The Avengers Blu-Ray Review

I'm not going to do a review of the Avengers movie. If you want that there are about a thousand websites you can go to that say more than I ever could. This review is about the five combo blu-ray package.

Extras / Behind the scenes:

The extras in this package are decent. If you watch all of them they will keep you distracted for quite a while. The deleted scenes are fun but in the end you know why they ended up being deleted. There are a couple of exceptions.

DVD:

This is a nice to have but not a need to have. This is a nice addition if you have a friend you want to lend this movie too.

Blu-Ray:

The quality of this blu-ray is not notch. Sometimes you'll get a blu-ray that just doesn't seem right. The picture quality might be off or the sound isn't what you would expect. This one lives up to Disney Standards it's the best you can get.

Blu-Ray 3D:

I guess this is nice to have but i don't have 3D TV so I can't eally comment on it.

Digital Copy:

What can I say...AWESOME! I say this because Disney acctually gives you a digital copy! A real copy you can put into iTunes or your other media server. This is not that horrific piece of trash known as "Ultra Violet" that some other studios give you. Thank you Disney for not going that route.

Sound Track:

This is another thing Disney has been doing lately. The Muppets Blu-Ray also did this. You can download the sound track for free. In most cases these are not songs I would have bought but this is a nice touch. It really ends up adding value to the whole package.

Comic Book:

You get a free digital avengers comic book. That's not too shaby.

Poster:

You can also get an Avengers poster at no charge. It's not that nice but it's still a nice overall addition.

Packaging:

This is the only hit or miss part of this package. The hologram on the front is cool even if it makes your eyes hurt. The part that isn't cool is how the dics are found. Most of the time each dics has it's own snap in. In this package the DVD and digital copy are stacked on top of each other (on the same snap) and the Blu-Ray and 3D are stacked on top of each other. That just seems kind of cheap.

Price:

Right now you can get this for 19.99. WOW! If a family of four went to see this in the moives you paid a lot more than that. In many cases a family of two paid more than that if they saw the 3D version. This is a real bargin.

Nathan Rose vs. Jim Hill – The Wager

I could never figure out why Nathan Rose champions Blu-Ray like a rabid animal. I like Blu-Ray. I have a PS3 and own a number of Blu-Ray movies. I think they are good and was on board from the launch of the PS3 but I don’t turn into a poo flinging monkey if someone disagrees about Blu-Ray.

I thought this was odd so I did what I do…I looked into it.

During my research I discovered that back in 2005 a heated dispute took place between Nathan Rose and Jim Hill. The dispute was over the future of home entertainment. Nathan claimed that Blu-Ray was the future while Jim Hill claimed that digital copy was the future.

The two nearly came to blows before deciding to create a wager. If Blu-Ray became the industry standard, Jim would have to award Nathan ownership of Jim Hill Media. If digital copy became the standard Nathan would have to award Magical Mountain to Jim.

At first I thought who cares? Would anyone really want either? Then I looked into it. It turns out that that Magical Mountain actually owns Magic Mountain in California. Six Flags only has a lease for it. Jim Hill Media was originally called Chapel Hill Media and actual owns all of Chapel Hill North Carolina. In other words this is the mother of all wagers.

Both Nathan and Jim tried to get the upper hand. Using their unlimited contacts and astronomical resources they both caused massive shifts in the world of entertainment. Nathan single handedly crushed HD-DVD. It wasn’t Sony it was Nathan. After that he put the screws to DVD executives and forced them all to convert to Blu-Ray ASAP. If they didn’t he said he pull strings and the WDW Mafia would be paying a visit (see The DIS – WDW Mafia’s Legal Front).

Jim single handedly convinced Netflix, Apple, and Amazon to jump on the digital delivery bandwagon. He threatened them with removal of everything Disney if they didn’t. Yes…Jim Hill has those kinds of connections.

Jim and Nathan’s epic battle was witnessed by many Disney insiders. One in particular took notice and wanted to end the feud. The only problem is – how could you negate the wager? Only one person in the Disney Community has that kind of power. Yes I’m talking about Deb Wills (see How Does Deb Wills Do It?). Deb waved her wand and POOF! All high end Disney Blu-Rays come with Digital Copy.

Now Nathan and Jim are friends again thanks to Deb Wills.

Disney Announces Who Their Actual Fans Are

Thousands of dejected people pulled off their mouse ears last Friday when Disney made a formal announcement that only certain guests are actually considered fans finally ending the long charade that anyone could be a fan.

“Only D23 members, who are Disney Vacation Club Members, who are Annual Pass holders, who own actual Disney Company shares, who buy the dining plan, who are rabid pin collectors, who own every Disney Movie available on Blu-Ray, and who cruise on our disgustingly over priced cruise line, are official fans,” stated a company representative.

Disney went on to say that there is no such thing as a “Disney Community,” that all unofficial websites are “sub standard,” and that people should “pay more and complain less.”

The announcement infuriated long time Disney fans who found it hard to believe that only the wealthy could qualify to be official fans. Message boards have exploding, new websites have been developed, and one group is trying to start an insurrection to take Disney over from the inside.

There have also been rumors that this is move by Disney was forced by an outside source. Many feel that the outside influence is the dreaded overlord Annette Owens who is trying to weaken the company in an attempt to take it over.

Regardless of the reasoning behind the announcement it is clear that the fallout will continue for some time to come.

Disney’s Movie Club

Disney recently sent me an advert to join their Movie club. According to them I could pick a few DVDs and get them for $1.99. In the future I’d have to some DVDs at minimum price of $19.99. For some people this is a good deal. For others it’s a joke. I’ll start with why it could be a good deal for some people.

If you do not shop online very often or don’t want to spend a lot of time comparing prices this club could be a great fit for you. Another thing to remember – There are some movies that you can get through this club that you can’t easily find anywhere else.

My mom is a member of this club and she loves it. She got it for my niece. She now has a big collection of Disney movies / cartoons. You’ll have a hard time finding the cartoons outside of the club. She also likes the fact that they’ll just send her the next movie and she doesn’t really have to think about it.

Now for the bad – if you only like some Disney stuff this club is not for you. If you like to shop online this club is not for you. You can save an insane amount of money by being patient and checking a number of sites. Here is the breakdown to save the most money.

First, if you want a new DVD or Blu-Ray Amazon tends to be the cheapest. They monitor other sites and automatically cut the price or refund you the difference if someone is lower at the time of release.

Second, if you don’t mind waiting a few months or a year almost no one is cheaper than Half.com. Half is owned by eBay but it’s not an auction site. It’s more of a yard sale without the annoying haggling. You can get some used DVDs and Blu-Rays for a discount of up to 80%.