Film & Television Home/Physical Media

[Ramsay Snow]

I don't think I'd seen a thread dedicated to this subject......We collectors of home/physical media for movies and TV shows are a dying breed, but we're still out there. Hell, from what I hear, there are still people who buy DVDs, which boggles my mind. That's like buying VHS or 8-tracks, from my perspective.

For those who still collect physical media for celluloid, why do you still collect when streaming services are abound? Most people would scoff that it's a waste of money when you have almost everything at your fingertips, waiting at the touch of a button. And if you do collect physical media, which formats do you go for?

Myself, I've gotten to the point where I only buy 4K releases, although I'll relent and buy blu-ray for specific restorations/re-releases wherein they just didn't put it up on 4K. DVD I simply do not buy, unless it's something really old that's highly unlikely to be released in a modern format.....And I love The Criterion Collection. When it comes to Criterion, I'll sometimes buy movies I'm not too crazy about, just to enjoy their restorations and special features. They're a company I love to support due to what they stand for.....Kino Lorber is cool, and I appreciate them for doing certain 4K and blu-ray releases you sometimes don't expect, but what bothers me about them is the majority of their releases are bare-bones. In contrast to Criterion, who often have a cool, thick booklet, and multiple discs loaded with special features, KL is usually a single-disc release with not even a pamphlet, and sometimes barely any special features at all......Then there are other companies like Arrow Video, Shout Factory, etc.....

When it comes to conventional releases, as I mentioned above, I'm buying solely 4K, aside from a few exceptions......With conventional mainstream releases, like MCU films, I no longer buy them on their release date. I now just wait for Black Friday sales and such. With streaming available (Of course, I use 5-6 streaming services), I find it pointless to immediately buy mainstream home media releases. I used to jump on exclusive steelbooks from Best Buy, but now I'm somewhat minimal with those. I'll buy one if the cover art is significantly more appealing than the conventional release.

As for why I still collect home media.....Again, some would argue it's pointless to buy home media when streaming is readily available, but I don't like how streaming services constantly add or remove titles from their libraries. Then you have some movies which simply aren't available anywhere and you have to rent them (If they're available for a digital rental). Add to that, specialty boutiques like The Criterion Collection offer the advantage of superior picture/sound quality over streaming options.

I'll make a few more posts involving other related subject matter.

[Ramsay Snow]

Are there any films you hope are re-released in 4K so we can finally have them with the best possible picture/sound quality? This is a list of what I hope gets released on 4K, preferably via The Criterion Collection, but I'll take anything as long as the upgrades are well done.


American Beauty
Blood Diamond
Blood In, Blood Out: Bound By Honor
The Cannonball Run
Conan the Barbarian (original 80s version with Arnold, of course)
The Departed
Go
The Hateful Eight (extended version, preferably)
Interview With the Vampire
Kalifornia
LA Confidential
The Leopard
Less Than Zero
Man On Fire
Mrs Doubtfire
Ninja Scroll
One Hour Photo
Red Dragon - 4K is coming out later this year via Kino Lorber
Rocco and his Brothers
Romancing the Stone
Sleepy Hollow - 4K is coming out Sep 9, 2023
Soylent Green
Stardust
Terminator
Willard (2003 version with Crispin Glover)

Some might scoff at Blood In Blood Out, but The Criterion Collection released a 4K of Menace II Society, and it's a pretty good restoration/upgrade. Although Menace suffers from a very weak lead actor, it's a far better film than Boyz in Da Hood.....But I always felt, as cheesy as Blood In Blood Out is, it's the better gangsta film than Menace & Boyz (Which are a bit overrated). All 3 are flawed films, they are what they are.....But Blood In Blood Out is grander in scale. That movie needs a solid 4K release, something The Criterion Collection could do justice with.

I'm sure there are a few films I'm missing in regard to wanting to see 4K upgrades of. I'd say the two movies I want to see upgrades of most are American Beauty and LA Confidential. They're two of the best films of the 90s (definitely in my top 5 for that decade), and it's a travesty we haven't seen them released in 4K yet.

