Somebody Please Tell Me Who Is Driving This Ship?

[ajm1503559545]

wtf?

And Tommy Boy? On Blu-ray? How many people own the DVD? How many people would waste badwidth downloading a bootleg? How many would want it if it was free?

Someone somewhere signed the piece of paprt that gave this the ok for a BD release. I'd love to know who so I can email them an call them names.

Discuss.

[SDL]

As I said a while back, I went to the local stores all set to grab a couple of BD's to watch one weekend and could find nothing that interested me. There is a lack of quality movies out here on Blu-Ray and in the US it is only slightly better. The catalogue movies they seem to be releasing are discs I'm sure people are not queueing to grab in general and the big blockbusters that they could display in a store and blow people away with are few and far between.

Just a quick look in Hidefdigest gives the following:

September 30, 2008

[*]The 40-Year-Old Virgin (Blu-ray)

[*]Angel in the Family (Blu-ray)

[*]Can't Hardly Wait (Blu-ray)

[*]A Christmas Visitor (Blu-ray)

[*]Daredevil: Director's Cut (Blu-ray)

[*]Dawn of the Dead (2004) (Blu-ray)

[*]Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Blu-ray)

[*]Halloween Starter Pack ['The Thing (1982),' 'Land of the Dead,' 'Dawn of the Dead (2004)'] (Blu-ray)

[*]Iron Man (2008) (Blu-ray)

[*]Jethro Tull: Live at Montreux 2003 (Blu-ray)

[*]Knocked Up (Blu-ray)

[*]Land of the Dead (Blu-ray)

[*]Legends: Live at Montreux 1997 (Blu-ray)

[*]The Man Who Saved Christmas (Blu-ray)

[*]Roy Orbison: A Black & White Night (Blu-ray)

[*]Salem Witch Trials (Blu-ray)

[*]The Sixth Sense (Blu-ray)

[*]The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1973) (Blu-ray)

[*]The Thing (1982) (Blu-ray)

[*]Ultimate Unrated Comedy Collection (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin) (Blu-ray)

[*]When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions (Blu-ray)

Okay a couple of reasonable movies - but please, as you say, who is making these choices?

Edited September 30, 2008 by SDL

[Sunshine Ed]

Yeah, they do churn out some shite on blu ray, don't they?

I mean it's not as if movie fans are clamouring for things like the SW trilogy, LOTR movies, Heat, Jaws, the Bourne trilogy, Apocalypse Now, Indiana Jones, Alien quadrilogy or anything, is it?

Watch them stick out the whole back catalogues of Chris Farley, Adam Sandler and the entire Police Academy series before some of the above turn up.

But, honestly, this is just the studios desperate attempt to claw some money back on absolute turkeys, by selling them to hi-def fans who are being starved of decent back catalogue releases and are just desperate to get something in the format.

My only consoling thought is that the reason some of these movies haven't appeared on blu yet is that the are being treated with the same loving attention that was lavished on Bladerunner, and that we are in for some absolutely fabulous mulit disc packages coming out soon.

Edited September 30, 2008 by Sunshine Ed

[ajm1503559545]

It was the "pick your three best movies" thread that got me think about this and I reckon I could name about 200 movies that I'd buy on BD if they were to be released. So seeing pure shite like DBZ being released on this format just has me questioning the sanity of the people at the controls of this machine.

[Sunshine Ed]

Let's face it they just churn out shite on every format they can

True, but it seems a little bit more like a slap in the face when they decide to issue Tommy Boy in hi-def on blu ray when other (far more deserving and desired) films are nowhere to be seen.

This is a format that is "beyond high definition" we are talking about here...It would be nice if the studios remembered their own hype and started to put out movies that live up to this promise.

Chris Farleys fat, unfunny arse shlubbing it's way through Tommy Boy is, I'm assuming, something that no sane person wants to see...never mind purchase to view in glorious full 1080p?!?!?!

...you want to buy this, don't you, Yorac...

[kiwimeat]

Cr*p in HD is still Sh*t.

Give me the movies I want to buy and I'll pay for them. However, just because it is 1080p and/or possessing a quality HD audio track doesn't get it into my shopping basket. I want a story that engages/entertains me and these seem to be few and far between.

Continue to churn out dross that's barely worth it on SD-DVD and don't expect to receive my money.

I've scaled back my movie purchasing considerably, and only have plans to acquire approx more 10 movies before the end of the year, starting with Iron Man.

[ajm1503559545]

I've scaled back my movie purchasing considerably...

