This may just be a rumor, or an urban legend, so don’t stone me if it’s not 100% true, but I read this and thought it was interesting.
Supposedly, Lord of the Rings (which will be released on August 6th, for those not keeping track) has already out-sold every other DVD, ever, through pre-orders alone. I’m pretty sure this would be the first time a DVD has hit the “Best-selling ever” mark before it was even released.
And I thought it was interesting – and hopefully true, or else I’ll probably have my posting privileges taken away – and decided to share. If it’s not true, it’s not my fault.
Note: Half of the reason I’m posting this is to quickly learn whether or not it’s true.
I think I’ll be buying this one, but then selling it (e-bay or to a friend, something) when the other one comes out, and buying it. No sense in having both at once, but I don’t want to wait 'til November, either.
Isn’t its ebay value going to plummet come November? Of course you really can sell ANYTHING on ebay, and some folks will probably buy it thinking it’s the “newest” version.
I think this LOTR situation really stinks, and I don’t even care about actually getting LOTR. It’s bad enough that in the early DVD days you had to put up with crummy versions of the movies (non-anamorphic, no features, crappy sound…) and then buy the proper special edition remakes. But now they’re even re-releasing special eds as ULTIMATE editions with yet more features when sequels hit theaters or whatever (eg. The Mummy, Men in Black…).
LOTR releasing in one version, then another in a few months time, is really the last straw. Doesn’t this piss off anyone else?
I guess none of this matters. I actually naively thought that DVD would be the definitively best medium for film we’d get for at least 30 years, but just saw a demonstration as to why HDTV (760p, 1080i etc.) blows it away for quality. Oh well, at least I never built up a VHS collection, so this will only be my first replacement generation.
I’ll just wait for the 10th-anniversary limited-edition special collector’s box-set ultimate game-of-the-year editor’s-choice platinum pack re-release. Wait, what were we talking about?
Why would it? You don’t have to buy it. If they hadn’t been completely up front and candid about the whole affair, I might find it annoying–if, say, they announced the special edition a few weeks after the release of the regular one. As it is, I don’t see anything to be upset over.
Call me a whore, but I’m goint to get BOTH of the first two versions of LOTR on DVD (not the super-duper, free can of Turtle Wax edition that comes out at the same time as the special edition…even I have my limits) and I’ll tellya why:
The Original theatrical cut of the film is only available on the DVD that comes out this Tuesday. The upcoming special edition ONLY has the version with 20-30 minutes of additional footage cut into the film, nudging it out of the confines of one disc and onto two.
The 2nd version will also be a lot more expensive, so it shouldn’t effect the resale value to much aside from the increase of copies on the used market.
I actually beleive there is some kind of discount, $5 or $10, for people who buy tuesdays version and then buy the later edition.
The 2nd version averages 25 bucks, so it’s not too bad. Then again, I’m the kind of dork that tends to drop 35 bucks on a DVD with the phrase “Criterion” on it, so my perspective is skewed.
I’m even more naive with these consumer electronics things. I thought DVD and HDTV didn’t ‘compete’ at all. DVD is a storage medium and HDTV is a display technology (right?). My naive assumption was that together they can activate their wondertwin™ powers and take the form of a Rigellian Space-High-Quality-Movie-Playback-Thingie.
Are you saying that DVD doesn’t contain image quality that’s high enough to take full advantage of HDTV?
Just curious. My family’s on the DVD bandwagon but I bet we won’t upgrade from NTSC displays for at least 10 years.
You don’t have to buy it. If they hadn’t been completely up front and candid about the whole affair, I might find it annoying
I think there’s at least a scale here.
1 - Cretinous
LOTR DVD releases now, with absolutely no unveiling of better edition releasing in a few months.
2 - Questionable
LOTR releases with big $46 million advertising campaign, better edition unveiled but generally left for the hardcores to find out about for themselves
3 - Morally flawless
LOTR releases with sticker on DVD case or shelf where it’s displayed with message: “Watch for the special release with 30 mins extra footage, coming November 2002!”
The point is, how many people picking up LOTR on an impulse buy or ordering it based on the countless trailers/ads we’ve been seeing over the past few weeks have any clue that there’s going to be a “definitive” version coming in just a few months? It’s not even like it’s an idea in the pipeline that the director’s been considering and may get around to one day - it’s all planned.
This point seems proven by the record breaking pre-order sales. I’m sure Amazon.com and whoever else are pushing pre-order discounts for LOTR with no mention of the later edition unless the customer seeks it out.
This is the exact sort of situation that makes me glad I use Netflix. I’ll rent it now and buy it later. Probably get the PS2 game, The Two Towers as well. I believe it comes out around the same time. Some of those screen shots look quite impressive (for the PS2, that is).
i guess not a lot of people have heard of this, so here goes:
Electronics Boutique has a special offer for the pre-order of the LOTR DVD. bring in any two used DVDs that happen to be on their master list of 5,000 and they will give you a new copy of LOTR when it releases next week.
this sounded like BS to me, so i called EB.
me: “will you guys take two used DVDs for LOTR pre-order?”
EB: “yes.”
me: “will you take Stargate (the movie - a promo that i got free with my DVD player) and Cats & Dogs (the full screen version that my wife mistakenly bought instead of the widescreen version)?”
EB: “yes.”
so, i drove down and sure enough, they took them, made me a receipt (computer printed, with wild prices for the trade-ins) and told me they’d call me next week.
i dunno how many people are doing this, but it certainly would help boost the pre-sales wouldn’t it?
Individuals who test-drive the new Kia Sorento or any Kia model between August and October, 2002 will receive by mail a free copy of the “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” home video or DVD courtesy of Kia.
