The Dark Knight on DVD and Blu-ray

Tomorrow (Dec.9) will be the release date for “The Dark Knight” on DVD. Whether you’re camping outside the Circuit City, cruising around the Target lot, waiting in line at the Best Buy, or pre-ordered at the fye, a TON of people are going to pick it up tomorrow. But if you’re a savvy DVD/ Blu-ray collector, what versions are available in stores? To save you some time and gas, here are the releases:

This is the cover of the Standard and Widescreen Single Disc set. This will be offered at the major retailers such as Target, Kmart, and Best Buy. This version is basically the movie only.

 

 

 

 

This is the cover to the Widescreen 2-disc version. Note the Batpod and Joker covers. This will be offered at major retailers such as Target, Kmart, and Best Buy. Aside from the movie, Disc 2 will also include: Gotham Uncovered: Creation of a Scene- How Christopher Nolan and His team developed the new Bat-Suit and the amazing Bat-pod, AND Composer Hans Zimmer on musically characterizing the Joker’s Reign of Chaos The Dark Knight IMAX scenes – view these 6 action-packed sequences – shot on the largest format possible – in their original IMAX framing, just as they were intended: Prologue, Hong Kong, Armored Car Chase, Lamborghini Crash, Prewitt Building and Final Montage

Gotham Tonight – 6 Episodes of Gotham Cable’s Premier News Program

The Galleries – Poster Art, Production Stills, Trailers

 

Circuit City is offering this Limited Edition variant cover. “Why so serious?” Same features as the Widescreen 2-disc, but with a digital copy.

 

 

 

 

 

Blu-ray is offering a 2-Disc set. Disc 1 contains the movie and Gotham Uncovered: Creation of a Scene – director Christopher Nolan and creative collaborators unmask the incredible detail and planning behind the film, including stunt staging, filming in IMAX, the new Bat-Suit and Bat-Pod and exclusive features via BD-Live

Disc 2 contains Batman Tech – the incredible gadgets and tools

Batman Unmasked: The Psychology of the Dark Knight – delve into the psyche of Bruce Wayne and the world of Batman througn real-world psychology

Gotham Tonight – 6 episodes of Gotham’s cable premier news program

The galleries – the joker cards, concept art, poster art, production stills, trailers & tv spots

 

Blu-ray also has a Limited Edition with a small scale model of the Batpod.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, fye is releasing “The Dark Knight” Steelcase Edition. This will contain the same features as the Widescreen 2-disc version. Note: this will be released on Dec. 15.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walmart is offering the standard Widescreen 2-disc. This however comes with a Collectible Batman comic book and Commemorative Coin (think Two-Face).

 

 

 

 

Thanks to MovieWeb for the information.

Check them out at www.movieweb.com

 

Will Digital Kill the Video Disc?

As I walk into my garage where I can pop the 8-track into my quadraphonic stereo and mellow out to the Mamas and Papas, I say to myself, “I love the digital age.”

 

No, wait.

 

Skip forward to the cassette and then to the CD to the MP3 player, or maybe from the VHS to the DVD to the digital download. Thanks to leaps in technology, and in no small part to the Internet, we can now download movies or watch them streaming from a site online. While the music counterpart was quick to ban against MP3 technology, and then eventually let it in, the Hollywood system has been cautious, nay leery, of digital technology.

 

Why this is no one can say for sure. Part of it could be the fight between the RIAA and peer-to-peer sites over copyright infringement, which has led to the creation of bit torrent sites for downloading. Part of it could be that downloading hurts any current contracts with DVD distribution companies. And part of it could be mankind’s caution with technology. No one of these reasons is greater than the others.

 

With the proliferation of the peer-to-peer and bit torrent sites, Hollywood was more than compelled to begin offering movies for downloading. Sites such as CinemaNow, Movielink, and Vongo have sprung up offering users up to 4,000 video/movie titles as well as hundreds of TV show episodes. iTunes has also joined the market, extending their interests from just music to TV, movies, and music videos.

 

Back to the question: will digital downloading kill DVD/Blu-ray discs?

 

“Yes” because:

–         Society has become “instant gratification,” and with faster Internet ability and movies being able to be compressed to the size of 1gb, they will become easier to download. And when someone’s finished with the movie and no longer wants to keep it on their harddrive, they can just delete it.

–         Downloading will kill the “need” for packaging. Like the example above, there will be no need to deal with scratched discs or misplaced ones, or creating shelf space to house your collection when you can keep it on a computer.

