'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

I thought this might be a good topic and/or reference.

There have been several HD-DVDs released by Warner, Universal, Weinstein/Genius and Paramount/DreamWorks that have yet to see a counterpart Blu-ray release (speaking only of the US). The following is a list of all of them. (If I have neglected any, please let me know. Also, if a smaller company's release was HD-DVD only please let me know and I'll add that, too).

Total: 123

City Lights (1)

The Ten

Paramount/DreamWorks (2)

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy
Stardust

Rhino (1)

Eagles: The Farewell 1 Tour - Live from Melbourne

Universal (100)

Accepted
Alpha Dog
American Me
Apollo 13
Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)
Atonement - coming to Blu-ray 1/26/10
Backdraft
Balls of Fury
Being John Malkovich
The Big Lebowski
Billy Madison
The Bone Collector
Born on the Fourth of July
Breach
The Break-Up
The Breakfast Club
Bulletproof
Carlito's Way
Carlito's Way: Rise to Power
Cat People (1982)
Dante's Peak
Darkman
Daylight
Dazed and Confused
Dead Silence
The Deer Hunter
Dragonheart
Dune
Elizabeth
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Erin Brockovich
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Evan Almighty
Evening
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
For Love of the Game
The Frighteners
The Game
The Getaway (1992)
The Good Shepherd
Half Baked
Happy Gilmore
The Hitcher (2007)
Hollywoodland
The Hurricane
In Good Company
The Interpreter
The Jerk
Liar Liar
Lost in Translation
Mallrats
Meet Joe Black
Meet the Fockers
Meet the Parents
Mercury Rising
Midnight Run
Mobsters
Mr. Bean's Holiday
Mystery Men
National Lampoon's Animal House
Notting Hill
The Nutty Professor (1996)
Nutty Professor II: The Klumps
Out of Sight
Patch Adams
The Pianist
Pride and Prejudice (2005) - coming to Blu-ray 1/26/10
Ray
Red Dragon
The River (1984)
Scent of a Woman
Sea of Love
Seed of Chucky
The Skeleton Key
Slither
Smokey and the Bandit
Smokin' Aces - coming to Blu-ray 1/19/10
Sneakers
Spartacus
The Sting
Streets of Fire
Talk to Me
Timecop
Traffic
Tremors
Unleashed
Waist Deep
The War
The Watcher
The Wedding Date
What Dreams May Come
White Noise
White Noise 2
You, Me & Dupree

Warner (10)

Caddyshack
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Dukes of Hazzard (2005)
Excalibur
Forbidden Planet
Grand Prix
Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
Poseidon
Smallville - Season 5
Troy (Theatrical Cut)

Weinstein/Genius (9)

Black X-Mas (2006)
Derailed
Feast
Harsh Times
The Matador (2005)
Pulse (2006)
Scary Movie 4
School for Scoundrels (2006)
Wolf Creek




Edited by Brandon Conway - 11/4/09 at 8:29pm

Re: 'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

I guess I can say--thank goodness I have a couple of HD DVD players (I own a good chunk of those titles--all the ones I want, anyway). It will be interesting to see how quickly (or not) some of these titles come to BD. I suspect some of the catalogue titles like Grand Prix and Mutiny on the Bounty may take a while.

Re: 'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

I suspect Smallville Season 5 and Troy (Theatrical Cut) may never see the light of day on Blu-ray.

Re: 'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

Man, Universal on HD DVD was awesome. It seemed like a new and nifty catalog title or three was released every week, and even the ones I didn't care for, I could see people wanting. I hope they (or someone!) gets into that sort of groove with Blu-ray soon.

Re: 'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

There's a number of Universal titles I want on BD from that list.

Re: 'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

I think it will be awhile before we see a lot of the Universal titles on the list due to sales numbers. Catalog is still selling at just a fraction of new release numbers. I would anticipate the F&F movies coming out when the new movie they are working on is released. They did hint at the HTF meet last week that they would be focusing on some catalog in 2009 so I guess you never know.

Re: 'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

I have to question Universal's commitment to releasing already on HD DVD catalogs on BD when they aren't even releasing the extended cut of Waterworld on Blu at the same time it's releasing on standard def.

Re: 'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

Terminator 2 should also be on the list. The extended director's cut of Terminator 2: Judgment Day was released on HD DVD in the UK, France, and Germany. Although T2 has been released here on Blu-Ray, it is the shorter theatrical cut.
Since HD DVD has no region codes, the European HD DVDs will play in American players.

Re: 'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

I dunno, Uni seems to release things in floods, I think we will be pleasantly surprised and I will be swamped with re-reviews =)

Re: 'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

Van Ling has been hinting in his Insider's Forum that we may see a flood of James Cameron titles on BD soon. Since Cameron has a new movie coming out Summer 09, we may see the first wave, most likely FOX titles, in Q4 09, to coincide with the DVD and BD releases ov Avatar.

That's just my personal opinion.

Re: 'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

I think the already overstressed BD replication facilities plus the fact that many of the older catalog titles may require new masters and/or recompression for BD may also be playing a factor in the apparent slowdown of releases across all of the studios.

With no format war, there is no apparent rush to get as many titles out, as well.

