Fright Night (1985) (30th Anniversary Edition) (Limited Edition) - SOLD OUT

[Page14]

Originally Posted by brasil

No joke. Hurry only 2 available.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fright-Night...item418da0b426

Wow, free shipping too!

[Brent L.]

Originally Posted by brasil

No joke. Hurry only 2 available.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fright-Night...item418da0b426

I sent an offer for $39.95 and it was instantly accepted!!!

[Cliff]

Originally Posted by octagon

Blu-ray is already about halfway to sticking around as long as laserdisc, isn't it? And chances are pretty good BD's got more than a few years left in it.

And BD household penetration is what? Twenty or more times higher than laserdisc's high water mark of 2% household penetration?

I dunno, this 'suicide race to the bottom' seems to be at least as sustainable as laserdisc and from a consumer standpoint it's pretty freaking awesome. There's a great selection, more are coming every day and titles have never been more affordable.

And yet we have a fraction of the titles we had on LD. The second half of the LD lifecycle was all about remasters and widescreen reissues. Blu-ray has NO SUPPORT for that. We're still waiting for fairly major titles to still get released. Where's Real Genius, or Midnight Run, or Death Becomes Her, or Over the Hedge, or Team America, or Charlies Angels Full Throttle, or Bad Boys II, or True Lies and The Abyss, or Panic Room, or Iron Giant, or Splash, or Cocoon:The Return, or LA Story, or Jaws 2...

For as many titles as you think make it this "great selection" (and it is), there are MAAAAAANY more titles still unreleased. LD didn't have that problem.

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by Cliff

And yet we have a fraction of the titles we had on LD. The second half of the LD lifecycle was all about remasters and widescreen reissues. Blu-ray has NO SUPPORT for that. We're still waiting for fairly major titles to still get released. Where's Real Genius, or Midnight Run, or Death Becomes Her, or Over the Hedge, or Team America, or Charlies Angels Full Throttle, or Bad Boys II, or True Lies and The Abyss, or Panic Room, or Iron Giant, or Splash, or Cocoon:The Return, or LA Story, or Jaws 2...

For as many titles as you think make it this "great selection" (and it is), there are MAAAAAANY more titles still unreleased. LD didn't have that problem.

Yes, I'm still waiting for quite a few of those to be released. Of course, Sony already released Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, on Blu-ray, internationally so I've already picked that one up.

[Cliff]

Originally Posted by rdodolak

Yes, I'm still waiting for quite a few of those to be released. Of course, Sony already released Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, on Blu-ray, internationally so I've already picked that one up.

Yeah, Team America and Death Becomes Her are also available elsewhere, but when they're done and STILL not released here, you know there's a problem.

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by Cliff

Yeah, Team America and Death Becomes Her are also available elsewhere, but when they're done and STILL not released here, you know there's a problem.

But why is it just the NA market. A lot of the titles released internationally, but not in NA, aren't priced much, in any, different then what they would be priced here.

I might be wrong but it seems Sony is the worst offender when it comes to this practice; probably because they've stopped releasing, for the most part, catalog titles in NA. Universal and Paramount do it too, but not to the same extent, and a good amount of the Universal releases eventually find their way here, even if it takes a few years.

[Clark Kent]

With the recent problems between Sony and North Korea over The Interview, hell will freeze over before we see Team America: World Police get released again.

[Cliff]

Originally Posted by rdodolak

But why is it just the NA market. A lot of the titles released internationally, but not in NA, aren't priced much, in any, different then what they would be priced here.

I might be wrong but it seems Sony is the worst offender when it comes to this practice; probably because they've stopped releasing, for the most part, catalog titles in NA. Universal and Paramount do it too, but not to the same extent, and a good amount of the Universal releases eventually find their way here, even if it takes a few years.

But they're different divisions... international services (sometimes) the rest of the world. One disc authored to be sold in 30 different countries. It's the reason why Disney have Aladdin and 101 Dalmatians already released overseas while they remain unreleased here. What a studio does internationally has little to do with what they do domestically. It doesn't make much sense (logically or economically) but it's the way they run. Ask yourself, why would Paramount author and release Team America (region free) for overseas and then not release it here. It's essentially finished, except it's not part of the domestic release plan. It's just different parts of the company in charge of different decisions.

