Sony introduces new Made on demand program with initial 100 movies

[JohnnyMovie]

Originally Posted by g

http://www.sonypictures.com/homevide...ms/?filter=mod

I never heard all of the film (well some)

[DaveM4964]

Originally Posted by Azraelms

Put me down as someone else wanting Neighbors to come out - this is the ONLY VHS I have left that has not come out on DVD.

Put me down too. It's amazing that this movie has never had a dvd release in this country. It would be nice to have a proper release with extra's such as deleted scenes, commentary track and interviews.

[Silverscreenvid]

Originally Posted by Norm de Plume

I'm torn on the question of "official" studio DVD-Rs. I would be a lot less torn if they were about half the price ($10) or less. Still, I'd rather own a legit DVD-R release of a movie I love than not have it at all or only in an illegally downloaded or otherwise-illicit form (i.e. grey market, TV recording).

If you buy from the studio, you will undoubtedly be getting a DVD made from the best master materials that will ever be available for this title (of course, how good those masters are will vary considerably from title to title). If you buy bootleg, TV recordings or other sources, who knows what you will get?

[bboisvert]

FYI, you can get these at DeepDiscount:
http://www.deepdiscount.com/columbia-pictures-classics/

$17.86 shipped apiece.

I'm in for 27th Day and Mind of Mr. Soames

[RonG617]

I ordered Genghis Khan and received it within a week. The box looks like any new dvd release, cover art, spine art, back art. It has a UPC and all the normal DVD release stuff. The DVD is white and labeled with the title as well as all the copyright and studio stuff. Turning it over you can see that it is a dvd-r because of the purple tint. Sitting on the shelf it looks like any other dvd I have. I watched the movie and it is light years better than the boot I have. It is not remastered, but they must have had a really good source print because it looks very clean. Good first experience for me.

[grundle]

I recently bought my first made on demand product from amazon - a CD called "Greatest Hits Live" by Daryl Hall and John Oates, which was recorded during their "Private Eyes" tour in the early 80s, and which contains enough album cuts that I wouldn't really call it a "greatest hits."

Anyway, even though amazon describes it as being "manufactured on demand," they also describe it as being "in stock." That seems like a contradiction to me.

If "made on demand" simply means they make 1,000 at a time instead of 10,000, I don't think "made on demand" is a very accurate description of what they are doing.

http://www.amazon.com/Hall-Oates-Gre...0820955&sr=1-1

[BambooLounge]

Originally Posted by marty888

MICKEY ONE ...... I waiting in vain through the VHS years for this to show up on home video .... saw it with an enthusiastic audience two years ago at Museum of Modern Art ..... and finally!

Yeah, I saw it when it playing at MoMA then (still have my stub) as well. I really want to get it, but I've resigned myself to buying these burn on-demand movies for no more than $15. It is a shame that physical media is dying like this. Something like Mickey One should be restored and released on Blu-ray not mass pressed on cheap DVD-R's.

At least we still have Criterion (as I foam at the mouth for Kiss Me Deadly BD).


No sooner did I post this...I checked out the selection on Deep Discount and realized nearly all of them are $11.96 right now as part of their "Spring Cleaning Sale". Decided to bite and grab Mickey One, The Deadly Affair, and Hot Blood. Basically I stuck with directors I like (Penn, Lumet, and Ray).

[zyzzle]

I ordered 11 of these Sony MOD titles (a whopping $240), and I've never felt more ripped off in all my years of DVD buying! Wow, talk about shoddy. Mind of Mr Soammes, 27th Day, Deadly Affair, Psyche 59, Nightwing, Doctor's Wives, and 5 others. I noticed:

1. Every single one of these titles has an Average VBR bitrate of only 4.3 Mbits /sec! And riddled with compression artifacts as as result. Even the 75-minute film The 27th Day is still 'pegged' at 4.3 MBits, the feature takes an abysmal 2.5 Gigs out of the available 4.7 Gigs. Other titles were the same, wasting from 35% to 50% of the available disc capacity for no good reason other than for Sony to keep the bar raised VERY LOW. You thought we wouldn't notice? 4.3 Mbits/sec doesn't cut it in 2011, Sony! Get someone other than Tinker-Toy bots to encode your discs, please!

2. The films have been incorrectly telecined at 30 fps instead of the correct 29.97 fps. This results in out-of-spec discs and studder in playback.

3. All were barebones, with only a couple including the trailer.

So, I'm doing a charge-back for shoddy quality. What a shame.

