Ludicrous prices payed for DVDs

[JamesTC]

Just wondering what ludicrous prices people have payed for DVDs. I payed £22 for Series I of Red Dwarf, thinking about it, it was worth it but still I payed a little over what I should have. It was one of the first DVDs I got so I was oblivious to what price they should be, I have learned since. Wait, I payed less for ‘BodySnatcher’ than I did for Series I!

Topic

[NitroChrisUK]

i remember when dvds were just starting off, and gladiaor was ?26 because it was one of the 1st 2 disc special edition things..lukily i dint buy it untill it was about 3 pound,several years down the line

[Ian Symes]

I paid about ?90 for the Alien Quadrilogy boxset when it first came out. It seemed worth it for so long, but now you see it for under a tenner in Tesco…

[Zombie Jim Undead]

Ah yes…I remember in the early days of DVD when all films released by New Line were stupid prices. Single disc of Austin Powers the Spy Who Shagged Me for ?24.99?

I didn’t buy it, mind…

[Zombie Jim Undead]

> I paid about ?90 for the Alien Quadrilogy boxset

Is that the 9-disc one? It’s ruddy bally good is that.

[p2p_productions]

Yeah, I got the Region 1 Quadrilogy at a Memorabilia shortly after it was released. Paid ?50-60, I think. Region 2’s now under twenty, but I prefer the R1 holo packaging.

Best ‘recent’ buy has to be Blade Runner – a metal tin, hologram, ‘letter from Ridley Scott’, art cards, and five or so discs, all for ?20-25. Amazing.

[ChrisM]

I didn’t pay ?90 (I forget how much I did pay) but it was certainly more than a tenner. Then again that was a few years ago now.

Not that I don’t believe it could be a tenner in places. It’s 12.99 on Play which is the same ballpark when you consider how far it’s been reduced.

[Zombie Jim Undead]

On a related topic, has anyone got a Blu Ray player?

I’m debating over whether or not I should bother. Picture quality doesn’t seem to be a quantum leap from DVD and I always think hi-def pics look grainy unless the source is exceptionally good.

Plus…of course… there wouldn’t be much point in releasing Dwarf on Blu-Ray.

[Danny Stephenson]

I got the Matrix 10-Disc Set for about ?45 if I remember. THAT was FRIGGING GOOD VALUE!

I paid cash for the first series of Red Dwarf on release date. I then went home, got my debit card, and bought a DVD player to play it on.

Seriously.

[ChrisM]

One thing I don’t quite understand about Blu-ray. It is capable of storing a lot more data than DVDs, yet, when I compare releases of DVDs and Blu-ray they tend to include the same amount of disks. I.e. a 2 disk special edition DVD = 2 disk special edition Blu Ray. With the same amount of extras.

I’d have thought with that amount of space they could cram it all on the same disk. Do they use up most of that extra space for the higher definition format?

[Ian Symes]

Short answer: yes.

Long answer: yes, obviously.

[Zombie Jim Undead]

Or they might be doing what they often do with DVDs and needlessly spread across 2 discs to justify a higher price.

[ChrisM]

>Long answer: yes, obviously.

Not so obviously. Blu-ray disks contain a LOT more information than DVD. Even with a higher definition, I’d have thought there would be room to spare.

Likely I thought wrong, but it’s interesting how a level of quality which seems negligible to most* would take up so much more space.

*To be fair I haven’t seen much HD to compare myself…

[Ian Symes]

If you watch Bluray on a standard definition TV, then of course there’s only going to be a negligible difference. If you were to watch it on a full HD telly (none of your “HD Ready” 720p shite either), you’d see the difference.

[Zombie Jim Undead]

A Blu Ray disc will hold 50 gigs. A high definition movie will hardly ever be more than 30 gigs and is usually under 20.

Considering that that leaves at least 20 gigs free (over twice the entire capacity of a DVD)…and that most Blu Ray special features are standard definition…there really shouldn’t be any need for double disc sets.

