Pirates Of The Caribbean 1 and 2 Blu-rays for May

[deathie mouse]

BURBANK, Calif., Jan. 8: Buena Vista Worldwide Home Entertainment Unveils Unparalleled Blu-ray Disc(TM) Release Slate for North America, Europe and Asia including Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest for May 2007

http://prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.p ... 557&EDATE=

[2099net]

My shivers and well and truely shivered. I only expected this when the 3rd film was released on normal DVD.

[Loomis]

Avast ye! A fine booty it is to behold.

(A sentence that can be used in almost any situation, I should add).

[MickeyMouseboy]

My shivers and well and truely shivered. I only expected this when the 3rd film was released on normal DVD.

see I told you not to get Xbox 360 HD DVD player!!! you could of have a blu ray and enjoy great Disney films in HD!

[MICKEYMOUSE]

In Blu-Ray I trust!!

Honestly though I am not going to get these Blu-Ray DVDs because I already own them on DVD. I will probably also just buy the DVD when the 3rd one get released on DVD, unless they stop making DVD by them, which I highly doubt. But I have to say I think 2008 is the year when BLu-Ray really hits it peak, and everyone starts buying them instead of the ol' DVDs. By them I think people will have a better understanding of the new media.

[DarthPrime]

It will take longer than 2008 before Blu-ray takes over. I still don't think it will though. Same for HD-DVD.

Anyway I doubt I'll get these. I'm sure they will look great, but Blu-ray is still to expensive at this time for me to invest in it. Not to mention we still don't know if it will succeed. Again same for HD-DVD.

[brotherbear]

It will take longer than 2008 before Blu-ray takes over. I still don't think it will though. Same for HD-DVD.

Anyway I doubt I'll get these. I'm sure they will look great, but Blu-ray is still to expensive at this time for me to invest in it. Not to mention we still don't know if it will succeed. Again same for HD-DVD.

I absolutely agree with you, Darth Prime. I would get Pirates of the Caribbean: COTBP in a heartbeat, because it is (after all) among my top favorite movies of all time. BUT, despite the amazing video and audio quality, I really doubt that either HDDVD or BluRay will catch on. a) it's still WAY too expensive (especially BluRay!!) b) some people just got on the DVD bandwagon. They're not going to want to get a whole new player and start their collections all over again! and c) In the eyes of many (excluding video/audio lovers, or movie collectors), there isn't that big of a difference in video/audio quality. (No where NEAR the difference between VHS and DVD, which made DVD succeed!)

Like I said, if there was an actual notion that BluRay is going to come in the spot light and eliminate DVD's, I would pick up POTC:COTBP the day it comes out. But I really doubt any of the 2 formats will dominate. In my opinion, they will both fall.

-BB

[I am the Doctor]

It will take longer than 2008 before Blu-ray takes over. I still don't think it will though. Same for HD-DVD.

Anyway I doubt I'll get these. I'm sure they will look great, but Blu-ray is still to expensive at this time for me to invest in it. Not to mention we still don't know if it will succeed. Again same for HD-DVD.

The fact that there are two standards (HD-DVD and Blu-Ray) is killing sales for the hi-def movies. LG Electronics is talking about a dual-format player that'll play both HD and Blu. Warner Brothers is talking about making HD/Blu dual-format discs.

Combo discs and players will help grow the HD/Blu market. But, you're right, it is going to take a while for these formats to catch up to DVD since there really isn't that many movies available on either format yet.

[kbehm29]

Thank goodness I got my 42" LCD HDTV for Christmas this year, and found a PS3 shortly afterwards! I can't wait for the chance to rewatch these babies in HD.

I strongly believe in Blu-Ray and am buying all my new releases in that format when available from now on. I am looking forward to The Prestige and Chicken Little, too.

[deathie mouse]

[SpringHeelJack]

That pretty much shows my other reason for disliking BluRay/HD-DVD, the cover art being obnoxiously covered by the garish advertising of the format.

