/Rant/

This is the problem I have. Time. I probably have close to a thousand DVDs now. I think I've watched extras on maybe 5% of the discs maybe even less. I simply don't have the time to watch all the extras. And, lately extras on discs have become mostly fluff and really nothing that I would care about. I think studios are trying to see if people even care about extras anymore. That's why the dual release strategy started.

1 disc for the people who want the movie and maybe a making of and the 2 or 3 disc for the people who are fans for just want the extras. I know for a fact at least where I am and where I was previously that the 1 disc sold far more than the 2 disc.

Some movies were exceptions to the rule because of the rabid fanbase, but for the most part the rule has held true.

Lately I'm turning into the person that buys the 1 disc not only because I don't have the time, but also to save some money.

Another issue I have is with people who are upgrading from a standard def to high def movie. For the most part, most of us have seen the extras from the previous release. I don't know about you but when I watch extras I only watch them one time. I don't go back to watch them again. So for me it's not a big deal to have extras lopped off. To me, as long as the quality of the release is up to my standards then it's okay. I want lossless if I'm upgrading, but only for certain films.

/Rant over/

^ I definately would take lossless over special features anyday. BUT, I feel that some of the studios are leaving extras off for no good reason.

Great rant. I would add that SD extras look like crap compared to the HD feature.

I very rarely watch extras. They matter very little to me.

Apparently you are more concerned with the number displayed on your bit rate meter than with the actual quality of the picture or sound.

I assume you meant to say 28 Weeks Later.

The problem is that they are leaving off potential extras for no reason. A 25GB Blu-ray disc can hold the movie, lossless, and still have several GBs left to spare for the SD DVD features. Yet Fox and other studios feel the need to leave them out for no apparent reason. Thats laziness.

Notice how I said "3 players". Thats Samsung 1000, 1200, and LG 1000. Those are just the ones that it won't PLAY on. FF and DAT has issues on every other player...except the PS3. That includes long loading times.

Yes, because 300 is the perfect average PS3 owners movie. Its a no brainer. Lets not forget 300 is free with all A3x right now, so less people would be likely to purchase it.

Yeah, you are a minority. Most people will not pay $35 for a Fox release (if we believe that most people buy HighDef media at Best Buy) of a catalog title that is available for $5-8 every other week.

And you must mean 28 Weeks Later, not Day.




Kudos, Fox. Another spectacular release!

Speaking only for the Fox releases of late, which I think is what got this line of discussion going, had they priced the discs reasonably ($28.99 MSRP) while still having no extras, I would have purchased Robocop (and 2 others in the near future). I don't think this is only about the lack of extras, but the lack of extras on top of the $40 MSRP price tag.

I do agree, though, with your complaint about many extras that are included in releases. I generally can't stand any "featurette" which was used as a marketing tool as the movie came out in theaters. They're nothing more than talking heads and don't give any real enjoyment while watching (to me, anyway). I do love "real" behind the scenes type extras such as the ones included on the Superman disc and even the "making of" on the Rise of the Silver Surfer disc, and will usually rewatch them after the movie.

Sometimes it may be a matter of money. The production of these bonus features is not free, not to mention mastering, union fees, talent fees, copyright fees, etc. Maybe it is cheaper and faster to market for some features to be "light" on the extras.
I care more about the movie itself, unless it is a "classic" like Casablanca, or a favorite foreign film, then I might like to see some bonus features.

Wouldn't this have already been paid for with the previous SD release? I'm not asking for new features, but at least adding in the past SD extras or some of them does not seem like additional money. Then again, even if it is, they catalog titles sometime barley crack the 3k mark after being out for several months.

Thats the exact opposite. I dont HAVE to worry about the PQ because i know the disc is fully packed with a bitrate so high its impossible to mess up. Its the comfort of purchasing a BD exclusive and knowing that chances of a lowbitrate movie that has artifacts and lossy DVD style audio track are literally slim to none. Thats why its so easy to love blu-ray.

Actually, there are more, if you include Blu Ray drives in computers, including Sony and Pioneer, and the associated software.

Where did I say I wanted Robocop to be a low bitrate, lossy audio presentation? A 50GB disc would have given Fox enough space to put on the movie with a high bitrate and lossless audio and STILL have all the special features. Isn't that what the Blu-ray group has been shouting about all this time? More space! So why is it that a AAA title like Robocop is released barebones on a 25GB disc? And why use MPEG-2? That's a complete space hog.


Good for you. You don't like extras. I do. I don't care if they in SD or HD. Obviously I prefer them in HD, but in the end I want them on there. I'm trying to replace my DVD collection, not supplement it. I won't sell my old copy of Robocop if the new version is incomplete. Just because YOU don't like extras is no defense of Fox's decision to leave off all the pre-existing extras, especially when they could have easily fit on the disc.

They sure are kicking booty. Specifically, they're kicking anyone who opts to pay $40 for a barebones catalog title right in the ass. It's just insulting.

