Will We Ever Get A Blu Ray Release For The Program (1 Viewer)

[JohnRice]

It's confusing because Amazon and Apple both have monthly subscription services and separate digital sales and rental portals.

Some of the branding is terrible. What genius at Apple decided to call their streaming device an AppleTV, their subscription service AppleTV+ and the app AppleTV, or whatever it is? The app is the biggest fail in Apple history. It is the least user friendly thing I've ever dealt with. And yes, Amazon has Prime, which is a subscription service, but includes purchasing and shipping benefits as well, and also have media purchase options that are separate from the subscription service?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

This could have been so simple for them. A five year old could fix it in a second.

AppleBox, AppleMovieStore, AppleSubscribe

AmazonShip, AmazonMovieStore, AmazonSubscribe

They’re paying consultants and market research teams millions of dollars to come to with what they came up with.

 

[JohnRice]

Great point and great information. Do these digital copy codes expire or can I redeem them years later as long as I still have the physical disc?

You don't need to have the disc. Just the code. It's actually kind of cool. You can have online access to your movies, and can play them from wherever you want. Such as, sometimes I just want to put a movie on, and go to my online list and pick something.

The quality is good, but where I find the biggest difference is with the soundtracks of action movies. If I'm watching in the living room, it probably won't make much of a difference, but if I really want to rock out in the HT, there is definitely a difference and I'll play the disc.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

"Whew!" As I grow older I always wonder if it's just me when certain things don't make sense. Good to hear you guys also agree this landscape is a confusing one. Either I'm fine or we're all potentially experiencing a bit of cognitive decline.

I *work* in this industry and it's confusing.
A filmmaker says "Is my movie going on Amazon Prime?"
We say "Yes, but not for free streaming. Transactional only."
"But why are you telling me it's on Prime if people have to pay for it?"
"Argh!"

 

[David_B_K]

Some do, some don’t. Warner of late has been more aggressive about enforcing expiration dates. Only way to find out is to try redeeming and see what still works.

Every now and then I come across a Blu-ray in my collection with a code I forgot to redeem. So far, they have all worked, even if there was an expiration date. There was one I tried to redeem (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy) via the studio. It would not redeem on their website, but I was able to redeem it in iTunes.

 

[John Dirk]

Every now and then I come across a Blu-ray in my collection with a code I forgot to redeem. So far, they have all worked, even if there was an expiration date. There was one I tried to redeem (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy) via the studio. It would not redeem on their website, but I was able to redeem it in iTunes.

@David_B_K Thanks for this! As someone who's never before treaded in this water, it feels a bit unnerving.

I've already created a Movies Anywhere account and linked it to You Tube. Now I'm trying to figure out which of the others [Apple TV, Fandago At Home, etc.] I need accounts with. What is the most efficient way to go about redeeming codes? Do I just have to create accounts on all of these sites and then try my codes until one accepts it? Also, assuming it is accepted on one site, will it now be available on all of the others too?

 

[JohnRice]

@David_B_K Thanks for this! As someone who's never before treaded in this water, it feels a bit unnerving.

I've already created a Movies Anywhere account and linked it to You Tube. Now I'm trying to figure out which of the others [Apple TV, Fandago At Home, etc.] I need accounts with. What is the most efficient way to go about redeeming codes? Do I just have to create accounts on all of these sites and then try my codes until one accepts it? Also, assuming it is accepted on one site, will it now be available on all of the others too?

The answers to that question are infinite. MA is an absolute, then your preferred one, Apple in my case, and maybe a fallback or two. Lionsgate is the PITA, since they don’t do MA. Just dig out some movies and enter their codes and start exploring.

 

[JohnRice]

Josh or Todd Erwin are probably your best sources for figuring out the wrinkles of the whole system.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

The paper inserts with the discs, for the most part, will tell you where they can be redeemed.

Sony, Disney, Warner, Universal and Fox are all Movies Anywhere participants. For the most part, their codes can only be redeemed at Movies Anywhere. Once redeemed at MA, they should populate instantly to any/all of the storefronts you’ve linked your MA account to.

Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM don’t participate in MA. The paper inserts in those discs may give you a choice of retailers to redeem at, or may only offer one option. Since they don’t participate in MA, those will only work at the one storefront you choose to redeem it at.