I have a feeling a few people will be in the same boat, I certainly am. The "wow it's soooooo peeerty" factor has well and trul worn off and there's no way I can see myself paying silly prices for bad films that might look good.

I guess I'm just getting peeved at the potential being pizzed away on rubbish like DBZ and Tommy Boy - to name but a few - when real movies sit languishing. Why oh why?! Oh the humanity!

[The_Preacher1973]

My only consoling thought is that the reason some of these movies haven't appeared on blu yet is that the are being treated with the same loving attention that was lavished on Bladerunner, and that we are in for some absolutely fabulous mulit disc packages coming out soon.

Hey, an optomist!

[IMDave]

I have a feeling a few people will be in the same boat, I certainly am. The "wow it's soooooo peeerty" factor has well and trul worn off and there's no way I can see myself paying silly prices for bad films that might look good.

I guess I'm just getting peeved at the potential being pizzed away on rubbish like DBZ and Tommy Boy - to name but a few - when real movies sit languishing. Why oh why?! Oh the humanity!

Tick to all of the above.

I think a lot of our frustration stems from the fact that we bought a lot of "average" movies in the HD-DVD fire sales for $5 & $6, and now we've been forced into BR there is very little quality material available. And what is, is massively overpriced compared to $5/ disc.

Don't get me wrong. I love my BD-30, but my 6 BR discs ( average price $30 from The Hut and Amazon, only one Oz purchase) look very lonely against my 140+ HD-DVD's.

[iainl]

I mean it's not as if movie fans are clamouring for things like ... the Bourne trilogy

In that particular instance, it seems the problem is that the BD-50 replication plants are booked solid until the new year, and have been for some time. Since Universal left the format switch until last, and there's no way to do these right on BD-25, they're postponed until the capacity is there. Apparently - all that is hearsay at the moment.

[tonyjg]

wtf?

And Tommy Boy? On Blu-ray? How many people own the DVD? How many people would waste badwidth downloading a bootleg? How many would want it if it was free?

Someone somewhere signed the piece of paprt that gave this the ok for a BD release. I'd love to know who so I can email them an call them names.

Discuss.

What ??? !!

You AREN'T interested in the HI DEF version of TOMMY BOY ???? I'M UTTERLY SHOCKED !!! I was expecting a brand new thread on the Picture and Audio quality of this masterpiece WITH over 100 posts. AND what about the TOMMY BOY REMASTERED DIRECTORS CUT.

Hell.... where's the Rob Schneider ULTIMATE BLU-RAY COLLECTION ?? I want to see THE ANIMAL, THE HOT CHICK, DUECE BIGALOW 1 AND 2, THE BENCHWARMERS..... and the David Spade Master of Acting collection - with JOE DIRT, DICKIE ROBERTS FORMER CHILD STAR !! And where's all the Dan Ackroyd films ?? There's no way that I'm buying another Blu disc until these CLASSICS are released at $40 each.

And where is I SOMEWHAT KNEW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER BUT COULDN'T HAVE CARED LESS ?? And CRUEL INTENTIONS 2 through to 10 ????

and what about horror crap like EVENT HORIZON ?? where's the classic P.W.ANDERSON Oscar Director Set ??? (opps = this pile of **** is getting a release ala Tommy Boy)

I'm shocked that you simply don't understand the Blu-ray market = it's guys under 25 who watch these films with their other pimpled mates with a few beers, a pizza, and thinking about all those hot chicks that they wish that they had. Hell - the studios need to cater for those red-necks' entertainment - give them something not to think about. We can't have them discussing the movie afterwards. (Just check out the posts on HiDefDigest with regards to Tommy Boy and Event Horizon and see their mouths dripping with anticipation over these 'classic' titles).

Just check out your local JB store - and even EzyDVD and see the ever growing list of Blu-ray titles that B&M stores are being (somewhat) forced to stock. There's stuff that no one in their right mind would truely really want in HiDef (see titles like The Devil's Own, Entrapment, Signs, Ultraviolet, Beerfest, Flightplan, Gothika, Stealth, RV, Urban Legend etc etc). Hey - some of these may be 'guily pleasures' to a few - but are consumers rushing out to get these titles into their Blu players ??? That this crap is priced around the $40 mark locally makes little to no sense either. Who is buying this stuff ?? (OMG I'm going to get flooded with people stating that they have all of these titles in their Blu collections )

The 'trouble' is however, look in the DVD section - and there's all this CRAP there - although much of its been floating around for years and at the $10 mark or less for ages. I find it incredible to think that the studios are attempting to entice consumers to purchase this crap at 4 x times the price of the DVD.

