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"Grease" the begining of the end (1 Viewer)

Greg_M

Screenwriter
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"Grease" first came out on laserdisc in the early 1980's (Pan & Scan). Almost 15 years later a widescreen version was released (One of the last titles to be released in the letterboxed format - why the long wait?) It really didn't seem to matter, laserdisc was quickly dying at the time Paramount released the letterboxed "Grease" laserdisc. At this time a DVD was also to be released but wasn't.

So now Paramount releases "Grease" on DVD (five years after it was first announced) Just about the same time that D-VHS arrives. Yes D-VHS will most likely become the new tape format while HD-DVD will soon replace DVD. If the widescreen "Grease" release marked the end of laserdisc, can the DVD release of "Grease" mark the begining of the end of DVD?

DVD was only supposed to be around for Five years, after seeing D-VHS it can only be a matter of time.

(Luke, I worked in the Home Video industry during the DVD launch, the studios estimated a 5 year window before HD-TV. HD-TV has already arrived, but the sales haven't been very strong, now we have D-VHS. 2006 was suppose to be the federal cut off for the conversion to HDTV by the networks, I don't know if any of these dates have changed. DVHS won't replace DVD, but H-DVD will - it's just a matter of time now)
 

LukeB

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I don't know where the "DVD was only supposed to be around for Five years" line comes from, but you can bet your butt that the DVD release of "Grease" isn't signifying the end of the DVD format. No tape-based format is going to signal the end of DVD.
 

rutger_s

Supporting Actor
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Jul 7, 2000
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Grease does not signify the end of DVD...

It signifies a whole new beginning!

Paramount Home Entertainment was wise to release the most popular Hollywood musical of all time in two versions.

And to add more fuel to the flame...

Saturday Night Fever hits DVD.
Spider-Man hits DVD.
Back to The Future Trilogy hits DVD.

Not to mention a slew of catalog titles coming from Buena Vista Home Entertainment, including Cocktail; The Program; the Ernest films; Cabin Boy; and more.

Don't forget Roman Holiday & Sunset Boulevard.

Oh, and of course 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has Speed: Five Star Collection, Miller's Crossing, and Ice Age coming within the next six months.

By the way...

Grease never signaled the end of laserdisc releases. The last laserdisc release was a 20th Anniversary release with retrospective interviews(the same featurette is on the upcoming DVD). The VHS release even stopped at the 20th Anniversary.
 

Julian Lalor

Supporting Actor
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DVD was only supposed to be around for Five years, after seeing D-VHS it can only be a matter of time.
Huh? How do you read the release of "Grease" on DVD as signalling the end of DVD? D-VHS in no way, shape or form will replace DVD (Paramount haven't even committed to this format and given that they were the last major studio to commit to DVD I don't expect we'll be seeing Grease on D-VHS anytime soon). HDDVD will replace DVD, and that is still several years (and perhaps the better part of a decade) away.
 

Wayne Bundrick

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Maybe DVD might have lasted only five years if it had sold in the same paltry numbers as laserdiscs.

Instead, DVD players are currently outselling VCRs.

DVD isn't going anywhere for quite a while.
 

Rob Lutter

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I give DVD another solid 10 years. D-VHS most likely be a bridge between DVD and HD-DVD for those that want pre-recorded HDTV NOW.
Don't stop buying DVDs, life is short! Ya got a whole bunch of years to enjoy your investment. :)
 

Keith E

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As stated earlier, DVD is just way too popular right now for this to signal the end of the format.

With DVD players and software available pretty much anywhere you go, it looks like it will be a long time before we see an end to our beloved format. So keep buying and enjoy them because it will be a while before we see a format take off like this has.
 

Qui-Gon John

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D-VHS most likely be a bridge between DVD and HD-DVD for those that want pre-recorded HDTV NOW.
I don't know. I think the quality of DVD is so great that I would stick with it over any tape based format. The durability, the ease of searching the disk, etc.
 

GlennH

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I would hope that when they finally worked out the legal issues that cleared the DVD release of GREASE they had the foresight to negotiate the rights for any future formats (D-VHS, HD-DVD, whatever) too. We don't need these years-long legal battles on the same issues every time a new format comes along.
 

