I know the execs at Fox read the software forum so here's something directed towards them:

1. Make all catalog titles $19.99-$24.99. No one but the diehard is going to replace their DVD with a Mpeg-2, BD25 with no extras at $39.99. Eg. The Usual Suspects is one of my fav films. I was really looking forward to it. But what did you do? You included none of the extras of the special edition release and dropped the excellent Bryan Singer commentary. I might still pick it up but not at your asking price.

2. Lower your MSRP of new titles to $29.99. You guys price yourselves out of the market. The fact that many of your titles (despite great reviews) are not selling as well as Sony's or Disney's is indicative of the the high price. It's just not good business sense.

3. Perceived value will sell discs. Mpeg-2 and BD25 discs has to stop. BD-50 with AVC is the way to go. Or AVC/BD25 for smaller movies. There is nothing wrong with double dipping down the road -- but don't make it so obvious as it costs you sales. We're not idiots. Offer all the extras of the SD-DVD.

4. Don't overestimate the value of DTS MA. Most Blu-ray users have the PS3, which decodes True HD. On BD50s, you guys should offer DTS MA and True HD. Those without HDMI can extract the core track from DTS, while those of us with HDMI receivers can hear lossless to the full.

To which I respectfully add:

5. Release a better assortment of titles. For example, there's a certain Bruce Willis franchise that's getting a new sequel released this Summer. Why the previous films in the series are not yet released is beyond me.

6. Announce new releases with dates only if you're 100% committed to those dates.

I would say release the titles that you announce instead of canceling them.

I would say release ANYTHING :mad: !!!

Just curious, does anyone here disagree with what I've said? If so, please elaborate.

Just curious, does anyone here disagree with what I've said? If so, please elaborate.

You're pretty much right on the money, IMO. Sadly, our pleas for better quality and quicker releases from Fox may fall on deaf ears.

Dont disagree so far.

As punishment, Fox needs to give us some ALIENS lovin! :D

10 differant fans want 10 differant things....You can't just say "lower the price" since certain costs are involved,for every dollar spent should return at least $3. Cost of relicating a blu-ray disc doesn't come cheap,you have to wait for the price of the technology to come down before you can pass the savings onto the consumer...it's like walking into a Toyota dealership and saying to the owner "wanna know how to sell more brand new 2008 cars? "Lower the price and add leather seats,moonroof,alarm system and the like. Wouldn't be very cost effective or worth thier wild now would it? You'd get a big fat NO for an answer.

Sounds good to me!

I agree, release something and chances are you will sell it... :)

They don't need to go to $29.99 (MSRP) for new releases when the other studios haven't; what they ought to do is go to that for catalog titles but keep new releases at $40. It's the standard more or less. Of course, I would like them all to be as low as possible, but I'm trying to be realistic.

Don't drop extras! By keeping the extras, you satisfy the widest range of consumers. Also, release a more varied slate of titles. I would love to get those special editions of The Full Monty and Big in HD.

To which I respectfully add:

5. Release a better assortment of titles. For example, there's a certain Bruce Willis franchise that's getting a new sequel released this Summer. Why the previous films in the series are not yet released is beyond me.


Because they would release the older related films in the new format timed to the theatrical release of the sequel, not way in advance.

Eric

... there's a certain Bruce Willis franchise that's getting a new sequel released this Summer. Why the previous films in the series are not yet released is beyond me.

Maybe Fox is saving the trilogy for a day-and-date release with the DVD/BD of Die Hard 4 for maximum advertisement/hype bang for the buck. Makes sense to me.

Maybe Fox is saving the trilogy for a day-and-date release with the DVD/BD of Die Hard 4 for maximum advertisement/hype bang for the buck. Makes sense to me.

I agree with that, but what the heck is the holdup with Aliens?

I agree with that, but what the heck is the holdup with Aliens?

Well, that has a "sequel" coming out as well in AvP2.

