BDs That Are Out of Print (OOP)

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by stratford

James allways good to have your input. Given that the forum is called Blu-ray dot com, I find it truly astounding that people with TVs that old that they only watch DVD frequent the forum, their choice of course.

I don't doubt that streaming has it's place. I have a Sony XH95. Streaming is good for things that you only want to watch once, Broadcasters' catch up for example. It is also a risk, what if for example Splash (Daryl Hannah), you use netflix for example rather than buy a disc?

Here in UK/ England some titles are DVD only, for example Rams (Sam Neill) I've just found an English friendly Blu-ray import with little effort at quite modest money

I don't think many, if any, DVD-only people are on this forum, my point was more that our forum gives a kind of distorted view of the marketplace. Most consumers never made the leap to Blu-Ray.

Also, most average consumers aren't overly concerned with watching a particular movie at any one time. That's why they're fine to move over to streaming.

I have thousands of discs, because if I want to watch a certain obscure movie, or a certain scene from a certain obscure movie at any moment, I want to be able to do so, and I upgrade my discs to BDs and UHDs because I want to be able to watch them in the best quality currently available.

Most consumers aren't like that. They just want to watch something on a Friday night, and if their first choice isn't streaming (if they even have a clear first choice), they'll just watch something else.

I work in the film industry, among people who you would think would be the most obsessed with films, but most people I know are pretty much the same. I only have two friends who are devoted to discs anymore, pretty much everyone else I know has abandoned them.

I can't count how many times friends of mine have said they "couldn't" watch a movie because it "wasn't streaming anywhere." Meanwhile, there would be a DVD or even a Blu-Ray they could easily order form Amazon or somewhere.

Average consumers don't want the clutter of discs anymore, and they're perfectly happy with whatever is streaming on Netflix or Hulu or Amazon Prime.

It's sad, but it's the reality of the marketplace.

[BluRay Bandito 69]

Originally Posted by Jay H.

You don't, but obviously lots do. Just because their viewing habits are different from yours, it doesn't make them a**holes.

Yes, yes it does.

[houseca]

I think anyone that only streams is one of those types.

[Hubunkey]

I will watch a movie once via streaming to see if I enjoy it but after that I'm going to do everything I can to find a physical copy, sometimes that means going to a grey area but I dont consider a digital copy or streaming as "owning" anything becasue what's to say they dint edit or "cancel" a movie and take it away

[darkness2918]

I buy BDs, 4Ks, DVDs & stream movies if I see a movie a movie I really like on a streaming service I buy it. Streaming has also saved me from making blind buys I would’ve regretted. As for DVDs, I like Asian horror & martial arts films & a lot of the times the only option for a lot of them is only DVD.

[danny24]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

Average consumers don't want the clutter of discs anymore, and they're perfectly happy with whatever is streaming on Netflix or Hulu or Amazon Prime.

It's sad, but it's the reality of the marketplace.

I get the clutter thing with physical media but I think average consumers just see Blu-ray and UHD's as DVD's. They probably don't care enough to see the advantages Blu-ray/UHD has over streaming. Though yes the sad reality is the average consumer is addicted now to streaming and having an evening's worth of entertainment at your fingertips is far more appealing than collecting movies again. It's their loss though at some point for some movie or show they will need a physical version of it. As someone who streams and plays physical media I can enjoy both. I just wish more average consumers would open their mind a bit and no they don't need to own every movie but having a 4K TV and a BD/UHD player and some physical media in the home should be the norm. They sell new release movies and some catalogue titles with a digital code to stream it and sometimes cheaper than digital purchases as you know and I just wish that would appeal to the masses more. Why settle for less when you can have more.

[joonskeezle]

I can definitely understand the mindset of someone who doesn't feel the need to upgrade from DVD to blu ray; I'm there right now with 4K/UHD; just don't see the need to upgrade. I tell myself my eyesight isn't good enough to appreciate the difference (which has some truth to it), but mostly I just don't want to accept the inevitability of the obsolescence of my blu ray collection. That said, I'm fairly sure I'll reach a compromise. To me, most movies probably won't benefit from 4K, but there are a handful that might. But I don't want what happened with dvd to happen to blu ray; once I switched to blu ray, dvds became almost unwatchable in comparison.

Streaming? Nah. Not interested. Not in the ephemerality of the respective catalogues. Not in being at the mercy of my internet connection. Not in the absolute dogshit interfaces.