ROLL UP ROLL UP - SEE 'TOMMY BOY' IN HI DEF GLORY - SEE THE PORES AND ROLLS OF FAT ON CHRIS FALEY'S FACE AS NEVER SEEN BEFORE - ALL IN GLORIOUS DTS HD MA 9.1 SURROUND SOUND.

But what do you really expect to see in HiDef ??

We've listed all our films that we would love to see get released - however films like STAR WARS, APOCALYPSE NOW, FIGHT CLUB and LAWRENCE OF ARABIA are not (in my opinion) going to greatly improve sales or 'product share' against the mighty DVD. The forthcoming release of THE MATRIX TRILOGY on Blu-ray is getting only a few people interested - dribbling awaiting its release - however the local distributor Roadshow has released this title on DVD multiple times, at multiple pricing levels with new covers etc etc. However - what % of the population - would be willing to fork out $150 for this on Blu-ray ????

It's actually LOW RISK to put this crap out on Blu-ray. If the market bites - then they can risk putting far better quality films out. If it fails - then the studios and distributors can move on to the next big thing.

And what is with the film studios / distributors 'flooding' the market with more and more Blu titles each month ?? Sure - many will be excited to see more releases - but what about the B&M stores ?? Can they handle the load ?? The section in the Galleries Victoria Sydney store has increased - but who's actually looking at the section ?? It must be an interesting time for these chains - looking at the sales / profits for this product line - and thinking do we have another PSP UMD on the shelves ?? OH NO .. NOT ANOTHER SONY FAILURE ??!!!

anyway.. back to work....... have you placed an Amazon.com order for TOMMY BOY yet ??? hehehehehehe

EDIT - and speaking of CRAP - who signed this one off as well http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/1831/daysthunder.html

Edited September 30, 2008 by tonyjg

[auswoffer]

There's a flood of new titles coming out in the next couple of months.

Maybe these lesser film have better masters than the long running "Classics". A lot less wear. It takes a lot of work to get the "great works" like the Godfather into shape.

I'm encouraged by the release off a lot of titles.

I doubt I buy any, but may pick some up for rental.

More Bluray the better, even if some of the titles are cr&p, the good stuff will come in time.

Edited September 30, 2008 by auswoffer

[The_Preacher1973]

There's a flood of more crap coming out as well, facts are the studios aren't showing one hell of a lot of confidence in the format IMO

And they're readying the crap producing machines:

Blu-ray Replicators Ready for Q4

By Chris Tribbey | Posted: 29 Sep 2008

ctribbey@questex.com

Earlier this year, more than one home entertainment analyst voiced concerns regarding Blu-ray Disc replication capacity for the fourth quarter, with all the major studios and more independents adding their titles.

The collective voice from the Blu-ray Disc replication community: stop worrying.

The three major Blu-ray replicators — Sony DADC, Technicolor and Cinram — all have added capacity, and new medium-sized replicators have popped up, promising they can handle the anticipated fourth-quarter load of movies and video games.

Leading the way, not surprisingly, is Sony DADC. Adding nearly 100 new jobs, and pumping more than $100 million into expanding its Terre Haute, Ind., Blu-ray facility, Sony DADC is now producing more than 45 million Blu-ray Discs a month. For the fourth quarter alone, the company is expecting a year-over-year increase of more than 30 million units.

“In the past year, Sony DADC has more than doubled our global Blu-ray Disc capacity,” said Jim Twiggs, Sony DADC’s VP of strategic development. “Based on our … forecasts, we believe the supply of BDs globally will be adequate to cover the total needs of the market in the fall fourth quarter.

“Fluidity of title workability dates and street date schedule compression may cause daily capacities to be tight, but we do not foresee an overall shortage of product in the market.”

Technicolor has added lines not only here, but in Europe as well. The company declined to offer specifics on its capacity and expansion, but a company spokeswoman said, “Obviously, we’re doing very well.”

Cinram CEO Dave Rubenstein said this summer that his company was adding new lines to meet fourth-quarter demand and would add more as more consumers adopt the format.

“As the attach rate grows … we expect [our Blu-ray demand] to get bigger,” he said.

While the Blu-ray Disc Association did not have a formal comment on fourth-quarter replication, one member said, “Everything is going great.”

According to The DVD Release Report, 292 total Blu-ray titles were released in 2007. As of Sept. 19 the number for 2008 is at 347. The major studios are releasing more titles, and more independents are trying Blu-ray, adding to replication demands.

