Hi, I was wondering what thoughts were on Firefly coming to HD. I know it was broadcast on Fox. Does that mean a Blu-Ray release? I know Serenity was Universal, but I was under the impression Firefly was with a different studio. Thanks for the help.

Regards, Jerry

The series was produced Joss Whedon's Mutant Enemy, 20th Century Fox Television, and Fox Television Network.

The movie was produced by Mutant Enemy, Universal Pictures, and Barry Mendel Productions.

From this I gather Firefly will be Blu-ray only.

thanks Rusty, appreciate it!

His should be right as Serenity is HD DVD only.

I think Universal was the only company that would fund and produce his movie.

I think the series would be a Fox Blu-ray only.

Probably BD in the US and HD-DVD via Universal in Europe.

The irony being the Firefly series is broadcast in HD on Universal HD network in the US..

The irony being the Firefly series is broadcast in HD on Universal HD network in the US..

Exactly :)

When/if this comes out on blu-ray and not hd-dvd, this would definitely make me buy a blu-ray player. The new Samsung BD-P1200 may be the first fully functional blu-ray player so the timing is almost right.

When/if this comes out on blu-ray and not hd-dvd, this would definitely make me buy a blu-ray player. The new Samsung BD-P1200 may be the first fully functional blu-ray player so the timing is almost right.Been watching this great series on UniversalHD. There are a great many BD movies I want, but none that can get me to spend >$200 for a blu-ray player. Doubting this series (if released on BD) will either.

At the risk of starting yet ANOTHER flame war, I have to ask:

Baronken - what HD-DVD player is only $160? Are you just counting the cost of the HD-DVD drive for XBox360 without including the cost of the console itself?

Been watching this great series on UniversalHD. There are a great many BD movies I want, but none that can get me to spend >$200 for a blu-ray player. Doubting this series (if released on BD) will either.


But somehow you can Justify spending $500+ on a player that will only play 25% of the movies :rolleyes: You're essentially spending $500 for a player to only get movies from Universal.

I would much rather spend $500 and get %90 of the new releases.

But somehow you can Justify spending $500+ on a player that will only play 25% of the movies :rolleyes: You're essentially spending $500 for a player to only get movies from Universal.

I would much rather spend $500 and get %90 of the new releases.
Why do you care how he spends his money? :rolleyes:

Flyersfan,

Baronken - what HD-DVD player is only $160? Are you just counting the cost of the HD-DVD drive for XBox360 without including the cost of the console itself?

If he already has the Xbox, then you wouldnt include the price of the Xbox. For those who own the Xbox, the minimal cost of entry is the Addon at a list price of $199.

To make this really simple to understand, you dont include the price of the DVD (or BD or HD DVD) player in the cost of the DVD (BD or HD) do you?

Bob,

But somehow you can Justify spending $500+ on a player that will only play 25% of the movies You're essentially spending $500 for a player to only get movies from Universal.

What arrogance, telling someone you dont know, whose tastes in movies you dont know, what they should do and how they should spend their money.

Why do you care how he spends his money? :rolleyes:
I don't.

Clear as mud, georgeking.

I don't have an XBox. I don't plan on getting an XBox. I would love to get an HD-DVD player for $160. So how do I do that?

Flyersfan,



If he already has the Xbox, then you wouldnt include the price of the Xbox. For those who own the Xbox, the minimal cost of entry is the Addon at a list price of $199.

To make this really simple to understand, you dont include the price of the DVD (or BD or HD DVD) player in the cost of the DVD (BD or HD) do you?

Bob,



What arrogance, telling someone you dont know, whose tastes in movies you dont know, what they should do and how they should spend their money.


Agreed.

Firefly is a Fox title in Europe also. I'm not sure where the idea that Universal has it came from?

Jackinbox,

The idea probably came from the fact that the movie Serenity (one of my all time favs) is a Universal title. Furthermore, you can watch Firefly on the Universal HD channel in America.

Flyersfan,

well, in that case, look for a demo unit on sale somewhere. If you have a Sears in your area, that would probably be a good place to look. Also, I didnt mean to sound snippy, but there was a long discussion in the fall, and all the BD fans wanted to say that the Add on really cost $600 because one simply HAD to include the cost of the Xbox. So I was coming from that background, and I apologize if it came across wrong.

Clear as mud, georgeking.

I don't have an XBox. I don't plan on getting an XBox. I would love to get an HD-DVD player for $160. So how do I do that?

"You" can't...if you don't have an xbox then eBay is your best bet. If Baronken says "his" investment was $160 that was strictly from his perspective. He alluded nothing regarding everyone being able to accomplish the same.

next...

For anyone who's seen the Firefly series in HD how big of a dropoff in resolution do you see when the special effects shots happen. I heard they were all done in SD.

The series looks good on UHD. The CGI looks good as well. They did a great job upconverting the CGI. But, remember, CGI always upconverts better than film or video.

josh,

I like this logic. Hense forth, I shall proclaim that anyone can get a Free BD Player by simply purchasing a PS3! $0 is way less than $199!

