Pre-Order: "The Muppets" on Blu-ray and DVD coming March 20

[Drtooth]

Okay, I'm a lot bias here as you can tell from my username. DVD's are way too blurry for me (even upconverted by Bluray player), but they are fine if you still have a standard definition TV, which appear that they ones complaining still have. Believe me you would not want DVD's if you had an HDTV. I can't stand it when I go to a restaurant or bar that have HDTVs but they leave it on a standard definition channel. I'm not saying that to be snobbish but because it really looks bad (fuzzy/stretched out wrong).

The reason why they have those Blu-ray packs with DVD is so you can buy them now (if you still have DVD), and not have to get the Blu-Ray later when you eventually upgrade. Believe me, I would rather a separate Blu-Ray release without DVD as it would be cheaper. They figure it is a way to get the product out there. This may be the reason why I remember reading that like 60% of video sales are Blu-ray now. It does seem low if companies are releasing special features on Blu-ray only.

As for a cheap bluray player deal, here is one from Groupon. I have never seen it so cheap. $59 sale for the next 5 days.
http://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-toshiba-blu-ray-player?p=1

The best friday deal there was $199 40" Sharp 1080p at Best Buy, so prices are reaching commodity levels. Black Friday prices are usually the standard price the following year. Plus this is a Sharp, not a cheap brand like Best Buy's Dynex or Insignia. Most TV experts say to fully appreciate 1080p (due the pixel structure), it must be at least 40".

You don't have to have an HDTV to use a bluray either, but you will not be able to see the higher detail if you don't. Just hook the Bluray player up to your TV through composite input. That way you can slowly upgrade and get the missing features.

I personally do not buy as many Blu-ray as I did DVDs. I mostly rent now, but buy the occasionaly Blu-ray (The Muppets will be one). There are those that rent BDs from Netflix, Blockbuster or Redbox and rip them to a hard drive to play back on a computer/media player to their HDTV so they don't have to rebuild their collection in HD, but I'm not condoning that.

You know how much money I have? I can't even get the rest of the Fraggle Rock DVD's. It isn't a question of "OOOH! It's so much awesome better and the explosions on TF3 look real! Awesome awesome awesome!" It's a question of I don't have 80 bucks to buy a blu-ray and 200 bucks for a new TV, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. I've always hated the consumer discrimination of being poor and being only able to get 0.1% of everything I actually wanted. PS3? yeah! I couldn't even get an N64, and had to wait until the Super NES was obsolete so I could buy a used one. Even if I got one of these stupid things, It would be just as it becomes obsolete. And that's coming quicker than you think. I'd rather hold onto what I got until the inevitable of everything being a digital download.

And I agree with beaker on the matter... a slight improvement in clarity (something I doubt I could enjoy anyway with my bad eye sight) does NOT make a movie more enjoyable.

Still, you're all quite welcome to your nice pricy gadgets and the Blu edition. All I'm saying is putting all the special features exclusively on the premium format is extortion plain and simple.

 

[MustSeeHDTV]

And I agree with beaker on the matter... a slight improvement in clarity (something I doubt I could enjoy anyway with my bad eye sight) does NOT make a movie more enjoyable.

Still, you're all quite welcome to your nice pricy gadgets and the Blu edition. All I'm saying is putting all the special features exclusively on the premium format is extortion plain and simple.

Hey, you can see in my post that I agreed with you that they should not make content only on one format versus another. That is just plain wrong.

I feel bad your vision does not allow you to enjoy HD. For kids movies/shows and Romantic comedies, it is really a waste as they are zoomed in anyway (like Beaker said you don't need to see pores). If you could enjoy it, the movies with great Vistas like Westerns, War Movies, or anything that shows great landscapes are really breathtaking in HD. I was lucky enough to catch the 2001 Superbowl in HD (Baltimore Ravens vs New York Giants) and you could see water on the field between blades of grass (especially when the player ran as it splashed up) from the rain eariler in the day. When I went into work the next morning, coworkers were saying "why there were some many players slipping during the game?" I said you didn't see all the water on the ground? They said they did not see any water. This is just things you just can't pick up in Standard Definition and does make it more enjoyable.

