Hi-Def DVD Empire

Kultur Goes Blu

2009-05-28T13:09:00.000-07:00

Kultur has announced a July 28th release date for the first Blu-ray The Pirates Of Penzance an Australian production of the Gilbert And Sullivan musical. Kultur currently offers a wide variety of performing arts DVDs, inlcuding several ballet and opera titles, so it's a safe bet that a large portion of their catalog will be getting an HD upgrade in the near future.

May's Biggest Blu-ray Releases

2009-05-07T11:29:00.000-07:00

Summer's not just about blockbusters in theaters anymore. Be sure to check out all the massive Blu-ray releases coming in May.

May 12th:

Star Trek: The Original Motion Picture Collection

The Good The Bad And The Ugly

Fargo

May 19th:

24: Season 7

A Bug's Life

My Bloody Valentine 3D

Terminator 2: Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

True Blood: Season 1

Valkyrie

May 26th

Children Of Men

True Romance: Director's Cut

Boldy Going Where No Blu-ray Player Has Gone Before

2009-05-01T12:15:00.000-07:00

Unable to attend the FEDCON Convention, Europe's largest Star Trek convention being held in Bonn, Germany this weekend? No worries, CBS is hooking owners of the just released Star Trek: Season 1 up with BD-Live access, updated all three days of the con with behind-the-scenes footage, interviews (Nichelle Nichols is listed among the special guests for FEDCON), and more so be sure to log on to the BD-Live portal often. You can also post any FEDCON photos or comments you have at www.cbs-bdlive.com right now.

Warner Introduces Two New Customer Programs

2009-04-22T11:33:00.000-07:00

Warner Bros. has announced the start of two new programs that are sure to make early adopters very happy. The first is the awkwardly titled but greatly appreciated "Warnerblu Buy 5 Get 1 Free" program, which allows customers to receive a free Blu-ray (from a predetermined list) after purchasing and registering 5 select Blu-ray titles.

The second program, sure to make anyone burned by HD-DVD a little less sore about the format's death, is the "Red2Blu" program. For a small fee (typically $4.95 per disc) plus shipping & handling, Warner will exchange your existing HD-DVD for the same movie or TV show on Blu-ray. Here's hoping that other studios follow suit and adopt their own HD-DVD exchange program and a round of applause for Warner's for introducing two customer friendly programs in one day.

Disney To Raise Blu-ray Prices?

2009-02-04T07:24:00.000-08:00

Despite the fact that research shows that consumers already think Blu-rays are priced too high, Disney may soon be raising the retail price of their releases.

Disney reported a 64% first quarter decline, and Disney CEO Robert Iger seems to believe that customers will be willing to pay more for the “added value” that Blu-ray releases provide (hi-def picture, digital copy, etc.).

Do you agree or disagree with Disney’s stance, and would YOU be willing to pay a few bucks more for Disney’s Blu-rays if they decide to increase the price? Post your answers here, and – at the end of February – we’ll forward your comments concerns to the studio!

Wall-E Named Top Blu-ray of 2008

2009-01-16T11:50:00.000-08:00

The Editorial Staff has picked the Top Ten Blu-rays of 2008, and the Disney/Pixar release of Wall-E has landed in the number one spot.

To see the complete list, CLICK HERE.

Agree or disagree with our staff selections? We'd love to hear your comments and what YOU thought was the best Blu-ray of 2008...and why!

Home For The Holidays

2008-12-23T13:25:00.000-08:00

As those of you who use a Playstation 3 as your primary Blu-ray player are probably aware, the much hyped Playstation Home has finally launched as an open beta available to the general public.

While Home may appear to be a watered down Second Life clone on the surface, Sony offers that Home will act as a social gathering place where gamers can get to know each other before they play together. In actuallity though, it's a place where male avatars can surround, dance on, and ultimately harass female avatars.

Still, with promised features such as the ability to share streaming audio and video and more game environments coming to (virtual) life as Home destinations, it's hard not to get a little geeked over what's to come.

Chat With The Bat

2008-12-18T08:21:00.001-08:00

Tonight is a big night for those lucky enough to own The Dark Knight on Blu-ray, as Director Chistopher Nolan will be hosting an exclusive online chat via the disc's BD-Live technology.

The Dark Knight's sales on the Blu-ray format have shattered previous records, selling over 600,000 on release date, over 1 million the first weekend, and over 1.7 million to date.

