MGM MOD: Fox Bows On Demand MGM Movies for Retailers (1 Viewer)

[Jobla]

Looks like the MGM MODs are now up for preorder at Movies Unlimited and TCM. Street date is listed as December 15, and both sites are charging 19.99 per title.

No definitive word at present about the second batch of Sony Columbia Classics MODs, which reportedly had a street date of November 23.

 

[Bob Cashill]

Be nice if they were grouped together so you could see all the titles in one place. Maybe Amazon will give them their own area, as they did with the MGM Limited Edition Collection.

 

[DeWilson]

Anyone did up a complete list of the first 50 yet?

 

[SWFF]

I have looked high and low for that complete list, but I can't find a damn thing. I, too, would be interested in seeing the rest of it.

 

[Mark Pytel]

Took the plunge and bought a few of the current MGM MOD dvd's to try them out. I am on the fence.
I purchased The Best Man, White Buffalo, and Chains of Gold.
White Buffalo looks great but the Best Man and Chains of Gold while both are widescreen are non-anamorphic.
My region 2 disc of Chains of Gold is anamorphic. I was hoping to get a disc that will play anywhere in region 1 and not just my region free player.
I was hoping for better from these earlier discs. I have high hopes for this new batch of 50. I am not going to buy anymore of the current crop of MOD's. I will wait to see how these new ones are. The article I read mentioned that some of the earlier efforts might be redone.
Here's hoping these all get redone in the proper aspect ratios as well as 16:9 enhancement.
So far Warner's MOD program is the one to beat. I have three Universal MOD dvd's and think that they are great. However I don't know if these didn't sell well since there have not been any new ones. I look forward to trying the Columbia MOD program as well but so far nothing is a must buy for me. I will do a blind buy if their site offers a sale but I'm not wanting to blind buy at 19.99.

Hopefully Fox and Paramount will join the fray as there are a lot more classic titles that I want to see released on dvd in their proper aspect ratios.

 

[SWFF]

Except for THE WHITE BUFFALO, I'd stay away from those initial MODs on AMAZON, until they get redone. I'm gonna assume MGM will have learned from their earlier mistakes and make this new crop anamorphic, do-overs included.

 

[ahollis]

Originally Posted by SWFF
Except for THE WHITE BUFFALO, I'd stay away from those initial MODs on AMAZON, until they get redone. I'm gonna assume MGM will have learned from their earlier mistakes and make this new crop anamorphic, do-overs included.

You would have thought they would have learned from their mistakes before taking the Amazon MOD plunge. MGM and Paramount were famous for not releasing anamorphic DVD's during the hey day. Several of the AIP features were not anamorphic and I remember Paramount releasing several Presley titles non-anamorphic.

 

[SWFF]

Nowadays, it's almost a sin not to be releasing movies anamorphic. I mean, with tube TVs pretty much gone, anything being released really needs to be in that configuration. I can only assume it's a money issue, and that making something anamorphic requires some major capital.

 

[Jeff Willis]

Originally Posted by SWFF
Nowadays, it's almost a sin not to be releasing movies anamorphic. I mean, with tube TVs pretty much gone, anything being released really needs to be in that configuration. I can only assume it's a money issue, and that making something anamorphic requires some major capital.

Agree. I'm still surprised that we can find anamorphic releases of the same films over at Amazon UK and other R2/4 stores, that aren't available here.

 

[ahollis]

Originally Posted by SWFF
Nowadays, it's almost a sin not to be releasing movies anamorphic. I mean, with tube TVs pretty much gone, anything being released really needs to be in that configuration. I can only assume it's a money issue, and that making something anamorphic requires some major capital.

Bill Hunt of Digital Bits one time said all it was basically pushing a button to have this done. Major capital does not play into the matter. Laziness is the real culprit.

 

[Jeff Willis]

Bill Hunt of Digital Bits one time said all it was basically pushing a button to have this done. Major capital does not play into the matter. Laziness is the real culprit.

I recall reading that same thing at the Bits. It makes us wonder what some of the studios are thinking, releasing films in non-anamorphic format.

Wasn't WB the early leader in anamorphic DVD releases? That makes them way ahead of the others, imo.

I still have some MGM and a few Paramount original releases that haven't been re-released enhanced for WS.

 

[SWFF]

Allen, you gotta be kiddin' me! Really?! Wow, now, that seriously irks me. I mean, Jesus . . . I don't know how to react to that. That's stupifying! It would almost be better if it was actually a money issue, with laziness, that's just not a good enough excuse. That's like being bitch slapped. I'd rather take the full punch, it's less insulting.

 

[Worth]

Originally Posted by ahollis

Bill Hunt of Digital Bits one time said all it was basically pushing a button to have this done. Major capital does not play into the matter. Laziness is the real culprit.

It doesn't cost more to create a 16:9 transfer, but it can't be done retroactively. That is, if the studio already has a 4:3 letterboxed master lying around and isn't willing to ante up for a new transfer, it can't magically create a true 16:9 master from the extisting transfer. It's possible to make it anamorphic, but it won't have any more detail or look any better than it would by zooming the image to fit your TV.

