ChuckWL

Possible but what I have heard from the studios is that these MOD programs have become a big success in selling Catalogue titles. I dont see them going anywhere but maybe evolving in the future to include other formats maybe BD or UV as well? I was wondering if people would be more likely to purchase a MOD DVD if they included a Ultraviolet Digital Copy? That way you dont have to worry if your disc dries up like many of the previous posts suggest and you still have a copy that can be viewed. I would expect to see this as a option VERY soon.

Pizza

The Legend of Billie King
The Black Room (Boris Karloff)
Before I Hang (Boris Karloff)
Gidget Goes Hawaiin

rmw650

Night Court S5, which becomes available tomorrow at WBSHOP.com but that price is just insane for an MOD title...35 bucks.

Ish Kabbible

And so we're back to the MOD bashing as if thats what stopped the pressed disc releases of catalogue films. I'll simply spin the signature of one of the lead bashers, Mr Pizza, and proclaim
" And it's not an assumption. DVD-R is better than nothing "
I like having a choice versus no choice at all

Pizza

I would have bought that on DVD too. I picked up the first 3 seasons that got released. Great show.

Pizza

I haven't told anyone to not buy MODs. Buy as many as you want. There are some great titles. It's my loss that I choose not to buy them. I prefer DVDs and Blu-rays and would like to see some of these MOD exclusive titles released that way.

rmw650

Ish, I just want WBSHOP.com to lower their prices on exclusive titles or offer decent codes so they can be made affordable for us to get, since they won't be available in the stores. Those MOD prices are insane for any kind of title.

Pizza

Night Watch

BobO'Link

Exactly! While I *have* purchased 4 MOD titles I truly hated doing so but wanted those titles bad enough to suck it up and go for it. However, I waited for a sale so as to spend as little as possible ($8 average - what *should* be the retail price, IMHO). I'm still not convinced about the longevity of the disks and wish the studios doing this would at least offer some type of long-term guarantee. So far I've been able to resist any further purchases.

A disturbing trend I observed at the WB site is some titles that once were pressed releases are now on MOD for inflated prices. Some specific titles are those from the 4 4-disk "Cult Classic" releases. The MOD titles are going for over half the price of the respective 4 disk set! Some of the old Anchor Bay Hammer titles are also now MOD only releases. That is somewhat insulting when you consider many of these titles are soon receiving new R2 pressings, although *not* by WB. And the list of such releases is growing.

Currently I can add Night Court S4 & S5 to the list of titles I'd purchase if they were a pressed rather than MOD along with *any* Hammer title.

rw2516

You guys would have shit back in the vhs days when a single season of Star Trek was $250-300 retail.

Pizza

I noticed that too. A lot of horror films and such. And I'll gladly pick up the region 2 versions (and have). What I don't get is the UK is a much smaller market than the US but still manage to release these titles on DVD.

BobO'Link

Yes, but because I was stupid enough to pay such prices for them. All three seasons. When I think about how much I paid for that series on VHS I shudder. They are worth perhaps $50 *at best* today, *if* I could find anyone who still would want to actually purchase a VHS copy of something that's available on DVD. I didn't purchase many titles on VHS simply due to the inflated prices and fragility of the medium. Star Trek was an exception. Much like the 4 titles I purchased from WB's MOD program.

Regulus

I took delivery of one of those "Manufactured on Demand" (MOD) Movies today and, as expected, it would NOT play on my DVD/VCR Recorder. Now, GET THIS! My Computer has a DVD Copier on it, so I expected the same "Rejection" as I did with my DVD/VCR Recorder, instead the Computer ACCEPTED and COPIED the Disk! The Copy works PERFECTLY in my DVD/VCR Recorder!

Alan Smithee

The blank DVDs they use are specially designed ones for "copy-protected" material, not the same as consumer DVD-Rs. I'm not sure why they need to be, but I guess that means that you can't CSS-protect anything put on a regular DVD-R which I guess would suck if you were making some exclusive thing that wasn't supposed to have many copies distributed. Anyways, a side effect of these discs is that some DVD-recording drives can't figure out what type of disc they are and won't do anything with them. I have an older DVD drive in my computer that can't read them, but also a newer one that can.

I've noticed they have "FOR DOWNLOAD" etched into the center- I heard something, before these mail-order programs started, about a proposed system where the buyer would download the ISO image and then burn it themself at home, but it would require one of these discs. That would really be a headache- CinemaNow a couple years ago actually did have some movies you could get this way (I think they used regular blanks) but they cost the same amount (or sometimes more than) the same movie at retail yet were only single-layer as dual-layer blanks hadn't come out yet, and they had a free "test disc" which I tried many times to burn but for some reason it would not work- even when contacting their tech support they couldn't figure it out! I think they finally gave up on it altogether, but I still get emails from them about paid online porn (to watch online only, no downloads or discs.)

