Hows this for a prediction. Blu-Ray is anything but here to stay. Dismiss it if you like but the age of the hard-drive is looming and beyond that look for internet distribution. And so the idea of hi-def software of any format has been looking old fashioned even before Blu-Ray was a glint in the consumers eye. I predict that within 5-10 years Blu Ray will go the way of the video. DVD? I think it just might survive for a good long while. Maybe even indefinitely unless fans are going to be willing to trade in those large collections en masse for something else. They sure haven’t done it for Blu Ray whose sales are steadily evening out or even declining. The bottom line for many is this. Do I really need copies of most movies in a hi-def format? I already have correct aspect ratios and a wealth of irreplaceable research material in the extras on many DVD discs. And with upconverter DVD players the jump in quality is fairly negligible anyway at this point.
LOTR on Blu-Ray? Sure, okay, ya got me. Even some of the all time grainy classics like Texas Chainsaw are worth it. But as a person managing a five thousand DVD disc library I just can’t see the point in the upgrade for my copy of Meet The Parents or even the Universal Classic Monster flicks. You get the idea. Jaws? Sure. Pirhana? Not so sure. Orca? Don’t think so. James Bond?
Perhaps the studios realize this. It would explain why they are quietly double dipping by releasing older titles on Blu-Ray when those same titles are already endowed as DVDs with ample special features. Of course they see the writing on the wall. Other than new titles coming to market they’re huge and closely guarded libraries are actually much smaller than they originally bargained on- if they are going to continue to split them between two markets. It isn’t the number of titles that makes the dfference anymore but the mere fact that Blu-Ray splits the consumers vote. Tommorow looks even less friendly for studiossince they’ll still have to contend with the fact that people simply like to collect physical objects- whatever their format.
Do you or I really want to live in a world where our entertainment and cultural engagement is beamed to us at the whim of large corporations who will probably want to charge us per view or per special feature? This is what they will try to sell the next generation who are, unfortunately, already well on the way to being programmed that media should be ultra cheap and disposable. Of course we can have it both ways but studios have never been big on noticing the difference between junk like High School Musical 3 and The Changeling. As someone whose already sunk a lot into a physical format I’m probably not jumping ship anytime soon.
But Bond? Okay. I am fudging a little. Like many collectors these days I have more than one player. In fact at last count I had several due t the need for a backup, multi region capability and now the need to review Blu-Ray discs. I ain’t givin’ these Blu-Ray Bonds up for nothin. Make no mistake. These are basically the same DVDs you have at home already if you have the Ultimate Edition Box Sets but in this case brighter and tighter is definitely better. These makes me want to run out and buy the nicest projector and whitest screen I can find. I got sent Thunderball, Dr. No, From Russia With Love, For Your Eyes Only, Live and Let Die and Die Another Day and all I can say is BluRay make up for a multitude o’ bad movie sins and I can imagine any Bond fan finding the release of the Bond films in a clearly superior format as reason enough to make the leap into the Blu. They are available as singles or in handsomely packaged three-packs. I won’t bother listing the unbelievable number of special features on these discs. Suffice to say it will literally take the average person weeks to sort through them.
Blu-Ray is getting cheaper and so are players. And collectors, as much as we hear it, don't really drive todays portable media marketplace. The question is likely to rest in thehands of those who come after us. If like me you hope to pass your individual taste in film on to your kids any collecting bet still seems a risk these days.
What i hate these days is, that i'm scared of buying dvds, because next week, they may be released in Blu-Ray... I did that with a few films already, and it sucks.
But i guess it's the same as expecting a SE/CE
You might want to write your articles in Word or something, maybe proof read it, couple of clumsy spelling mistakes and the forgetting of spacing words. Good article! You just need to watch out for stuff like that, people take it less seriously.
When I first got my PS3 I didn't buy any DVDs in hopes of picking things up on Blu Ray but there wasn't much to buy and I was missing movies I wanted to pick up. Finally I started buying DVDs again and I DO notice the difference between standard and hi def but if the movie isn't amazing, I guess I don't need it on Blu Ray.
I am the guy with a 5,000 dvd collection and I will replace certain things or buy additional sets. (The Planet of the Apes series is one of my favorites but the DVD Monkey Head set had the tv series, animated and other things, whereas the Blu Ray set will have a beautiful book and other things so I will own both.)
Also, to studios releasing Blu Ray discs with no extras and then a special edition later, sorry I fell for that with DVDs but consumers have less patience for this these days. They have screwed this up like they screwed up every other format transition and when a rabid buyer of DVDs like me just stops buying, something went wrong.
I managed a video store in NYC for 10 years and it took years to get people to switch from VHS to DVD even though DVDs were clearly better and this was in NYC so the mid-west was probably even further behind.
People don't like losing money and the studios bit the hands that fed them (and made them very rich) and screwed up a good thing.
Then again, if people are still watching movies in Full Screen when you show them the benefit of Widescreen and they have a choice, they deserve to be screwed repeatedly for their stupidity. (I always wanted to take out a photo from their wallets of their kids and cut off the sides to show them.)
In short, I just want to enjoy great movies and not have to have a headache about it but studios have found ways of making it all more annoying than it needs to be.