 

[MichaelEl]

Originally Posted by Adam Gregorich
Yes the overall cost of doing an MOD is cheaper for the studios than doing a minimum DVD run that won't fully sell, that it why they have opted to do it. I can tell you flat out that if it weren't for MOD these titles would not be available to buy. There is a lot more involved that just the cost of the disc. There are a lot of additional costs to the business that drive their per unit costs up with MOD, that is why you see the prices you do. For what its worth I have talked to studios and replicators.

I don't see how these programs could cost more than manufacturing and distributing pressed DVDs. The discs are cheaper, the packaging is cheaper, and there are no distribution costs at all. Since most titles are simply being copied straight to a digital file from existing tape masters, it costs the studios absolutely nothing to create the transfers. My guess is the studios would still be making a sizable profit if they were charging $10 for these discs.

Even if I were to concede the $20 pricepoint - and I don't - customers are also being hit with an additional $7 or more for tax and shipping, bringing the total cost per disc into the $30 range, which is simply outrageous however you spin it. Sure, there are coupons that bring the cost per disc down for large orders, but people with average incomes can't afford to drop $50 or more everytime they decide to buy a DVD.

These programs just seem like a cruel joke to me. Finally, the studios open up their vaults so that fans finally have access to obscure films they've waited forever to see, but then they raise the price of ownership to the point that most people are still denied access. One would think that the point of making everything available is to allow people to create their own movie collections, but clearly creating a large collection isn't a real possibility at these prices. What then is the point of these programs?

 

[Bob Cashill]

Sell-through VHS tapes also cost $20, and buyers with average incomes, like me, amassed large collections. LDs cost $40, and buyers with average incomes, like me, amassed large collections.

But average income isn't the whole story; it's also average taste. People of average taste (and that excludes pretty much anyone who participates here) will never be drawn to CENTRAL AIRPORT or THE LAST FLIGHT or the majority of MOD titles, some of which I had never heard of. Those of us who are pay the price for our broader interest in movies...and as more and more deals emerge that price gets more affordable.

 

[SWFF]

Your post there, Bob, reminded me when I started buying VHS movies. I was content with taping everything from cable, until I taped PUMPKINHEAD, and thought it looked grainier than when they had just broadcast it. I then remembered seeing the movie down at the mall, and the next day traveled the half hour down just to buy it. When I got home and played I realized then and there that store bought VHS flicks look a hell of a lot better than cable taped ones, and thus my movie collection started.

Yeah, they were pretty much 20 bucks a pop, and I remember getting a hundred bucks in my pay check every week, and every other week I used that entire hundred to buy five movies. I amassed quite a VHS collection, but it doesn't even remotely compare to my current DVD one. The only part that sucks about collecting nowadays is my limited funds. But, I work around that, and collect what I can, when I can, and when a movie makes a blip on my radar, one that I must have, I'll make the occasional sacrifice and acquire it.

That happened this summer, as I have mentioned numerous times before, with A RETURN TO SALEM'S LOT and THE WHITE BUFFALO. Two MODS that are some serious memory movies that I simply can not live without. Case closed. They are now mine. Mine to admire. Like fine China, or a piece of priceless jewelry . Mine to watch. Mine to polish when their cases get too dusty, mine to categorize, mine to break out and watch when I'm in a particular mood for vampires, or a Michael Moriarty flick, or buffalo hunt, or a Charles Bronson movie.

Ah, movies, and memories, they make me feel all warm inside.

 

[Charles H]

What venues other than TCM are selling these MGM titles? I don't understand the meaning of the word "retail". Are they available in stores?

 

[MichaelEl]

Originally Posted by Bob Cashill
Sell-through VHS tapes also cost $20, and buyers with average incomes, like me, amassed large collections. LDs cost $40, and buyers with average incomes, like me, amassed large collections.

Until LD emerged, VHS was the only viable medium for home video collections, and so there was no way to compare the price of tapes to anything else. Now we have pressed DVDs, DVD-Rs, and BDs, and the irony is that the highest quality medium - Blu-Ray - is often the cheapest. Charging $20 for a barebones DVD-R is like increasing the price of a VHS tape to double the price of a DVD at the point when DVD took over the home video market. In fact, the price of VHS tapes plummeted when DVD became the standard, and likewise we ought to be paying less - not more - for DVDs now that Blu-Ray is becoming the standard.

 

[Nebiroth]

Originally Posted by Charles H
What venues other than TCM are selling these MGM titles? I don't understand the meaning of the word "retail". Are they available in stores?

No. One of my beefs with these MOD programs is the way they have restricted availability - normally via the studio itself or from one or two selected online retailers.

It means that you just don't get the usual competition helping to drive actual prices down - one of the main forces that push goods away from their RRP to what we actually end up paying for them.

Also as someone who doesn't live in the USA it makes getting hold of these things even more difficult and expensive - I don't expect the studios to cater for me, since officially DVD's don't sell outside their domestic markets but it just heaps more pain on potential customers.

 

[Jobla]

Movies Unlimited are taking preorders on the MGM MODs, which are now "expected on December 29" (apparently changed from Dec. 15th). I've heard that Deep Discount is taking orders too. Haven't checked Critics Choice Video yet.