The VHS Thread

[Drtooth]

Wow, I never thought of that, that's a good comparison actually between the gimmicks of the '50s and the 2000's. No wonder 3D has made a comeback!

3-D made a comeback for 2 reasons... 1, it has something to offer that internet and TV technology haven't reached yet (though it's getting closer) and 2, the extreme hubris of how well Avatar did. It existed all the way back when Chicken Little came out, but that was a slight gimmick they didn't perfect. Somehow, i think this thing is best left to cartoon movies, but the worst movies (exception: Pixar and Dreamworks) get that treatment... and sadly, Rango DESERVED 3-D and didn't get it.

It was brought back specifically to save the movies, then, again hubris from Avatar, they rose the prices, and 3-D interest sharply declined after that.

Not sure what you mean? Just asking.

Then I have to go into the "Geek Chic is fake" argument, and how everything is made for "geeks" that shoved true geeks into lockers when they were younger. The old stereotype, geeks love comic books, and that leads to comic book movies... well, partially, since Spider-Man and the new Batman franchise was very successful... and of course, success leads to copycats. I like comics and all, but the comic books I WANT to see a movie of (the Tick, Usagi Yojimbo, Groo the Wanderer) will never happen... meanwhile Marvel's digging into their reserves of characters mainstream people never heard of or cared about until they were movies... like Iron Man. Other than the AC/DC song and the obscure 1990's show, it's not like there was all that much Iron Man outside of comics. They're doing the same with Thor too. I wouldn't be surprised if they were desperate enough to make a Peter Porker, the Amazing Spider-Ham movie...

actually, I'd like to see that. Needs to be a cartoon.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

AC/DC wrote an iron man song?

Anyway, speaking of 3D, I am so not thrilled with the concept of the 3DS, basically Nintendo's DS 2, which has 3D capability without the need for glasses. I'm kinda scared that it will catch on, and all video game makers (and movie makers) will decide "HEY! 3D IS THE WAY EVERYTHING SHOULD BE! YAAAAAAYYY!"

To be honest, 3D loses its appeal after 10 minutes because you kinda forget you are watching the 3D anyway half the time

 

[D'Snowth]

You can all thank James Cameron for the whole un-necessary 3D hype: not just for Avatar like Drtooth said (which, believe me, was a loooooong, dull movie), but he wants 3D to be the ONLY entertainment format within the next twenty years, and believe you me, he is working at it. I'm sorry Drtooth, but I was glad Rango wasn't in 3D: the animation and design and everything was already spectacular and impressive as it was, 3D would've just been overkill.

That said, I'm also not thrilled with the hype over "strictly digital" and HD that doesn't exist formats. All they do is simply crop the picture into widescreen, and are like "OOOH! LOOK, IT'S HD!"... but not really... there's no difference in the quality at all, it's just cropped is all, because apparently, widescreen = HD. And as for the complete "digital" format... yeah, well, it may work well for, say, digital cameras, for taking pictures and such, if you know how to work the cameras, but when it comes to making movies and TV shows, the quality is... well, like watching a video on YouTube... it's iffy... if you looked at a movie that was shot in digital with no fixing up whatsoever, then look at an older movie that was shot in 35mm film and properly restored and remastered, you can tell a big difference,and you can see which has the real superior quality.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

I actually have seen some HD TVs that actually were HD. They really just enhance the image to make it pop more of the screen. I dont really know how to describe it, but there is a difference. it seems like the difference is sharper color and making things look plastic.

Though, I've seen some "hi def" tvs on display that had the fuzziest picture imaginable. My uncle's HDTV has the worst picture of any tv I have ever seen. Most I agree don't really look any different. But you also need to be watching a hi def channel or movie for you to notice anything different I believe

 

[GonzoLeaper]

I like comics and all, but the comic books I WANT to see a movie of (the Tick, Usagi Yojimbo, Groo the Wanderer) will never happen... meanwhile Marvel's digging into their reserves of characters mainstream people never heard of or cared about until they were movies... like Iron Man. Other than the AC/DC song and the obscure 1990's show, it's not like there was all that much Iron Man outside of comics. They're doing the same with Thor too. I wouldn't be surprised if they were desperate enough to make a Peter Porker, the Amazing Spider-Ham movie...

