Customer Reviews

Ghost Hunters - Season 2, Part 1

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Big Vision, the company responsible for putting out "Ghost Hunters: Season 2, Parts 1 and 2" and "Ghost Hunters: Season 1," still have a long way to go with the production quality of their discs, but they definitely listen to their customers and attempt to make corrections. For starters, they've hulked up the DVD cases for Season 2, making it virtually impossible for the discs to become dislodged during shipping. This was a major complaint of many folks of Season 1's release. Secondly, the picture has gotten better. Granted, it's not perfect, and it's still too grainy during the investigations to see everything that's going on, but it has improved slightly. Finally, the audio is okay. As stated before, there is still plenty of space for changes and improvements, but Big Vision seems to be taking its customers advice to heart.

Now, on to Season 2, Part 1, in which we find Jason and Grant and the rest of the TAPS team seeking out more ghosts or lack thereof. This particular set includes one of my favorite cases: Myrtles Plantation. They also revisit Eastern State Penitentiary and tackle the Rolling Hills Asylum, the wacky Winchester House, and the U.S.S. North Carolina.

TAPS has always managed to impress me with their professionalism. Search any number of "ghost hunting" websites and you'll see that many of them are nothing more than a bunch of teen and college-aged kids hanging out in the graveyard or trespassing onto abandoned property. TAPS takes the paranormal very seriously. It almost takes an act of God to make them label a location as haunted. When they do, you can rest assured that they've done everything in their power to debunk a ghost's existence.

I highly recommend this DVD set, as well as Part 2 of Season 2 and the first season. You'll be impressed at how the TAPS team takes time to explain what an EMF detector is, what "orbs" are and probably aren't, and how something as simple as a mirror can play tricks on your mind.

Another great thing about this particular set is in the deleted scenes area where Brian is confronted by a woman and called a few derogatory terms. It's fun at the expense of Brian, but let's face it, Brian's just a funny guy.

"Dude, Run!!!"

Here is a list of what all the episodes that are on part 1 of Ghost Hunters:

EP1:Myrtles Plantation- Said to be the most haunted place in America and live up to its rep.

EP2:New England- TAPS go to 2 haunted homes were the ghosts haunt the kids in the family.

EP3:New Orleans- They help a guy with a jealous ghosts and also go to a haunted dining room.

EP4:North Carolina- They investigate a haunted battleship from the war.

EP5:Connecticut- They investigate the Bradley Playhouse and a firehouse.

EP6:New York City- They investigate a lighthouse and a museum.

EP7:Springfield, Mass.- Help a family and then answers an emergencey call to a home with a haunted past.

EP8:Road Island- They investigate a mansion and a woman's home.

EP9:New York- They investigate a asylum.

EP10:Philadelphia: They revisite the Eastern State Penitentiary and a womans dream home becomes her worst nightmare with a negative ghost present.

EP11:California- They investigate two legendary places with haunted pasts. First was the winchester house then the Queen Mary.

This DVD is going to be a good one. They have never before seen investigations and more. Im a big ghost Hunters fan and this show never gets old. If you want a good show, then this is what you want to buy.

Many have already said it, but I'll say it again. This is one of the best shows on T.V. So why the crappy video and sound quality. The audio in particular is horrible. It reminds me of what it sounds like when you talk to close to a microphone. And the video is very choppy and the colors vary. Watching the show on the SciFi channel is ten times better than this DVD. I have never complained about DVD quality before, but this is so bad that it is actually a distraction. I don't want people to not buy the dvd, but you might be better off getting the itunes version.

10/14/07 UPDATE:
The remastered DVDs finally arrived, and they were worth the wait. The audio on the discs is still a little louder than average, but the distortion is gone. If you were waiting to pick these up until the audio problems had been fixed, you should be safe to pick up your copy now. The show has finally gotten the DVD release that it has deserved all along...

