Welcome to the party, MGM (1 Viewer)

Looks like the floodgates are starting to open with MGM. A quick glance at my wishlist shows the following in UV:Casino RoyaleQuantum of SolaceThe Good, the Bad, and the UglyPlatoonThe Princess BrideWhen Harry Met SallyRain ManRobocopThe Usual SuspectsMoonstruckFor A Few Dollars MoreA Fistfull of Dollars

Yes. I can finally add When Harry Met Sally and The Princess Bride to my collection! I am still waiting on:

Agent Cody BanksBill and Ted's Excellent AdventureBill and Ted's Bogus JourneyChitty Chitty Bang BangHackersLittle MonstersPremonitionSpace CampSpaceballsThe Miracle WorkerThe Pink Panther (Steve Martin)The Pink Panther II (Steve Martin)The Secret of NimhThe Three AmigosTom SawyerUptown Girls

Now just weeks after I posted this I notice that some MGM movies (Clint Eastwood titles specifically) have now lost their UV status. I'm trying to like you UV, I really am, but you're making it hard...

This is why I'll never give up on physical media....

Those movies have not lost their UV status, they are simply just not for sale at the present time. You can still rent them however, but movies that are rental only are not marked as UV. It is the same with movies from other studios.

How about a new transfer of the Roadshow version of The Alamo? just so MGM will finally give up and let the fans have their way.

Joshua Clinard said:

Those movies have not lost their UV status, they are simply just not for sale at the present time. You can still rent them however, but movies that are rental only are not marked as UV. It is the same with movies from other studios.

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My frustration still stands. A week ago it was on my wish list to buy and now I can't buy it from any retailer. Physical media doesn't have this kind of come and go.And are we sure it hasn't lost its UV status? There is no UV logo on the listing...

Yes, I am sure, it still has a UV logo for people that own it. And yes, I know because I have one of them.

Patrick Donahue said:

My frustration still stands. A week ago it was on my wish list to buy and now I can't buy it from any retailer. Physical media doesn't have this kind of come and go.

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It doesn't? Titles go in and out of print all the time.

Worth said:

It doesn't? Titles go in and out of print all the time.

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Of course they do, but not on a week to week basis. Look at my first post in this thread - "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" had only been released for sale thru UV 26 days ago. I'm not saying it's the end of the world but I think I'm allowed to say it's a frustration.

They didn't just go on sale 26 days ago though. They have been on sale for quite some time. They did just gain UV status, but what does that have to do with anything. It's not UV that caused them to go into the rental only window. Its a contractual obligation the studio's have with HBO that existed long before UV was even thought of. And they will be back, I'm sure.

If I wanted to buy that title to put in my UV locker, I had a 26 day window to do so. Yes, I know it was available to purchase before that, but I choose to only buy UV enabled titles to make sure my collection is vendor agnostic. And I never said that it was UV that caused it to go into a rental window. Why is my frustration over this unique facet of collecting digital media not valid? Wouldn't it be better for the future of UV to use this as an opportunity to show the kinds of things that need to be improved on to make the service succeed rather than brushing them off?

The UV system is far from perfect, and there are many things that need to be improved, and I have written a lengthy blog post about the subject at Widescreen Advocate. But having some titles go out of stock is not an improvement that the UV system needs to make. Even physical media has that problem, discs become unavailable to buy when a store runs out of stock. Or when titles go out of print, or into the vault.

http://widescreenadvocate.org/news.php?p=106

MGM has been adding UV status to several more titles in the last month. They are up to 34 titles now, I know that is a small amount, compared to how many films they own, which is about 500, but it's a start. And those titles that disappeared from the store are now available for purchase, except for the Robocop ones. Here is the current list of UV films from MGM.

A Fistfull of Dollars
Beauty Shop
Bull Durham
Carrie
Casio Royale
Dances with Wolves
For A Few Dollars More
Hang Em High
Hoosiers
Hot Tub Time Machine
It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World
Jeepers Creepers
Jeepers Creepers 2
Mad Max
Moonstruck
Platoon
Quantom of Salace,
Raging Bull
Rain Man
Red Dawn
Road House
RoboCop
RoboCop 2
RoboCop 3
Rocky
SkyFall
Spaceballs
The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
The Princess Bride
The Terminator
The Usual Suspects
War Games
When Harry Met Sally