The Complete Series DVD Review

The Complete Series (Region 1)
Release Date: 12/2/14
4.5/5

This Complete Series set is packaged with five slim cases, one per season. The discs lay in a round plastic tray that fold within each DVD case. The outside white box contains embossed lettering of “Sliders Complete Series” and features a series synopsis on the back. The cases, specifically seasons one and two, are exact duplicates of the previous 2012 DVD releases.

The primary advantage of this Complete Series Set is season three. Originally it was packaged in a very sturdy yet aggravating orange plastic. The plastic would bend above the discs, making it a chore just to remove them. When this season was released in 2005 it was created with double-sided DVDs. However now, the discs are single sided making scratching and smearing less likely. The episode “This Slide of Paradise” is now grouped with other episodes instead of being on a disc by itself.

I did notice however the menu of season three sounds and looks slightly different compared to the 2005 release. I mean extremely slightly too. If you haven’t used the other previous releases heavily then it will be completely unnoticeable. The menu music has a slightly slower tone and the text appears sharper.

Finally, Universal Studios has released a “Sliders” DVD set that is acceptable. Discs being properly packaged can go a long way. However there are nitpicks that can’t and shouldn’t be overlooked. Primarily the episodes are still, yes still after three releases, placed on the DVDs by airdate not the episode production order. This can confuse newcomers to the show as well as casual viewers especially for the first season. A complete series set should have more extras than it does, including the season four “Making of Sliders” that has yet to be released in a Region 1 DVD.

Hopefully Universal Studios will eventually see the need to correct the episode order and even transfer these gems to blu rays. Overall this is the best “Sliders” set yet.

The Complete Series (Region 2, PAL)
Release Date: 10/21/16
3.5/5

Stop. Before you read any further please keep in mind this is not a HD remastering of the series. It is also not made for North American Blu-ray players. It’s marked and designed primarily for European countries or the region PAL. You can read more about it at Wikipedia if you’re confused. Some media fans proclaimed this to be “region free”. I can’t vouch 100% for it working for everyone. For myself it works on my external Samsung blu-ray drive. However, it does not work on my Panasonic region one 4K Ultra blu-ray player. Oddly enough the Panasonic shows the ordinary run of the mill intros as well as the menu, but the episodes only output audio. If needed you can buy region free blu-ray players.

This set released by Turbine in 2016 is merely standard definition episodes put on blu-ray discs to save space. It would make sense for companies to do this more. On the other hand I think people would easily get confused thinking it’s HD because it has the Blu-ray logo.

There are 4 discs in the set containing all 5 seasons. I love that they have nice artwork printed on them, it’s the best we’ve ever seen for Sliders. The discs are overlayed on one another but believe it or not they’re quite easy to get in and out. The menu has a higher resolution (Much better than any Sliders DVD set). The graphic design is quite nice and thoughtfully laid out.

The packaging itself is what American Sliders fans deserve. The outside is similar to a thick mat board with a matte finish. It’s designed in a similar fashion to a book. In fact, it has pages essentially bound in the set. The pages list the disc number, episode title and description. Unfortunately the episode descriptions are all in German, but that’s for the consumers there and I have no right to complain.

This set does have the episodes in the correct order, most likely thanks to Alex from sliders-dimension.de, since his website is noted in the first page. He and I also requested the same for the 2016 Mill Creek release. Thankfully these companies are slowly having some common sense.

The gag reel from the season 3 US release and the 14 minute feature The Making of Sliders are present, however heavily compressed. The audio commentary from the creators is also available but in English only. The biggest bonus is that it has an additional Making of Sliders aired during the Scifi Channel era. This has not been released on any American set so far. It’s roughly 20 minutes in length and was made during the filming of season 4.

If you’re a hardcore fan and regularly watch the show there’s a big problem for this set. I listen to music quite often and I think that has given me a better ability to hear certain flaws. I’ve watched scenes and episodes numerous times. When I put the first disc in, the audio was higher in pitch. Something was wrong. Everything seemed just a little bit faster. I decided to check the timecode of the episodes and sure enough the videos are shorter in length. Here are a few examples in comparison to Universal’s releases:

Universal vs Turbine Video Comparison

The Pilot
Universal – 1:27:44
Turbine – 1:24:12

Last Days
Universal -43:48
Turbine – 42:43

Eggheads
Universal – 44:49
Turbine – 43:01

I’ve checked all four discs and it appears they have been edited in the same fashion. I think it’s likely the episodes have been sped up for the sake of trying to fit all the episodes on 4 discs. If you haven’t watched Sliders a lot you probably won’t notice. German is the main audio track but it also carries an English track. There are no subtitles for the episodes.

How does the video quality compare to the Universal (2014) and Mill Creek (2016) Complete Series sets? Well for starters the compression isn’t as bad as Mill Creek, but it still doesn’t meet the stature of Universal’s quality. The color grading on this Turbine edition leans more on the side of a green tint. Certainly not to my taste. The Universal and Mill Creek editions have a better color balance, one and the same.

5 Reasons to buy:
5. If you’re the casual fan.
4. Faster for on the go traveling for it’s compact size.
3. The quality of the packaging is just better.
2. Shelf space saver. It’s the thinnest set ever released.
1. The Making of Sliders. 20 minute Sci-Fi Channel feature, first time ever on DVD/Blu-ray.

5. Reasons Not to Buy:
5. If you’re looking for the best video quality.
4. Not accustom to reading German.
3. Too afraid of it not working on your blu-ray player.
2. Color grading has an undesirable green tint.
1. Playback speed is too fast, and not to spec. It makes the dialogue sound too high in pitch.

Overall this set was a bit of a let down for me. I knew the blu-ray player compatibility could be a problem. That’s not the let down. It’s hoping to see a better bitrate of video or at bare minimum the same quality of Universal’s. If they had added a couple more discs I think it would have worked out just fine. Before getting the set in my hand I was wanting to give this set a 4.5/5 by seeing the quality of the packaging. I can only give it a 3.5. At the end of the day I’m looking for top notch video and sound quality. Excellent packaging can add to that but never make up the difference. Different sets are like different worlds. One day they’ll get it right.