I just can't wait to see Warner's slate for November. I have a feeling we are getting ready for release days even better than 9/26.

Same here. Dazed & Confused is the only one I have remote interest in, though I doubt it will be the CC version.

Nope.

That was my dilemma with Traffic. I said I wouldn't buy any HD version (whether it be BD or HD) unless it completely replaced the SD version. Since Criterion hasn't thrown their hat into the ring, I don't really have a choice but to go with the parent company.

Damn only one out of that group huh. I wish I could say that. The 3 Fast and Furious are a must buy for my son. He absolutly loves those films and he knows when they are coming out, lol. As for me Dazed & Confused and Fear & Loathing are must buys even tho I own the Criterion editions I gotta have the HD versions. Dirty Dozen is one of my favorite older films so thats a must buy and then Land of the Dead and T3, while not top rate films they are good action films that me and my son can watch together.

PS...

So did you get Traffic or pass on it. I am confused wether you took the plunge or not. If you did get it what is the picture quality like on that one. I forgot to pick that one up yesterday and am curious how the transfer looks. I was disappointed a bit by Troy so hopefully Traffic kicks some HD butt.

PS...

Why? That's like somone not buying a DVD unless it completely replaced the Laserdisc. They'd just be setting themselves up for dissapointment.

Plus, if you have the movie and extras on DVD, why would you need them on an HD disc in SD quality again?

Well I can certainly understand wanting all of the special features of the SD transfered over to the HD version and I think we all expect that and the HD-DVD studios have been really good so far in doing just that. Criterion releases are going to be a different story. Your only going to get the Criterion extras if its Criterion whos making the HD-DVD. Since that is not happeneing yet I am buying the HD version of the Criterion titles I own. I plan on buying Dazed and Confused, Traffic and Fear & Loathing and I have all 3 of those criterion editions.

Ill never sell my criterion SD DVD's regardless of what they do later down the road so it doesnt matter to me if the HD version of the film have those extras as ill still have them on the original editions. One of thes days ill catch up to Criterion and have the complete collection. That will be a glorious day, lol

PS...

Yeah i picked it up.

I don't know what it means to "kick some HD butt." As i said in the other thread, I'm not here to get movies that all look like Aeon Flux apparently does. In fact, NONE of the movies that I've bought have been the best of what's currently released. Personally, I don't care. I'm in it for the movies themselves looking and sounding as good as they can.

If the DVD offered no advantages over laserdisc, I wouldn't have. However, we all know that's not the case and, yes, I have a bunch of laserdiscs still ONLY because those extras are not available on DVD. No disappointment necessary.

I want to be able to REPLACE the older version completely. I don't want to have to keep 2 copies.

Kicking HD butt is simply an awsome transfer of the film. Has nothing to do with it looking like Aeon Flux's transfer. Sleepy Hollow was some serious HD butt kicking and that is abaout as far away from Aeon flux's transfer that you can get.

PS....

Doesn't the HD transfer offer an advantage over the DVD, even if it's missing the extra features?

The HD transfer absolutly offers an advantage over the SD transfer. Otherwise what the hell are we all doin, lol. Extras are subjective. Some people care for them others dont. Regardless of the extras the transfer will always be an improvment. If its not then you accidentally put a Blu-Ray disc in :-). Ok I take that back. That was my first ever pot shot at BD, Just had to do it and get it out of my system.

PS....

Of course they do. But as I've said, my support for these format(s) come when they should be a complete replacement for what I have.

The extras I have that weren't replicated from laserdisc were all because of rights issues (criterion, pioneer, etc). Beyond that, there's no excuse for why all those same extras shouldn't be transferred over to DVD and now HD DVD/BD.

The end result of this format war would be, in an ideal world, to have the general public completely switch over to one format. Why should they switch over if it's not completely offering that which they already have? Yes, video and audio quality is great for little niche groups like AVS or DVDtalk but in the grand picture, people need and want what they already have PLUS more. You need all those extras PLUS new extras PLUS fantastic video and audio quality. And fortunately for us, it's entirely possible.

It's obvious that extras mean a lot to people. Look at how many polls have been suggested about which extras are the most important, which they want to see more of, etc. If the HD formats decide to start dropping extras, that will be a serious problem with whichever format does it.

To me, HD without extras is 2 steps forward and one step back. It's good but not great. Hell, I don't even end up watching a lot of the extras on my discs but I'm not about to sacrifice them at this point. There's more than enough room on the discs and to cheat us out of them is silly. Luckily, I've had no problems (save Traffic, again, because of rights issues) with this on HD DVD. BD, unfortunately, is another story. Hell, you take those same movies that are on BD today that I would want to buy on HD DVD (Stealth, SWAT, Speed) and tell me they are devoid of extras, I still wouldn't buy them. I think they're doing a disservice to their format by issuing releases like that.

If you can't get someone who does care about PQ/AQ to buy them, why the hell should people who don't?

Yes, but in the case of Traffic, Dazed and Confused, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Criterion owns the rights to those extras. For about $20 you can upgrade to an HD version of the film, and if you have the Criterion DVD you have the extras. It's more economical to do that than wait for a $30-$40 Criterion HD version.

I would be concerned if a major studio wasn't porting over its own extras though.

The Hd-dvd truck is at Cedia. Hdbeat.com

Oh completely. But notice i said that there are exceptions.

Actually, this is the first time you've used the word "exception." In your original post it wasn't clear if you had bought Traffic or not.

I can understand wanting as many extras as possible, including any previously available one, on HD disc. I can even undestand demanding and expecting it. Hell, it's what I want from HD. However, it was the ultimatum of needing exact copies of everything from previous DVD releases on HD or no sale that struck me as odd. Certainly studios are going to port over as much as possible, but there's alway exceptions.

That's an interesting idea, that extras will drive adoption of the HD disc formats. I don't think I've ever seen it suggested before. Especially since the type of extras that HD-DVD and Blu-Ray offer that SD DVD can't are very limited. If people can have the majority of extras on their SD DVD, why upgrade if they're not concerned about PQ/AQ?

SD DVD has already started dropping extras, to an extent. Studios are now releasing cheap single-disc bare-bones releases and separate more expensive special editions of films. The bare-bones releases sell more.

Extras are nice, and they reach a certain demographic, but they're not what drives mainstream acceptance.

They sell more cause they're cheaper. Doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure that one out. Buy the 1 disc for $15 or the 2 disc for $30?

And thus far, there really hasn't been much of a quarrel on that issue for me.

Right, price trumps extras, and the lack of extras don't seem to be detrimental to sales.

And you think the HD version will ever be cheaper than the SD version?

This whole argument that you're concocting is pointless.

Probably not. So if people are going to migrate from DVD to HD discs, it's not going to be because of extras or price, but superior picture and sound.

On Amazon, the price for Ray on SD DVD is $17.99 for fullscreen and $14.99 for widescreen. For the last three or so weeks, the HD DVD of Ray has been $13.xx off and on.

There have been a few others Amazon has had the HD cheaper than the SD.

While I think your correct, I dont think its that black and white. A big selling point to these hd discs is the increased size. Alot of people know that there is room for at least the sd extras.

So, skimping on those could be perceived as clear opportunity to double dip in the future.

In my case, I will not buy a BD or HD-DVD that is void of extras unless it were a huge title that Ive been wanting (like star wars, LOTR or so on). On the other hand, ive bought some titles on hd-dvd that I probably would not have bought, not only due to pic/audio quality, but the extra features.

Our society is used to "special edition" dvds. I think we see it as a better value. If the hd discs do not have them, people will think that something is up.