Dawson's Creek: The Complete Series Blu-ray Review

[@DriveupLife22]

This series is adorable, such a treasure. And widescreen! Youngins don't know how good they have it. People paid 40 DOLLARS a season when the DVD era was in full swing!!

[@evilsilence88]

Yup… DVDs sets were so expensive. Pretty sure it was closer to $60, at least each season of Buffy was. Nowadays, I rarely pull these sets out, thinking they would collector’s items and viewable forever. Ha. Then came blu-ray, and I just cannot got back to SD video. The video quality on these sets is just so sub-par for a lot of these old shows. Plus, Columbia was cheap and squished 23 episodes onto 5 discs for DC, so the video quality was even more degraded. Oh, and music replacements. We got played 😂

[@davidarmstrong7549]

I would love for Beverley Hills 90210 to come out on blu-ray, so long as the original music was left in!

[@evilsilence88]

Doubt that would ever happen, sadly. I doubt they even have those masters anymore, and Paramount/CBS would never pay to license all that music. They’re cheap as hell. I’d be stunned if they even tried to remaster it. It says it was shot on 35mm so if they did, it would look beautiful, just like Charmed.

[@typine]

They are so freaking cheap it’s crazy. They must have the masters if they were able to go back in 2006 and re-edit the audio track to delete the original sound track element of what ever song they had “playing in the back ground” of the scene and replace it with a new one. I don’t see them ever doing it either. And if they did it certainly would not be with the original music. I love Melrose Place so effing much but I hold no hope what so ever for a remaster.

[@evilsilence88]

@@typine Even if the original masters were kept and stored, who knows if they were stored properly and if they’re even viable today. That was 30 years ago, and it was TV, I doubt they cared much about the original masters as remastering wasn’t even on their radar yet.

[@RonnieBarzel]

Paula Cole re-recorded “I Don’t Wanna Wait” to be used for Dawson’s Creek on a streaming service when the original master recording was too pricey. I wonder if that’s the version Sony included with these episodes.

[@CerealAtMidnight]

If it's different, I can't tell. Sounds just like the one I remember.

[@codyw1]

@@stakabond In Australia we got Run Like Mad on season 1 on first transmission. They hadn't finalised the contract for IDWTW in time.

[@CerealAtMidnight]

Yes, it's still there. The first thing I did when the set arrived was the check the song on the first disc (Season 1) and the final disc (Season 6). I haven't checked every single episode, but I've checked discs from each season and every one of them has had the Paula Cole theme song. It may be the re-recorded version, but I can't tell. Really, these discs are probably identical to what's on Netflix.

[@evilsilence88]

@@stakabond Sony paid for that license after negotiating a fair deal with Paula Cole. She even gave interviews about it, asking Sony to come to her and wanting her song to be associated with the show again. Shortly after, Sony announced they were relicensing the re-recording version of the song. I don’t think it was Paula who stopped them from using the previous version in the DVDs, I think it had more to do with the label and publishing control. Paula later sued for royalties over the track, so it sounds like she was getting screwed by her publisher and label to begin with. She only licenses the new version, now.

[@evilsilence88]

@@codyw1 UK also got “Run Like Mad” for season 1. The DVDs for those regions had RLM for the first season as well. RLM was recorded as a possible theme song replacement after Alanis Morissette pulled her song shortly before airing. “Hand in My Pocket” was the original theme song and is even in the original unaired pilot and the first couple episodes of the “for review only” promo DVDs from the WB. It’s weird to watch, kinda glad she pulled out, honestly. When Kevin heard Paula Cole on the radio, he wanted it immediately for the show. Paula almost didn’t agree originally and Kevin was disappointed, but Paula finally agreed in the end. As with Alanis, she was worried about her song being associated with a teen show.

[@griffredux9966]

Great review, Heath! I haven't really seen any of this show originally but will probably pick it up since my wife is a fan. Thanks as always!

[@xian1978]

What version does it have of the finale? Because on DVD I have the extended cut, which had extra scenes and extended scenes as compared to the aired one.

[@evilsilence88]

Of course it’s going to have all the original season 1 music, all versions have this. It’s the only season Sony ever released with 100% the aired music (minus that ONE scene, you know what one, but that’s not because of the DVDs). What fans want to know is if seasons 2 to 6 contain the original music, because most of it was replaced on the DVDs. What about the version of “I Don’t Want to Wait”? Original or indie version? Seasons 3 to 6 have MASSIVE amounts of music replacement. Season 2 contained around 50% I would say of the original music. Also, the series finale doesn’t count because again, they already paid for the music due to the previous series finale DVD. I agree, it looks beautiful and, it was shot in that aspect ratio, actually. It was cropped for TV broadcast. These do come from a 4K master, same as used on streaming. It was 16mm film used all throughout, which is why there’s a lot of film grain. It’s still 1000x better than the previous SD master.

