Draven

I don't think they would have had any problem selling HD DVDs for this movie, even if the format is "dead".

I know I would have bought it. Now, I won't buy anything. Doesn't seem like a great way to do business.

QuePaso

I understand that and totally respect that viewpoint. However, as far as i am concerned, lack of extras won't stop a purchase of a top notch disc of a movie i want. I know a lot of others disagree (and strangely they are mostly found on this forum!!), but i think the majority of HD movies buyers are not looking at the extras as a big deal.

NitroJMS

I didn't see the film, but I've been wondering, why would the movie have a super-aggressive 5.1 mix? Since its supposed to be shot on a camcorder, shouldn't it be limited to that level of sound? I know some can do a Dolby capture, but still, they don't sound like regular movies.

JTH182

The sound mix along with the camera style made you feel like you were THERE instead of just watching it like Blair Witch. I know what you're saying that the sound should be camcorder quality... but it worked.

Drexl

See, it's hard to say that lack of extras is going to flat out stop me from purchasing something. If I really like a movie, yes, I will still buy it without extras, but I won't be as happy with it as I would if it had extras. Unless I'm on the fence about a movie (in which case extras can push me to buy it), I'll still get it if I really want it, but I may not pay as much or make it a high priority.

Case in point: I'm not paying $28 for Predator when it comes out; I'll wait for a sale. Had they ported the extras over, I probably would have bought it for the higher price. Almost all of my Fox titles have been purchased during sales.

Also, while I certainly appreciate lossless audio, I'd be missing out on some great titles if I refused to buy anything that didn't have it (just as I would miss out if I didn't buy a title I wanted that didn't have extras). I'm not going to wait what could be several years for Warner to reissue Goodfellas or Unforgiven with lossless audio.

As for Cloverfield, couldn't they just put whatever extras would work on it? There must be some simple video extras that don't involve interactivity or PiP. Hey, at least then we wouldn't have people complaining about the BD having extras that aren't on the DVD.

Josh Z

Are you still living in 2006, Dan? iHD was rebranded as HDi after Apple threatened to sue.

Engel07

I'll take the BEST video and BEST audio with just the movie over special features. They should spend their resources and effort to get 5/5 in all PQ and AQ. I would hate to pay for high definition to find out that the PQ or AQ is 3/5 with bunch of special features.

pro-bassoonist

That is the ultimate pick for any serious collector but it is not feasible given the market we, the afficionados, share. Furthermore, it has absolutely nothing to do with HDM content-providers either. It was how things were done during SDVDs boom and it is how things will be done with HDM, the distribs are copying the same progression - extras were never a priority (perhaps excluding the commentary craze which produced some genuine duffs).

Extras do not drive sales. It may seem so on fan boards and sites such as DVDTALK but the reality is different. So, with this in mind my top-priority has always been best audio/video presentation (and with SDVD proper transfers). If the opposite was correct then Criterion would have sold an impressive amount of their "mainstream" titles (The Rock, etc), yet, they did not. They barely sold enough to sponsor less "attractive" projects.

As to pricing which seems to be rubbing so many people the wrong way on this forum, and those who routinely bash Fox for example, let's not forget that one of the worst distribs on the SDVD market - Facets, consistently have their releases either matching or beating Criterion in terms of pricing. And WE all know how a Facet's release looks (let's not even discuss extras).

Ciao,
Pro-B

candyrocket786

The Rock's $39.99 MSRP is what kept me away for the longest time, especially when 2-Disc Sets had a $12.99-$15.99 pricing window upon release (those were the good days ).

If Criterion's pricing structure was comparable to the other studios (at the time), then the "mainstream titles" would've generated more numbers.

Josh Z

I was under the impression that The Rock was Criterion's best-selling release of all time. When did that change?