Blu-Ray has won the Hi-Def war!

Post by **Jafar** » April 16th, 2009, 3:49 pm

The Lord of the Rings (Theatrical Edition) Blu-ray is now up for pre-order at amazon and is already in their bestsellers list:

http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-Pictur ... 988&sr=1-1

Very tempting indeed but even If I had a Blu-ray player, I would still give it a miss for the extended editions, which looks inevitable on Blu-ray.

Post by **Ben** » April 16th, 2009, 4:44 pm

I'll pass and wait for the extended cuts, which are rumored to include the theatricals as well.

And then there's going to be a huge set with all the films and the two Hobbits in there as well.

There's only so much LOTR one can take!

Post by **Daniel** » April 22nd, 2009, 10:00 pm

Now this is cool, especially for Rand!!

Warner has started a new program titled "Red2Blu" where you upgrade your HD-DVDs for new Blu-ray discs! You can exchange up to 25 HD-DVDs for "new industry-leading Blu-ray Discs" and you don't even need to send the discs or cases, only the sleeves! Plus, you get a $15 off coupon for a purchase of $50 or more at wbshop. Tell me that isn't rad! Here's the site and the official rules.

In my opinion, this is great and real generous of Warner. Even if you were to sell off your HD collection, (something I don't think you've done yet, right Rand?) you would still have to eventually replace it with the Blu version. And If shipping is that low, I think it's very much worth it. They'll even send you prepaid envelopes!

What says you, Rand?

Post by **Randall** » April 22nd, 2009, 11:22 pm

Well, not too interested, actually. I got into HD DVD with my eyes wide open, and have still been picking up the odd title on clearance. I expect my player to work for a long time, so there isn't much reason to switch over--- unless the specs were all that different.

Plus, the offer is only open to US residents. That leaves me out.

Very nice idea for those that are interested, though!

Post by **EricJ** » April 23rd, 2009, 11:47 am

Daniel wrote:Now this is cool, especially for Rand!!

Warner has started a new program titled "Red2Blu" where you upgrade your HD-DVDs for new Blu-ray discs! You can exchange up to 25 HD-DVDs for "new industry-leading Blu-ray Discs" and you don't even need to send the discs or cases, only the sleeves! Plus, you get a $15 off coupon for a purchase of $50 or more at wbshop. Tell me that isn't rad! Here's the site and the official rules.

Also assuming this works for HD titles Warner already HAS converted to Blu--
Which won't help buyers of "Willy Wonka" or "Excalibur" yet, darnit...

Post by **Aaron_03** » April 24th, 2009, 1:56 am

I just bought .. Bolt and Bed Time Stories.
I now have 15 BD titles and counting...

There 2 movies also put me @ 1200 DMR points.

I need 2300 MORE!!

Post by **Ben** » April 24th, 2009, 6:27 am

Luckily I didn't pay for Bedtime Stories, since it was a review copy. Phew, the movie sucks big time:
http://animated-views.com/2009/bedtime- ... -ray-disc/

Also new for me on BD: The Day The Earth Stood Still and that Godfather set arrived (with the annoying packaging that keeps the booklet outside the box set!?), as well as Gulliver's Travels.

Don't worry - I didn't pay for that one either, and I still don't recommend it...the reasons why are as we thought and will be made even clearer when I post my review soon.

Post by **Josh** » April 24th, 2009, 1:22 pm

I'm glad I read that Bedtime Stories review. Based on the previews, I thought elements from the bedtime stories came to life, in a Jumanji / Zathura way. I was shocked at this part:

Ben wrote:Often, I was hoping that the “magic”, such as it is, would be real, even in that rather dubious Liar Liar way, but there isn’t even much fun to be had with the onset of the various situations coming to life, which the marketing would have you believe almost take over Sander’s character’s life. They don’t, and the total screentime for the bedtime story elements in the whole picture can’t amount to much more than ten minutes.

Post by **Ben** » April 24th, 2009, 1:59 pm

Exactly how I felt Josh.

