$3 DVDs

[Greekster]

Well, for the past 2 months or so I've been going to movie theaters with my GF, spending up to $40 each time for the tickets, popcorn, drinks, and other foods. And then, about a month or so later, a DVD of the same movie with perfect quality (not camcorded) comes out in places like Pacific Mall for about $3 each.

I was wondering how other people feel when they realized that just one month earlier they spent over 10 times as much to watch the same movie, while in addition they don't possess the movie, can't rewatch it, was distracted in the theater, wasn't able to pause when going to the washroom, etc... whereas for 10 times as cheap they could have owned the movie and watched it at their convenience.

 

[MrPhilip]

sometimes they are good but most of the time it CAM jobs. when the movie is still playing theater. like spiderman 3 it would be hard to find a dvd quality movie right away. it takes months for it to come to dvd. plus your tv is not that big and your sound is shit at house to.

 

[Greekster]

sometimes they are good but most of the time it CAM jobs.

The ones I have so far are all DVD quality. I ask that ahead of time, and surprisingly the store owners have been quite honest (i.e. when it's not DVD quality they actually tell me so).

 

[netbull]

If pirating movie is not an issue for you, then you don't even need to pay the $3 as the movies are downloadable from various sources. Going to the theatre is an experience itself and some people just enjoy that more than watching DVD at home. If I don't catch a movie when it first comes out, I might download a copy to take a quick look. If it looks good, I'll go back to the theater to watch it and pay my dues. Sounds a bit silly to some of my buddies but works for me.

DVD release schedule is no longer the hold-up. Some studios were discussing plans to allow you pick up a DVD cheaply (authentic one) as you walk out the theater. I'd be happy to pay $3-5 for a DVD that I just enjoyed watching at the theater but that's not the price they were discussing, I think.

 

[newguy27]

Even DVD-quality (studio ones) have only 480 lines of resolution. The BlueRay and HD-DVD are better at 1080, but none of them can still match the quality of a good celluloid being projected at a good theatre, so a great movie still should be seen at the theatre if its worth it.

 

[tboy]

Well, strange as it sounds considering I totally support music sharing, I don't support and will not ever buy a pirated DVD of a first run movie. So really the basic question here is: do you feel ripped off by going to a theatre when you can wait x amount of days and steal the movie instead?

In addition, your feelings about spending that amount of money at a theatre is the reason many are closing down and losing money. With the surge in home theatre sales many are just staying home to watch the movies instead of dealing with loud patrons, kids, expensive popcorn etc.

To what our well versed MrPhillip said, yes, the screen at my home isn't as big, because it doesn't have to be. Two, my home surround sound system is awesome and produces the same sound as the theatre's. How can I say that? Well, because the ONLY reason a theatre's system is so large is because it has to fill the theatre, not my living room. Same goes for screen size: Ok, so the screen at the theatre is 50 feet wide, but you sit back 75 feet so your actual view of the screen is only about 75% of your entire view. So I sit 6 feet from my 46" screen and guess what? it's 75% of my view.

Because about 75% of a movie's revenue comes from DVD sales (on average) many theatres are looking into not releasing movies into theatres but going direct to DVD. I know with the new Blu-ray discs there was better copyright protection built in or something.

Anyhow, I haven't been to a theatre in about 3 or 4 yrs now because of the cost. Why spend that money when a couple of months down the road you can have a LEGAL copy of the movie for about 10 bucks? (sorry, I don't fall into the lemmings category where I have to see the latest movie now goddamit, I can wait until it's in the bargain bin at Blockbuster).

 

[petemeat]

I too enjoy my dvds from the Chinese purveyor. I don't like the camcorder versions but I'm patient to wait for the dvd quality rips...Viva Free Market!

 

[tboy]

I too enjoy my dvds from the Chinese purveyor. I don't like the camcorder versions but I'm patient to wait for the dvd quality rips...Viva Free Market!

Sorry dude, but it isn't free market, it's receiving/purchasing stolen goods, plain and simple.

 

[petemeat]

Ah yes...now I feel sorry for the Hollywood studios...j'excuse.

 

[agentman]

If Hollywood movie studios want a better return on their investment, then they shouldnt be paying big name actors $20,000,000.00 plus a percentage of the gross for each movie they star in.