Digital Bits rumor mill info on Universal's 2007 HD DVD releases (HEROES this August! (1 Viewer)

[Norman Matthews]

When was the last review actually written by Bill posted? That's right, July 19, 2006. Yeah, nothing of note has come out on HD DVD since then.

Nice try, though.

 

[TravisR]

How does if he wrote or not wrote the review change the fact that the site has posted 29 HD DVD reviews and 0 Blu-Ray reviews? He wouldn't post any HD reviews at all if he was 'conspiring' against the format and he wouldn't have bothered to have mentioned that list of upcoming rumored titles.

 

[Norman Matthews]

It seems a lot of people are projecting some whacked out conspiracy theories they've seen posted elsewhere onto me. Please, show me once where I've used the word "conspiring," which you even helpfully put into quotes, actual usage to the contrary.

You'll all have to answer these rhetorical questions for yourselves, because not being the one proposing these theories, I can't answer them for you. All I've said is that he's come out of the closet as a partisan cheerleader, and that much is quite indisputably true.

 

[Ron-P]

Wow, none of these titles would I buy. I sure hope they do better then this.

 

[Chris S]

Ok, point noted. Can we all go back to talking about the titles now, please?

 

[Norman Matthews]

Yeah, I agree.

There are nine immediate buys in that list for me, not the least of which is Battlestar Galactica, and at least another six to ten that I may pick up, depending on my mood in the store on any given day.

 

[Vincent_P]

There are some GREAT titles in that list, including several bona-fide classics. Maybe you won't buy them, but many other folks will.

Vincent

 

[Sean Bryan]

Bill Hunt has commented more on this over at AVS

Here is a direct link to his comments:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...&&#post9924239

A brief excerpt:

There are more posts and some "discussion" back and forth if you read further in the thread. In a post a few after this one, he refered to his comments as "Informed speculation. And editorial commentary."

Basically, it sounds to me like he is just making some logical assumptions based on information we already knew and doesn't have some major scoop that he just can't give more details on at the moment.

So let's put this to rest here and talk about how happy or disappointed you are with the titles rumored to be coming from Universal this year through the 3rd quarter. Perhaps someone can start another thread about Bill's comments if they want to beat it to death.

 

[todd s]

Reading a page from the avs forum site that Sean linked to....Man some of those people from the HD-DVD camp are a little wired up.

 

[Tim Glover]

Thanks Bill....some major points there from "Captain Obvious"...

Of course ALL the studios are watching this closely. Very closely. Thanks for sharing....

 

[Matt Leigh]

I've said it once and I'll say it again. Universal cannot just wake up one day and decide to support Blu-Ray whatever executive shakeup is going on. There are obviously very strong contracts written to stop Universal from just up and leaving HD-DVD for some kind of time period. Of course all contracts can be bought out but does Uni really want to take on a massive financial penalty and in doing so wipe a Toshiba product and all of their investment in it right off the map? You would think that Bill Hunt would know about the business side of a partnership like this.

Why blame Toshiba and why even blame Sony? Both are going for the same kind of cash grab because both want a format that is going to last 15 years that they can live off of the royalties from. This is business as usual for them just that it is pulling the market apart and actually in a way, raising awareness of it.

 

[ppltd]

The problem with this comment is, all rumor's are both positive and negative, depending the side you are on. Bill Hunt's closing comments were not rumor, they were a carefully crafted misdirection designed to direct some of the positive the Universal 'rumor', and as can be seen from the previous posts, has worked quite well.

As far as the true rumor, the Universal release list, this will be settled in time.

 

[Tim Glover]

Amen Thomas!

 

[Ryan-G]

While I won't debate further on Bill being partisan or not, I will debate the insinuation that he is dishonorable. Bill made that statement because he has reason to do so, if you choose not to agree with that reason, fair enough.

I also strongly disagree that he was attempting to "misdirect positive news(Rumor, whatever)." There's nothing in that Rumor that can be defined as positive, because there's nothing in that rumor that really matters. As I said earlier, there's nothing there that'll move a significant number of Players. Battlestar and Heroes might sell a few, but nothing there that'll sell many. Sure, one could state that it means Universal is still backing HD-DVD, but let's be blunt, how many people actually know about the debates on whether or not Universal was wavering? It's not like there was an Internet wide discussion going on, probably a grand total of 2 forums on the 'net even knew about it. So it's a wash anyways, as far as most people were concerned, there never was an issue.

At this point, for either side, there are only a few things that'll sell significant players. Lord of the Rings, Star Trek exclusivity(Permanent, not just 1 year as rumored), Star Wars, Harry Potter. Reaching a little, maybe Indiana Jones, Jurrasic Park, and a few other extremely popular titles.

Outside of that, for either side, it's just a slow accumulation of library, and to be very blunt, 1 studio alone isn't going to win a war against the other side's exclusive studios.

 

[Edwin-S]

I think saying that he was engaging in deliberate misdirection is going a little far. That whole section of his website is dedicated to rumour. It also serves as his platform to engage in personal opinion. In fact, sometimes in that column he even talks about stuff that is totally unrelated to movies. He injected his opinion that the executive shakeup at UNIVERSAL might lead to a change in strategy. To me, that is all it was......an opinion. I do not think he was trying to misdirect anyone about anything.

 

[JonZ]

Must have:
The Big Lebowski
Born on the 4th of July


Maybe:
Lost in Translation
Mystery Men (Was always one of the better looking early DVDs. This will prob be stellar in HD. Possible guilty pleasure).


Hot Fuzz looks really funny and advanced reviews have been great.

Im not sure Monty Python will be worth a upgrade. Will have to see how reviews are.

Cat People Annette O'toole topless in HD?? I may have to buy this one.