[@CerealAtMidnight]

This is very helpful, especially since IMDb has info that is apparently wrong (shot on 35mm, etc). I do think this is the best, most complete Sony-authorized Dawson's Creek set we're likely to get on home media. At least until everything lapses into the public domain long after many of us are gone.

[@evilsilence88]

@@CerealAtMidnight Weird, I just checked IMDb and it most definitely says it was shot on 16mm film. I personally love the grain, it’s very retro looking and classic. I remember an old documentary where a crew member said they shot the show using soap opera cameras, probably because it was cheaper. Most shows in the 90s were shot on 35mm, that was definitely the most widely used film from what I’ve seen. 35mm can look stunning when remastered in 4K. Wish more shows got this treatment. I’m just glad it got it’s theme song back, that was huge. It may not be the original, but it’s still the song and artist associated with the show. These older shows used so much popular music at reduced rates and as a result, they were only for broadcast and syndication. Happens to so many older shows. If a studio really does care, they will try. Or even give it to a boutique studio like Shout Factory who will try and license as much music as possible. At least Sony went back and remastered the show, which is shocking because of the previous treatment of the show on DVD. There are definitely some scenes that just aren’t the same without their original music. That 90s retro feeling is gone.

[@abbymorganRIP]

@@evilsilence88 @CerealAtMidnight Kevin Williamson has stated in interviews that the pilot is shot in 16mm but the rest of the season is 35 and this would go back and forth throughout the series.

[@bigwill801]

@@evilsilence88 I wish Shout! did this release. I have their WKRP release and they worked hard to get about 95% of original music for the set. I was amazed.m. But they proved that it can be done with music - if the determination is there. This set is missing so much. I have many original episodes on VCD. It is night and day with the original music 3-6. Music was such a huge part of Dawson's Creek. CD releases etc. This is the best it will get 😔

[@evilsilence88]

@@bigwill801 Agreed! I love Shout’s work. Even a DVD box set back in the day by them would have been way better than what Sony gave us! I really wish they’d given this property to Shout! but I doubt Sony even cares much 🙄

[@lauraclaire_auteure]

Thank you for this review ! 😀 And my favourite episode of the show is Castaways (Season 6 Episode 15).

[@jeffzest8393]

Columbo looks great in Blu-Ray, including the widescreen transfers from 89-03. Being reissued later this year as you reported!

[@julien158100]

Hi, can you tell me if there is the french audio version in the "orange box" of the complete series ? Thanks.

[@squallleonhart3286]

Thank you so much for your review Heath, thanks to that I got to buy Charlie's Angels, I'm stuck in season 4 though 😅 but Mill Creek sure did a fine job with it. I always were curious for Dawson's Creek, I was 9 years old and I remember they promoted the series in commercials on VHS or in T.V. and even more so when I recognized some of the actors in it like Joshua Jackson(now I understand the Paula Cole reference on Urban Legend in a scene featuring him) Michelle Williams saw her in Species and Katie Holmes in Disturbing Behaviour, yes I was a naughty boy, saw movies I shouldn't at that age 😂 but I was always very analytical and memorized their names, faces and movies. Naturally I also became a movie buff, always researching everything before I buy or watch something. So I just bought Dawson's Creek, very excited to see what all the fuzz is about, once again thank you! And I apologize for my rambling XD

[@vinylfilmaholic]

Does this have the extended series finale as a feature or as the actual episode?

[@CerealAtMidnight]

No, the finale is presented in two parts.

[@MyFireVideos]

Thanks for the review and info. I wasn't a fan of this show when it came out but I love to hear your thoughts on restorations and physical releases

[@clutch66613]

Everyone needs to check it out so One Tree Hill will be released next

[@robertluciano4066]

I freaking wish I keep saying that

[@Rowri88]

One Tree Hill and The O.C!!

[@clutch66613]

@@Rowri88 the O.C. has a nice dvd box set.

[@Rowri88]

@@clutch66613 i have it, but i saw the other day the HBO MAX release and they apparently remastered it, it was also on widescreen that is not zoomed. It looked like a new show its amazing.

