DVD & Blu-Ray Purchases Thread - (DVD's! Do you buy them New or Used?...)

[EvilNed]

I’ve never seen City of the Living Dead. Might be worth a blind purchase? No. It's an acquired taste. In fact, it's a pretty bad film. But it's weird and if you're an afficianado of italian genre films then it's fantastic. But I don't think you are.

[bassman]

I love the extremely negative responses...

[shootemindehead]

I love the extremely negative responses... Seriously though, download it and have a look. Because, when it's not being weird, it's stupid and when it's not stupid, it's just dull. As Mini said, if you weren't that pushed on 'Zombie Flesh Eaters', I don't think 'City of the Living Dead' will do much for you.

[beat_truck]

It's not my favorite movie in the world, but I like COTLD. Probably more so than The Beyond. The Beyond has some good atmosphere and gore, but the story (I use that term loosely) is a mess. House By The Cemetery is a total snooze fest to me. I think I've only watched it all the way through once. Maybe it is time to rewatch it.

[bassman]

This is a total 90’s guilty pleasure, so I’m not sure if others feel the same, but I’m excited that they’re releasing an anniversary edition of Hocus Pocus. As I said, it’s a total guilty pleasure, but I’ve noticed around the net that there are apparently a great deal of others that feel the same. This is a must-watch film for the month of October in my house, so this new release will be welcomed. It’s been listed as having extras and deleted/extended scenes, although there’s not yet any solid confirmation.

[bassman]

Just got an email from Shout/Scream factory.....right now they’re having a buy one, get one sale. Halloween II and III are included in the BOGO list. I have both releases and highly recommend them to anyone interested. - - - Updated - - - Recently picked up a few classic horror films... The Thing (Collectors Edition) I’d had an older release that was basically just a port from the old laserdisc, but decided it was time to upgrade when I found this newer release on sale. I’m so glad I did, too! This release is phenomenal. The picture quality is fantastic and you could spend nearly an entire day with all the special features. The great “Terror Takes Shape” documentary from the old release is ported over, as well as hours upon hours of new interviews and goodies. This is a must purchase, get it now! They Live (Collectors Edition) This is a good release, but not as extensive as some. The PQ is great, probably the best it will ever be, and the handful of interviews and commentary are a joy to see. I can’t imagine this film getting a much better release in the future. This is probably as good as it gets. Worth an upgrade if found for a good price. The Howling (Collectors Edition) Like The Thing, previous documentaries are ported over, with new interviews added. Hours of entertaining features and the PQ is probably as good as it will ever be. It’s a good release that’s worth an upgrade or purchase if you don’t already own the film.

[bassman]

Any of our collector friends have any knowledge of Peter Jackson’s two Middle Earth trilogies and their releases? I’d always struggled to truly get IN to the LOTR trilogy, for various reasons, but just this past week I had some time off of work between shows, so I gave that particular trilogy a spin and finally, after all these years, fell in love with LOTR. Sooo, my situation is this: I have the initial barebones Blu Rays of Fellowship, Towers, and King. I’ve yet to see the Hobbit prequels, and have decided I’ll just do a blind purchase for those with a complete set. There are soooo many different releases out there, I was curious what some of you guys’ personal opinions are of them? For myself, I basically want all six films of the series, with the most special features. Jackson always has phenomenal features and docs on his films, but my barebones have nothing. Then of course there are also the extended editions, which come on their own as well? Is there a release that has both theatrical and extended cuts of both trilogies with the in-depth documentaries and commentaries? Or would it be best to purchase each trilogy separately? Each FILM separately? Many different choices! What do my HD friends think is the best way to own these six films? Much appreciated!