–         Downloading will put the current video retailers (Blockbuster, Movie Gallery, Hollywood Video) out of business by offering “what’s new” to users online instead of making users wait in line at a checkout or brave “weather elements” as they stand outside a video cube.

 

“No” because:

–         Currently, we do not have the electronic infrastructure for it. This means that if EVERY person in the U.S. logged on to download a movie, the Internet would HALT. While this is a worst-case scenario, it brings out the point that in order to offer more movies to more people, networks have to be changed/ rearranged, and we’re not currently seeing that happening.

–         It would be nearly impossible (at least from the current standpoint) to offer the more than 21,000 films that have been made online. Each week several movies are available on disc, with only a fraction available online. We would first have to offer everything current before tackling the insurmountable-looking back catalog.

–         Believe it or not, some people want the ability to hold a video in their hands, packaging and all. They don’t care about shelf space or depreciating value; it’s the ability to look for it (like a book) and pop it into the DVD player when they want, instead of having to navigate through a computer that they don’t like having.

–         There is no clear platform for downloaded movies. Some of the services use a browser, while others use the application created by the company.

–         Digital rights management. The above mentioned download sites have their “special” ways of displaying the movie you downloaded. Eventually, movie downloading and watching will have to go cross-platform, which means the above companies will have to agree on one format to use in order to show the films. That will also make the movies “easier” to pirate and transport.

–         With all the viruses running around, as well as “inclement weather,” what happens when your computer DIES? The motherboard fries, the harddrive locks up, etc. If your collection isn’t burned onto disc, you’re in trouble…

 

In closing, my belief is that digital downloading, while it is an interesting addition to movie watching, has a ways to go before it will get to the point it needs to be. That and with the fact that computers aren’t 100% reliable, I do not believe that video discs are leaving all that soon.

 

For more info on movie site downloading, check out the following link:

http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/movie-download-websites-903.shtml

My Thoughts on Blu-Ray

 

 

With the holiday season approaching, one of the big electronic buys will probably be Blu-Ray players. Probably.

Maybe.

I’m not sure.

Problem is with the current state of the economy, Blu-Ray may not be the wisest of choices. For the sake of logic and pragmatics, let’s look at the pros and cons, shall we?

 

PRO: Blu-Ray delivers up to 7.1 Surround Sound.

CON: How much more sound is needed? I’ll grant you that 5.1 sound was a vast improvement over 4.1, 4.0, and 2.0, but really… How many more speakers do you need?

 

PRO: Blu-Ray delivers High-Def picture quality, and can even improve the picture quality on existing DVDs.

CON: That’s probably true, but first you need a TV set that is HD/Plasma/LCD. And that TV has to have more than a 40 inch screen in order for you to TELL the difference. And you’re looking at a TV that costs at least $1,000 (if not more).

 

PRO: Blu-Ray discs can be played on a Playstation PS3.

CON: I’m not sure if ALL Blu-Ray discs are compatible. Maybe they are. I remember not all DVDs being compatible with PS2s; just a word of caution. Out of curiosity, didn’t you buy the PS3 to play video games?

 

PRO: New titles are added every day.

CON: Yeah, but I have 170 DVDs in my apartment, and that’s 1/5 of my overall collection. How long will it be before “Star Wars,” “Back to the Future,” or “Once Upon a Time in the West,” is released on Blu-Ray? I have way too much money in my collection to switch over now. Will my DVDs then become like the 99-cent bin when VHS was getting kicked to the curb?

 

PRO: You’ll be able to purchase a DVD player for as little as $179.

CON: Yeah. And the TV for $1,000 and the Surround Sound for…

 

PRO: Blu-Rays are affordable.

CON: So is a 1974 Manta Mirage, if you’ve got the money. DVDs are cheaper and have a larger back catalog, somewhere to the tune of $3-$10.

 

PRO: Blu-Ray discs are more interactive, showing exclusive background information and content while the movie is playing.

CON: Whatever happened to watching the movie? Do we need more stuff for Generation ADD to not pay attention to? If I want to know more, I buy the Ultra Hermetically-Sealed- with-Special- Collectible- Inside Limited Collector’s 3-Disc Version at participating retail stores.

 

PRO: If one is inclined, for the money Blu-Ray delivers the best movie-watching experience that money can buy.

CON: I’m lazy, single, and have no money.