-------------------------

This was recently posted to Jason Hawes' Myspace site. Big Vision has heard our complaints, and is moving to rectify the situation...

"Dear Ghost Hunters Fans:

First, we would like to apologize for the issues with the Season 2 DVDs. We have just completed remastering them and will be replacing your copies free of charge and you do not even have to send the ones you have back.

They new copies will be available in about 1 week.

So, you can wait about a week or do it now but to get your replacement copies:

Send the DVD sleeve with the UPC code (the paper DVD cover inside the plastic of the case, NOT the cardboard slip case that may have come around it) to us along with a note including your name, address, and email address to:

Big Vision Entertainment
Ghost Hunters Replacement Offer
13636 Ventura Blvd.
Suite 279
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423

Once we receive your information and DVD sleeve (or sleeves) we will ship you out a new copy.

Feel free to pass this info on to any other fans who may have the same issue.

Also, rest assured, this problem will NOT happen with Season 3 as we have now moved to an ALL DIGITAL process and added several key steps to the quality control approval process. Season 3 - Part 1 will be available around the last week of September [...]

Sincerely,
Big Vision Entertainment"

And there was much rejoicing...

Having experience numerous freeze and skip issues with season one, I was very disappointed to find that season 2, parts 1 and 2 had such atrocious audio problems as well as two disk 6's and no disk 7.

I fired off a very sarcastic email to Big Vision Entertainment and was extremely surprised to receive a gracious response from their Vice President offering to replace the sets via Fed Ex, which I accepted.

The replacement sets never arrived and my subsequent emails were ignored.

The moral of the story is that Big Vision produces a bad product. They fooled me twice, but will not do so a third time.

Buy their product at your own risk.

Thought I was going crazy - but thanks to Amazon and the reviewers I realize I'm not, indeed starting at Episode 209 (on Disc 3) - the audio takes a noticeable turn for the worse. Comparing the taped "off the air" shows to the DVD version ... audio "clipping" and distortion is present, I have no idea how a big studio doesn't notice this!

Granted, not having to endure endless commercials is helpful, but why a REDUCTION in audio crispness? Well, the first Season's DVD case was abysmal (my Disc 2 fell off the hub and was scratched) but the audio on those discs was fine ... now on Season 2 & 3 the reverse is true (nice "super-gripper" cases but abysmal audio quality)!


(NOVEMBER 8, 2007 - UPDATE!!!!)

- Did mail back my original DVD covers to get the replacement DVDs ("remastered" audio) from Big Vision Entertainment (other reviewers mentioned about the replacements ... thanks).

Took 24 days for the replacements to arrive. Oddly, the new and old boxes have the same UPC #'s which is going to make it very hard for a buyer to know what copies are which "edition". Unfortunately (for whatever reason?) Season 2: Part 2's DVD case came in a horrendous multi-swing case divider (all my discs where thrown around inside like a tornado hit, yes they got scratched). Season 2: Part 1 came in what the original Season 2 DVDs came in ... an Acecase "super-gripper" 4 Disc tray which held the DVDs in place by "vice grip-like" holders. I did listen to two random episodes from the "remastered" versions:

(Season 2: Part 1 - Disc 3) EPISODE 9: WORTHINGTON HOME / ROLLING HILLS ASYLUM ~ The TAPS team investigates reports of paranormal phenomena at the Worthington's house and try to assure the family that their house is safe. Then the team travels to Rolling Hills Asylum to investigate reports from visitors of hair tugging, noises and phantom smells at the former insane asylum in Bethany, N.Y.

