[Ronald Epstein]

Welcome the the HTF Blu-ray insiders thread. This is a forum for HTF members to ask Blu-ray related questions to Blu-ray insiders. There are additional rules that will be enforced:

Members can only ask questions, no comments.
No "baiting" questions.
Only people who are certified as Blu-ray insiders are allowed to answer questions.
Be respectful in your posts.

We would like to welcome our first Blu-ray insider paidgeek.

[Paul Arnette]

Welcome, paidgeek. I hope and think you'll find the environment here more to your liking than your old stomping grounds.

I have one general and one specific question if you can answer it. Approximately, how many more Sony Blu-ray Disc annoucements can we expect between now and the end of the year? Also, will Resident Evil be released on BD this year along with, I assume, Resident Evil: Extinction?

Edited to add:

Since this thread was started in the High Definition Player - Blu-ray Owners forum, are software related questions permissable? If not, I apologize, but some clarification might be in order.

[Chris S]

A warm welcome indeed. I'm very glad that you've decided to join us and look forward to your insight.

[Adam Gregorich]

Based on Paul's post we removed the word "players" from this and the HD DVD forum name.

[Jim_K]

Big welcome to Paidgeek.

First off - Great work on Hellboy, The Fifth Element (redo), Casino Royale, etc. Really looking forward to Bram Stoker's Dracula, Close Encounters, Life of Brian, 20 Million Miles to Earth and the Spider-Man flicks.

Also can't wait for the rumored 08 titles: Das Boot, Taxi Driver, Lawrence of Arabia and Bridge on the River Kwai so I have to say I'm glad you folks at Sony are opening up the vaults a bit as it's the only way to expand the demographics - tempting the classic film enthusiasts into adopting this format. Not to mention how much I want these titles in High Def.

I guess my question is what kind of shape are the other Ray Harryhausen titles: Jason and the Argonaughts, 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Golden Voyage of Sinbad, Mysterious Island, etc? and is the format too young to expect older genre titles such as these and others like Curse of the Demon, etc?

Also can you drop a hint if the first 20 Bond films are at least being considered in the next 12-18 months?

Lastly a request:
To port over all extras from SD editions. Even though the extras may only be available in standard def for us collectors repurchasing these titles, we feel shortchanged by not having everything available that previous SD editions had. Don't give collectors a reason not to upgrade.

[Paul.S]

Quote:

Lastly a request:
To port over all extras from SD editions. Even though the extras may only be available in standard def for us collectors repurchasing these titles, we feel shortchanged by not having everything available that previous SD editions had. Don't give collectors a reason not to upgrade.

Agreed.

Which segues to a question, Pg: would you please comment on the studio's calculus regarding whether or not such supplements get included or not? For instance, I'm specifically interested in Black Hawk Down: I'm sure it was rights issues--specifically, the studio not wanting to pay A & E and PBS--but what was the thinking on the dropping from the BD of the "The True Story Of Black Hawk Down" and "Frontline: Ambush In Mogadishu" documentaries that appeared on the outstanding standard def Deluxe Edition (especially given that the latter appeared on the SD Extended Cut released shortly before the BD).

BHD BD also occasions the question of what the calculus is regarding whether or not an "extended" or "director's" cut gets released on BD: for BHD and Tears Of the Sun, it was the theatrical cuts. The Patriot, however, is the Extended.

Might this mean we can look forward to subsequent BD releases of those titles which didn't include all their SD supplements upon first hitting BD?

[paidgeek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Arnette

Welcome, paidgeek. I hope and think you'll find the environment here more to your liking than your old stomping grounds.

I have one general and one specific question if you can answer it. Approximately, how many more Sony Blu-ray Disc annoucements can we expect between now and the end of the year? Also, will Resident Evil be released on BD this year along with, I assume, Resident Evil: Extinction?

Edited to add:

Since this thread was started in the High Definition Player - Blu-ray Owners forum, are software related questions permissable? If not, I apologize, but some clarification might be in order.

Sorry for my delayed response.

There will be another 20 or so releases by the end of the year. Look for the Resident evil releases early next year.

As you might assume, Sony Pictures works off a schedule of titles planned for release, but I would appreciate members limiting questions about when title xyz is coming out. The studio is sensitive about giving out our release timing plans and these are always subject to change anyway.

[paidgeek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris S

A warm welcome indeed. I'm very glad that you've decided to join us and look forward to your insight.

Thanks,

I'll do my best to answer you questions. They keep us on our toes...

[paidgeek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim_K

Big welcome to Paidgeek.

First off - Great work on Hellboy, The Fifth Element (redo), Casino Royale, etc. Really looking forward to Bram Stoker's Dracula, Close Encounters, Life of Brian, 20 Million Miles to Earth and the Spider-Man flicks.

Also can't wait for the rumored 08 titles: Das Boot, Taxi Driver, Lawrence of Arabia and Bridge on the River Kwai so I have to say I'm glad you folks at Sony are opening up the vaults a bit as it's the only way to expand the demographics - tempting the classic film enthusiasts into adopting this format. Not to mention how much I want these titles in High Def.

I guess my question is what kind of shape are the other Ray Harryhausen titles: Jason and the Argonaughts, 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Golden Voyage of Sinbad, Mysterious Island, etc? and is the format too young to expect older genre titles such as these and others like Curse of the Demon, etc?

Also can you drop a hint if the first 20 Bond films are at least being considered in the next 12-18 months?

Lastly a request:
To port over all extras from SD editions. Even though the extras may only be available in standard def for us collectors repurchasing these titles, we feel shortchanged by not having everything available that previous SD editions had. Don't give collectors a reason not to upgrade.

I think you will see more of the classic titles in late 08' or 09'. Remember that we are still selling to early adopters and when these customers browse the shelf at retail shops, they want to see the new hits. Blu-ray is still earning its retail shelf space, so there is only so much room for classics right now.

We don't have distribution of the Bond films (sadly as I'm a fan). Fox is now handling these.

The extras question is a hot one. We have seen from other forums that members are divided about the importance of SD extras on Blu-ray titles. We will add them when we think it makes sense for a given title.

[paidgeek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul.S

Agreed.

Which segues to a question, Pg: would you please comment on the studio's calculus regarding whether or not such supplements get included or not? For instance, I'm specifically interested in Black Hawk Down: I'm sure it was rights issues--specifically, the studio not wanting to pay A & E and PBS--but what was the thinking on the dropping from the BD of the "The True Story Of Black Hawk Down" and "Frontline: Ambush In Mogadishu" documentaries that appeared on the outstanding standard def Deluxe Edition (especially given that the latter appeared on the SD Extended Cut released shortly before the BD).

BHD BD also occasions the question of what the calculus is regarding whether or not an "extended" or "director's" cut gets released on BD: for BHD and Tears Of the Sun, it was the theatrical cuts. The Patriot, however, is the Extended.

Might this mean we can look forward to subsequent BD releases of those titles which didn't include all their SD supplements upon first hitting BD?

I'll see if I can find out the basis for the added value decisions on BHD.

If the seamless branched titles, Spiderman 2 and Close Encounters are well received, we may try to use that feature more for those titles that have multiple versions. It will take a fair bit of research to find out why a particular version of a title was released over another, but we suspect that consumers will like the idea of getting the version they prefer on the same disc.

[Nick Graham]

Welcome, paid! I am hoping SPHE is giving you some kind of bonus for all the hours you've been logging around the net lately. Your efforts have been greatly appreciated.

[Paul.S]

Thx for reply post #10. Per that, I look forward to a follow up post.