EDIT: Since I posted this thread, it seams that everyone at the AVS forums has suddenly become family members or close personal friends of Mr Steven Spielberg. So, I am going to edit this to make it less offensive to everyone who sees him on a daily bases. God forbid I express an opinion or question.

There was once this kid who had ideas. He took those ideas and made fun little films with his friends using his dads 8mm camera. Not bad either considering he was a pre teenager. One day he decided to sneak onto some movie sets and hang around, learning for free, what everyone else had worked hard to get and go to school for. Eventually he became one of the greatest film makers of all time.

This is a quick bio on Mr. Black. A man I trully respect. But lately, in regards to all the recent happenings with a format war that never should have happened, he has been showing his true colors. The spoiled kid who has forgotten that he was once the one without all the money in the world to invest in all that is cool.

I got to thinking about the past. I was a Laser Disc collector. It was a great format, but never really posed a threat to VHS because it was too expensive for the average consumer. I love movies though and was able to buy a Laser Disc or two each month. One thing that was great was the ability to buy a Mr. Black film in the best version possible. You see, he didn't release great versions of his films on VHS. If you wanted a really nice version of that movie or another one, with all sorts of extras, you had to fork over the $100 for each on Laser Disc. Otherwise you would get just the movie on VHS. Admitingly, you could do more on LD, but still, you could also add an extra cassette if you wanted.

Now we see this again. We have two High Def formats. Both (now) of equal quality and capable of doing almost the same things. But one costs twice as much as the other. Which one is Mr. Black going to back? Yes, thats right, the more expensive one. Yet, most people cant afford (including me now) to invest in this super expensive format. Does Mr. Black care? Not really. He would rather break the bank of the poor than insult the rich.

Now, I know, no one has to buy his films. But he makes great films. I love every single one of his movies. I just wish he would support the little guy. Not all of us have billions of dollars to throw away on a format. If he cared more about the fans, than the income, he would support neutrality. As I said before, he seams to have forgotten, that he was once the person without all the money. This is just the opinion of an observer.

NOTE: This edit was inspired by one classic Simpsons episode. Those who know, well, you know.

Have we seen a single, direct quote from Spielberg about the format war?


Until we do, this is mostly guesswork. I'd suspect that his affiliations are less concrete than they're being portrayed. And I doubt it's any sort of class warfare issue ("He would rather break the bank of the poor than insult the rich.")


When and if his titles (other than the Sony-controlled CE3K) start showing up as BD exclusives, then lets go ahead and march on Washington. But in the meantime, why not just wait and see how things turn out? So far, things are no different than would be expected, given studio affiliations.

I agree. It just seems that he tends to favour the rich. I'm sure in his mind it's supporting quality but that usually tends to end up in the rich catagory.

Like I said, I respect him. But I don't get why he won't allow Universal and Paramount to release his films, yet he'll allow Sony to. If you ask me, that's better and more powerfull than a statement. I also don't think that title will have the impact Sony thinks it will. Most Blu-Ray supporters are kids and don't even know what that movie is. I'm not even sure it did so hot on DVD. Still, this was just my thoughts on the whole thing.

I keep hearing this that he's blu only and I don't buy it.

Steve isn't a stupid guy.

we are not going to see jaws until massive player penetration happens and you can bet it will be on HD-DVD.

Spielberg did direct a portion of Twilight Zone - The Movie and that will be available on HD DVD.

He is an extremely smart man. But he is also extremely family centered and generous to those that work with him and for him. Having met the man and having a close family member that works for him....I think you're really off base with your comments. He has 6 children that live at home with him. I'm sure at this point he is trying to make the right financial decisions for his family and their future. You really didn't even provide any evidence for his "spoiled" nature. I think making judgements about people based on which format they want to see THEIR art on is ridiculous. And in this "war" there is no little guy. I understand we all like his movies and people want to buy them. But if they come out on the format you don't own well....there's nothing you can do. And don't know the specifics but I'm sure the studio has some say in what happens here. I imagine it's a complex rights issue.

