The Original DVDs (1 Viewer)

[Nick T Robot]

What was the first wave of DVDs? Which titles and what day did they come out? (was it a Tuesday?)

Was the Goodfellas flipper DVD part of that first wave?

Edit: Is there a way to edit the Title of the thread? Messed up with Cut and Paste. Wanted to call this thread "The Original DVDs"

Second Edit: Thanks Frank!

 

[Frank Anderson]

Only Admin's can edit a title Nick.

 

[Nick T Robot]

I wanted to add this to the Questions above:

What was the first Special Edition DVD?

What was the first Double Dipped DVD?

 

[Jesse Skeen]

I think the first re-released DVD was one that actually needed it- Animal House, which came out first in pan and scan, then a 16x9 collectors' edition. Of course that edition then went out of print, to be replaced later by separate WS and P&S discs with forced trailers
I never figured this out, but does anyone know what the first major theatrical release was the came out on DVD but NOT on laserdisc (or for that matter, the last movie to be released first on laserdisc in the US but not on DVD? There were a few of those towards the end: Elizabeth, There's Something About Mary, What Dreams May Come, Saving Private Ryan, Armageddon, Titanic, plus Phantom Menace from Japan)

 

[Mark Hamilton]

I remember I was down in LA in March 1997 and that music store on the top floor of the Bevery Center had a display of WB DVDs in the front entrance. I remember seeing Batman, Space Jam I think, and a few others. All of them were on sale for about $19.99.

 

[Paul.Little]

I remember Sony's first DVD player came with three movies. One was Fly Away Home, one was In The Line Of Fire, and I can't remember the third.

 

[Bill Burns]

The last major film released on laserdisc may have been Criterion's Armageddon; I know it was their last film on laser, and it seems I recall news that it was the last new film to laser, period. Don't quote me on that, though. They also issued it on DVD, of course (4x3 formatted widescreen, unfortunately, though it's better -- and darker, which serves the film well -- than the image quality of Touchstone's 4x3 formatted widescreen edition, if I recall, and of course serves up a heck of a supplements package).

I bought a DVD player in March of '97, before any discs were available outside of those cities selected as test markets (the test markets-only policy persisted for a while prior to the nationwide roll-out, but could soon be circumvented by ordering discs on-line; I believe the only option at that point was DVDExpress, flyers/sticky pad ads for which were handed out by my local Sound Advice).

The first disc I bought was off a store shelf, however: In the Line of Fire (Columbia/TriStar, movie-only, 16x9 formatted), which was sometime in the first few months after my player purchase (it was a laserdisc/DVD combo unit, so I was getting some use out of it despite the lack of discs). At that time, I believe discs such as The Fugitive and Goldeneye were available in the test markets. In the Line of Fire and the P&S Fly Away Home were among the few titles available locally (and the only titles that come to mind). I had previously rented In the Line of Fire on laser (and I'd seen it in theatres); even on a 4x3 set incapable of reproducing the 16x9 formatting (I've since upgraded twice to new players and once to a new 16x9 capable set), the clarity and beauty of the image when considered alongside the laser (as reproduced by the same combo player) was dramatic, and I was in love with the format. It's the longest format romance of my life to date (I was in love with laser for right at six years; I'm now at six plus with DVD).

And yes, the first disc I saw on my 16x9 capable set (Universal's Dante's Peak) left me in tears, so dramatic was the improvement over 4x3 downconversion (my new set was also the first I calibrated with a professional calibration tool: Avia; I spent hours upon hours, both in the UM and the proceed-strictly-at-your-own-risk, you-could-permanently-ruin-your-set, this-is-intended-for-professional-and-manufacturer-use-only SM, optimizing the thing). It's been a marvelous six years.

Im not sure if any of that specifically answered your questions, but that's the best info I have on hand.

 

[ChrisMatson]

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/officialfaq.html#1.6

 

[Rob Tomlin]

Chris stole my thunder!

I knew that Blade Runner was one of the very first DVD's released. Speaking of which.............ah, nevermind!

 

[Tony-B]

I think the first DVD I saw in-store was Wizard of Oz.

 

[Robert Dunnill]

The last major film released on laserdisc may have been Criterion's Armageddon

Wasn't Saving Private Ryan released to laserdisc during the VHS rental window?

 

[Nick T Robot]

thedigitalbits.com

Got to check it out. Thanks Chris!

 

[Charlie Essmeier]

As far as I know, the last U.S. laserdisc releases were Martin Scorcese's Bringing Out the Dead{/I] and Sleepy Hollow{/I].

Charlie

 

[Jeremy Conrad]

hehe

Anyone remember the hype around Contact back in the day?

 

[Greg Black]

What?! Commentary tracks? THREE COMMENTARY TRACKS?!

 

[Kevin M]

When I bought my good old Pioneer DVL-700 in early 1996 there were no DVD's available for sale at the time, at least not in my area, however the specialty store I bought it at (The Sound Room) did have some demo discs and as I remember they were Eraser - Space Jam and some Opera compilation demo disc.

The DVL-700 still works great BTW, I have of course upgraded to newer DVD players but it still plays my LD's perfectly.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Early titles, that I can recall from various studios, with releases that prompted me to buy a DVD player are...

Warner:

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
Amadeus
The Wild Bunch

Universal:

The Thing: Collector's Edition (An anamorphic, high-def/high-bitrate 2-disc re-release, please!)


Does anyone remember what the first wave of Betamax tapes were? What about VHS? Laserdisc? Video-CD?

And what are the likely candidates for HD-DVD?


Gordy

 

[Paul_Stachniak]

Mars Attacks was my first DVD, that was back in November of 1997. Good times.

 

[MattHR]

I remember Sony's first DVD player came with three movies. One was Fly Away Home, one was In The Line Of Fire, and I can't remember the third.

Tony Bennett Unplugged? Or maybe a Sesame Street title. I can't remember either.

 

[Brad M]

Just had to add: The first time I saw a dvd player demonstrated was in a friends apartment. Up until that point I was still proud of my Pro-Logic "surround" sound. When I bought my JVC player later that year I got 7 free dvds with it. That made it worth the price I paid. Ouch.