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Netflix is pushing the streaming crap. I would bet releases like this end up there. Per there new WB deal they are getting more materials for streaming. Dragnet appears to be already available there for streaming.

Sean O'Hara

I can't imagine that DVD-Rs would hold up in the mail, let alone what the customers would do with them.

But let me repeat something I mentioned in another thread -- why don't the studios take a page from Mill Creek and put out sets of 50 Sci-Fi Classics and 50 Film Noirs using these transfers? I'd rather have that than expensive DVD-Rs.

Adam Tyner

They might just not want to give up the margins or to 'train' consumers to expect that sort of thing from them.

Plus this is what Mill Creek's entire business model is -- lotsa stuff for cheap -- and they have the experience to know how to get it all in front of people. If a studio like Universal were going to do that, they'd have to figure out how to market and distribute these titles, build the relationships, etc., and the beancounters would probably say it's not worth it.

Ash Ketchum

Mill Creek gets away with it because they use public domain titles that they rip off from other distributors. They don't have any original "prints," only VHS and DVD copies (and other tape formats--I bet some of this stuff is on 3/4" tape) that they copy then again to make these multi-disc sets. It's easy to pile a lot of films onto multiple discs when the films don't cost anything and you don't have to give them any special treatment before transferring.

I would hope Universal would refrain from treating its valuable film library that way.

Albert71292

The only Universal movie which has never been released on DVD that I would want bad enough to get a DVD-R of would be "The King of Jazz" (1930). My old VHS is getting a bit ragged.

Adam Tyner

They have recently done some legitimate licensing for sure. I wonder if they're trying to get away from the public domain stuff (at least in part?) in the same way that Brentwood transformed itself into BCI.

...but yeah, I don't see what the benefit would be to Universal to try to adopt that firesale type of model.

davidh777

Agreed. As much as I would like it as a buyer, I'd be really depressed as a film fan.

gerrytwo

Leaving aside the lack of features on most burned DVD-Rs, stuff like subtitles and complete menus, the longevity of these DVD-Rs has to be less than pressed DVDs. Dyes wear out faster than physically stamped pits.

Warner Archive claims it uses a proprietary process to make its DVD-R better. Anyone believe that? The main competition to these DVD-Rs would have been DVD recorders with a hard disc drive, recorders the entertainment giants got the FCC to pretty much get rid of by requiring all DVD recorders with TV tuners to have ATSC tuners.

This selection of Universal movies on DVD-R is pretty pathetic, mostly sweepings from the studio vault. Gambit is a pretty good movie, but not good enough to buy as a low grade DVD-R at what will be an inflated price.

For all the talk of Blu-ray sales of new movies, compared to the sales of SD DVDs until 2008, BD sales are a bust for most movies. Into to this bad retail market comes the plan by Universal to copy Warner Archive by spending as little as possible to milk their film libraries, a plan that will be a wash-out. These on-demand DVD-Rs from Universal will be even less successful than the Warner Archive DVD-Rs. Warner has those pre-Code gems when Zanuck ran the studio.

The target audience for many of these older movies are, naturally, mostly older customers, customers who in some cases have crummy hearing. When these buyers find out these DVD-Rs have either no subtitle options or closed captioning for the hearing impaired, there goes a good part of that market. Not much of a market anyway. Most people under 30 don't even know who Gary Cooper is. Anything relating to movies over 20 years old is ancient or unkown history to most moviegoers, outside of Star Wars.

Good thing Universal released the pre-Code movie Hot Saturday as a regular DVD before they decided to cut mastering and duplication costs by going the DVD-R cutrate route. That DVD was worth buying. Not these, at least for me.

davidh777

I guess they're just doing the math

Silverscreenvid

I really doubt that the longevity of DVD-Rs should be much of an issue for most people. How many times are people going to watch these films? Maybe once or twice a year. VHS tapes sold well once they were available at affordable prices, and they have far more of a wearing-out potential than DVDs do. This is more of an issue as far as Netflix possibly renting these titles than any realistic purchaser. I'd be glad to buy one at an affordable price.

