Blu-ray, in General

[HistoryProf]

New unskippable piracy warnings to be included on (all?!) US DVDs and blu-rays. Because each time someone has chosen to buy or rent a movie through legitimate channels, they need to be forcibly "educated" through empty threats that they must buy or rent movies through legitimate channels.

I feel so much safer.

[MichaelB]

One bizarre tendency that I've noticed recently has been the number of notionally British Blu-rays that open with an FBI warning. I mean, all due respect to them and all, but I'm several thousand miles outside their jurisdiction, so threats of five and six-figure fines in US dollars don't mean all that much to me.

I didn't notice them at first because they're so ubiquitous on US releases, but putting them on British ones is a bit eyebrow-raising - though I'm sure this is more down to lazily recycling US materials than anything more sinister.

[David M.]

Do you have your player set to Region A? It's probably just showing the appropriate warning card based on that.

[MichaelB]

Do you have your player set to Region A? It's probably just showing the appropriate warning card based on that.

Nope - this is on a Region B-locked player.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

New unskippable piracy warnings to be included on (all?!) US DVDs and blu-rays.

Not all:

Six major movie studios will begin using the new notices this week.

Six is also the number of MPAA member studios (Disney, Sony, Fox, Paramount, WB, Universal) so I think we can assume these are the guilty parties.

[matrixschmatrix]

I wonder if that would also include stuff licensed out to Olive or Twilight Time or whatever from those companies.

[domino harvey]

So, this is a dumb thing, but gimme a breaksville that this somehow spells ruination for the home video disc experience. "Fifteen seconds? Not on my watch, I'm going to download a movie in inferior quality for seven hours. That'll show those bigwigs where the bread is buttered!"

[zedz]

Yeah, I agree, obviously, but this is yet another instance of the industry shooting themselves in the foot by making their preferred format(s) less user-friendly and less functional than the alternatives (see also: region-locking, forced advertising, etc.) The people who actually pay for their discs are the only ones who are actually going to have to sit through these warnings. Considering the extent to which convenience is the driving force for home video consumption nowadays (certainly trumping quality for the majority of users), the addition of one more small annoyance seems like a dumb move.

[perkizitore]

I actually think the 'thank you' ads in some UK discs are much nicer and probably more effective than the FBI warnings.

[manicsounds]

I actually think the 'thank you' ads in some UK discs are much nicer and probably more effective than the FBI warnings.

Agree with that one.

[MichaelB]

Yes - and the Masters of Cinema notices are at the end of the film, while the discs load noticeably faster than average because of the comparative lack of stuff at the start.

[Gregory]

Agree with all of this, and two observations:
1. I just put in Popeye The Sailor 1938-40 and saw the Warner "Piracy Is Bad" ad using the Wizard of Oz footage and at least it's fast-forwardable, but did they really think if they whored out footage from one of their biggest classics and made a clever enough pitch, people would realize that pirating movies is morally wrong, allowing Warner to make more money on said classics?

2. Just before that I received an obvious bootleg of a Warner Classics release on burned media from some eBay
seller (it'll be going right back) and what should be the first thing I encounter when I put in the illegal burned disc but an unskippable FBI Warning. These things are a complete joke, everyone knows it, and if they were going to be mandated to appear even on independent releases as I thought at first, that would be a problem.

[TMDaines]

So, this is a dumb thing, but gimme a breaksville that this somehow spells ruination for the home video disc experience. "Fifteen seconds? Not on my watch, I'm going to download a movie in inferior quality for seven hours. That'll show those bigwigs where the bread is buttered!"

You don't have to download stuff of notably inferior quality. You're looking in the wrong places if that's all you can find. You've got to realise that most people consume their films on relatively small screens and a good rip is almost identical to a DVD/Blu-ray on that display.

And your Internet is atrocious if you're downloading for seven hours. I can often have a film downloaded in the time it takes for me to make a cup of tea, fetch my DVD and insert it.

[eerik]

One bizarre tendency that I've noticed recently has been the number of notionally British Blu-rays that open with an FBI warning.

Some of the British Blu-rays that I have start with a "thank you for supporting the local industry" message, which is, well, much more encouraging than threating with prison for no reason.

[MichaelB]

[You've got to realise that most people consume their films on relatively small screens and a good rip is almost identical to a DVD/Blu-ray on that display.

