The Blu-ray Thread v1.0

[SunocO]

^yeah instead of getting movies on that list, i got the rock, con-air, and a scanner darkly. not bad with the coupon.

[Septimus_Prime]

I don’t have a good digital camera to take pics of my collection. Oh well; it’s pretty small compared to everyone else’s.

[YellowS4]

Anyone get a hold of Sunshine on BD? I loved the film, just wondering how it holds up on BD with all the extras and shit.

[Dark_Stalkers]

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117978760.html?categoryid=20&cs=1

The two remaining studios backing HD DVD could switch sides soon, ending the high-def format war instantly.

Daily Variety has confirmed that Universal’s commitment to backing HD DVD exclusively has ended. And Paramount has an escape clause in its HD DVD contract allowing it to release pics on Blu-ray after Warner Bros.’ decision to back that format exclusively.

Neither studio is ready to throw in the towel immediately, however. On Thursday, Universal broke its silence about the matter to say that it plans to keep supporting the format for the time being, a pledge Par made earlier in the week. And in any case, U is committed to a series of HD DVD promotions in coming months.

Should Toshiba concede defeat on the format, the decision to drop HD DVD would be made for both studios. But Toshiba doesn’t appear ready to do that. At the Consumer Electronics Show, the manufacturer reaffirmed its commitment to the format, noting strong sales during the fourth quarter and indicating it would continue marketing its hardware through 2008.

But retailers may force the HD DVD camp’s hand: They’re unlikely to keep devoting premium shelf space to a dying format, and at this point, the odds are not in HD DVD’s favor. With Warners’ defection, only Par and U remain in the HD DVD camp; Sony, Disney, Fox, Lionsgate remain ardent Blu-ray backers. Warner sister companies New Line and HBO are also shifting allegiance to Blu-ray.

Last summer, Blockbuster also threw its weight behind Blu-ray, though some HD DVD discs remain in stores.

And Warner will continue to release HD DVD discs for the next few months to honor its previous commitment to Toshiba, which extends through May 31. Paramount’s HD DVD deal, which covers DreamWorks releases, was to run through this year.

[YellowS4]

Star Trek BD.

Khan in all it’s glory.

[Septimus_Prime]

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117978760.html?categoryid=20&cs=1

All that says is that Universal is no longer bound by contract to exclusively back HD DVD. But that’s old news anyway, and Universal itself has not said anything.

[TheRock-BoS]

I suppose then a Universal announcement that they would produce Blu-Ray movies, even if not exclusively, would be a death knoll for HD DVD then.

So, I guess it’s all in Universal’s court then, since Paramount AND Toshiba are being stubborn.

[Septimus_Prime]

Paramount has no choice but to be stubborn. When it took Toshiba’s $150 million to go exclusive, it went exclusive for 18 months on the day (which is why BD releases just stopped). Now, there are rumors that Paramount has an escape clause in the contract, but that hasn’t been confirmed. What’s more, the insiders on Blu-ray.com already said that the Warner move alone would not be enough for Paramount to invoke the clause, so it’s all up to Universal right now.

As for Universal, it can do what it wants whenever it wants, but its president, Ken Graffeo, is a huge HD DVD supporter.

[bokchoy]

Heh, thank you for reminding me that I am skipping a generation of audio/video media. I meant that the shittier format won the tape format war.

And really, the discernible differences between VHS and Betamax were MUCH larger than the discernible differences between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. I suppose HD-DVD backers, armed with something that at least appeared equivalent to Blu-Ray superficially, figured the lower price would be their ace in the hole.

VHS being the “shittier” format than Betamax isn’t completely true. It’s true that Betamax had superior picture quality to VHS but that statement leaves out some very relevant information about the format war.

Until VHS and Betamax were introduced, people generally couldn’t record their favorite TV shows to watch them over and over again or tape a episode that they would have otherwise missed due to time constraints. The concept of recordable video was completely new and was a major selling features of both formats. Both VHS and Betamax were capable of recording. Betamax recorded with a better picture quality, but allowed people to record twice as much on a single cassette than with a Betamax cassette. It was much shittier quality, but people didn’t seem to care. Recording time > Picture Quality.

The differences between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are few and not very significant. Blu-Ray has superior storage capacity & bitrate transfer; HD DVD is slightly cheaper, but none of these advantages are significant enough to impact the format war like recording time did for Betamax.

For that reason, comparing the video cassette war to the high definition optical disc war is comparing apples to oranges.