Speaking as a comic book fan (and particularly DC/Marvel superhero fan, amongst others)- I'm at least fairly familiar with all of those- The Tick, Usagi Yojimbo and Groo the Wanderer- all of them would make pretty cool movies! At least there's been a cartoon and live action version of The Tick and Usagi Yojimbo was in the '80s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon- don't know if he's shown up beyond that. I'm not very familiar with Groo, but I have at least heard the name before and I've come across it riffling through comics in the back issue bins at comic book stores.
Iron Man has been familiar to me for quite a while- but again, I'm probably an exception to the mainstream audience since I actually have read a number of comic books and I know a little on a lot of them. Even so, I didn't know a ton on Iron Man when the movie came out, but I certainly was well aware of the character and his importance with The Avengers and I definitely had been waiting for such a movie- he's a great character. I like that the first movie stayed pretty true to his origins. (which I actually became familiar with through reading a 1970s Iron Man novel- "Call My Killer M.O.D.O.K." - classic)
But yeah- Iron Man was there in the '60s with his own cartoon, but other than a quick appearance in an episode of "Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends" and perhaps some other guest star appearances I'm not aware of- he had his own cartoon in 1994 and made an appearance in the "Shooting Stars" episode of the 1999 "The Avengers" cartoon. Other than that- he didn't really come into his own until the movie.
Thor also had his own cartoon in the '60s, but other than that, he's mainly just had guest appearances here and there. Unfortunately, they never got him into "The Avengers" cartoon in 1999 (though he was supposed to be featured if they had a second season- he was seen, along with Captain America and Iron Man, in the opening credits though.)
I particularly remember Thor guest starring in a great episode of "Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends" and he was in an episode of the 1980s "Spider-Man" cartoon as well.
He also made a cameo appearance in an episode of "X-Men" and a bigger role in an episodes of the 1994 "The Fantastic Four" cartoon and in the 1996 "The Incredible Hulk" cartoon.
And of course- I can't forget his first live action appearance in the 1988 TV-movie "The Incredible Hulk Returns" (wherein the Hulk [Lou Ferrigno] meets Thor! - classic live action superhero fun)
I can't wait for the live action movie!
And if they ever made an animated or live action appearance of Peter Porker, The Amazing Spider-Ham - that would be hilarious! And yes, I'm sure I would probably see it- haha.

 

[MelissaY1]

I refuse to upgrade to a Blu-Ray player unless my current regular DVD players crap out. And I sure as **** won't be buying my over 200 DVDs over again on Blu-Ray. I only bought The Rocky Horror Picture Show on Blu-Ray because I'm a collector of the film and everything related to it, so I have every other version of it on VHS, so I figured why not DVD? The only thing I would like to have a blu-ray player for as of now is to get the thing in it that streams Netflix, etc.

Speaking of which, was also considering a Roku box. Does anyone here have any experience with it and is it worth it? We were considering buying it for my household and getting rid of our extra cable channels but with baseball season starting up, we want to be able to get our local games, which I hear are blacked out locally by MLB TV's channel on it.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

dont blu ray players play dvds to? considering a PS3 can play both, that seems pretty idiotic if a stand alone player can't.

You need a good hi def tv to enjoy blu rays anyway. Like I said, if I hap
pen to maybe see a blu ray on sale or used very cheaply, I'd get it (PS3!) but other than that they arent worth the extra cost.

 

[MrsPepper]

Haha, this thread is awesome. I have a dual dvd and vhs player and I still watch tapes occasionally. It's fun to pop in a Disney movie and see "Coming soon to home video, Spring 1995".

 

[Drtooth]

I'm sorry Drtooth, but I was glad Rango wasn't in 3D: the animation and design and everything was already spectacular and impressive as it was, 3D would've just been overkill.

The dream sequence would have looked amazing... all I'm sayin'... it was wasted on that... well, OTHER movie I refuse to discuss. it really is a shame because the gimmicky angle cheapens the fact that it works pretty good for animated movies. But the bad ones that don't even deserve a DTV release use it all up and ruin it for something Pixar does.

At least there's been a cartoon and live action version of The Tick and Usagi Yojimbo was in the '80s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon- don't know if he's shown up beyond that.

Usagi was cheated out of a series... the problem is that they wanted to make a series based on Space Usagi and it didn't sell because Bucky O'Hare (which existed as a comic even before original Usagi did) wasn't successful, and a show that's basically similar to it wouldn't have garenered much from investors, especially the toy companies.

 

[MelissaY1]

dont blu ray players play dvds to? considering a PS3 can play both, that seems pretty idiotic if a stand alone player can't.

You need a good hi def tv to enjoy blu rays anyway. Like I said, if I hap
pen to maybe see a blu ray on sale or used very cheaply, I'd get it (PS3!) but other than that they arent worth the extra cost.

Yes, SOME of them do. I don't have a brand new hi-def TV (mine is a few years old now) but I just recently bought a multi-region DVD player so I can play discs from other countries, so that to me is more interesting then having everything in this super new hi-def format.