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How "limited" is the Final Countdown?

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How "limited" is the Final Countdown?

 
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Old 04-05-04 | 01:33 PM
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I don't think it will be worth much on Ebay for a good long time (except if you got lucky with a naive buyer).

I had never gotten the limited edition Wicker Man until last month when I decided I MUST have it (surely I am not the only one to have a case of the "must-haves" long after a release) and I had no trouble securing one. It was limited to 100,000 also. However, Final Countdown may have a bigger following.

BTW, My FC was #44XXX from ddd.
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Old 04-05-04 | 01:36 PM
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It's actually quite a coup for a small indy producer like Blue Underground to get the rights to release a cult film like this one. Good stuff.

Of course, niche titles like these are considered successes if they sell upwards of 20,000 units. But the price is right on this one ($17 for the 2-disc LE at several online retailers) and it's been selling well. Good on Blue Underground. This is the first BU title that I've bought, but I hope they release some more films that I'd love to see on DVD but aren't available yet.
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Old 04-05-04 | 01:54 PM
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Originally posted by jough
It's actually quite a coup for a small indy producer like Blue Underground to get the rights to release a cult film like this one.
BU actually bought the home-video rights from Mel Gibson's Icon Productions, which picked up The Final Countdown as a tag-along title when it bought back the rights to its earlier films from a British film agency. Gibson granted the rights to the film on the condition that BU sort out the film's twisted North American home-video situation.

BU's Bill Lustig: "The adventure of clearing the rights is an incredible story involving the FBI, forged documents, born-again Christians and death threats."
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Old 04-05-04 | 01:57 PM
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Originally posted by rasalas
BU's Bill Lustig: "The adventure of clearing the rights is an incredible story involving the FBI, forged documents, Born Again Christians and death threats."
would that be Mel Gibson?
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Old 04-05-04 | 02:15 PM
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From: You have moved into a dark place. It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
WOW. Is the story of the film's rights on the DVD? That sounds like a better story than the film!
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Old 04-05-04 | 02:47 PM
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For that price I picked up an extra for myself. With my luck if I didn't, someone would borrow it and lose it or something. Then they won't be found for under $50. Then I'll be looking at one of your ebay auctions.
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Old 04-05-04 | 02:50 PM
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I "scored" the only one at any of the Best Buys near me last week in the 77XXX range. I stopped by one of the BBs again this weekend only to find another 20 copies sitting on the shelf mostly in the 30XXXs and two at 99952 and 99953. I think 100,000 copies of this movie are more than it sounds like.

I was surprised that, to my recollection, I had never seen nor heard of this movie. It wasn't half bad.
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Old 04-05-04 | 05:27 PM
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Originally posted by freudguy
I don't think it will be worth much on Ebay for a good long time (except if you got lucky with a naive buyer).
There's no shortage of naive buyers at ebay, that's for sure:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...6&category=617
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Old 04-05-04 | 06:40 PM
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Originally posted by dgc
There's no shortage of naive buyers at ebay, that's for sure:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...6&category=617
Unbelievable. First of all, he's paying too much already. Secondly, it's a promo copy (the line drawn through the UPC code) without the cool lenticular cover. I almost want to email the highest bidder and tell him he can get it for $17. Maybe I could sell him my extra copy of the limited edition Halloween that came out a few years ago for $100+
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Old 04-05-04 | 06:47 PM
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I couldn't find one at any of my local Best Buys or Circuit Citys, so I placed an order online at BestBuy.com, which shipped on Friday.

I checked 4 stores in the north and northwest Chicago suburbs.
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Old 04-07-04 | 11:13 AM
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Well, up here in Toronto, Canada I got #025xxx.
Cool stuff, I've been waiting a long time for this to be properly released and there were only two on the shelf...one now!
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Old 04-07-04 | 01:10 PM
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Originally posted by flix1
I couldn't find one at any of my local Best Buys or Circuit Citys, so I placed an order online at BestBuy.com, which shipped on Friday.