Re: 'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

I hope so, Todd. Last week when the group was at Fox, I meant to ask them about 'True Lies' on BD but I forgot.

Re: 'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

It doesn't look like City Lights's The Ten has hit Blu-ray yet.

I also don't anticipate Region-A releases of my UK imports of Brotherhood of the Wolf or In the Shadow of the Moon any time soon.

Re: 'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

Brandon, Thanks for going thru the trouble to compile that list. It is appreciated. Might Universal have been receiving "incentives" to place so many titles in the market at that time...that is is not receiving for Blu ray?

Re: 'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

I think a good chunk of it was that you could press HD DVDs on standard DVD replication lines, so if they already had HD masters for cable/satellite, it was not terribly difficult or costly to put a bunch of catalog titles out.

I do think Toshiba was sweetening the pot, but I also think that it was a pretty easy low-risk/decent-reward move on their part.

Whatever the reason, I'm grateful for it. Who knows when the next opportunities to buy HD Streets of Fire and the like will come?

Re: 'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

When it comes to Universal, I think the ones that make it out sooner rather than later are the obvious recent hits (Bourne films, King Kong), easy tie-ins (Fast and the Furious films, or something like Liar Liar and/or Bruce Almighty being released when a new Jim Carrey film is released like Yes Man), critical and/or award winners (The Pianist, Traffic, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), or historically well-selling catalog titles (Apollo 13, 12 Monkeys, Happy Gilmore).

Re: 'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

Updated - Universal will release Serenity 12/30/08

Re: 'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

On the mark with your post #16, Brandon.

I could be pleasantly surprised but, as Adam mentioned, I question whether there's sales justification/motivation to (re-)release on BD some of the HD DVD exclusives I have: Inside Man (already has lossless) and The Pianist (despite its pedigree).

An arguable "kissing cousin" category of this topic is those HD DVDs that exceed their BD counterparts in some way and the (un)likelihood of the BDs getting re-released.

Higher rez aud on HD DVD than BD: Dreamgirls, all three M: I pics, Training Day (with a better transfer I'm told, as well).

True PIP on HD DVD (whereas the BD presents the supps 'out of band'): Azkaban, Blood Diamond.

Re: 'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

Wait, what?

I can't believe you made those bolded statements with a straight face. Here's each month of the last two years, with the number of releases:

Jan-0729
Feb-0728
Mar-0714
Apr-0718
May-0724
Jun-0720
Jul-0716
Aug-0713
Sep-0724
Oct-0756
Nov-0732
Dec-0730
Jan-0829
Feb-0827
Mar-0820
Apr-0840
May-0830
Jun-0845
Jul-0869
Aug-0867
Sep-08101
Oct-08103
Nov-08129
Dec-0868 (and counting)

In what world can an average increase of 157% in the number of releases--with most months seeing a doubling, tripling, or even quadrupling of year-to-year figures--be considered a "slowdown of releases across all of the studios" and "no apparent rush to get as many titles out"?!

Re: 'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

Boom.

Now we just need new releases to permanently cost under $20 and the PS3 to go to $299 and we can put all of that worry about whether BD was gonna go mainstream behind us once and for all.

Re: 'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

Updated - Weinstein Co. will release Clerks II 2/10/09

Re: 'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

I want my WATERWORLD on BD!!!

Seriously, thanks for putting up that list. Didn't realize how many HD-DVDs Uni had released that I would buy in a heartbeat on BD. That said, I'd rather have them "do it right" then just do a quick port. If the transfers on HD-DVD were stellar, then go ahead and recycle the A/V transfer. If not, then please go back and re-do it rather than give us a sub-par (by HD standards) transfer.

Re: 'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

You are quite right; and I notice that for the rest of the year, I have at least one BR on my list to get per week; usually more like 3 per week. And this is WITHOUT the huge number of catalog titles I'd buy if they were offered.

Re: 'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

Updated - Universal will release Friday Night Lights 1/6/09 and King Kong (2005) 1/20/09

Re: 'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

I keep wondering what happened with "The Kite Runner." Paramount announced it for HD-DVD earlier this year, then . . . it just kind of went away. I always assumed it was released on the format, but I can't turn up any reviews for it. The cover art is on this page.

Does it count as a Blu-ray "catch-up" title (since an HD transfer was undoubtedly off to the presses when Paramount/DreamWorks went exclusively Blu)? I love this film and keep hoping it'll be released soon. Perhaps to tie in with the Blu-ray release of "Quantum of Solace"? They're pretty different films though.

Re: 'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

There were a handful of released Paramount canceled at the last minute when they switched from HD-DVD to Blu-ray earlier this year. If it never got officially released I haven't included it on this list.

Re: 'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

Received word from Netflix yesterday that they are planning to cease HD DVD rentals on December 15.

Re: 'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

The following was released today and has been removed:

Lucky # Slevin

Re: 'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

Updated - Universal will release The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, and The Bourne Ultimatum on 1/27/09.

Re: 'Catch-Up' titles - Released HD-DVDs that have yet to get a Blu-ray release (US Only)

The following were released 11/25 and have been removed:

Jarhead
The Kingdom

Added dates - Universal will release the following on 2/10/09:

Doom
The Rundown