h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

So DVD's are going out of fashion. We're all supposed to stream our films now. Well, that's not going to happen. We don't have unlimited broadband and the buffering would drive me mad.

And worst of all - do you get the extras at all when you stream a film? Can you go back and watch it again with the director's commentary? Can you go back and watch it in the original language (maybe with subtitles)? What about the outtakes, deleted scenes, alternate endings, making-ofs? Will they even continue to make the extras?

Whilst people collect, manufacturers will sell stuff for them.

I have the LOTR 12 DVD set. LOADS of extras there for me to be geeky /nerdy over there. Reminds me. I must find the Hobblit equivalent.

PP

I have a pretty fast connection so buffering isn't really an issue but the neither the sound or picture quality is as good as a blue ray. Look at a shot with sky or another solid graduated colour in it and you'll see digital artifacts on the streamed version making it look like a computer game. It's to do with the compression used. No such artifacts on a blueray. Also its very rare to get 7.1 surround via streaming.

I'm certainly not interested in streaming, but I guess eventually that will be the way. No-one will actually own any media, just subscribe to watch what they want when they want.
I still bemoan the passing of video tape.

Can't say I'd miss the special extras - occasionally I find them interesting, but not often. I wouldn't pay extra to have them. choice of language/subtitles, now that is important.

"So DVD's are going out of fashion." [TC]

There's a man named Derek Davis who owns 189,000 films on DVD.
http://empirenews.net/man-with-worlds-largest-dvd-collection-cant-find-a-thing-to-watch/

Here's a website that tracks DVD sales in Norway over the last five or six years:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/646526/number-of-dvds-sold-in-norway/

There's such a huge stock of DVDs in the world now, and so many websites where people can acquire them in secondary markets, that I don't see much a problem for people who want particular titles, unless they're extremely rare.

Sorry,
http://www.statista.com/statistics/646526/number-of-dvds-sold-in-norway/

Are there billions of DVDs in the world? Or trillions? Does it matter? Don't a lot of people create or copy their own DVDs using their home computers?

I bought a new.VHS to DVD player/recorder a few months ago before they become unavailable. I haven't even unboxed it yet, I just wanted to get one while I could. I have a few tapes I couldn't replace like the very first box set of Star Wars in letterbox format, pre-special edition b.s.

The nursing home my mother was in had shelves and shelves of VHS videos.

"There's such a huge stock of DVDs in the world now, and so many websites where people can acquire them in secondary markets, that I don't see much a problem for people who want particular titles, unless they're extremely rare."


Some shows have never been released on physical media in the first place.

Good idea, Baron.
Our last video player stopped working & we couldn't get our 'spare' to connect to the TV as it was designed for an old analogue one. We found good homes for most of our tapes, but there are a few (mostly camcorder stuff) that would be good to transfer to alternative media.

"Some shows have never been released on physical media in the first place." [Mr X]

My mother used to use her VCR for recording TV shows.

As I have no experience of streaming, I really do want to know the answer to my original question. I know there are people around here who use Netflix, Amazon Fire and the likes. So - do you get access to little extra films or not? Can I choose the language I watch in or not?

What I miss on DVD's is a decent run-down of the credits. They zoom past at the end of the film and I'm sure there are many people mentioned on there who deserve a little extra bit of their own.

The last DVD I watched was "Lincoln" with Daniel Day-Lewis. There were two properly made extra films, one regarding the creation of the story, and the choice of subject-matter, and another on the authenticity of the props, costumes, wigs, and particularly wallpaper and furniture. Of course, they had photographs to base them on, which was a boon.

Which leads me to another question.

I don't use them myself but the impression I get is that streaming services are very good at having reasonably recent releases, but if you want to watch some, say, 1920s German expressionism or Laurel & Hardy, you've not got a chance. And things come and go quite quickly, so if there is a specific film you had in mind to watch, you probably won't be in luck. So as a test, if you have Netflix etc, is classic Charlie Chaplin film 'The Kid' available to watch on it?

I still feel let down when I buy a DVD and it doesn't have a nice booklet inside. I liked it when all DVDs would give you a little booklet.

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"What I miss on DVD's is a decent run-down of the credits" [TC]

I think you'd get more complete credits by going to
http://www.imdb.com/

This assumes, of course, that the above site would be accessible in your country. If it is, it will have not just the credits listed in the film, but also some uncredited names that were also in the film

Hope that helps.

I merely pay for the household Netflix subscription, I don't actually use it*. But I know from the family whingeometer that things come and go from it. So the only way of being absolutely certain that I will be able to watch a film when I want to watch it, is to buy the dvd. Which is what I do, as it also means I avoid the Spinning Wheel Of Doom interrupting my viewing.

I will ask my family about commentaries and extras.

No experience of other streaming services as I won't risk a pay-as-you-watch service with a family who could easily rack up a three figure bill in a single weekend.

Mol

*Slight exaggeration - I did watch Miss Fisher Investigates (TV series) - but that's pretty well it, in 3 years.

If Amazon is any basis to go on, I think DVD will be around for quite some time yet. I haven't been able to think of an old movie or TV series that would amuse me, and that hasn't been available to buy. Of course, some are going to be priced way out of my league - but that is my problem.

Some of those DVDs are nearly indestructible, though I've seen people destroy them just the same. CD's sometimes came back to our library looking as thought someone had played them like phonograph records.

There's no idea so stupid that someone hasn't actually tried it.

We don't have a blu-ray player, by the way. I usually watch the DVD's on my laptop whilst ironing - so a higher resolution or better quality picture is not one of my priorities.

I do use imdb all the time, Paul - I often have it open in another window whilst watching the film. You know, to solve that niggling "where have I seen that actor before?" question that distracts from enjoying the film.

The answer is almost always 'Midsomer Murders'. But IMDB has saved me many sleepless nights.

We often slow the credits to half or quarter speed, especially if there is a list of production babies, or if we're trying to collect the names of everyone in the family from the credits.

Sic is our resident Netflix guru. She says:
Extras and commentaries not available, good point, they should offer them
May be possible to change the language by changing main Netflix settings.

Mol

High resolution is nice for new films, but I still think it isn't the be-all and end-all. Are the jokes in 'Life of Brian' any sharper in high resolution? I don't think so.

Sadly newer televisions with sharper pictures make it easier to spot older films special effects defects. Last year I re-watched 1953s' 'War of the Worlds', which had special effects involving flying Martian war machines. These were models suspended by wires that were originally completely invisible. The way the film was made involved a colour film process causing a blur that slightly reduced the picture resolution, with the wires cleverly hidden in the blur so they could not be seen.

When I first saw the film as a child I was amazed by these very effective sequences – which made it look like Martian war machines flying over a landscape. Sadly the digitally remastered version available on DVD has completely removed the blur and improved the resolution, which means the wires now stand out like anything. So though picture quality has definitely improved, it is to the detriment of the film's effects that the film was actually about, making it a rather pyrrhic victory.

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