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Lost in Hawaii - August 16, 2005
Introduction "Welcome aboard Oceanic Airlines Flight #815. Please make sure your seatbacks and tray tables are in their full upright and locked position ... we do expect some turbulence." Through her handheld megaphone, the flight attendant warned us of potential dangers during our journey. It was your standard airline greeting, or so it seemed. "Although air crashes are incredibly random, destructive events that tend to kill everyone on board regardless of seatback positioning, should we spin out of control and burst into flames, we would like you to be as uncomfortable and alert as possible." Clearly, this was no ordinary transport. "Oceanic Airlines" -- for the purposes of the evening's festivities -- was actually a series of motorized trams, and on board were representatives of numerous media outlets invited to Hawaii's North Shore to celebrate the upcoming first season DVD release of television's Lost. Inspired by the events from the breakout television hit about stranded survivors of an Oceanic plane crash, Buena Vista Home Entertainment (BVHE) left no stone unturned as they cleverly simulated the flight experience for their guests. The night before, realistic boarding passes mysteriously showed up in our hotel rooms, and upon arriving at the "gate", passengers were greeted by an airline-style ticket counter and flight attendants who guided us to our destination. Along the journey, we were assured that the heavy turbulence (a very rocky road) was probably just air pockets, and we were even treated to the loud and creepy sounds of a potential "monster" lurking in the forest. It was an impressive simulation, and every possible detail was covered. Unlike the ill-fated passengers from the show, however, we arrived quite safely at our destination, and as the sun began to set on the beautiful Hawaiian night, we approached the remote jungle setting for a kickass celebration of one of the year's most anticipated DVD releases. But I'll get to that later (cue Lost-inspired flashback sequence) ... USAGE NOTE: Headers and images are hotlinked to their relevant section of the Photo Gallery. As you read this document, feel free to click on any photo for more detail from that location. When you're done browsing, simply click "Return to Report" or press the "Back" button on your browser to return.
Shooting Locations Kualoa Ranch
For many of us, the day actually began some 12 hours earlier as Joel Binder and Karen Winpenny invited us to join the international journalist group on a tour of some of Oahu's more interesting sights, including numerous shooting locations used during the first season of Lost. At 8:00 am, everyone who wanted to partake in the adventure boarded a charter bus (driven by charismatic local tour guide, Keao), and we headed off to the Kualoa Ranch where we were given a private tour by the ranch's president and general manager, John Morgan. Nestled between the Koolau Mountain Range and the Pacific Ocean, Kualoa is a 4000-acre working cattle ranch whose majestic landscapes have been used as shooting locations for numerous films and television series (e.g. Jurassic Park, Godzilla (1998), Windtalkers, and of course, Magnum, P.I.). After a brief introduction to the ranch and a tour of a World War II military bunker, our group took in the sights of the ranch's most recognizable shooting location and home to Hurley's golf course from Episode #9, "Solitary". The view was spectacular, and it's no wonder Steven Spielberg used the same spot as the backdrop for the famous Gallimus stampede in Jurassic Park. Attentive tourists that we were, we all stopped to get photos of ourselves swinging invisible golf clubs and admiring our remarkable shots. Climbing down the hill a bit, we also took more than a few photos of one another standing within the ginormous footprints left behind by Godzilla himself. It was great fun, and after some time at the site, we boarded the deathtrap that was our tour bus and continued on throughout the ranch. The scenery was gorgeous, and our guide relayed many stories not only of the various films that were shot here but the history of the ranch as well. Finally, we settled at the Molii Fishpond, a serene location that was constructed over 800 years ago (in a single night, according to legend) and was also the shooting location for the scenes between Jin and his father in Episode #17, "... In Translation". Here we paused for quiet reflection and enjoyed the gentle peace while John relayed even more history of the area. Cleary, there were numerous activities to experience at the ranch, but time was short, and we had much more to see, so we bid our host a fond farewell and continued on our journey. Waimea Valley Audubon Center
