Walt Disney Home Video is releasing Season 5 of Lost on DVD and Blu-ray on December 8th of this year. They’re also — for the first time ever — releasing a special edition package that includes everything the DVD or Blu-ray sets contain, plus a whole bunch of special extras. TVShowsonDVD.com has acquired the first image of what this special edition set looks like, and here it is. Can I get a “wow!” out there, anybody? Holy crap!

It’s called The Complete 5th Season Dharma Initiation Kit, and based on what can be seen in the image, it looks to be an appropriately weathered-looking 3-ring binder that contains Dharma pamphlets, Dharma dossiers, octagonal logo patches, a VHS tape marked “Orientation Video” that we have to assume contains all of Pierre Chang’s orientation vids as seen on the show, and the DVD or Blu-ray discs in sleeves made to resemble old school floppy disks.

As TVShowsonDVD.com right points out, the image is marked as preliminary artwork and “subject to change.” So don’t take it to the bank just yet. But right now, it looks like the kind of set that most of us fans would wet ourselves over!

Image: TVShowsonDVD.com/Walt Disney Home Video.

Lost: Messages from the Island is a gorgeous, full-color, 176-page coffee table book from Titan Books, the same folks that publish The Official Lost Magazine. The short description is that the book compiles the best feature articles from the magazine’s coverage of the first two seasons of the show.

But that hardly does it justice. Messages from the Island is a behind-the-scenes, “making of” junkie’s dream come true. The book has interviews with every member of the entire original cast — and several newcomers that joined in Season 2 — and many of the show’s production crew as well, all of whom talk about the origins of the show and reveal little-known secrets about how it first came together. As such, it makes a perfect companion to any Lost fan’s DVD or Blu-ray collection, since it bears the “official” Lost seal, so to speak.

I particularly enjoyed the separate interviews with Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, who both detail their origins with the show, what a typical day is like for them, and their overall philosophies for how they make the show work. But my favorite parts of the book are the conceptual designs, floor plans, never-before-seen images, and storyboards that show just how much thought, planning, and details go into creating everything on Lost. One feature shows off pictures of the Swan station set, and the attention to detail inside that pivotal location is fascinating. Another shows off side-by-side comparisons of a high-tension moment that has storyboards on one side and stills from the final episode on the other. It’s probably the closest thing we’ll ever get to a true, fully illustrated production diary from the show.

The only caveat I can find is that all of the book’s content is drawn from magazine articles written about Seasons 1 and 2. (Presumably materials from the other four seasons’ worth of magazines is being saved for additional volumes.) Needless to say, all of the book’s content feels quite dated. On the other hand, it is pretty nifty to effectively have a “time capsule” look back at the show’s earliest days, when the cast and crew were excited and full of optimism about Lost’s popularity, yet had no idea where the story was going.

A must-have for all true Losties.

Image: Copyright 2009 ©Titan Books.

You still have one more week to win one of three copies of Lost: Messages from the Island that are up for grabs! If you haven’t yet entered, click here for information on how to enter.

Lost: Messages from the Island is a compilation of the best behind-the-scenes features from Lost: The Official Magazinecontaining concept art, storyboards, set designs, commentary on key episodes, extensive interviews with cast and crew, and much more.

Image: Copyright 2009 Titan Books.

ApproachingLOST.com is excited to present an opportunity to win a copy of Titan Books’ new title, Lost: Messages from the Island!

This beautiful, full-color, 8.5″ x 10″ book is a compilation of the best behind-the-scenes features from Lost: The Official Magazine. As such, it contains tons of stuff you won’t find anywhere else, including concept art, storyboards, set designs, commentary on key episodes, extensive interviews with cast and crew, and much more. It’s a must-have for any self-respecting Lost fan.

How to Enter

• Email Robin with your first & last names, and your answers to the five trivia questions below.
• Answer all five questions correctly, and you’ll be entered in our random drawing.
• All entries must be received by Noon Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday, July 8th.
• Three winners will be chosen at random on Wednesday, July 8th.

Lost Trivia Questions

1. Name every character that returned to the island on Ajira 316. (Only folks we know have been to the island before — don’t include Ilana, Bram, etc.)
2. What was the name of the freighter sent to the island by Charles Widmore, and later destroyed at the end of Season 4?
3. What year were they in when the time-jumping castaways on the island first encountered the hydrogen bomb “Jughead”?
4. What was the first four-letter word Charlie scribbled on his finger bandages after the crash?
5. Name 4 Dharma stations.

Image: Copyright 2009 Titan Books.

