mouth and throat. for DVD.'' Greg Hernandez, (818) 713-3758 greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): box, drawing Box: A sampling of upcoming major movie and television show DVD releases: Drawing: no caption (Dynamite dynamite, explosive made from nitroglycerin and an inert, porous filler such as wood pulp, sawdust, kieselguhr, or some other absorbent material. The proportions vary in different kinds of dynamite; often ammonium nitrate or sodium nitrate is added. stick of DVDs) Jon Gerung/Staff Artist |
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