[TM2-Megatron]

My shivers and well and truely shivered. I only expected this when the 3rd film was released on normal DVD.

see I told you not to get Xbox 360 HD DVD player!!! you could of have a blu ray and enjoy great Disney films in HD!

The smartest choice is, of course, to have neither at this particular time. Both are ridiculously expensive, with absolutely no guarantee of taking over in the end. And that's ignoring the inferior-quality of modern LCD televisions, which nullify most of the advantages of an HD resolution, IMO.

Of course, I'd be willing to bet the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD generation will be even shorter than DVD's... with HVD just around the corner, nobody's going to want to make do with a mere 15GB-25GB per disc, when they can have multiple Terabytes... especially in the electronics and computer industries.

[2099net]

see I told you not to get Xbox 360 HD DVD player!!! you could of have a blu ray and enjoy great Disney films in HD!

The smartest choice is, of course, to have neither at this particular time. Both are ridiculously expensive, with absolutely no guarantee of taking over in the end. And that's ignoring the inferior-quality of modern LCD televisions, which nullify most of the advantages of an HD resolution, IMO.

Of course, I'd be willing to bet the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD generation will be even shorter than DVD's... with HVD just around the corner, nobody's going to want to make do with a mere 15GB-25GB per disc, when they can have multiple Terabytes... especially in the electronics and computer industries.

Re: The Add-On
And when/if Blu Ray becomes the default standard, I'll just buy the Blu Ray drive for the 360 Microsoft says that they will make. Hey presto, 1 combo player for £260 (exclusing the cost of the console). Not bad, being as the LG will sell for about £1,500 if its released over here. (And hopefully most discs will be THD before then)

Re: HVD
This isn't really anything new. There will always be something better in electronics, but they are often held back for marketing reasons. The BBC botched Freeview over here (digital TV) - its really a half-arsed system implemented for convenience rather than specifications (the interactive side especially is poor compared to Sky's). They have a better system that has been developed by the BBC, but they won't release it, because they are already convinced millions to get a FreeView box and/or television, and are in the process of pushing the format to the others before the analogue turn-off in the next few years.

HD DVD and the Blu Ray consortiusms have invested hundreds of millions in their format. If they win, they look to make literally billions upon billions over the next 10-15 years. Neither is giving up yet. I also suggest HVD doesn't have the money required to start-up, and they won't get support from the key players, who have already choosen and invested in their current HD format.

[TM2-Megatron]

HD DVD and the Blu Ray consortiusms have invested hundreds of millions in their format. If they win, they look to make literally billions upon billions over the next 10-15 years. Neither is giving up yet. I also suggest HVD doesn't have the money required to start-up, and they won't get support from the key players, who have already choosen and invested in their current HD format.

There's no way these will last 15 years, probably not even 10 (which is about how long DVD was around). HVD will come into play at some point, if only for the advantages it provides in computer use. HD-DVD is practically already dead as far as that aspect goes... I don't even know if there are any computer drives available, whereas I could go out right now to a computer store in my city and buy a Blu-Ray burner for about $670 CDN. Also, I've never actually seen blank HD-DVD media in a store. And HD-DVD is still limited to 1x or 2x burning, whereas Blu-Ray's up to 4x or so.

Even this early in the game, HVD has some pretty big backers in the electronics and optical drive/media players. Lite-On's the second-largest optical disc drive manufacturer in the world, for one. HVD also has many of the large disc manufacturers backing them. Of course, the Hollywood studio support, etc. probably won't start until a year or two before Blu-Ray/HD-DVD has run its course, but support in the electronics field will continue to grow.

[2099net]

Well, I strongly believe this is the final generation of physical media for movies (allowing each format to keep adding layers every so often). In 10 years or so, we're all likely to be using VoD, Streaming and Downloads.

But that doesn't alter the fact each has spent millions on their current HD formats, and neither is going to just say "Uncle".

Ultimately I believe the combo drives will be the future. Remember all that fuss about the various DVD ROMs, RAMs, RWs, pluses and minus. That's basically the same as the situation now - companies went off and devised their own standards for writing to DVD and as a result we ended up with 4 - 6 initially incompatible methods. But now most DVD drives can read/write most of the formats.