Digital? See above about dogshit interfaces. I tried Google Play for a while, mostly with TV shows. More often than not, it didn't work, and I couldn't watch my stuff. And when it got working, they'd mess around with it and give it an update that made it stop working again. That, I don't need. Amazon's UI sucks. Vudu sucks. Movies Anywhere sucks. The absolute refusal by everyone to put together a functioning digital movie platform is probably the main reason I'm still so militantly pro-physical media for movies.

[dylrichard02]

I buy DVDs of sitcoms that aren't available on Blu ray. They never stay on streaming services and in some cases when they do, they look better on DVD than streaming anyway. For example WKRP isn't streaming anywhere and NewsRadio looks as good on a Millcreek DVD as it does streaming in SD on a free service that has a dozen ads an episode.

I watch these shows repeatedly.

[James Luckard]

I'll give this example to illustrate how physical media movies have withered even in the last year.

I had a couple of boxes of DVDs and BDs I wanted to sell at Amoeba before the pandemic. I finally was able to go in last week.

Their new store is mostly vinyl, movies are a tiny section in the back corner, when they used to be the entire upper floor. They probably cover at most about 1/3 of the floor space they did a year and a half ago.

Of the two boxes and a shopping bag I brought in, Amoeba only wanted about 1/3 of it.

Mostly, they didn't want DVDs at all.

I realized there wasn't much else I could do with the DVDs, and I didn't really want to cart them back home, so I offered to give two banker's boxes full of DVDs, in pristine condition, to the seller.

He said no. He said they don't even accept DVDs as donations, nobody wants them and they don't have the storage space for them.

[Bk_Tan]

I can't remember where I mentioned this but physical media missed its chance to go worldwide.

I can perhaps only speak from my neck of the woods but pirated DVDs dominated the pre-streaming era in South East Asia, and perhaps throughout the developing world. It was just way too expensive then, and even now compared to the prices in America and Europe.

So whether it was the studios' fault or the local distributors, it never gained a foothold. Then torrents came about and finally streaming. There was only 1 major distributor of physical media here and it closed down last year. Can't say I am surprised or disappointed as their prices were ridiculous, but a definite death knell here. If you want to get physical media you have to import it and that's not accessible to 99.99% of the population.

[BluRay Bandito 69]

Bowfinger back in stock at BB

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

I'll give this example to illustrate how physical media movies have withered even in the last year.

I had a couple of boxes of DVDs and BDs I wanted to sell at Amoeba before the pandemic. I finally was able to go in last week.

Their new store is mostly vinyl, movies are a tiny section in the back corner, when they used to be the entire upper floor. They probably cover at most about 1/3 of the floor space they did a year and a half ago.

Of the two boxes and a shopping bag I brought in, Amoeba only wanted about 1/3 of it.

Mostly, they didn't want DVDs at all.

I realized there wasn't much else I could do with the DVDs, and I didn't really want to cart them back home, so I offered to give two banker's boxes full of DVDs, in pristine condition, to the seller.

He said no. He said they don't even accept DVDs as donations, nobody wants them and they don't have the storage space for them.

Libraries will still happily take DVDs. I have donated many to my local library over the years.

[noiradelic]

Originally Posted by stratford

I'm simply curious, what sort of thing might 'A lot of films available to stream aren't HD either.' refer to please?

A lot of movies that came out before 2006 and don't have a BD release -- as well as many that have -- aren't in HD. Older films released by A24 that have been on Amazon Prime and Netflix are SD. Majority of the movies shown on TCM and their app aren't HD. The Criterion Channel has a lot of films that aren't on HD, including some they've released on BD. Most movies on Kanopy aren't HD. There are many smaller apps that show only PD movies -- goes without saying most of those are SD and crappy SD at that etc.

[deltatauhobbit]

Originally Posted by noiradelic

A lot of movies that came out before 2006 and don't have a BD release -- as well as many that have -- aren't in HD. Older films released by A24 that have been on Amazon Prime and Netflix are SD. Majority of the movies shown on TCM and their app aren't HD. The Criterion Channel has a lot of films that aren't on HD, including some they've released on BD. Most movies on Kanopy aren't HD. There are many smaller apps that show only PD movies -- goes without saying most of those are SD and crappy SD at that etc.

Many TV movies also aren't available in HD anywhere. I would love blu-rays of Disney TV movies and specials such as Mr Boogedy 1 and 2, the Halloweentown series (the 4th is available in HD but no blu-ray), Don't Look Under the Bed, Phantom of the Megaplex, etc. Even having them streaming in HD would be welcome.

Also missing are a majority of the Stephen King TV movies. Most of these are unlikely to make the transition to HD unless they're rebuilt like what happened with The Stand (and that had a reboot series to take advantage of). That was the case with Kino recently releasing Storm of the Century only on DVD; no HD master available.

