Amazon.ca Blu-ray Deals!

[googooboodoo]

Video Services Corp struck a deal with Kino Lorber last fall to handle distribution of their home video titles in Canada, along with some of their theatrical titles.

[cfraser]

^ Yup, some very good deals there, but do due diligence as KL is very spotty re PQ, they usually do zero cleanup of source elements (tons of spots/flecks, sometimes even film splices!). They rarely (never?) use 50GB discs, and compression artifacts aren't usually a problem except when the film is much over 2 hours, when they seem to be a big problem with KL, so watch for that. IMO/E.

I picked up a few more of their titles. [I wish eOne had as remotely as good a deal with Crit as VSC apparently has with KL re pricing...]

[uther]

Originally Posted by cfraser

^ Yup, some very good deals there, but do due diligence as KL is very spotty re PQ, they usually do zero cleanup of source elements (tons of spots/flecks, sometimes even film splices!).

That's a plus for Kino, warts and all transfers is a hell of lot better then DNR & EE slapped on a already done master to make it 'clean'. Unless you want Kino to charge sky high prices to pay for a frame-by-frame by hand restoration that is.

[Rhylliam]

Yeah it looks like a lot of the Kino Lorber lower end titles. Too bad the Kino slipbox classics aren't a part of the deal. Picking up Needful Things.

Dial M for Murder 3D is $7.25 right now.

[St.ylo]

Originally Posted by cfraser

Anybody else order Criterion's The Thin Red Line recently? If so, take a look at it carefully if you haven't opened it yet, JIC.

I'm going to be on my third copy, the first two have been very clearly crushed to the point the case is broken along the whole top edge. It's hard to notice at first because it's right along the top-to-front bend in the plastic; a little squeeze and it becomes obvious...this is a multi-inch long break, not a crack. These copies were shipped in different packaging, which was undamaged, so it happened before shipping. Without getting into my usual long song and dance details, because of other observations I suspect there are more of these, so take a look.

I ordered mine somewhat recently. It wasn't crushed or anything like you're describing, but unfortunately there was a tiny hole poked in the artwork, in the back IIRC. I didn't send it back, though.

[uther]

Originally Posted by Rhylliam

Yeah it looks like a lot of the Kino Lorber lower end titles. Too bad the Kino slipbox classics aren't a part of the deal. Picking up Needful Things.

Some in the list are obscure, some are regarded as instant classics and some are mediocre and a few are Oscar winners.

[St.ylo]

Originally Posted by Rhylliam

Yeah it looks like a lot of the Kino Lorber lower end titles. Too bad the Kino slipbox classics aren't a part of the deal. Picking up Needful Things.

Dial M for Murder 3D is $7.25 right now.

Agreed; I've been looking for Birth of a Nation, some Fritz Lang stuff, etc, but the prices are pretty bad on Amazon.ca

At least I grabbed Nosferatu and Metropolis when they were at $20-ish.

[rabbit]

thought to share low price point for a wwe title
http://www.amazon.ca/Wwe-2013-Royal-...al+rumble+2013

[uther]

Saw some new lows (from what I can tell) for WB and Universal classics:

$8.25
Point Blank
Sorcerer
The Name of the Rose
Lolita
The Shining
Sunset Boulevard

$10.25
Little Shop of Horrors: Director's Cut [Blu-ray Book]

$10.49
Silent Running
Journey to the Far Side of the Sun

[zeze]

Originally Posted by rabbit

thought to share low price point for a wwe title
http://www.amazon.ca/Wwe-2013-Royal-...al+rumble+2013

Thanks got one.

[cfraser]

Originally Posted by St.ylo

I ordered mine somewhat recently. It wasn't crushed or anything like you're describing, but unfortunately there was a tiny hole poked in the artwork, in the back IIRC. I didn't send it back, though.

Yours must have been higher up in the pile i.e. you ordered yours before I did. Mine have heavily "embossed" (all over) covers almost to the point of puncture too. But the cases have 3" long cracks in them, and chunks missing, so back they go. This was done before shrinkwrapping i.e. during manufacturing, the shrink is unblemished. Crit's fault, not amazon's. I am certain there are a lot more of these from the same batch that went out during the price error and sale, based on other evidence I haven't mentioned. Mentioning it JIC people didn't open theirs yet, harder to exchange then.
The problem is, amazon will only replace an item once now, policy. The second time is an "exception", requires "higher approval", and they hold "exceptions" against you. Even though it's not your/my fault.

Edit: third copy is in my mailbox now, and I'm not hopeful. Would rather have waited for a new "batch", but I can't wait long, they want these ones back right away, and for obvious reasons I don't like sending bad copies back until I get a good copy ("Radio Shack syndrome").

[cfraser]

Originally Posted by uther

That's a plus for Kino, warts and all transfers is a hell of lot better then DNR & EE slapped on a already done master to make it 'clean'. Unless you want Kino to charge sky high prices to pay for a frame-by-frame by hand restoration that is.

