2004: Best DVD Year Ever? (1 Viewer)

[Amy Mormino]

It seems safe to post this thread now that all the 2004 releases have come out. 2004 saw a lot of highly anticipated DVDs, a very high percentage of which lived up to or exceeded their potential.

The Star Wars Trilogy may have disappointed some, but many were thrilled by it. Classic movie fans saw a large number of great releases (primarily from WB), climaxing in the excellent Gone with the Wind super-set. Horror fans enjoyed the outstanding Dawn of the Dead Ultimate Edition. TV on DVD saw many great releases, most notably Seinfeld. And the Return of the King release completed the Lord of the Rings DVD releases. And that's just a small sampling. So, was 2004 the best DVD year ever or have there been better years?

 

[Rob Tomlin]

I think it was definitely a great year.

We now have almost all of the most wanted movies on DVD with the release of the Star Wars Trilogy. Add to this a great deal of classic Film Noirs being released, more Scorsese, a full blown restored Gone With The Wind (I watched this last night...fantastic!), and plenty of other great DVD releases such as EE of RotK, yes, a great year indeed.

 

[Bryan Ri]

Speaking for myself at least, it was the best DVD year yet. The Star Wars Trilogy, Seinfeld, and Hitchcock titles alone made this year the best. Throw in some great Simpsons seasons, other TV on DVD, the Gone With the Wind release, and a plethora of others, and my must have list is now cut down to the nitty gritty.

2005 will hopefully begin to plug in the gaps.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

Aqua Teen Bryan, Aqua Teen. We got 2 volumes in 2004 that's awesome.

Anyway, I think in both the cases of film and television releases 2004 has been the best year so far. Before 2004 it was 2003 and before that 2002.

I think on the film side of things 2004 will be the first year that will be really hard to top. We don't have another Extended Edition of Lord of the Rings to look forward to. The release of the first 3 Star Wars films means that now it is difficult to find a consensus as to what the most in demand title is that has yet to see a DVD release. There are some notable ones out there but none stand as large as Star Wars did before.

I think next year will see the releases of some more Alien or Matrix like box sets. I also think that if 2005 is to be bigger than 2004 it will depend a lot on the DVDs of the films that hit theaters late this year and throughout next year. My most eagerly awaited titles so far are Friday Night Lights, The Incredibles, and Bambi. The first 2 were recent theatrical releases, and I think things like Revenge of the Sith and other films that come out next year will have to make 2005 the biggest year ever if it is to be so. Those releases and also the specialty sets like the Looney Tunes Golden collection volume 3 are what will do it although again I suspect we'll see a lot of films get rereleased in those big series box sets as well.

Not that the problems of years past aren't still around now. We still have titles that aren't released OAR for example, and those are the kinds of things that really should be resolved.

TV on DVD is a different issue. I think that 2005 is set to be even bigger than 2004 when it comes to TV releases.
We still have a lot of shows that are in high demand, although Seinfeld came off the list in 2004. Plus, we'll get a lot of follow up releases to shows like the Simpsons, Seinfeld, and so on down the line. With studios already projecting their 2005 releases, one could see that it will be a big year all the way back in October.

 

[Charlie O.]

Disney Treasures Wave 3 was great even though it was ment for 2003 .

 

[Paul_Scott]

yeah, that's the way i see it too.
i've been thinking a lot about this last year for some reason.
it seems a lot more substantial for me in retrospect than it did waiting from week to week to see what was getting announced.
a lot of the things that had left me exasperated asking for year after year finally started to filter out:
Universals Film Noirs; Warners RKO (noirs); More Universal Monsters; more 70s era tv shows; Dawn Of The Dead...
but it was really the abundance of 'little' films- the stuff it would usually take someone else to mention first ("oh yeah...that would be a great film to have on dvd...i second that request!") that really rounded off this year for me- stuff like Prisoner Of Second Avenue, The Accidental Tourist, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, A Room With A View SE, Foul Play...these ended up being major releases for me- i had almost as much anticipation for them as i did for Star Wars, although the former(s) ended up being far more satisfying in the end.

when the door closes on 2004 i think i will have about 90% of my 'most wanted on dvd' list fulfilled.
prior to this year it was about probably about 70%, maybe 65%.

yeah, it was a good year alright.

and one other nice thing- this was the year Warner finally shook free of the snapper.
i look at some of those nice new amarays on the shelf and almost wish it had taken longer for some of my past favorites to show up

 

[Arjan S]

Yes, It was an impressive year and expensive. I'm fairly frugal but ended up spending hundreds. All amounts in Canadian

Simpsons $45.00
South Park $45.00
Goodfellas SE $30.00
Shawshank SE $30.00
Ultimate Dawn of the dead $50.00
Top Gun SE $17.00
Matrix Trilogy $75.00
LOTR extended $120.00 (Didn't own any previous editions)

I was gonna buy Star Wars but because of the audio problems and there will probably be a box set with all six episodes next year, I decided to spread out my money into next year.

So next year should be cheaper. Only looking forward to Six episode Star Wars boxset, Titanic SE, Casino SE, Karate Kid SE.

I think the fact so many movies came out this year is because an HD format is gonna be here next Christmas, So the studios are rushing out to get thier big catalog releases out this year.

 

[Chad A Wright]

This was hands down the best year for DVD. So many great releases. We now have the complete Star Wars Trilogy, Lord fo the Rings Trilogy and Indiana Jones Trilogy. A new SE of Jaws and I can die a happy man.

 

[Jerome Grate]

Ditto on all the above, well..., except for the dying thing.