Do Bluray discs warrant their price tags?

[SSSnail]

I was at Bestbuy looking some movies and I think that the prices for Bluray discs are ridiculous. Even the older movies are $22.99; the newer movies can cost upward of $40! What's even more absurd is the trend of packing a lot of stuffs that I don't want with the package of a new movie, thinks like a regular DVD, a digital copy and other junks.

What the hell happened to just put a freaking movie on a disc and sell it? And why does a Bluray disc cost x3 times a regular movie?

I think the cost of producing Bluray should have been absorbed a long time ago, and now it's just gouging for profits with the pricing. What do YOU think?

(no, I don't pirate movies).

 

[rcpratt]

No, the prices are out of control and that's why I only buy about one per year. Inception in just a few weeks!


Keep it to yourself. Bragging about pirating movies will get you bounced.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=27076922&postcount=30

esquared
Anandtech Forum Director

 

[zokudu]

The prices are insane. I only buy "collection" style movies on Blu Ray. My last one was Coraline. Totally worth it

 

[Brovane]

There pricing is a little weird and what they due pack into the set is ridicolous.

For example Avatar is 29.99 on Amazon, however the extended 3-disc extended edition collectors cut is 24.99. What I can figure out is that the regular cut of Avatar has also a DVD in the box. However the extended edition has 3 Blu-ray discs in the box. Why is the normal cut $5 more?

 

[UberNeuman]

A remastered copy is worth a few more bucks to me, but not a dupe from dvd...

 

[zerocool84]

FYI, DVD's were the same price so it's nothing new. Also, going to Best Buy and expecting decent prices is your biggest fail.

 

[JackBurton]

BD prices are pretty much on par for where DVDs were in their life cycle. You are comparing a new format's price with an older format's price. Do you remember when DVDs were $20+? I sure do. The average price for a BD is about $22-$25. However you can get GREAT deals on them if you keep an eye out. I RARELY buy a BD at $25. Most of the BDs I've bought were under $20, and I've bought quite a few at $10. Ever since I bought my HD-DVD player and then my BD player, I REFUSE to buy standard def movies. It is HD of nothing. And if it isn't on BD, I'll wait for it to be released on BD.

 

[Zebo]

All bleeding edge tech costs money always has. Especially from studios. I remember paying $30-40 a laser disk, $30 a DVD, and now $25-35 for BR. Sucks. Especially since some movies I've bought in all formats e.g. Lawrence of Arabia and other classics. Meh it is what it is.

 

[SSSnail]

BD prices are pretty much on par for where DVDs were in their life cycle. You are comparing a new format's price with an older format's price. Do you remember when DVDs were $20+? I sure do. The average price for a BD is about $22-$25. However you can get GREAT deals on them if you keep an eye out. I RARELY buy a BD at $25. Most of the BDs I've bought were under $20, and I've bought quite a few at $10.

Do you ever remember DVD reaching $35 for just a movie? (Even adjusted for inflation).

Zin, I don't expect great deals vs. online, and I buy stuffs at BB even a few dollars higher, I don't mind. What I've been a bit ticked off about is the prices of Bluray discs.

Atrocity is when they put old classics on Bluray and charge an arm a leg for it, when in fact your TV or DVD up conversion will show you the same quality picture with a regular ole DVD.

 

[guyver01]

So...

if i understand this thread correctly... The OP is asking why the distributors put special features on the blu ray disc, and charge more than a plain no-feature DVD?

BECAUSE THEY CAN.

/thread

 

[Zebo]

A remastered copy is worth a few more bucks to me, but not a dupe from dvd...

I hate that too and been snookered is there a good site that reviews BD and lets you know this?

 

[SSSnail]

So...

if i understand this thread correctly... The OP is asking why the distributors put special features on the blu ray disc, and charge more than a plain no-feature DVD?

BECAUSE THEY CAN.

/thread

I think you're having a hard time understanding the thread title

 

[zerocool84]

I hate that too and been snookered is there a good site that reviews BD and lets you know this?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1168342

Always go to AVS forums for everything involving audio/video.

 

[JackBurton]

Do you ever remember DVD reaching $35 for just a movie? (Even adjusted for inflation).

That is not the average BD price. However now that we have 3D BD, yes, it has gotten to that price point ($30-$40), which I think is retarded. I'm not a fan of 3D, so they aren't going to make much money off me. But if people buy the movies at $40 a pop, I can't say I blame the studios for selling it at that price. Again, my price ceiling for BDs is generally under $20, $10 for catalog BD movies. I've stuck to that rule and I've bought an ass load of BDs, new releases included. I'll give you a hint, hidefdigest's BD forum is your friend.