Ed Virgie, president of Media Services Group, which services replicators with equipment and plant set-up, said it’s hard for medium- and small-sized replicators to get into Blu-ray, mostly due to the costs.

“There are a couple of new ones on the West Coast, but it’s going so slow,” he said. “The studios are using only two, three companies. Technicolor is concentrating very hard on Blu-ray, almost exclusively. Cinram, not so much, since they put out so many DVDs.”

Just during the second quarter of this year, Cinram replicated nearly 250 million DVDs, according to CEO Rubenstein.

“Sony [DADC] has also been very busy, but Cinram is being more cautious about it, not jumping off the pier like these other guys,” Virgie added.

The new, medium-sized Blu-ray Disc replicators include two in California: Expedia Media in Anaheim and L & M Optical Disc West in Valencia, which are both doing replication and mastering. Neither returned calls for comment by press time.

Virgie said eventually more traditional DVD replicators will make the plunge into Blu-ray, as the costs for the equipment start to fall. However, they’ll likely have to invest in both the 25GB and 50GB lines to meet everyone’s needs, he said.

“BD 25 is already passé,” said Paula Tait, EVP of sales and marketing for replicator Precise/Full Service Media. “I’ve heard that BD 50 is in particularly high demand because the studios want to do all the bells and whistles on their discs.”

At Sony DADC, Twiggs said 45% of the Blu-ray Discs rolling off the lines — for both movies and video games — are BD 50.

Tait said clients her company services are being very selective about what they put out on Blu-ray.

“People are starting to get into Blu-ray cautiously in the fourth quarter, but they know the studios have priority,” Tait said. “Everyone will have product ready for the holidays, and as soon as the Blu-ray players come down in price, more [independents] will join.”

LINK

I wonder if the fact that 292 titles were released in 2007 compared with 347 on September 19th for 2008 is the reason for there being more crap on the market?

Edited October 1, 2008 by The_Preacher1973

[joz]

Must say that as often as I do go to JB I find it extremely difficult to to purchase anything from the current BD fodder thats available.

And thats with me busting to get something,but I just can't bring myself to buy something that I have on dvd and havn't watched for 5 years.

Yes the offering are dismal and an anticlimax for what was promised...

Anyhow I did pry the nearly $40 FOR 10,000BC the other day just to get some kind of BD fix.

It's cemented the idea of not buying just cos its BD..

Oh and I like Event Horizen ....

[MrC]

There's a flood of more crap coming out as well, facts are the studios aren't showing one hell of a lot of confidence in the format IMO

Yes you are absolutely correct. Now with a global recession on the cards, it could spell the end for the Blu-ray format. Just when are we going to see worthwhile releases on the Blu-ray format. If there is no push in the run up to this Christmas, can anyone say just when it is going to take place ? I was saying all this about 9 months ago and I was told by many 'luminaries' on this forum to be patient ... well could the same 'luminaries' now tell me when is Blu-ray going to get off the ground ? When is Joe Average going to be enticed to buy a player and at least rent some decent titles ??

I won't be holding my breath.

[The_Preacher1973]

facts are the studios aren't showing one hell of a lot of confidence in the format IMO

Hey, there's that opinion thing again Yorac!

From the article above, the studios relesed 292 titles in 2007 and are on track to release over 500 titles by the end of 2008 (a simple pro rata gives 490 titles and I'd expect more relases in Q4 than the previous quarters).

These are releases in individual years too, not cumulative.

[tonyjg]

Anyhow I did pry the nearly $40 FOR 10,000BC the other day just to get some kind of BD fix.

It's cemented the idea of not buying just cos its BD..

ahhh... a BD junkie

and for THAT movie as well - how was the 'rush' feeling after watching that tripe ???

[Dr. Smythe]

RE: Tommy Boy, Police Academy et al...

Perhaps the studios have played some kind of ignorant Six Degrees of Seperation to determine that sales of the disc would in fact be quite reasonable. The whiteboard flow in the marketiong and release department boardroom may have gone something along the lines of:

Bluy-Ray disc players > Predominantly Playstation 3 > Playstation 3 is a gaming console > Gamers are typically stoners > stoners like movies that make no sense but have regulars from Saturday Night Live and 80s multi-sequals in them >> <insert movie list here>...

Logic makes sense doesn't it?? Bring on Beverly Hills Ninja!!! and pass that doobie please would you, I own a PS3.

Cheers,

Doc.

[The_Preacher1973]

Yes you are absolutely correct. Now with a global recession on the cards, it could spell the end for the Blu-ray format. Just when are we going to see worthwhile releases on the Blu-ray format. If there is no push in the run up to this Christmas, can anyone say just when it is going to take place ? I was saying all this about 9 months ago and I was told by many 'luminaries' on this forum to be patient ... well could the same 'luminaries' now tell me when is Blu-ray going to get off the ground ?

