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Lord of The Rings DVD, Now or Later?
Entropy_ah writes "As many of us know, the Lord of The Rings: Fellowship of The Ring DVD was released Aug. 6. It is a 2 Disk version of the movie with a few added goodies. However, New Line Home Entertainment is going to release an extended 4 disk version and a DVD gift set on November 12th. The Kanas City Star has an article discussing the merits of each addition and touches on the issue of this being an attempt by the movie companies to gouge as much money from die-hard fans as possible." I'm waiting, but I definitely find this whole mess frustrating.
Honestly, what's the big deal? We all know about it already. It's not like they released the regular edition now and surprised us with the expanded edition a month later. We KNOW and HAVE KNOWN for awhile now they are going to release the expanded edition later in the year. The fact that they've been VERY upfront about this has been a breath of fresh air.
Honestly, if you really can't wait, there's this thing called a VIDEO RENTAL STORE! Go rent it (but please, rent from something OTHER than Blockbuster if at all possible).
I bought the 2-disc set on the 6th. Why? Because it had value to me. I wanted to see the film again, and it was worth the 20 bucks to me to own a copy of it.
When the 4-disc set comes out in November (or whenever), I'll decide if the extra content is worth whatever they're charging for it. If it is, I'll buy it. If it's not, I won't.
Why are veryone's knickers in a twist about this. It's a very simple equation.
Friends next door have bought the first one, and came over last night to watch it on our huge screen. Impressive. Now we don't need to go out and buy our own copy, if we want to see it again (probably not for another month or so), we'll just borrow it again.
We are waiting until the 4 disk set comes out, and we'll buy that version. Between the two of us, we'll have both versions, and can swap as needed.
All of us are waiting for a couple of years from now, after all the films have been released, WETA finishes all the CGI SFX, and Peter Jackson makes the final extra-long directors cut. That will probably be a 7 or more DVD set. Showings will then be day long affairs with a couple of meals between films, lots of drinks, and regular bathroom breaks.
the AC
Hemos is like...sci-fi fans;he thinks technology is cool, but he hasn't bothered to understand the science it's based on
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And yet, all the geeks who go out to buy the 4-disc set and not the 2-disc (myself included) will just be reinforcing the notion that you can "add all the shit you want, they don't want the original version" (the original cut will not be available via branching). Granted, since opening sales of the LOTR DVD outsold the previous winner, Harry Potter, they might not get to say that after all.
Schnapple
noah
The main conspiracy theory in the paper is:
"Of course, there's also the theory, proposed by the cynics among us, that the movie companies are using this sort of release pattern to entice movie fans to buy both the basic package to watch now and the more complete special edition a few months later."
It isn't going to fly for one reason, who the hell would buy a 4 disk set of 'super troopers' after you bought the first one? How about 'hey arnold: the movie', or even 'haloween: resurrection'? I didn't think so. As soon as the greedy start filling the shelves with the 9th edition of 'master of disguise', the landfill owners will be licking thier lips and fighting over who gets to bury the millions of unsold copies. Enough money will be lost to stop the practice almost for good.
The movies that do come out with multiple editions will be the ones that actually benefit from the additions. The industry is still feeling out what it can and can't do, and the only way to do that is to fall flat on it's face a few times, and they are doing it. Unlike the moribund record industry, I think the movie people can and do learn, and have been making an honest effort to produce stuff we want at fairly reasonable prices. DeCSS aside, they learn quick.
I still have a little faith in the capatilistic system. Whatever happens, we won't know for a year or 2, it will take that long for trends to become clear.
-Charlie
While I definitely agree this is a matter of personal preference, and that since we have fair warning (for the most part) that there is going to be another DVD set coming in November.
Personaly I find it kind of funny that I never saw many discussions like this when DVD began to make VHS its b*tch. I mean seriously, all of you that still have your VHS video collections I am sure have some dups that you got in DVD. I mean hell, I bet the average /.'er has and will own the original CBS/Fox Star Wars Trillogy (with the cool original box art), the anniversary boxed set VHS, the Special Edition Boxed set (complete with Greedo shooting first no less!) and will own at least one or two of the DVD sets of Ep 4/5/6 that are sure to be released in the coming years... not to mention the HDTV DVD remastering edition a couple years after that.