[Zombie Jim Undead]

> (none of your ?HD Ready? 720p shite either)

Difference between 720 and 1080 isn’t actually noticable on a screen smaller than about 40 inches.

[p2p_productions]

A good DVD upscaler will almost do the job, and often for a great deal less ?. I can get a very crisp 1080i out of my Phillips, and any comparison with my Blu Ray/HD DVD discs isn’t all that noticable.

[Zombie Jim Undead]

Was thinking about upscalers…never seen one in action but interesting to hear that they work well. I’s got a lot of DVDs that I wouldn’t want to rebuy on another format just yet!

[JamesTC]

Isn’t a PS3 a DVD upscaler?

[p2p_productions]

>Isn?t a PS3 a DVD upscaler?

I’m not sure as I’ve never used one(!) If it pushes the image through to HD resolution, then yes. But some dedicated upscalers actually ‘treat’ the image, improving quality even further.

[Jonathan Capps]

> But some dedicated upscalers actually ?treat? the image, improving quality even further.

Do they also turn base metals into gold?

[p2p_productions]

Here’s mine. You can get it for around ?40-50 at the moment.

http://www.consumer.philips.com/consumer/en/gb/consumer/cc/_productid_DVP5960_05_GB_CONSUMER/DVD-Player+DVP5960-05

Of course, the other option is to build a HTPC. I had a go last year, but I still haven’t worked out all the bugs. It plays most Blu Rays/HD DVDs, but some old ones just refuse to come through at all.

Also, you have to get stuff like a wireless keyboard, so there’s no remote (unless you’re using something like Windows Media Centre which I believe comes with its own).

[ChrisM]

A Blu Ray disc will hold 50 gigs. A high definition movie will hardly ever be more than 30 gigs and is usually under 20.

Considering that that leaves at least 20 gigs free (over twice the entire capacity of a DVD)?and that most Blu Ray special features are standard definition?there really shouldn?t be any need for double disc sets.

Seems I was right then. Cheers for the info.

>Isn?t a PS3 a DVD upscaler?

I know the PS3 has a Blu-ray drive, so I figured that made it a Blu-ray player much as the PS2 plays DVDs. (That’s what I use in fact. I have some skipping problems but it’s done pretty well.) Do blu-ray players upscale ordinary DVDs too? I seem to remember hearing they do, but I’m not certain.

[locusceruleus]

I paid 120 euros last week for the David Lynch Lime Green Collection.

And also, fuck Blu-Ray.

[peas_and_corn]

I wanted blu ray to win because it had a nice name. THERE, I SAID IT.

I paid the ABC price for the Dwarf DVDs- AU$60. I got the Alien quadrilogy for $50, because it cost less than if I got the four standard DVDs separately.

[James]

Blu-ray players do upscale your DVD collection to a higher quality. I haven’t had a disk that won’t play on mine, except the extra disk on Downfall, didn’t like the menu for some reason. The reason you have quite a lot of disk space available on Blu-ray is for the audio, most disks are being produced with Master Audio, creating massive files, so you need the space, and it’s 10 times better quality than standard DTS.

Blu-ray is amazing! But you need the screen size, a portable, you won’t see a difference.

Terminator 2 imported metal boxset cost me $100!

[Pete Part Three]

I paid 2.99 for Troy.

And I still don’t know why.

Oh, and Blu-Ray is awesome.

[ChrisM]

>Terminator 2 imported metal boxset cost me $100!

I’m thinking of getting the Extreme edition of that.(DVD not Blu-ray) (I didn’t even know it existed until a short while ago.)

I have the Region 2 Ultimate edition* but I’d like to get hold of a copy of the theatrical cut too.*

Apart from a better transfer of the Extended version there iis a High res version of the theatrical cut too. Apparently you have to watch it on Windows… the TV won’t take it. ;) According to the blurb it requires a ‘high end PC’ but it’s been out a while so I’m hoping yesterdays high end is now mid- entry level. Failing that theres a low res version as an easter egg. (And you get Cameron’s commentary for the extended version.) Worth ?6 I think.

