Thoughts from a frustrated HD-DVD supporter (1 Viewer)

[Brent M]

Like the Blu-Ray list or not(and I definitely do--it's the reason why I started this thread) at least it's SOMETHING! The HD-DVD announcements at CES basically amounted to "well, you'll probably get some cool titles sometime this year, but we're not going to give you any dates". Hell, they announced The Matrix trilogy last year and now they're announcing it again this year, still with no definitive date. As I said before, I think the Blu-Ray announcements are VERY impressive and it's quite frustrating to see them blowing HD-DVD away in that department. :frowning:

 

[Paul_Scott]

I was really hoping we would have turned a corner with the new year, and started getting release date/announcments at least 2 months in advance.
I really don't understand what the point is of springing release announcments 2 weeks before street date. Unlike a lot of people, I had very low expectations for things coming out of CES. I didn't expect any defections, or anything different from the same old studio lines. What I did expect was to hear a list of announcments for at least february.
Right now, the only things concrete that I'm looking forward to are the Studio-Canal titles and The Prestige UK import for March.

Another thing that I wasn't all that happy to hear about- Total HD discs from Warner. Another variation of a combo strategy which translates into another way to skew the msrp higher.

 

[Tim Glover]

Blu-Ray had no where to go but up in regards to big announcements. They weren't ready last year and now they have hit 2007 hard. No surprise. It's really a good thing overall.

I was hasty in my initial feelings about Universal. I think HD-DVD is going to be fine. Blu-Ray will be fine too. And that's the frustrating part....both will probably survive which makes it hard for folks like me who can really only afford one format right now.

Got to be patient and that means me too!

 

[MarekM]

ppltd, can you post even more NEGATIVE posts ?

so you did not find any good movies for you, that means that nobody will find something in that list ??????? is it world turning around you or what ?

and no, other BTTF movies were not blockbusters.., but it seems even if Universal put those out, I am sure it will be a lackluster list from them....

 

[Tim Glover]

From Universal....

Battlestar Gallactica, The Good Shepard, Children of Men, Scarface, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Inside Man, The Bourne Identity, Pride & Prejudice, American Pie, Bruce Almighty, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Dawn Of The Dead.

Good list! I'm all over Children of Men, Eternal Sunshine, Bourne Identity (FINALLY!), Pride & Prejudice, Bruce Almighty....

Some of my favorites are coming out from Universal this spring and early summer.

 

[Douglas Monce]

The titles that got me to go out and buy an HD-DVD player in the first place where Casablanca and The Searchers. So far the only title that will be exclusive to Blue Ray that I'm interested in is Casino Royale. Now if I see a few more Pixar titles like The Incredibles, then I'll go pick up the LG multi format player.

It's nice to see that Disney is FINELY putting some of its classic titles on an HD format.

Now if Fox were to release the original Planet of the Apes or Patton I'd be all over Blue Ray.

 

[Mike.P]

Tim, any dates on those? Children of Men, especially.

Hopefully day and date on that bad boy.

 

[ppltd]

I can not disagree with you here, from a content perspective. HD-DVD from Universal has been pretty much dead. As far as Warner and Paramount, only a few title announced from them that interest me. We will see what unflods in the next couple of months.

 

[Brent M]

Hey Tim,

Here's the real question: what are you(and I) going to do if they announce the 30th Anniversary Star Wars Saga box set exclusively on Blu-Ray this year?

 

[ppltd]

What ever.

 

[Mike.P]

Thomas, I'm with you - although my budget is tight being a college student, all things considered my HD collection at this point (through the end of the month) won't have (or wouldn't have) more then 10 or so releases (HD-DVD that is) - I currently own 4, there's maybe 6 more I am looking to purchase soon, and at least 3 of those would simply be SD replacements.

And although Pirates is big for most of the Blu crowd, I liked the first one and loathed the second. Cars tickled my fancy a ton, though, and the idea of owning Kingdom of Heaven and Black Hawk Down are mighty tempting, but I'm not dropping 500+ for 3 titles - those are really the only 3 that scream must have, at the moment, to me.

But so long as I get The Fountain, Children of Men, and Blade Runner (and hopefully Gladiator) this year, I'm pretty much content for most of the year - Of course the Matrix and LOTR trilogies would also be nice, but mainly the first Matrix.

 

[Douglas Monce]

Gladiator is a Dreamworks title and thus far they are not jumping into the HD market.

Star Wars is controlled by Lucasfilm and so far they have also said nothing about supporting either format.

Doug

 

[Tim Glover]

....Well for me it's still about affordable Hardware and that's really how I got into HD-DVD to begin with. Sold the LD player and LDs and had some amazon credit. I think I was out of pocket about $100. No brainer not to jump in, especially since HD-DVD was getting stellar reviews and BD fell a bit short.

Hey I love Star Wars...but that won't make me jump to BD just yet. I already jumped in one format...going to wait until the dust settles and that will more likely be in late 2008.

The scary thing about both HD formats is what if these never become mainstream like DVD did....in fact they probably won't. What if this becomes more like Laserdisc eventhough it's already doing better than that.

The whole downloading thing is NOT the way I hope this works out...even if that means BD wins and HD-DVD loses.

 

[Tim Glover]

Hey Mike,

Universal and really Warner too hasn't been to specific date friendly

Surely it would be out this spring but since it just opened wide last weekend I doubt we'll get it until mid April or May? That's kind of what happened to Munich last year. Released in December and got the dvd in May.



I think Paramount is distributing the Dreamworks movies regarding Gladiator? If that's true then the fans of HD-DVD and BD will be happy!

 

[Brent M]

But if it is released, it will almost certainly be distributed by 20th Century Fox(as it has been on video for the last 25 years) and they're exclusively Blu-Ray supporters.

 

[Brent M]

Well, you indeed have much more willpower than I, my friend.

 

[Mike.P]

Bleh, totally forgot Dreamworks handled Gladiator. I'm not concerned with Star Wars, hence why the omission from my original post.

Thanks, Tim - I found the flyer and also found how they were completely dateless on their releases. I'm really hoping both The Fountain and Children of Men are released sooner rather then later. They are 2 films that must be seen in HD/on the big screen to be fully appreciated.

 

[Tim Glover]

Didn't know The Fountain was Universal! Great news then since I missed this in theaters (DANGIT )

 

[ppltd]

Being a collector that has for many years purchased 3 to 5 DVD's weekly, my concerns and comments on the release info from the studios was meant to convey my frustration that the studios have decided to leave their big guns at home. Certainly there are a few good films coming from the studios in the May June time frame, but that is 4 to 5 months away. And while I would like the HD version of Cars, I just bought the SD version and will unlikely repurchase it just because it is in HD. Animation normally looks stellar on SD anyway.

When I look at the release schedule for Jan, Feb March, it is pretty dismal. My purchase spree of HD content because of it's newness is drawing to an end, and I will now become more selective. Replacng SD-DVD's just because an HD version is being released in over, unless that film is something that is 'collectable'.

I was really hoping for news on Spiderman series, Release dates for Matrix, Back to the Future, maybe Jurassic Park, and some classics from Warner's library. Anything to say WOW. That did not happen.

Finally, Universal's total snub of the HD camp is pretty disheartening.

Oh well, I have almost 90 HD movies, another on order, and maybe I will be able to find a disk or two a month for the next quarter of a year.

 

[BrettGallman]

I'm starting to be more selective as well. At first, I bought a few marginal titles just to check out the quality. I don't think I'll be doing that anymore. Also, I may be mistaken, but didn't Sony confirm Spiderman for Blu-Ray. If not, you have to think that they're coming out in May due to the third film's release.