[@RobotPorter]

I don't quite know what you meant in your discussion of cropping. If you go back to the camera negative, which during this era was shot in "Academy Ratio" (roughly 1.37), and crop it to 16x9, you will gain a bit information on the sides over TVs of that era (which were roughly 1.33) but you have to also lose top and bottom info. The math only works that way. The reason why many old TV shows look fine cropped to 16x9 is you gain a bit on the sides, and because TVs used to massively overscan, they tended to shoot with more head and foot room to allow for this. There was actually an overlay that they would use that showed what was called "TV real". These overlays also showed 1.85 and 1.66. Because much of us television was repackaged and sold overseas for theatrical release. So, TV dps would consider this to some degree when shooting. This is also why once TVs stopped overscanning you would often see a boom mic in a shot. Because if a boom mic appeared above that "TV real" marker they wouldn't reshoot, because most people wouldn't see it.

[@CerealAtMidnight]

I'm specifically thinking of the hatchet job on Robocop: The Series which saw the original 1:33 (or 1.37) image hacked on the top and bottom and zoomed to achieve a 1:85 image, resulting in tons of image loss and improper composition. My video review for that shows the two aspect ratios side by side. I'm also thinking of the egregious King of Queens revisionist framing which sees things like cameras, boom mics, and even tape marks on the floor. My point is that Dawson's Creek looks for all intents and purposes like it was originally composed for 1:85, even though it was not. I appreciate your industry insider perspective, as always. However ineloquently I shared my thoughts, what I was ultimately trying to convey is that fans can rest easy that the Blu-rays don't bear the same careless reframing that we've seen several times before.

[@EmmanuelKikoni]

Does it include the extended series finale?

[@CerealAtMidnight]

Two part finale.

[@InfinityAbsolution]

Heath are these Region A locked discs? Thanks for the review! My favourite episode is S4E23 Coda - the last ten minutes are truly amazing as a lifelong DJer

[@CerealAtMidnight]

Honest, I don't know if they're region locked or not. I'm not able to test that and I haven't seen any reports from other regions yet.

[@desdoyle8390]

@@CerealAtMidnight Hey thanks for the reply. Does it have just the A symbol on the discs or the ABC symbol - that would be an indicator thanks!

[@CerealAtMidnight]

Mill Creek has never, to my knowledge, marked anything as ABC, but the’ve distributed lots of region free releases. Those letters usually indicate a legal obligation, not what’s actually on the disc. My only hesitation in not saying it’s region free is that Sony has started to demand their distributors lock their discs to the region they’re licensed for.

[@jrgenholteng1529]

Region coding: Region A (confirmed), Region B (confirmed), Region C (untested).

[@Rowri88]

I cant find any info on that, but does it have the extended finale/ending?

[@alex_9802]

I don't think so

[@hazurgonzalez1077]

Great! I really like this series, you know if the blurry discs contains Spanish subtitles? Or Spanish audio? please help, thanks for the amazing video!

[@CerealAtMidnight]

Only English subs, sorry.

[@robpalacios6154]

No subtitles English or spanish

[@kenpope5798]

Thanks for the review 👍

[@jeffzest8393]

Widescreen from matte open great. Purists still hate it!

[@FrellingTralk]

I’m pretty sure that the original music was also kept intact for the DVDs for season 1, it was season 2 when they started switching the songs.

[@CerealAtMidnight]

Interesting!

[@kusuma.kusuma]

Yes. HUGE fan here. S1 is safe. Starting from S2 they start switching the well known radio songs with very bland music.

[@jadedheartsz]

@@CerealAtMidnight fortunately there's a really cool fan-edit out there called the "True Love Edition" that keeps the original songs intact and mixes them with the widescreen HD versions.

[@RobotPorter]

This is true. And this appears to also be true for these releases as well.

[@RobotPorter]

​@@jadedheartsz I didn't realize they had updated those to the HD versions. That's really cool. Someone needs to do that with "Beverly Hills 90210" and "21 Jump Street" which also used some great tunes.

[@OneManArmy23]

Netflix remastered this series and had Paula Cole re-recorded "I Don't Want To Wait" and the show looked great... Not sure why Netflix remastered it to only remove it not long after...

[@Lozin80]

I’ve got this on order and with this release it gives me hope for Roswell to get a Blu-Ray release

[@typine]

They are probably the same as originally released on dvd. If I’m not mistaken the first season has never had any replacement music when it comes to home video. Then I think most of season 2 was originally intact with only a couple songs being replaced. THEN something happened with the rights to the theme song and sales for the season 1 and 2 dvd where not what they expected so season 3 started the trend of replacing baisicly every song that was originally picked including the theme song. So it sounds like they may have put back the theme song for the episodes but I have a feeling the rest of the music is the same as the DVDs. 1-2 have mostly original music while seasons 3-6 have mostly replacement music.

[@bigwill801]

You are correct. It's almost the same. Even some generic house band music. Yes the quality has greatly improved in terms of picture. But the music goes off the rails past season 2. Which is such a shame.. Because the soundtrack for the show was huge. CDs released. The whole bit. 6.5/10 is my score on this release. Wait for a sale if you're gonna grab it. I still find it priced too high for a mill creek release. But I'm in Canada. Had to import it.

