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Originally Posted by Robert Harris
Would a transfer to HD from the 65mm preservation neg provide a superior starting point for a proper BD release?
Absolutely! RAH |
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Originally Posted by Craig_Ehr
GOOD GRIEF!!
Sony's BD presentation of CE3K was certainly worth its $50 MSRP, if not a whole lot more. How soon we forget the days of Laserdisc where a similar set would have run into many hundreds of today's dollars. And both the PQ and AQ are beyond comparison to either LD or even SD. This definitive release on BD of a seminal Spielberg film for $30 or so discounted (and I've seen it even as low as the mid-$20's) is nothing less than a major steal. Sony should be applauded for its release, and anyone who doesn't already own this disc should run, not walk, to their local retailer to pick up a copy. |
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Originally Posted by Craig_Ehr
GOOD GRIEF!!
Sony's BD presentation of CE3K was certainly worth its $50 MSRP, if not a whole lot more. How soon we forget the days of Laserdisc where a similar set would have run into many hundreds of today's dollars. And both the PQ and AQ are beyond comparison to either LD or even SD. This definitive release on BD of a seminal Spielberg film for $30 or so discounted (and I've seen it even as low as the mid-$20's) is nothing less than a major steal. Sony should be applauded for its release, and anyone who doesn't already own this disc should run, not walk, to their local retailer to pick up a copy. |
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Originally Posted by Craig_Ehr
GOOD GRIEF!!
Sony's BD presentation of CE3K was certainly worth its $50 MSRP, if not a whole lot more. How soon we forget the days of Laserdisc where a similar set would have run into many hundreds of today's dollars. And both the PQ and AQ are beyond comparison to either LD or even SD. This definitive release on BD of a seminal Spielberg film for $30 or so discounted (and I've seen it even as low as the mid-$20's) is nothing less than a major steal. Sony should be applauded for its release, and anyone who doesn't already own this disc should run, not walk, to their local retailer to pick up a copy. |
| When Warner is putting out a package for Blade Runner that actually has more material, for half the price, CE3K doesn't look like such a great value anymore. |
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Originally Posted by Douglas Monce
When Warner is putting out a package for Blade Runner that actually has more material, for half the price, CE3K doesn't look like such a great value anymore.
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Originally Posted by Jari K
Really? It seems that we´re just too spoiled.. CE3K was a great set.
Thanks again Sony! |
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Originally Posted by Douglas Monce
Well as I said, it IS a great set. But for today's marketplace, I think its over priced. I think it if had been priced more like the Blade Runner set it may have sold a lot more units.
Doug |
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Originally Posted by Paul Arnette
However, I agree with Jim, you're not going to convince classic film lovers to adopt Blu-ray Disc by releasing Hollow Man and its ilk.
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| You can appreciate "Hollow Man" and "Lawrence" at the same time. |
| Those of us who have a history with laserdisc are a proportionally smaller group. Sony needs to price produce for the grew-up-with-DVD price-familiar consumer. |
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Originally Posted by Jim_K
Wait let me get this straight. Sony is now going to hold LOA back for a few years?! due to sales of Close Encounters which they overpriced at a $50 MSRP?
Yet they think somehow by 2009 or 2010 the demographic that would support classic films will by then be lured into BD with drek like First Knight, Devils Own, Hollow Man, 6th Day, Godzilla 98, etc, etc. What the fuck are they smoking? |
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Originally Posted by Michel_Hafner
The have to widen the base and it's proper strategy to release lots of 'popular' titles quickly. There is no strict distinction in the market between classic films and their lovers and the 'other' films. A 'true' film lover loves the medium and is interested in many types of films. You can appreciate "Hollow Man" and "Lawrence" at the same time. Honestly. Not all film fans have very narrow tastes.
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Originally Posted by Michel_Hafner
The have to widen the base and it's proper strategy to release lots of 'popular' titles quickly. There is no strict distinction in the market between classic films and their lovers and the 'other' films. A 'true' film lover loves the medium and is interested in many types of films. You can appreciate "Hollow Man" and "Lawrence" at the same time. Honestly. Not all film fans have very narrow tastes.
