Any word if either of these studios are supporting HD DVD?

Greetings

The Discovery Atlas stuff is released through Image Entertainment. So they are in ...

Regards

Greetings

The Discovery Atlas stuff is released through Image Entertainment. So they are in ...

Regards

They are Discovery's distributer, Discovery wanted its movies in HD so they released it. Just the same way Dreamworks movies are distributed through Paramount. Ultimately Discovery has control over these titles not Image. Image has released some concerts on HD DVD, I think Barry Manilow and some others. I have no idea about Anchor Bay

I believe the OP was asking about the films offered by these two companies and maybe the Criterion collection which is owned by Image. Then again I maybe wrong.

anchor bay would be so great, as they have some really classic horror movies. dawn of the dead, halloween, re-animator, evil dead..etc.
All purchases for me if they did join.

Image has announced support for both formats, but they're very slow to release. I believe they've put out 7 HD DVDs (3 concerts and 4 discovery docs) and 4 BDs (the 4 discovery docs).

Nothing else is currently announced for either format. They seem to be very tentative in testing the waters. But, in theory, stuff could be forthcoming.


Anchor Bay has said that they're sitting out until a clear winner emerges, just like Criterion's position. At the very least, they'll sit it out until there's a larger install base.

anchor bay would be so great, as they have some really classic horror movies. dawn of the dead, halloween, re-animator, evil dead..etc.
All purchases for me if they did join.

Other than Evil Dead, I agree. Didn't really care for the ED series. The others are must haves when they find their way to HD.

Anchor Bay uses FOX for distribution of its library. They are very much intertwined. I would not expect anything from them on HD-DVD only Blu-Ray!

They are Discovery's distributer, Discovery wanted its movies in HD so they released it. Just the same way Dreamworks movies are distributed through Paramount. Ultimately Discovery has control over these titles not Image. Image has released some concerts on HD DVD, I think Barry Manilow and some others. I have no idea about Anchor Bay

I believe the OP was asking about the films offered by these two companies and maybe the Criterion collection which is owned by Image. Then again I maybe wrong.

DreamWorks is distributed by Paramount because Paramount owns them.

DreamWorks is distributed by Paramount because Paramount owns them.

Paramount bought Dreamworks but sold the Dreamworks Film Library to George Soros for $900 million. Therefore George Soros owns Dreamworks Films while Paramount owns Dreamworks Studios. Paramount distributes Dreamworks movies for Soros on Home Video but doesnt own them. ;)

I want Image and especially their Criterion division to start releasing right away. Criterion was a pioneer in its adoption of Laser discs they got into the game early on dvd and now is the time for them to adopt HD and show they are still pioneers. I would have expected Criterion to get into HD if it was a privately owned company like it was last year. But lately, since they were purchased by Image the have been behaving a little funny. Changing it logo to something that would appeal more to teenagers, releasing a lot more movies that have more commercial appeal than value and releasing the discount eclipse line. The reason for their existence before was the preservation of classics and releasing comprehensive and definitive dvd of great films now they are behaving like Lions Gate, releasing barebones movies that havent even been cleaned up, double dipping with a bunch of releases and their criterions of late havent been anything special with the exception of The Bicycle Thieves. I kinda disapointed in them it seems they have lost what has made them special in the past hopefully they will change and release in HD and improve their future SD releases.

Anchor Bay I love them. Give us Halloween, Evil Dead, Dawn Of The Dead, Day Of The Dead, Evil Dead II, and the classic Phantasm.

Don't bash me for this one but....I want a good transfer of Xena and Hercules: the Legendary journey on HD DVD :) Anchorbay did a living trash transfer of both series on DVD.

Don't bash me for this one but....I want a good transfer of Xena and Hercules: the Legendary journey on HD DVD :) Anchorbay did a living trash transfer of both series on DVD.

I somewhat agree. I mean, the season one of X:WP dvd was utterly horrible (I felt like I was watching the episodes on the original television 1995 quality. Although it takes you back, is good for nostalgia). But the seasons after that were exceptional. Same goes for Hercules. That season one boxset (which includes the 5 telemovies, which in my opinion, was way better than the actually series) was much better quality than Xena's season one, which sucks cause Xena is way better. lol

Anchor Bay I would get excited about. Anyone know about Tartan Video's stance?

Fox doesn't own Anchor Bay, but all Anchor Bay distribution is handled by Fox Home Entertainment. That doesn't necessarily mean they couldn't do HD-DVD though. Fox also handles distribution of Lions Gate discs.

BTW, Anchor Bay has been renamed Starz Home Entertainment. The Anchor Bay name is no longer.

Yup. The last DVD with the Anchor Bay name on it was latest Phantasm release I believe. I think Starz is a terrible name and doesn't have the name recognition like Anchor Bay.

Criterion on HD DVD.
How much would it be at amazon? $40 ($50 list price)?

Yup. The last DVD with the Anchor Bay name on it was latest Phantasm release I believe. I think Starz is a terrible name and doesn't have the name recognition like Anchor Bay.

Although Starz is using their own name alot more on Anchor Bay titles they will continue to use the Anchor Bay logo on their horror releases due to the name recognition, much the same way LionsGate occasionally uses the Artisan name on some of their titles if you look hard enough. Fox only distributes for Anchor Bay and LionsGate they can make whatever discs they want though and Fox would have to distribute them for Anchor Bay or LionsGate, Fox themselves do not own any part of either Anchor Bay or LionsGate.

LionsGate on the other hand does own a sizable part of Image, but that has not kept Image from supporting both formats.

And as far as DreamWorks and Paramount, Paramount owns all of the movies DreamWorks produces now, Paramount licensed the DreamWorks library of older titles to outside parties to help pay for the huge price tag they paid for DreamWorks in the first place. It is unknown who decides when the older DreamWorks films will be released on either format. Since the outside parties are pretty much just concerned with getting a percentage of every disc sold it's possible that Paramount ultimately decides.

Nevermind. They've gone blu.

It's not a big surprise that Anchor Bay went Blu since they are distributed by Fox and also have license agreements to distribute Fox's smaller titles on their label. Most likely those licenses were up and Fox pressured Anchor Bay into supporting Blu-Ray to continue those license agreements.