Our second stop was at the Waimea Valley Audubon Center where we were treated to a surprisingly fantastic meal and a walking tour of the center's lush trails and gardens. While the primary path led straight from the entrance to a waterfall atop a hill, there were numerous branching trails, and I took some time to experience as many of them as I could. It was a unique place with all kinds of flora and fauna to examine, and before too long I had arrived at the ultimate destination: Waimea Falls. While nowhere near the size of, say, Akaka Falls on the Big Island of Hawaii, Waimea Falls holds the unique distinction as the shooting location for Kate and Sawyer's scenes in Episode #12, "Whatever the Case May Be". Visitors are invited to take a swim underneath the falls, and many from the Australian contingent happily took them up on the offer. I was unprepared for a swim, however, and content to remain dry. Besides, mysterious suitcase or not, I recall quite a few corpses being found in there. With time winding down and a full evening of activities planned, it was time to move on from Waimea and make our way back to the resort. On the way out, however, we stopped at the site of a few more shooting locations before departing for good. First was a lush patch of greenery where Sawyer and Kate tracked a boar in Episode #16, "Outlaws", and just down the road a bit were the original cave and banyan tree that inspired the sets which were eventually built for the second half of the season. The cave itself was not accessible to tourists, and it was explained to us by our guide that crew had to be lifted in there by crane for the few shots that were filmed before the set was completed. Exhausted from a long day of wandering around Kualoa and Waimea, we boarded the charter one final time, returning to the resort to prepare for the night's premiere festivities. Byodo-In Temple
Because of time constraints (and as I learned later, some unfortunate attempts at price gouging), there was one disappointing omission from our tour: the Byodo-In Temple. Shooting location for multiple Jin and Sun flashback sequences in Episode #6, "House of the Rising Sun", the Byodo-In Temple is a replica of the 900-year-old Buddhist temple from Uji, Japan. Located within the Valley of the Temples and set against the backdrop of the majestic Koolau Mountains, this serene and peaceful destination defies description and is in my opinion the most beautiful sight on the entire island of Oahu. Needless to say, while the official tour did not make the journey, I stubbornly went anyway, and it was the best decision I made on my trip. While I did take plenty of decent pictures, none of them comes close to doing justice to this amazing place. It was an awe-inspiring experience, and I couldn't help but laugh when the guard requested a nominal admission fee of $2.00. The word "bargain" seems laughably inadequate. Season One DVD Launch Party
A note on the audio recordings: there was a very loud band playing in the background throughout this process, and some of the interviewers (and interviewees) were either quite far away or frustratingly soft-spoken. I have done everything possible to remove low bass response from the audio and boost/normalize the volume to add as much clarity as possible to the questions and responses. Consequently, you may notice the audio flips from stereo to dual-channel mono from time to time, and you'll probably notice some small fluctuations in the volume, but I felt it was important to provide you with every ounce of audible dialogue I was able to capture even if some of it is not as crisp as the rest. I hope you are pleased with the results.
USAGE NOTE: Click on the speaker icons on the left to launch a popup mp3 player, or if your browser supports inline ActiveX content, simply press the "play" button on the inline players to the right. To hear all the interviews in a single playlist, click the DVD Talk microphone in the upper left-hand corner of this section. Red Carpet Interviews With the sightseeing out of the way, it was time for a party, and as previously explained, Buena Vista Home Entertainment spared no creative expense making this a unique experience for everyone involved. Once departing Flight 815's non-stop service into the jungle, passengers made their way down a path adorned with tiki torches and arrived at the red carpet entrance to the extravaganza. Here, nearly everyone from the cast stopped by before entering the party (Ian Somerhalder and Malcolm David Kelley were unavailable) to share insight into their first season experience, the DVD release, and what we can expect to see in the upcoming season. You want pictures? I got pictures. You want audio? I got audio. You want video? Buy the DVD on September 6th. N.B. The text portions of this feature are sanitized to avoid spoiling anything significant from the first season, but if you will be watching the show for the first time on DVD and do not wish to learn key events from the first season, do NOT listen to the audio segments as they proceed from the assumption you have seen the first season in its entirety.
A jovial presence and seemingly at ease in front of the cameras and microphones, Daniel joked around quite a bit. When asked, "What was your contribution to the DVD?", he responded sarcastically, "Well, I acted in some of the episodes." On the topic of TV-on-DVD in general, Kim said, "I think the experience of sitting down when you're ready to watch, with some popcorn in front of you or whatever, and sitting around with your friends and being able to stop and start and watch as much as you want or as little as you want is pretty unique to DVD. I think DVD kind of rewards people who watch actively, because if you get a chance to watch in a way that you can see the little clues the writers are dropping every episode, you'll get more out of the series." Translation Note: Near the end of the track, at the request of a reporter, Daniel says a few phrases in Korean. In short, he speaks a basic Korean greeting and then says something to the effect of, "Have fun watching."
Translation Note: Near the end of the track, Yunjin is asked in Korean, "Can you please say something in Korean to the Korean fans?" Her response is essentially, "Thank you for loving Lost so much, and I ask for your deep interest in Season 2 as well."
What struck me the most about listening to him speak was that he had a firm grasp of how the television world works, and while he may want to plan a story that takes, say, 4 seasons to tell, the network may only order a couple of seasons or perhaps demand many more. Referencing the slow and painful death of The X-Files, he stated that he does in fact have the conclusion to the series planned out, and he hopes that ABC will not make the same mistakes FOX did running a great show into the ground. "Hopefully we will be able to dig our heels in, because we have an ending of the show. We know when it is, we know how many episodes it is, but we have to talk with the Powers That Be, the people that pay for the show, in order to sort of execute that. And I think it would be very hard if we did our ending for anyone to come in after and continue the show." Addressing the frustration many fans felt about the way the first season concluded, he indicated that it will take 3 full episodes to answer the ubiquitous "what's in the hatch" question, and while people may be frustrated now, he is positive they would be even more unhappy had they only partially answered those questions before leaving for the summer break. He assured us that the wait will be worth it, and that the third episode of the second season will knock our socks off. Like most other fans of this show, I patiently wait with cautious optimism. It took a long time to finally get to hear from the man behind the pen, but it was worth it.
Release Party With the interviews largely completed, it was time to close the evening with a kickass party, and BVHE really did a fantastic job. Given the nearly perfect Hawaiian weather, there were no problems hosting an outdoor party in the woods. In fact, considering how much of my skin was devoured by mosquitoes at the botanical gardens a few days earlier, I was a bit shocked at how friendly the insect population was to all of us. On one end of the event was Slug, a local Hawaiian cover band who performed against the backdrop of a damaged airplane fuselage. While I wasn't particularly enjoying their volume and bass as I tried to record audio interviews, once inside the party, I recognized that they were doing a good job. Spread around the outskirts of our jungle setting were various eating stations, and each one had a decidedly Hawaiian flair to it. My two favorite stations were the sushi bar and the coconut drinks, both of which were some of the best food and drink I have ever tasted. Forget about the small sections of pre-cut sushi you may find at the local supermarket; when I saw the plate of food the friendly server had made for me, the first thing I thought was, "a sandwich is just a sandwich, but a Manwich is a meal!" The spicy tuna I had requested was most definitely a meal, and it was a damn tasty one at that. Over at the coconut stand, I found two massive Hawaiians conspicuously grinning and brandishing large machete. As I approached, one of them enthusiastically removed an oversized coconut from a cooler, smacked it a few times with his machete, stuck a straw in the top and handed me my drink. Spicy tuna and coconut juice: it wasn't what I expected I'd be eating for dinner when I awoke that morning, but after a long day of seeing the sights and talking with the cast, it was exactly what I needed.The party as a whole seemed to be a glowing success for everyone involved. Family and friends of those involved with the show were having a great time as were the cast members and press who had showed up for the event. It was very informal, and some people continued to talk about the show, while others discussed current events. I strangely found myself embroiled in a debate over the current state of hockey, which -- while we may technically have a hockey team here in the ATL -- is not a topic of discussion in which a Southerner like myself should be involved. Nonetheless, I participated, and discussion ranged from the best way to kill and eat a pig to the impending format war over the next generation of DVD. The evening began to wind down, and it was clear that the event was a huge success, and everyone had had a great time. As we departed, we were presented a Lost tote bag, complete with The WORST-CASE SCENARIO Survival Handbook, Hawaiian Host chocolate covered macadamia nuts, a sample blend from the Maui Coffee Co., Hpnotiq liqueur, and a preview set of Lost trading cards. On the tram ride back, I spoke at length with executive producer Bryan Burk's parents, and they were predictably proud of their son's accomplishments and were very pleased with the way the event turned out. The party continued late into the night at the hotel bar, and I hung around for every minute of it -- getting owned in a game of pool by DVD producer David Naylor -- but for all intents and purposes, this was the end of Buena Vista Home Entertainment's entertaining and successful launch party for the upcoming DVD release of the first season of Lost.
Concluding Thoughts Now, I know what you're thinking: "That's all well and great, but should I buy the DVD set?" That's a topic for another time, and I assure you that once Buena Vista gives the go-ahead to officially review the set, I will be posting a comprehensive review complete with all the gory details. Until that time, though, it shouldn't take a rocket scientist, or even a Regional Collections Supervisor for a box company, to figure out that BVHE went to all this trouble for a reason (as did I). Along with Desperate Housewives, Lost was not only a major breakout hit of the 2004-2005 television season, but its DVD release is easily one of the most anticipated of the year. While I won't discuss an official recommendation until I have had time to thoroughly review the set in its entirety, an initial glance reveals high production values and a strong slate of special features. Much like the promotional party itself, it appears that every effort has been made to present a DVD release worthy of all this attention, and from what I have seen so far, the fans are going to be very pleased with the results. "Lost - The Complete First Season" will be released on September 6, 2005, and I suggest you mark your calendar.
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