[grrrarg]

Originally Posted by brasil

$1,000 Fright Night on EBAY

I checked out the listing... "Get it now (for $1,000) before the prices skyrocket again."



Someone needs to offer the full $1,000 per unit, but only if the seller can come up with 5000 copies.

[Petey Parker]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

With the recent problems between Sony and North Korea over The Interview, hell will freeze over before we see Team America: World Police get released again.

I thought that at first too but since the "terror attacks" against theaters showing The Interview proved to be a load of crap (which any sane person knew would be the case), I doubt that would prevent it from coming out. If anything Paramount should jump on the bandwagon and release it as soon as possible.

[Talyn]

Originally Posted by ScorpionReleasing

Lserdiscs survived for about 21 years, if memory serves me correct.

My collection remains my proudest of the formats that I have....

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Cliff

And yet we have a fraction of the titles we had on LD.

What is that fraction? 1/10? 1/2? 2/3? 3/4?

How many unique titles have been released on LD and BD respectively?

And where can one find that information?

And while we're on the subject, how many of the unique titles released on LD but not BD have HD-ready source materials available? It seems to me that format changes have something of a built-in filter that reduces the number of available titles. When 4K (or UHD or whatever it's called) finally hits the streets there will be relatively fewer titles available at least in part because there will be fewer titles with source materials that can support a 4K release.

That's just part of the deal, isn't it?

Originally Posted by Cliff

The second half of the LD lifecycle was all about remasters and widescreen reissues. Blu-ray has NO SUPPORT for that.

Well, there's no support for widescreen reissues because there's virtually no need for them. With very few exceptions - mostly TV shows - studios and distributors have been very responsible with regard to aspect ratio.

As for remasters, I would argue that studios and distributors have been pretty disciplined there too. We're almost nine years in and we're not really seeing a lot of shovelware. Sure, we see recycled early generation HD masters but by and large even those are pretty decent. Do I want a better Goodfellas release? Sure, I'd love one. But the existing release is pretty good.

And the most glaring exception - Universal's penchant for overdoing noise reduction - isn't a function of the marketplace, it's a philosophical decision on Universal's part. If BD had been a niche product from the start would Universal be more prone to doing frame-by-frame cleanup rather than twiddling a few dials and calling it a day? I dunno, but that doesn't seem likely to me.

Originally Posted by Cliff

We're still waiting for fairly major titles to still get released.

Sure, that's frustrating but for me this is a reasonable trade-off. Perhaps if BD was treated from the start as a niche premium product we would see a larger selection of catalog titles by now. I'm not convinced that would have been the case but let's say it would have been. The flip side to that is I wouldn't own nearly as many titles.

Last night I had a blast watching Ice Station Zebra. Good movie, fantastic transfer...it felt like I was watching it for the first time all over again. And if that disc had cost forty or sixty or eighty bucks I wouldn't have even considered buying it. I would have just watched it on TCM or something.

If getting Ice Station Zebra for twelve or thirteen bucks or whatever it was means I have to wait a little (or even a lot) longer for The Marx Brothers or The Thin Man then so be it.

That's a trade I'm willing to make. Hell, it's a trade I'm happy to make.

[Maggot]

Originally Posted by Cliff

Ahhhh... a man with a brain. People would be shocked at how low some of these titles are selling. There are MAJOR titles from big studios that have sold in the THOUSANDS WORLDWIDE. I'm not talking 50,000 or 60,000... numbers like 15,000- WORLDWIDE. There is a major shift happening and people should start getting used to more licensing deals that may have limited/premium pricing ramifications. A lot of us have been screaming it for a while (hell, I was saying it in 2005 before BD or HD-DVD was even released), but people just wanted to argue and sneer, not because it wasn't true, but because they didn't WANT it to be true.

