I have noticed that HD-DVD has it, so where is the Blu Ray version? I have 8 BD's, and I have noticed that out of the 8, 6 are by Warner. They clearly make the movies that I like!

There are a handful of titles that Warner has not released on Blu-ray including Willy Wonka, Batman Begins, Cacablanca, Forbidden Planet, Mutiny on the Bounty and The Adventures of Robin Hood. They have publicly stated that they intend to release these titles on Blu-ray and there is no reason to doubt their word. When I decided to part with my HD DVDs these were among the hardest ones to let go.

"When I decided to part with my HD DVDs these were among the hardest ones to let go."

Bad move unless you were financially strapped at the time. Why wait when you can have it now? Why sell a collection for a fraction of what you paid for it? I can understand getting BLU-RAY to have an unlimited choice of HD movies to buy, which is what I've done but I do not understand dumping an HD-DVD collection just because of bought into BLU-RAY.

From the sounds of it your going to RE BUY these movies once they come to BLU-RAY which makes even less sense. Should have just kept your movies and your player and enjoyed what you already had.

Being format neutral was the best money I've spent in a LONG time.

My guess is that they won't release this until the Tim Burton adaptation is ready (with IME). They probably want these out on the same day for marketing purposes like they did with the HD DVDs.

"When I decided to part with my HD DVDs these were among the hardest ones to let go."

Bad move unless you were financially strapped at the time. Why wait when you can have it now? Why sell a collection for a fraction of what you paid for it? I can understand getting BLU-RAY to have an unlimited choice of HD movies to buy, which is what I've done but I do not understand dumping an HD-DVD collection just because of bought into BLU-RAY.

From the sounds of it your going to RE BUY these movies once they come to BLU-RAY which makes even less sense. Should have just kept your movies and your player and enjoyed what you already had.

Being format neutral was the best money I've spent in a LONG time.

Not everyone wants to have Entertainment Center real estate taken up by two players, and not everyone wants to have $$$ tied up in two media players, especially if one will (probably) eventually be redundant. Just like I don't plan to have both cable and Direct TV so I can have both On Demand AND NFL Sunday Ticket. If I had unlimited funds, and places to put stuff, I'd probably have both. But, since I don't have unlimited resources for A/V (Too many other expensive hobbies), sacrifices and choices have to be made.

Sometimes the dual format owners around here remind me of the Prius owners on South Park who think their poots don't stink. :D

My fear here is that, IME titles aside, these are not being released because there is a perception that BD buyers do not want classic titles. Certainly there is sales data to suggest that classic titles don't sell as well as newer titles on HD, but I think studios may feel it is more pronounced with BD due to the fact that is backed most prominently by a game console.

I am definitely looking forward to cheaper BD players so this image can be shed whether it is perceived or real.

This is one of the reasons I support HD and not formats... ;)

Many of these titles don't have IME and why after one year has Warner not released them? Warner is deliberately holding these titles back to give HD DVD a content advantage (as they have done by giving HD DVD lossless audio while withholding it from the Blu-ray version such as Superman Returns, Happy Feet, etc.). I also suspect they fear Blu-ray's Nielson numbers would be significantly higher if they released titles such as Batman Returns, Matrix, etc. and the other 20 or so titles on Blu-ray today (without IME, for example). I mean it's not a coincidence Warner released Matrix on HD DVD the same day Disney released Pirates for Blu-ray.

"Sometimes the dual format owners around here remind me of the Prius owners on South Park who think their poots don't stink"

No it just seems silly to buy an HD-DVD player and a bunch of HD-DVD movies then buy BLU-RAY and BLU-RAY movies only to sell everything HD-DVD you own and end up taking a financial loss on it cause used prices for players and movies only usually get you back about 50% of what you paid for it and miss out on HD movies you ALREADY owned only to end up buying them AGAIN on BLU-RAY if they ever come out.

That just seems silly and is a waste of money and also a waste of time missing out on movies you already owned.

"Sometimes the dual format owners around here remind me of the Prius owners on South Park who think their poots don't stink"

No it just seems silly to buy an HD-DVD player and a bunch of HD-DVD movies then buy BLU-RAY and BLU-RAY movies only to sell everything HD-DVD you own and end up taking a financial loss on it cause used prices for players and movies only usually get you back about 50% of what you paid for it and miss out on HD movies you ALREADY owned only to end up buying them AGAIN on BLU-RAY if they ever come out.

That just seems silly and is a waste of money and also a waste of time missing out on movies you already owned.


First, it always cracks me up when people try to tell me how to manage my financial resources. I have friends and family members who believe buying any movie at all is pure stupidity. I had hundreds of VHS tapes that I sold off to convert to DVD and just last year I sold off most of my DVD collection in anticipation of converting to high definition. It's a hobby and an obsession that I enjoy. People buy and sell stamps, baseball cards, comic books, beanie babies, lunch boxes, cars, Disneyana... whatever. So please don't worry your little head over me.

After going neutral last December, the number of discs I was buying were primarily Blu-ray titles. For whatever reason, I happen to despise dual-sided discs. My experience with the PS3 vs. the HD A1 proved to be more satisfying. I figured if I sold my HD DVDs now, I stood a good chance of recouping what I spent and I was right. When the Warner codes were made available on AVS Forum, I took the opportunity to replace all my Warner HD DVDs with their Blu-ray counterparts at $14.36 each. I sold all of my HD DVDs on Ebay for on average, $20 a pop (more than I paid for them originally). So I was able to pocket some cash and basically leave myself in the same position with my high definition collection.

