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MGM DVDs / Blu-Rays etc.   


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  4th Jan 2024, 3:07 PM#1  REPORT  
Magic Marmalade

If you're not lost... It's not an adventure!
Member since Jun 2014
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Just a question that has popped in my head recently, if anyone knows anything about it:

As Amazon now owns MGM, primarily of course, because of its library of movies, as well as studio and movie making facilities, will Amazon continue manufacturing and issuing DVDs etc.?

It seems this would conflict with their streaming "Prime" service, and a lot of these streaming services apparently tend to edit old movies or not bother with them at all.

I wondered if this was causing a slight "rarity" factor with old MGM dvds, which I've noticed a few titles that seem hard to come by are issued by this studio, and if this was the reason why?

I can't see Amazon going out of their way to manufacture physical discs, and even a search on ebay for 4K MGM seems only to produce a handful of titles - mainly Rocky, or a couple of recent James Bond movies.

Anecdotally, when I'm in a charity shop which has a couple of hundred or so DVDs on shelves, only about one or two in that hundred will be MGM releases.

Edited by moderator on 13th Jan 2024, 9:23 PM

  4th Jan 2024, 6:06 PM#2  REPORT  
Quad5point1 SUBS

Member since Jul 2012
10621 Points
Interesting one MM, one post and you've opened up a whole new collecting bug!


  5th Jan 2024, 8:03 AM#3  REPORT  
alexlincs

Member since Aug 2020
2960 Points
I used to own a number of MGM DVDs I bought them mid-00s and they were very cheap new and bought from Music Zone, which later became Fopp. They were almost certainly discontinued then, but obscure titles compared to Bond: Lenny, SFW, Cronenberg stuff, Rush. I passed on Wid Bunch as it is framed badly and cut.

I think ultimately over time some films just get forgotten, regardless of quality. I think DVD as a medium is on its way out, but where it will become valuable is preservation.

Edited by moderator on 13th Jan 2024, 9:25 PM

  5th Jan 2024, 1:39 PM#4  REPORT  
Magic Marmalade

If you're not lost... It's not an adventure!
Member since Jun 2014
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Not my intention to create a collecting bug! :laugh:

...It was just that a few times I'd go hunting for a title online because it never turned up in the wild (My desire to see the film again outweighed my patience to find it!), and the ones that seemed a little more (slightly) marked up than others, if available at all, kept on being the MGM titles...

...Then I stumbled on that fact again that Amazon now own it, and I just put two and two together, thinking: "Well that settles it, never going to see those titles on retail sites again!" - and The brief investigation on ebay to see if my suspicions were borne out (Using 4K - newest format as barometer) seemed to confirm this.

I could see someone like Criterion issuing certain titles, but only, of course, those which are more highly regarded, not the cheese and niche, or forgotten titles that only a couple of bods here and there remember, let alone want.

I was hoping someone knew what Amazon's policy was regarding physical media releases of their newly acquired catalogue.


  13th Jan 2024, 8:48 AM#5  REPORT  
carryonsidney

a happy disposition is an omnious sign....
Member since Feb 2010
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If you "buy" a digital film on Prime you haven't actually bought a copy you have effectively "leased a digital copy" ie you dont get a DVD, the file will last as long as the device you view it on. Amazon may sell the same film as a DVD on their site but thats separate to the Prime service.

My f-inlaw has just found out recently, to his cost, having spent years filling his IPOD with digital music, once it broke, nobody repairs them, no one sells them 2nd hand, so he has lost his entire collection overnight!

Edited by moderator on 13th Jan 2024, 9:26 PM

  13th Jan 2024, 2:26 PM#6  REPORT  
Magic Marmalade

If you're not lost... It's not an adventure!
Member since Jun 2014
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That's why I'm hoarding / ripping DVDs to SD cards. :thumbsup:

As well as the proprietary issues...

(Is it overstating it to call the modern lack of ownership of our own culture a civil rights issue?)

...There are two issues to do with the nebulous streaming phenomenon that bother me:

Firstly, as this content is centralised and digitally distributed, if a great big hack takes place, that denies access to, or eliminates entirely the content, we lose all - in the age of cyber-warfare, or cyber-terrorism, can this possibility be discounted... Especially when AI cyber hacking weapons get some traction, possibly even on quantum computers, does this seem that outlandish?