Paramount has no choice but to be stubborn. When it took Toshiba’s $150 million to go exclusive, it went exclusive for 18 months on the day (which is why BD releases just stopped). Now, there are rumors that Paramount has an escape clause in the contract, but that hasn’t been confirmed. What’s more, the insiders on Blu-ray.com already said that the Warner move alone would not be enough for Paramount to invoke the clause, so it’s all up to Universal right now.

As for Universal, it can do what it wants whenever it wants, but its president, Ken Graffeo, is a huge HD DVD supporter.

Apparently, Paramount’s escape clause states that if Universal or Warner Bros. goes Blu-Ray exclusive, Paramount is allowed to jump ship too. Like Septimus mentioned, it’s just a rumor.

Paramount refused to undermine the validity of this particular rumor. Paramount stated that they support HD DVD and currently have no plans to support Blu Ray. They’re very careful with their choice of words. “Currently” can mean “in the forseeable future” but can also mean “this very minute”. In other words, Paramount didn’t rule out the possibility of following Warner’s lead. I’m not saying that they will. I’m simply saying that they’re covering their own asses and want to avoid saying anything that they may regret in the future. They may as well have talked about the weather for the entire press conference.

[System_1]

Oh well; it’s pretty small compared to everyone else’s.

Tee hee. Silly Asian man.

[Geese_Pants]

I still haven’t received my 5 Free DVD’s since October…should I be worried?

[SunocO]

I still haven’t received my 5 Free DVD’s since October…should I be worried?

i’m not so sure. i think turnaround is 2 months so you’re right around there.

you can check your status on this page
https://portal.archway.com/run/Lookup?key=BVISTA

or you can call them
1-800-598-9671

good luck mate

[Geese_Pants]

Thanks for the link…my order is currently in process.

[SunocO]

^cool

warner is announced batman begins and matrix trilogy for blu-ray!!!

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Warner/Warner:_Profile_1.1_Blu-ray_Titles_Coming_Soon/1340

[surewhyyoucan]

…Recording time > Picture Quality…

SLP all the time, baby.

[System_1]

Several cheap Blu-rays on Amazon
Close Encounters of the Third Kind 23.99
Spiderman Trilogy 43.49
Superbad 20.99
Reign Over Me 19.49
Paprika 19.49
Surf’s Up 19.49

• Many other Sony titles. Surf around, but I just linked the newer ones.

Don’t forget Sony is having the BUY 2, GET 1 mail-in offer as well.
http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/bluraymailoffer/3688_Blu-rayFSIRebateForm2_4.pdf

Reign Over Me, Surf’s Up & Superbad are involved in it.

I’ve wanted Surf’s Up & Reign Over Me for a while, so I’m probably picking those + the Spiderman trilogy up… then getting a movie I don’t want through the mail.

[System_1]

Update: Several Sony titles going for 14 dollars as well.

[SunocO]

here’s the 14.95 dollar movies taken from avs forums

20 Million Miles To Earth (50th Anniversary Edition) [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
50 First Dates [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
A Few Good Men [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
A Knight’s Tale [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Arlington Road [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Big Fish [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Black Hawk Down [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Bram Stoker’s Dracula [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Closer [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Cruel Intentions [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Curse of the Golden Flower [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Donnie Brasco (Extended Cut) [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Final Fantasy - The Spirits Within [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Flatliners [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Hellboy [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Hitch [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Hollow Man - The Director’s Cut [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
House of Flying Daggers [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Identity [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Immortal Beloved [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Into the Blue [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Kung Fu Hustle [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Layer Cake [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Legend of Zorro [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Memento [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Memoirs of a Geisha [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Rent [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Resident Evil - Apocalypse [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Revenge (Unrated Director’s Cut) [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
S.W.A.T. [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Secret Window [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Seven Years in Tibet [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Stealth [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Tears of the Sun [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
The Big Hit [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
The Fifth Element (Remastered) [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
The Patriot (Extended Cut) [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
The Replacement Killers (Extended Cut) [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
The Tailor of Panama [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Underworld (Unrated) [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Vertical Limit [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Warriors of Heaven & Earth [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
Wild Things (Unrated Edition) [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%
XXX [Blu-ray] $14.49 Savings of 49.9%

[System_1]

Holy mother of fuck

[Celcius]

I still haven’t received my 5 Free DVD’s since October…should I be worried?

Still waiting on my 5 movies too. I sent it off on new years eve, not showing up on the site yet, I guess they haven’t gotten to it yet…

Kung Fu Hustle ftw :rock: