The Time has come to say goodbye to Blu-ray…

[Grant Matrix]

This might incite some to riot but hopefully it will do the opposite and make people think. The time has come to stop buying Blu-ray movies and send a message to the movie studios that we consumers want cheaper prices and first week discounts on par with DVD. I have been valiantly struggling to build my BD library and over the span of one year have just hit number 64.

I am passionate about movies and as much as I want to have the best quality possible, the bottom line is that I want to be able buy the movies I want. Unfortunately, for the cost of one Blu-ray movie, I could buy 2-3 movies on DVD. And while upscale DVD certainly is not on the same level as Blu-ray, it is still most certainly acceptable for viewing.

There is a lot of industry analysis extrapolating that the high cost of players has really held back mainstream adoption of the format. I do not believe that to be the case and have stated before that the real bar to adoption is not in fact the price of hardware as “experts” opine, but the high cost of movies.

Blu-ray is being billed as the “ultimate experience,” but that also is not the case, especially when studios are releasing movies with sub par audio quality for Blu-ray standards and by releasing a film only version with no special features. Sure a lot of people will say “so what” or “bah, who need special features.” Well the bottom line is that if you want Blu-ray to be the ultimate experience, then leaving out material that has been prevalent in the DVD format is certainly no way to achieve the ultimate experience.

The only way that studios are going to listen is when consumers speak with their wallets and tell them that they are not going to pay $30-35 to own a movie. Sure there are certain films that scream, must have on Blu-ray, but the majority of movies released are perfectly acceptable viewed in upscale DVD. If I want to buy “Good Luck Chuck” and “The Game Plan” on Blu-ray I would spend $50. To get both on DVD would set me back about $25 leaving room to get another movie or two. Sure there are a lot of folks out there with so much disposal income they don’t know what to do with and can drop a few hundred dollars a week on movies. But a lot of us who love movies, don’t have that kind of money and Blu-ray has severely crippled our ability constantly build our library. All I have been able to do in the past year is watch my “want list” grow longer and longer.

So as of today, I am done buying Blu-ray with one exception coming out in December. I will continue to build up my DVD library and hope that more people will speak with their wallets and see if the studios will do what they need to do, to ensure the future survival Blu-ray!

[Marine Mike]

You definately make some valid points in your argument, but overall are wrong.

You state that you are sick of buying movies are MRSP value $30+, but atleast myself and I know several others buy them for under $20 as we search for the deals first.

Also your justification for not buying anymore is because of price and lack of special features and sub-par audio. Wouldn't it make more sense for you to not purchase those features and continue to purchase the rest that meet the criteria because if you don't then you are sending a different message stating that you want the entire Blu-Ray market to change and not just the sub-par releases.

So really, correct me if I'm wrong, you are upset with Warner Bros with some of their releases. Therefore wouldn't it make more sense for you just to not buy those particular releases and encourage others to do the same?

[bdrex28]

I can also understand many of your concerns, however let's take a look at progressions and comparisons.

you mention the price of Blu vs DVD, but you fail to mention that at this point in DVD's existence they also were $20+ per movie. Just as Blu-ray is. I consistently get movies for $25 or less, many times in the $15 range. You just have to take a look around and make plans. I continually search the pre-orders and plan my purchasing ahead of time, buying from Amazon, Tower, ebay even and Wal-Mart, etc. I even occassionally will purchase from Best Buy when I have reward certificates or there's a sale there.

As for the extras, I don't personally care but I do know many do. it's just not a subject I can address as I don't judge a movie by that.

I do agree with the sound codecs, it's frustrating at times to see a movie that you know has great sound only to be left with a less than stellar audio track.

All in all, blu-ray is about where if not ahead of DVD in terms of pricing when both formats were at their same point in their life span.

[Xen]

I'll keep buying Blu-rays, thanks. Stop buying your movies at Best Buy and start looking out for sales--online and off. I've only paid $30 for a couple movies in my collection, most I've paid around $20 for--and I've got ~150 right now. Look out for BOGO sales, discounts, price match...there are a lot of ways to get movies at a reasonable price.

I'd prefer to send a message to studios saying "release more Blu-rays!"

[Ernest Rister]

Look, one year into the existence of DVD and the destruction of the hideoous DIVX format, the MSRP for DVD titles were as high if not higher than that of Blu-Ray titles today. Given nine years of inflation, Blu-Ray prices are probably *less* than those of DVDs in 1999. And as for a lack of bonus features, are you familiar with the infamous phrase "Full color artwork printed on the disc"?

So give it time, this will all shake out as more people adopt Blu-Ray. No need to wage any campaigns.

[PowellPressburger]

I used to pay $125.00 for laserdisc box sets. These are cheap in comparison.

Prices will drop as time passes.

[Crim122]

I pay under 20 for my BD of amazon, no problems from me yet!

[bhampton]

Hi,

I can't stop buying Blu Ray discs. I enjoy it so much. I love having a high definition movie library.

Thanks,

Brian

[hijeff1]

I agree that Blu Ray movies are far to expensive, but I agree with look for online sales and discounts. I buy most of my movies from online retailers, but the few gotta have right now movies I usually do end up at wallmart.

Yesterday I bought Iron Man on Blu from Target and it was 27.99, but later on that day I was at walmart and they had the dvd for 24.99. So for 3 dollars more you get the blu. Just food for thought.

[HOME THEATRE ADDICT!]