I hope so — it’s wicked awesome! (The white background is a wink to the time flashes that were so prevalent early in Season 5, get it?) Amazon.com is the originator of this image (there’s a similar one on their Blu-Ray release page as well), but it’s yet to be confirmed by Disney Home Video or anything else remotely official. The image gives the DVD set, which arrives December 8th of this year, the subtitle: “The Journey Back - Expanded Edition.”

Amazon also supplies this list of extra features:

• 7 Lost on Location
• A Day with Josh Holloway
• Los Angeles Crew Tribute with Michael Emerson
• The 100th Episode
• Time Frame and Continuity
• Bloopers
• Deleted Scenes

Sounds about right, no?

Image: Amazon.com.

As part of a just-signed deal, ABC shows are being added to Hulu, the popular online video viewing service. And already confirmed to be part of the deal is the forthcoming addition of Lost to Hulu’s library of videos. And if you’re not familiar with Hulu, the awesome part of this is that Hulu allows you to watch full episodes of your favorite shows online for free, and it offers some added bonuses like the ability to embed their videos right on your own site.

There’s no word yet on which seasons of Lost will be available on Hulu, or if ABC intends to put every season of the show online. It would be a great way for newbies to get caught up before the final season, if the latter were true.

So let me see if I can do the math on this… Lost, the most popular TV show viewed on the Internet (according to 2009 Nielsen ratings)… plus Hulu, a fan favorite watch-TV-on-the-Internet service… Should we just hand over the government to Hulu and be done with it?

Images: “Hulu” logo Copyright 2009 ©Hulu LLC. “Austin Powers” image Copyright 1997 ©Warner Home Video.

TVshowsonDVD.com reports that Amazon.com seems to think that December 8th will be the day that Lost Season 5 will arrive on DVD and Blu-ray. This should probably be taken with a grain of salt, since Amazon.com has been known to make educated guesses about unannounced release dates in the past. And this is veeeeery early for a supposed release date to be posted.

Still, December 8th seems like just about the right time for the Season 5 DVD to drop — it’s pre-Christmas, and probably about a month before Season 6 premieres — so if it is no more than a guess, it’s a pretty smart one.

No details have yet been announced about what extra features will be part of the DVD and Blu-ray collections, but past Lost releases have included plenty of special bonuses, so there’s no reason to assume Season 5 will be any different.

At last! Varese Sarabande Records has announced the production and release date for Michael Giacchino’s Lost: Season 4 soundtrack. There’s no track list or details yet, but Varese Sarabande says it will be “more than 75 minutes” long, and will arrive in stores on May 12, 2009.

The Lost: Season 3 soundtrack was a two-disc set, so some fans might have wondered if Giacchino’s score for Season 4 might lend itself to another double collection. But since there were only 14 episodes to Season 4 (thanks to the writer’s strike), one disc should be sufficient to cover all of the major cues and themes.

Image by Robin Parrish.

Lost Seasons 1 and 2 will be released on Blu-ray high definition discs on June 16, 2009. That’s the word from TVonDVD.com.

The sets will retail for a suggested $69.99 each, and will contain all of the same extras that were on the Season 1 and 2 DVD releases. It’s unknown at this point whether or not any additional extras will be added to the Blu-ray collections, but there’s still plenty of time for such features to be added.

Both sets will present all episodes from their respective seasons in 1080p resolution and 5.1 digital surround sound.

Last month I told you about the long-awaited ending to Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof’s first foray into the world of comic books. Marvel Comics brought Lindelof on board to pen Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk, a six-part miniseries that got waylaid after issue #2, due to Lindelof’s duties on Lost and the upcoming Star Trek film.

Now he’s finishing the tale at last, and after March’s issue #3, now we present the just-released solicitation info for issues #4 and #5 (courtesy of Marvel Comics), both of which go on sale in April 2009. Covers are pictured, click to enlarge.

ULTIMATE WOLVERINE VS. HULK #4 & #5 (of 6)
Written by DAMON LINDELOF
Pencils & Cover by LEINIL FRANCIS YU
A DOUBLE-DOSE OF SNIKTING & SMASHING!! The slugfest continues as a new heavy hitter comes a callin’, the ultra-sexy Ultimate She-Hulk!!! Who is this mysterious jade giantess and, more importantly, who’s she puttin’ the hurt on first??!! Damon Lindelof, the co-creator of the hit TV series LOST, and superstar artist Leinil Francis Yu (Secret Invasion) bring you the next two installments of this gut-wrenching, spine-tingling, head-splattering series!
32 PGS. (each)/Rated T+ …$2.99 (each)

#4 will be in comics stores April 8th, and #5 will be available April 29th.

Images: Copyright 2009 ©Marvel Comics.