There was once this kid who had ideas. He took those ideas and made fun little films with his friends using his dads 8mm camera. Not bad either considering he was a pre teenager. One day he decided to sneak onto some movie sets and hang around, learning for free, what everyone else had worked hard to get and go to school for. Eventually he became one of the greatest film makers of all time.

This is a quick bio on Spielberg. A man I trully respect. But lately, in regards to all the recent happenings with a format war that never should have happened, he has been showing his true colors. The spoiled kid who has forgotten that he was once the one without all the money in the world to invest in all that is cool.

I got to thinking about the past. I was a Laser Disc collector. It was a great format, but never really posed a threat to VHS because it was too expensive for the average consumer. I love movies though and was able to buy a Laser Disc or two each month. One thing that was great was the ability to buy a Spielberg film in the best version possible. You see, he didn't release great versions of his films on VHS. If you wanted a really nice version of E.T. or Schindlers List, with all sorts of extras, you had to fork over the $100 for each on Laser Disc. Otherwise you would get just the movie on VHS. Admitingly, you could do more on LD, but still, you could also add an extra cassette if you wanted.

Now we see this again. We have two High Def formats. Both (now) of equal quality and capable of doing almost the same things. But one costs twice as much as the other. Which one is Spielberg going to back? Yes, thats right, the more expensive one. Yet, most people cant afford (including me now) to invest in this super expensive format. Does Spielberg care? Not really. He would rather break the bank of the poor than insult the rich.

Now, I know, no one has to buy his films. But he makes great films. I love every single one of his movies. I just wish he would support the little guy. Not all of us have billions of dollars to throw away on a format. If he cared more about the fans, than the income, he would support neutrality. As I said before, he seams to have forgotten, that he was once the person without all the money. This is just the opinion of an observer.

It was disturbing that the Paramount announcement excluded his movies. To me that was a statement in itself.

Eventually he became one of the greatest film makers of all time.

By what standard?

So basically if someone favors a format YOU dont like, they are acting spoiled and childish? Maybe you should look to yourself for even posting this as to the one who is acting childish. Everyone has their own opinion, his is no less valid than your own if he chooses to side with BD for whatever reason. Also, accorindg to you he isnt looking out for the people who have no money by only wanting his movies in BD. Well then if what you want is for him to just look out for the "little guy" as you put it, he should only release on VHS/DVD since it takes more money to own an HDTV and an HD format player.

Here are the numerous other threads covering the same ground:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=893876&highlight=spielberg

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=897553&highlight=spielberg

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=885684&highlight=spielberg

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=801284&highlight=spielberg

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=800570&highlight=spielberg

Love to hear your opinions...just no really need to start a whole new thread when you could add your comments to one of the existing ones.

Have we seen a single, direct quote from Spielberg about the format war? Until we do, this is mostly guesswork. I'd suspect that his affiliations are less concrete than they're being portrayed. And I doubt it's any sort of class warfare issue ("He would rather break the bank of the poor than insult the rich.")When and if his titles (other than the Sony-controlled CE3K) start showing up as BD exclusives, then lets go ahead and march on Washington. But in the meantime, why not just wait and see how things turn out? So far, things are no different than would be expected, given studio affiliations.

That pretty much sums it up. I would take it one step further. Until we actually see or hear him state support for one format over the other, it's all hearsay.

In fact, we may not know for certain until we actully see the media on the store selves or delivered to our front steps. :)

By what standard?

By what standard is he "one of the greatest"? I dunno... pick one.

Financially, critically, and in terms of popularity, influence, and overall impact, I think you'd have a hard time arguing that he isn't "one of the greatest". You may not like him and may not put him among the best... but that doesn't mean that the vast majority of others wouldn't.

I don't get this whole 'waiting for mass market penetration' thing.

They didn't wait for mass market penetration to start releasing great movies on Laserdisc with the filmmaker's approval. Laserdisc was, for all intents and purposes, a niche format and it never showed signs of being a 'one laserdisc player in every household' format.

It was what it was, but low sales versus VHS never stopped great filmmakers from contributing to and releasing their films on a comparitively low tens of thousands of Laserdisc units.

Even if HD-DVD and Blu-Ray turn out to be another niche market that tides over the geeks until the actual next DVD-level phenomenon comes along, where's the sense in holding back releases?