True, there's a bigger difference between HD DVD and Blu Ray than there is between DVD RW+ and DVD RW-, but I still believe combo drives will be the future.

[TM2-Megatron]

Well, I strongly believe this is the final generation of physical media for movies (allowing each format to keep adding layers every so often). In 10 years or so, we're all likely to be using VoD, Streaming and Downloads.

Personally, I hope not. I can't stand the idea of streaming and download services... for the same reason I never download music of iTunes or any other music site. I greatly prefer having the content on a self-contained format, w/ liner notes/etc. I actually hate the idea of paying for movies and ending up with insubstantial bytes on a hard drive hooked up to my TV/computer.

But that doesn't alter the fact each has spent millions on their current HD formats, and neither is going to just say "Uncle".

They won't want to, but as far as computer-use goes, it's going to have to happen eventually. 25GB per disc (50GB if dual layer burners come out for Blu-Ray) won't sastisfy people forever.

Ultimately I believe the combo drives will be the future. Remember all that fuss about the various DVD ROMs, RAMs, RWs, pluses and minus. That's basically the same as the situation now - companies went off and devised their own standards for writing to DVD and as a result we ended up with 4 - 6 initially incompatible methods. But now most DVD drives can read/write most of the formats.

Maybe, but personally I think HD-DVD will just die out and dissapear. Technologically, it's an inferior media... too heavily based on its predecessor, IMO. And, as I said, the computer industry already seems to have decided on Blu-Ray as the successor to DVD+/-R. The only downside to Blu-Ray (and this applies only to Blu-Ray movies) is that the standards implemented by those behind the format aren't nearly as consumer-friendly as HD-DVDs.

And personally, I only use the DVD+ format, with the exception of DVD-RAM for backing up. The minus stuff isn't nearly as good.

[azul017]

More details concerning the Blu-ray releases of the Pirates movies have been made public. Both will be released on 50GB dual-layer capacity discs, have all the extras from the DVD releases, and both will retail for $34.99. I'm pretty sure the Blu-ray releases will have uncompressed audio too, but it's uncertain whether any of the extras will be in high definition.

[azul017]

Another update on the Blu-ray releases of Pirates of the Caribbean -- both will have a 2-disc release (Disney's first 2-disc Blu-ray release, if I'm not mistaken). The first disc will still be 50GB, hold uncompressed 5.1 audio tracks, and the extras from the first disc from each of their respective DVD release. The second disc will be a 25GB disc and hold the rest of the special features.

The movies will also have Java-enhanced bonus features -- "The Curse of the Black Pearl" will have a 'Scoundrels of the Sea' interactive in-movie feature that will have on-screen trivia and facts about the lore and legends of pirates. "Dead Man's Chest" will have the Java-enhanced 'Liar's Dice', a single-player game shot in live-action HD video.

[Okie Tigger]

I pre-ordered both the day they became available. Both are supposed to have *all* the features from the 2-disc DVD sets also which means I can pitch the DVDs. Nice to see Disney doing these releases right and picking up their game re: Blu-ray.

Now bring on Cars.

[Escapay]

TheDigitalBits has a review for Pirates Blu-Rays that come out tomorrow:

Click Here for the review.

No, Click Here! This is the review!

Don't pay attention to those links, click on this one!

Have to say, the Scoundrels of the Sea interactive documentary sounds impressive, and a good reason to upgrade from DVD (well, along with the hi-def video/audio, but I'm an extras junkie...). But the Liar's Dice game doesn't seem too interesting to me (then again, I'm not one for set-top games either). I'm glad to see the BestBuy extras included for DMC, as well as the Lost Disc for COTBP. Just wish they could have also included the COTBP trailers as well (since DMC has theirs).

For now, I'm content with my DVDs, but maybe in 2008 or 2009 when I upgrade to Blu-Ray, I'll be able to get them for a bit less than the current asking price.

Escapay