[@christopherwatts4989]

Does anyone know whether this is region locked?

[@adamsultana8380]

It most likely is.

[@kasim2409]

A few of Milk Creek releases in the past have been Region Free such as 12 Monkeys (series) & Friday Night Lights so it's possible but unless someone actually confirms this we can't be for sure.

[@soshiderek]

Mill Creek should DEFINITELY do a Buffy, Angel, Felicity, Roswell bluray release! 🙏

[@aprilclark4982]

does it have subtitles?

[@kasim2409]

There have been reports of English subtitles not being included even though the packaging states otherwise. Are you able to confirm this on your set? :-)

[@robpalacios6154]

Is correct no subtitles

[@tonyfarinella]

I just started watching and no subtitles. Very disappointing.

[@CerealAtMidnight]

Just confirmed. Subtitles are listed on the box, but not actually on the discs.

[@tonyfarinella]

@@CerealAtMidnight I know you are just delivering the news and confirming it, but for those who bought the set, is there anything we can do? Is there a chance Mill Creek does anything about it? Thanks for confirming and your help!

[@kennyjdm4912]

Have every season accept for 6th season of dawson creek. When the DVDs first came out . Each season have there own dvd. Remembering paying $46.00 back in the day for each season . Such a great show .

[@Krypton_Ken]

Never watched Dawson's Creek but I really like Joshua Jackson (Fringe is a favorite) and I've been enjoying discovering older tv shows that I missed. Thanks for the review, Heath.

[@odessadean]

Only problem I have with the set is no subtitles. States on the packaging but unfortunately not included....

[@danielhoyos7072]

Thanks for the review Heath. I wanted to buy Dawson's Creek the compete series on iTunes but the files look like hot garbage so after your review I brought the complete series on blu-ray!

[@PhantomPain7778]

Awesome job man! Waiting on my copy to arrive. Damn amazon hasn't shipped it yet

[@celestialbikiniatoll87]

Very nice unboxing/overview I ordered the Blu-ray boxset of Dawsons creek can’t wait for it to come tomorrow ^^

[@kleetusvandam]

Already out of stock on Amazon.

[@CerealAtMidnight]

You may have better luck with DeepDiscount, since it's owned by the same company that owns Mill Creek Entertainment. Probably a better price, too.

[@kleetusvandam]

@@CerealAtMidnight Great advice! Thanks.

[@miguenio]

@@kleetusvandam I can not buy in DeppDiscount. I dont understand. Out stock?

[@laurinolauro8249]

the last episode of last season is the "extended cut version"???

[@inuitatiane5503]

Very helpful review! Thanks!

[@MrBARTesque]

Not sure they shot it in 35mm, I think it was 16mm. About opening the matte I’m also not sure, I don’t have these Blu-rays yet but if they used the same files they used for streaming that’s a pan and scan from original 4:3 (I really don’t believe they shot with anamorphic lens for a 4:3 tv show so there’s no way they can restore a 16:9 from the master copy).

[@CerealAtMidnight]

Yeah, 16mm. IMDb shows the pilot was shot on 35, which is why I thought the whole show was. Framing is definitely open matte, as I've done side by side screenshots since this review. The Blu-rays are opened up on the sides, revealing much more data. Top and bottom is relatively unchanged, so no pan and scan or zooming for the HD copies.

[@BrothersGorch]

Sorry to ask but do the discs have optional subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing? Mill Creek has left them off past releases and that would be a real bummer

[@CerealAtMidnight]

Yep, English subtitles.

[@BrothersGorch]

@@CerealAtMidnight Thank you!

[@tonyfarinella]

I saw no subtitles on mine. Not sure what’s up.

[@DanielMazz]

Can u post small clip please

[@CerealAtMidnight]

Sorry, no. Sony would have it shut down, I'd get a copyright strike, and everything I've worked so hard for would be in jeopardy.

[@DanielMazz]

@@CerealAtMidnight thanks for explaining I understand. Appreciate it sorry

[@DanielMazz]

@@CerealAtMidnight I’ve noticed that the blu ray crops bottom I believe go to ep 1 and look at Joey sitting by the creek a few Seconds before she get pulls in

[@philippschmidt80]

I never liked "I don't wanna wait", internationally Jann Arden's Run like Mad was used as the theme song for the first season and I was very annoyed when it was replaced for season 2, to me Run like mad will always remain the one and true Dawson's Creek theme, it fits the show so much better imo.

[@McMahonHater]

One of the worst shows on tv.