scott1598:

I did indeed buy the DVD...but in a UK R2 edition. I bought it months and months ago, in fact. A nice DVD of a good (but a bit overhyped, imo) film.

As to the intent of your original post...well, that's between you and, er, you. Personally, though, I don't think the post suggests "mere" curiosity on your part; instead, you seem to suggest that no "rational"explanation exists for someone purchasing a DVD now for $70 that s/he could purchase a few months from now for $19 -- an assessment that relegates their reasoning to the realm of the extrarational. This strikes me as smug and condescending. As does your little quip about short-term "bragging" rights. Just my opinion, of course.

My answer remains: why trouble yourself so publically over why others buy what they buy? Do you really need your own "rationality" validated that badly?

The really sad part is that most of the $70-90 eBay auctions for City of God are for a bootleg - the one with the DTS banner at the top.

The real copies don't seem to be selling for as much.

I guess people want that bootleg.

jou...i saw most of the legit ones for the 60-70, the people seem to be wise to the bootlegs..don't see those going for anything more than 25-30, which is still high for a bootleg.

and celluloidwis..i think a lot of what you have said in this thread is considered threadcrap and you seem like a wholehearted a** who likes to use convuluted logic that you seem to manipulate and take out of context, but that is just IMHO. i won't get into anymore as i don't care enough...

but i would like to know from other viewers how the dvd extras and movie is from the R1 release. thanks.

If I'm wrong about your intentions, scott1598, I stand corrected and apologize. I'm just tired of these threads that seem to exist solely to question the purchasing judgments of total strangers.

And really: there's no need to sling around asterick-disguising epithets, is there? I mean, isn't it enough of a blow to label my logic convoluted? Why get greedy AND profane...?

So you can discuss what people buy, at what price they buy it, but not why they buy it? People collect DVD's and if someone is interested in the "psychology" of collecting, one should be able to discuss it without being accused of trying to rationalize his own habits.

And from having spent years on this forum, the instant gratification/bragging rights explanation certainly has merit. Another could be "the thrill of the hunt", i.e. where people get more excitement from spending hours/days visiting every store in their town in search of "the holy grail" than from actually watching the movie. Now do I find this behavior wrong? No, odd, weird perhaps, but not wrong. And it certainly isn't a sin to try and understand human behavior if you find the topic interesting.

Sure, you can discuss whatever you want. But then someone else (in this case, me) can just as sinlessly discuss why one is so interested in the "psychology" of other collectors that s/he's taken to obliquely belittling their decisions on a chat board. Which is what I did: I asked why the original poster even cares? Is that not a valid rejoinder?

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And from having spent years on this forum, the instant gratification/bragging rights explanation certainly has merit. Another could be "the thrill of the hunt", i.e. where people get more excitement from spending hours/days visiting every store in their town in search of "the holy grail" than from actually watching the movie. Now do I find this behavior wrong? No, odd, weird perhaps, but not wrong. And it certainly isn't a sin to try and understand human behavior if you find the topic interesting.

You're absolutely right. No sin at all to try to understand human behavior. Except, I don't think in this case anyone was really trying to understand the psychology of those who want something immediately. Instead, I think this thread was designed to shame those who've paid an exorbitant amount of money for a DVD (for whatever their reasons) -- or at the very least, to compel these buyers to justify the purchase.

Which is why I became curious about the "psychology" of those who feel compelled to have other people's choices publically justified to their satisfaction.

Well I'm not going to start debating what the intent of the originator of this thread was, but I do understand your point.

Regardless of one's intentions however, collectors do seem to get a tad defensive when you question their habits. Cheers.

The same questions as the OP posted can be used for ALL DVDs.

I mean, why "waste" your money on DVD at all? Why not just wait until they show the film on television? Then it's FREE!

These whole "Why would someone pay so much for something?" threads tend to imply that the poster finds something wrong with that behaviour. It's no less crazy to pay $70 for a rare DVD than it is to pay $20 for a common one.

eBay is a beautiful demonstration of the unmolested capitalist process - there are no limits, and the price will truly rise to whatever the market will bear.