I know the execs at Fox read the software forum so here's something directed towards them:

1. Make all catalog titles $19.99-$24.99. No one but the diehard is going to replace their DVD with a Mpeg-2, BD25 with no extras at $39.99. Eg. The Usual Suspects is one of my fav films. I was really looking forward to it. But what did you do? You included none of the extras of the special edition release and dropped the excellent Bryan Singer commentary. I might still pick it up but not at your asking price.

2. Lower your MSRP of new titles to $29.99. You guys price yourselves out of the market. The fact that many of your titles (despite great reviews) are not selling as well as Sony's or Disney's is indicative of the the high price. It's just not good business sense.

3. Perceived value will sell discs. Mpeg-2 and BD25 discs has to stop. BD-50 with AVC is the way to go. Or AVC/BD25 for smaller movies. There is nothing wrong with double dipping down the road -- but don't make it so obvious as it costs you sales. We're not idiots. Offer all the extras of the SD-DVD.

4. Don't overestimate the value of DTS MA. Most Blu-ray users have the PS3, which decodes True HD. On BD50s, you guys should offer DTS MA and True HD. Those without HDMI can extract the core track from DTS, while those of us with HDMI receivers can hear lossless to the full.
Well said.

10 differant fans want 10 differant things....You can't just say "lower the price" since certain costs are involved,for every dollar spent should return at least $3. Cost of relicating a blu-ray disc doesn't come cheap,you have to wait for the price of the technology to come down before you can pass the savings onto the consumer...it's like walking into a Toyota dealership and saying to the owner "wanna know how to sell more brand new 2008 cars? "Lower the price and add leather seats,moonroof,alarm system and the like. Wouldn't be very cost effective or worth thier wild now would it? You'd get a big fat NO for an answer.

Why would it cost Fox more to make and market discs than every other studio? Their prices are often 30% higher than the other companies. I don't think it's unreasonable as a consumer to think that's higher than it should be.

When releasing day & date new releases, make sure the "superior" BD version at least matches the dvd. The only way to go "Beyond High Defintion" with Night at the Museum is to have offered it on a BD-50 with AVC and ALL extras in HD. That's what I'd do with the #2 highest grossing film of 2006. If Sony can give Casino Royale top treatment the first time around, why can't Fox do the same with Night at the Museum?

I know the execs at Fox read the software forum so here's something directed towards them:

Eight- How do you know this and PM me who you think they are.

Someone that has posted here works for Lionsgate!

I would say release ANYTHING :mad: !!!


Hahaha, quoted for truth.

If Sony can give Casino Royale top treatment the first time around, why can't Fox do the same with Night at the Museum?

For the same reason Lucas can go crazy with all types of time-consuming special effects with his Star Wars movies without worrying about the bill: he owns the factory. Sony owns the BD pressing facility, Fox rents it from Sony. Sony doesn't have to bill itself for using its own factory to press discs for a movie it owns (zero additional expense) while Fox has to pay Sony a fee for pressing its discs (a higher fee if the disc is a BD-50, which aren't as easy/fast/cheap to press as the BD-25's) on Sony's factory. Simple economics, which in Sony's case will always favor the house that built BD.

For the same reason Lucas can go crazy with all types of time-consuming special effects with his Star Wars movies without worrying about the bill: he owns the factory. Sony owns the BD pressing facility, Fox rents it from Sony. Sony doesn't have to bill itself for using its own factory to press discs for a movie it owns (zero additional expense) while Fox has to pay Sony a fee for pressing its discs (a higher fee if the disc is a BD-50, which aren't as easy/fast/cheap to press as the BD-25's) on Sony's factory. Simple economics, which in Sony's case will always favor the house that built BD.
So why does a crappy film like Alien vs Predator get a BD-50, but the #2 highest grossing film of 2006 doesn't?

Finding Neverland: BD-50
Ladder 49: BD-50
The Guardian: BD-50
Flyboys: BD-50
Invincible: BD-50
Flightplan: BD-50
Crank: BD-50

But not Night at the Museum?