(Season 2 - Part 2 - Disc 8) EPISODE 21: STONE LION INN / EDGERLY HOME ~ The Oklahoma Paranormal Society (a member of the TAPS family) refers to Grant and Jason its case file for The Stone Lion Inn in Guthrie, Oklahoma. The inn was previously a private residence and a funeral home. Grant and Jason talk with Kristen Perkins and Christine Selfridge of TOPS. The women say they've seen shadows and have captured EVPs during their investigations. Later TAPS heads to the home of Dave Edgerly in New Bedford, Massachusetts, responding to a call from Dave's friend, Kathy Elmore, who is concerned about Dave because he's "a different person" when he's outside the house. During the investigation, Brian and Steve discover, in a closet under the stairs, an electrical box that gives off dangerously high EMF readings. In the basement, they find mold that might be causing Dave's headaches. As the team continues to investigate, they realize that Dave uses his house to store chemicals, such as paint strippers and acetone, that can aerosolize and disperse through the vents. Even though Jason and Grant can't guarantee that there isn't any paranormal activity in the house, they tell Kathy and Dave that the house's other safety issues need to be addressed. They explain that the chemicals, the mold and the EMF radiation can cause fatigue, headaches, depression and nausea. They show him the problems one by one and tell him to fix them.


Yes, it is readily apparent that the new audio is back the way it should be (audiotorily legible). Thankfully, Big Vision Entertainment confessed their error - originally I had no intention of ever buying anymore Ghost Hunters DVDs after the Season Two's were released (a pre-order on my part, none the less).

Well, when comparing the laser etching on the play side of the disc(s) themself (hold under a light to see the very small printing), the difference between new and old can be told:

Original defective versions:

GHOST HUNTERS (SEASON 2) DISC 3
GHOST HUNTERS (SEASON 2) DISC 8

New "remastered" versions:

GHOST HUNTERS DISC 3 (SEASON 2)
GHOST HUNTERS DISC 8 (SEASON 2)

... Note the slight difference in the word ordering. Hopes this helps all the Ghost Hunter fans out there, and I feel for the poor people who unknowingly get stuck with any "old" Season 2 DVD sets out there.

I'm a big fan of Sci Fi's Ghost Hunters. One of the best reality shows hands down. I originally bought Season 2, Part 2 at my local Best Buy. After hearing the noticeably loud, grainy, distorted sound I returned it thinking it was a defect in the DVDs. After purchasing both parts from Amazon I was disappointed to discover that this was also on both sets and ALL DVD's of this series. I was very surprised to see that final cut of this series to make it with poor quality in sound.

I love the shows but hate the DVDs. The DVDs are defective. The sound is poor. The company Big Vision Entertainment offered to replace them but is has been over THREE months and have not heard from them. They do not respond to emails or phone calls. I will not buy anything from this (Big Vision Entertainment) company again.

Thanks for NOTHING.....

Okay, so i, like other people followed the instructions for returns to get the fixed dvd, the whole time I'm thinking, " wow, how cool it is of a company to accept responsibility, and not even make you send back the faulty discs!". Well let me tell you how responsible they are, took almost 3 months to get here and when i got them they were in old ,beat up, broken inside and out cases, all but one of the dvds was intact. Looking at these i am thinking" why wouldn't they use the new boxes, if these are indeed "new" and remastered!?????"Would love to be able to check it out,,,but i wouldn't put one of these scratched, cracked coasters in my dvd player for anything.Nasty, just simply nasty, that is the way i was treated, i mean if they didn't want to do it why offer?There was a delay, I'm guessing because they didn't expect such a return, and i understood that, i mean again, I thought it was a cool offer to fix their mistake, but it's like they were pissed at us and threw garbage in an envelope and shipped it out to shut us up.Well they can kiss it, i will NEVER buy anything from their company again!These dvds are the crappiest i have ever purchased, and unfortunately i have purchased some winners over time, and this takes the cake!

What ever you do stay away from this video. The sound quality is D- and the video quality is F. I love this show and never miss an episode and could not wait for the dvd to come out. BOY was I DISAPPOINTED. I spent my hard earned money on a dvd that is so dark you can not even see most of the evedince. And the sound is all mumbled and static beyond belief. Supposedly the company that produced these are going to come out with a cleaned up version (sometime). So far it has been almost a year and nothing.