The chat is limited to the first 100,000 who signed up.

Del Toro To Host BD-Live Hellboy II Chat

2008-11-14T11:57:00.000-08:00

Buyers of Hellboy II: The Golden Army on Blu-ray are in for a real treat, as Director Guillermo Del Toro plans to host a live chat via use of the disc's BD-Live technology.

The chat will take place on Sunday, November 23rd at 9pm EST/6pm PST. Users must have a Blu-ray player with an internet conneciton and a profile 1.1 player or better to participate.

Those interested should make sure to sign up for an account at http://www.universalhidef.com/ in advance to participate. You'll need to sign in to take part in the online chat, and questions for Del Toro can be submitted in advance.

FOX Announces Slew of Blu-rays For 2009

2008-10-31T12:39:00.000-07:00

20th Century Fox has announced a healthy selection of catalog favorites that are due to hit the Blu-ray format in January and February of 2009.

Included in Fox's announcement were French Connection (1/20) and French Connection II (2/24), along with The Passion of The Christ (2/17), Donnie Darko (2/10), Little Miss Sunshine (2/3), Napoleon Dynamite, and Office Space (2/3).

The complete list of Fox's upcoming releases can be found here.

Exclusive Blu-ray Review: Iron Man

2008-09-17T06:08:00.000-07:00

Due for release on 9/30, DVD Empire was lucky enough to get its hands on a early copy of the Iron Man Blu-ray for review.

Is it one of the best releases of 2008? Find out in our Exclusive Review.

Click HERE to read our complete review!

Indy Coming To Blu-ray

2008-08-14T07:45:00.000-07:00

In somewhat of a surprise move by Lucasfilm, who has never been quick to embrace new home video formats (remember how long we waited for Star Wars on DVD?), it was announced earlier this week that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will indeed be coming to Blu-ray day and date with the DVD release on October 14th.

The Blu-ray will feature everything on the 2-disc Special Edition DVD, plus a few features that aren’t on that release – including an interactive timeline.

Crystal Skull was one of this summer’s biggest box office hits, raking in (to date) over $776 million dollars worldwide ($315 million of it coming domestically).

An Offer You Can't Refuse!

2008-07-01T05:19:00.001-07:00

In one of the biggest format announcements so far in 2008, Paramount has just announced they’ll be releasing all three Godfather films on Blu-ray on September 23rd.

The Godfather set is part of a new frame-by-frame restoration of all three films, and will also be available on DVD in both a boxed set and as single titles. However, it’s only available on Blu-ray in the boxed set.

In addition to the restoration of the films, the set will include all of the bonus features available on the previous DVD boxed set release, plus a bunch of brand new featurettes created exclusively for this new edition.

Both the Blu-ray and DVD versions of The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration are available for prebooks now at DVD Empire.

PS3 2.30 Update Now Available

2008-04-15T05:08:00.000-07:00

Tax Day in the United States brings good news if you’re a PS3 owner. Yet another update is now available for the system – this one giving the PS3’s built-in Blu-ray player DTS-HD Master Audio and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio support.

The 2.30 firmware update also gives users a new version of the online Playstation Store (see photo). The store will also be updating the amount of content it features in the coming days and weeks.

Latest Update To PS3 Coming Soon

2008-03-20T08:06:00.000-07:00

Sony confirmed this week that the lastest firmware update for the Playstation 3 - due in April, but possibly available as early as late March - will bring the installed Blu-ray player up to 2.0 profile specs.

Blu-ray 2.0, also known as BD-LIVE, will give users the capability to download further content, get ringtones, play online games, and more - depending on what a particular Blu-ray release has to offer. The new PS3 update will also allow users to run photo and music playlists on their PS3.

The first Blu-ray films with BD-LIVE features are due to release in April. Sony's last PS3 update, if you recall, added picture in picture capability to the PS3.

The Future Is Blu

2008-02-21T06:21:00.000-08:00

Paramount has stated that they'll be going back to Blu-ray soon, although they're expected to honor the HD DVD releases they've already announced. Likewise, Universal (who we thought would be last, but weren't) announced their intention to go Blu-ray earlier in the week.

Warner Bros., which was already planning to go Blu-ray exclusive in June, announced that they are sticking with their current plans and will still release HD DVD titles up until that date. The most likely reason for this is beacuse those HD DVD titles are probably already pressed and sitting in the studio warehouses, so they might as well release them.

With all the major Hollywood studios in the Blu-ray camp by this summer, everyone will finally be able to put this format war behind us and concentrate on making Blu-ray the best it can be for the home consumer.

RIP HD DVD

2008-02-18T04:36:00.000-08:00

Although the writing has been on the wall for a number of weeks now, the demise of the HD DVD format is coming much faster than anyone expected.

Last week, major retailers such as Netflix, Best Buy and Wal-Mart announced their plans to no longer carry (or at the very least, no longer promote) the HD DVD format. Now comes word from Japan that Toshiba is totally abandoning HD DVD, with an official announcement expected possibly as early as this week.

We suspect that the official announcement from Toshiba will be followed shortly by announcements from studios Paramount and Universal that they will no longer be releasing movies on HD DVD. While the major studios have future HD DVD releases scheduled until at least the end of May, we suspect that some of them might be cancelled, although some of the bigger titles may be honored. We’re also guessing that no future HD DVD release announcements will be made. In short, expect all the major studios to be Blu-ray committed (yes, even the reluctant Universal) by the beginning of summer.

Fortunately, those who invested in HD DVD still have 100s of movies available to watch in HD (although if you don’t have a certain title, you may want to pick it up now while stock can still be found) and the majority of players are excellent upconverters for standard DVD releases.

Hey, at the very least, you may be able to sell yours for a downpayment on a shiny new Blu-ray player.

UPDATE: Tuesday morning, Toshiba officially announced it was getting out of the HD DVD business. Their press release can be read HERE.

Listen To The Bell, HD DVD

2008-01-29T07:46:00.000-08:00

It isn’t over yet, but the bell you hear tolling is for the now-struggling HD DVD format. Ever since the announcement a few weeks back that Warner Bros. would be going Blu-ray-only this summer, HD DVD sales have taken a hard hit.

Just a week after Warners’ announcement, Blu-ray beat HD DVD in hardware sales by seizing a whopping 93% of the market. Software sales have decreased for HD DVD as well, including right here on DVD Empire – where Blu-ray has gone from having a 3 to 1 advantage to over a 4 to 1 advantage in sales, and growing. Reports from other retailers have the sales gap even wider. While HD DVD rebounded somewhat in overall sales this past week, the overall trend is clear: more and more people are investing in Blu-ray.

To add to HD DVD’s struggles, retailer Woolworths (not a bastion of hi-def sales to be sure, but a major company) announced that they would no longer stock HD DVD; while some Circuit City stores nationwide have launched clearance sales on their HD DVD player stock, selling them for as low as $100.

Can HD DVD possibly survive? Toshiba will make their last-ditch effort to save the format this coming Sunday: a $2.7 million 30-second spot during the Super Bowl.

Talk about a “Hail Mary”.

The War Is Over! Warner Bros. Turns Blu!

2008-01-04T13:37:00.001-08:00

The rumors had been circulating, but the shock was still great.

In a move that can only mean the ultimate end of the HD DVD format, powerhouse studio Warner Bros. announced today that they would be going exclusively Blu-ray. The change will go into effect in May of 2008.

The official statement from Warners’ Chairman and CEO Barry Meyer is as follows:

"Warner Bros.' move to exclusively release in the Blu-ray disc format is a strategic decision focused on the long term and the most direct way to give consumers what they want. The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger. We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers."

With Warners out of the HD DVD business, Paramount and Universal are the only two major studios supporting HD DVD exclusively.

Blu-ray Picture In Picture Titles Hit Market

2008-01-02T11:28:00.000-08:00

It took a while, but some Blu-ray releases are finally offering the picture-in-picture commenatries that HD DVD has been offering on releases for quite some time. The recent 2.10 firmware update for the PS3 brings those players up to Profile 1.1, meaning the PS3 can now use the picture-in-picture feature, if owers update their units.

Hi-Def DVD Empire got a chance to review two of the upcoming releases that offer picture-in-picture, and we're happy to report that the feature does work as well as HD DVD, although the results are a mixed bag.

The picture-in-picture on the release of Sony's Resident Evil: Extinction uses such a small window for the commentary that the text identifying the speakers has actually been placed outside the commentary box.

On the other hand, Fox's Sunshine gets picture-in-picture right, offering a bigger box for the picture-in-picture commentary, with the picture within (at least by our estimation) being a much sharper one than the one we saw on Resident Evil: Extinction.

