Blockbuster Rental Blu-Rays

[werewuf]

I rented "Where the Wild Things Are" last Friday and "The Blind Side" yesterday from Blockbuster. The discs are imprinted with the word "Rental" on them and there are no supplemental extras of any kind (No "making of" etc.)
When did they start this ridiculous practice? I also rented "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" and that disc had supplements. What's up with these rental discs?

[Batman1980]

It's just a recently innovated practice by studios, to release a movie-only copy to renters, it's an attempt to get people to buy the actual movie.

[ArmyOfDarknessAW]

With what studios keeps doing with rentals makes me think there next step is to rent out the first 30 minutes of a movie so if you get into it you have to buy it. J/K but that would really suck.

[werewuf]

This is the dumbest thing I have ever heard, is this a Blockbuster thing? Or a studio thing? If it's a Blockbuster thing, I will rent from the local mom & pop video store and not have to go through this again......

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by ArmyOfDarknessAW

With what studios keeps doing with rentals makes me think there next step is to rent out the first 30 minutes of a movie so if you get into it you have to buy it. J/K but that would really suck.

Actually what I think is going to happen is you're only going to get to rent it in parts, so not just the first 30 minutes but rather 30-45 minutes per rental. That'll get people to stop renting, hope I'm wrong of course.

[ArmyOfDarknessAW]

Originally Posted by werewuf

This is the dumbest thing I have ever heard, is this a Blockbuster thing? Or a studio thing? If it's a Blockbuster thing, I will rent from the local mom & pop video store and not have to go through this again......

Its a studio made up thing but my local video stores seem to all get the retail versions so Blockbuster must buy the rental version to save $.

[cmcclure16]

Originally Posted by werewuf

This is the dumbest thing I have ever heard, is this a Blockbuster thing? Or a studio thing? If it's a Blockbuster thing, I will rent from the local mom & pop video store and not have to go through this again......

It's a studio thing. Netflix does it too.

[ArmyOfDarknessAW]

Originally Posted by Wolverine1980

Actually what I think is going to happen is you're only going to get to rent it in parts, so not just the first 30 minutes but rather 30-45 minutes per rental. That'll get people to stop renting, hope I'm wrong of course.

I dont rent very much but that would sure as hell make me never rent again.

[threefiftyrocket]

I've seen it predominantly with WB discs... as if Warner hasn't done enough to drive movie theaters and rental chains out of business...

[ArmyOfDarknessAW]

Originally Posted by threefiftyrocket

I've seen it predominantly with WB discs... as if Warner hasn't done enough to drive movie theaters and rental chains out of business...

Warner

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by ArmyOfDarknessAW

Warner

Disney and Fox do it too so don't think this is exclusive to Warner Brothers.

[ArmyOfDarknessAW]

Originally Posted by Wolverine1980

Disney and Fox do it too so don't think this is exclusive to Warner Brothers.

I think i remember Fox started the idea but remember Warner is the one with the 28 day embargo on new releases cant say that for the other studios.

[fatediesel]

I believe Fox was the first to have rental discs, they started last year with Slumdog Millionaire, and screwed up and were selling some of the rental versions to retailers.

Originally Posted by ArmyOfDarknessAW

Its a studio made up thing but my local video stores seem to all get the retail versions so Blockbuster must buy the rental version to save $.

Your local store is probably buying their discs through a retailer like Wal-Mart rather than from a wholesaler. The only downside with doing it this way is you have to wait until release date to get the discs but it can be cheaper if the store is selling discs below cost (which is often the case to get people into the store).

[ArmyOfDarknessAW]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

I believe Fox was the first to have rental discs, they started last year with Slumdog Millionaire, and screwed up and were selling some of the rental versions to retailers.



Your local store is probably buying their discs through a retailer like Wal-Mart rather than from a wholesaler. The only downside with doing it this way is you have to wait until release date to get the discs but it can be cheaper if the store is selling discs below cost (which is often the case to get people into the store).

Yeah i thought it was them that started it. I would be incredibly pissed to purchase at a place like Target just to get home and pop in a rental disc.

[toef]

I think it makes perfect sense. If you want to see the movie, go rent the movie.

People who watch special features tend to really enjoy the particular movie, in which case they might as well buy it.

It's not really a major loss for anyone, except maybe Blockbuster, because I'll no longer buy the pre-viewed movies there that they sell.

Instead of thinking of it as a way to rip off renters, think of it as a way to give bonuses to people who buy the movie. Makes sense to me.

[horror4life245]

It's the same with Netflix.

I got The Box yesterday. (Pretty crappy movie by the way, great story, but not well executed). Anyways, it had only grey art on the disc and said "RENTAL" at the bottom of the disc.
When I put the disc into my player I couldn't skip or fast-forward through ANY of the trailers leading to the main menu (which I've never had on a Blu-Ray, I've always been able to AT LEAST fast forward). The main menu was plain and only had PLAY MOVIE and LANGUAGES, not even a scene selection option...Pathetic....
I know it's not Netflix's fault, but still annoys me.
If the movie is crap, I'm not buying it, extras won't make me buy the movie.

[krazeyeyez]

I am surprised blockbuster would do that...

The highest percentage source of income in rental business is PRP, as they have already recouped the cost and its pure profit. You would think this would severely hurt that area of their business plan.

Thanks for the heads up on this as i buy quite a bit of stuff used so at least i know to look out for these "rental' copies.

[hardtosayx]

Considering all I do is watch the movie I don't really care. But I guess it's a way for them to keep people from stealing the movies and try to sell them. It'll be pretty obvious if it says rental and has nothing extra on it. And also to make people buy the actual movie.

[jdub]

I rent from Blockbuster frequently and I started noticing this new practice a couple weeks ago. To be honest it doesn't bother me. I won't buy any used disc from blockbuster anymore but for the most part I don't care what is on the disc label and I very rarely watch the special features. The movies I buy and love I watch the special features. I think that most people who are renting movies could really care less. When I ask people if they watch special features I just get this weird look and they run away real fast

If I was to be mad it would probably be at red box. Since that business model started there has been a lot of changes for rentals. But they seem to thrive so I guess the rest of us just have to deal with the changes or don't!

[ridergroov1]

Originally Posted by toef

I think it makes perfect sense. If you want to see the movie, go rent the movie.

People who watch special features tend to really enjoy the particular movie, in which case they might as well buy it.

It's not really a major loss for anyone, except maybe Blockbuster, because I'll no longer buy the pre-viewed movies there that they sell.

Instead of thinking of it as a way to rip off renters, think of it as a way to give bonuses to people who buy the movie. Makes sense to me.

I'm with you on this. Makes sense to me. I would just get pissed if they started making these rental versions without the HD Audio track for instance. That would make me pissed but this "rental" disc makes perfect sense.