Coming in 4K - Star Trek's 1-IV??

[Grant]

If a Blu-ray is $20 on release day and the same movie is $25 on UHD 4K do you imagine that if they left the Blu-ray out of the UHD package that they would cut the price down to the same as a Blu-ray?
One is a premium product and one is a standard product. Basically they're just throwng in the Blu-ray for free to sweeten the deal. Some UHD releases do not contain a Blu-ray but - surprise! - they're not any cheaper than the ones that do contain the Blu-ray.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I don't think it's fair for you to assume the large number of buyers never watched those bonus content.

I love bonus features, but I do interact with a lot of people who buy DVDs and Blu-rays and then boast that they never watch the bonus features. I assume it's the same people who walk out of movies when the end credits start.

I don't know whether I am being fair. Just giving you my experience.

 

[Bad Robot]

I thought this was part of the original announcement, several months ago.

I never saw it -- I'm not changing my order though. And I know I hadn't seen the artwork for the singles posted anywhere (packaging isn't great, but it's authentic to each movie). From the number of "Meh, I don't need these movies in 4k" comments I seem to remember seeing in this very thread, it's probably not common knowledge you could just get the ones you want on standard Blu-Ray.

 

[Bad Robot]

If a Blu-ray is $20 on release day and the same movie is $25 on UHD 4K do you imagine that if they left the Blu-ray out of the UHD package that they would cut the price down to the same as a Blu-ray?
One is a premium product and one is a standard product. Basically they're just throwng in the Blu-ray for free to sweeten the deal. Some UHD releases do not contain a Blu-ray but - surprise! - they're not any cheaper than the ones that do contain the Blu-ray.

Which is kinda what I've suspected. I sometimes can't help but read a kind of "I know what I want, but I'd rather it came to me in a way that was less than ideal for someone else... or at the very least I'd like to get dressed down on here for expressing such sentiments" in play. We live in a capitalist, individualist "I don't need nice things as long as you can't have them" dystopia that's addicted to trauma and self-abuse (Affects us in far more profound ways that admittedly makes the longevity of physical media seem frankly trivial by comparison).

 

[Grant]

I am a I watch bonus material one time person. And since this movie is being released over and over I therefore have seen all the bonus material. The only bonus material I watch more than once is deleted scenes. And with the original six Star Trek movies only two include deleted scenes. So I don't care. Just me

 

[Paul755]

I’ve never been a huge fan of all the extra bonus features. Usually all I need is good commentary track and deleted/alternate scenes. MAYBE bloopers/outtakes (some of the ones on the TNG discs are great). But the rest of it all…meh.

What I want to know is why are we paying for blu-ray disc versions that we won't watch?

Could be catering to people that have both a Blu-ray and 4K player or plan on upgrading their equipment at some point. Maybe someone (for example) has a cheap blu-ray player in their bedroom but also have a tricked out super HD home theatre setup in their basement/living area.

 

[Kor]

...Could be catering to people that have both a Blu-ray and 4K player or plan on upgrading their equipment at some point. Maybe someone (for example) has a cheap blu-ray player in their bedroom but also have a tricked out super HD home theatre setup in their basement/living area.

Yes, it's just like how blu-ray releases used to always include a standard-def DVD, and it was like that for the longest time. It always annoyed me because I would never watch the DVD. Eventually, blu-ray only releases became more common. We're still in a transition phase when most UHD discs also include a regular blu-ray.

Kor

 

[JWolf]

Why would I watch the HD version of the movies when I have the UHD? Just drop the BR versions and lower the price accordingly. The studios would still make the same profit and we'd pay less. It costs the studio so much to include the BR discs. So the price can be dropped by that amount. It's crazy to include BR versions when I'll never watch them.

 

[Grant]

I guess they're not doing it for you then.

 

[Tomalak]

All the extras are on the Blu-ray discs. You're basically getting a bonus copy of the film along with the special features.

 

[JWolf]

All the extras are on the Blu-ray discs. You're basically getting a bonus copy of the film along with the special features.

They could put all the extras on less BR discs. That would save the number of discs needed to sell.

 

[Grant]

Wow I think if you keep it up you're going to win this argument! The half-dozen reasons that other people have mentioned don't mean squat. You actually think eliminating the $0.05 worth of plastic that makes up the Blu-ray it's going to bring down the cost of the 4K purchase? Where can I join this bandwagon?

 

[Tomalak]

Yes, it's really not hard. They've calculated that they'll get better sales by throwing in a Blu-ray as most people don't have UHD players but may upgrade at some point. It's a more attractive package because it future-proofs the purchase for those people.

There may well be UHD-only releases of just the films down the line, but they won't include any of the extras because they won't bother to re-author the discs. This release method is pretty common across the industry.

