Blue Ray Trend?

[Lex]

I think a lot of their discs are sitting on the shelves at 37-38.00, and we are seeing some prices come down. A trend seen by some recent BD sales at major e-tailers.

If we continue to leave the high priced ones on the shelve,s I Believe this trend will only grow, and we'll see them bail on the idea that we will pay close to 40.00 for a movie. 37.00 for old die Hard movies? Come on, get real.

I see the high priced ones, I keep walking. I look for used, or I keep delving into my old standard DVD collection, watching things I haven't watched for years. It's rather enjoyable to do so with over 400 movies.

If I see something I have to have, ok, I'll buy, or if the price is right, ok, I'll buy, otherwise I'll keep watching the oldies and a few of my more recent HD titles.

[Chetk]

Lex, I believe you're right. When "the war" was going on, I knew prices would drop to be competitive. Actually, prices didn't really drop, but Amazon kept doing "buy one, get ones". At that point, I knew what they were trying to do. Keep the price high, but basicially give us incentives to buy. Before the war ended, I knew that, once the war did end, prices would remain high and we'd see MUCH fewer amazon sales (have we not?). The sales they do have are horrible. Nowhere near buy one get one.

However, I also knew that people would stop buying high priced content. So, I figured my purchases would go way down after the war ended solely due to price. I figured I'd sit it out until mass adoption took place and prices fell due to volume. It seems that I'm not the only one.

Blu-ray has grown faster than DVD at this stage in its life cycle. I'm always keeping an eye on average content prices and refuse to pay over $30 for any movie no matter how good or bad.

So far, I'm only buying the major blockbuster films and renting the rest. I've preordered WALL-E, Iron Man, Batman Begins, I'll be getting Dark Knight, Incredible Hulk, and Transformers.

Hollywood is going to have to add some value somewhere else if they expect us to shell out more dough. HD isn't reason enough to pay twice or three times the price of the DVD counterpart.

[impala454]

I used to buy them at the $30+ prices, but now that the catalog titles are dipping into the $13-18 range, I've become a lot more picky about which ones I'll pay $25+ for. A lot of them would be DVD double dips for me so I often try to look at some reviews of the blu-ray first before double-dipping.

[sikoniko]

I've been selective on which movies I buy. I'm no longer trying to collect. With that being said, I recently counted my HDDVD collection and it is up to 50. I was surprised to be honest. I have half that in BD movies. I do have over 300 DVD's, but I have been trying to fight buying for the sake of buying.

[btf1980]

I've actually just acquired an hd dvd player. I got the toshiba hd-a35 which was toshibas flagship player. It can bitstream dolby true hd and dts hd ma. I got it with tons of movies for a paltry $275. I've been on a buying spree of HD dvd's as of late. Sure the format is dead, but the media still works. It is actually cheaper to buy them than rent movies from netflix or blockbuster. I've been paying about $4 to $5 a movie. Funny thing is that the DVD versions are more expensive. It's just incredible how much the bargains are with hd dvd now. I look at it like SACD and DVD-A. SACD has a more solid footing that DVD-A, but CD still reigns supreme overall in terms of market saturation. SACD is blu-ray, DVD-A is hd-dvd and CD is standard dvd. When I walk by bestbuy and I see catalog titles on blu-ray like Independence Day and I, Robot for $34.99 I just shake my head in disgust. I seldom buy blu-ray titles unless they are $15 or less. I refuse to spend $30 on a movie.

[Nolan B]

my days of spending over $30 for a HD tittle are over. I did it before because of the thrill of HDM when it came out, and the lack of tittles available. Heck, I would spend $40 on a HD tittle i would have ever bought on SD DVD just because it was in HD. Now there there are a lot of tittles available and I have a large library im a bit more sober.

I just hope that studios dont confuse the issue of $40 movies not selling because of price, and not because of people not wanting to by into BD.

[Gremal]

Even at $40, Blu-ray is a great value for your entertainment dollar. When you think about even you and your S/O going to see a movie, you're looking at about $40 factoring in gas and the concession stand. A family of four? Forget about it. Instead you have a permanent title for your library, almost always with far better sound and picture than DVD. As noted, you can often find them in the neighborhood of $20, but for an occasional title, I can see spending more than that.

[H.T.C]

How much more value can they add? there is already director cuts/trailers/interviews and online capabilities,besides downloading new features the only option is a standard street price of $25.00 per disc which is probably fair considering how much one pays for home theater equipment.

[Chetk]

How much more value can they add? there is already director cuts/trailers/interviews and online capabilities,besides downloading new features the only option is a standard street price of $25.00 per disc which is probably fair considering how much one pays for home theater equipment.

Not much value could be added to movies that have those features, but there are so many movies at a $40 price point that don't even have many features. Director's commentary and that it. I'm looking at FOX here.

[Gremal]

But the bonus features are not the main draw of Blu-ray. The resolution is.

