Johnny Mnemonic on HD-DVD?

[LittleScooby]

Does anyone know if Johnny Mnemonic will be released on HD-DVD in 2006?

If not, I think I may go for the SuperBit version instead. I have the standard version but the SuperBit version has slightly better PQ and the DTS soundtrack. Doesn't compare to HD-DVD of course so I hope they release it in HD format but I can't find anything pointing to a release date for it. Anyone?

[bferr1]

It's a Sony/Columbia title, so definitely no HD DVD this year (maybe never).

[rezzy]

Just pick up The Matrix. It's the same thing, only better ;) .

[nyg]

[QUOTE=bferr1]It's a Sony/Columbia title, so definitely no HD DVD this year (maybe never).[/QUOTE]

He nailed it.

[LittleScooby]

Man, these format wars are going to complicate things way too much.

Since it's Sony and they are backing Blu-Ray, do you think it might be released in that format in 2006?

[Grubert]

I'd take a guess that many titles released as Superbit won't take too long to release on Blu-ray.

Bram Stoker's Dracula, Desperado, Fifth Element and others were released on Superbit and are on Sony's launch title list.

[AnthonyP]

I'd take a guess that many titles released as Superbit won't take too long to release on Blu-ray.


I think that is a safe bet, would also add D-VHS to the list. The early 2G market is the one of people looking for higher quality and you want the movies they are most likely to buy, that is also the movies that had second or third runs in different formats and quality.

[LittleScooby]

I was kinda hoping they would release Johnny Mnemonic on some new HD format. I was kinda thinking the same thing as well about SuperBit titles. I could see them coming out quicker than the normal movies.

So, are the two formats (HD-DVD and Blu-Ray) always going to be split down the middle? I mean, it sounds like Johnny Mnemonic will only be out on Blu-Ray, and never on HD-DVD, does that mean that a majority of the other movies will be the same way so if I don't have the right player, I don't get to see the movie? I thought most titles were going to be released on both formats? If this is true, why would they choose to release Johnny M. on Blu Ray only, and not HD-DVD as well?

[bferr1]

It has to do with support for each format. Sony/MGM/Columbia, 20th Century Fox, Disney, Warner/New Line/HBO and Paramount support Blu-Ray. HD DVD supporters include Universal, Warner/New Line/HBO and Paramount. Other smaller companies support one format or the other. So you see the only overlap between formats at this time is Warner and Paramount. Blu-Ray currently has more support (with the exception of Universal).

I wish I could advise you on what to do, which format to buy, but I haven't figured it out for myself yet! :)

[AnthonyP]

So, are the two formats (HD-DVD and Blu-Ray) always going to be split down the middle? I mean, it sounds like Johnny Mnemonic will only be out on Blu-Ray, and never on HD-DVD, does that mean that a majority of the other movies will be the same way so if I don't have the right player, I don't get to see the movie? I thought most titles were going to be released on both formats? If this is true, why would they choose to release Johnny M. on Blu Ray only, and not HD-DVD as well?

at this point in time some studios are on one side, some on the other and some will do both. As time goes buy things will shift, at this point it is more of guessing what the future will hold then anything else.

[Kram Sacul]

Actually it's just Universal that's exclusively HD-DVD right now. Every other studio will release on Blu-ray. So basically you're buying a player just for Universal titles, and that it's cheaper right now.

[benwaggoner]

Just curious - why Johnny Mnemonic? Maybe I was ruined by reading the freakin' awesome short story first, but I though that was one of the worst movies I've EVER seen in the theater. I saw it with a buddy, and we felt so ripped off that we actually snuck into "Tales from the Hood" after so we could say we paid for that instead :).

Pretty low budget as I remember as well - don't know that it'd hold up in HD.

[LittleScooby]

Oh, Umm. I like to design screen savers and one of the ones I did is where I cut all the CGI video from Johnny Mnemonic. Looks amazing when you see it all in a continuous form versus how they played it in the movie.

But also, I was really into cyberpunk for a long time so I just have a fond little place in my mind for that movie. Matrix is good, but the Matrix doesn't contain much CGI video at all (I mean the kind that looks CGI, like the light cycles in the movie Tron, etc.). The CGI used in the Matrix is all of the type where you don't know it's CGI because it emulates real world video and not what the VR world really looks like.

I kinda wish they would produce a couple more cyberpunk movies but I don't know if they ever will.

I also like the CGI in Tron and a few others as well.