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Do You Trade-Up for Blu-ray Extras?
More special features are coming to entice consumers to pay the HD premium.
Planet of the Apes 40-Year Evolution Blu-ray Collection
The “Planet of the Apes” set will be available on Blu-ray November 4 for $160. A special “ape head” package is available for an extra $20.
August 04, 2008 | by Rachel Cericola

How do you get consumers clamoring for Blu-ray? Apparently, they need more than the promise of an awesome picture. Studios are planning to pack more extras into high-def releases in an effort to entice more buyers.

Video Business says that Fox’s upcoming “Planet of the Apes 40-Year Evolution Blu-ray Collection” will have five new never-before-seen features. Coming in 2009, a 30th anniversary edition of the Peter Sellers’ swan song “Being There” (if you don’t count the posthumous “The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu”) will have 10 minutes of deleted scenes and alternate endings that Warner Bros. recently “found.” Even cooler, the advent of BD Live is allowing for funky extras like the “new and improved” Blu-ray version of “Casino Royale,” which will include a peer-to-peer trivia game.

To date, many Blu-ray releases were lacking exclusive extras. Hopefully the new trend will see standard-def versions getting standard extras, while Blu-ray goes for the gold—or at least the green.

Are extras enough to entice you, or is it all about the picture? Were there any specific extras on certain titles that you just had to have? Drop a comment below.



Rachel Cericola - Contributing Writer
Over the past 15 years, Rachel Cericola has covered entertainment, web and technology trends. Check her out at www.rachelcericola.com.



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Comments (24) Most recent displayed first.
Posted by Yoda  on  09/12/08  at  06:17 PM

I want best audio and video these are the only reason I am upgrading to Blu Ray but they have to be less than $20 a piece.

I have assembled a 500 DVD collection over the last 8 years worth $10,000 I am not sure I will do that with Blu Ray?

Posted by Oscar Salguero  on  08/10/08  at  11:26 PM

I just want the movie.
Insert the dvd into the player and straight to feauture presentation.
that is the main reason that I am buying it in the first place.

Posted by John  on  08/08/08  at  12:35 PM

The first Blue-ray movies didn’t have all these special features. They actually loaded and worked better IMO.
I was a little bit jealous of HD dvd with all their bells and whistles. Now, not so much, my player is early profile 1.1 and the extras don’t work that well for me, but I don’t miss them, turns out I don’t even really want them. If they could drop the price on Blue-ray but cutting out those features I’d cheer! If they would drop java and just load and play the damn movies directly I’d Cheer!
My favorite blue-rays are the ones with the least innovation, quick loading and simple dvd like menus.  lets get back to basics. Sony needs to rember the old KISS principle ( “Keep It Simple, Stupid”)

Posted by Joe T.  on  08/07/08  at  08:47 AM

I won’t trade up for extras, but if given an initial choice between a bare-bones disk and one filled with extras, I’ll go with the extras—provided it’s a special movie.

HD-DVD had some really nice extras (green screen PIP in 300; heads-up display in Transformers), and I’m looking forward to the same sorts of things in upcoming Blu-Ray releases.

Posted by Mr. Audio  on  08/06/08  at  01:01 PM

Wow!!! Extra features!  Uhhh….no still too expensive.


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