Weekly RoundUp 11-17-2009 (1 Viewer)

[Chris S]

Just noticed that Amazon dropped the price of Fight Club down to $15.99.

 

[Nathan*W]

Originally Posted by TravisR

The regular Star Trek Blu-ray was $19.99 at the Target in my area (suburban Philadelphia).

And the "Enterprise" version was $24.99. (Richmond, VA)

 

[Mike Frezon]

Originally Posted by TravisR

[SIZE= smaller]In the back of my mind I was kinda hoping something like this might happen (especially after seeing some other recent surprise in-store maneuvering--such as the Pixar Up/Monster's Inc. deals found in Target).
[/SIZE]

 

[LarryH]

I guess the $9.99 Star Trek 1-disc @ Amazon must have been fleeting. It's gone now. I thought about grabbing one to take to friends' houses, but may have to take my PS3 instead.

 

[Ric Easton]

Anyone know if Target's Gone With the Wind is a one or two discer?

 

[John Swarce]

Ric:

It's a 1 discer, sorry to say! Looks like the first disc of the big set as it only had the commentary listed on the back of the package.

I picked up the Blu-ray Enterprise ship exclusive at Target for the $24.99 price, even though the shelf tag said $29.99 (scanned it to be sure). For those of you wondering, the discs are in the saucer section, but the digital copy is inside the box in a paper sleeve.

Also, Farscape is $69.99 at BB this week. It includes the Peacekeeper Wars movie as an exclusive. I have the Starburst sets, but have always had issues with the DVD-18's in the early seasons, so i will probably pick this up.

--John

 

[Mike Frezon]

So while it has dropped the price of it's 3-disc BD of Star Trek (2009) to $19.99, Target is also selling a one-disc movie-only version of GWTW for $34.99?

Seems a little crazy, don't it?


Any word yet on if Wal-Mart's got anything to add in the GWTW sweepstakes?

 

[Mary_P]

I just picked up the "Farscape" set at Best Buy. It rang up $99.99, but they were able to match the website price of $69.99. I already had a few of the Starburst releases, but I think it actually cost me less to buy the whole series than it would have to fill in what I was missing.

 

[Jason_V]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mary_P

I just picked up the "Farscape" set at Best Buy. It rang up $99.99, but they were able to match the website price of $69.99. I already had a few of the Starburst releases, but I think it actually cost me less to buy the whole series than it would have to fill in what I was missing.

Either way, that's one heck of a deal! 88 episodes, 26 discs, four seasons, tons of extras and a quality show to boot!

I started going through the set tonight, checking audio and video and the extras on the first two seasons. I even grabbed Peacekeeper Wars for $10 on vacation last week. So far, a very solid set.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

In the category of "Caveat Emptor", note that It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: A Very Sunny Christmas was not shot in high definition (or on film). The BD is simply an upconversion of standard definition video, and not a great one at that. There is even a short "Producer's Blu-Ray Introduction" where David "Rickety Cricket" Hornsby and Rob McElhenney explain this. The price difference is only a few bucks, but it is money wasted nonetheless.

And no, the lossless audio is not especially impressive either.

Regards,

 

[Will_B]

Originally Posted by Jason_V

Quote:

Either way, that's one heck of a deal! 88 episodes, 26 discs, four seasons, tons of extras and a quality show to boot!

I started going through the set tonight, checking audio and video and the extras on the first two seasons. I even grabbed Peacekeeper Wars for $10 on vacation last week. So far, a very solid set.

Jason, most curious about the last season video quality. The Starburst editions' fourth season had terrible ringing around any high-contrast edges, really noticeable -- as if they'd only remastered the first 3 seasons but just used whatever was handy for the 4th season. I had a screenshot of it....but I can't find it. But essentially any scene in which Aeryn walked around the ship wearing her black tank top, the straps of her tank top would have nearly white highlights on the edges. Hopefully the new edition fixed that.

 

[Jason_V]

Originally Posted by Will_B


Jason, most curious about the last season video quality. The Starburst editions' fourth season had terrible ringing around any high-contrast edges, really noticeable -- as if they'd only remastered the first 3 seasons but just used whatever was handy for the 4th season. I had a screenshot of it....but I can't find it. But essentially any scene in which Aeryn walked around the ship wearing her black tank top, the straps of her tank top would have nearly white highlights on the edges. Hopefully the new edition fixed that.

I plan on getting to the third and fourth seasons tonight and I'll specifically look for the ringing. I am noticing a step up in video quality from S1 to S2. Season 1 is rather ugly with pixelation, blocking and general softness. Season 2 looks a bit more polished with a more defined look.

 

[Malcolm R]

Originally Posted by LarryH

I guess the $9.99 Star Trek 1-disc @ Amazon must have been fleeting. It's gone now.

I think they're only offering those prices for pre-orders. Once the release day arrives, it's back to a more traditional price.

It was the same for their hardcover books specials. Stephen King's new book was only $9 if pre-ordered, but once the release day arrived it was back up to around $17.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

What's missing on the Target Blu-ray of GWTW? I'm fine doing without When the Lion Roars since I have that twice already on various other discs, and I certainly don't need the Big Box O Junk, but I would hope all the other bonus material was there a la the Wizard of Oz Target exclusive.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Mark: The impression I'm getting from people (I haven't seen the release myself in Target) is that it's just one disc--the first disc from the bigger, wider release. So, it's basically just the film with the only extra being the commentary.

...which is crazy for $35. But I guess some people are reporting that it drops to $12.99 on Black Friday.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

I was in Target today -- GWTW is indeed just the movie and commentary. Also, the Trek edition in the fancy Enterprise case rang up at $25 even though the sign said $30. I was tempted, but I just don't have any place to put it!

 

[Jimmy M]

I got the Enterprise set of Star Trek. I wasn't expecting the model to look anywhere near as nice as it does ! I was ready to see something more like the Target Transformers Optimus Prime set.

Also, anyone who bought the FarScape set that has a 4 disc version of the Starburst sets 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, or 2.2 and wants to let them go really cheaply, please let me know!

Jimmy!

 

[Jason_V]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Will_B

Jason, most curious about the last season video quality. The Starburst editions' fourth season had terrible ringing around any high-contrast edges, really noticeable -- as if they'd only remastered the first 3 seasons but just used whatever was handy for the 4th season. I had a screenshot of it....but I can't find it. But essentially any scene in which Aeryn walked around the ship wearing her black tank top, the straps of her tank top would have nearly white highlights on the edges. Hopefully the new edition fixed that.

Alright, here's the bad news. While I don't have any of the previous versions to check against, my best guess is that nothing at all was done in the way of remastering or fixing the video. Season 4 is on par with the first: haze, pixelation, halos, blocking...general crudiness. The 16:9 format doesn't help in this regard, magnifying all the problems. S3 looks to be the best season of the series from a video perspective. Problematic, but best.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Looks like Amazon may be thinking it's stumbled onto a good idea.

As I look ahead to next week's RoundUp, pre-order prices on the DVDs of Angels & Demons, Four Christmases and Santa Buddies are all coming in @ $9.99.

They must have found a good response to that pricing technique. In fact, those three titles are at the top in popularity for next week's releases.

But, BEWARE, they are removing the $9.99 price on release day. It seems like this new trend is pre-order only.

Hope they transfer that strategy onto new release Blu-ray discs.

 

[Citizen87645]

The lower pre-order pricing strategy used to be fairly common back in the early days of DVD. I recall buy.com and reel.com doing it. It's interesting we've (possibly) come full circle.