Regulus

The Disk I have says "DVD Download" on it. The back of the label displays that "This Disk is Copy Protected" Logo on it. As I mentioned on my first post, I EXPECTED the Disk to be "Rejected" in BOTH my DVD Player (Because it has the ability to record as well as play) and my Computer (Because it has a DVD Burner in it). So I was really quite surprised that the computer not only ACCEPTED the disk, but my disk copying program prompted me to make a copy of the disk. As it is I now have a "Bootleg" which will play on the DVD Player/Recorder thats hooked up to my 32-Inch HD-TV as well as the origional disk, which plays on my Portable DVD Player.

As for the Studio who issued this disk rest assured, I WILL NOT MAKE COPIES TO GIVE AWAY. Quoting a certain Cracker Commercial, Get your own box!

Scorpio

Pizza,

Those two Karloff films are still available in the Icons of Horror - Karloff set, factory pressed.

BobO'Link

^That's a fun set and also includes The Boogie Man Will Get You, and The Man They Could Not Hang

Gidget Goes Hawaiian is available on The Complete Gidget Collection (Gidget / Gidget Goes Hawaiian / Gidget Goes to Rome), a pressed set for less than the 1 title MOD, although the disk with Goes Hawaiian and Goes to Rome is a flipper and all films are FS. I do not know if they were done open matte of if it's a P&S version. IMDB indicates it should be 1.85:1 and it looks ok, but somewhat cramped, when croped to that ratio and a few heads get a slight chop. The film opens with the dreaded "This film has been modified to fit your TV" disclaimer. The MOD listing indicates it's been "remastered" and is "16 X 9 FULL FRAME". *What* is that? Are we now going to get FF/FS labels to indicate 16x9 anamorphic?

Pizza

I must get that set! Thanks.
Oh, that's right. And, I have that set. Forgot all about it. Thanks for reminding me.

Living Deadpan

Same goes with the Twisted Terror collection. Amazon recently had the entire 6-DVD box set cheaper than 1 DVD-r of From Beyond the Grave.

Some of the old Anchor Bay Hammer titles are also now MOD only releases. That is somewhat insulting when you consider many of these titles are soon receiving new R2 pressings, although *not* by WB. And the list of such releases is growing.[/QUOTE]

I'll confess I bought the Quatermass II DVD-r, being the region 1 luddite I am. I don't know if I would have been as willing if it didn't include the original DVD commentary & bonus features; hardly any of the WB or MGM MOD's do.

I've also bought one or two of those Sinister Cinema DVD-r's from Amazon, those are only $9 and it was the first place I'd seen The Stone Tape for sale.
-------------
...But to answer the title of this thread, The Quatermass Xperiment is one such title I'd have happily bought as one of the older Midnite Movies DVDs (those double features were only $15 MSRP!), but not $20-25 as a bare-bones unremastered DVD-r. Besides, I bought a bootleg several years ago. MGM's DVD-r offers no incentive. Too little, too late. I'm not made of money.

These studio DVD-r's beg the question: does it really matter whether you buy the "official" DVD-r or the "unauthorized" DVD-r from cheaper companies like Sinister Cinema? If the a/v quality is the same... unauthorized copies usually offer the additional advantage of no regional encoding.

Jay G.

From a legal standpoint, there's quite a lot of difference. From a technical standpoint, the official MOD may have better A/V quality since they come from the source. Also, most official MOD discs are region free.

http://www.wbshop.com/Warner-Archive...efault,pg.html

Pizza

Cracking Up and Which Way to the Front.

I didn't even realized these were released as MODs until doing a quick check on Jerry Lewis while ordering Rock-A-Bye Baby (a favorite), Boeing Boeing and The Geisha Boy on blu-ray. Awesome to finally get Jerry on Blu.

Alan Smithee

Add "What Do You Say to a Naked Lady?" I have the old Key Video VHS and transferred that to DVD with every segment chaptered! MGM's DVD-R is chaptered every 10 minutes! I would've chaptered that disc for them just for a free copy.

Buttmunker

I have no complaints against the movie Al Capone (1959) with Rod Steiger in the starring role on DVD-R. I'm just very happy it is available, and I bought it, and have enjoyed it.

Of course, if it was a choice, I'd go with the DVD. But, when in Rome...

Ash Ketchum

I taped AL CAPONE on VHS at the slow speed (EP), when it ran on TCM once upon a time. I'm perfectly happy with that. Steiger's fun to watch, but it's not that great a film that I need to have a "pristine" copy. (I have yet to see an honest or accurate film about Capone. Roger Corman's ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE is probably the most enjoyable I've seen, but it's not an accurate portrayal.)

JAROTO

The Park is Mine with Tommy Lee Jones