[Ramsay Snow]

And are there any recent purchases anyone has made? Here's a list of what I've recently acquired in the past 2 months:

Will Penny blu-ray (Kino Lorber).....I bought this recent restoration from KL due to it supposedly being one of Charlton Heston's best performances. I'll be watching it later today.

Dekalog blu-ray set (The Criterion Collection)......A heralded 10-episode TV series written and directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski of Three Colours fame.

Casablanca 4K ........An excellent 4K upgrade of a true classic.

Train To Busan 4K ......My favorite zombie movie, hands-down, and it looks brilliant in 4K.

The Wailing blu-ray .....An interesting Korean horror film from a few years ago.

Police Story 3: Super Cop ......A solid 4K release from 88 Films with a nice booklet and other features. I'm not too into kung fu flicks, be it Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee, but I have the Police Story 1-2 blu-ray box set from Criterion, so I had to jump on this as I remembered the film not being bad when I watched it as a teen on cable eons ago.

Escape From New York 4K .....A guilty pleasure due to a childhood viewing. Very flawed film, but it has some cool aspects to it due to John Carpenter's wild filmmaking techniques. And I will say it looks great in 4K.

Training Day 4K .....An excellent upgrade, one of Denzel's better films and it looks fantastic in 4K.

National Lampoon's Vacation 4K ......I missed out on the exclusive Best Buy steelbook, which had the original poster cover art with Chevy Chase looking built and women fawning at his feet. It's a decent 4K upgrade, but not the best. Still a fun movie to have in this upgraded format.

Warrior 4K .....One of the rare sports-related films I actually have in my collection, and it looks a lot better than the blu-ray I originally owned.

Lolita blu-ray (Imprint) ......Although Chris Hansen wouldn't approve, I love this film. An underrated gem consisting of one of Jeremy Irons's finest performances.....I had been waiting for a company like Criterion to release this on 4K, but it looked like it wasn't happening so I bought this 2022 blu-ray restoration by the Australian company called Imprint. Fortunately, this is a blu-ray import that works on any US player. With 4k imports, you can buy from any country and it'll work in America, but with blu-ray they usually won't work on conventional American players.

Thelma & Louise 4K (The Criterion Collection)......I had actually never watched this film, surprisingly enough. It's an alright film with historical significance, but definitely not a favorite. An excellent 4K product in regard to the picture/sound quality and special features.

Wall-E 4K (The Criterion Collection)......Another film that's not a favorite (I prefer Ratatouille & The Incredibles when it comes to Pixar), but I bought it due to Criterion doing the release. And Criterion did a stunning job.

[Ramsay Snow]

Films I recently purchased but am waiting on:

Ferris Bueller's Day Off 4K ......Coming out August 2. I was never as crazy about this film as my friends were, back in the 80s (My favorite John Hughes film is Sixteen Candles), but I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how this movie looks with the 4K upgrade.

Irreversible blu-ray .......Controversial 2002 French film by Gaspar Noe, released by Altered Innocence.....I figured they're probably not going to release this on 4K, so I'll just buy this for my collection.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 4K (Kino Lorber)

To Live And Die in LA 4K (Kino Lorber)......Coming out July 18. I bought this and Eternal Sunshine from Kino Lorber's website during a sale. I've been looking forward to seeing a 4K upgrade of this 80s neo-noir film.

I'm thinking of buying a 4K import of Drive. I have it on blu-ray but have been waiting for a 4K upgrade. It's been released in 4K in various countries, but America isn't one of them.

[babyblob]

I still buy normal Dvds. Likie seasons of shows and older Dvds. I do enjoy streaming but if my internet goes out, which does happen or if I dont have streaming on my set (My bedroom tv is not a smart tv nor does it have Roku. My cable box gives me Disney + though) I have a blue ray player in my room and watch my dvds and some blue rays. I dont care about 4k or 3d or anything. 3d makes my head hurt and with my eyesight it is not worth the extra to get a 4k tv and blue ray or whatever.

So I guess I am one of the old time hold outs that still do Dvds. I have a couple books of those CD holder books full of dvds.

