UHD Review A Few Words About A few words about...™ - The Abyss -- in 4k UHD (2 Viewers)

[jayembee]

I guess I was jumping to the optimistic conclusion that this release just was selling really well. I thought I saw the other Cameron films were readily available but this one is out of stock everywhere...almost. I mean I've read there has been an uptick in physical media sales, so I was thinking/hoping this must be a hot title that is selling really well. I noticed there are some complaints around the world wide webs that preorders have not been filled in many cases. So, perhaps you guys are correct and this is more an issue with manufacturing the discs than it is with massive demand.

Aliens seems to be the one of the three that is most available. The last time I was in my local Bull Moose, they had a handful of copies of Aliens, but not a single copy of the other two), and the only location in the wild where I've seen any of them is that Bull Moose store.

I ordered them from the Disney Movie Club on March 22, and they still haven't notified me about them being shipped.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Disney had no clue about how these were to going to sell. They didn't replicate enough to meet the initial demand. There's more coming.

That is only part of the issue. The disc master was also sent late to the replicator to fix an issue that came to light just days before the master was to be shipped.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Aliens seems to be the one of the three that is most available. The last time I was in my local Bull Moose, they had a handful of copies of Aliens, but not a single copy of the other two), and the only location in the wild where I've seen any of them is that Bull Moose store.

I ordered them from the Disney Movie Club on March 22, and they still haven't notified me about them being shipped.

I'm in New England like you, Jerry, and I mean outside of Bullmoose, where is there left to go for physical media? I have a WalMart near me, I mostly avoid it, but they do have a section, part of an aisle and an endcap that has DVD, Blu, and 4K. Very small selection and mostly, the titles on display don't change much except the new release endcap. Other than that, I go to the Salem Bullmoose when I am near it. Which mostly now is less than once a month. There is a comic book store near me that offers a very small selection of titles, but that is about it. I've not been in a Target or Best Buy in some time but I thought they both abandoned selling discs in store.

 

[sbjork]

That is only part of the issue. The disc master was also sent late to the replicator to fix an issue that came to light just days before the master was to be shipped.

I understand that, and I agreed with that. But while most inventory issues these days do come down to replication issues of one sort or another, Disney has acknowledged off-the-record that they didn't anticipate the demand.

 

[jayembee]

I'm in New England like you, Jerry, and I mean outside of Bullmoose, where is there left to go for physical media? I have a WalMart near me, I mostly avoid it, but they do have a section, part of an aisle and an endcap that has DVD, Blu, and 4K. Very small selection and mostly, the titles on display don't change much except the new release endcap. Other than that, I go to the Salem Bullmoose when I am near it. Which mostly now is less than once a month. There is a comic book store near me that offers a very small selection of titles, but that is about it. I've not been in a Target or Best Buy in some time but I thought they both abandoned selling discs in store.

Target has a very small section these days, but they still (for now) sell discs. Wal-Mart is better than it had been for a while, though it varies from one store to another. That variation also applies to Barnes & Noble, though I generally don't bother looking through their video section unless it's Criterion Sale time.

 

[Carlo_M]

I know that YouTube/Google steal all my viewing data. But even with that, I have never seen the types of video recommendations in my feed that I've gotten over the last month or so, which coalesce around the theme of "going back to physical media" again.

Now I'm not naive enough to think the salad days of DVD are coming back (just like the "vinyl resurgence" of the past few years didn't result in physical media returning en masse for music). But I do think now there's an uptick in interest for physical media because of the souring view on streaming services. Not only are they more costly now than the cable packages they were initially replacements for, but people are now finally understanding what most of us physical collectors had been warning them about over all these years: that they'll lose access to titles you love/want to see.

So that kind of ties back to the whole Cameron 4K shortage. It was the perfect storm of industry always lagging behind consumer sentiment. Best Buy (completely) and Target (mostly) got rid of physical media just as some people (however small a percentage) are starting to turn back to physical media from streaming. A good number of those are going to be film lovers for whom Cameron's earlier films hold a place in their heart. Add to that the dwindling number of pressing facilities for media and this is what we get.

 

[JoshZ]

I'm in New England like you, Jerry, and I mean outside of Bullmoose, where is there left to go for physical media?

Jayembee already mentioned Barnes & Noble. I'll also toss in a mention for Newbury Comics, though selection is typically limited and prices high.

 

[JoshZ]

That is only part of the issue. The disc master was also sent late to the replicator to fix an issue that came to light just days before the master was to be shipped.

Even with this issue, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that The Abyss is the best seller of this Cameron wave.