What constitutes 'mass market penetration'?

Why does having 10 Million+ players in homes suddenly make a release more valid?

It's fine to want to press, distribute and sell 5 Million copies of Jaws on DVD. But what's wrong with pressing, distributing and selling 500,000 of Jaws on HD-DVD or Blu-Ray? It's all money in the bank. It's not like you're pressing 5 Million copies of Jaws on HD-DVD or Blu-Ray that you'll only sell 10% of -- you're pressing what that format's market dictates.

The market is small, but growing. Release the good films now. Like you did on LaserDisc. If the format/s ever grow to DVD-like penetration, then just press more of the discs. Or double dip.

Lucas, Spielberg etc. say they are waiting for mass maket penetration. You want mass market penetration of the format? Release your films on them!

From what I gather, it means his movies will be released in both formats. However, Transformers is produced by Spielberg isn't it?

Even if HD-DVD and Blu-Ray turn out to be another niche market that tides over the geeks until the actual next DVD-level phenomenon comes along, where's the sense in holding back releases?

What constitutes 'mass market penetration'?

Why does having 10 Million+ players in homes suddenly make a release more valid?

It's fine to want to press, distribute and sell 5 Million copies of Jaws on DVD. But what's wrong with pressing, distributing and selling 500,000 of Jaws on HD-DVD or Blu-Ray? It's all money in the bank.

Here's why (actually using Jaws as a concrete example):
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=11021203&postcount=24



How does releasing good movies *now* hurt the studios in any way?

...

Can someone explain this?

I can explain it with a bit of a story. I can't seem to find links to this online, but here's how I remember it.

Take the movie Jaws. Huge box office hit in 1975 (most call it the first 'summer blockbuster'). It made over $800 million in adjusted dollars domestically. Huge Stinking Hit.

And Universal put it out right away, at the dawn of home video. It hit video tape and laserdisc around 1978. And it was always in print.

Fast-forward 20 years later as they prep the DVD release. You know how many copies this huge hit had sold on home video in the past 2 decades? 800,000. That's it. Less than a million copies sold of one of the biggest box office hits ever. So they pulled it (it went out-of-print) and treated the DVD release like a big major deal. I don't have sales figures for the DVD release, but you can bet it sold more than that total just on DVD in a very, very short time.


This illustrates why you don't necessarily want huge hits on a new format. If people don't own the format or it's too expensive (such as the early days of VHS and LD), they can't buy it. And once they do buy in... too much time has passed. The movie is no longer a 'new release' -- it's just yet another title sitting on the shelf, so there's no major desire to buy it. People gravitate toward something on the Tuesday new release sales shelf at Best Buy instead.

It may not make sense logically -- especially to someone like me who collects films and will run out to grab anything good -- but it's the way consumers in general behave. And it's why Disney puts things in the vault and then re-releases later -- to make it a big deal and increase sales.



Now, of course, none of this means that Disney (or others) can't throw us a bone. They don't have to release 'crown jewels' to actually get content out there. Disney has plenty of animated titles that are lower-tier and won't make a big splash no matter what. Getting those out would draw interest to the format, and make it easier to get the bigger titles out.

Sort of like releasing American Graffiti and 1941 prior to Star Wars and Jurassic Park. ;)


EDIT: I found an article: http://www.teako170.com/dvd.html

800,000 copies of Jaws vs. 17 million of Jurassic Park. *That's* the reason you don't just toss major things on a new format, unless you have another reason to push the format (such as a financial interest in the technology, etc.)

There was once this kid who had ideas. He took those ideas and made fun little films with his friends using his dads 8mm camera. Not bad either considering he was a pre teenager. One day he decided to sneak onto some movie sets and hang around, learning for free, what everyone else had worked hard to get and go to school for. Eventually he became one of the greatest film makers of all time.

I wonder if his successor is getting a AVCHD cam for the holidays this year? 'Twould be nice to be able to burn a 3xDVD and watch it on stock HDDVD players... (Can iMovie even burn 3xDVD yet?)