My point here is that with 50GB discs and AVC or VC-1 encoding, we can have our cake and eat it too: High bitrate transfers with lossless sound and a slew of special features. This hasn't been difficult for Disney or Sony to accomplish. Look at Underworld. Reference picture and sound and all the special features from the 2-disc unrated edition. To me, THAT is the definition of kicking ass and taking names.

I will say that Fox's new releases seem to be getting it right, you know, when they actually work in people's players.

Any news on Bad Boys 2? I watched the upcoming previews for blu-ray on my Closer disc and Bad Boys 2 looked really, really good. Has there been any talk about this?

I think you'll find that Robocop is the anomaly in the group. Look at Fantastic Four 2, The Day After Tomorrow, 28 Weeks later, etc etc. They're all top notch PQ/AQ. I do not have an answer for robocop, and since ive never seen it (i know, get over it!), it doesnt bother me much. I will rent it first and if i like it, will pick up the BD. As far as MPEG2, they probably were happy with the old encode and realized that Robocop will not sell very many copies in the first place, so best not to put too much effort into it.



I feel for you extra lovers. I do. But i did not get into HD Movies to watch SD extras. Id rather they max out the space for the best possible picture and audio quality, cause these movies are like, you know, in HD and stuff.



Insulting to perhaps 2% of the movie loving population, at best, IMHO. It is funny however that DVDTalk has a majority of people who love extras. No one i know in real life watches extras. I ask too!!

Again, special features are really for the minority out there. I personally do not believe that most people buying these discs are dyeing to watch SD Extras after they get done watching a very high bitrate AVC encoded movie with lossless audio. It is going to look and sound like crap, who would enjoy that? Not me.

And another fox movies not working on korean players remark? Sigh. You know, theres these things called Combo discs, and stoves + water. I can remark about the stunning amount of problems the Heroes discs had, 300 had, children of men had, etc etc. Lets not even get into the fact that the National Geographic HD DVD movies DO NOT play on the 360 addon, period, due to a firmware upgrade needed, and MS refuses to provide one due to fears of bricking the drive. Honestly, those fox movies will play fine after a firmware upgrade, just like the Heroes discs didnt work on the 360 addon without a upgrade from Microsoft for the HDi code. Both formats are in their infancy and both have had issues and will continue to have issues. So stop beating that dead horse about that, please.

So it's okay for studios not to put much effort into their releases. Who knew? I was pissed when WB left some extras off Superman: The Movie and when Universal left extras off King Kong. And those actually did have extras, they just left a few off. This is Fox saying, "Here, we don't give a shit about this movie, or its fanbase, or the consumers."





You have heard of diminishing returns, yes? At a certain point, the higher the bitrate goes, the less improvement you see per unit of measurement. And again, we could have had as good of a transfer OR BETTER with AVC encoding and a 50GB disc, with room for all the extras. Who wins? Everyone! Here Fox is just saying "Fuck you guys." Yet you're eating it up.





That's anecdotal evidence. I can say that only 2% of the people I know speak German. Does that mean 2% of all people everywhere speak German? No. Ask the studios. They've done extensive market research. People DO want extras. It's added value.



Again, that's your personal experience. I have no problem watching SD features after an HD movie.

You're right, those discs DID have problems. But at the same time, the studios behind them were constantly releasing other discs of high quality and value. Here, Fox is having problems with its new releases and its catalog releases stink, and this on top of a long hiatus where they released nothing at all. It all speaks to larger problems with Fox, as opposed to the individual problems of a disc or two not working. It's part of a pattern, you see. Or maybe you don't see, as you're so quick to defend their boneheaded decisions.

Again, I ask you, why is it that Sony can give reference quality audio and video with all DVD extras ported over and charge less than Fox does? Could it be that Fox is mishandling some of their releases?

To the guy that said you can't hear lossless, I beg to differ. I was in the same boat as well until I got a receiver that can decode it and frankly it is ten times better than a normal DD 5.1 track. The track sounds much fuller and there are little nuances that you normally won't hear with a regular lossy track.

I'll take great picture and lossless sound over fancy features any day. When it comes down to it, hi-def is all about next gen picture and sound, everything else is gravy.

Feel free to disagree with me.

I'm sorry, but its an on going debate where Blu-ray fans can hear the difference, and HD DV fans cannot. It will never be settled, so don't try, lol.

Hd-dvd fans can't hear it because they can't find a lossless track to compare.

Absolutely...I don't see why the bluray-only supporters are defending Fox so passionately in this case. IMO, Sony and Disney have been blowing Fox away with their releases. Fox has noooooo excuse for this.

They should take an example from all the other major studios releasing in HD.

That's a great rationalization..heck Robocop has been released a lot of times...studios DO NOT release movies multiple times unless there is a fan base that is willing to buy the product.

Maybe when the Onkyo comes.

You mean there isnt gonna be a special edition of Gigli?!?