David Lambert

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Good news, everybody. All the studios just signed a commitment to continue to support DVD until every last episode of The Simpsons and Stargate SG-1 through the end of last season are released to the DVD format.
At this rate, we could hit the 22nd century! :D
 

John Berggren

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DVD is going to be around for a long time to come. And I fully suspect that the next optical format will be backwards compatible to my current favorite shiny disc.
 

Thomas T

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Greg_M, send your crystal ball back to the factory for repairs, it's malfunctioning!
 

Michael St. Clair

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The market isn't ready for any 'mainstream' HD media format yet.

Most people spend $300 on their televisions. Yes, they have DVD players now, but they wouldn't buy HD-DVD or HD-VHS simply because they don't have an HD set and aren't about to upgrade.

Street prices of direct view HD sets are down to about $800. When that drops by another 50 percent there will be a market to support a mainstream HD format. Hopefully it isn't watered-down redlaser HD-DVD.
 

Ted Todorov

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Streem prices of direct view HD sets are down to about $800. When that drops by another 50 percent there will be a market to support a mainstream HD format.
Which street is that? I haven't seen 16:9 sets in the US for under $1500, and the low end were 480P, not 1080i. 4:3 sets are not HDTVs. When there are 16:9, 1080i sets for $800, let alone $400, please call me...

So far as the DVD format, DVD is the cash cow that saved Hollywood. It will be around for a LONG time... Hollywood's bean counters may not be too bright, but even they can figure out that killing the cash cow is a BAAAD idea. Any new format that comes out will have to be 100% backwards compatible, and even then risks being about as popular ar DVD-Audio & SA-CD.

Ted
 

Carlo_M

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Grease to me does signify the beginning of the end...

of movies that I love that aren't on DVD yet!

With this announcement, plus the upcoming BTTF and the recent release of The Godfather movies, all I need is Indy and of course the movies that will never come (Star Wars OT) and my DVD collection will be complete.

It's a GREAT time to be a DVD owner.
 

Eugene Hsieh

Supporting Actor
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Jun 30, 1997
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550
Yes D-VHS will most likely become the new tape format while HD-DVD will soon replace DVD.
It seems to me that while D-VHS is an impressive format, it'd be very surprising to see it replace plain analogue VHS any time soon. I suspect it will remain in the high-end niche market for quite some time. Indeed, it's not D-VHS, but DVD that is replacing VHS to a large extent, at least for movie playback. And I suspect it will be the set top DVD recorders that will replace VHS recorders, not D-VHS, partially because of the fusion of the PC and home theatre market with recordable DVD technology now becoming commonplace in PCs. Everybody and their dog now are getting Mini-DV camcorders, editing movies on their PCs and Macs, and burning DVDs for their Aunt Bessies to watch on their new el-cheapo $100 DVD players.

Also, while I'd like to see HD-DVD soon, I suspect that standard DVD will be around at least 10 years. HD-DVD will take some fairly intense cash for hardware, and thus will remain a niche product for at least many years. Furthermore, one can't be sure that the first iteration of HD-DVD will ever even truly replace DVD. It's quite possible that for a long time, the high end machines will do both HD-DVD and DVD whereas the low-end machines will do DVD only.
 

Joseph DeMartino

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Er, don't you have to have an HDTV to watch all this HD material on? How many of those are selling in your area? Can you even get an HD signal where you live?

HDTV is still stuck in the hardware/programming Catch-22 phase of a new product release. Nobody wants to buy hardware until there is programming, nobody wants to invest much in creating programming until there is a big enough installed base of hardware. D-VHS is an early attempt to get a digital VCR ready for the time (a few years from now) when HDTV is an actual product and not a curiosity. (And, besides, the manufacturers can pay down a lot of their R&D debt by soaking the compulsive early adopters who will pay five times what a product is worth just to have it first. These are pretty much the only people who own HDTVs at this point.)

DVD isn't going anywhere for awhile. When HDTV actually offers the mass market attractive pricing and a compelling reason to buy it, HD-DVD will stop being a laboratory experiment and become a product. (Assuming the studios are willing to release their precious programming on such a high quality format.)

People act as though the invention of a technology is enough to make it a success as soon as it exists. Nonsense. There has to be a reason for people to buy it and a business reason for other people to sell it. So far there isn't much of either for HDTV, or D-VHS, and certainly not for HD-DVD. Give it a few years.

Regards,

Joe
 

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