[maseline_98]

Even at $40, Blu-ray is a great value for your entertainment dollar. When you think about even you and your S/O going to see a movie, you're looking at about $40 factoring in gas and the concession stand. A family of four? Forget about it. Instead you have a permanent title for your library, almost always with far better sound and picture than DVD. As noted, you can often find them in the neighborhood of $20, but for an occasional title, I can see spending more than that.

I think $40 is just insane for a movie. Where is the value? I"m not saying that it's not a great product, but seriously, there is no value there. When I was in college(4 years ago), I owed 300+ dvds and then I got robbed and they stole them all. To this day, I have only bought the star wars trilogy and a few music dvds. Blockbuster's online renting services has more than subsided my needs. And I don't even think that the $22/month is a true value, but in comparing a $40 blu-ray it is a darn good price. I can still watch any movie I want, I just have to wait a day or goto the local blockbuster. Their blu-ray section is growing, but until I can get blu-ray discs just as easy as dvds, I'm waiting on a player.

I just don't see where the production companies come up with a $40 price tag? They have shot the movie already. They put it out on dvd for $14-$16. Where is the added cost coming from that puts blu-ray at $25-$40. It's still the same movie and regardless what format they are putting it on, they are still shooting the movies, extras, interviews, etc. in high definition. Does the blank blu-ray disks and the cost of mass burning really incur that much cost? It's just an issue of plain economics, supply and demand. In this case(at least for home theater people like us on this forum), the demand is high, therefore, they can charge whatever they want because they know people will still buy them at any price(even at a ridiculous $40 price tag).

You mentioned that it costs about $40 to goto the movies(which is about right), but isn't it the experience that you're paying for? I know when SW Episode II came out and I went to the theater to see it. Yoda came out for the final fight scene and pulled out his lightsaber, there was a few hundred of people in there cheering. That's an experience that you just can't get in any home theater. Why do people goto concerts when they own the cd/dvd at home? Or why do people goto a ball game, when they can just watch it from their couch on their 60" tv?

[George Bellefontaine]

I look and wait for the bargains now. I just pre-ordered Fool's Gold and 10,000 BC from Amazon Canada for $23 each, which is as good, if not better than the dvd price. I replace some of my collection with favorites if I see them at a bargain price. But no way am I gonna pay $35 to $40 ( mostly these are Fox and Sony titles ) for any disc. I will rent for now, and perhaps buy some of these over priced titles later when the price drops.

[impala454]

You mentioned that it costs about $40 to goto the movies(which is about right), but isn't it the experience that you're paying for?

Exactly, but the problem is that home experience and theater experience are converging all too quickly. People are getting some amazing equipment at home, while the theaters (at least those in my area) are going downhill fast. I had to leave my showing of Iron Man and sneak into another one because some idiot had the gain on one of the subwoofers so high that I thought shrapnel from the cone was going to hit me in the face every time a door shut. Not to mention I ended up with literally six kids behind me, who all were more interested in talking to each other and the one mom who'd taken them all to see Iron Man at 10:30PM. Throw in some crappy extremely overpriced food and my $40 experience is shot. We do have a couple of "adults only" theaters around which serve actual food, so the service and lack of kids is great, but then they're in crappy run down 8 screen non-stadium style seating. Basically I'm just not impressed with the movie theater experience anymore. If it was possible to purchase a blu-ray of a newly released movie at the same time it came out in the theater, hell I'd pay $60 for it.

I know when SW Episode II came out and I went to the theater to see it. Yoda came out for the final fight scene and pulled out his lightsaber, there was a few hundred of people in there cheering. That's an experience that you just can't get in any home theater.

I agree totally, I had the same thing and it was great. But this is really a very limited experience nowadays. It's not every day that a new Star Wars movie comes out.

Why do people goto concerts when they own the cd/dvd at home? Or why do people goto a ball game, when they can just watch it from their couch on their 60" tv?

I think this is a pretty different animal, as those two cases are live performance vs recorded/televised.

[H.T.C]

The theater experience is not what it used to be: sticky seats/noisypeople/cost of concession stand (where they make their money)/gas/forgot to change lenses on projector and they dont pay the projectionist a good fee and i dont believe a licence is required to become a professional projectionist anymore.

The unions are losing theaters at (least in CT) and they are a big part of the film experience

Drive-ins are gone because the owners can make more money selling it then to keep it open.

[Gremal]

Actually, going to a theater is always a drag for me. A parade of rude people and cell phones, gum, soda and popcorn stuck to the seats, constant talking, kicking, coughing. These are not just isolated events, but impact every film I see. When I saw Letters from Iwo Jima, a guy sitting next to my date let out the most disgusting series of farts at one of the most emotional, quiet moments of the film. When I saw Blackhawk Down in the theater several years ago, a lady brought her small child with her! This is not a film you show a kid.

The analogy to a live concert doesn't work for me. Especially since I'm into jazz and to me, music is about improvisation. Movies are about something else, something that can be captured on Blu-ray with the full emotional impact and quality of my experience in a theater.

