Home Theater Forum › Home Theater Forum › Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming Video and Digital Downloads › Blu-ray › **** WARNER ANNOUNCEMENT: DVD TO BLU-RAY UPGRADE PROGRAM ****
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

**** WARNER ANNOUNCEMENT: DVD TO BLU-RAY UPGRADE PROGRAM ****

post #1 of 49
11/17/09 at 3:44am
Thread Starter 
 
GET BLU THIS HOLIDAY SEASON!
WARNER BROS. HOME ENTERTAINMENT GROUP LAUNCHES
DVD TO BLU-RAY UPGRADE PROGRAM
 
Consumers Can Exchange Their Standard Definition DVDs and See Their Favorite Films
the Way They Were Meant To Be Seen with the Absolute Best Picture and Sound
 
Over 50 of Warner Home Video’s Most Sought-After Titles Available to Upgrade Including “10,000 B.C.” ”Wedding Crashers” and “A Christmas Story”  
 
 

Burbank, Calif., November 17, 2009 – Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group today launched “DVD2Blu.com,” a site that allows consumers to upgrade the movies they already own on DVD to Blu-Ray Disc, the absolute best way to watch movies at home. Consumers can select from over 50 of Warner Home Video’s most sought-after titles to upgrade including “Body of Lies,” “A Christmas Story” and “Michael Clayton.”

“DVD2Blu is a great way for consumers to start or expand their Blu-ray Disc collection,” said Dorinda Marticorena, senior vice president, Worldwide Marketing and High Definition, Warner Home Video. “We’re launching the program with a wide range of titles that will appeal to a broad audience. In the coming months, we’re looking to expand the program and make additional titles available.”

The DVD2Blu program debuts at a time when consumers are rapidly adopting Blu-ray Disc. According to figures compiled by the Digital Entertainment Group through the first three quarters of 2009, Blu-ray Disc set-top player sales grew 112 percent over the same period last year. This holiday season, consumers can expect to see Blu-ray player prices starting around $100, making it much easier for home audiences to see films the way they were meant to be seen on their HDTV.   

Through DVD2Blu, consumers can now experience their favorite movies again for the very first time in stunning 1080p picture quality and crisp, superior sound that only comes from a Blu-ray Disc. Titles such as “Training Day,” “Deliverance” and “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” can be upgraded for as little as $7.95 plus shipping. Consumers who place orders over $25 will receive free shipping.    

 The process to upgrade is simple. Consumers select the titles they want to upgrade on DVD2Blu.com, mail in their standard DVDs with pre-paid postage and a short time later receive copies of the same film on Blu-ray Disc. For a complete list of titles visit DVD2Blu.com. 

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group is proud to be a leader in environmental stewardship and is committed to recycling the DVDs that consumers send in as part of the DVD2Blu program. The intellectual property is fully destroyed and all of the physical components are reused or recycled. For more information on Warner Bros. environmental initiatives, please visithttp://wbenvironmental.warnerbros.com/.

 
Reply
post #2 of 49
11/17/09 at 5:27am
Nothing terribly interesting as of yet. Get back to me when they have [i]The Matrix[/i] and [i]Harry Potter[/i].

(Whatever happened to Disney's equivalent. anyways? We're coming up on the end of "fall 2009" real fast...)
Reply
post #3 of 49
11/17/09 at 8:47am
Okay...When Warners set up the Red2Blu program, I sent them 24 qualifying HD DVD sleeves and, to date, received three Harry Potter films. I jumped on this program as soon as it was announced and ended up with nearly zippity-do-dah. I wish I could get more excited about the new program...
Reply
post #4 of 49
11/17/09 at 7:25pm
I really do hope that Warner Bros. Canada announces a similar program on this side of the border since the program is not open to Canadians.  I'd love to trade up some of those titles to blu.  It would certainly beat trying to sell them to second hand shops which offer next to nothing for old dvds.
Reply
post #5 of 49
11/17/09 at 8:34pm
I'd like to upgrade some of mine but the details seem a bit vague. Some questions I have:

Does the BD arrive in a case, like purchased in a store?

If it came from a 2 disc DVD set, do you have to send both discs or just the movie disc?

Some titles have various versions. For example, I have the later "Dumb & Dumber" unrated release. Can I send that one it as the cover on the WB website seems to have the old version cover showing. For "Superman Returns" can I send in the disc that came in the tin set?
Reply
post #6 of 49
11/17/09 at 9:35pm
I think this is a wonderfully generous thing for Warner to do. $7.95 is a bargain for a blu-ray and not too bad for an upgrade fee. I have 16 titles on the list on DVD and it would be about $130 to upgrade them all. The program has no set expiration date, so I might just upgrade a few at a time. The fine print said it was limited to 25 titles per household but didn't say you couldn't break up your orders.
Reply
post #7 of 49
11/17/09 at 10:21pm
The price isn't too bad, but many of these titles usually hover around $10 anyway. It'd be cooler if we didn't have to send in the DVDs (and just art or UPCs instead).
Reply
post #8 of 49
11/18/09 at 6:54am
To answer Will G's question, they do send you the same BD that you would get in the stores, still sealed.  And in the FAQ, they mention that yes, you can send the disc that was part of the set.