I watch an increasing amount of stuff, especially short films, via Handbrake DVD rips blown up to a 42" plasma via iTunes and Apple TV. Despite the increased compression, they look absolutely fine, and the sheer convenience is a very small price to pay for a comparatively insignificant loss of quality. (Most of the stuff I watch isn't available in HD and most likely never will be).

[swo17]

I just noticed that Alliance in Canada will be releasing BDs of Atom Egoyan's Exotica and The Sweet Hereafter next month. What's this company's track record?

These (compressed) screencaps for Exotica look promising. Certainly an improvement on the DVD!

[willoneill]

I received both Exotica and The Sweet Hereafter this week, and sampled different scenes of both tonight. I won't claim to be a blu-ray transfer expert, but both look really good. Film-like and sharp, yet no indication of DNR. The Sweet Hereafter, especially the exterior scenes, looks amazing. Exotica is a touch softer, but I think that's the source. It is a Canadian film from 1994, after all. I don't have a fancy audio setup, but both sounded crisp and clear as well. As for features, both have brand new commentary tracks from Egoyan, and The Sweet Hereafter also contains all of the old DVD extras. And, for those of you who care about such things, each package contains an anamorphic dvd copy, and comes with a fancy slip-cover.

[warren oates]

Great! My copies are en route from your neck of the woods to Los Angeles. I can't wait. I love both of these films so much. And I still keep hoping Egoyan will find his way back to the strangeness and vitality of these earlier works.

[Adam X]

These two releases are looking far better than I would've expected, given the history of Alliance's SD releases.
Now Alliance, if you truly have done such a decent job, could we please have The Adjuster, with all your DVD extras, next? Cheers.

WILLONEILL: when you said all the Sweet Hereafter extras have been ported across, did you mean from the Alliance or New Line release? Fingers crossed it's the latter (though minus the old commentary/s I gather)

[willoneill]

WILLONEILL: when you said all the Sweet Hereafter extras have been ported across, did you mean from the Alliance or New Line release? Fingers crossed it's the latter (though minus the old commentary/s I gather)

I had the New Line dvd back in the day, but I thought it and the Alliance version had the same extras? In case case, here are the blu-ray extras (al of which I remember from the New Line edition):
- Audio commentary with Egoyan and Russell Banks
- "Before and After The Sweet Hereafter"
- Q&A interviews with cast members
- Charlie Rose interview
- Trailers
- "The Pied Piper of Hamelin"
all of these are on both the blu-ray and the dvd copy, and the the blu-ray has a bonus new commentary with Egoyan by himself.

Also, I agree whole-heartedly on getting the Adjuster on blu-ray.

[warren oates]

Had a quick look at the new Canadian Blu-rays of Exotica and The Sweet Hereafter and I must agree with willoneill. From what I can see this is the best these films have ever looked on home video, strong and faithfully filmlike transfers and a huge improvement over standard def. I can't wait to sit down with the films and watch them again and then put on the new commentaries when I have a bit more time.

[Adam X]

I had the New Line dvd back in the day, but I thought it and the Alliance version had the same extras?

To be honest they may well have, I'm really not sure, as I've got the New Line edition myself. I just figured they'd have been a bit different.
Regardless, I'll be replacing it shortly, from what's been said here, getting rid of what I think is my 2nd last remaining snapper case in the process. Though the interior art kind of made it work, in The Sweet Hereafter's case.
I'm glad they kept the old commentary with Russell Banks. Haven't read the novel, but I remember the extras featuring his discussion of the adaptation really interesting.

So I guess the isolated score is the only New Line extra missing then, going by the old DVD Beaver review (I'm not counting cast & crew bio's, those things were generally useless EPK stuff). Though a new Egoyan commentary's easily a decent replacement!

[willoneill]

So I guess the isolated score is the only New Line extra missing then, going by the old DVD Beaver review (I'm not counting cast & crew bio's, those things were generally useless EPK stuff). Though a new Egoyan commentary's easily a decent replacement!

Actually, you're in luck, because the isolated score is included, I just forgot to type it. It is listed last on the extras.

[Adam X]

Icing on the cake!
I look foward to seeing the fairground scene not composed entirely of shimmering lines whenever the camera moves.

[Adam X]

not knowing of anywhere better to buy from, it'd seem Amazon.ca has already stopped selling the new release of Exotica directly.
Ltd edition through lack of sales support?