This is such a missed opportunity for that to happen, but my totaling the screen time (and even then they are only "flashback" type inserts) isn't far off the final number. There really isn't anything in this film that's like the marketing - with the bedroom wall breaking and the characters seeping out - at all. The mermaid character? She's in it for 20 seconds, if that. And the "magic" is just coinkidinks, nothing more...

Post by **EricJ** » April 24th, 2009, 8:35 pm

Plus, there's that lil' mutant CGI guinea pig/hamster thingy that Disney seemed to be more and more desperate to cram down our throats as the "marketable" aspect of the movie, when it didn't look like Lovable Cuddly Sandler or non-existent fantasy sequences were going to sell the thing.

(We've been having a LOT of Adam Plays Daddy lately, as if part of him wants to get away from bashing/bellowing at irritating strangers that bother him, or pointing fun at wacky foreigners, but apparently not enough of him wants to get far enough away from it yet to actually escape it in his movies...
He's basically trying to be Daddy With Kids and Aging High-Schooler with Cool Product Placements, and the schizophrenic chasm between the two is getting harder and harder to bridge....As for Disney, they'll just believe anybody that pays them for the CGI.)

Post by **Ben** » April 25th, 2009, 4:41 pm

As I say in my review, the guinea pig doesn't get much screen time either. Basically, this movie was empty, empty, empty!

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » July 14th, 2009, 12:49 am

From The Digital Bits, Monday 13 July 2009 --
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents

For September --
Universal
An American Werewolf in London: Full Moon Edition -- the classic 1981 thriller gets released for the first time on Blu ray! An updated 2-disc DVD streets the same day, too. Packed with tons of features. It still has one of the best makeup effect sequences ever filmed. Arriving 9/15

Army of Darkness: Screwhead Edition -- also another first arrival on Blu ray. Updated DVD streets same day. 9/15

Van Helsing -- Blu ray. 9/15

Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz (second technically not horror but both star Simon "Scotty" Pegg) -- Blu ray. 9/22

Phantasm II -- DVD only. Theatrical trailer is the only extra. 9/15

The Wolf Man: Special Edition - Universal Legacy Series -- DVD only. 9/15. Timed for the remake and also long past time since Universal's third most popular monster got a proper bookcase (faux leather) release. The Legacy Series DVD releases are all great!

and, Paramount (not horror)

The South Park movie finally gets a Blu ray release on 10/13. Extras include audio commentary, 3 theatrical trailers, and a Brian Boitano music video. Much, much better than the DVD release as far as extras... Price not announced yet.

Post by **eddievalient** » July 14th, 2009, 2:04 am

And for those of you who don't know, Last House on the Left recently got rereleased too. I looked for it before the remake came out and couldn't find it, but I saw it at walmart the other day. I'll have to pick that one up at some point.

Post by **Ben** » July 14th, 2009, 5:33 am

I've been gathering the Legacy series and think they're doing a good job. Only have the three Hitchcocks to go, but was holding off for Blus.

Army Of Darkness may have to be mine...even if we know it's going to look grainy as heck.

South Park...better than the DVD? The original release contained the three theatrical trailers, and in the UK the Brian Boitano was on there (and actually isn't all that good), so the only new thing will be the audio commentary.

That, and the fact it's Blu, will be enough to get me to purchase - if we don't get a screener in - but I'd hardly call it a major jump in supplements. Looking forward to the commentary though...wonder if they'll mention the changes they had to make to one of the songs because it was originally too close to a well-known family favorite?

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » July 14th, 2009, 7:48 am

I don't consider theatrical trailers extras myself.

I at least wanted audio for the South Park DVD but for whatever reasons it arrived on DVD with basically NOTHING but the film.

I've resisted buying it although you can easily get a copy on DVD for $5 now. May have to wait a bit on the Blu ray to come down in price. I will NOT pay over $30 for that film no matter how much I appreciate it.

The original Batman movie (Adam West, 1966/67?) recently dropped in price on Blu ray and looks a lot more palatable now. I seriously couldn't believe Fox priced that film for $35 when then the new DVD print-run was selling for under $10 at the same time!

The studios have to seriously rethink some of the Blu ray pricing when DVD editions of the same films exist... This has got to be hurting the format's sales and has dissuaded from getting a few films on BD...

Blu-Ray has won the Hi-Def war!

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