I mean WTF, do you really believe that you are paying for the content when you buy copyrighted works.. if that were really the case, we should be getting some friggin reduced price "upgrade" for current owners when we buy videos/dvds/music/etc..
Just my take on the matter.
When you go to the movie theatre you vaguely assume that you are seeing "the same" movie as everyone else. But as cineastes know, there are often minor variations in content even during the first run, and major ones on second runs, re-releases, etc. Oklahoma! was filmed concurrently in 35mm and Todd-AO so the two versions actually represent similar but different performances, etc. etc.
Recently this has all become more _visible_ (in the form of deliberately labeled "special editions," "director's cuts," etc.) There's now so much of this going on I have to wonder whether the whole idea of "a" movie is gradually becoming obsolete.
Multiple versions of movies are now available to fans within a year of the release. Of course, the variations in the versions are trivial (unless you're a dedicated aficionado...)
There was a World's Fair where some director, Czech I think, showed a movie in which at ten or eleven decision points, the audience got to vote on what the actors should do. Of course, the plot was engineered to reconverge on the next decision point (so the amount of film that needed to be shot was only 2X, not 1024X or 2048X the running length of the movie).
I wonder just where these DVD's are going? DVD's supposely offer the ability to choose different camera angles, but I've yet to rent one in which this ability was actually enabled... Are "movies" going to gradually become a participatory experience? Where you have at least the illusion of a trivial degree of participation?
In the fifties, food companies (supposedly) discovered that housewives did not like complete cake mixes, because it made them feel as if they were being lazy. So they gradually moved to mixes that required adding some ingredients (milk, eggs, etc.), supposedly not because fresh ingredients actually improved the flavor, but because housewives felt they were doing a better job if they had contributed SOMETHING to the process.
I dunno, though...
On the whole, I think I would just prefer to "watch a movie" and assume that for better or for worse the producers have made all the decisions for me, and all that's left for me is to like it or not.
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
I have children.
I want my children to view the "PG-13" version of the movie, so I've purchased the current release. I also want to have the extended version, which reportedly will include scenes that would warrant an "R" rating. I'll get that one for myself and allow my children to view it when they are older.
At least they are telling everybody that there is going to be another edition coming out in November.
Let us all consider what George Lucas would do in this situation. Release a VHS tape, and claim that there won't be a DVD for 5 years. A few months later, a DVD will come out... surprise! Too bad if you already bought the VHS.
George Lucas gouges his fans deceptively. At least with Lord of the Rings, they are telling everybody about the special edition in November. That way, if you want to wait for it, you can. They aren't tricking anyone into buying the first version. If you can't wait until November, and you want to see it still, rent it! Or borrow it from somebody!
I'll personally just buy both.
I just saw a commercial today that if you go test drive a Kia car or SUV, they will give you a free copy of Lord of the Rings on DVD! I don't know if this is just in the Cincinnati area (where I heard the ad) or everywhere, but if you don't mind getting to play with a car and listen to a sales pitch, you can score a free copy of the DVD.
Check out the information here
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Call me quirky because I come from a finance background and I read SlashDot...
::Colz Grigor
The value equation for you may be:
Pay $20 now for the access to the content.
Evaluate the November version to see if the additional footage is worth an incremental $30.
_If_ you decide it's worth it, the total outlay is $50.
For me, the equation is:
Avoid being shunned by my friends for not having access to FotR content between August and November. (Opportunity cost)
Buy November version.
Total outlay: $30 + the opportunity cost of having not owned access to the content for three months.
The difference in cost, and thus the debate, is this: from my perspective is three months of not being able to view the content worth $20? from your perspective is the additional footage worth $30?
My thoughts exactly. I plan on waiting until all three can be released in a set, possibly matching my "big red" collector's edition of the book. I mean, how neat would it be to mix the old with the new by putting the DVDs in a leather case? I'd gladly pay at least $100 if it had 4 discs in it (3 movies, one features disc). Make it match the collector's edition book, and I'd pay another $50.
Michael C. Hollinger