DAM and GvsMegalon from Media Blasters (v.2)

[wataru]

kpa,

My analogy is spot on. Im looking at this as a fan. There are NO new movies today released on DVD only. Theyre either BRD, BRD/DVD and DVD. Releasing ANY film on ONE format, and the one on the way out, isnt smart. You can buy even old movies out on BRD now for only $2-$3 more then the DVD. Walmart this week started a BRD dump bin program for $7.88. Do you think Marvel is going to release The Avengers on DVD only because the % is higher on DVD sales? Hell no. It'll be BRD/DVD/Digital, BRD/DVD, DVD and later probably a 3D BRD.

In an age of HD TVs and Blu-Ray players with the price of BRD dropping fasted then DVD did between it's release and VHS's fall, it's just not smart to do ONLY ONE. And how much data are they going to compress (jam!) on this DVD? The video is going to be compressed, then you add 1-2 audio tracks, then DTS, menus.

This isnt MB getting some video files and just making new DVDs, this is supposed to be something new, not seen before and not a tape transfer. If MB had the rights to these films for awhile, why werent all these approvals banged out awhile back, or before a release date was created? And now that it's what...? 5 months behind, havent these again been worked out? Total FUBAR on MB's part. Can you blame Toho? No, it's their property. Theyre going to be anal, but a small company like MB shouldve known this before going in with Toho to release them. Then promising fans the world and now offering a barebones DVD only release?

If BRD is only 25% of the sales market, then MB has already lost 25% of it's potential sales. Hell, even if they had a Digital download option...

[TheSecondComing]

As hilariously wrong as watsy is, there's breaking news.

http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2012 ... s-megalon/

August 14 is the new release date.

[wataru]

As hilariously wrong as watsy is, there's breaking news.

http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2012 ... s-megalon/

August 14 is the new release date.

Except Im not.

So August 14th. That means April 2013.

[kpa]

kpa,

My analogy is spot on. Im looking at this as a fan.

And that's where you go off the rails. There's a tremendous difference between how someone may think things should be and the reality of how things actually work.

There are NO new movies today released on DVD only.

I get sent monthly film catalogs from distributors all over the world, and many of the smaller labels release titles in one format. Sentai Filmworks just released GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES-- a highly regarded film made by the world renowned Studio Ghibli crew-- DVD-only. And that's just the first example that springs to mind.

If you're talking strictly new movies, MEGALON is 39 years old. So either way, your statement is wrong.

Do you think Marvel is going to release The Avengers on DVD only because the % is higher on DVD sales? Hell no. It'll be BRD/DVD/Digital, BRD/DVD, DVD and later probably a 3D BRD.

If you think a barebones release of a 39 year old niche film from a small label would ever follow the same business model as an upcoming, $200 million dollar + budget Hollywood (potential) blockbuster from a major US studio, you are literally insane.

As hilariously wrong as watsy is

Too true!

[Gawdziller]

I'm pissed Megalon isn't going to be released on 3D Blu-Ray. I mean WTF Media Blasters? You cheap bastards. Did I buy this 3D TV for nothing?

[Tohosaurus]

The DVD is going with my long built DVD collection. The Blu (pending release) is going next to my copies of Criterion's Godzilla and the DAM Blu.

Of course, that's just because I don't feel like being a crybaby about it. I was going to buy both DVD and Blu anyway.

I'm a bit of a completist in that sense, so I too would buy the DVD solely to complete my Godzilla DVD collection (as ridiculous as that sounds) and the BRD is what I'd actually watch and use to continue building up my Godzilla BRD collection.

[Gawdziller]

I have use for the DVD outside of completists sake (which I totally am one, I'm not going to lie). The DVD disc would come in handy for my laptop and portable DVD player. It's always handy to have a standard def around for when I'm on the move.

[TheSecondComing]

I'm a small businessman, so I'll give it a shot at explaining through comparing myself to the Media Blasters/Toho relationship.

Everybody knows that at some point, Media Blasters and Toho inked a dvd distribution deal. I'm talking years ago, when they brought us some very nice DVDs of Varan, Yog Monster from Space, The Mysterians, Matango, and Dogora (don't recall if there were others, but let's move on) through the Tokyo Shock label. And then we were all excited when it was announced that they would be bringing us Destroy All Monsters and Godzilla vs Megalon. Here's where things start getting murky though, because somebody thought it would be wise to rush the release of DAM without Toho's ultimate approval. I can't think of why the folks at Media Blasters would change their method of dealing with a company they've done good work with before, and who is known throughout the industry as being a little bit slow, a little old-fashioned and extremely cautious about handling some of their main franchise characters. But anyway, DAM gets out there to whatever sales it does but Toho steps in and says you're not pulling that move again. Megalon's release gets delayed and everybody is extra cautious about moving forward.

