Transformers: The Last Knight is being released in disc form on Monday in the UK. HMV are giving a mind-boggling EIGHT different ways to buy it. I can only assume most will end up gathering dust because:

You are a fan of the series and already have the others.
You don't own a player with the ability to play a certain format.

How do these formats and combinations compare in price and selection in the USA?

Transformers - The Last Knight DVD + Bonus Disc of special features + Digital Download £9.99
Transformers - The Last Knight Blu-Ray + Bonus Disc of special features + Digital Download £14.99
Transformers - The Last Knight Blu-Ray Includes 2D and 3D + Bonus Disc of special features + Digital Download £17.99
Transformers:- 5-movie Collection DVD Box Set £19.99
Transformers - The Last Knight (hmv Exclusive) Blu-Ray Limited Edition Steelbook Includes 2D and 3D + Digital Download £22.99
Transformers - The Last Knight 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray + Blu-Ray + Bonus Disc of special features £24.99
Transformers:- 5-movie Collection Blu-ray Box Set £24.99
Transformers:- 5-movie Collection 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray £99.99

You guys are just getting it now? It's been out on disc in North America for over a month now. Why can't they release things at the same time in this day and age?

quote:

Originally posted by Obi Wan Chrisobi:
You guys are just getting it now? It's been out on disc in North America for over a month now. Why can't they release things at the same time in this day and age?

Because DVD production costs are very, very cheap and different companies are cutting deals for rights within different regions. Not to mention this ridiculous idea that we need 10 versions of the same thing, not only for the varying bonus material and additional scenes, but also because they are now both separating and combining formants for what is supposed to be maximum coverage. However what it really does is dilute the production in any given format.

Its just like when you go to the grocery store to buy a gallon of regular whole milk. You can find 20 varieties of milk, 1%, 2%, skim, soy, organic, goat, lactose free, chocolate, etc., etc.. The freezer is overflowing with milk bottles. But you have no regular whole milk cartons because that's the milk that most people still want to buy and the small supply is all sold out.

Many DVDs now come with DVD, Blu-Ray and a digital download all in one. That's on the standard movie, extended versions may also be available. You don't need a Blu-Ray disc if you have a DVD player. You don't need a DVD disc if you have a Blu-Ray player. And if you are still buying any type of disc, you probably don't need a digital download. So why are we forced to pay for all of it in one package when we are most likely to never use 2 out of the 3 options?

Why do they do it? Because they can.

Who buys all this rubbish??

I hope HMV have got them on sale or return.

Sorry I forgot to answer your question.

Not being up on the exchange rate or Transformer movie prices in particular, I'll just say that regular new DVDs are in the $18 to $20 range over here. Blu-Ray is around $25, or roughly $5 more that the standard DVD version. The extended cuts can run between $30 and $35 normally, but all versions are subject to discount, especially if you buying from any big chains like Target or Walmart.

Mini-series or full season shows with multiple discs will generally run between $25 and $35 also, but less if you find a discount or rollback.

I have seen enormous swings in DVD prices for your UK films and TV. BBC American will come out with a show like The Fall or Loch Ness and want $59.99 for it. You wait 90 days and Target will have the same show for $28. Meanwhile BBC will discount to $45. I really don't know what they are thinking? Needless to say I just use the BBC catalog to see what I will be buying in 90 days.

I remember back in the late 1990s when DVDs first came out, seeing a particular 80s comedy. Price of the DVD in the store, a whopping $ 40.

And I remember seeing "The Hunt for Red October" come out on DVD, and I think the initial store price was close to $ 100. I recall thinking, who has the money for this ?

Meanwhile, you can now go to Target and get all 4 of the Christopher Reeve Superman films on ONE DVD, and it is being sold for $ 10 or less

Remember when a single season of a series was 100 bucks? In a lot of cases you can get a 8 to 10 season series for 50.00.

I remember back in the early 2000s buying the first 2 seasons of "Northern Exposure" on DVD, and the controversy that each DVD set only had about 7 or 8 episodes, and they were like $ 65 each.

So $ 130 for about 15 episodes.

Well there have been vast changes in this industry, even within only the last five years, and we haven't had DVDs for all that long to begin with. I think it was well into the 1990s that they were still selling VHS tapes.

CORRECTION: I just looked it up and most say 2006 was the last year for a major VHS film release. I must have switched sooner, I thought VHS had stopped earlier than that.

Anyway, licenses have changed and many of the older films are in public domain, where it is basically free for any company to reproduce them and put them out as individual movies or these packages of 4 or 5 movies in a set case. Many really old TV series are also being released because the cost is really only the disc, a case and a little printing.

As for the newer films and shows, well I don't know how many people have noticed this because the writing is kind of small and only on the wrapper, but many if not nearly all, of the new DVDs are made in Mexico. Not trying to insult Mexico, but you know that is cheap labor and materials, without many labor laws or rights that automatically make the production of anything cost more in other countries.

So stuff like globalization and changes in intellectual property rights and distribution rights have all contributed to making DVDs one of those things that have really dropped in price, if you want to compare them to what they cost when it was new technology and not a somewhat declining format, the current push being for outright streaming.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Raven,

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
...Many DVDs now come with DVD, Blu-Ray and a digital download all in one. That's on the standard movie, extended versions may also be available. You don't need a Blu-Ray disc if you have a DVD player. You don't need a DVD disc if you have a Blu-Ray player. And if you are still buying any type of disc, you probably don't need a digital download. So why are we forced to pay for all of it in one package when we are most likely to never use 2 out of the 3 options?

Why do they do it? Because they can.

The film producers only get paid once when a 'product' is sold by a distributor, so it only cost say an extra $0.30 to include a DVD with a Blu-ray. They do not do this in the UK anymore as I think they got wise to the fact that Blu-ray buyers just gave the extra DVDs away to friends, so they realized they were losing sales.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
Who buys all this rubbish??

I hope HMV have got them on sale or return.

I think that is not far from the truth. When HMV went bust the record companies were looking at flexible terms to keep the stores viable.

I remember first seeing DVDs in stores in the very late 1990s, but I think they took a few years to catch on (early 2000s)

I was still buying films on VHS as late as 2002