But I also don't know about the 2 DVD sets.  Do you send both discs or just the movie?

And what about films that have been released multiple times on DVD?  If you only have the first version, or a full frame version from the early days of DVD, will those be upgradable, even if later DVDs were released?  No mention of that. 

It looks like a great program though. 
Reply
post #9 of 49
11/18/09 at 1:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joseph J.D View Post

I really do hope that Warner Bros. Canada announces a similar program on this side of the border since the program is not open to Canadians.  I'd love to trade up some of those titles to blu.  It would certainly beat trying to sell them to second hand shops which offer next to nothing for old dvds.


I agree.  I would love to upgrade my Kubricks, I was just telling a friend today how I'm kicking myself for buying the remastered SD set not realizing I was going to be Blu so quickly.

Frankly, Warners has blown it this year.  Yeah, they've put out some great releases likw Oz in Blu, but with this program and the Archives program, they have done Canadians no favours.  I used to average a Warners boxset a month.  Now that they've abandoned the retail boxes like Tarzans, Gangsters, Noirs etc for the overpriced Archives releases (that I wouldn't purchase at the price offered even if it was offered to Canadians) my Warners purchases are pretty much regulated to the odd new release.  Fortunatley Sony is filling in some of the gaps with their reasonably priced collections.
Reply
post #10 of 49
11/18/09 at 2:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray H View Post

The price isn't too bad, but many of these titles usually hover around $10 anyway. It'd be cooler if we didn't have to send in the DVDs (and just art or UPCs instead).
 

This the way they handled their initial HD-DVD -> Blu-ray offer. You kept the actual HD-DVD(s) and were only required to send in the cover art with the UPC still attached. For titles with special packaging they accepted the proof of purchase tabs. It would have been nice if they'd continued that with the DVD swap program.
Reply
post #11 of 49
11/18/09 at 4:16pm
Good to see Warner finally stepping up w/ something like this, but that list will need to expand quickly (to include more recent releases) for it to matter too much, IMHO.  Well, I suppose there will be some months when discounts/sales will be slim enough for this to help much, but for the most part, it seems more useful for newcomers to Blu than for those of us who've been in the format for a couple years now.

_Man_
Reply
post #12 of 49
11/19/09 at 9:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Russell G View Post

Frankly, Warners has blown it this year.  Yeah, they've put out some great releases likw Oz in Blu, but with this program and the Archives program, they have done Canadians no favours.  I used to average a Warners boxset a month.  Now that they've abandoned the retail boxes like Tarzans, Gangsters, Noirs etc for the overpriced Archives releases (that I wouldn't purchase at the price offered even if it was offered to Canadians) my Warners purchases are pretty much regulated to the odd new release.  Fortunatley Sony is filling in some of the gaps with their reasonably priced collections.
I really have to disagree.

If you look at all the studios, even Sony, Warner has been one of the steadiest as far as titles go.  Looking at the upcoming releases for the next few months, some studios are virtual ghost towns with only a couple films being released.  Warner still has many releases each and every week. 

While they may have scaled back on the box sets and older titles (although the Esther Williams set came out recently), that is mainly for economic reasons.  Head into any Big Lots.  You will find the DVD racks full of Warner titles that went unsold and are being liquidated.  The DVD market has dried up very quickly.  Major retailers are only carrying the best sellers.

The Archive may not be ideal, the discs I've seen have been better quality than I expected.  I mean, does anyone think that a Joe McDoakes set would have been a big seller at Best Buy?  Now, fans can finally get it.  Same with the Little Rascals set.

They are doing great things with Blu-Ray.  And, as far as their BBC brand, they are still releasing box sets.  I just got the Steve Coogan box set this week. 

This year, Warner has been one of my favorite studios.
Reply
post #13 of 49
11/19/09 at 9:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jon Martin View Post



I really have to disagree.

If you look at all the studios, even Sony, Warner has been one of the steadiest as far as titles go.  Looking at the upcoming releases for the next few months, some studios are virtual ghost towns with only a couple films being released.  Warner still has many releases each and every week. 

While they may have scaled back on the box sets and older titles (although the Esther Williams set came out recently), that is mainly for economic reasons.  Head into any Big Lots.  You will find the DVD racks full of Warner titles that went unsold and are being liquidated.  The DVD market has dried up very quickly.  Major retailers are only carrying the best sellers.

The Archive may not be ideal, the discs I've seen have been better quality than I expected.  I mean, does anyone think that a Joe McDoakes set would have been a big seller at Best Buy?  Now, fans can finally get it.  Same with the Little Rascals set.

They are doing great things with Blu-Ray.  And, as far as their BBC brand, they are still releasing box sets.  I just got the Steve Coogan box set this week. 