Meanwhile, that dopey move as well as I'm sure weaker business in the niche markets Media Blasters caters to lead to problems with the company. Over half of the workforce is fired and delays mount. Toho has retained complete control over all of the extra content, but Media Blasters is in need of some serious cash if they're going to continue operations. As kpa mentioned, DVDs account for nearly 80% of the home video market, so although a barebones Megalon DVD won't appeal to everyone it's really the only way Media Blasters is going to make any money at all on the deal at this moment in time (the release is now in 5 months time, so even that is something of a stretch). Toho could well take longer than 5 months to give the OK to use the extra content and if they do it would mean no special-edition can be cobbled together for co-release, and it may spell the end of the Media Blasters brand (hard to say with any certainty, since of course none of us know the numbers). Media Blasters would be foolish to try putting out a barebones blu-ray because A) the blu-ray market is already smaller than DVD B) the additional costs of producing blu-ray discs may be higher than the returns they'd get back on a movie like Godzilla vs. Megalon and C) barebones blu-ray movies? I'm reasonably sure those are a contradiction in terms, though please correct me if I'm wrong since I'm not "plugged in" to that market.

It's like I've recently learned at my ebay store. I've been selling toys over a year, and recently started moving up into some higher quality household items. It'd be safe to say that percentage-wise, toys still make up around 85% of my inventory and sales. Last week, I tried selling baby clothes. They were all in nice shape and a few were even brand new. Here's the thing: None of the sets of baby clothes I listed got more than 5 views (1 set even went a whole week without attracting even a single view). Did I sell some? Yes, but the two that I was able to sell didn't go higher than 99 cents a pop. So knowing that, why would I try selling baby clothes on ebay again? It's a niche market and I'd prefer to sell 15 items a week to 85% of my established market than I would selling 2 items to less than 1% of my market.

Follow?

It's a wise (!) business move on Media Blasters' part to try to recoup some of their licensing fee investment on Megalon by putting a barebones DVD out there. Like it or not, it will be the first legitimate DVD release Megalon has ever received in our part of the world. If it (and whatever other projects MB has going on right now) are profitable enough, they'll be willing (and more importantly, able) to delve into the vastly smaller blu-ray market and once Toho allows it, a special edition DVD as well.

It's the correct business move for MB to make at this time. It's a pity that they chose this route, as Toho would have no reason to drop the hammer on them like this if somebody hadn't rushed the DAM release, but that's the way the cookie crumbles.

[Blackout286]

Hmm...A barebones copy? I'm actually fine with that, so long as I get the actual movie in high quality then I'm fine.

[Jacob Kaiju X]

As I mentioned before, I usually don't watch the extra features on DVD's, so this doesn't effect me at all.

[bananaoil]

There's only so much restoration an older film print can undergo, and I almost always can't tell the difference between a DVD and Blu-Ray when it comes to older films, unless there's been so much DNR that it feels like I'm watching a live soap opera on video tape instead of a theatrical film. So being exclusively on DVD doesn't matter to me.

[Goji]

Hmm...A barebones copy? I'm actually fine with that, so long as I get the actual movie in high quality then I'm fine.

Depends on what your definition of "high quality" is.

[Cimmerian Dragon]

There's only so much restoration an older film print can undergo,

Regardless of the condition of the print, scanning the film negative at a higher resolution is going to result in a much greater amount of information transferred. Take a look at the Blu-Ray version of The Dirty Dozen and you'll see just how much a difference it makes. I grant you that if the original print of a particular film looks terrible, the high-res scan won't do you much good. If it is even average quality, however, it's well worth the effort (especially for people with a larger television).

[Goji]

Sounds to me like banana hasn't seen many old films on the format. Stuff like ALIEN and THE SHINING (no smeary DNR to see here), are absolutely stunning. Then again, I'm watching this stuff on a 30 inch 1080p HD TV. If you were to watch those specific releases on a smaller TV that only goes to 720p, then the results wouldn't be nearly as eye popping.