I personally have not had a problem paying higher for something that is of better quality. But all too many times, Blu-ray has not been that resounding better quality promise. TT is only a symptom of the problem as I certainly wouldn't call it's transfers "all that" or worthy of their asking price. Blu-ray came out when the economy was in the dumps and still is. Then you also had the format war just like DVD-A and SACD. I know so many people who were never impressed with Blu-ray and CLEARLY the big jump in quality was from VHS to DVD. Blu-ray could never match that feat and in peoples eyes, in a poor economy, DVD is enough. Part of being never impressed was the fact studios didn't put the money required into Blu-ray. With some exceptions getting deluxe treatment that should have happened to every movie going out at this resolution, let alone now the talk of 4k.

I hear it all the time, DVD is good enough. Unless you are a movie lover/collector that will take whatever square inch of improvement you can get, the general quality or lack there of in so many Blu-ray releases is not enough for the general public compared to what they saw from VHS to DVD. People are more into getting a new smart phone every year or two then spending that on collecting movies, let along having to decide which type to get during a format war, let alone studios not putting their best foot forwards on quality, let alone the economy and the price that would be required to charge for a top notch product.

[rickah88]

Question: What is the fastest land mammal?

[wormraper]

Originally Posted by Cliff

The entire Blu-ray format should have been considered "premium" as it was originally intended. Laserdisc survived for decades as the "premium" format for collectors. It had a relatively small, but devoted customer based who purchased titles, new and old, every single week. Blu-ray could survive the same way, but it would have to do so with the premium pricing Laserdisc enjoyed. There were entire stores that survived with almost nothing but Laserdisc for YEARS... until the advent of DVD and it's race to the bottom pricing. Just because some people feel buying titles over $20 is exorbitant doesn't mean they are entitled to it lower. $400K for a Ferrari is probably considered exorbitant, but that doesn't mean Ferrari is obligated to sell all of their cars for $20,000. I've said it before, but it's still true- people wanted to enjoy the highest quality presentation home video had ever seen, but were also only willing to pay the lowest pricing home video had ever seen.

That's unsustainable.

lol, if it was intended to be premium it was abandoned REAL fast since they followed the same model as DVD, basically advertising it as the next EVOLUTION of physical media, aka the replacement for a "dying" format (which was supposed to be DVD). they came in at a HUGE loss in the world economy and was fighting against the rise of video games (which was pulling dramatically at the viable entertainment pool at the end of DVD's reign) and it must have become REALLY obvious that there was no way they could go after a premium format in that marketplace. they've struggled gaining a marketplace advantage as it is with going mass market... a premium label would have ended faster than SACD


and it doesn't help that they certainly didn't try and TREAT it as a premium format. a premium format would be up to date re-masters for EVERY title, premium packaging (not the cheap sh!tty cases we get now), multiple discs of special features and a great inserts etc... instead we get decades old masters, cheap cases, no special features, basically the quickest and dirtiest dump onto disc they can. now THAT is not worth a premium price. You want a premium price, do what Criterion does, what we get nowadays is worth chump change for the most part

oh, as for the consumer being "entitled". econ and business 101, if a company can't put out a product that the people will pay money for then their product doesn't deserve to exist in a free market. basically what the consumers want to pay, and what the produce wants to charge have to intersect on the graph somewhere or it's a non needed product. if the vast majority of people won't pay the price then quite literally the producer needs to drop the price or bow out. like I said, business 101 stuff here.

[#Darren]

Originally Posted by Cliff

Agreed... it was a joint studio/consumer murder/suicide. But let me ask you this... would you be willing to support 4K Blu-ray if the studios announced it with pricing in the $40-$60 range? If they really went after it and marketed/priced it in the same way they did in the LD days, as a true niche product that only was going to cater to the collector/enthusiast? Because that's the only way it's going to happen.

