Hi everyone,
I'm new here, but have been an audiophile/videophile for a while. I've been relegated to streaming Netflix forever. However, recently, I've noticed that instead of streaming movie releases, Netflix now shows mostly their own in-house movies. A friend of mine suggested that I try the DVD version of netflix since they have most studio releases there. I signed for their free 30 day plan, and so far I'm pretty impressed with how quickly I receive the next 2 movies in my queue. Not that long ago, I bought an Oppo 4k DVD player, but hardly ever used it, and was thinking of selling it, but now I get to use it. However, one of the things I was most excited about (and missed on Netflix streaming) is the directors commentary on the DVDs. I'm very disappointed that so far none of the DVDs I've rented have a director's commentary audio track. I thought for sure that there would be a thread here on this topic (and maybe there is), but i couldn't find it. I assume that this is a cost cutting strategy from the studios since the sales of DVDs have lessened?

Yes and sorta-yes.

There are instances of studios creating rental only DVD version for Redbox and such that are just the movie without any extras, so you may be getting some of those.
But, also in the past several years, as studios have moved to Bluray and 4K releases, they have stopped putting any kind of extras on the DVD versions, only putting them on the hi-def format copies. Even for the new Star Wars movies from Disney, the DVD versions are completely barebones, just the movie and all the special features are only on the Blu/4K versions.

Does Netflix offer a Bluray disc option for mailing?

Yes, for another $3 per month. So far, i think all the ones I've gotten and watched are Bluray, but sadly, only one had a commentary audio track. I also have the "Ultra HD" plan from Netflix ($17.99 per month), and when my free 30 day trial of the DVD plan expires, another $15 (inc the $3 bluray option), so at the end of the day it costs $33 per month. Not sure it's worth that. I guess if I add up the number of movies I watch in a month and if I rented those individually, it would be a lot more., Ugh, anyway, I'm *way* off topic...

Why are you watching regular DVDs on an Oppo 203?

Alan: What should I be watching them on?

I think he’s asking why you’re not also watching 4K discs.

But don’t mind him, I also watch plenty of DVDs on my players alongside Blu and 4K discs.

oh, I see. I do watch other types, when they're available - like UHD DVDs, SACDs, DVD-A, etc. But also, this player will also upconvert an SD singal if desired.... I tend to use it in pass-through mode and let my TV convert, if needed.

Director commentaries were a big thing...back in the 2000s when DVD was the undisputed pinnacle of home video. Now you are more likely to get a commentary on an indie project than studio fare. You often have to seek out specific editions to find a movie's commentary. Shout Factory does everything possible to include a commentary, even an older one, on their collector's editions.

The site you'll probably want to visit is -

RateThatCommentary.com -- DVD commentary track database with ratings and reviews

Users rate home video commentaries on the site and there are lists for the top 100.

Yeah you could flip that 203 for like a grand and get another up converting 4K player for way less. But if you really are videophile you probably want to keep it and dump the Netflix mail a disc program. This site and bluray.com are pretty heavily about buying physical media and usually in the best format (although for whatever reason the studios are still stiffing 4K audiences on a lot of features). There are different purposes for some but for me (like you) I love special features, especially commentaries and you just won't get that with the streaming sites. You missed out on this years big black friday push but you might want to spend some time in the deal forums and you can pretty quickly get a feel for what things will go on sale for and when to maximize your disc dollars.

You have my sympathy if you join us in this endeavor.

hey thanks for the link. I recently received from Netflix the Bluray "500 days of summer". really liked it, but no commentary track. Looked it up on rate that commentary, and there is one listed. Maybe as was previously posted, a rental version was released without the commentary?

Thanks, I'll take a look. I don't mind buying DVD's, but there are so few movies that I ever watch more than once. When my daughter was young, I had all the Disney movies on VHS (!), but it was worth it because she used to watch them hundreds of times, and unfortunately, she made me sit there with her - there's only so many times I can watch Beauty and the Beast! :-)

I think I paid around $500 for the Oppo player (it was right before they stopped making them), why is it worth so much more? I just looked on Ebay, and someone is asking over $3k for a new 203 player! I don't think I'll sell it though - prior to this player, I had the original Oppo DVD player - was it a 970HD? I was thinking maybe the library has some 4k DVDs?

Yep, Netflix stripped out the commentary on their Blu-ray. Which wasn't uncommon for the studios when Netflix started becoming a major player. The retail BD from Fox has a commentary. Netflix's Blu-rays would also drop lossless audio for lossy soundtracks from certain studios.

http://www.dvdcompare.net/comparison....php?fid=16085

Audio commentary with director Marc Webb, writers Michael Weber and Scott Neustadter, and actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt

thanks for that link also. The "netflix" version is not listed there. I'm trying to understand the reason for not including the audio commentary on netflix blurays. It's not likely a licensing issue, probably not a space issue...Do you remember (or are old enough) to remember the Columbia Record Club? You would "join" the club and with an incentive of a bunch of vinyl albums, and then every month upon your approval, they would send you the selection of the month album. I remember those albums used to say "for Record Club of America" on them, and I always thought that there was some omission from the regular album you would buy in the store.

The studios thought Netflix customers wouldn't ever buy the retail BD if they had already seen the same disc on Netflix. It's that simple. Netflix agreed because they desperately wanted to license Hollywood's discs. As I said, not all studios made crippled discs for Netflix. The biggest offender was Fox by far.

wow, that's really unfortunate that they would think that way, and go to the extra expense of making a special version. thanks for all the info.

I've seen stripped-down rental discs from Warner, Fox, Lionsgate, and Universal. Some have previews that are impossible to skip. I haven't rented a disc in years though so I don't know if they are still doing them, especially with most rental stores now gone.

As others have said, the studios insisted on the barebones versions to try to get some after-rental sales of the regular disc.


Slight side-bar, but I think the difference on those is that the artists were not actually paid for the Columbia House albums that were marked that way, as they were considered "promotional" items and didn't count towards their sales. So the studios could sell them to the record club extremely cheap and not have to pay royalties. Not sure if that's still happening but that's what I read several years ago. A large portion of my CD collection is like that, kinda made me feel bad that the artists weren't getting anything at all for those albums moved.

The "Rental Version" discs at Netflix (but Red Box did it too) are quite frustrating, and all those discs are still in the system. I do about a month of physical rentals at Netflix about every six months, and I haven't seen a new stripped-down disc in quite a while. I imagine it's not worth the expense to do a separate pressing. . Netflix has gotten frustrating because they're getting more DVDs of films (which I can get for free at the library) than the blu-ray version. Netflix has also gotten less reliable about getting Criterion Collection discs, and I used to count on them for that.