To buy or not to buy?
Fox is releasing James Cameron’s Avatar on DVD and Blu-ray April 22nd. Fans of the movie will be tempted to buy it then — it’s a nice little environmental tie-in, as the 22nd is also Earth Day. But take note: all you’re getting for your MSRP of $29.98 (DVD) or $39.99 (Blu-ray) is the movie.
That’s it. No extras, no behind-the-scenes features, making-of docs, not even a trailer or a commentary track. It’s just the movie.
I suppose it’s somehow appropriate that the first blockbuster movie to get mainstream audiences to pay $17 a ticket is equally pricy when it arrives on home video. But for that much moolah, I expect to get more bang for my buck.
And did I mention it’s a 2D release only? No fancy 3D glasses included, and if you happen to have one of those cutting-edge 3D televisions that are just hitting the market, they’ll play this disc in plain old 2D just like any other TV.
Fox claims that they didn’t load down the disc with extras because Avatar is so high-tech that it contains a ton of digital info to cram onto those DVD and Blu-ray discs. So much that there isn’t room for anything else if they want to present the film in the highest-quality possible. (And obviously, they do.)
Fox also says that a fully-loaded, multi-disc edition is coming in November, so… A lot of the film’s fans will end up buying both.
Does it irk anybody else when Hollywood studios do this? I mean, if you just want the movie and no extras, then by all means, buy the April 22nd edition. But if you know you’re going to want the tricked-out version in November, why not save some money and wait the 7 months? (If you have to see it at home before then, there’s always Netflix!) Are we really so impatient that we’re willing to throw money down the drain — in the middle of a recession?
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that Hollywood is fleecing consumers. What really surprises me is that so many buyers willingly fall for it.
Which edition will you buy? The bare-bones version? The multi-disc version in November? Both? Neither?
iTunes Rental for me, I’ll buy it when it’s on the sales pile but otherwise, no thank you I already have Pocahontas on the shelf.
I got the 4 disc set of all Lord Of The Rings that came out in November when they got released. It was well worth the wait. Never bothered to get the single disc set. And for Avatar will not be different. I’ll wait till November to get the big set.