Actually, yes I believe that, because the PS3 is a game console, not a BD player. What is wrong with the logic though? You already bought the DVD player, so it is a sunk cost. You dont add that to the cost of each DVD you buy do you? So, when you buy a DVD you dont pay DVD cost + DVD player cost do you? So, in a similar manner, if you already bought the Xbox360, then when you go to the store you pay $199 for the add on, not $600.

I prefer to think of it this way.
-10,000,000 Xbox 360 owners will spend under $200 to get HD
-10,000,000 PS3 owners will buy $1000 bundles to get BD free

At the risk of starting yet ANOTHER flame war,Too late it seems ;)

I have to ask:

Baronken - what HD-DVD player is only $160? Are you just counting the cost of the HD-DVD drive for XBox360 without including the cost of the console itself?As has already been answered (thanks all), yes, I only spent $160 to get the HD DVD addon a year after I got the 360. My 360 was basically collecting dust, so for $160 I now get to watch some great HD movies!

But somehow you can Justify spending $500+ on a player that will only play 25% of the movies You're essentially spending $500 for a player to only get movies from Universal.

I would much rather spend $500 and get %90 of the new releases.I can't justify spending $500+ on any player. I already had the 360, so spending $160 for the addon has been well worth it.
And I'm not sure where you get the 25% figure as BD titles have just recently barely surpassed HD DVD titles. Lots of movies for both formats are coming this year, so I doubt I will run out of movies to watch on HD DVD.

I don't have an XBox. I don't plan on getting an XBox. I would love to get an HD-DVD player for $160. So how do I do that?I never made the claim that you could get an HD DVD player for $160. I have said that I managed to get into HD DVD for $160. E.g. you can get and make use of new wheels for your truck (if you have a truck) for <$1000, but it would cost me $20k to get and use those same wheels (since I don't own that truck). Yea, yea, poor example ;)

I like this logic. Hense forth, I shall proclaim that anyone can get a Free BD Player by simply purchasing a PS3! $0 is way less than $199!Maybe so, but I can't afford the expensive PS3 gaming portion, so I can't get the free BD player ;)

Given the success of the DVDs I imagine Fox would have retained the distribution rights for their future HD counterparts and FireFly will be released exclusively on Blue-Ray.
But speculatively, Universal believed in the FireFly enough to purchase rights to the movie and fund its production. They then saw lackluster box-office performance but great DVD sales. And are now seeing great interest in the HD broadcasts and a HD DVD that has been in or around the top 10 on Amazon since its release.
Joss Whedon has discussed elements of the TV production that wouldn't stand-up to the big screen. So, to do the HD release right an investment would have to be made into the source. Maybe Fox won't want to bother and Universal will step-up. This probably won’t happen but I wish it would. Fox screwed-over and then canceled FireFly halfway into the production of its first season and I have no confidence they will treat the series right in the future.
I wonder what say, if any, Mutant Enemy will have in this.

P.S. – Almost half the posts, so far, are on an uninteresting, tired, unconstructive and unrelated topic. That seems ridiculous to me.

The series looks good on UHD. The CGI looks good as well. They did a great job upconverting the CGI. But, remember, CGI always upconverts better than film or video.


I don't have universal HD and was limited to SD-DVD. Absolutely loved the series, but the DVD version was very uneven in terms of PQ. an hi-def version would be quite welcome.

Thanks for the OT replies. I didn't realize there was a battle about pricing and the back and forth between 360 & PS3 owners. While I've been on AVS for a long time, I stayed away from these threads until recently due to the low signal/noise ratio. Purchasing a PS3 changed all that for me. :)

To stay on track: it'd surprise me to see Firefly, or many TV series, on any HD format this early. There's just not enough penetration. But to keep both camps happy (and maximize the studio's profits), I hope they'd just release it in both formats.

I'm betting that most people that post here DO own a PC, however (Mac love aside for a moment), and I think the XBox HD-DVD add-on does work for PCs . . . so the get into HD-DVD for under $200 analogy does work, I think. And for those who are about to chime and and say "Yeah, but it's a PC-based system!" my reply would be something along the lines of having read about how great the PS3 is . . . people who don't mind putting up with a game console as their primary source of Bluray output are unlikely to mind getting their HD-DVD fix from a PC-based solution.

Fox, BD...

Somewhere a while back I read this series would be only on BD, while the movie was only on HD-DVD.

wayne,

prefer to think of it this way.
-10,000,000 Xbox 360 owners will spend under $200 to get HD

That is true. they have to spend $200 for HD.

-10,000,000 PS3 owners will buy $1000 bundles to get BD free

First, at the rate the PS3 is selling, it will be a long time before they hit 10 million. For probably 99% of the purchasers, that will be true. I am willing to bet that the percentage of people who bought the PS3 as a dedicated BD player is pretty small.

The series looks good on UHD. The CGI looks good as well. They did a great job upconverting the CGI. But, remember, CGI always upconverts better than film or video.

However, a bigger problem is that in any shot with CGI, the entire shot has to be upconverted from SD, not just the CGI element.

I don't.
You cared enough to make a snide comment, complete with "rolled eyes." Seems strange that you would take his purchasing decisions personally enough to mock him for them.