It’s an imperfect system but once you’ve gotten used to it, I suspect you’ll find that more often than not, it mostly just works.

 

[Mark-P]

Welcome to the world of digital ownership, John. I call it that because even though it falls under the umbrella of streaming, it shouldn't be lumped into subscription services. The battlecry against digital ownership from one faction of collectors has always been "you don't own a digital title, and the studio can take it away from you any time they want." I can tell you from experience that after 11 years of digital purchasing of a couple thousand titles, I have never lost access to a single one. I can't say the same for physical media as dozens of my discs have gone bad and become unplayable.

There is a lot for you to learn in navigating the world of digital ownership, such as where to purchase titles if you want to increase the likelihood of a possible free 4K upgrade, or how to find which service gets you the best version if it's not a Movies Anywhere title. There are a couple threads you may not have been following since until now you've not been interested in digital ownership:

General Discussion - Digital Movie/TV Deals

I posted the first Man 4k deal in the main bargains thread but it's probably time to start posting individual movie deals in this sub forum. Widows is $9.99 UHD on Vudu: https://www.vudu.com/content/movies/details/Widows/1002154 iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/widows/id1440859424...

www.hometheaterforum.com

Apple TV+ - iTunes 4K Upgrades Thread

I thought it would be useful to have a thread listing current iTunes 4K upgrades on films originally purchased as HD A few Recent 4K upgrades. Ghost The Good The Bad And The Ugly The Great Escape Gandhi Rain Man Fargo Lawrence Of Arabia A League Of Their Own Dr Strangelove Deep Impact Escape...

www.hometheaterforum.com

 

[Robert Crawford]

Josh or Todd Erwin are probably your best sources for figuring out the wrinkles of the whole system.

Damn, what am I, chicken liver?

 

[Robert Crawford]

@David_B_K Thanks for this! As someone who's never before treaded in this water, it feels a bit unnerving.

I've already created a Movies Anywhere account and linked it to You Tube. Now I'm trying to figure out which of the others [Apple TV, Fandago At Home, etc.] I need accounts with. What is the most efficient way to go about redeeming codes? Do I just have to create accounts on all of these sites and then try my codes until one accepts it? Also, assuming it is accepted on one site, will it now be available on all of the others too?

John,

It really isn’t that complicated but I have to say that the industry as a whole doesn’t do a good job in maximizing the benefits of it for their consumer base. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me either publicly in a thread or privately via PM.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Damn, what am I, chicken liver?

I think my knowledge base here is overestimated - you’ve purchased far more digital items than I have and use it more frequently than I do. John’s in good hands with you.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I think my knowledge base here is overestimated - you’ve purchased far more digital items than I have and use it more frequently than I do. John’s in good hands with you.

Thank you for the kind words, but I was just having some fun with that quoted post. Hell, I even screwed up the funny tag line by using "chicken liver" instead of "chopped liver". Anyhow, it's not about how much you purchased but how well you understand the home video digital system. As I stated many times beforehand, this home video format is kind of broken and the industry refuses to repair it either due to their apathy and/or ignorance. The lack of uniformity across the different digital systems/services is so frustrating to us, the consumers.

 

[John Dirk]

Thanks so much to everyone who has contributed to this thread. Even after all the years I've been in this hobby, there's still a lot for me to learn.

 

[David_B_K]

I've already created a Movies Anywhere account and linked it to You Tube. Now I'm trying to figure out which of the others [Apple TV, Fandago At Home, etc.] I need accounts with.

I would say Fandango at Home (formerly VUDU) and iTunes (Apple TV+) are must-haves. Sometimes one service has a deal on a title that the other does not have. Sometimes one service upgrades HD titles to 4K while the other may not. Fandango at Home (formerly VUDU) had the 4K version of Once Upon a Time in the West months before the 4K disc came out. I buy most of my titles from iTunes, but I still keep an eye out for Fandango at Home deals.

Also, some of the apps may not be available on certain hardware. I have a little 32" Sharp/Roku TV that I watch when I ride my exercise bike. It has the Fandango at Home/Vudu app but does not allow the Apple TV+ app; so it is good to have accounts with both.