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Originally Posted by Paul Arnette
Additionally, I'd also argue against your ascertion that there is no distinction in the market between 'classic films and their lovers and the 'other' films'. There certainly seems to be a demographic being targeted with Blu-ray Disc currently (20-30 year-old male, action/horror/sci-fi fans), why wouldn't it make sense to broaden that demographic by targeting an older, possibly more afluent, demographic that enjoys older films. I'll carefully avoid calling these people 'cinephiles' as you are correct, a cinephile can love all types of film, and it does come across as 'elistist'. |
| Well lets call it like it is. 90% of the install base for blu-ray is a game system. Regardless of the number of people who are buying it to be a blu-ray player, most who own it do so to play games, with an occasional movie. If this weren't the case then far more blu-ray movies would be being sold at this point. I realize that people who play games come from all walks of life, but I'm willing to bet that majority of them are 17 to 30 with tastes that don't include Singing in the Rain or La Strada. And in most cases probably doesn't include Rear Window or Vertigo either. And forget about trying to get them to watch a B&W movie. Now I like some of the films that appeal to this demographic, but not a steady diet of them. Doug |
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Originally Posted by OliverK
Let's not get too carried away with the PS3 demographic, we don't want posts erased and emotions to get out of hand
I know one thing for sure: Whenever they release older titles to HD and they look like Spartacus they will unnecessarily shrink the potential market for such a disc. People who care about these movies on HD also care about quality and doing things on the cheap will not win them over. Getting better quality is the main reason to go from DVD to HD in the first playe and if the HD version of a movie is not considerably better most won't bother. For me I want the studios to make an effort and if money has to be saved please do a bare bones release and do not spend so much on digitally cleaning up older movies - they should still be allowed to look like movies after all not like video shot today. Oliver |
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Originally Posted by RobertR
It might be interesting to compare the types of films released to BR with those on HDDVD, or DVD in its early years.
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Originally Posted by Jim_K
Wait let me get this straight. Sony is now going to hold LOA back for a few years?! due to sales of Close Encounters which they overpriced at a $50 MSRP?
Yet they think somehow by 2009 or 2010 the demographic that would support classic films will by then be lured into BD with drek like First Knight, Devils Own, Hollow Man, 6th Day, Godzilla 98, etc, etc. What the fuck are they smoking? |
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Originally Posted by Douglas Monce
I do have narrow taste in films. It includes good films, of which in my opinion Hollow Man doesn't qualify.
My tastes run from musicals to action movies, sci-fi to chick flicks and mysteries. Honestly I don't care what kind of movie it is as long as it is interesting. But having a bad or even mediocre film in any of those categories won't get me to buy them just because they are on HDM. Even interesting but flawed films I will buy, but not bad or boring films. Doug |
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Originally Posted by Douglas Monce
I realize that people who play games come from all walks of life, but I'm willing to bet that majority of them are 17 to 30 with tastes that don't include Singing in the Rain or La Strada.
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Originally Posted by john a hunter
Sony seems to have litttle idea as delaying Lawrence shows. Warners are not perfect, but they could certainly show Sony a thing or two both it titles and pricing.
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Originally Posted by Douglas Monce
Why would posts be erased? Is it heretical to state the facts?
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Originally Posted by Douglas Monce
And for every Spartacus there is a Casablanca and Adventures of Robin Hood that show off HDM at its best.
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Originally Posted by Douglas Monce
And to be honest for all the bad mouthing that Spartacus gets, it doesn't look BAD. Just not as good as it could. It's clearly an improvement on the SD DVD in terms of resolution.
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Originally Posted by Michel_Hafner
Criterion will enter when Sony and the biggies have prepared the market with 'popular' titles so there are enough people with players that the normal statistical correlations amount to good numbers for art house films and other types that are not Western mainstream.
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Originally Posted by Michel_Hafner
Bad and good are subjective and in the eye of the beholder. There are plenty of films on BD I consider worth buying. For Sony etc. a good film is a film that sells and makes people adopt the system. That has to be their first priority. Yes, I'm also waiting for Criterion to release lots of their kind of films on BD. They haven't released a single one and have announced nothing. Why? Because the market does not support it yet as a financially viable proposition to them (small company). Once you release it's on the net for download within a short time. It's out of the door. That's ok if you sell at the same time enough to make a profit, or at least in the first year. Criterion will enter when Sony and the biggies have prepared the market with 'popular' titles so there are enough people with players that the normal statistical correlations amount to good numbers for art house films and other types that are not Western mainstream.
If you want more 'good' films soon you have to buy what is availbale now, some of it from Europe, not US (such as "The Seventh Seal"). And the current 'good' films which are more likely to be released than catalog films simply because they are new and the DVD is coming out. |
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Originally Posted by OliverK
The pros and cons of PS3 demography and what this means for Blu-Ray releases have been discussed ad Nauseum. Both Michel Hafner, David Boulet and myself own one or sometimes two PS3 and you can bet that among the PS3 owners that buy movies there are many of us. So there are no simple facts and we best leave this discussion to other threads. I participated in threads where indeed an off-topic PS3 discussion took its course so it has happened that post were erased to get topics back on track.
For large screen projection where titles like Mutiny still hold up to some degree Spartacus is unwatchable for me. It also has a completely different color balance than the Criterion DVD and the 70mm restoration by RAH. As the color of the Criterion version was approved by RAH that should tell you that something is wrong with the Universal HD-DVD color pallette even for home video. Oliver |
| If you want more 'good' films soon you have to buy what is availbale now |
