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DVD's Have they Lost their Luster? (1 Viewer)

Amy Mormino

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I think that it depends on what type of movies you like as to whether DVDs have lost their "luster". For instance, I love movies from the 1980s, animated films, and horror movies. In those fields, frankly, a lot of the thrill of the big ticket items coming out has largely faded. As a horror fan, when they start coming out with super-deluxe editions of Lucio Fulci's Zombi 2 and releasing his most obscure films (Conquest, anyone?), you know there aren't as many big items to be released as there used to be.

But as a fan of musicals and classic movies, this has been a great year. There have been so many great releases this year (Thank you Warner Bros.!) and a lot to look forward to next year. But if you mostly like modern movies, there's not much left besides new special edition re-releases and the newest films.
 

Jean D

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Amy, its not about what titles are and are not being released. its about dvd's as a collective whole. The special features, packaging, menus, quality, etc.
 

Dave Scarpa

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Well DVD might just have regained their lustre for me I just ordered an Optoma H30 DLP Projector !
 

John H Ross

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I was an early adopter of DVD. I bought my first player, an imported Pioneer, in 1997 along with 2 of the earliest R1 discs - Mars Attacks! and The Mask. I felt special.

Prior to that I imported laserdiscs from Ken Cranes. I had about 500 of those.

Ok, so DVD is now "common", but in some ways I still feel special. I import 95% of my DVDs from the States (via Amazon). The only titles I buy here in England are the British TV things (Doctor Who, Blake's 7, Black Adder, etc).

Because of that, I never feel like I'm buying a "common" product like the majority of R2 buyers. I can walk happily through my local HMV knowing that I have a better (ie fixed) Back To The Future set than them. I have a Robocop that doesn't leap about to find the unrated footage, I have several isolated scores and extras that were missing from the R2 counterparts.

Many of my R1 discs contain original burned-in subtitles where the R2 versions are player-generated (The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy). They play at the correct speed (no PAL speedup). Plus I get many titles ahead of the R2 release date (heck, I have Hellboy before it's even released in theatres here!)

I'm in no rush for HD-DVD or Blu-Ray or whatever. It'll be years before they manufacture those players here and I don't fancy the prospect of having to import a machine. I was done with that in 1997.

John
 

Geoff_D

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That's me all over. I've got well over 600 DVDs, and yet I still get a buzz when I pick up a new DVD. And I'm rediscovering a lot of my collection as I've just gotten a new plasma that can look awesome with the right source. Standard definition DVD video is blowing me away all over again, and if a HD DVD format improves on that as much as some claim then I'll definitely go down that route, although it'll be pretty complicated for those here in the UK as John has pointed out. But in the meantime, I'm still gonna buy any DVD that I feel like getting and I'm gonna damn well enjoy it too! This coming autumn/winter will be amazing for DVD fans...
 

Tim_Stack

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Aug 22, 2003
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I won't be happy until I can just think of a movie and it starts playing in my mind...this is a silly discussion.

Of course DVD is more commercialized - but I don't see that as totally bad. A good example is the re-issues we're seeing of crappy DVDs that were put out in the early days. Goodfellas, The Shawshank Redemption, Rounders, The Untouchables - etc. Do you think the work of getting these releases "right" would have been done if DVD hasn't been such a successful format?

Just ignore the crappy stuff.
 

Paul.S

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Tim:
To the extent that "the work of getting . . . [DVD] releases right" is related to the success of the format (and that is not always the case: with no marketing hook such as the release of another movie by an actor in their pic, around 2000-2001 Col/Tri re-released SEs of dozens of their early DVDs because they were unhappy with their menu design . . . even The Craft fer chrissakes got an SE . . . with no hot new Neve Campbell pic in theaters), I still insist that much of this "work" should have started earlier and led to earlier re-release of SE/anamorphic/remastered versions.

Although we're seeing unprecedented sales of new product categories (such as TV on DVD), titles that home vid execs refer to as "evergreen"--movies that perennially sell well--didn't for the most part just become that way in the past three years. In other words, Paramount knew in, say, 2000 that Top Gun is a good candidate for SE re-release.

And I'll try to "ignore" the indeed "crappy" reality of the compromises I have to settle for every time I wanna watch True Lies or What's Love Got To Do With It--non-anamorphics, both--on my widescreen TV. :) :rolleyes

(Good that you mentioned Rounders: I was surprised to see that one re-released. But that's Miramax for you: they've been much better than their parent Di$ney at re-releasing SEs of their titles--English Patient, Trainspotting, Pulp Fiction . . . but still no Good Will Hunting . . . glad I have my anamorphic Canadian version. But again, all of these re-releases have happened in the past year or so. Should've been years ago. And still no amamorphic Scream . . . or He Got Game . . . . . .)

