The Game (1997) From Arrow

[Killer Meteor]

Originally Posted by Darby1985

Been quite a while since I've seen such seemingly universally negative reaction to an Arrow announcement!

Even OCD collectors have their limits!

[DefLeppard]

Originally Posted by Darby1985

Been quite a while since I've seen such seemingly universally negative reaction to an Arrow announcement!

Yeah! since Waterworld release? Ah well.. if only it were a C release with big cap C over the upper left corner of cover ..

[rapta]

In two minds about this...would love to finally get the Criterion restoration of The Game, but £35? Not sure. £25, maybe even £30 you might have convinced me, but this is steep.

[KJones77]

I already have the Criterion release. Not feeling the need to double dip, especially with that price. 35 is absurd.

[Agent Kay]

Bought and bought hard, and I own 4 copies on BD already.

[johnpaul2]

Originally Posted by DefLeppard

Yeah! since Waterworld release? Ah well.. if only it were a C release with big cap C over the upper left corner of cover ..

It's not a branding issue, but a pricing one. If it was £30 with a £25 Early Bird price, most people would be happy about it and overlook how the extras are included. But at a £40-35 price, it's not at all the same discussion, especially since Arrow has released over past years LEs with more content yet a lower price.

It's hard not to look at it and find the price / content ratio easy to swallow.

[Agent Kay]

Originally Posted by johnpaul2

It's not a branding issue, but a pricing one. If it was £30 with a £25 Early Bird price, most people would be happy about it and overlook how the extras are included. But at a £40-35 price, it's not at all the same discussion, especially since Arrow has released over past years LEs with more content yet a lower price.

It's hard not to look at it and find the price / content ratio easy to swallow.

The extras are a rights issue, and the BD has new extras

[DefLeppard]

Originally Posted by johnpaul2

It's not a branding issue, but a pricing one. If it was £30 with a £25 Early Bird price, most people would be happy about it and overlook how the extras are included. But at a £40-35 price, it's not at all the same discussion, especially since Arrow has released over past years LEs with more content yet a lower price.

It's hard not to look at it and find the price / content ratio easy to swallow.

I get the price point issue but how often we see the new releases selling on its RRP by street date? Sure it will be reduced by then?

[malcy30]

Originally Posted by DefLeppard

I get the price point issue but how often we see the new releases selling on its RRP by street date? Sure it will be reduced by then?

This price though isn't an RRP, that will be higher.
It's the price Arrow themselves and Zavvi are selling it for (Zavvi do tend to be expensive for Arrow).

I can't see though Amazon or HMV going much below £25 to £30 giving those prices.

[Faker74]

Do all arrow's limited editions eventually get released as a one disc standard version? If so, what is the typical time scale for the release of a standard edition?

I have wanted a decent blu ray of The Game for a long time and don't have a multi-region player, so the Criterion version was not an option for me.

I already have the DVD and the book wouldn't be enough to justify the price point for me.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by DefLeppard

Yeah! since Waterworld release? Ah well.. if only it were a C release with big cap C over the upper left corner of cover ..

Don't talk rubbish. I had the Criterion BD, I sold the Criterion BD. It's not about labels, it's about the fact that this 2K transfer has been out there for years on both Criterion and Universal BD (the Universal cost me £6!) so some people MIGHT just own it already, and Arrow have just gussied it up with a smattering of new extras, a slipcase, a "monograph" and an old DVD for the extant extras. Heck, I actually put that DVD into the BD case years ago so I'm already halfway there to making my own Deluxe Edition™

[johnpaul2]

Originally Posted by Agent Kay

The extras are a rights issue, and the BD has new extras

Still, it doesn't change the final product : it's unusually expensively placed for a release with less contents than many of Arrow's cheaper priced LEs. For instance, Beyond The Door and Fear and Loathing in LV are £25, while some like The Prey or The Mutilator were £18.
Even The Apartment and its 150 pages book was £25 (but the book had very little text).

While I understand how it is what it is, it still has an unusually unattractive price / content ratio, so it's not surprising people are not happy about it.

Especially since the Criterion extras and the legacy ones aren't very numerous to begin with (the Criterion never should have scored 4.5 in this dept), so even in this regard and the inclusion of those through the DVD, it doesn't amount to that much.

Originally Posted by DefLeppard

I get the price point issue but how often we see the new releases selling on its RRP by street date? Sure it will be reduced by then?

Like malcy30 wrote, it might be down to £30 on Amazon or HMV at some point, but it will still be more expensive than £30 releases that Amazon or HMV get down to £20, etc etc...

[DefLeppard]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Don't talk rubbish. I had the Criterion BD, I sold the Criterion BD. It's not about labels, it's about the fact that this 2K transfer has been out there for years on both Criterion and Universal BD (the Universal cost me £6!) so some people MIGHT just own it already, and Arrow have just gussied it up with a smattering of new extras, a slipcase, a "monograph" and an old DVD for the extant extras. Heck, I actually put that DVD into the BD case years ago so I'm already halfway there to making my own Deluxe Edition™

Ok Geoff C Good for you..

[rapta]

Originally Posted by johnpaul2

Like malcy30 wrote, it might be down to £30 on Amazon or HMV at some point, but it will still be more expensive than £30 releases that Amazon or HMV get down to £20, etc etc...

The RoboCop and Fear and Loathing LEs were £20-25 each on or shortly after release, and were £15 each very recently. I'm tempted to wait a couple of months and get it for £20-25 at the very least.

[Filmmaker]

Well, I preordered it because I'm me. A sucker. I discovered a long time ago that I don't remember money much once it's spent, but those beautiful discs stay with me forever.

[gap]

Originally Posted by Agent Kay

The extras are a rights issue, and the BD has new extras

Given Fran Simeoni's tweet, there isn't a rights issue, more of a we-won't-pay-that-to-license-from-Criterion issue.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by rapta

The RoboCop and Fear and Loathing LEs were £20-25 each on or shortly after release, and were £15 each very recently. I'm tempted to wait a couple of months and get it for £20-25 at the very least.

That's another thing that plays into it, that not all of these Arrow LEs are selling thru immediately. I wouldn't have paid what I did for Robo or F&L if I didn't think they were worth it at that time, but it still rankles just a tiny bit when they hit £15 six months later. You take that chance with the LEs as some go straight away, some hang around for months, and there's no telling what The Game might do. Yet it's not worth £30+ to me in any case, I mean put a 4K UHD in there and I'd be all over it like white on rice (£35 for Elephant Man 4K with a pop-up cathedral? Sold!) but as it is I ain't going near it. I'll gladly snap it up when it hits £15 in November tho

[chip75]

Originally Posted by gap

Given Fran Simeoni's tweet, there isn't a rights issue, more of a we-won't-pay-that-to-license-from-Criterion issue.

Don't rights issues generally boil down to money?

[Cinematt]

Originally Posted by chip75

Don't rights issues generally boil down to money?

Pretty much, unless there's some exclusivity deal that money can't break (like Oldboy)

[Cinematt]

Originally Posted by DefLeppard

Yeah! since Waterworld release? Ah well.. if only it were a C release with big cap C over the upper left corner of cover ..

I've already got that one and it cost half as much! Not bothered about the new extras but I am interested in the book. I have no doubt they'll struggle to shift these so it might go cheap enough in the sales to tempt me, but it would have to be a big drop.