So basically if someone favors a format YOU dont like, they are acting spoiled and childish? Maybe you should look to yourself for even posting this as to the one who is acting childish. Everyone has their own opinion, his is no less valid than your own if he chooses to side with BD for whatever reason. Also, accorindg to you he isnt looking out for the people who have no money by only wanting his movies in BD. Well then if what you want is for him to just look out for the "little guy" as you put it, he should only release on VHS/DVD since it takes more money to own an HDTV and an HD format player.
My statement is about supporting neutrality. If he allows one film on Blu-Ray, than he should allow another on HD DVD. Again, this was just my observation based on the decisions of his past. And if you read the whole thing you will see that I love the guy and his work.

mpalmieri1203, I too have some friends who have worked with him and from what I've heard and seen he is a great guy. I just wish he would support both formats. At least when he released the amazing Laser Disc copies the movie was still available on VHS.

I don't mind that he like Blu-Ray but his opinions can sway people. If I read why he likes Blu-Ray, maybe some unforseable greatness and cost drop, he may sway me too. I just wish he would allow equal content distribution of his films to all demagraphics.

I don't know that I necessarily agree with that, for a couple of reasons:

1. There's still money to be made, no matter how/when/what/where you release a major film to the home entertainment market.

2. Even though DVD may have spoiled this type of thing for the niche formats to follow, you also need to factor in something that the DVD format also ushered in, which has been the bane of collectors and darling of the studios: the double dip!

Let's not fool ourselves. Spielberg could OK the Jaws HD-DVD bare bones tomorrow. And we'd buy it. And in five years time, when numbers are up and record numbers now have the format in their homes, he can release it again in an expanded edition. And the new blood would buy it, just as the old blood would double dip.

The DVD market has created a collector's mentality out of average joes. Spielberg and Lucas are in the prime position to have their cake and eat it too -- they can sell 1 Million copies of Star Wars and Jurassic Park to us tomorrow. And in 5 or so years, they can sell another 17 Million units of the same movies when they double dip on them as the market has now been satisfactorily pentrated. So to speak.

I can't buy that it's just a business decision, because good business sense dictates that you give the public what they want. And since DVD, you can give them what they want now and still fatten them up later with seconds, thirds and fourths.

Spielberg has always been an AV nut, just like Lucas and Cameron. I always assumed he would favor BD due to the higher capacity and bandwidth since that appeals directly to his techie nature. If HD DVD wins, I'm sure he will release his films on it, but only if it wins.

Another important element not being covered here is ad buys. Again, for a huge release, the installed-base has to be there to maximize return on the marketing campaign- a big additional cost in the release.

One might counter with something like "Well, why don't they just release it now with little or no marketing campaign and then double-dip us later, when the installed base is there?"
The problem with that approach is that releasing such a huge movie- Star Wars, say- as a small or non-event dilutes the Star Wars brand. For the same reason that these companies want to maximize potential buyers when they invest in their ad campaign, they also need to make that campaign a huge "event" to whip up a froth of consumer/retailer demand and fool everyone into thinking that they'd better get this hot "limited edition" now, or there won't be any left for them. It's all part of artificially inflating demand to create additional sales. And they do it because their sales info shows that time and time again, it works.

I don't know that I necessarily agree with that, for a couple of reasons:

1. There's still money to be made, no matter how/when/what/where you release a major film to the home entertainment market.

2. Even though DVD may have spoiled this type of thing for the niche formats to follow, you also need to factor in something that the DVD format also ushered in, which has been the bane of collectors and darling of the studios: the double dip!

Let's not fool ourselves. Spielberg could OK the Jaws HD-DVD bare bones tomorrow. And we'd buy it. And in five years time, when numbers are up and record numbers now have the format in their homes, he can release it again in an expanded edition. And the new blood would buy it, just as the old blood would double dip.

The DVD market has created a collector's mentality out of average joes. Spielberg and Lucas are in the prime position to have their cake and eat it too -- they can sell 1 Million copies of Star Wars and Jurassic Park to us tomorrow. And in 5 or so years, they can sell another 17 Million units of the same movies when they double dip on them as the market has now been satisfactorily pentrated. So to speak.