I was saying what I did for those who may not be familiar, and who might expect a Crit/TT/Arrow/Eureka type of BD. I'm OK with the quality for the current sort of price. Let's just say a perfect quality match for VSC...

Fact is, most of these transfers are still better than what I probably saw in the theater, back in the day prints in "second-tier" theaters (most in Ottawa back then lol) were often quite crappy after a while.

There are actually some very good titles on KL, so good that's it's hard to believe they're not on a mainstream label. I guess KL got licensed them partly because of the cleanup the biggies may have deemed necessary but wouldn't spring for.

[murphywmm]

KL has definitely been pumping out the catalog titles at a significant rate. I've been quite happy with everything I've purchased from them before, and I love that they use the original poster artwork for their covers. It's good Amazon is having these great sales, as $30 is too much for each one separately. Now that most of the major studios are getting out of releasing deep catalog product on BD, we'll see more smaller labels like KL making up for it.

[Darkspecter]

Originally Posted by Rhylliam

Yeah it looks like a lot of the Kino Lorber lower end titles. Too bad the Kino slipbox classics aren't a part of the deal. Picking up Needful Things.

Dial M for Murder 3D is $7.25 right now.

Where is Dial M for Murder 3D on sale at that price? The cheapest I can find it for on Amazon.ca is $29.99.

[Habsfan77]

Originally Posted by Darkspecter

Where is Dial M for Murder 3D on sale at that price? The cheapest I can find it for on Amazon.ca is $29.99.

Unfortunately the price went back up. It was at $7.25 only for a few hours.

[uther]

Originally Posted by cfraser

I was saying what I did for those who may not be familiar, and who might expect a Crit/TT/Arrow/Eureka type of BD.

That is a myth thoroughly debunked in other sub-forum threads where such complaints belong. The titles in the price drop are MGM property and only MGM does the masters not Kino and MGM does not allow others to make the master which includes TT (never makes a master), Arrow, Eureka and yes includes Criterion.

None of the major studios allow the independents to make their own masters with the exception of a very few allowed to Criterion. If Crit/TT/Arrow/Eureka got the MGM deal Kino got the BDs would look the same unless they decided to plaster DNR & EE on the transfer.

The claim that Criterion's are 'clean' is also a myth, the Criterion BDs are the dirtiest with many titles having lots of spots/flecks and print flaws. Criterion wisely chooses not to do a 'cleanup' of already done masters nor on it's own masters because that would far more degrade the pq then improve it. Criterion cannot afford to do frame-by-frame by hand restoration either without raising it's prices a lot more.

[Darkspecter]

Originally Posted by Habsfan77

Unfortunately the price went back up. It was at $7.25 only for a few hours.

Awww. That blows. Silly work and junk. lol

[uther]

Originally Posted by Habsfan77

Unfortunately the price went back up. It was at $7.25 only for a few hours.

I hope amazon does not consider it a price error. Guess my hope of seeing Vincent Price's House of Wax at a similar price soon is in vain.

[cfraser]

Originally Posted by uther

That is a myth thoroughly debunked ...etc.

I am not promoting any "myth". Go back to any of those threads and there's a good chance you'll see me saying exactly what you did. Crit has put out some terrible garbage ever since the laserdisc days (and I mean it was known as lousy when it was current, not just in modern terms) and just very recently I know you read (since you similarly jumped on it) where I was promoting other brands who use the exact same transfers as Crit does, for a fraction of the price.

But the mentioned "boutique" labels often have extras, and almost always they don't cram onto a 25GB disc. For KL I notice a distinct correlation between PQ and movie length, regardless of what reviewers may say about PQ. IOW, the shorter movies on KL discs almost always look noticeably much better than the longer ones. Can't help the source flaws though, I'm talking PQ of what we get, looking around the warts.

But then, I started off saying to do due diligence. I don't buy the ones that are almost certainly going to be crappy (e.g. a 160 minute 1.85 movie on a 25GB disc). I leave it at that, every one of those "good" brands I mention has some real clunkers too. But I didn't associate them all with MGM (just Crit and TT), and that explains a lot. MGM is the (ex-) major studio who least got into home video of any type, even their DVDs were notoriously spotty, with some high points, often when another biggie got the license.

Edit: apologies for being nasty, everybody has their own reasons for saying what they say, I shouldn't judge... We're all here to get a "good deal" and the things people say are meant to help others get a good experience/deal, it does take a bit of experience sometimes. What one person thinks of as "very good" another with different experience might say is pretty crappy.

[Habsfan77]

Originally Posted by uther

I hope amazon does not consider it a price error. Guess my hope of seeing Vincent Price's House of Wax at a similar price soon is in vain.

I don't think it is a price error. Contrary to the recent Criterion price error, it is a blu-ray from a major studio so it is more likely to be discounted at that price. Also, the price history of "Dial M for Murder" shows that it has already been on sale at $12 before.