[Guy_McNichts]

I still buy DVDs because streaming is unreliable. Internet can crap out. Many movies jump around from one streaming service to another, and I am not paying for every goddamn one.

And especially now, where companies are effectively erasing certain movies and shows for tax write-offs or because they don't want to pay residuals, it's good to have a physical copy of something and knowing I can watch it whenever I want.

As just an example, HBO Max recently dropped Westworld. It hasn't been moved to some other streaming. It's not available anywhere else. It's gone. If Netflix were to go bust, all their original movies are gone (except The Irishman, which is available on DVD, because Scorsese ain't having that ****). The Coens made their Macbeth movie, but it's only available on AppleTV, and I am not wasting money on AppleTV for one movie. So I guess I'm never going to see it.

Streaming is convenient, no doubt. It's handy to have available. But let's call them what they are: they're holding movies and shows hostage, and I can only view them if I pay an annual ransom.
I like owning the things I like.

I'm also content with regular DVDs or BluRays. I don't know the difference between 4K or any of that ****, and I've no use for 3D.

[Ramsay Snow]

I still buy DVDs because streaming is unreliable. Internet can crap out. Many movies jump around from one streaming service to another, and I am not paying for every goddamn one.

And especially now, where companies are effectively erasing certain movies and shows for tax write-offs or because they don't want to pay residuals, it's good to have a physical copy of something and knowing I can watch it whenever I want.

As just an example, HBO Max recently dropped Westworld. It hasn't been moved to some other streaming. It's not available anywhere else. It's gone. If Netflix were to go bust, all their original movies are gone (except The Irishman, which is available on DVD, because Scorsese ain't having that ****). The Coens made their Macbeth movie, but it's only available on AppleTV, and I am not wasting money on AppleTV for one movie. So I guess I'm never going to see it.

Agreed. I was pretty bothered by Raised By Wolves getting taken off (I have the Westworld 4K sets).....Problem with RBW is they never bothered releasing it on home media. I might have to just buy the seasons digitally.

As for Netflix, The Criterion Collection has done blu-ray & 4K releases of some Netflix films. The Irishman, Okja, The Power of the Dog, and a few others.

Streaming is convenient, no doubt. It's handy to have available. But let's call them what they are: they're holding movies and shows hostage, and I can only view them if I pay an annual ransom.
I like owning the things I like.

I'm also content with regular DVDs or BluRays. I don't know the difference between 4K or any of that ****, and I've no use for 3D.

I view streaming as the modern day equivalent to video rental stores. It's not something I'm going to fully rely on for movie viewings, but it's a nice supplement to check things out. Comparisons could also be made to radio vs CDs/LPs (although nowadays it's music streaming vs CDs/LPs/mp3).

If you buy a good 4K TV and 4K player, you'll definitely see a difference. It's enough of a difference for me to upgrade from blu-ray to 4K if I like the movie enough.

[Ramsay Snow]

I still buy normal Dvds. Likie seasons of shows and older Dvds. I do enjoy streaming but if my internet goes out, which does happen or if I dont have streaming on my set (My bedroom tv is not a smart tv nor does it have Roku. My cable box gives me Disney + though) I have a blue ray player in my room and watch my dvds and some blue rays. I dont care about 4k or 3d or anything. 3d makes my head hurt and with my eyesight it is not worth the extra to get a 4k tv and blue ray or whatever.

So I guess I am one of the old time hold outs that still do Dvds. I have a couple books of those CD holder books full of dvds.

Oh, yeah....In the past few years I've bought DVD box sets of Three's Company, The Addams Family, and Bewitched. Those don't count because I don't see them ever being released on blu-ray/4K.....Surprisingly, the original Lost In Space series is available on blu-ray.

3D bothers me, as well. I had an ex-gf who had a 3D-TV and it looked like crap. I remember the first time I was at her house, after a couple minutes I blurted out, "What the ****'s wrong with your TV?" She got exasperated and said it's a 3D-TV and it was top of the line when she bought it a few years earlier.