I can't buy that it's just a business decision, because good business sense dictates that you give the public what they want. And since DVD, you can give them what they want now and still fatten them up later with seconds, thirds and fourths.
And the movie that set the standard for great DVD releases was ironically from niether of these directors. Fight Club. This was the first "Great" release on DVD. Setting the standard from then on. Which came from a studio that did not support DVD for the first few years and didn't want it to take over. 20th Century Fox. So I guess this says alot about what can happen.

That first post is called reaching... Unless you know speilberg personally and can tell me he really is a spoiled brat i would keep that kind of crap to myself.

If I made some of the most profitable movies in History, I would project them onto the side of a dumpster if it meant adding another storey to my house.

Spielberg has always been an AV nut, just like Lucas and Cameron. I always assumed he would favor BD due to the higher capacity and bandwidth since that appeals directly to his techie nature. If HD DVD wins, I'm sure he will release his films on it, but only if it wins.

Well, given that 80 non-MPEG2 releases have come out on 50GB discs (with 53 using AVC and 27 using VC-1) as opposed to the 178 total on BD25, maybe a few more studios should take advantage of that higher capacity and bandwidth?

And touting bandwidth or space to push obsolete MPEG2 is just childish. It's like touting fuel flow rate to an archaic, inefficient (but large-volume) engine...

Get back to us when Bluray has a standardized mandatory spec that's comparable to HDDVD plzkthxbye.

I don't know that I necessarily agree with that, for a couple of reasons:

1. There's still money to be made, no matter how/when/what/where you release a major film to the home entertainment market.

Statistically, it has been shown again and again that you make the most money by releasing something after your format has reached "critical mass".


You asked why studios/directors hold back titles... and the statistics and sales data show that pretty clearly. Again, Jaws was available for 20 bloody years on VHS and couldn't even scare up a million copies total. People buy "new release Tuesday items" and -- by and large -- ignore the rest. So you're better off waiting until there are millions and millions of folks to notice your release on Tuesday.

You may disagree with it. It may not seem logical (it confuses the hell out of me too). But it's a fact of the market.

If he releases Jaws today on HD DVD, it'll maybe sell 100,000 copies and then sell slowly thereafter. If he waits 2 years, he'll sell millions of copies and then sell slowly thereafter. Yes, there's "money to be made" by releasing today... but you'll make 10x as much over the long-term by waiting a couple of years. It's a no-brainer.

It was disturbing that the Paramount announcement excluded his movies. To me that was a statement in itself.

Well from that people automatically assumed that he had taken an anti HD DVD stance, when in reality he hasn't said anything about either. They probably just need to wait for him to announce what he wants done. I don't see why he would prefer either format over the other. He could probably care less.

You know, if Spielberg wanted Close Encounters on HD, the BluRay folks would be saying the same stuff a lot of folks here are saying.

We're gonna lose some, men. That's just how it's gonna go. Don't tear into someone just because he didn't choose the format YOU chose.

If I made some of the most profitable movies in History, I would project them onto the side of a dumpster if it meant adding another storey to my house.

Would you be a little more discriminating about how your films were distributed if instead of adding another storey to your house, you could guarantee the financial security of your family for generations to come?

We have two High Def formats. Both (now) of equal quality and capable of doing almost the same things. But one costs twice as much as the other. Which one is Spielberg going to back? Yes, thats right, the more expensive one.

Correction, the format he is backing isn´t 2 x the price the movies is pretty much even priced. The difference is that the format he is backing has 40% more room for growth. Imagine if the CD and DVD had 40% more space and higher peak rate.. would you still argue it was the same?

... The difference is that the format he is backing has 40% more room for growth. Imagine ...

A format that yields less than 40% (by Sony only - other BD50 lines yields are less than 10%) AVG. vs. 95% yield AVG w/HD30!!!

Source from the following quote is from David Vaughn @ HTSpot ... (http://www.***************.com/fusionbb/showpost.php?post/828902/)

... BD50's that are the problem for Blu-ray right now. Sony is the only company that can make them with any consistency, but I have been told that their yields are less than 40% by two people close enough to the situation to know. There are BD50 lines that aren't owned by Sony, but their yields are less than 10%! Sony is trying to help them get their yields up, but even at 40%, they can't be competitive with 95%+ yields from HD30's.