[Dean McManis]

Personally, I was rooting for HD-DVD, and even though Blu-Ray "won" I have not gone out to buy a player yet. And one BIG reason for that is high media prices.
I remember paying $40+ (up to $120 for something like the Star Wars Trilogy set) on laserdisc. But at that time the only competition was VHS tapes, which were almost always full frame (read pan-and-scan cropped)
And generally MUCH poorer looking than laserdisc, especially on a bigger rear projection TV.

Blu Ray definitely looks better than regular DVD, but I've just moved beyond paying $30-$40 for any movie now, and it's not THAT much better.
With HD-Tivo I can record MANY movies in HD, and except for the newest movie titles I'm going to have most any movie that comes out on Blu Ray in regular DVD form (with over 1000 titles at home).
More importantly, my DVD collection reminds me of how limited the selection of Blu Ray titles are, after several years now.

So even though Sony is no doubt gloating that they won the HD format war, they still have to compete against the elephant in the room (regular DVDs) plus HD-DSS, and even online downloadable media. :T
Because keeping boutique pricing for high definition media will do nothing to help the sales of HD displays and peripherals.

[Dmantis]

I used to buy DVD movies every Tuesday. Then the War started and I didn't buy anything. I got into HD DVD first and gave it a run. It's a great format but the prices of movies was depressing. I hated spending 30+ for one movie. I like 19.99 and will pay it all day long. I only own about 15 HD movies. I own hundreds of DVD's

Same with Blu ray. I got about 16 movies and 5 of them where free. I rent more now then ever. Netflex. I would like to own alot of Blu ray titles I watched over the last few months but I don't want to spend the money.

If they lower the price of the movies, I will be back to buying them. Until then Netflex will keep getting my money.

[George Bellefontaine]

I watch for bargains on titles I want to own on Blu. Recent releases I bought from Amazon Canada ( Fool's Gold and 10,000BC ) were $23 while locally Blockbuster was asking $35 and Walmart wanted $33 for each.

[impala454]

I think the prices have pretty much gone down. I also see brand new releases on Amazon for $20-25. Heck even Iron Man is pre-ordering for under $30. It may still take a little longer for the B&M stores to catch up, but there's not that many out there that can't be had for less than $30, with tons of catalog titles dropping into the $10-20 range.

[Hdale85]

Well I don't believe B&M stores will ever catch up. They haven't with other things? Isn't that why a lot of us shop online? Good deals? Walmart sells new released DVD's for like 15 bucks usually the first week they are out. Thats where I used to always get DVD's until the HD formats came out. I haven't bought an HD disc in I don't know how long. Probably since the format war ended.

[Chris D]

I've been on a buying spree of HD dvd's as of late. I've been paying about $4 to $5 a movie.

Wow, dude, where have you been finding those? I'd like to buy a bunch, too.

I have bought very little lately for HD movies. High price tags do make the value much less. But I was in BB yesterday, and they have the "Over xxxxxxxx" series on BD now, the TV series that was on Discovery HD or whatever. So I picked up "Over Alaska" for $14 or something, which seems reasonable. Those series were the first HD products I saw that were really, really stunning and worthwhile to watch.

[impala454]

I'm just waiting for some movies worth a crap to come out... last few weeks have been BORING. I mean, looking at the release list, I don't see anything I'll personally buy until July 29th when the Jack Ryan series comes out. Batman Begins and The Mummy 1&2 are noteable until then, but I already have those on HD-DVD so I won't be rebuying. The last one I bought was National Treasure 2 back in May. I *might* rebuy transformers just to do the A/B w/HDDVD for giggles, but that's not until September. Will probably get Kill Bill 1&2 September 9th. So NT2, Jack Ryan series, Transformers, Kill Bill 1&2. That's eight blu-rays I will have bought between may and September. And I'm an A/V nutjob.

They really need to get their act together and start pumpin out catalog titles people want, like Star Wars, LOTR, Back to the Future, Star Trek 2,4,6,8, etc.

p.s. I would also like to know where the $5 HD DVDs are

[Charles]

inetvideo.com has some $6.00 HD DVD's, but high shipping unless you purchase several.

[Russ L]

Considering that if you wait a year or so after initial release the price drops even more for regular DVD. Its still my choice. Bought Planet Terror (2007)and Deathproof (2007) for $12.50 each. DVD "looks" 8O a whole lot better price wise. -Russ

[Dean McManis]

inetvideo.com has some $6.00 HD DVD's, but high shipping unless you purchase several.

Thanks for the tip Charles. I bought 4 HD-DVD movies for $37 including shipping.
The shipping price was indeed high at $11, but in the end the as-shipped price was about $9 ea to my door for 4 movies that I wanted to own in HD. :T

[Chris D]

Thanks for the tip, I'll go check them out.

As for BD, I saw that MIB came out, so I might pick that one up. Gonna wait on most others.

[Gremal]

Thanks for the tip, I'll go check them out.

As for BD, I saw that MIB came out, so I might pick that one up. Gonna wait on most others.

MIB is among the $14 BDs on sale this weekend at Fry's.