I checked 4 stores in the north and northwest Chicago suburbs.
Go to DeepDiscountDVD's storefront if you are near Itasca Il..They plenty of the reg and limited edition ones in stock. I picked up the regular for 11 bucks..
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Old 04-10-04 | 12:02 PM
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Originally posted by Darryl
I'm not sure the 2 disc of Thre Final Countdown will be a collector's item any time soon. 100,000 pressing is quite a lot for a film that doesn't have a huge cult audience. Look at Blue Underground's DVD for SNUFF. Only 10,000 made and I still see them in stores (as well as Ebay, selling for $20.00). Even the Mondo Cane box has been as cheap as $80.00 at film conventions.
You may be correct. However, I would point out that Snuff was the worst release by Blue Underground. In an attempt to be clever they put out a disc without either a menu or chapter stops. It was completely barebones and very poorly advertised in a stupid attempt to be funny by pretending it was a true bootleg release. The result is that for a limited edition of 10,000 copies, it is still very easy to obtain. On the other hand, the Mondo Cane Collection was absurdly overpriced and guaranteed to only sell to fools like me. The films are great, mind you, just overpriced. Thus, it is still widely available in stores.
Now, The Final Countdown is the most mainstream release put out by Blue Underground and the limited edition has great extras. I don't think it will be easy to find in a year.
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Old 04-10-04 | 04:57 PM
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Originally posted by EPKJ
Now, The Final Countdown is the most mainstream release put out by Blue Underground and the limited edition has great extras. I don't think it will be easy to find in a year.
The Final Countdown LE debuted at No. 9 on Video Business' weekly chart of the top-selling DVDs. It should blow through 100,000 copies quite quickly with that kind of showing.
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Old 04-10-04 | 07:38 PM
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From: You have moved into a dark place. It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
It sold over 40,000 units in the first week - a great showing for such a niche title, but still fewer than half of the extant LEs out there.

I wouldn't expect this one to be around a few months from now, though.
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Old 04-10-04 | 07:58 PM
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Originally posted by rasalas
The Final Countdown LE debuted at No. 9 on Video Business' weekly chart of the top-selling DVDs. It should blow through 100,000 copies quite quickly with that kind of showing.
Do you know what percentage of the sales were the limited editions?
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Old 04-10-04 | 08:11 PM
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From: You have moved into a dark place. It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
No, since the regular edition and the full frame regular edition aren't even in the top 50 this week.

The list specifically lists the LE. It will list different versions if they have different UPC numbers (for instance, both the Widescreen and FF Schindler's List show up).
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Old 04-10-04 | 08:23 PM
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Originally posted by jough
No, since the regular edition and the full frame regular edition aren't even in the top 50 this week.

The list specifically lists the LE. It will list different versions if they have different UPC numbers (for instance, both the Widescreen and FF Schindler's List show up).
Well, that is great news. I hope Blue Underground makes a bundle on this.
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Old 04-10-04 | 10:24 PM
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I went to my local BB and CC yesterday and only CC had one copy left. Now they have none.
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Old 04-11-04 | 07:37 PM
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well MANHUNTER limited edition was like 100,000 which was far more popular than FINAL COUNTDOWN, especisally on heel of HANNIBAL and SILENCE OF LAMBS, and you can still buy those everywhere, so I am sure it will still be around.
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Old 04-11-04 | 09:07 PM
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An oddball thought... for any of these "numbered" DVD releases, are there registry web sites for them? Kinda pointless, but could be interesting nonetheless.
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Old 04-12-04 | 08:51 AM
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Originally posted by salamander2
well MANHUNTER limited edition was like 100,000 which was far more popular than FINAL COUNTDOWN, especisally on heel of HANNIBAL and SILENCE OF LAMBS, and you can still buy those everywhere, so I am sure it will still be around.
Manhunter was not more popular than The Final Countdown. Most people have never heard of Manhunter. It was not a mainstream film and did not do well at the box office in part due to its obscure and vague title. I would agree that on this board Manhunter is more popular, but this board is not the world.
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Old 04-12-04 | 09:56 AM
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Originally posted by EPKJ
Manhunter was not more popular than The Final Countdown. Most people have never heard of Manhunter.
And "The Final Countdown" is popular and well-known? Not in the universe that I live in.
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Old 04-12-04 | 09:59 AM
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Originally posted by Walter Neff
And "The Final Countdown" is popular and well-known? Not in the universe that I live in.
Kirk Douglas is popular and very well known in the real world. His presence will sell the film to many. That is reality. Deal with it.
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Old 04-12-04 | 10:31 AM
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To further illustrate my point, the following figures are the total box office for both films as listed by Box Office Mojo:

The Final Countdown : $16,647,800.00
Manhunter : $ 8,620,929.00
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