Up north, in Canada, Alliance Atlantis has
already released three seasons of
Due South, but the only release of the show in the USA has been
Due South - Call of the Wild. "Call of the Wild" was the two-part series finale of the so-called "second series" of
Due South, the 1997 re-start with a casting change to the co-star of the show. That USA release is a low-priced ($6.99) item from Platinum Disc, often found in the budget section of most stores that sell DVDs (if found at all; our readers tell us it's not easy to spot).
As some of you may remember, Platinum Disc Corp
has told us a few months back that they "are not interested at this time to have (Platinum) information on (the TVShowsOnDVD) website." And we've been happy to co-operate, but we also have to consider our readers - and there are many of them interested in
Due South, as noted by the fact that this show is ranked 153rd at our site out of more than 7000 shows to vote for!
So, even if Platinum won't talk to us, we still take note that the current issue of
Video Business trade magazine (dated 2/28/05) has an ad for Platinum Disc Corp. Pictured there on the top left is a USA release of
Due South - Season 1, shown on the box to include 24 episodes, including the two-part pilot. It's also mentioned on the box that all of this - at an hour-long length per episode! - will be squeezed onto only 4 discs. We're honestly concerned about this, and - no matter what our relationship is or ever will be with Platinum Disc Corp., or Alliance Atlantis who licensed this to them - we must point out that there was a similar amount of compression on Platinum's AA-licensed release of
Ray Bradbury Theater...and it was some of the worst-looking video on any DVD I've ever seen; completely unacceptable.
RBT was on single-sided discs...let's hope that
Due South is on double-sided DVDs, like the Canadian release is.
All Canadian releases that have come out to date can be imported into the USA by purchasing them through Amazon.CA (the Canadian arm of Amazon; we have convenient links in our release listings) for around $43-$46 US Dollars each (now CA$69.95 SRP), plus shipping, and work fine on all North American DVD players. They have been well-received, and sport unique cover art (the USA
Season 1 release is "recycled" art from the
Call of the Wild box; see below). The down side is that the Canadian
Season 1 release doesn't contain the 2-part pilot, but it is found on the Canadian
Season 3 set. So, even though you're sure to see the USA release on Best Buy's shelves at a low price, we suggest you may want to think about getting the well-received Canadian releases instead.
Honestly, we hope we're wrong about the possible quality of the Platinum release, and that there will be no issues for our readers who just want to pop on down to the local store and pick these up with no fuss. We'll be happy to take the hit on that, if we see fan feedback that says they're satisfied with the compilation. But, when can you buy this, and for how much? We don't know, because the ad didn't say and retailers aren't listing it yet. Since Platinum won't provide any info to us, this will probably be our last word about this item. But we did promise you some cover art for this, so here it is thanks to the
Video Business ad, along with the
Call of the Wild cover art to compare it to:
