Beauty and the Beast Blu-ray

[GeorgeC]

Video technology has always caused problems with some people. 3-D is particularly bad. There are people with epilepsy who go into shock if they play or watch video games for too long. There was a case of a "flashing eyes" episode of the original Pocket Monster (Pokemon in the US) that caused several hundred kids across Japan to have epileptic seizures!

Some of these problems can't be predicted ahead of time but with some technologies there is a track record and logical reasons for why it will literally give some people fits!

To begin with, the way a video image is created for television is not the same way we build real-life images in our brains. You complicate that with the way current digital 3-D is created then it makes things worse for a lot of people! There are always going to be people with physiological conditions (different brain chemistry, abnormalities, really bad vision) who will have problems with aspects of video technology. That's a given. When it gives above a certain threshold (say 12-15%), then you've got problems and that's when the warning labels and medical reports come out.

3-D in films has always given a part of the population headaches. The funky glasses, the two-stream projection, the different-colored lenses... It just doesn't work well for some people.

I don't like 3-D because A) I hate wearing the glasses; B) it's very artificial and completely unlike real-life; and C) frankly it just adds cost to the movie production that I don't think is borne out in the quality of the final product... You cannot make a good film better with 3-D anymore than you can elevate mediocrity to Grade-A. That just doesn't work. For a lot of people like me, you can certainly make a film visually distracting with 3-D to the point that it's not enjoyable to watch it.

3-D has always been a fad dragged out of the moldy closet about every 20 years. There's nothing artistic to it. It's about grabbing more people into theaters when production companies know the current product is not enticing people to buy tickets. Unlike widescreen and stereo, it adds nothing to film.

Most technology won't add any value to anything unless it's applied properly. Some technology arrives too early to be useful or is approached at in the wrong way. (Ex: Early mechanical TV's fell by the wayside when electronic TV's turned out to be more practical. There were too many built-in disadvantages to mechanical TV and electronic TV turned out to be far more flexible and economical in the long run.) I think 3-D is being approached at in the wrong way right now and I think it's going to take a lot longer than 8-10 years for a system to develop that will be practical. Technical problems notwithstanding, nobody seems to have a system that's economical, reliable, and truer to the "illusion of life". One out of three is just not good enough. Two out of three probably isn't good enough, either. For the time being, I think everyone is shooting in the dark and going about this the wrong way.

Whether the failure of the failure of the current 3-D technology home systems will finally convince Hollywood to pull the plug on the current production of 3-D films and Blu ray producers to give up 3-D support is another thing... It's an unwarranted cost and for the life of me I can't understand why anyone would want to add $25-30 million to the cost of a film for a process that is so controversial and uneconomical. A good rewrite and director is far cheaper than 3-D production!

[GeorgeC]

Finally, a proper book about the making of Beauty & the Beast ...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/142312 ... d_i=507846

AND another article about what I hope is the final nail in the 3-D coffin... for now!
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0e709eee-a892 ... abdc0.html

[Dacey]

Two films flopping doesn't mean the end of 3D.

Honestly, nothing was going to help make "Cats and Dogs 2" into a hit.

[GeorgeC]

There have been more than two flops, Dacey.

This is only the tip of the iceberg...

Monsters Vs Aliens got a new 3-D edition released on Blu ray not long ago.

As Ben has noted, the new BD edition sold about 5 copies.

I suspect the same for the 3-D re-releases of a number of other movies and videogames, too.

The criticisms of 3-D are popping up more and more, and more moviegoers are talking about it.

This really is all about disguising the fact that movie content is so lacking that the studio heads honestly thought they were going to save their profit margins by loading the blockbusters with 3-D effects.

They're not fooling the public nearly as well as they thought they would.

Also, when I've talked to other people about 3-D TV sets nobody's crazy about having to upgrade their HD again... The additional cost of the upgrade over regular HD (which had massive price cuts in the past few years) steers people away from it. The lack of content and those $150 stereoscopic glasses have kept people away, too. This is just epic fail.

The economy is worse than what was predicted a few years ago when they put this all into play. People generally don't drink the Kool-Aid as quickly when their paycheck gets tighter...

Too much was bet on the new technology without looking at the underlying problems of the movie industry... There are a bunch of overpaid people in the industry that don't know what a good script or story idea is at all, and they pander too much to the summer teenage audience at the expense of everything else...

[Ben]

As I also said, a good test will be the release of Avatar: Extended Edition, coming soon to theaters. Will people really go back to see the film again, even for an added 12 minutes that they know is coming on the SE disc release?

Will people that thought it was only so-so go? Will people (like me) who thought the movie was awful in 2D be bothered to go and see if the 3D really does make the story, characters and performances better? Take a guess...

[GeorgeC]

Days like this tickle my British lineage...

I knew it was no fluke that I enjoyed some cheeky humor!

[Foxtale]

Now that we are closer to the re-release I figured I would ask again.

I would *guess* that they would supply both versions, though as we know, even the "theatrical version" is now basically the Special Edition just minus Human Again.

Would be great if they offered both versions including the *original* original, and the *original* Work In Progress (as opposed to the cleaned up re-work in progress on the Platinum DVD), but I doubt it on all counts after the money that went into the Imax reissue (which is where all current versions of the film come from).

I know They probally aren't going to have the origninal, original on the DVD but do we know yet if it comes with both the "theatrical version" and the "special edition, with human again"?

I am super excited for its release. It is the only movie I was actually considering buying a Blu Ray for But I think I'll just get the two DVD set.


*EDIT* I'm confused.... why is there a 3 disc blu ray combo pack to be released on Oct. 5 (two versions) and a Two disc one to be released on Novemember 23rd? Is the plain 2 disc a different region or something? It even has different stock cover artwork.....

[Whippet Angel]

It looks like they're doing the same thing they did with Snow White last year (the blu-ray combo pack and 2 disc DVD were about a month apart).

I find this rather irritating as I've been looking forward to this release all year, and I'm too impatient to wait another month!

I'm REALLY starting to resent them for constantly trying to shove blu-ray discs down our throats. It's probably because I'm bitter about TS3 getting a one disc DVD while the "loaded" DVD is only available in the combo pack.

ARG! I don't want to pay extra for a disc that I can't use! Don't they understand that blu-ray is NOT AN OPTION for some people???

*end tantrum*
k, I feel better now.

[Foxtale]

I feel your pain Whippet Angel. Trust me. ;P I can't wait either. I don't want to be walking around the stores seeing it and realizing I can't get it. It seems like a ploy. If they don't release just the DVD version right away people are going to buy it thinking there isn't going to be another release. Or maybe they won't think since there already is a DVD in there. >.<

I didn't know they did that with Snow White >.< Silly Disney. At least they are going to release it eventually. I mean blu ray might be great but I'm not ready for it yet and I really do want the special edition DVD.

[EricJ]

I feel your pain Whippet Angel. Trust me. ;P I can't wait either. I don't want to be walking around the stores seeing it and realizing I can't get it. It seems like a ploy. If they don't release just the DVD version right away people are going to buy it thinking there isn't going to be another release. Or maybe they won't think since there already is a DVD in there. >.<

The problem is, Disney wants to get DVD buyers to start stockpiling their limited-edition Blu disks of the Diamond Editions now (it'll be an "option" sooner or later, and don't come whining when you missed the Vault deadline like you did with Sleeping Beauty and Pinocchio), but their ploy ended up being hijacked by the Blu fans who thought they were getting a free DVD...Even Disney's own promotion seems to have given up and joined the crowd.
Their last attempt was to camouflage Snow White in a DVD box with "free Blu-ray" disk, but then they went ahead and released the DVD-only edition anyway one month later, and all the above whiners complained that they were being "discriminated against" because there "wasn't a DVD out there" until later. (...Knock, knock, anyone home, McFly? )

Seems like they're making the same mistake with B&B, and even those who DO know about the marketing strategy by now complain "Why should I get a free Blu?" (Trust me, WA, trust me.)
By contrast, Fox is using the same ploy releasing their combos of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" in Blu+DVD and DVD+Blu boxes, but no DVD-only release, delayed or otherwise, announced as of yet. You want either version, you get the free "junk"....WE have to, why shouldn't you?
They're brave enough to make the final leap for big-ticket family titles, too bad Disney isn't yet.

[Aaron_03]

Can anyone explain to me what happens when you by the iron pack?

Is it some type of deal?

[Bill1978]

So as a DVD only person I'm obviously going to purchase the 2 DVD collection. BUT as a massive Beauty And The Beast fan I'm also leaning towards purchasing it on Blu-Ray cause who knows maybe in 10 years time I'll own a Blu-Ray machine.

So say I go weak and purchase the Blu-Ray combo, just exactly what features will I miss out on watching until I get a Bu-Ray machine with this release of Beauty?

[Ben]

Bill, if you don't own a BD machine in under a year, you're selling yourself short.

And I don't really get people complaining about the combo packs: you get everything in one set that saves you buying another BD in a year or two when you finally upgrade (and, come on, players are getting so cheap now that one can affort not to buy three or four major titles and get a player instead).

Even if you're not going to benefit in picture quality on the size of screen you may have, there's so much extra that BD offers that it reminds me of the reason I got into LaserDisc in the early 1990s. The same titles were coming to VHS, but LD offered the extras, widescreen, etc, even though at the time I only had a standard sized screen. But when I did eventually get a projector, I was SO glad I'd gone LD since they still looked better than blown-up VHS.

The future is here. Grab it, and be happier in another couple of years. Because I don't want to hear people complaining that "I finally just went Blu-ray and wish I'd got those combo packs 'cause now I have to re-buy all my favorites from the past couple of years".

Just, y'know,...just sayin'...

[EricJ]

The future is here. Grab it, and be happier in another couple of years. Because I don't want to hear people complaining that "I finally just went Blu-ray and wish I'd got those combo packs 'cause now I have to re-buy all my favorites from the past couple of years".

Also, we won't be getting cranky dopes like that SNL sketch, complaining that "Disney locked Bambi away in a vault, and they only let us buy Pinocchio for one year back when I didn't have a player yet!"...The combo idea was strategically designed to prevent those complaints from happening again.

(Again, a serviceable Blu player is down to "normal" levels, and even a bare-bones Playstation 3 is down to what a good DVD player used to cost four or five years ago. They can even replace the existing DVD player, since still hook up to regular TV's and play normal disks--think Bill asked that back in April--you just won't notice the "wow" difference until that first flatscreen set, which are also coming way down.)

So say I go weak and purchase the Blu-Ray combo, just exactly what features will I miss out on watching until I get a Bu-Ray machine with this release of Beauty?

The new Blu commentaries are usually Picture-in-Picture, which illustrate the lectures--think the Bambi "Story meeting" version as an option--but the audio-only commentaries from the last release are also available.
In this case, they're offering the storyboards as a pop-up option, in place of the Work in Progress version.

As for BD-Live over the Internet, Disney's still working the bugs out of that idea, but Warner's doing some great things with their movies.

[Aaron_03]

Agreed. I saw the other day a $60 blu-ray player and it looked nice. It was actually on the front of the yahoo page.