[bananaoil]

The oldest film I own on Blu Ray is King Kong. I also own Forbidden Planet, Evil Dead, The Thing, and Big Trouble in Little China. King Kong looks fantastic, but so did the complementary DVD release. Forbidden Planet looks even more washed out than the DVD. The Thing looks decent; I can detect more detail than I could on my DVD. The Evil Dead is absolutely gorgeous, but I haven't compared it to its complementary DVD release. Big Trouble in Little China almost looks like the DVD release, with a few moments of the aforementioned "filmed in live action soap opera" video look.

Seriously, DNR on Blu Ray frequently ruins older films for me. Sure, there's more detail, but it's at the cost of the film being too smooth and looking like it was shot with a VHS camcorder.

DERP. Forgot to mention that I have a 47" 1080 LED television that's maybe two years old.

[Cimmerian Dragon]

Oh, I agree with you 100% on overdone DNR, bananaoil. That's the worst trend to happen to home media since the days of the default pan-and-scan standard.

Why go through all the trouble of giving us a huge increase in res, and then blurring the living shit out of it!? Is the average consumer actually so stupid that they find watching a film that looks to have been smeared with Vaseline preferable to seeing some natural film grain? If they are, it's probably due more to naivete than anything else. They just don't understand what they're trading for that "uniform" look.

Also, I'm pretty pissed to hear about the Forbidden Planet blu-ray. It's one of my favorite films, and I was planning to pick it up in the near future. If it really looks more washed out than the DVD, I guess I'll just keep watching that. God, if ever a film deserved to have every possible detail preserved onscreen, it's that one.

[goji1986]

Oh, I agree with you 100% on overdone DNR, bananaoil. That's the worst trend to happen to home media since the days of the default pan-and-scan standard.

Why go through all the trouble of giving us a huge increase in res, and then blurring the living shit out of it!? Is the average consumer actually so stupid that they find watching a film that looks to have been smeared with Vaseline preferable to seeing some natural film grain? If they are, it's probably due more to naivete than anything else. They just don't understand what they're trading for that "uniform" look.

Also, I'm pretty pissed to hear about the Forbidden Planet blu-ray. It's one of my favorite films, and I was planning to pick it up in the near future. If it really looks more washed out than the DVD, I guess I'll just keep watching that. God, if ever a film deserved to have every possible detail preserved onscreen, it's that one.

A great transfer that doesn't have DNR is the recent Monty Python and the Holy Grail Blu. It looks surprisingly stunning!

[Emperor5353]

A great transfer that doesn't have DNR is the recent Monty Python and the Holy Grail Blu. It looks surprisingly stunning!

Thanks for that update...I have been on the fence regarding that particular bd....I shouldn't be surprised because Life of Brian looks amazing as well

Without totally derailing this thread, you all need to see the bd of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang...that should be required viewing....easily the best looking blu I own

[Tohosaurus]

I wonder what's going to happen with DAM. Some of us were lucky and snagged a copy but I assume with the issues Toho had there is a pretty limited amount of supplies left to purchase new.

[o.supreme]

OT- Forgive my ignorance, but may I ask what you are referring to when you speak of "DNR", I always associated it with "Digital Noise Removal" (Audio), but you seem to be speaking of video aspects, all assistance is appreciated.

Also this is the first I have heard that there seems to be some differing of opinion regarding the "look" of films in Hi-def. I thought the whole point was to have every film, no matter how old, look like it was filmed "today" (the "camcorder" or "before a live studio" look etc...) But I do understand everyone has their own preferrences. I guess that is why HDTV's have different settings for Movies, Sports, TV, Video Games etc... although I keep my "Personal" setting so that everything I watch has the afforementioned look all the time. Sure if I ever want to feel nostalgic, I can take that setting off when watching a movie, but to me it dosen't "look" the best. But again I guess this is just my opinion.

Back on Topic- I guess I should be glad for the fans that for whatever reason haven't seen this movie in a long time. I'll hold out for the Blu-ray. However should MB close shop before this is released, as I anticipate, then I'll get the standard DVD if/when that time comes. I'm sure it wont be super expensive as people expect. If MB does a total fail and closes Before the proposed release date, well then, I am contect with the 2 Megalon DVD's I already have.

I wonder what's going to happen with DAM. Some of us were lucky and snagged a copy but I assume with the issues Toho had there is a pretty limited amount of supplies left to purchase new.

Keith last mentioned that MB hasn't done any additional presings of DAM, but copies are still readily available on Amazon.com. It should also be noted that none of MB other Toho films had 2nd pressings that i am aware of, and most of them are still reasonably priced despite being released 4-7 years ago