[ShellBeacher]

Originally Posted by stratford

what sort of ass hole watches Dee Vee Dee on a 4K UHD 60 inc plus TV?

Don't shoot the messenger.

Wow. My brief post seems to have caused an entirely unintended but worthy conversation. And also shows once again how online messages can be misunderstood in tone!

Thanks to the always-valuable @James Luckard for leveling the conversation.

To be clear...my brief post on "DVDs being 70% of the marketplace" was merely meant to briefly postulate why Universal might still be interested in producing DVDs of said film and possibly not Blu-rays. And my exclamation points there were meant in my own astonishment to that fact, not that I was advocating for it, nor trying to critique anyone!

Yes, as James Luckard notes, the market overall for physical media has tanked, but of what's left, an astounding percentage still *seems* to be DVD sales. My reply there was not meant whatsoever to support DVD sales! Only to state what seems to be a current industry percentage!

Of course I am very much on the BLU train, and dabbling in 4K! But yes, certain titles still haven't made it to the latest formats, too!

[Crispy Noodle]

Originally Posted by Rzzzz

Thanks for the heads up. I bought the 3 disc edition for $8 shipped. I prefer my aliens to be vicious, imperialistic and terrifying so I am not a huge fan but I figure I better get the original while I can. I checked on another blu I have been keeping my eye on and it is gone from amazon and I bought the last one on Ebay for $15. This one.



Not sure if it's going OOP or if just more are being pressed....

It's available at Makeflix, and it is not indicated to be OOP (they have a few Retromedia title that are in fact OOP.) JR seems to have a good relationship with Fred and has been selling these for some time. The prices are often the best too; I have ordered a couple of times and had excellent service.

https://makeflix.com/collections/retromedia?page=1

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

I'll give this example to illustrate how physical media movies have withered even in the last year.

I had a couple of boxes of DVDs and BDs I wanted to sell at Amoeba before the pandemic. I finally was able to go in last week.

Their new store is mostly vinyl, movies are a tiny section in the back corner, when they used to be the entire upper floor. They probably cover at most about 1/3 of the floor space they did a year and a half ago.

Of the two boxes and a shopping bag I brought in, Amoeba only wanted about 1/3 of it.

Mostly, they didn't want DVDs at all.

I realized there wasn't much else I could do with the DVDs, and I didn't really want to cart them back home, so I offered to give two banker's boxes full of DVDs, in pristine condition, to the seller.

He said no. He said they don't even accept DVDs as donations, nobody wants them and they don't have the storage space for them.

Have you tried CD Trader in Tarzana? I know they’re currently accepting DVD’s.

Also just a great place to check out. I’ve found numerous Twilight Time discs for not too expensive.

[MazeRunner]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

Libraries will still happily take DVDs. I have donated many to my local library over the years.

if you live in middle america you can probably sell them for 50 cents-$1 each on facebook marketplace. small town people love their dvd

[iamnoone]

Originally Posted by Gacivory

Have you tried CD Trader in Tarzana? I know they’re currently accepting DVD’s.

Also just a great place to check out. I’ve found numerous Twilight Time discs for not too expensive.

I know you were asking James, but I can also answer this, as I went to CD Trader for the first time ever about 8 months ago. (I still haven't been to Amoeba's newly opened Hollywood relocation, but from what I have been hearing, I may skip that altogether.)

CD Trader was a terrific store, lots of stuff to browse, both DVD's and Blu's + vinyl/CDs etc. They were very friendly. I brought in about 400 DVD's and Blu's that I no longer needed, or I had upgraded, and they accepted maybe 50% of them, and gave me a decent value for those. Much of my stuff was non-mainstream, so I guess 50% accepted is still good. After cashing out, I offered them to just keep the other 50% that they didn't want for free, and they said "no thanks", and that there's a Goodwill down the street. So ya, even reselling stores are being very choosy, and that's smart of them.

I ended up taking what I had left, putting them out on the sidewalk in front of where I live in a couple of big boxes, "Free Movies", and people started picking through them right away, and then eventually, not even by the end of the day, someone just took everything that was left. So I hope they were recycled to people that actually may watch them. If they hope to flip them for a decent profit, good luck with that.

Anyway, I recommend CD Trader, as they do take DVD's if they are off the beaten path titles, but even they won't take everything. But worth a drive out to Tarzana once a year, as I put together a whole other batch of titles I no longer need. At this point, getting any $$$ for some of this stuff is worthwhile, the rest can go to neighbors for free.

[Torrente]

Why don't I have neighbors like you?!