Why exactly did Fox not release The Illusionist on BD?

yep, we netflixed it on DVD too...

Write them a letter.

I'm serious. They must do market research on this stuff.

They did do market research. It was called mediocre reviews and mediocre grosses. I didnt help as I didnt see it either. Im not bad mouthing it, just saying what they were probably thinking. I also think were gonna get screwed out of Borat as the Sd date was just announced and no word on BD. That is really upsetting.

Fox don't own this film, they licensed it from a company controlled by Bob Yari (whose name appears about 25 times in the opening credits). I suspect they saw no real benefit in bringing the title to BD and sharing the spoils with a third party.

If I was going off critical mass, it was reviewed slightly better than The Prestige and made over double it's budget, so I wouldn't say it was all that bad.

I did see it, and found it nice, subtle, not bombastic in any way, and completely rewarding. Modest entertainment at it's best. :-)

Prestige is much better, thank god that is coming to blu ray.

I'm still pissed we didn't get a BD of Bandidas

Fox's support of Blu-ray is actually only lip service right now. All they are willing to release, for the most part, are rehashes of catalog titles that are mostly selling on DVD for $10 on the bargain racks at Walmart. One or two decent releases is not what I call "support".

For all their bluster about how great Blu-ray is and how much they support it exclusively, they are noticeably light on new releases, or even high profile catalog.

While I'm not sure that one would benefit from HD as much as some other films, it seems like Borat is a natural fit for a format where the #1 player is the PS3. I would expect a lot of gamers to like that one. But then, I could be out of touch with that group. I'm still laughing about some stuff in that movie though and would definitely watch it again on BD.

--Darin

Are you serious with this stuff?

They've done a fine job and mix of new with old. Butch Cassidy (a classic), Pedator (a fan favorite catalog title), Master and Commander (which seems to be more popular on video than it ever was in the theater), Independence Day (another catalog fan favorite), Cast Away, Edward Scissorhands (basically a cult favorite).

More? What about other catalog favorites like Speed & Commando, cult classic in The Fly, recent hits like Xmen3, superior director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven.

Wow Obi. I think you're way off base here. I realize film taste is subjective for everyone, but it seems like they've got something in there for everyone. Sure, I'd like to see True Lies, Last of the Mohicans, the other two Xmen movies, and many others. But they cannot burn through their whole catalog in 6 months in order to prove their support to you.

Let's be realistic here.

Saw the illusionist at the theater. Very good flick. I would have purchased this the other day. But I refuse to taint my 1080 palate with a mere 480 lines of resolution.

My take is a bit different.

Illusionist is stylistically shot--much of the movie tries for a decidedly antique look with soft focus away from the center of the screen etc. While this is very atmospheric and adds to the dramatic intent of the movie, it's far from being HD demo material, and those who think all HD should look like the Discovery Channel would be screaming bloody murder over this look on a BluRay release.

Agreed.

I saw both Prestige and The Illusionist in the theater. I thought the latter was a better film, but Prestige is clearly the better release for Blu-ray, in terms of video and sound effects.

Speaking of Fox, any Donnie Darko rumors? I know the DP purposefully chose a very fast low light stock and it's a very, interesting looking film photgraphy-wise. The Dvd looked mediocre (even though alot of it was the style...) and I'm sure the BD would look alot better if not amazing.

d

I hated The Illusionist. The twist was, for lack of a better word, retarded. The plot was tedious and the accents were a killer too.

Gee Obi, did CES go bad for you or what? As a longtime cyberspace acquaintance I will tell you that you are not doing yourself any favors by posting such drivel here. You are above that. Suck it up, I know you can do better!

It's like Fox is wiggling the Blu-ray disc saying "You will never get this, you will never get this."

Donnie Darko is definitely near the top of my Blu-ray want list. I think I'm more pumped about hearing the soundtrack/ Frank creepy bunny scenes in high resolution surround sound than the picture upgrade (although that should be a big plus too).

"Drivel", is it now? Hmm, okay.

Yeah, I can make a better case for my position, as if it isn't really obvious to anyone willing to look at what Fox is doing right now on HD DVD and compare it to what they did on DVD in the beginning and what they did on D-Theater. If I get the time and inclination when I'm not time constrained at work, maybe I will.

I'll save you some trouble. Fox didn't do anything on DVD in the beginning. Fox supported DIVX.

Bob Yari is responsible for the disc. Fox distributes only

Frank the bunny...

The soundtrack alone to DD is better than most entire films!

who told you that?

I agreed completly,everything you said is true. Except I didnt hate it, I thought it was just OK.

Well, there's your answer as to why they're not releasing it.

Relative common knowlege to anyone who's followed DVD from the start...

Fox didn't release a standard DVD until the fall of 2000, 3 years after the nationwide launch of DVD.

fitprod

No one. I was there.

DVD came out in March '97. Fox didn't release it's first DVD until Nov '98. The majority of Fox titles were only available on Divx for along time.