For Those Who Still Think Physical Media Has No Place in the 21st century… (1 Viewer)

[PMF]

Sounds like an unusually good trip to BB... though he's very wrong that DVDs generally offer better quality than streaming (in HD, NVM 4K)... unless one's still stuck w/ very poor internet service.

_Man_

He was referring to a PQ preference towards BD and 4K/UHD over streaming in the early part of our discussions. It was a good half hour later where he made an aside and said that he would even buy a DVD of a title, if the BD wasn’t available. The store was closing, so the DVD topic hadn’t gone into any depth. Perhaps for commentary tracks? Regardless of whatever the specifics, DVDs are inclusive to his interests.

BOTTOM LINE: At 24, he prefers the world of physical media over the world of streaming.

OPINION; At 24, he is to Physical Media and Classic Films what young Sir Thomas was to King Arthur in the finale of “Camelot”. Newly Knighted, armed with a message and running with it while behind enemy lines.

 

[Keith Cobby]

I am an enthusiastic advocate for discs but for the first time since the launch of the DVD format, I am buying less this year and my list of wanted titles is the lowest it's ever been. There have been some great titles announced already this year but these are mainly upgrades. Perhaps it is because more films are available for streaming when before you had to buy a disc, or it might just be that I've seen and bought the titles I want. Perhaps the decline in physical formats has finally caught up with me! One thing is certain, I am watching hardly any new films or television shows, for example I haven't seen any of the BP nominees.

 

[PMF]

I am an enthusiastic advocate for discs but for the first time since the launch of the DVD format, I am buying less this year and my list of wanted titles is the lowest it's ever been. There have been some great titles announced already this year but these are mainly upgrades. Perhaps it is because more films are available for streaming when before you had to buy a disc, or it might just be that I've seen and bought the titles I want. Perhaps the decline in physical formats has finally caught up with me! One thing is certain, I am watching hardly any new films or television shows, for example I haven't seen any of the BP nominees.

The pandemic altered my attendance of first-run films. I haven’t been to a movie theater since March of 2020. Early on, I knew I was in trouble when a DCP and restoration of “King Kong” was at my local cinema and I was not there to support it. One of those empty seats used to belong to me. I also regret not seeing “In the Heights” and “West Side Story” at other far finer and superior houses. I too, Kieth, have not seen a single nomination for the first time in decades and wonder if the pandemic informed some of your reasons for not attending any of the BP nominations.

Finally, even if some of us are winding down our collections due to space, near-completions, monies spent, etc; physical media provides new and future collectors with the same important and integral pleasures that we have long cherished. So, hopefully, physical media will be kept alive and going for those who are next in line.

 

[TJPC]

I do not buy movies to stream. Each Blu ray usually comes with a streaming version. I must have a couple hundred, but never watched one. What has happened to me, is that I buy less physical media simply because I have almost everything in the back catalogue I want. Gone are the days when I used to flip through dump bins to find a bunch of Blu rays to replace DVDs, or when I picked up armfuls of discs on Black Friday (I bought all the James Bonds and the complete new iteration of Battlestar Gallactica like this).

For years I recorded and made my own DVDs from TCM of just about every movie made in the 1930s. I check often, but there is nothing "new". New Blu rays of favorites like Mae West and W.C. Fields are at the bottom of my Amazon wish list, below things I haven't got already in my collection on DVD and have not seen 1000 times.

In panic after North American sources for 3D discs dried up, I use to order from Britain, or France, and even Hong Kong. My last was "Dune" unavailable in Canada, which cost me almost $50.00. These sources are also gone now.

What is left is only the "new new". I recently picked up "In The Heights", "Dear Evan Hanson" and the new "Ghost Buster". This week it will be "The Eternals". This only amounts to a new Blu ray every two weeks after each blockbuster season. There are long stretches where I buy nothing.

 

[KeithDA]

There are long stretches where I buy nothing.

Same here.....

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I still prefer to buy discs (though not DVDs or some crappier quality BDs) over just streaming, but it's no longer a strong enough preference for most of the more marginal titles (or some that I'd rather not jump thru hoops and pay more than usual)...

And definitely prefer discs that come w/ iTunes digital copies (since those DCs may eventually upgrade to 4K for free, if they're just HD now)...

Occasionally, a title might only be available in 4K via streaming or might seem to have marginal/iffy quality on 4K disc, and that might sometimes sway me a bit... but I'd probably want to at least keep a good BD of such in my collection even if I mostly just watch the 4K digital, if I'm also fine w/ the lossy sound of streaming -- yeah, too bad streaming always provides just very modest bitrate lossy audio, never even high bitrate lossy it seems...

_Man_