Re: TDB: Fox/MGM prepping several catalog titles
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Originally Posted by Paul_Scott
The people here may think "1080p" is a clarion call but outside of the 5% enthusiast community, people are not hung up on that spec- and that spec doesn't trump the satisfaction they continue to have with a product that THEY HAVE ALREADY DOUBLE OR TRIPLE DIPPED ON IN SD (usually within the last couple of years) OR ALREADY OWN A VERSION THAT UPSCALES EXTRAORDINARILY WELL.
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While I agree that pricing is too high (at this point) for the masses, I think you're probably wrong about people not wanting the BD upgrade *after* they've already double or triple dipped on DVD. They'll probably want pricing to come down first, but IMHO, if they were actually willing to double/triple-dip w/in the DVD format itself for certain movies, most of them *will* want something like a BD upgrade for such movies -- and some of them might not need bargain bin pricing either though yes $25-30 street price is probably too high for most of them.
I mean why else would they have even bothered to double/triple-dip?? It's not like the quality gain w/in the DVD format itself is quite *that* great. If that gain was enough to justify it, then so will be the gain w/ a BD upgrade.
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| Don't you guys get what I'm saying? There is little motivation to re-buy catalog that is perpetually in print and easily and cheaply available. |
One might think so, but for whatever reasons, the studios themselves seem to think it makes sense for them to keep rereleasing catalog titles even w/in the DVD format itself. I don't know what the sales numbers are, but surely, the studios are not losing $$$ on the whole w/ such catalog rereleases on DVD -- yes, they may lose on some, but probably not as a whole. And it's not like they still need to use such rereleases as "lost leaders" to help sell the most successful home video format in history nowadays. Heck, why do they even think the masses might buy (or re-buy) the more expensive, suped up rereleases when the old, usually lower quality versions might still be widely available and (as you suggest) good enough for the masses?
Maybe the truth is that the studios do actually sell enough -- whatever that means -- to make it worth their while despite your/our complaints to the contrary as strange as that may seem.
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| When a new "remastered collectors edition " comes out on sd, the previous edtion is usually taken out of print in advance. |
Is it really? I know that's true in some cases, but is it always true? I kinda doubt that. Certainly, previous editions in many such cases do seem to still be widely available for a pretty significant amount of time. And by the time they are no longer available, the newer editions would probably see significant price cuts already. Well, I guess they *might* be out of print, but the existing inventory often last a long time though.
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| In contrast, in HDM land, not only is the new sd CE left available, it has also been marked down to impulse purchase levels- all while a slighty better version(to many peoples eyes and gear needs) comes out in HD at several multiples of that price. |
Actually, in practice (and in my experience), that's been mostly true of the newere CE DVD releases too, not just HDM. I really haven't noticed too many instances where older versions completely display really soon after the newer (or more special) versions arrive.
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| You want to see Patton or POTA on Bd become attractive and motivate more of the 'mass' consumers to pick the up? Then they need to be put on a permanent moritorium on sd for at least a few years first. Or, at the very least, institute a window for the Bd version of 6 to 12 months. The Bd needs to be postioned by the studios as an attractive, *special* purchase that entails benefits beyond 'enhanced a/v' or a token gimmicky interactive feature. |
Well, moratorium (for the DVD) would probably help a lot. But then again, the studios are in this to make $$$, not just to promote BD. They will do it whichever way they believe work best for their bottomline regardless of what you and I may think.
_Man_
Even though I've made it clear in a couple other threads that all the negativity toward Blu-ray, the studios, etc. have gotten very tiring and redundant, maybe the previously suggested idea for an official sticky thread (or two) for certain specific, relatively universal complaints makes sense and would help the complaining at least be a bit more productive on the one hand (by having a clearer, more unified voice somewhere on the forum) and less destructive on the other (by reducing the noise in regular threads where folks just want to "talk shop" w/out being dragged into all that negativity).
My sentiments exactly. One of my biggest pet peeves is the ease with which the term 'classic' is bandied about today.