No wonder Paramount / Dreamworks became HD DVD Exclusive!!! :D

Phil

I agree. It just seems that he tends to favour the rich. I'm sure in his mind it's supporting quality but that usually tends to end up in the rich catagory.

Like I said, I respect him. But I don't get why he won't allow Universal and Paramount to release his films, yet he'll allow Sony to. If you ask me, that's better and more powerfull than a statement. I also don't think that title will have the impact Sony thinks it will. Most Blu-Ray supporters are kids and don't even know what that movie is. I'm not even sure it did so hot on DVD. Still, this was just my thoughts on the whole thing.

SS does not have the level of control over CE3K that he does over his later productions, produced by Amblin' and/or DreamWorks. 30 years ago he didn't have anything like the clout he does today. Granted that any studio around wouldn't want to get him P.O.'ed, but I'm sure since Sony was "doing it up" with a nifty package on the CE3K Blu-Ray release, it's OK with him.

-E

He has a net worth of 3 billion dollars. I really don't think it's a money issue.

You asked why studios/directors hold back titles... and the statistics and sales data show that pretty clearly. Again, Jaws was available for 20 bloody years on VHS and couldn't even scare up a million copies total. People buy "new release Tuesday items" and -- by and large -- ignore the rest.

This example ignores a few factors involved with the time period. Back in the 80's we didn't buy movies the way we do now. VHS tapes would tear up and wear out. VHS Tapes were thought of as more disposable like the blank ones we bought, used, and threw away, or rented instead of purchased. This buying/collecting movies thing didn't take off with the mass public until DVD.

Tapes sold for $99 for an eternity. People had more of a saving mentality back then and didn't use credit cards for impulse buying to the level we do today. Considering the cost (especially with inflation) a $99 tape selling 800,000 copies made almost 8 million dollars. That's a blockbuster release.
VHS tapes couldn't be purchased on every street corner back then. Walmart was just coming into existence then. There were fewer web sites selling movies too...oh wait a minute.

I see your point about the numbers, but it isn't just because Jaws was released before mass adoption.

This example ignores a few factors involved with the time period. Back in the 80's we didn't buy movies the way we do now. VHS tapes would tear up and wear out. VHS Tapes were thought of as more disposable like the blank ones we bought, used, and threw away, or rented instead of purchased. This buying/collecting movies thing didn't take off with the mass public until DVD.

Tapes sold for $99 for an eternity. People had more of a saving mentality back then and didn't use credit cards for impulse buying to the level we do today. Considering the cost (especially with inflation) a $99 tape selling 800,000 copies made almost 8 million dollars. That's a blockbuster release.
VHS tapes couldn't be purchased on every street corner back then. Walmart was just coming into existence then. There were fewer web sites selling movies too...oh wait a minute.

I see your point about the numbers, but it isn't just because Jaws was released before mass adoption.

Is this another good point? -jaws was on cable all the time for many years and anyone could copy it to VHS if they wanted to. Therefore no need to buy it.

Is this another good point? -jaws was on cable all the time for many years and anyone could copy it to VHS if they wanted to. Therefore no need to buy it.

yes. I watched Star Wars on my taped/full screen:mad: HBO version 156 times on our 40 inch 9,000 pound piece of furniture tv. :D

I see your point about the numbers, but it isn't just because Jaws was released before mass adoption.

But the point is that people didn't "back up" and purchase Jaws... even after prices dropped and people began collecting more films on VHS.

15 years after Jaws was released on VHS, Jurassic Park came out and sold 17 million copies. How many of those 17 million people said "Oh, wait... we don't have Jaws in the collection yet." and then went back to spend the $9.99 to own it? Nearly no one. It still sat there at only 800,000 copies sold.

It actually proves the point. Back in 1980 the world was different -- few people had VCRs and titles were expensive -- so it didn't sell well. And, in 1995, when it would have sold well, people didn't buy it... even though it had been available the whole time.


The same thing would happen if they put out Jaws now. It'd sell 100,000 copies at $29.99 to everyone who now has a player. But 5 years from now, when my great-uncle decides to finally get a plasma and a player, he's going to get Harry Potter 7 or Transformers 3 or whatever else is the new release. J6P is not going to go back and grab Jaws or any of the other hundreds of classic catalogs that were already released.