At least they are actually including the new remasters on the Blu-rays rather than just keeping the old discs, which would have been much cheaper and potentially lowered the cost. I think the 2001: A Space Odyssey UHD only included the old Blu-ray disc.

 

[Grant]

1. Some people want to definitely future-proof their collection.
2. Some people want the bonus extras but they don't want them on the 4K discs because they want the space saved for optimal picture.
3. Personally I give the Blu-ray a lot of times to friends and family and they appreciate it.
4. Some people definitely do have 2 TVs but not 2 4K players. So sometimes they want to watch a movie in the bedroom without their surround sound and without their 4K player. And that's the case with myself I watch the included Blu-ray sometimes in the bedroom.
5. They're not charging you for the few cents worth of plastic that makeup the discs, they are charging you to own a copy of the movie. They are charging what they want to charge because they know people who want physical media will pay a certain price. They simply would not charge less if there was no Blu-ray included. Example Top Gun and Days of Thunder were both released by Paramount on the same day Top Gun had a Blu-ray included and Days of Thunder did not. Days of Thunder was not any cheaper than Top Gun and they still are exactly the same price at Amazon.
Many of the foreign versions of this Star Trek set do not include Blu-rays. But guess what they're not any cheaper then the American set.

Would we like to pay less for our disks? Yes I would but it is what it is and they're not going to change until they have a reason to their own benefit to change. In the meantime if they want to basically throw in what amounts to a free disc then people will find some kind of used for it.
Or they can complain how it's a rip-off.

 

[Bad Robot]

It's hard for me to imagine anyone who honestly assumes his 4k discs would be cheaper (without their counterpart Blu-Rays included) has been buying 4k discs for very long. This really feels like wanting to convince oneself that one is somehow paying for other people's nice things, and wanting to troll about it accordingly.

You must know somebody who could benefit from a hand-me-down BD if you really don't want the extras. There's usually "that guy" who keeps his discs in a book of sleeves and throws away the packaging and artwork. If not, the library would probably take it.

 

[Tomalak]

Yeah there's a price point they need to sell it at to break even, and the Blu-ray is an inexpensive way of "adding value" to the consumer so they feel they're getting their money's worth.

It's probably not the case that not including the Blu-rays would significantly lower the price. You'd just get less for the same RRP. You might not feel good about spending £80 for four discs, but eight seems better value. Almost all new UHD releases are at least £20 each.

 

[Vger23]

It’s all a matter of tastes and priorities. I’m a Star Trek movie fan through-and-through. I’m also a home theater guy, and I always have been. I have absolutely no trouble buying upgraded versions of the Trek films every time they come out.

In my life, I’ve owned Trek movies in the following formats:
VHS pan and scan
VHS widescreen letterboxed (and I had the additional “directors series” version of TVH)
DVD Special Editions (including the Directors Edition of TMP)
Boxed set of the BR disks


…and now you can bet your ass I’ll be getting the 4k versions of the films (already on preorder).

I watch them 1-3 times per year easily. So, for me, this is a very simple decision. It’s just like upgrading anything else that is important to you. I’m not going to bitch about what the cost or how they decided to release them. I know I’m going to watch them and enjoy them, so I’m just going to buy them. I’ve also owned TOS and TNG in DVD and BR disk. Again…total no-brainer for me.

 

[STEPhon IT]

I’ve never been a huge fan of all the extra bonus features. Usually all I need is good commentary track and deleted/alternate scenes. MAYBE bloopers/outtakes (some of the ones on the TNG discs are great). But the rest of it all…meh.

And you're in the right place because Paramount rarely share any content. I would like to see more of the deleted scenes from II which were barely seen on Youtube: Saavik's relationship with David, and extended scenes where there's a discussion between Kirk and Spock about Saavik. Fun additions I would like to see, if there's nothing new but just the new format I am waiting for it to be in the discount section and I don't care if it hurts the survival of these formats. I am going to buy what I want determining what I feel is worth it.

 

[Joanna McCoy-Kirk]

I pre-ordered this from Amazon back in July, and my order is still listed as "we will e-mail you when we have a delivery date." It's supposed to be released tomorrow, so I'm moderately concerned.

 

[Grant]

Yeah these are going to be late for the most part. I ordered the first hour it was available to pre-order at Amazon and I have the same notice about getting an e-mail sometime. Amazon is not reliable when it comes to new releases. People have gotten shipment notices from Best Buy Deep Discount Etc. I ordered from deep discount when I had the feeling that it wasn't going to ship over the weekend. I don't expect Deep Discount to get it to me super fast but I bet it will still arrive before Amazon does.