Star Trek TOS Season 2 HD-DVD- March 25th tentative release (1 Viewer)

[ReggieW]

Since S1 was released as a SD/HD-DVD combo release, I really don't see why they couldn't have finished S2 & S3 as combos as well. There are over a million HD-DVD players in the wild, so they probably still would've sold well with a lower msrp. When HD-DVD was dropped by Toshiba, I really didn't realize how abrupt and violent the abandonment would be, meaning, I thought projects in progress would be finished/released, not immediately dropped.

I think I'll just wait for the Blu-ray versions of S2 & S3. I am glad that they won't be combo releases when they eventually hit BD, as I hated the packaging of the S1 HD-DVD set and combos in general. Just terrible.

 

[Ric Easton]

"I really didn't realize how abrupt and violent the abandonment would be, meaning, I thought projects in progress would be finished/released, not immediately dropped."

Pretty much my sentiments. I still had high hopes for the completion of TOS.

 

[Zack Gibbs]

Ah but therein lies the rub, what would be the point of combos in a world where HD-DVD's death has already occurred? You can't expect people to buy the DVD side of them when they know they won't be buying that HD-DVD player in the future anymore.

 

[Nelson Au]

Yes, I'm not sure what to make of this release either. Part of me thinks that 90 percent of the fans and casual viewers don't care about high definition and are very happy to buy the set in SD.

But then there are people like us, HT enthusiasts who want it in hi-def and especially now that they already released the first season in HD. Please, may I have some more?

Paramount/CBS must have just wanted to get this out now to meet demand as they rework their scrapped HD-DVD schedule of releases for BD. So I am hopeful that within a year, we'll have our Blu Trek.

One last thing, I have to admit, in viewing a lot of newer SD releases on the newly aquired HD-DVD player that upconverts, new films and the SD side of the Trek HD-DVD's looked pretty darn good! However, the last SD Star Trek TOS original non CGI'd release looks pretty crappy. And I am referring to the live action film elements.

 

[LarryH]

I would think that no fewer people would purchase S2 and S3 on HD-DVD than purchased S1. I doubt many of these people threw away their players (or even took them back, if allowed) since they are interested enough in Trek to buy the rather expensive S1. Another example of the herd instinct overriding logical thinking.

Added: Of course that may not be enough sales to justify production. Who knows?

 

[Mike Williams]

Ric, I'm with you 100% on that, geek or not. One of my favorite Star Trek moments, movie moments and score moments of all time is the very long tour of the outside of the Enterprise when Kirk sees it for the first time in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. I feel just the way Kirk felt everytime I see that scene. Everything about that scene, and especially the music, is Star Trek at its finest hour.

 

[Douglas Monce]

My guess is that CBS, which is a separate company from Paramount, may just drop out of the HD market all together for a while. Star Trek was their only HD release and as it didn't sell well, and most of CBS's content is TV shows anyway, there is little incentive for them to jump into blu-ray.

Doug

 

[GregK]

Hmmm... No HD version included at all this time. Does this mean it will be half the price of the first season?

 

[Rachael B]

Count me as one that thinks Blu-ray badly needs a BD/DVD hybrid. I'll never buy anymore Trek till it's in HD of some sort.

 

[Zack Gibbs]

I've never liked double sided discs of any kind. I don't hate them and I'm not a disc-art fanatic or anything, I just prefer the practicality of having a durable side to the disc. Fortunately I don't think double sided Blu-Rays (hybrid or otherwise) will ever happen since they're made from a single platter (as opposed to DVDs and HD-DVDs which used two platters with the data layer sandwiched in between).

 

[Ric Easton]

Originally Posted by Ric Easton...
I've always thought it would be geeky cool just to have a collage of assembled beauty/action shots of the remastered Enterprise set to music. Yes, I am a geek.



Mike,

Several years ago I went to the Star Trek Experience in Las Vegas and while dining at Quarks, there were all these video monitors playing beauty and battle scenes of all the ships (and DS9). I went right to the gift shop looking to buy the tape (told you it was several years ago!). The only videos they were selling was the stuff you could get from Best Buy or Amazon for a lot cheaper. Instead, I came away with a six-pack of Romulan Ale.

Man, how I would love newly produced widescreen hi-def Beauty and Battle montages of the 22nd thru 24th Centuries!

 

[Dave H]

I will consider picking these up on BD one day - if the price is right. Count me in as one who is thankful combos don't exist on BD.