Therefore, some titles (Disney, Lucas, Spielberg classics) get held back until there's wider adoption. To do otherwise is flushing millions of dollars down the toilet.

I don't get this whole 'waiting for mass market penetration' thing.

They didn't wait for mass market penetration to start releasing great movies on Laserdisc with the filmmaker's approval. Laserdisc was, for all intents and purposes, a niche format and it never showed signs of being a 'one laserdisc player in every household' format.

Exactly and I remember hearing that is why he was so slow to adopt DVD. Because he spent all the effort on Laser disc releasing special features and it died. So I think the Laser Disc fiasco mad him more cautious to adopt new formats.

Given the amount of pleasure Spielberg's films have given me over the past 30-odd years, I'm not inclined to criticize him over his choice of hi-def formats. I'd like to see his Universal and Paramount movies on HD DVD as much as the next guy, but it looks like we're all going to have to wait awhile.

Very well spoken.

If Spielberg's movies only go on BluRay, you better believe I'll be owning a BluRay player.

This talk about Spielberg being Pro Blu-Ray and anti-HD DVD is something that people in the Blu-Ray camp came up with.

When it came to Close Encounters he made the "mistake" to speak positivly about Blu-Ray, gee, go figure a movie that shows up (only) on that format and he isn't bad mouthing it. He's a business man first and foremost, I doubt he cares much if the case is red or blue in which his movie(s) are packaged.

A format that yields less than 40% (by Sony only - other BD50 lines yields are less than 10%) AVG. vs. 95% yield AVG w/HD30!!!

Source from the following quote is from David Vaughn @ HTSpot ... (http://www.***************.com/fusionbb/showpost.php?post/828902/)



No wonder Paramount / Dreamworks became HD DVD Exclusive!!! :D

Phil

At least you admit you can´t look into the future, kudos. Few people admit their faults. Can you point out USA on a map and explain why you can´t?

Sorry for the tone, but the way you totally ignore my points is very provoking. If you said "yeah in 10 years the yields will be 10% omg hahaha sux" then i might have asked you to borrow me your timemachine.

Do you honestly believe that 40% more space wont matter at all and that Yields of today on production lines is a problem in the future?

May i remind you that some people here (HELLO AMIR) made remarks like yours about BD50 being Science Fiction. And i dunno about you but so far i´m not seeing extreme prices on Blu-Ray?

some people here (HELLO AMIR) made remarks like yours about BD50 being Science Fiction.

Can you please post the link to Amir's remarks.

Can you please post the link to Amir's remarks.

Search his one million posts and it becomes clear that he does nothing but make snide remarks about how Blu-Ray sucks, in the start he used his "respected" job to give the impression that BD50 wouldn´t happen on this side of the century and made several remarks of the MPEG2 codec on 25GB discs vs VC-1 on 30GB, something which NEVER became the norm. That later changed to "yeah BD50 is here but they have to press one million discs to get one working". And AVC remarks carried on where his MPEG2 left off, "VC-1 is the best we worked on it for 10 years" yet we have 25GB BD discs with AVC encodes looking every bit as good as the 30GB VC-1 version of the same video.

Amir wasn´t the point of the post, i should never have put his name in there, he is the big bad defender of compromise, sorry.

What's their problem with releasing their Films on ANY format? It took what 5 years after DVD came out for them to release it. Is it Ego? Financially?

I gave up on Spielberg & Lucas. When/if they do decide, I'll pick it up.

I remember hearing that is why he was so slow to adopt DVD. Because he spent all the effort on Laser disc releasing special features and it died. So I think the Laser Disc fiasco mad him more cautious to adopt new formats.

The first Jaws laserdisc came out on December 11, 1978. Universal (via Image Entertainment) didn't stop pressing laserdiscs until August 1999. During that 21-year span, Jaws was released in about 6 different editions (CLV, CAV, widescreen vs. pan-and-scan, THX, Deluxe box, etc.). The special features were repurposed for the DVD version.

There was no "Laser Disc fiasco" and it wasn't a "new" format. ;)