I believe the marketing of BD has been a misfire.
The goal of BDA is to move the DVD-buying public to BD (at least, I hope so).
What could have transpired is that the 1st releases should been bare-boned releases.
NO extras, no BD-J (aka KISS).
In that way, the studios' costs would have allowed more aggressive pricing (and remember how bare the 1st DVDs were).
JSP would be tempted.

PCM 5.1, no DTS-MA, TrueHD, etc.
Again, lower costs and the ability to have lossless audio on legacy receivers right off the bat.
Avoiding consumer anger over BD technology is the smartest thing you can do.
After the DVD-A and SACD fiasco, nothing can stop a format more quickly than the word out on the street from frustrated early adopters (who tell their friends, relatives, etc.).
Much of DVD's success was the result of word-of-mouth initially. ;)

Someone that has posted here works for Lionsgate!
If true, how come they will not help us contact LG about the Stargate screw up. I want a free replacement disc but every LG email gets bounced back. Show yourself LG employee...if you dare! :)

Oh, and about Fox. I agree with others; the easiest way to sell disc is to actually release them, something Fox seems to be having trouble with.

For the same reason Lucas can go crazy with all types of time-consuming special effects with his Star Wars movies without worrying about the bill: he owns the factory. Actually, that's not true. There are costs in making the CGIs and practical effects to Lucasfilm itself. If they are working on SW1-3, they can't be working on other projects for other films. That means revenue lost. The longer they tweak, the higher the cost. They might have a lower cost IE no markup but there are costs involved.

I believe it's true to Sony's BD replication plants as well. They can absorb more of the cost but it's not free.


fuad

Catalog titles shouldn't be $40 MSRP. EVER.

I would say release ANYTHING :mad: !!!
Agreed, tonight I had to resort to watching Master & Commander via the regular DVD. :o :( :mad: :mad:

I've given up all hope that we'll be seeing M&C at any point in May (announced at CES). :( :mad:

I've stayed away from the Fox b/c of its bare-bone releases. I smell double-dipping in the future.. But I have to pick up Night at the Museum; I enjoyed it way too much to avoid it.

Any Fox titles I get are used or purchased at a significant discount (the Amazon sale).

Fox must enjoy the profits they garner from the used titles I buy due to their insane MSRPs for barebones releases....

Penton, since Fox lurks over at HTF (though they no longer post), I've always kind of assumed they lurked here as well.

Maybe it's just me, but I only have 4 BD's and 3 are from Fox. I know Disney/BV are great and all, but their movies just don't seem to have the same repeat value to me for whatever reason....

Although cheaper prices will be great, of course. :)

(and I don't care about extras)
gandalf :o

Fox has more action, movies-for-guys type flicks than anyone. That's why their movies have repeated viewings.

Regardless, my copy of Ronin better be a BD-50 or someone is going to get hurt. That's one of my fav movies ever.

Sell Will Smith movies (namely ID4). After all he is the most profitable Actor(TH aside) in the world.

4. Don't overestimate the value of DTS MA. Most Blu-ray users have the PS3, which decodes True HD. On BD50s, you guys should offer DTS MA and True HD. Those without HDMI can extract the core track from DTS, while those of us with HDMI receivers can hear lossless to the full.I agree with just about everything except this. Including the same track in two formats would be a waste just to fulfill a short-term wish. Eventually there will be DTS HD MA decoders either in playback devices or in AV receivers that you can use to get at the lossless audio. I'd much rather have them switch to Dolby TrueHD (even if it screws me personally out of hearing higher quality audio, since I lack HDMI presently) and ditch DTS HD MA than include both.

The folks at Fox have been busy over the last year boosting Blu-ray with tons of empty rhetoric. It's like going to war with France as your ally.

Sell Will Smith movies (namely ID4). After all he is the most profitable Actor(TH aside) in the world.

And Harrison Ford!