 

[Rachael B]

If there was a Blu hybrid disc, Trek production would proably shift to it relatively soon....? As it is stands, there's no market for Trek on Blu-ray. It could be years, if ever, that Trek is sold on Blu-ray. There's no quarantee that Blu-ray will ever exceed a 10% marketshare. With the recession, the pricing, and Sony in charge, I'm not very optimistic.

Myself, for my personal use, I don't give a rat's rump about hybrids. I have 4 BD players. For the future prospects of the format, I wanna see a hybrid. The Sony brainiacs may have visions of smashing that damned, recordable DVD format out of existence? I say to them, good luck. Their plan to have wee-jun kodes, expensive hardware, $40 list discs, and no hybrid playback seems brie, bree, brilliant. This is going better than Super Audio Cee-Dee's but that's not sayin' much.

All I can say is, be careful what you wish for.

 

[Rachael B]

I have atleast 1,000 dual-sided discs, not counting LP vinyl records. I'm not having durability problems. I prefer the utility of actually having discs.

 

[Jason_V]

Good god. Where has it been said Sony wants to get rid of recordable DVD? Where is Sony's $40 list discs (that's Fox, if memory serves)?

Personally, as Dave H said, I'm thankful there aren't any Blu Ray combo discs. They're worthless in my book.

 

[Jari K]

Perhaps we should forget this combo-debate, at least until the "ST - S2" set is released on Blu-ray (IF it´ll be released, that´s). Blu-ray doesn´t have any combo-discs so far, and I don´t see why ST should suddenly be released in combo-format of some sort.. non-combo = lower price.

(Last time (S1 HD DVD), they didn´t include the "original version" (without the CGI-effects) at all in the set - not even in the SD DVD-side, so it was a missed opportunity in "combo wise", if you ask me. Great set otherwise and great TV-series, though)

 

[Rachael B]

The more ways you can play a disc, the more folks can buy them. You have a strange sense of worthless! I know, I know, you're registering high on the sarcasm meter! I'm proably off-the-chart on that 'un! Ya!
In my estimation, and that's all it is, with no Blu hybrid, Paramount has no compelling reason to hurry Trek along, in HD that is. I'm betting they'll release it on DVD before Blu-ray.

The mass market's behaviour is nothing like the folks we chat with on forums. Slap yourself and take that to heart. Even I have to slap myself back to reality on occasion. We're sitting on the edge of a possible depression and the mass market is driving on pins and needles....and fumes. Europa rejects the notion of wee-jun kodes. The stars aren't lined up in Blu-ray's favour. They have me buyin' 'em which is a start though....!

 

[Jason_V]

Rachel, I was not intending to come across as sarcastic or anything else. All my comments were in all seriousness. You've offered no evidence that Paramount has no reason to get Trek on BD. A BD hybrid isn't even being rumored or talked about. And why should it? If the studios want high def media to latch on, why in the world would they include the standard form too?

 

[Rachael B]

Do you know of any Academy Ratio or 4/3 HD discs that have sold well so far? I don't. So far, the public's perception is that old stuff can't be HD.

I know several folks that are buying all of Warner's output on Combi's this spring and have told me it's so they can play 'em on their bedroom TV's that don't feature HD-DVD compliant players. I believe these folks are the tip of the iceberg. I believe that Blu-ray adoption would be way faster if they had hybrid discs that play in the car, the portable, at the summer cabin, in motel players, and so on.

I believe that the mass market wants versitility not limited playback potential. Consumer's desires and studio's desires are different sides of the coin. Studios want to ween us of DVD, component video cables, and institute the "annie-log choke-hold" or as they call it, the analog sunset. Studios are now looking at DVD the same as they once viewed LD and VHS as "defective" because they're so easy to copy. Yet, their attempt to ween the public might be somewhat damned? Folks like recording, cheap media, and cheap players. Hybrid media is just another path to adoption and I believe an important one.

What do single-layer SACD and Blu-ray have in common, high prices and limited playback possibilities. It's not a good combination. We're looking at media companies that desire to design products for their needs not consumer's. It's very risky to ignore the lessons of marketing class 101.

I think the BDA may pull a hybrid out of their hat if adoption is really, really slow. They don't want to but they might? IMO, HD-DVD had one thang very right, the hybrid disc. The cutting edge consumers have shown inordinate disdain for them but the mass market is a horse of another colour and a damn big horse....compared to us ponies.

 

[Jason_V]

Two things, Rachel, then I'm done with this circular argument:

1) How many Academy Ratio/4:3 titles are there? I'm going to venture a handful, maybe a dozen. Not an accurate way to gague interest.

2) Warner released zero combo discs. IIRC, they were exclusively Universal.