People who complain about Twilight Time are like the people in stores who complain because they're no longer getting some unintentional deal they'd been enjoying. They complain, "Well I've always paid next to nothing, so I'm offended that you've discovered your previous error." They don't enjoy and appreciate the deal they were inadvertently getting all this time and instead lock onto this entitlement they now feel. People shouldn't scowl at the occasional $30 title because they've been getting fantastic deals on nearly every OTHER title they buy. Just looking above, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure is currently selling on Amazon for $4.99. The &*CK(&@ DVD version is $6.59!!!!!!! In what world should that happen?

People shouldn't get pissed because Twilight Time titles are $30, they should be more grateful that all of the other titles AREN'T. Because they certainly could/might be eventually.

That's a big oversimplification. How often do you hear people scowl at the Criterion prices? Clearly there are other factors here.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by rickah88

Question: What is the fastest land mammal?

Blue.

No, yellow.

[wormraper]

Originally Posted by octagon

Blue.

No, yellow.

you've got it all wrong. it's Round...maybe even square

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by octagon

Blue.

No, yellow.

Originally Posted by wormraper

you've got it all wrong. it's Round...maybe even square

Wrong! It's A² + B² = C²

While I do enjoy the current conversation(about catalog titles being released via boutique labels), perhaps it should be moved to the regular TT thread....OR...someone could start a thread about it. I think we are seeing the paradigm shift in this regard, and I suspect it would be quite informative going forward.

I mean anyone looking for info about this BD, is about to slammed with several pages of industry jargon.

[Bk_Tan]

Originally Posted by wormraper

lol, if it was intended to be premium it was abandoned REAL fast since they followed the same model as DVD, basically advertising it as the next EVOLUTION of physical media, aka the replacement for a "dying" format (which was supposed to be DVD). they came in at a HUGE loss in the world economy and was fighting against the rise of video games (which was pulling dramatically at the viable entertainment pool at the end of DVD's reign) and it must have become REALLY obvious that there was no way they could go after a premium format in that marketplace. they've struggled gaining a marketplace advantage as it is with going mass market... a premium label would have ended faster than SACD


and it doesn't help that they certainly didn't try and TREAT it as a premium format. a premium format would be up to date re-masters for EVERY title, premium packaging (not the cheap sh!tty cases we get now), multiple discs of special features and a great inserts etc... instead we get decades old masters, cheap cases, no special features, basically the quickest and dirtiest dump onto disc they can. now THAT is not worth a premium price. You want a premium price, do what Criterion does.

oh, as for the consumer being "entitled". econ and business 101, if a company can't put out a product that the people will pay money for then their product doesn't deserve to exist in a free market. basically what the consumers want to pay, and what the produce wants to charge have to intersect on the graph somewhere or it's a non needed product. if the vast majority of people won't pay the price then quite literally the producer needs to drop the price or bow out. like I said, business 101 stuff here.

What does business 101 say about piracy and a generation of people growing up thinking music, movies, books, good writing (news) deserves to be free?

The government have been the slowest to react to this change, even slower than the industries themselves, because they still do nothing. Sony gets hacked and Obama and the FBI can't do shit but point the finger. There are no proper laws in place to tackle cybercrime and it is a cybercrime.

I find it hilarious how torrent sites act as if they're innocent when no one goes to torrent sites for anything but downloading everything for free.

Certainly, not every title can sell at a certain price point. If Disney, which they kind of already do, set their prices for their animated movies at a fixed band, people would still buy them but in varying quantities dependent on the perceived quality of each movie. I would say in this case a lot of the movies are unfairly painted as either better or worse than the rest by marketing, but Home on the Range certainly isn't going to sell a hundreth as many copies as Snow White at $25. Of course tiering releases, makes movies lose value too as the company is admitting certain ones are worth less than others, so they have to be careful.

However, whilst eventually movies like Rise of the Planet of the Apes, worth $3 or less now with Blu-Ray and Digital Copy to boot, may be able to command a demand at a limited distribution $30 price, Grown Ups 2 will never be able to. So, if they acknowledge which titles are just trash through and through with limited value, they know what they can let "slide". Currently, we are benefiting because they let almost every title hit near zero price points. That may be the only way to combat piracy now, but it's suicide for the future.