Well, the 4th quarter is just beginning today.

So while you've obviously done very well being so patient (and us luminaries do appreciate such self control from the huddled masses), it's unlikely that BD is going to explode on the 1st day. Us luminaries would apprecite just a little more patience on your part because in order for us to see how the format does in the run up to Christmas, we actually have to have the run up to Christmas.

Now while others may perceive us as being all seeing and knowing, it's still far more accurate to analyse how something has performed for given period of time after that period of time has elapsed.

As for getting off the ground, it all depnds on your definition of "off the ground".

As I mentioned above, there were 292 BD titles released in 2007 and we're on track to see 500 released in 2008 (for a total of around 800).

Sony is looking to produce 45 million BD's in the 4th quarter of this year, up from 15 million in Q4 2007.

Sales of all day and date DVD/BD releases released since the demise of HD-DVD have seen BD's claim approximately 10% market share.

Titles such as 300 are now selling more on BD in a week than they are on DVD.

The top 15 BD titles are all selling at or above 20% market share.

We now have a situation where pretty much every major studio release (and re-release) sees the BD launching day and date with its DVD counterpart.

Sure there are still some classics that haven't been released yet, but when you see the classics that have been released, I'm sure most of the titles people are waiting for will be released over the next few years.

When is Joe Average going to be enticed to buy a player and at least rent some decent titles ??

As a luminary I'm not really concerned about Joe Average. So long as I can get titles at the highest quality possible, it really doesn't worry me what other people watch.

[tonyjg]

Titles such as '300' are now selling more on BD in a week than they are on DVD.

As a luminary I'm not really concerned about Joe Average. So long as I can get titles at the highest quality possible, it really doesn't worry me what other people watch.

'300' is also interesting to look at. Back on the 12th of July it was only selling 22% on BD, now 2 months later, it's selling 51% on BD. In other words the BD version is now outselling the DVD version.

I'm finding this very hard to believe - how '300' could sell MORE on BD than DVD. Any stats anywhere ???

As for not being concerned about Joe Average - mmmm - I would be !! Unless Joe Average buys more Blu you may not see the quality titles.

[Sabor]

I can't wait for the Uwe Boll movies to come out on Blu-ray <sarc>

Edited October 1, 2008 by ponlesabor

[tonyjg]

I can't wait for the Uwe Boll movies to come out on Blu-ray

HELLO...... 'POSTAL' http://www.amazon.com/Postal-Blu-ray-Dave-...y/dp/B0019F02UI

[momaw]

Not only are some of the titles being given High Def treatement questionable when there are so many other films that would help the format along further, the decision to go back and redo already released HD titles instead of adding an unreleased one (double dips on Casino Royale, 300 and a number of others already released or on the release schedule) is just beyond belief.

[The_Preacher1973]

Not only are some of the titles being given High Def treatement questionable when there are so many other films that would help the format along further, the decision to go back and redo already released HD titles instead of adding an unreleased one (double dips on Casino Royale, 300 and a number of others already released or on the release schedule) is just beyond belief.

Yeah. That is an absolutely absurd development. I could understand that they re-released the 5th Element because the original release was botched so badly, but I find it hard to believe that anyone is going to re-buy 300 or Casino Royale.

As a matter of fact this approach may have a detrimental effect on sales as if people believe that a new and improved version is going to be released within 12 months, they may not buy first edition releases of future titles as a lot of people have done with Die Hard 4.0).

[SDL]

Must say that as often as I do go to JB I find it extremely difficult to to purchase anything from the current BD fodder thats available.

And thats with me busting to get something,but I just can't bring myself to buy something that I have on dvd and havn't watched for 5 years.

Yes the offering are dismal and an anticlimax for what was promised...

Anyhow I did pry the nearly $40 FOR 10,000BC the other day just to get some kind of BD fix.

It's cemented the idea of not buying just cos its BD..

Oh and I like Event Horizen ....

You must live a parallel life to mine. I went in a few weeks back and couldn't get myself to buy anything. Then went back the following week just desperate to have something to watch at night and picked up 10,000BC. Watched about an hour before my wife fell asleep. Tried watching again the next night and this time I fell asleep. My last few purchases have been just to have something to watch and I have been pretty much sorely disappointed in wasting $40 a pop. I can't see myself grabbing any more Blu-Ray discs until something decent hits the shelves.