I would say to Fox: Time to walk the walk for hi-def. You talked a talk at CES 2007 and before but what have you shown for it this year: squat.

Well, that has a "sequel" coming out as well in AvP2.

Blasphemy!!! AVP is garbage.

For a real Aliens movie, you need Sigourney! :D

Sorry if this is hijacking the thread, but if you have a PS3 and an HDMI receiver, you can listen to the full lossless audio? The PS3 does all the decoding and just passes it through to the receiver? Just want to make sure of this. If so, I won't have to wait to buy a receiver that does the HD audio decoding? Please, correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks.

I agree with just about everything except this. Including the same track in two formats would be a waste just to fulfill a short-term wish. Eventually there will be DTS HD MA decoders either in playback devices or in AV receivers that you can use to get at the lossless audio. I'd much rather have them switch to Dolby TrueHD (even if it screws me personally out of hearing higher quality audio, since I lack HDMI presently) and ditch DTS HD MA than include both.

You cannot extract a 1.5mbps core track from True HD like you can with DTS. I have dvds that have both Dolby and DTS. And I think in the future, given the space of 50gb discs, we'll probably see both.

Sorry if this is hijacking the thread, but if you have a PS3 and an HDMI receiver, you can listen to the full lossless audio? The PS3 does all the decoding and just passes it through to the receiver? Just want to make sure of this. If so, I won't have to wait to buy a receiver that does the HD audio decoding? Please, correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks.

Please search for the "PS3 owners looking for lossless audio" thread in this forum. All your answers are there.

Id like to add make your titles region free.

From the sales charts region free discs are selling extremely well. Import buyers add nice sales to those figures.

Release it, and they will come!

To normal customers pricing is the deciding factor. Only early adopters like us sometime don't mind paying more.

I guess I'm a bit different than some of you. Price doesn't bother me TOO much (under $30 on Amazon, and subtract the 10% discount), considering the movie. If there's something I really want to buy, chances are I'll break down and buy it anyway, since I usually rely on Netflix to see BD/HD movies anyway. X-Men 3 is really the only Fox title that's tempting me at the moment, but I'm trying to hold out for a trilogy set. The OP's points are definitely valid, although some don't necessarily apply to me (I don't have lossless decoding hardware). Fox really needs to take a lesson from Sony and step it up.

The only thing Fox needs to do to sell Blu-ray discs, in my book, is to release the Star Wars trilogies already! Particularly Revenge of the Sith, I can't wait to see that in HD on my PJ set-up! I remember it being the first film I've ever seen at a digital cinema and to this day, it's probably still the best looking movie in terms of PQ I have ever seen at the theater. Just that opening scene proved to me how amazing digital cinema could be. Can't wait to try to replicate that at home on my set-up!

Why is Fox the only BD studio delaying titles? If it's for security reasons, why didn't Sony, Disney, and LionsGate cancel all of their catalog titles?

I agree with just about everything except this. Including the same track in two formats would be a waste just to fulfill a short-term wish. Eventually there will be DTS HD MA decoders either in playback devices or in AV receivers that you can use to get at the lossless audio. I'd much rather have them switch to Dolby TrueHD (even if it screws me personally out of hearing higher quality audio, since I lack HDMI presently) and ditch DTS HD MA than include both.

Even if they included both DTS-MA and TrueHD, they wouldn't take much more space than a 24-bit LPCM track. Sony is already releasing top rated titles with more than one PCM track and plan on titles with PCM and TrueHD, so why couldn't FOX release a disc with two compressed soundtracks?

I've stayed away from the Fox b/c of its bare-bone releases. I smell double-dipping in the future.. But I have to pick up Night at the Museum; I enjoyed it way too much to avoid it.
And to this, I bought True Lies on DVD because I wore my VHS copy out and was severely disappointed in the "bonus features":

Widescreen
Surround sound
Theatrical Trailer

Regardless, my copy of Ronin better be a BD-50 or someone is going to get hurt.
:D
What's the color of the boathouse at Hereford?