1) It benefits from the publicity and hype of the recent theatrical re-release.
2) Aliens already had pretty good Blu-ray editions available for the past 14 years, so demand for an "upgrade" on that title is probably less.
3) There's been a mini-backlash against True Lies in recent years, as a narrative has formed that the movie hasn't aged well due to issues with racial stereotyping and sexism (both of which I'll concede are legitimate criticisms, but not necessarily to the degree some people are freaking out about).

 

[dpippel]

If any of you don't feel like waiting for some ambiguous date to roll around, Walmart is still showing The Abyss as in-stock and available for delivery by 4/17 if ordered today. Same goes for True Lies. Aliens is OOS.

 

[jayembee]

Aliens seems to be the one of the three that is most available. The last time I was in my local Bull Moose, they had a handful of copies of Aliens, but not a single copy of the other two), and the only location in the wild where I've seen any of them is that Bull Moose store.

I ordered them from the Disney Movie Club on March 22, and they still haven't notified me about them being shipped.

Well whattaya know...after I posted that, I got mail from the DMC that they've shipped my order!

 

[Todd Erwin]

Disney has acknowledged off-the-record that they didn't anticipate the demand.

That's not what my off-the-record source told me...

 

[SD_Brian]

3) There's been a mini-backlash against True Lies in recent years, as a narrative has formed that the movie hasn't aged well due to issues with racial stereotyping and sexism

True Lies was already being accused of misogyny and racism back in 1994, so it's not something people just recently woke up to, unless they weren't paying attention back then. I was somewhat surprised nobody (not even Jamie Lee Curtis) mentioned the controversial aspects of the movie in the bonus features. The closest anyone came was Cameron saying a sequel never happened because, after 9/11, terrorism just wasn't funny anymore.

 

[TonyD]

If any of you don't feel like waiting for some ambiguous date to roll around, Walmart is still showing The Abyss as in-stock and available for delivery by 4/17 if ordered today. Same goes for True Lies. Aliens is OOS.

I think target has them all in stock and b2g1f

 

[JoshZ]

True Lies was already being accused of misogyny and racism back in 1994, so it's not something people just recently woke up to, unless they weren't paying attention back then. I was somewhat surprised nobody (not even Jamie Lee Curtis) mentioned the controversial aspects of the movie in the bonus features. The closest anyone came was Cameron saying a sequel never happened because, after 9/11, terrorism just wasn't funny anymore.

Yeah, but those complaints were mostly brushed off at the time and the movie was a huge box office hit. The more recent revival of them would have everyone believe the movie is the most horrifically racist and misogynistic piece of hate speech ever made - which, I'm sorry, is an outsized, entirely performative reaction to the actual issues as they exist in the film.

I've also recently encountered one younger viewer who watched True Lies for the first time not at all understanding that it's a comedy, and who simply didn't get the movie on any level.

 

[SD_Brian]

an outsized, entirely performative reaction to the actual issues

Outsized, entirely performative reactions to issues are, sadly, what passes for discourse these days.

 

[SD_Brian]

I've also recently encountered one younger viewer who watched True Lies for the first time not at all understanding that it's a comedy, and who simply didn't get the movie on any level.

I can't judge young viewers too harshly as I don't get a lot of the things they find entertaining.

 

[TonyD]

Anyway back to the Abyss.

I think there are a handful of shots that look way too clean.
Too smooth, too perfect.
Not necessarily a complaint but maybe an observation.

Wouldnt have minded if it looked a little rougher.
At least now we can see the guy on the beach getting pantsed as clear as anything.

I guess I’m just very happy to have been able to watch this movie and see the special edition and it not look like I’m watching on my old
Tv when I was a kid in 1980

Also these two lines from the movie were kind of funny considering all the discussion about these new Cameron versions of the three new releases.

 

[sbjork]

That's not what my off-the-record source told me...

That's what we were told. There's probably not a consistent story here, depending on who you talk to.

 

[KPmusmag]

I've also recently encountered one younger viewer who watched True Lies for the first time not at all understanding that it's a comedy, and who simply didn't get the movie on any level.

That was even true in 1994 - when I saw it at a theater back then, a few friends and I were laughing when these two young men turned and said, "Stop laughing, it's a serious movie" or words to that effect. Which frankly made us laugh louder.

 

[Jeffrey D]

That was even true in 1994 - when I saw it at a theater back then, a few friends and I were laughing when these two young men turned and said, "Stop laughing, it's a serious movie" or words to that effect. Which frankly made us laugh louder.

Yes Tom Arnold’s dead serious demeanor and dialog- definitely not a comedy.