Oh noes teh sky is falling!

[kristoffer]

Within the last 6 months I have seen a clear decline in the status of the format. A lot of companies can't be bothered to put out a decent Blu-ray and among others WB has rereleased several old discs as "new" even though they uses the exact same transfer.
Case in Point: Interview with a Vampire and The Neverending Story fiasco.

At the same time the format still has a lot of films missing; The Abyss, True Lies and Panic Room spring to mind!
So my question is then: Is this the slow down before a 4K disc format or is this a trend that will continue until the disc format is dead?
I do not want only a Netflix version of all my favourite films because there is a clear difference in both video and audio quality. Discuss.
I sometimes find myself missing the great DVD days where all the studios went out of their way to produce great discs, a time where WB was a great DVD company!

[JNatoli01]

Originally Posted by kristoffer

Within the last 6 months I have seen a clear decline in the status of the format. A lot of companies can't be bothered to put a decent Blu Ray and among others WBs has rereleased several old discs new ones that uses the exact same transfer. Case in Point: Interview with a Vampire and The Neverending Story fiasco.

At the same time the format still has a lot of film missing; The Abyss, True Lies and Panic Room spring to mind!
So my question then is: Is this the slow down before a 4K disc format or is this a trend that will continue until the disc format is dead?
I do not want only a Netflix version of all my favourite films because there is a clear difference in both video and audio quality. Discuss.

I don't think it's dying, it has lost a lot of the pizzaz it had when it first came our. Catalogue titles should have came out when the format was new and they would have sold, studios are slowing down on catalogue releases because they weren't selling well in stores. Blu-ray 3D may be dying but blu-ray IMO still has a good lifespan left.

I still want my Bad Boys II!!

[SolidRaider]

No. Blu-ray sales still outnumber digital sales by 6 or 7 million.

[MifuneFan]

Warner has been doing re-releases using the same transfers for years now, it isn't a sign of anything. You have to realize that the majority of major AAA films have already been released, so now they're doing catalog releases that delve deeper and deeper into their libraries. I'd say releases probably peaked 2 years ago, and things have declined since, but this still is a fun time with all these catalog titles coming out that I thought would never see the light of day.

[Dragun]

How do DVD sales compare to Blu-Ray sales, especially with new releases of hit films?

[HD Goofnut]

No, it isn't dying. If anything it's been growing slightly over the last several years.

[PenguinMaster]

Originally Posted by Dragun

How do DVD sales compare to Blu-Ray sales, especially with new releases of hit films?

With new release action movies Blu-ray tends to outsell DVD (around 60% on Blu-ray). With new release dramas and comedies DVD outsells Blu-ray (20-30% on Blu-ray). Overall DVD continues to outsell Blu-ray by a 4 to 1 margin.

Regardless I wouldn't see lack of effort on catalog releases as a sign that Blu-ray is dying. At this point the vast majority of new release movies come out on Blu-ray and I expect that trend to continue.

[jarrod_inf]

I will always continue to spend my disposable income on physical media until it's officially dead or I'm dead.

[TheGentlemanBat]

Well, when the Blu-ray appears, I remember my best friend said to me he won't put his money in that new video standard because for him, it was dead before it was born. At that time, thought he was talking crap but given the recent evolution of the market (apart from England & Germany, it's no going so well in Europe lately), I start to believe he was maybe right. The VOD services are increasing everywhere, (big) studios produce less & less bonus material (feel exactly the same about DVD collector editions which were way better than what we've often got today) so even if the support probably won't die tomorrow, I'm a bit worried all the same...

Originally Posted by kristoffer

I do not want only a Netflix version of all my favourite films because there is a clear difference in both video and audio quality.

Me neither !

[Win Slow]

I wonder this to myself fairly often. Obviously, a major flaw was the price of Blu Ray's when they first came out. It was flat out absurd. I recall paying $30 a piece for my 1st few releases. Most of those films are all $15 or below now. I think the sharp decline in price has lead to somewhat of an acceptance by movie fans overall. One problem also has been the closing of alot of music/video stores so it's tough to find Blu Ray's in your local store, and even stores like Best Buy & Wal-Mart (at least in my neighborhood) have shrunk their blu ray displays and in most cases, combined them with their dvd displays so you have to really search through their stock. Luckily, it's really easy to order things on line and judging from the buzz over the Halloween blu set & the upcoming Sopranos blu set there is still def. a fan interest in this stuff but i do think when it comes to single releases in general; there is some lack of anticipation in comparison to complete sets of movies or shows.