The key of course is "affordable price." Most catalogue titles nowadays have a street price under $10, especially for bare bones efforts, and less if they are packaged in a box set. I don't know how well the Warner Archive titles are selling, but I refuse to pay more than $10 apiece for them. I bought during Warner's Xmas sale, and I'll do it again if the price point is right, but I won't patronize them at a higher point.

I have to scratch my head when people here on the one hand bemoan the high prices and then 'fess up that they just had to buy a few titles anyway. Don't you realize that by paying the $20, you are telling Warner (and now Universal) that $20 is a viable price point on these films? If cutting the price to $10 only results in a 10-20% increase in sales, then it's silly for them to do so. One reason I made it a point to buy at $10 was to help convince them to lower their overall prices.

People should get used to it. Warner has over 400 titles up on the Archive right now. My guess is that in three years, except for the handful of top tier catalog titles, the only way you'll be able to get catalog movies on DVD (and you can forget about Blu Ray) will be on DVD-R.

DonnachaOne

I've wanted to see Blue Collar ever since I read a very glowing review of it written by Patton Oswalt.

pilot

It seems most of these are selling for about 10% off MSRP (which comes out to $17.99) each ..

Some of them are dropping down to 25% off MSRP (which comes out to $14.99)

A Bronx Tale an Dragnet (1954) are two of those that have dropped to 25% off....just wanted to point it out that they may not stick around at $17.99, and some may even drop lower than $14.99 if people wait long enough...

Dragnet was $17.99 two days ago, was $15.99 yesterday and now $14.99 today.

Jaymole

When they start dropping down to $10, I might consider buying a few. But knowing that some are not even anamorphic will make it a tough sell to me even at $10.

Flicker

I just checked out a few titles I'd be interested in. Carny $23.88
Bad Ronald $15.96 (this is one title I really want)
Reckless $23.88
Big Circus $23.88

Maybe when (and if) prices come down.

Jaymole

Those are Warner Archive releases, not the Universal Vault Series.

drak b

Could you elaborate on this? I haven't been following the line too closely but that is very worrisome news.

Silverscreenvid

If you buy the Warner Archive films off the Warner site instead of third party sites and you wait for a sale (which they had at Xmas) and use coupons intelligently, you can get them for under $10 including tax. You have to buy a number of titles at once to get those prices. Typical Warner price is $20, less for TV titles like Bad Ronald.

If Universal is selling their titles successfully at a lower price, Warner may come down in the future. The great thing from the studio's perspective is they have complete control over the product and its pricing.

Flicker

You're right! Thanks for calling my (our) attention to my goof!

RagingBull80

Son of a bitch! I wanted an actual release. I'm not paying that much for a burned disc. Hopefully the bottom will drop out on the OOP discs when/if a BR is released.

I was hoping for a Criterion disc too...

Zen Peckinpah

I actually asked Criterion on their Facebook page if they had any plans. They said nothin imminent, but they want to work with Schrader again which is a very good sign of something. Hardcore might be just as good of a choice.

Jaymole

So far I read of a couple of releases that someone received that was non-anamorphic as well as interlaced. One of them was The Chalk Garden. I can't seem to open up the HTF website at work but that is where I read it.

Jaymole

If you have a multi-region player, Universal has released this in the UK. You can get it pretty cheap.

RagingBull80

Well that's good. I have the bare-bones edition of Hardcore and would gladly upgrade. I would think that Blue Collar and Hardcore would be the most obvious choices in Schrader's filmography for Criterion.

I'm region-free but not a fan of PAL speedup. I actually watched a little bit of the R2 disc and found it unwatchable. I don't know if most can notice the PAL speedup but I sure as hell can. Thanks though.

tylergfoster

Only reason I would be hesitant to believe Hardcore is that it's Sony and they were previously very stingy with licensing rights to their movies out for other studio's releases. But who knows, maybe they've completely lightened up. Can't imagine they're releasing their own Hardcore SE anytime soon.

matome

Does anyone know if A Bronx Tale is anamorphic this time around?