I decided to go format exclusive for reasons that make sense only to me, so lets just leave it at that.

I don't own a Toyota Prius but I did recently trade in my 4 Runner for a Honda CIVIC EX. I just got off the jon, and I can confirm that my sh*t does indeed stink! :rolleyes:

My fear here is that, IME titles aside, these are not being released because there is a perception that BD buyers do not want classic titles. Certainly there is sales data to suggest that classic titles don't sell as well as newer titles on HD, but I think studios may feel it is more pronounced with BD due to the fact that is backed most prominently by a game console.

I am definitely looking forward to cheaper BD players so this image can be shed whether it is perceived or real.

Both of these quotes are from Bill Hunt as reported at the Digital Bits earlier this year regarding both Warner and Fox. Much of what the Warner reps stated in the Home Theater Forum chat has already materialized. Any other posts in this or any other forum that state the contrary are PURE SPECULATION or FUD.

The ultimate Blade Runner edition will be released on DVD, HD-DVD and Blu-ray before the end of the year including "all the different iterations of the film" as well as Ridley Scott's new Final Cut ...A Road Warrior: Special Edition is set to be announced soon ...Rio Bravo will be re-released ...The new Stanley Kubrick special editions will be released by the end of the year, including DVD and both high-def formats ...A Deliverance: 35th Anniversary Edition is coming to all formats this year. ...A new Poltergeist: Special Edition is coming to all formats ...Heat will be released on both HD formats in 2008 ...Branagh's Hamlet is done and will finally be released this summer on all formats.

Warner confirmed that it will continue to support both HD formats equally, and will release everything that's been issued already HD-DVD on Blu-ray Disc...

"...We've spoken once more with reps from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, who say in no uncertain terms that their studio is NOT wavering in its support of Blu-ray Disc, despite the continued delay of those catalog BD titles (from both Fox and MGM) that were first announced at CES in January. Some of our other industry sources have informed us that work IS ongoing on additional, as-yet-unannounced catalog titles for BD release from both studios, which seems to confirm Fox's on-the-record statements to us. Given this, we do fully expect all of these titles to be rescheduled and announced for release in the weeks ahead. We would certainly expect Fox to have something more substantial to say on the subject at the EMA Expo in July, if not sooner. Rest assured, we will post the official details here as soon as they're available."

Both of these quotes are from Bill Hunt as reported at the Digital Bits earlier this year regarding both Warner and Fox. Much of what the Warner reps stated in the Home Theater Forum chat has already materialized. Any other posts in this or any other forum that state the contrary are PURE SPECULATION or FUD.

I'm not sure I like your tone. I never pretended my comments were anything other than my own personal fear and speculation. I'd like to see these come out on BD as much as you, but the question remains: Why aren't the IME-less titles not out on BD already? There's nothing stopping Warner from releasing them at this point, unless they don't think they'd sell well.

Paul, I think you are being overly sensitive. The statement was in regards to countless posts on AVS and other forums that speculate that either Warner wants HD DVD to win or Fox is abandoning Blu-ray. It was not a commentary on your post. Frankly, anyone that suggests anything other than what has been stated publicly is just speculating without a shred of proof.

Aaron,

OK. That's fine, I guess I was just confused because you were quoting my post. :shrugs: :)

"I decided to go format exclusive for reasons that make sense only to me, so lets just leave it at that"

It's still silly a huge waste of money and a waste of time,

"I decided to go format exclusive for reasons that make sense only to me, so lets just leave it at that"

It's still silly a huge waste of money and a waste of time,

If he averaged $20 on each title sold, he basically paid to rent them. I don't see how that's a "huge waste of money."

[over-the-top-fanboy]But, I wholeheartedly agree that watching HD-DVD instead of Blu Ray is a waste of time[/over-the-top-fanboy] ;)

Yep bunch o fanboys here

"I decided to go format exclusive for reasons that make sense only to me, so lets just leave it at that"

It's still silly a huge waste of money and a waste of time,

It's silly and a waste of time for you to continue to try and argue with someone and not respect their opinion I guess. :rolleyes:

Some might say it would be "silly" to get yourself stuck with a ton of discs for a soon-to-be-obsolete format. AaronSCH, like me, got out while the getting was good.


So you no longer have Blu-Ray?................sorry couldn't resist :D

Yep bunch o fanboys here

You do realize that was completely tongue in cheek, right?

I'm hoping both formats make it but I'm starting to think that these movie downloads will be taking over real soon. I've downloaded a few from Xbox Live and they have all looked great and only cost a fraction of what a HD-DVD or Blu-Ray cost. I've heard Amazon is selling a crap load of those downloads off their web site. HD-DVD needs to continue to sell players at the low prices and they will do fine and Sony needs to get the PS3 selling better(exclusive games would help) and the PS3 owners buying movies. The BD stand alone players need to drop in price. In any case those who love movies support both formats. Just because one or the other goes away doesn't render your player useless. I for one will not be waiting for a year or more for Universal movies and the same goes for MGM/ Sony/ Disney stuff. Life is too short to worry about a format making it or not. Buy your movies right now and watch them right now. I sure wouldn't want to wait to check out the Matrix or the POTC.