If no one bid on them at $70, the price would have to be lowered, but since people do bid them up to that point, what's wrong with that?

Maybe $70 is a lot of money to the OP (it is to me) - and maybe it's not that much to the people who are bidding on the City of God DVD. There's no telling if this disc will ever be released again in R1 - look at how long Ed Wood's been delayed. But there are discs out there RIGHT NOW for purchase.

Wanting to buy one of them is no different than anyone wanting to buy any other release, except in this case the price is higher because the item is rarer. Scarcity almost always drives collectable prices up.

the Obsessive Compulsive "bragging rights" rationale is perfectly legitimate in this case....the dvd will be released in June at normal prices....so there is no rational reason for paying $70 for it now, unless you are the kind of person that MUST have something first....

as for smug and condescending posts, i've seen a couple in this thread, but they weren't by the OP....

If you are tired of these threads than DO NOT READ AND POST IN THEM!! simple as that.

i do not feel the need to justify why i wrote it in the first place nor would i..i posted it and that is that...you read it and presumed to think what you wanted and that was that and you went off on your tirade about "why do you(I) care?" and you seem to ask in a "smug" and "belittling" manner or whatever you said. simply don't bother to post, man. i seem to not be the only one in this thread who takes exception to your comments and that is why i felt calling you an a** was totally justified and really the only word i could realistically use. it isn't to callously throw out an epitath, it is to simply state i think you are an a** to criticize my post in the manner you have. simple and to the point. that is all. thank you.

That's one option. The other is to hector those who start them by turning the question around on them. I chose option 2. Which, I might add, is a perfectly legitimate response to YOUR question. If you are really asking a question with the aim of promoting discussion, why are you so bothered by an honest response? My suspicion is that you wanted to start an echo chamber of buyer bashing, and I take issue with that. Again, if I'm wrong, I apologize.

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i do not feel the need to justify why i wrote it in the first place nor would i..i posted it and that is that...you read it and presumed to think what you wanted and that was that and you went off on your tirade about "why do you(I) care?" and you seem to ask in a "smug" and "belittling" manner or whatever you said.

Oh, I see: your questions are merely questions, whereas mine constitute a "tirade." I asked, simply, "why do you care?" You responded that you don't feel the need to justify your post, yet ironically your post -- if it is truly asking a question as you claim it to be -- calls for those who bought the DVD at a premium to justify their actions. Why them but not you?

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simply don't bother to post, man. i seem to not be the only one in this thread who takes exception to your comments and that is why i felt calling you an a** was totally justified and really the only word i could realistically use. it isn't to callously throw out an epitath, it is to simply state i think you are an a** to criticize my post in the manner you have. simple and to the point. that is all. thank you.

Well, when you're elected Czar of posting, you can tell me not to post. Until then, I'll post where I wish.

Interestingly, you once again summon the opinions of others to validate your own ("i seem to not be the only one in this thread who takes exception to your comments and that is why i felt calling you an a** was totally justified") -- the same impulse that lead you to start this thread, no doubt.

Form a private club and pat each other on the back for all I care. But as I say, I'm tired of these kinds of threads going unchallenged, so I chose option 2: why do you care what others pay? Or less personally (and I should have phrased it this way initially), "what does it matter / why should we be concerned with what others are willing to pay?"
Or you are the kind of person to whom price doesn't matter. Isn't this just as likely?

To conclude that someone is any particular "kind of person" on the basis of a DVD purchase seems to me a bit unfair and wrongheaded. But then, maybe I'm reading too little into the purchase.

As someone who almost 10 years ago spent $100 for the extraless Japanese laserdisc of PULP FICTION (that was released while it was still in US theatres, months before it made it to US laser and video), I guess I shouldn't complain.

BUT, after I got it, only watching it once before it was released officially in the US, and today not even being able to sell it on Ebay, I realize that it was a stupid thing to do. I wouldn't do it again. And would advise others that if you wait a bit, you won't regret it.