On a related note, my dealings with the Warner Archive have been very-good to excellent (having ordered some 30+ titles). All are encoded rather well, the features only 'waste' 10 to 15% of avalable disc capacity and quality is generally very good on the encodes, average bitrates range from 5.5 to 7.0 mbits/sec.

Also, the MGM MOD discs have been great! Futureworld, Rolling Thunder, Private files of J Edgar Hoover, Vigilante Force, all looked excellent and they all took great advantage of the space on the disc, only around 5% or even less space wasted, and the encodes were very well done. 6.5 - 7 Mbits/sec average.

I have writen a very ascerbic letter to Sony with these findings and imploring them to offer a better quality product (one which is nearly 100% profit for them, after all)

[BillWatkins]

Originally Posted by Guru Askew

I've always held out hope that "Neighbors" was weird enough and had an interesting-enough trainwreck production to warrant a Criterion release (if Sony would ever release more than "Bottle Rocket" to Criterion) but at this point I'd settle for it becoming availability through this MOD program.

Originally Posted by Mao

"Neighbors"!

I'm still wondering why this misunderstood classic hasn't been given the treatment it deserves. I picked up the overseas version about a year ago.

I say, there's nothing wrong with MOD. If it's the only way to get something you just know you're never going to see on any other digital format, what's the problem?

Originally Posted by Azraelms

Put me down as someone else wanting Neighbors to come out - this is the ONLY VHS I have left that has not come out on DVD.

Originally Posted by DaveM4964

Put me down too. It's amazing that this movie has never had a dvd release in this country. It would be nice to have a proper release with extra's such as deleted scenes, commentary track and interviews.

Sony is releasing Neighbors as part of this month's batch of their MOD program. It's available to buy as of today on the Warner Archive website.

[Guru Askew]

Originally Posted by billwatkins

sony is releasing neighbors as part of this month's batch of their mod program. It's available to buy as of today on the warner archive website.

greatest mod news ever.

[Mao]

Anyone ever get the wrong movie on the right disc?

Ugh!

Finally, the 1976 classic "Drive-In" finds its way to my doorstep today from Amazon...and "A Close Call For Boston Blackie" (1946) is on the disc with the "Drive-In" logo on the face of the disc.

[Dusty Bottoms]

Originally Posted by Mao

Anyone ever get the wrong movie on the right disc?

Ugh!

Finally, the 1976 classic "Drive-In" finds its way to my doorstep today from Amazon...and "A Close Call For Boston Blackie" (1946) is on the disc with the "Drive-In" logo on the face of the disc.

I hate to hear that. I also received "Drive-In" today with the exact same problem. I haven't called Amazon yet, but now I'm worried about a replacement. I wonder if it would be better to try to contact Sony directly.

[Mao]

My replacement is due on my doorstep tommorow, but now I don't have too much hope.

I took the liberty of sending a pre-emptive e-mail to Sony...let's see what they say...

[Dusty Bottoms]

Originally Posted by Mao

My replacement is due on my doorstep tommorow, but now I don't have too much hope.

I took the liberty of sending a pre-emptive e-mail to Sony...let's see what they say...

Mao, did you get your replacement? Amazon shipped mine today for Saturday delivery. When I contacted customer service through online chat, I mentioned that another customer had reported the same problem. The CS rep said that if the replacement was also defective, I could contact them again for a refund.

[Mao]

Yup, same movie was on the replacement disc.

I'm sending both back tomorrow.

The UPC was taken off the site and I also sent an e-mail to Sony Customer service.

Ugh!

Why would this have to happen? I've been waiting forever!!!

[Dusty Bottoms]

Originally Posted by Mao

Yup, same movie was on the replacement disc.

I'm sending both back tomorrow.

The UPC was taken off the site and I also sent an e-mail to Sony Customer service.

Ugh!

Why would this have to happen? I've been waiting forever!!!

As expected, I also got my replacement this morning. Once again, it has the wrong movie. Both of them are going back to Amazon on Monday morning. I guess I won't be watching "Drive-In" this weekend.

[Drake]

Originally Posted by Mao

Anyone ever get the wrong movie on the right disc?

Ugh!

Finally, the 1976 classic "Drive-In" finds its way to my doorstep today from Amazon...and "A Close Call For Boston Blackie" (1946) is on the disc with the "Drive-In" logo on the face of the disc.

This happened to me with Harry in Your Pocket MGM Made on demand disc, I can't remember the movie , but it was an african american movie from the early 60's instead of Harry.

I finally tracked down a corrected copy.