I’ve been waiting MONTHS for the release of the new Star Trek film on DVD. I’ve been amazed in recent months to note the likes of X-Men Origins: Wolverine and GI Joe and such already being released to DVD. After all, Wolverine debuted 5-7 days BEFORE Star Trek, yet that DVD’s been out for a month or more now. GI Joe came out a couple weeks ago, and it debuted 3 MONTHS AFTER Star Trek. Says something about the “legs” ‘Trek had, right?
Recently, I did some searching online and discovered that a Blu-Ray edition would come with 4 badge replicas (of the officers) if one purchases from Best Buy. OK, fine ‘n dandy…but what about the DVD edition? Nope–you’ve got a “bare bones” edition, a 2-disc “special” (hah!) edition, or the Blu-Ray (3-disc) edition with the cool exclusive.
Oh, and get this: the discount pricing (which for the last 6-some years I have been aware of it and buying DVDs at all has been day-of-release and lasts at least until that Saturday) is being offered by Best Buy for a mere two hours.
For the first two business hours only, your local Best Buy is open, you can purchase the DVDs or Blu-Ray at a discount off Best Buy’s regular pricing. (And if your store has a midnight-release of the movie, it’s the first two hours from midnight, AND the first two hours of “regular” business hours).
The best part of all this? It’s DOORBUSTER pricing. Over a week before Thanksgiving and “Black Friday” and all that.
Blu-Ray-only for an exclusive? Strike one. Discount pricing offered for only two hours instead of all week? Strike two. Calling it a “doorbuster?” Strike three, Best Buy…I’m not buying.
Target has a special edition for $26.99 where the case actually transforms into a replica of the Enterprise. The idea of having the Enterprise be the dvd case was, until 20 minutes ago, merely something I thought would be amusing, but never thought they’d actually DO. (Presumably, the saucer section will hold the disc(s) themselves).
Yet, awesome as that is…the price is NOT awesome. $26.99 + tax puts the thing darned near $30, which is rather expensive for a single movie, even if I do expect to watching it a number of times. (Sure, $30 isn’t bad compared to certain tv seasons on dvd, but at least with those you typically get a heckuva lot more entertainment time for the monetary investment…to say nothing of one perhaps being able to justify a less-than-$20 purchase, but $30 really pushes it.) Especially when the Blu-Ray has an extra disc of content (3-disc) while the “special edition” DVD is only 2-disc. It’s probably just me, but somehow, a 2-disc DVD held to a 3-disc other edition seems somehow an inferior product.
I’ve been increasingly put-off lately by the fact that the “single-disc” or “bare bones” editions of movies are priced at what the “full edition” DVDs were just a few years ago, that often were what enticed me to purchase the films at all. The “special editions” being what contained most “extras” being significantly more expensive (simply for BEING “special,” apparently) has been a growing point of frustration for me. Most recently, I’ve been all the more frustrated at the shift to the aggressive marketing of Blu-Ray; with Best Buy being the primary guilty party, seeming to mostly advertise the Blu-Ray while almost as an afterthought noting that a DVD edition is also available.
This film–til now–has been my favorite film of the year, and instantly ranked with some of my all-time favorites. From the moment the end credits rolled opening night, I made intention to buy this immediately upon home release.
But with the points made above…the shenanigans with pricing, exclusives, and format…
I’m actually considering simply not buying the thing at all.
I mean, I refuse to buy a comic book when a single image is split among two or more covers of the same issue. Shouldn’t I hold movies to at least a similar standard?
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Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Best Buy, Blu-Ray, doorbuster, DVD, exclusive, midnight-release, special edition, Star Trek, Star Trek (2009), Star Trek Blu-Ray, Star Trek Blue ray, Star Trek DVD, Star Trek film, Target | 2 Comments »