 

[Zebo]

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1168342

Always go to AVS forums for everything involving audio/video.

great resource THX.

 

[guyver01]

I think you're having a hard time understanding the thread title

i understand the thread title perfectly fine.

Blu Ray Disc's around here run about $20. Slightly more than DVD's ... which is fine with me, because they have more features.


You asked

What the hell happened to just put a freaking movie on a disc and sell it? And why does a Bluray disc cost x3 times a regular movie?

Blu Ray does not cost 3x more than a regular movie.
Blu Ray is comparable in price to a similar DVD package.

 

[zerocool84]

great resource THX.

I keep that bookmarked cus they're always adding new movies. I always check that before buying a new Blu-ray.

 

[Soccerman06]

Dvds and blu-ray cost nearly the same to manufacturer. It's price gouging at its best.

 

[Barfo]

I've just gotten a handful of really worthy BD's like the Dark Knight. I'll wait until they're less than $10 to get the rest.

 

[Exterous]

If you buy them the week of release you can almost always find the BD for around $19.99. Anytime after that is extremely hit and miss with sales

Does it matter? It depends on the movie. Some Movies have amazing visuals or soundtracks (I will almost certainly by Inception on BD. I have very high hopes for the soundtrack) Even older movies can still show awesome quality (Braveheart)

Other movies, though, are not worth it. Many are poorly mastered (I'm looking at you Gladiator) and lack the quality to be worth even $20

You can usually find reviews of the BD quality out the same week of the release so you can use those to help in the decision to buy or not. The AVS link is extremely helpful for this

 

[JackBurton]

If you buy them the week of release you can almost always find the BD for around $19.99. Anytime after that is extremely hit and miss with sales

Does it matter? It depends on the movie. Some Movies have amazing visuals or soundtracks (I will almost certainly by Inception on BD. I have very high hopes for the soundtrack) Even older movies can still show awesome quality (Braveheart)

Other movies, though, are not worth it. Many are poorly mastered (I'm looking at you Gladiator) and lack the quality to be worth even $20

You can usually find reviews of the BD quality out the same week of the release so you can use those to help in the decision to buy or not. The AVS link is extremely helpful for this

You know they quietly released a new version of Gladiator, right? Better looking, but still not the quality of Braveheart.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Dvds and blu-ray cost nearly the same to manufacturer. It's price gouging at its best.

Manufacturing costs don't mean anything. You aren't paying for a piece of $0.10 plastic. You are paying for the content on the disc, which in the case of Blu-ray is much higher quality and often with more content. Is it worth the cost? Eh, not to me, but that's why I normally just rent.

 

[Bignate603]

Dvds and blu-ray cost nearly the same to manufacturer. It's price gouging at its best.

How is it price gouging when they typically only want a few extra bucks for the same kind of package in bluray?

They charge more because people are willing to pay more. It doesn't matter what it costs them to produce. Also, with tiered price levels it helps them maximize their profits.

Intel and AMD have done something similar for years, clocking some chips slower than their maximum that they could safely run (especially when the process to make the chips was mature and their yields were high) because they needed more of the cheaper versions of a processor to sell. They still make money on the processors that are clocked slower than they could be, but that performance difference makes people want to pay extra to get a faster version of the exact same chip, giving them more profit.

That's not price gouging, that's good business.

 

[Bateluer]

Yeah, they're over priced. Add to them being a pain in the royal ass to play on the PC, means I only buy one or so a year now. And not until its 10 bucks or less.

 

[abaez]

If you buy them the week of release you can almost always find the BD for around $19.99. Anytime after that is extremely hit and miss with sales

Does it matter? It depends on the movie. Some Movies have amazing visuals or soundtracks (I will almost certainly by Inception on BD. I have very high hopes for the soundtrack) Even older movies can still show awesome quality (Braveheart)

Other movies, though, are not worth it. Many are poorly mastered (I'm looking at you Gladiator) and lack the quality to be worth even $20

You can usually find reviews of the BD quality out the same week of the release so you can use those to help in the decision to buy or not. The AVS link is extremely helpful for this

Yeah, you really have to look around.

I got Toy Story 1 & 2 for like $5 each due to a Target combo pack deal plus the Disney coupons you can easily get for like $10 off. TS3 cost about $10 after the coupon and first week price discounts.

I bought the Alien quadrilogy for $55 shipped from amazon uk, which are the same discs that are here in the US selling for $90. The packaging is different, and only the first two movies are worthwhile for me, but it's the best I could do since they are two of my favorite movies of all time.

I agree retail price is ridiculous, and most of the time though you just have to be patient. I've had a price alert for the chungking express bluray for months now and I'm still waiting. I'm not about to pay $35 or whatever it is, as much as I love the movie.