Will I soon have to change this site’s name to Dan’s HD-DVDs? March 14, 2007
Posted by dansdvds in Film News, Opinion.add a comment
According to amazon, the Blu-ray version of Casino Royale has broken into their top ten sellers, the first time a HD DVD has done this. To explain for those that don’t know, two new formats of DVDs are now available on the market. HD-DVDs, and Blu-ray DVDs. These are High definition DVDs. Blu-ray is championed by Sony, while HD-DVDs are fellow Japansese technology giants Toshiba.
I’ve not actually seen one in action, but they are supposed to be of the finest quality in picture and sound. Both HD and Blu-ray players are expensive and being a student I don’t actually know anybody who owns one. But the impending release of the Sony PlayStation3 (I wish I had a spare £425!) means that Blu-ray players will become common up and down the UK.
This news from amazon shows that there is clearly a market for these new formats, and I expect them to feature in the top sellers list soon, and before the end of the year don’t be surprised if one of them becomes the highest selling DVD. Like any new format, they will phase out the old eventually. All new TV’s are HD TVs, so there will be no place for regular. People can moan and be nostalgic all they like but it happens. I don’t use my VHS player any more, and if it wasn’t for Sky+ then I would almost certainly have a DVD recorder at home. You can pick those up now for around £90 whereas two years ago it would have cost £1000.
What is confusing is the battle between HD and Blu-ray. Will one of them win and the other subside, or will they both co-exist at the top. I have my reservations about that, and while I believ HD DVDs will be strong, I believe Sony’s PS3 will mean Blu-ray will eventually be more successful.
But to answer my point…while yes, one day this blog will be out of date, I will not be changing it’s name! If I made this blog ten years ago then I would have called it Dan’s VHS’s!
Will you be investing in a Blu-ray or HD-DVD player? Can’t see what all the fuss is about? feel free to comment…
Disney to make 2D films again! March 12, 2007
Posted by dansdvds in Film News.add a comment
Today’s big film news stems from a man unheard of to most, called John Lasseter who is the ‘chief creative officer’ at Disney announcing that from 2009 they will make 2D films again. They abandoned making them in 2004 and many jobs were lost although now it seems they are set to be rehired.
3D animation was seen as the pinnacle of animation and they have had huge success with it. Films like Shrek, Cars and the Incredibles have quite rightly been successful, but for every successful 3D animation there are also flops too, no matter how good the animation. Over The Hedge and Barnyard to name a couple. People are now seeing that it isn’t the jaw-dropping animation that matters but actually having a good story.
Disney thought that after their last 2D film ‘Home on the Range’ disappointed viewers that it was due to the fact it was 2D, but viewers can recognise a good story when they see one, and that is why films such as Aladdin and The Lion King are preferred by many to todays 3D blockbusters.
There is still a HUGE market for 2D animation despite the 3D boom, as sales of Family Guy DVDs and interest in the Simpson’s Movie suggests. Disney are now recognising this and have commissioned a film called ‘The Frog Princess’ about an African-American princess and its being directed by the man who oversaw Aladdin and The Little Mermaid.
I really hope for Disney’s sake it is a success, at the end of the day as much as the new films make you go ‘wow’ the originals are still the best and surely its right the next generation of kids get the chance to see superb 2D animation as I did. A bit of healthy competion for the 3D Disney Pixar prodcutions certainly won’t go amiss as far as I’m concerned.
