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Originally Posted by 50strat54
Well I'm going to be very honest here. I turned 60 this year and I remember a time when I couldn't own a movie or a television show. I recently bought Time Tunnel on DVD [no bluray release] and saw the Pearl Harbor episode. It's been 50 years since I've seen it. I only saw it on the original air date and possibly one rerun in the summer.
When VHS finally came in to existence I rented all my favorite movies [porn too!] and copied them to blank VHS tapes. Of course I had 2 machines!
Then the studios got wise and started putting copy guards on the films [but not Beta] but also the price went down. So I started buying the movies I really loved.
Moved to DVD which was even better.
Next Bluray which I was more reluctant to move into but now deeply ensconced in the format. If I own the DVD I'll wait for the movie to come down to $5-6.99.
If I've seen the movie on a screener or in the theater I'll wait until the price comes down to $10.
Most Special Editions [Digibook, bonus disc, steelbook] for a movie [especially super-hero] I'll buy day one and for Marvel always pre-order [learned my lesson on getting aced out on release day]
But to be very very honest I rarely watch all of the special features. I'm glad I got them but there is just not enough time in the day.
With films and music after all the bonus tracks, bonus features etc, I've reverted back to when I was a kid. I'm most interested in just the film itself. Yes I love Mr. Smith Goes To Washington and I bought the special edition digibook but I've so far only watched the movie. Big fan of Bruce Springsteen but I've barely listened to all those new River outtakes. It was much more exciting getting bootlegs and tapes when it was all underground.
And Elvis Costello...it's just tooooo much!
Give me This Year's Model [US or UK] and I'm now just happy with that.
Ben-Hur? Yeah I got the big bluray box but I only watched a few of the special features but have seen the movie twice already, incredible transfer.
So I collect because I'm a collector. Even though I thought Batman V Superman was average I still bought all three Special releases [Steelbook, Digibook and Graphic Novel]. I can afford more blurays because I no longer buy any music. I've hit a wall with music and I have everything I'm ever going to want or love.
Both my brother and sister no longer buy anything. Just stream both movies and music. My college roommate same thing...streaming.
I on the other hand will continue to buy blurays. I just bought: True Grit Steelbook, Horse Soldiers, McQ, Rio Bravo [on a Duke kick], Arlington Road, Blood Work, People Like Us and Atonement all catalog at $5 and $5.99.
With music I've seen some collectable titles go sky high. When that happens, I transfer to itunes and sell it. Sold off most of my Prince vinyl and CDs recently at a very good profit [couldn't let go of my Dirty Mind original promo vinyl with the airplay warning stickers]. I have everything on itunes. I'm happy with that.
FYI, My music collection dwarfs my video collection but I've stopped collecting music.
Can I mention my biggest recent score? It's Physical Media...DVD!! I bought the Emmy 2016 Netflix boxes [3 out of the 4 boxes but I could have gotten the 4th but nothing in it interested me]. No courtesy crawls on any for the DVDs: Jessica Jones, Daredevil Season 2 complete, Kimmy Schmidt Season 2 complete. The Netflix Keith Richards and Nina Simone Documentaries. House Of Cards Season 4. I paid less than $2.00 per season.
I don't subscribe to Netflix so getting Jessica Jones was a real coup. So far there is no release date set for Daredevil S2 or Jessica Jones. Guess Netflix has a hold on them for a certain amount of time. Apparently Daredevil S1 is coming out in the UK, possibly US in the fall.
If you live in Los Angeles there is a ton of Emmy screeners everywhere but the Netflix boxes are the best because they give you the entire season with no crawl. I bought 11/22/63 but there is a courtesy crawl through every episode and it's going to be released soon anyway but the price was right.
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I'm 50 years old and I'm also only interested in the movie itself. I also can't stand movies that differ from the theatrical release, like extended editions and director's cut and alternate endings. I loathe that kind of revisionist crap. As for bonus features, I can't recall ever watching one. My favorite Blu-Rays are those without bonus features and those that automatically play the movie, like the Matrix. I like a simple menu like my Australian release of Thunderbolt and Lightfoot and Race with the Devil. I want all the disc space to go towards a higher quality movie without the nonsense and frustrating menus. I believe all Blu-Rays should by default start playing on their own, allow the skipping of previews if present, and have a simple menu that seniors can also manage. Then there could be a hidden second menu for more advanced features for those inclined to enjoy that stuff.
I'd be very careful on waiting on some Blu-Rays as unlike DVD limited releases are much more common and you may end up not being able to find it ever again or cheaply. Sometimes you just have to pay full price before it's too late. Plus, we're not getting any younger and healthier. I don't wait much for things anymore. I could be dead tommorow.
If you think Ben Hur is incredible, and it is, watch Patton (remastered version) and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Both are also 70mm movies but show even better quality, in my opinion.
I'm also all digital downloads for music, mostly from iTunes and a few from Amazon. Also very happy with the quality and convenience. I also have all my DVDs ripped to my Mac on an external drive and conveniently play them to my Apple TVs in the living room and bedroom. So wonderfully convenient. Not practical to do the same for Blu-Ray at this time. File sizes will be the same as on the Blu-Ray disc, unlike with ripped DVDs, so they would take a long time to rip and would take up a lot of drive space for primary and backup drives.
I've pretty much bought most of the Blu-Ray movies I want, most of which are older movies. Not a fan of today's movies and there are now so many foreigner actors in American movies that's it's a really upsetting turn off. Most of my movies are from the 60s-90s. What I really want now is old TV series in Blu-Ray, mostly from the 70s-80s. Most of them are only available in DVD. It's frustrating because I have seen how good they can look on Netflix, such as Quincy and Emergency.