Id like to see the prices come down as well, who wouldnt. anymore I just buy one once in a while, usually one I really want. If you alone stop buying it wont make a bit of difference to the industry. Youll need a whole lot of followers. I thought that if enough people would stop buying gas for a while, the prices would drop in a hurry.

[kurtlingle]

I really don't get this kind of thinking.

I'd rather have 1 blu-ray (like Iron Man) than 3 DVD's.

Why did you switch to blu? I switched because DVD stinks and blu-ray looks/sounds awesome on my TV/receiver.
I could never go back. No, instead I just buy less blu until the prices drop. (And I netflix).

Even my kids (9 + 11) don't want DVD unless it's not on blu.

[Grubert]

Originally Posted by Grant Matrix

I am passionate about movies and as much as I want to have the best quality possible, the bottom line is that I want to be able buy the movies I want. Unfortunately, for the cost of one Blu-ray movie, I could buy 2-3 movies on DVD.

If you're talking about new releases that's just wrong. Look at amazon.

Iron Man. The SE DVD is $22.99. The BD is $25.95.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The SE DVD is $22.99. The BD is $26.95
Wall-E. The Three-Disc Special Edition + Digital Copy is $22.99 on DVD and $24.95 on BD.

Now, catalog titles are another story because most of them have been out on DVD for years. If you look at simultaneous releases, it gives a more even playing field:

The Nightmare before Christmas collector's edition: $21.49 on DVD, $22.95 on Blu-ray.
L.A. Confidential Special Edition: $14.99 on DVD, $19.95 on Blu-ray.

And while upscale DVD certainly is not on the same level as Blu-ray, it is still most certainly acceptable for viewing.

You're contradicting yourself. If DVD is "acceptable for viewing" when Blu-ray is available, then you do not want "the best quality possible". You want the best quality possible, and you don't want it to cost more than DVD.

[NutsAboutPS3]

The only reason for a studio to release on Blu-ray is to charge a higher price. Every Blu-ray disc sold is a lost DVD sale, as nobody is going to buy it twice. Therefore if they sold Blu-ray discs for the same price as DVDs, Blu-ray would lose them money as revenue would be the same, but encoding, authoring and replication costs would be higher compared to releasing only on DVD.

If you want your movies on Blu-ray, you need to be prepared to pay a premium.

[CheapChildren]

It's a very new, superior and more expensive to produce technology. So if you want DVD prices you're kind of being unreasonable. If you want DVD comparable prices you need to wait after release week until they go down on eBay or Amazon marketplace.

[mj23007]

Hes right the only way to get cheaper prices is to quit purchasing. And since when was $20 a good deal for a movie. And I rarely see titles that first come out at 20. on Amazon, tower etc. I just bought dodgball and supertroopers from tower,guess what I paid....not 20, $25.86. Thats how much all fox titles run. WHICH IS TOTAL BS> Their is no question that average joes dont want blu ray because the player prices or fine until they walk over to their walmart/CC and see $28 for ultraviolet. Theyre not going to fool with amazon!

[Red Hood]

I will keep buying.

[SS316SRV]

Grant,

Good intentions, bad idea. The prices won't drop if you stop buying blu-rays, blu-rays will stop being made.

[Grant Matrix]

Many of you make the very valid point that DVDs were also expensive upon initial release in the mid 90's. However at the same time that DVD came into being, online shopping was taking it's first steps to becoming something big. Amazon was still relatively young, Buy.com was just getting started and Deepdiscount.com didn't even exist back then.

Online sellers had the most incredible deals, buy 2 for $20. Spend $30 get $10 in credit, etc. Shipping prices were insanely cheap. The online retailers in a bid to establish themselves really raised the bar on sales and deals. B&M stores were very very slow to adopt DVD leaving online as the place to turn to build your movie collection. Obviously they were still making profit even while offering these deals and it wasn't until about 3-4 years into the format that B&M stores finally began to competivly match prices with etailers.

The problem is that deals are now few and far between. Last year's BOGOs were awesome, but then again Blu was trying to win a war. There were a couple awesome BOGOs earlier in 2008, but for the most part those days are gone. Now you get B2G1, where the etailers raise their prices for the sale.

The Blu-ray camps thinks that thay have won the war, but they really haven't. They won a single battle in the larger war for our entertainment dollars. VOD and digital downloads are still in it to win. While all of us here have a great appreciation for the physical media and its superior everything, there is a larger segment of society who will be happy with the quality of streaming media, somthing I am vehemently opposed to.

Price is an issue and the way the Blu-ray camp is going I can't help but feel they are pricing themselves in the same direction as the music indisutry. $18-20 CDs is one small reason the recording industry is in such disarry. Movie pirating is on the rise and the stuidos feel it is becomming a bigger and bigger issue. Prices on Blu-ray movies need to decrease and until that happens the adoption rate will remain steady and not at levels that the stuidos and hardware manufactutures would like to see.

I would love to be able to afford the best quality all the time, but given a choice of having 2-3 wants and being able to buy them all vs only being able to buy one, I am going with the more is more option.

[Xen]

Originally Posted by Grant Matrix

Movie pirating is on the rise and the stuidos feel it is becomming a bigger and bigger issue.

Mostly because DVD's are so easy to pirate. Blu-ray, at least for now, is significantly more difficult to pirate--and would be a beast to download.

[davcole]

I've a sense by the end of the Christmas season you'll see each studio with a budget line. I also think that starting next year you'll see MSRP drop on new releases.