[MinionZombie]

I would go for the extended editions, which really add a lot to the films (literally and metaphorically) - especially in the case of LOTR (e.g. Return of the King has something like a whole hour of additional footage). I feel the extended editions of LOTR are superior, give the story a little more room to breathe, and allow the viewer to get completely spirited away into the world of Middle Earth. The Hobbit films aren't up to the giddy heights achieved by the LOTR trilogy, but if you're into the whole mythos and Middle Earth world, you will definitely find yourself getting spirited away with those as well. Again, I opted for the extended editions - the most noticeable additions come in The Battle of The Five Armies (the third Hobbit flick), which was pretty short for a Middle Earth movie in the cinema (like just two hours) and felt a bit rushed, but with the extended edition it, again, has more room to breathe but it also has a lot more violence in it (here in the UK the theatrical version was rated 12 while the extended version was rated 15) ... you actually saw numerous glimpses of old school Peter Jackson in those additions during the big battle scenes. Anyway, I don't know specifics about the American releases, but you could check out dvdcompare.net, which is an excellent resource to compare and contrast different releases on both DVD and Blu-Ray, as well as blu-ray.com for detailed reviews. The extended editions should come with a whole raft of extras (the extended Hobbit films that I have on their original release - 4 disc editions IIRC - for instance, have as much as 10 hours of behind the scenes documentaries). Indeed, the special features for all the films are excellent.

[shootemindehead]

Like Mini said, get the extended versions of LotR. The extras alone are worth the money. For the Hobbit, I would personally go for this guy's 4 hour version, which strips out all of the inane added-on shite that Jackson put in to stretch out, what should have been, a single film into a completely unnecessary trilogy. http://www.maple-films.com/downloads.html 'The Hobbit' is a bloated, insufferable mess, that blithely poaches stuff from other unfinished Tolkien works and it feels like it. It should never have been a trilogy in the first place and the only thing that those additions add is running time.

[bassman]

Thanks for the advice, fellas! Instead of getting all six films and blind-buying The Hobbit films, I think I’ll just buy the LOTR extended box set and deal with the Hobbit films on their own time. Seems like I remember reading articles that Jackson may have changed some stuff in the trilogy? Not at the same level as George Lucas, but it seems like it was a big issue for at least one of the sets?...

[MinionZombie]

Thanks for the advice, fellas! Instead of getting all six films and blind-buying The Hobbit films, I think I’ll just buy the LOTR extended box set and deal with the Hobbit films on their own time. Seems like I remember reading articles that Jackson may have changed some stuff in the trilogy? Not at the same level as George Lucas, but it seems like it was a big issue for at least one of the sets?... Eh? I've not heard of this - got any info? I got the 4-disc DVD extended editions when they were originally released, so that's the only way I've seen them. I will say, something I didn't like about the Hobbit movies is that they're absolutely covered in CGI and overt colour grading. The LOTR films feature far more on-location shooting in the beauty of New Zealand, while The Hobbit films so often have large chunks shot on stages with lots and lots of blue/green screen backgrounds/environments ... feels a bit much, you know? I didn't mind Jackson adding in stuff from the appendices, though, because the Hobbit trilogy also kind of became a LOTR prequel trilogy in some ways (i.e. some scenes are there to bridge gaps or provide backstory to events that later occur in the LOTR films, or to make better sense of some events). Sure, three films is a bit much - two would have been plenty with some fat trimmed out generally ... however, if you really get into the world of it all you just enjoy the journey, even if it is a bit overlong.

[bassman]

My memory was slightly off....what I’d heard wasn’t that they’d added things, but there’s a different color grade. From what I’m reading now, it’s only on the extended version Fellowship on Blu Ray. It’s not as shocking as the blue tint on Night90, but it’s there....

[MinionZombie]

I take it that's a recent colour grading tweak? You can really notice it on the blue of the sky! Don't really know why that was at all necessary, makes the Shire look too green around the gills.

[bassman]

I take it that's a recent colour grading tweak? You can really notice it on the blue of the sky! Don't really know why that was at all necessary, makes the Shire look too green around the gills. From what I gather, it first appeared on the extended version of Fellowship on Blu Ray. Apparently the regular DVD version doesn’t have the issue.

[MinionZombie]

From what I gather, it first appeared on the extended version of Fellowship on Blu Ray. Apparently the regular DVD version doesn’t have the issue. Ah, that would make sense. My 4-disc extended edition DVD from 2002 will be the original grade, then. I don't see why the re-grade was necessary, to be honest. It's not like they were trying to make a live action plate match with a matte painting (e.g. in the Final Cut of Blade Runner). I rather like the original grade, which makes Hobbiton even more sunny and nice, all the more of a contrast to what comes later (e.g. you couldn't get further away from the Hobbiton vibe than Mount Doom).