 

[Drtooth]

It enhances stuff, yes. I give it that. But some people just don't care about enhancement. Anything would be a subtle nuance unless you have HD eye balls. Even with Glasses I can barely make a difference out.

But fuzziness doesn't bug me. I tend to watch things on hulu in lower quality since they load up faster.

But yeah, discrimination of putting some core DVD special features is killing the DVD faster than Blu and digital downloads combined. I really hate that Disney's one of the biggest perpetrators of this, even when it comes to newer movies that are made FOR DVD. At the very least the plain DVD release should have the deleted scenes, if not most of them. Too much was cut out of this movie, I feel... I still love the film to death, but the extra exchanges and asides could have fixed the movie's pacing problems.

 

[beaker]

Im just not a fan of watching movies on super bright 55" wall mounted flat screens on blu ray. for gaming it's nice...i have well to do friends in the bay area(one of my friends is a couple that works for lucas) and they have all the latest technology. Gotta say I just prefer watching a dvd movie letterboxed on my 2003 "tru flat" boxy tv...those tvs that were the last kind made before flat lcds became the standard. I enjoy vhs stuff that will never be on dvd, looks pretty good on there.

I'm a big cinema buff, seen close to 5000 movies in my lifetime...but lately I just been preferring to go to the movies or other stuff...so my time invested in home movie going isn't what it used to be.

Remember when "HD-DVD" was hyped as the next big thing? That didnt work out, for two years they hyped that. By the time I get a blu ray the next evolution will be out. I also dont like the way the blu ray format has come muscled in...I see dvds as or more expensive now than blu ray as a way for stores like Target to force people to buy them.

 

[MustSeeHDTV]

You both are right. Technology is always changing and it is changing fast. That is the problem with being a late adopter as it will change when you get it, but as DrTooth said not everyone can afford it early or midways. To be fair though about HD-DVD, it was competing against Blu-ray (which won because of the playstation3) just like beta competed against VHS.

The next wave of TV will be the 4k to 8k resolution (HDTV took 30 years to go into effect and the next transition seem to be happening 15 years later). This will pass 35mm film as HDTV is close to 35mm in resolution (or at least 8k will). I heard that Toshiba is making an 4k that will allow 3D that won't require glasses by using that high resolution and interlacing the effect to make 3D (with a lower resolution 720p). I personally don't like the current 3D and don't have one, but people are saying to get them to go 3D it need to be glasses-less. Also, LG and Samsumg are supposed to be announce in January are 55" OLED HDTVs at the Consumer Electronics Show, which don't require backlight. They produce better colors and contrast then even the old CRT tubes or plasma. I saw the 7" Sony OLED years ago and it looks amazing (almost Alien). I bet that 55" OLED will cost like price of car and will not be 4k or 8k resolution.

 

[MuppetsRule]

Enters thread

I'm sorry. I thought this was the thread about The Muppets DVD/Blu-ray. Not a discussion about the merits of blu-ray.

Exits quietly

 

[Phillip]

Yes guys, if you want to discuss Blu-ray vs. DVD please do it in another thread. Thank you.

 

[MustSeeHDTV]

Statler: "Is this movie in (Blu-Ray) 3D?"
Waldorf: "Nope, the Muppets are as one dimensional as they've always been."

Well, we don't know what the features are yet, but 3D won't be one of them.

Ha..to throw that joke in there in light of the angst. Wocka, Wocka......

 

[caper]

Nice!! But when is Season 4 of the Muppet Show coming out!!!

 

[KermieBaby47]

Hopefully, now that it's been forever, Season Four will see release alongside this new movie. The Muppet Movie and Great Muppet Caper would be great on blu-ray too... with some REAL bonus features!