5th Anniversary of a BIG Day of DVD Releases (08/22/97) (1 Viewer)

[David Von Pein]

It's now been exactly 5 years since August 22, 1997, one of the biggest days ever for DVD releases.
Does anybody know how many came out during that 1997 August surge? And what the biggest titles were?
Look how far DVD has come in just five years!
In comparison, I wonder how many movies were on VHS on its 5th birthday (about 1982)?? Not even close to the number that are now on DVD....for certain!
(Interestly, 08/22/97 was a Friday. When did Tuesday become official DVD release day anyway? Hmmm.)

 

[rutger_s]

When did Tuesday become official DVD release day anyway?

Because in the U.S., new VHS; CD; and casette tapes are released on this day.

 

[oscar_merkx]

happy birtday DVD

 

[David Lambert]

Courtesy of the Image-Entertainment website database:

Product Name Release Date Format
Cyborg 08/22/1997 DVD
Elvis: That's The Way It Is 08/22/1997 DVD
Elvis: That's The Way It Is (MGM) Discontinued DVD
Island Of Dr. Moreau (1996) 08/22/1997 DVD
Postman Always Rings Twice 08/22/1997 DVD
Risky Business 08/22/1997 DVD
Rob Roy (1995) 08/22/1997 DVD
Show Boat (MGM) Discontinued DVD
Under Siege 08/22/1997 DVD
Viva Las Vegas 08/22/1997 DVD
Viva Las Vegas (MGM) Discontinued DVD
Witches Of Eastwick 08/22/1997 DVD
Woman Of The Year (MGM) Discontinued DVD
Year Of Living Dangerously (MGM) Discontinued DVD

14 items? And that's with some duplicates. Are you sure you got the right date?

 

[Neil Joseph]

14 releases in one day was a big big deal back then, that is if you remember how slim the pickings were back then. I remember all too well buying my shiny new player and going months before getting 2 or 3 DVD's from the small list available, to play on it.

 

[Ron Boster]

I remember walking through the snow in my bare feet jsut to pick up a copy of (insert really cheesy title here)....

Seems like decades ago on March 16th 1997 buying my first DVD player, with NO titles available in Houston (the sale of software was limited to certain cities-Houston was not one of them). It took three weeks to get Eraser and Blade Runner from the same chain's Dallas store.

When was the date that they started to sell DVD titles outside of the test markets?

Remember getting excited because certain studio's were actually going to BEGIN to release titles on DVD?

How far we have come

Thanks for the flash back!!
Ron

 

[Craig W]

Wasn't that the day the Warner 5-city test market was lifted? So in essence everything that had been released from April of 97 on was now available nationally.

 

[David Von Pein]

David L. ......
I know that's not everything that was released on 08/22/97.
Also out that date were: The Bodyguard, Grumpy Old Men, Jailhouse Rock, and Blade Runner. Plus others I cannot recall.

 

[steve jaros]

Ron - i remember those times well. I live in south louisiana, and the nearest 'test market' was Dallas, 500+ miles away.

Fortunately, there was a mail-order place that was willing to break the ban and sell me DVDs over the net, otherwise my DVD player would have set idle for 6 or so months...

 

[Vlad D]

Are you saying August 22, 1997 was the day DVD's were first released?

 

[David Von Pein]

Are you saying August 22, 1997 was the day DVD's were first released?

No.
Just that 8/22 is the 5th birthday of a big DVD release day.
Peace.

 

[Vlad D]

On that same note, does anyone know what was the first DVD released? I would imagine there would be more than one released on the first day, but one movie would still have that honor.

 

[David Von Pein]

I kind of enjoyed reading this ...... A DVD TIMELINE.

 

[David Lambert]

The first titles released in the U.S., on March 19, 1997, by Lumivision, authored by AIX Entertainment, were IMAX adaptations: Africa: The Serengeti, Antarctica: An Adventure of a Different Nature, Tropical Rainforest, and Animation Greats. (Other movies such as Batman and Space Jam had been demonstrated earlier, but were not full versions available for sale.) The Warner Bros. U.S. launch followed on March 24, but was limited to seven cities. Almost 19,000 discs were purchased in the first two weeks of the US launch -- more than expected.