[Cevolution]

Criterion ones seem to be

[Dylan34]

I don't believe blu-ray is dying. Sales are up on a whole like 10% vs last year or something close to that from what I've read. Sony should be out marketing it these days now that almost everyone has an HDTV.

[Member-222782]

Blu-ray as a format isn't dying, what's dying (or already dead) is the major studios' desire to do anything with their film libraries. Warner and Lionsgate are the only studios who are not willing to license titles beyond one or 2 exceptions. Everyone else has opened their vaults to let others handle their films, which is the best we're going to get before the changeover to streaming. Yes, there are many films that have not made the leap to HD yet and many of those I was hoping to see make that leap before we reached this quagmire. My personal wishlist isn't endless: The Abyss, True Lies, Breakdown, Jaws 2, The World, the Flesh & the Devil and a few others I'd like to see on BD but overall I'm very happy and think there's a lot more to look forward to, primarily from independent labels. We're still in the game

[jscoggins]

We have to keep things in perspective.

Blu-rays are probably selling at about the actual rate of people watching movies, whereas DVD sales far outpaced actual viewing rates. DVDs were a vast improvement over the way that movies were presented on VHS and LaserDisc. Therefore, people got the collector's bug and bought stuff that sat on their shelves for years, untouched.

Eventually, people stopped buying DVDs in large quantities when they realized that they rarely watched anything more than once or twice (and sometimes never!).

The same goes for online streaming collections. Yes, it's true, some people have VUDU or iTunes collections in the hundreds or thousands, but have they watched everything they've redeemed with free codes? No.

[Batmon77]

Originally Posted by Win Slow

I wonder this to myself fairly often. Obviously, a major flaw was the price of Blu Ray's when they first came out. It was flat out absurd. I recall paying $30 a piece for my 1st few releases. Most of those films are all $15 or below now. I think the sharp decline in price has lead to somewhat of an acceptance by movie fans overall. One problem also has been the closing of alot of music/video stores so it's tough to find Blu Ray's in your local store, and even stores like Best Buy & Wal-Mart (at least in my neighborhood) have shrunk their blu ray displays and in most cases, combined them with their dvd displays so you have to really search through their stock. Luckily, it's really easy to order things on line and judging from the buzz over the Halloween blu set & the upcoming Sopranos blu set there is still def. a fan interest in this stuff but i do think when it comes to single releases in general; there is some lack of anticipation in comparison to complete sets of movies or shows.

This is what has lead me to question fans at this site that BD is going take over, and BD players are going to become ubiquitous in households.

But we talk about this tri-monthly.

[GenPion]

Blu-ray is most certainly not dying. Even with the forthcoming 4K Blu-ray format, expect for Blu-ray to stick around. Though some studios would prefer it if all of us would just go completely digital and leave discs of all kinds behind, a lot of people still want physical copies and Blu-ray offers the best presentation possible.

I also think there have been a lot of major releases this year. Every year a lot of big titles are announced and released. At this point, some of those "major titles" are for works from lesser known filmmakers (i.e. no Star Wars or Alien sets to the same degree), but there's a huge well of great films and series still coming out on the format.

[Kirsty_Mc]

No.

[FrmPeru]

I wouldn't say it's dying, but I do see a sharp decline in the studio's give a damn about the quality of their physical media, be it CD, DVD or Blu-ray, maybe to them it's become an archaic medium where convenience trumps quality, we can see this in the build quality of most products we buy today, it's a shame because not just from a collector's point of view but a movie fan streaming currently can't beat the quality of a physical medium, and also the perceived value of actually holding in your hand what you just spent money on, while dedicated collectors like most of us are here are a limited few studios need to realize there is a big market for their discs, their packaging, their special features, hell I can list and list, you can't double dip a download, till I see steelbook downloads I don't see true collectors giving up our physical media and we'll continue to give it CPR till it's very last breath

[NeMo_ET]

The part that blows my mind is that we're looking at what...approx $20 for a new release for a digital copy on iTunes? I'll gladly pay the extra $5 to have a case, disc, etc. (which I might add comes with a digital copy sometimes). I've been a collector for years, first with DVDs and now with blu-ray. I like having all my cases on shelves, the artwork, something to hold. The only way I'd be enticed by the digital movies is if they were $5 instead of $25. Even then I would still miss having a physical copy!

[Chiefy]

It's not a good sign when studios cannot be bothered to start a TV series from the beginning (The Office, 24), or finish them, and instead complete them on DVD (Modern Family).