With the specs now in place to compete with HD DVD on every level, Blu-ray owners can expect lots more releases with picture-in-picture features to be released in 2008.

Michael Bay Rants About "Microsoft Conspiracy"

2007-12-06T11:09:00.000-08:00

Transformers director Michael Bay claims that Microsoft is backing HD DVD because it wants both hi-def formats to fail.

His statements, posted on his official website, went on to say:

"That is the dirty secret no one is talking about. That is why Microsoft is handing out $100 million dollar checks to studios just embrace the HD DVD and not the leading, and superior Blu-ray. They want confusion in the market until they perfect the digital downloads. Time will tell and you will see the truth."

This isn't the first time we've heard the Microsoft conspiracy theory, but it's the first time we've heard it from someone as "high up" in Hollywood as Bay.

In other Bay news, the director also has come out to claim that Transformers doesn't look as good on HD DVD as it would have on Blu-ray (currently Paramount is HD DVD exclusive). Bay stated the following:

"I see every frame of my films over a hundred times before it is ever released. I know the lighting conditions I shot it and the result on the DI. I know the range. I know what the final product should look like - Blu-ray suits my films better."

Is Bay right, or is he - like most of his movies - disoriented and confused?

90,000 HD DVD Players Sold Last Weekend

2007-11-07T05:14:00.000-08:00

Last weekend’s attempt by HD DVD to advance their position in the high definition war seems to have been a success.

According to figures reported by Video Business, over 90,000 Toshiba A2 players were sold at Wal Mart, Best Buy, Circuit City and a few other retailers over the past weekend. What’s interesting about the 90,000 figure is that it doesn’t include online sales on sites like Amazon, which were conducting their own $99 sales.

How significant is the 90,000 plus number? Well, by comparison, that figure pretty much matches the total sales to date of Sony’s BDP-S300 unit, which has shipped (but not necessarily sold) 100,000 units since its release this past summer.

Overall, Blu-ray players still outnumber HD DVD players in homes if you include Playstation 3 sales in that figure.

However, the sale of 90,000 HD DVD players in one weekend (with certainly more deals to come before Christmas) translates into many more movie sales for the format. Will it be enough to tip the scales or, at least, even them out (Blu-ray still holds a 2 to 1 advantage in movie sales)? Time will tell.

HD DVD Players For Only $99!

2007-11-02T04:40:00.000-07:00

Think HD DVD isn't serious about winning this format war? Think again.

Today, two major retailers, Wal Mart and Best Buy will start offering the Toshiba A2 HD DVD player for only $99. Other major stores will most likely be offering similar deals as "Black Friday" (the day after Thanksgiving, which launches the holiday shopping season here in the United States) draws closer.

Potential customers should note that supplies may be extremely limited (depending on your area of the country), and the $99 deal is also for a limited time.

This is a true bargain for those wishing to jump into HD DVD, since Toshiba is still offering 5 free titles for anyone who buys a new player.

An HD DVD player and 5 free movies for $99?! Beat that, Blu-ray.

Transformers Best Selling HD DVD To Date

2007-10-24T10:22:00.000-07:00

Paramount/DreamWorks' release of Transformers has become the best selling HD DVD yet, moving over 100,000 units in its first day alone, and moving an additional 90,000 units since then.

That's no surprise to us here at the Empire, since the HD DVD is currently our top seller and our number three best seller on HD DVD of all time already.

Of course, HD DVD still has a long way to go when compared to standard DVD. By comparison, the DVD release of Transformers moved over 4.5 million copies in its first day, and 8.3 million total to date.

Jack Ryan Recalled From Duty

2007-10-18T08:07:00.000-07:00

The release of The Jack Ryan Collection on HD DVD has been recalled by Paramount, since the box covers for the discs detail bonus material that don't appear on the bare-bones HD DVDs.

No word yet on whether Paramount will be simply correcting the box covers or actually re-pressing the HD DVDs so they include all the promised bonus material, but we're hoping for the latter.

A new release date has not yet been announced, but keep your eye on our product page (or simply click the "Notify Me" button), and we'll update info on this release and any features it may or may not contain as soon as we get word.

UPDATE: We just got word from Paramount that new box cover art is upcoming...which basically means they're not going to update the discs, just update the slip case and inside covers. Sadly, this looks like it means a bare-bones release for consumers.