And I've viewed 5 films in the theaters in 3D format (back when 3D was being pushed), they all looked "wrong", to the point my head would start to hurt. The only one that looked good in 3D was Avatar, that didn't bother me.....Cameron knew what he was doing, despite the flawed format.

[choptop]

I mean they still make dvds/Bluejays so people are still buying them I still see redbox everywhere so it hasn't really gone the way of vhs at least not yet.

[Gaastra]

I still buy DVDs because streaming is unreliable. Internet can crap out. Many movies jump around from one streaming service to another, and I am not paying for every goddamn one.

And especially now, where companies are effectively erasing certain movies and shows for tax write-offs or because they don't want to pay residuals, it's good to have a physical copy of something and knowing I can watch it whenever I want.

As just an example, HBO Max recently dropped Westworld. It hasn't been moved to some other streaming. It's not available anywhere else. It's gone. If Netflix were to go bust, all their original movies are gone (except The Irishman, which is available on DVD, because Scorsese ain't having that ****). The Coens made their Macbeth movie, but it's only available on AppleTV, and I am not wasting money on AppleTV for one movie. So I guess I'm never going to see it.

Streaming is convenient, no doubt. It's handy to have available. But let's call them what they are: they're holding movies and shows hostage, and I can only view them if I pay an annual ransom.
I like owning the things I like.

I'm also content with regular DVDs or BluRays. I don't know the difference between 4K or any of that ****, and I've no use for 3D.

Disney plus and max are just cable movie channels. Like the 80s hbo don't expect anything to stay. They come and go. Want the movie digital buy it on vudu or apple and keep it or convert your dvd to digital and use plex or one of those or a portable hard drive.

I have over 800 dvds and had to stop. Running out of room and family never watches them. They watch vudu or finds something on netflix or disney plus. No internet we just use the digital backup copies most of the time.

Most have not been watched in years! Last one I think was spirited away blu-ray. Now i only buy select dvd movies.

With that said there are some shows are movies i only can get on dvd or blu-ray like the q-bert 80s cartoon or making contact 80s film.

[CliffHanger2]

Eh I still buy blu-rays/dvds just to own. You never know when Amazon or Disney will go away. Yeah I have online libraries with streaming services. But you don't really own that stuff.

[WebLurker]

I tend to prefer BluRay, since that's what I've got (although there is some stuff only put on DVD or the BluRay releases changed the cut or something, and I'll sometimes pick up used DVDs for a couple bucks from Goodwill and similar places). So far a preferring physical media, I think the quality tends to be better and, as we've seen lately, streaming services can and will just lock up content never to be seen again. IMHO, streaming is good for "rental," but if you want to own it, you're going to want a disc.

[AndrewCrossett]

Streaming services can and will take the content away from you on a whim.

Streaming services make you pay over and over again whereas physical media makes you pay once.

Physical media can't be censored once you have it because somebody was offended by something or other.

Physical media can be watched without an internet connection.

[Nate Grey]

I always seem to miss Best Buy steelbox exclusives...I'm gonna make it a point to get the Halloween Ends steelbox even if I have to travel out of town.

But yeah, blu-ray if I can, DVD if I must. I try not to double dip ie I know someone who buys every version of the Phantasm movies he can, but...I might if a decent version of Ridley Scott's Legend pops up on blu-ray (I have the two disc DVD version).

[Gaastra]

Blu-ray and 4k does look better to me as well. As for removing your stuff i have over 600 movies on vudu thanks to dvd digital copies and $2 disk to digital program and have not had a single movie removed in years i have been using them. Still have true lies, the abyss and the original english dub of case closed on there. Still have superman and the mole man on vudu.

Also, dvds are not "forever". I found that out the hard way when my early years (flipper case) beetlejuice, goonies and gremlins 2 died of disk rot with not a single scratch on them! Also, kids dvds are a nightmare to buy at thrifts stores as many times they are scratched up like hockey pucks and don't work!

On the plus side blu-rays like spirited away look great on blu-ray but my family does not care and is fine with dvd or digital picture. I'm the only one in my family who still collects dvd or blu-ray or 4k. My sister used to but went all digital copies this year and sold most of hers at a yard sale!