Pizza

Decent chapter stops would be nice.

hasslein

I see The Split(1968) is going to be available... It's getting tougher to boycott these things...

Pizza

I just noticed that Who's Minding the Mint? was released as a DVD-R. That was a childhood favorite that I sat through twice in the theater and had watched on TV.

BobO'Link

Amazon's listing of the Lionsgate DVD of Lust for a Vampire is now showing to be a DVD-R! This is in spite of the UPC being vastly different on the two products! I hope this is not the trend of the future as it'll make it very difficult to actually get a *pressed* copy from such listings.

Pizza

I see that the cover artwork has that distinctive framing that the DVD-Rs and CD-Rs have on Amazon. That at least gives a visual clue to the media. I wish Amazon would give MOD items their own distinctive category for searches so those who want to avoid them and those who want to find them can easily without having to closely read every description.

SethDLH

They're also showing a picture of the Anchor Bay release.

BryKasch

Legend of Billie Jean is available on demand now. One of the few I would do this way. It was available on netflix instant, and now no longer alas. also not available on laserdisc. So its either this or vhs atm.

According to Wikipedia there was an official release but I havent seen it. Though would love a copy recorded from universals hd movie channel.

rw2516

The Amazon marketplace sellers are going out of their way to distinguish that they are selling the Anchor Bay pressed disc. Buy one of those.

BobO'Link

I notified them of the discrepency in both the image *and* listing. They indicated they were going to correct the image (nothing said about the actual listing) within 24 hours. That was 48 hours ago and the only "official" image is still the DVD-R cover. The Anchor Bay image is the back of the case from a customer upload. I verified this right before this post.

BobO'Link

Those MP listings are no different than they were *before* amazon merged the listings and changed the description to "DVD-R when ordered from amazon" and created a mish-mash of product.

GoldenWheels

I think the Anchor Hammers have been moving to DVD-R for a few years....my Dracula: POD is at least a few years old and it's a DVD-R. Sad to me that the title isn't even worth pressing to them.

And certainly doesn't bode well for the Anchor Hammers ever getting blus unless someone else gets the rights.

BobO'Link

From my observations it started 2-3 years ago for *some* titles and has slowly grown, seemingly as stock of the pressed disks dries up. I've been looking for "reasonably priced" pressed copies of the few I didn't pick up before they went OOP. In some cases I was waiting for a sale to save a mere buck or two when they went OOP and just didn't notice in time.

Well, the UK *is* reportedly getting restored and remastered *pressed* HD copies (possibly DVD as well) of "over 30" Hammer films from StudioCanal. I've not seen anywhere if these will eventually be made available in the US. Here's one article, but I've not been able to find the same information on the "official" Hammer site. The first, Dracula Prince of Darkness, received a Blu-ray/DVD "Double-Play" release in March.

thetao

I still have too many mainstream titles on my wants list, but did notice that William Castle's 1958 film "Macabe" is now on Warner MOD. But I also found it on real DVD in Germany, albeit in a 2-pack with the documentary "Spine Tingler" (thus raising the price).

A film noir on my list, Fritz Lang's "While the City Sleeps," is also MOD but available from the UK for a more reasonable price.

For anyone lamenting the encroach of DVD-R's, you might consider buying a region-free player and checking abroad. It's certainly going to be harder and will often be more expensive, but I quite like the idea of "voting with my wallet".

Pizza

I had the biggest fear that the two Dark Shadow theatrical films were going to come out as MODs. Not only are they coming out on DVD, but they're also coming out on Blu-ray! Yay! Now i am grateful for the recent remake as that definitely helped push the release of the older films. Too bad the TV movie of Don't Be Afraid of the Dark didn't make it to DVD/Blu-ray from the release of the remake.

Pizza

I'm glad to learn that Lost Horizon is getting released on bluray by Twilight Time. The only other MOD I know of that made it to bluray has been Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Anyone know if any other MODs made it to DVD or bluray afterwards?

milo bloom

According to tvshowsondvd the Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show is coming to MOD. I actually haven't been paying attention, are these DVD-R's or are they short run pressings?

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Cha...e-Series/17737

Jay G.

MOD (manufacture on demand) is code for DVD-R (you can't really make a pressing "on demand"). Also, Warner Archive is the name WB uses for their DVD-R offerings.

milo bloom

Crud, that would have made a nice purchase otherwise.

thanks

EDIT to add: you know, I still remember back when videogames were first going to CD ROM from cartridge, one of the things we were promised was that titles wouldn't become super hard to find. For cartridges, you had to have a minimum pressing of the chips and parts, but for CDs you could do quick short pressings in case a game sold better than expected. I still don't understand how the price of doing pressings hasn't come down for DVDs to the point where they can do this. I look at all the cult and genre titles that get regular pressed DVDs, and I can't fathom how something like this gets treated this way.

Jay G.

Well, games still go out of print. The switch to disc did allow for quicker turnaround on reproduction, and allowed games to stay in print but drop in price (the physical costs of a disc are minimal, compared to cartridges where the physical cost was a large portion of the sale price). But I don't think any game has stayed in print on disc indefinitely.

Also, it's not just the cost of the pressing, but all the overhead of dealing with pressed titles. You have to deal with storage of the discs and distribution. Most people expect pressed titles to appear on retail shelves, or at least in most online storefronts. Titles have to be shipped both to and back (when the retailer returns overstock). Pressed titles almost always experience price reductions as well, which cuts into the overall profit experienced on that title.
The smaller DVD companies that release the cult titles are operating with different budgets and operating parameters. Even a major company like WB still has a finite budget and work force. They're going to focus their priorities on titles with the best ROI, and don't have the time/money to do the same with every small title they happen to own.

Also, I do think that if DVD-R wasn't an option, the studios would either released some MOD titles as limited pressed runs, or farm them out to smaller DVD companies more often. However, many more titles might've taken longer to be released, if at all. Since DVD-R is an option, and it allows them to release many titles with minimal time/effort/monetary investment, they're going this route with some of their titles.

hasslein

Over @ HTF there was a thread started that listed Warner Archive pressed discs and it was locked & closed by the owner.

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/t/32...s#post_4000508

Jay G.

I found this info on another thread here:
So it sounds like a bit of a crap shoot for getting the pressed copies, although if you order early from Warner Archive you have the best chance. Also, it's only limited to Warner Archive, and only directly from them. Amazon sells the same titles, but their copies are going to all be MOD.

milo bloom

Am I allowed to say "Fuck Epstein" ? Because if not, I'll delete this comment.

There's a reason I left that forum and can't even bear to lurk there. Drives me crazy that they have somebody like Robert Harris posting.

Alan Smithee

"When a studio finds a means of going a cheaper route that savings is passed on to the consumer."

Yeah right- that explains why "Drive-In" is $20.99.

rbrown498

Why not pick up MODs from bus?

rbrown498

^I love that we have our own memes.