-p
 

Peter D

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My DVD purchasing has slowed down considerably over the past year, and it's got less to do with the movies losing their luster than simple economics.

A few years ago, there were enormous financial inducements to pre-order/release-week purchases (40% off+ in many cases). DVD's didn't get discounted so quickly after release either, so there seemed to be much more urgency to buy (for me anyhow).

Now, unless it's a film I absolutely adore, I have a collection large enough to let me wait patiently for it to drop in price.
 

Dan Hitchman

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Having just read what these new HD formats could possibly give us, I'd certainly say DVD has indeed lost its luster.

Of course, even with the potential for Blu-Ray and HD-DVD Hollywood studios may still find a way to royally mess things up once product rolls out the door.

Stranger things have happened.

Dan
 

Leon Liew

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Oct 23, 2001
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Of late have been buying lots of titles but have yet to
view them. Hope I am not falling into disillusionment with
DVDs. Collection hit well over 500 and growing. Every new
movie that hit our screens I earmarked for DVD release
purchase and its scary and yet hardly find time to watch
them titles that I bought. It's becoming a costly habit
of just buying and not watching. At times ask meself is it
worth the money spent or should I just give up totally.

How many times do I really watch them over and over again.
Am I having conflict with this hobby and it's frightening.
 

Joe Kamsan

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I started buying DVD's in 2000, and my collection is around the 220 mark and I don't see it growing past 300. This is due to the fact that one CAN have too many DVD's which is just my opinion. As some one who was not an early adopter of the technology, I believe that the format's potential to penetrate further into the market place will continue to grow...but on the technical side ( and I am not expert as many of you here ) I believe that the next format is where the future of home video lies and that DVD's will suffice for the immediate future (ie. next 5 years atleast).

EDIT - meant to post this in the 'holding off for HD-DVD' thread...
 

Paul.S

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Incidentally, in a tangential riff on the time issues I broach in an earlier post of mine, I'm curious as to whether anyone else's quality DVD-viewing time is negatively impacted by (bad) light control issues. I like to watch movies in total darkness--no ambient light from a couple of windows that for various reasons I can't entirely black out. Anyone else in a situation--say, renting an apartment in which adding/changing window treatments is frowned upon--wherein you wait until after dusk to do your critical/best viewing?

-p
 

JohnRice

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Paul, there is nothing to stop you from setting up some type of non-damaging, removable window coverings on the inside of the existing blinds. All they are really concerned about is having a consistent appearance from the outside and not having any extensive wall damage from individual window hangings. It is quite liklely you can work out some sort of blackout shades which can be hung with velcro on the inside when you want them. You can just remove the velcro when you move out.
 

Paul.S

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Thx for the comments, John.

The article is not as promising as its title intimates ("Are We Our DVD Collections? Even If We Don't Watch?"), but a story in today's USA Today includes the following bit:

"The average DVD buyer has amassed nearly 50 movies, but up to 10% of those titles have gone unwatched, according to consumer surveys for Universal Studios Home Video. That's an average of five movies -- at least 10 hours of filmmaking, not counting all those extras -- sitting on the shelf, perhaps still in their wrappers.

"But it's not just a matter of time. Consumers are so taken with DVDs that they are buying them simply as vanity items, knowing full well that they might never watch them.

"Having ousted the videocassette as the dominant home video format, DVDs are now upstaging the coffee table book as a reflection of a collector's personality."

It sorta devolves from there into a brief listing of "favorite DVDs to display" instead of any interesting analysis of the phenomenon.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/product...urselves_x.htm

-p
 

Mike Broadman

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I personally think the idea of buyind DVDs to show off your personality is silly and overly-materialistic. If someone wants to know what my favorite movies and TV shows are, they can ASK me. Then again, I also don't understand the point of buying anything you won't actually use.
 

FrancisP

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Jun 15, 2004
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My frustration is with releasing DVD titles. Instead of putting more titles out, the studios are just ripping us off by re-releasing new and improved versions. For example, why buy Spiderman 2 when they've already said there would be a new and improved edition later. We get a new and improved Dr Strangelove. My vcr isn't going anywhere soon because I have a number of tapes that will never see the light on DVD.


If a studio doesn't want to release a film then why are studios so opposed to licensing films? For example, maybe Warner doesn't think the market for the Dark Shadows movies
are big enough. On the other hand, MPI, which has had success with the tv show may be interested. There are other niche producers such as Image may be interested in these films.
 

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