This year, Warner has been one of my favorite studios.
To counter, and not to beat a dead horse or digress.  Warner does make great DVDs and quality blu rays.  I wont question that and I buy many of them.  They are one of the, if not THE major company as well seeing as so many other studios come under their umbrella, obviously we will be seeing many releases from Warners, and I'm thankful that they do typically put out top notch discs.

That said, economics or not, the current program is crap for those of us who enjoyed their previous entries.  I'm not an expert on classic film, but you wouldn't know it from my collection which is so heavy with classic titles.  This is because of Warners boxsets.  I rarely paid over $40cdn for them.  So, a set like Tarzan.  I heard the first couple of films were good, I was curious and bought the set.  At 6 films (I think) at $40, I got it for $6.67 a movie.  That's a heck of a deal, and I blind bought the following set, and was eagerly anticipating future Tarzan volumes.  Same thing with gangsters, noir, musicals... etc.

Then Warners introduced the Archives.  At $20 a film, I'm not going to blind buy it, and now I have series of boxsets that have simply come to an end despite more of these films being released.  Since I'm in Canada, I couldn't purchase them even if I wanted to spend the money.  I see those boxsets on the clearance racks too, but you know what?  I suppoerted Warners in putting them out by buying them when they were released, and now I've had the door slammed in my face.

So FOR ME, it's hardley an ideal situation, just like this program isn't.  I supported Warners in buying many of those titles in SD, why shouldn't we get an option to upgrade to?  
Reply
post #14 of 49
11/19/09 at 6:03pm
I guess this would be okay for some, but as others have said, you can buy some of these titles on sale already for a buck or two more, and sell off your DVD if you really wanted to. Less hassle IMO.
Reply
post #15 of 49
12/1/09 at 3:15pm
I decided to take advantage of this offer and ordered seven titles. I placed the order the weekend before Thanksgiving, and sent in the discs last Monday. I was shocked when I received all seven titles in today's mail, about 9-10 days after I initially placed the order.
Reply
post #16 of 49
12/3/09 at 9:51am
My discs came yesterday!
Reply
post #17 of 49
12/3/09 at 12:40pm
I got my discs today.  They even took the early full frame versions of titles that were later upgraded in exchange for Blu-Rays which I wasn't sure of.

I wrote a review here.

Great program.  I'm very happy with it. 
Reply
post #18 of 49
12/4/09 at 12:05pm
After placing an order on the website, how long did it take for the e-mail with the shipping label to arrive?  I placed an order on the site around this time yesterday and have yet to receive anything.
Reply
post #19 of 49
12/4/09 at 1:42pm
It took me about an hour to get mine.  I thought it would be instantaneous, so thought something was wrong. 
Reply
post #20 of 49
12/4/09 at 2:59pm
I received the shipping label fairly quickly -- within an hour or two, if I recall.
Reply
post #21 of 49
12/7/09 at 1:17pm
Thanks for the info, guys.  I still haven't received the e-mail (and yes, I checked my spam folder), so I guess I'll have to e-mail them.
Reply
post #22 of 49
5/6/10 at 2:19pm
If anyone cares, they have improved the pricing to $4.95 and $6.95 (depending on the title) for the upgrades from DVD2BLU at Warners.
Reply
post #23 of 49
5/7/10 at 9:06am
Yeah, I may actually use it for a couple titles this time around.

_Man_
Reply
post #24 of 49
5/11/10 at 1:54pm

They have not sent me a confirmation email in 5 days. I've also "contacted" them about this, leaving a different email address. No contact reply.

Reply
post #25 of 49
5/12/10 at 5:07am

Filled in the request this morning and got confirmation one hour later.

Reply
post #26 of 49
5/12/10 at 1:26pm

I  sent in a request on the 6th and so far i have not recived my shipping lable. sent and e-mail last night so far nothing don't know whats going on

Reply
post #27 of 49
5/12/10 at 1:56pm

As I mentioned earlier, I placed an order but did not receive a shipping label or any kind of confirmation.  Eventually, I just placed an identical order.  This time, my confirmation/shipping label e-mail arrived quickly.  I mailed off my DVDs as instructed.

 

Warner claimed that they'd send another e-mail when my DVDs arrived, and ship the Blu-rays then, but I never got such an e-mail.  The Blu-rays simply arrived a couple of weeks later.

Reply
post #28 of 49
5/18/10 at 2:22pm

I tried what you did and reordered. they accepted the order, but after several days nothing, i even e-mailed  them and asked them to resend the confirmation if they had already sent it. no reply this is like talking to a brick wall.

Reply
post #29 of 49
5/18/10 at 7:47pm

I am jumping on board here. I am sending 5 titles in for an upgrade. Discs are in the mail as of tonight. I had no problem getting my form from Warner Bros.

Reply
post #30 of 49
5/20/10 at 6:27am

I'm in as well.  I have 7 flicks going in the mail today. 

Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Blu-ray
Home Theater Forum › Home Theater Forum › Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming Video and Digital Downloads › Blu-ray › **** WARNER ANNOUNCEMENT: DVD TO BLU-RAY UPGRADE PROGRAM ****