... And secondly, the companies that own and distribute viewing experiences through this method are also, often publicly traded companies, and if anything happens in the abstracted, and oblique sphere of economics (another financial crash, perhaps), due to the high winds of global economic finance, those companies (or at least a couple of the major ones), might go under, and all assets either lost, or embroiled in legal rights issues until resolved.

You can't watch Dogma anywhere other than on a dvd, or super scarce (and hence, insanely valuable Blu-Ray) due to Heavy W%$kstain owning the thing, and denying Kevin Smith the rights to his own film.

Cultural Armageddon is likely soon, through one means or another, and then there will be two kinds of people in the world: Those with physical media who have access anytime they want, and those who don't.

(I may sell one or two DVDs then, for the very reasonable price of £200 a pop - physical cash though, of course :grin: )

Edited by moderator on 13th Jan 2024, 9:28 PM

  15th Jan 2024, 8:39 AM#7  REPORT  
alexlincs

Member since Aug 2020
2960 Points
Magic Marmalade wrote:
That's why I'm hoarding / ripping DVDs to SD cards. :thumbsup:

As well as the proprietary issues...

(Is it overstating it to call the modern lack of ownership of our own culture a civil rights issue?)

...There are two issues to do with the nebulous streaming phenomenon that bother me:

Firstly, as this content is centralised and digitally distributed, if a great big hack takes place, that denies access to, or eliminates entirely the content, we lose all - in the age of cyber-warfare, or cyber-terrorism, can this possibility be discounted... Especially when AI cyber hacking weapons get some traction, possibly even on quantum computers, does this seem that outlandish?

... And secondly, the companies that own and distribute viewing experiences through this method are also, often publicly traded companies, and if anything happens in the abstracted, and oblique sphere of economics (another financial crash, perhaps), due to the high winds of global economic finance, those companies (or at least a couple of the major ones), might go under, and all assets either lost, or embroiled in legal rights issues until resolved.

You can't watch Dogma anywhere other than on a dvd, or super scarce (and hence, insanely valuable Blu-Ray) due to Heavy W%$kstain owning the thing, and denying Kevin Smith the rights to his own film.

Cultural Armageddon is likely soon, through one means or another, and then there will be two kinds of people in the world: Those with physical media who have access anytime they want, and those who don't.

(I may sell one or two DVDs then, for the very reasonable price of £200 a pop - physical cash though, of course :grin: )
I do agree, but to put another spin on it streaming platforms have also been helpful in allowing me to see some rare films. Larry Cohen's God Told Me was on Prime, the DVD is expensive and very rare in the UK; the film isn't any great shakes and Tiffany Jones is on Prime which Annouska Hempel owns the rights to - I saw it VHS and was flabbergasted it turned up on streaming, it's a terrible film.


  15th Jan 2024, 12:25 PM#8  REPORT  
Magic Marmalade

If you're not lost... It's not an adventure!
Member since Jun 2014
3735 Points
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A good point.

I only stream the odd new film on Microsoft movies, as I can exchange my search points for a voucher for a one time purchase (No subscription), and the new films I do want to see are few and far between... but handy, nevertheless.

(I might be tempted to go to the cinema again to watch a couple of these - not been to cinema since... errrr... Deadpool, I think... yikes! - but it's so expensive now, you can't just "pop in" for an afternoon's cheap entertainment and a warm seat.)

So everything has its pros and cons, but for the sake of the odd movie, there are more cons than pros for streams for me.

(Besides - it's more fun and exciting hunting for DVDs - "You never know what you gonna get!" :thumbsup: )

Edited by moderator on 20th Jan 2024, 7:30 AM

  17th Jan 2024, 12:13 AM#9  REPORT  
Burton LeB SUBS

You don't see many of the rare ones, do you?
Member since Jul 2012
1910 Points
alexlincs wrote:
and Tiffany Jones is on Prime which Annouska Hempel owns the rights to - I saw it VHS and was flabbergasted it turned up on streaming, it's a terrible film.

It is a terrible film indeed, but it has one saving grace which is of course its 'star' Anouska Hempel!


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