*Annoying thing is, the region 1 Ultimate version has 3 copies of the film on it. I wish I’d checked when I bought my version.

[Zombie Jim Undead]

My metal tin T2 special edition DVD has gone rusty. Fact.

[ChrisM]

>My metal tin T2 special edition DVD has gone rusty. Fact.

Heh. That’s the version I’ve got (ultimate not special.) Apparently the Region 1 version came in a loose metal sleeve and tends to spill out the contents. That’s one reason I’m not too fussed about getting that version, despite the extra 2 versions of the film. No doubt it’s the version to go for if you don’t own T2 though.

[JamesTC]

Hmm, I might get the region 1 import then, T2 being my favourite film I think I can justify having it twice, I have Red Dwarf 1,2 and 3 on DVD twice so…

[ChrisM]

I was thinking that too, but I figured, since most of the extra material in the ultimate edition is the same for region 1 and 2 (bar the branching films) I’d plump for the Region 1 Extreme edition.

As far as extras are concerned, the Region 1 ultimate is the best though. I’m mostly after the Extreme a)for the James Cameron Commentary. (A proper scene by scene commentary with just him and another guy rather than lots of people from various interviews). and b) The Theatrical cut (which you get with Region 1 Ultimate anyway), apart from the Hi res Windows version I mentioned earlier.)

By the way, if you go for ultimate region 1, the quality is slightly less for the Special edition version compared to the extreme edition, but there isn’t much in it. (Less contrast basically. On comparison shots, I actually quite liked the ultimate better, albeit the crispness is actually less realistic. )

So for best cut of film= Extreme. For more extras= ultimate.

Sorry for turning the Blu-ray thread into a Terminator DVD discussion thread.

[JamesTC]

>Sorry for turning the Blu-ray thread into a Terminator DVD discussion thread.

This is a blu-ray thread?

[James]

>My metal tin T2 special edition DVD has gone rusty. Fact.

It’s made from aluminium, how did that happen?

The Region 1 version was the best at the time, the UK didn’t get the full double disk until a lot later, I had to have it, and the menu sections are totally amazing! One of the best i have seen.

Just remembered ChungKing Express cost me a fortune as well, that was an import at the time.

[ChrisM]

>This is a blu-ray thread?
Heh you’re right. That was just another mutation along the way.

I’m glad this board are pretty easy going about threads. Some forums I’ve visited they actually get quite strict and sometimes a bit shirty about being ‘on-topic’.

[James]

Well it’s disk releated. Talking about the benifit of more disk space, films like Schindler’s List wouldn’t have to be split over 2 disks.

I think in the time frame the cost of Blu-Ray disks have dropped very quickly compaired to DVD over the same time period. I can’t see it affecting DVD sales the way it did to VHS, but personally the quality difference in picture and sound is the same as it was from VHS to DVD.

[Jo]

I paid ?60 each for the first 2 seasons of The West Wing after waiting for ages for them to drop in price and they didn’t.
Soon as they arrived I opened and started watching them (obviously) and within a fortnight you could get both seasons for ?45 and within a month or so after that they changed the packaging. WAH!

[Jonathan Capps]

> Soon as they arrived I opened and started watching them (obviously) and within a fortnight you could get both seasons for ?45 and within a month or so after that they changed the packaging. WAH!

I saw that awesome boxset in HMV for 50 measly quid the other day. I spent about ?90 on getting all the individual sets :(

[Jo]

Yeah I saw that too! Was tempted to buy it anyway – but lack of funds prevented me!

[JamesTC]

I payed ?40 for two seasons of TNG each and ?45 for one season of Voyager. Now they are ?13 each in a much shelf friendlier case.

[Seb Patrick]

I let someone pay me a tenner to take a Dark Ages VHS off their hands. What a fucking idiot.

I should have held out for twenty.

[Author]

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