Topic: Magnavision/Sony Pictures Entertainment's 299 DVDs

[dorian_gray]

Dapat lang talaga i-boycott ang budget DVDs kasi dumadami sila at misleading pa yung labels--kunwaring 895 ang original price pero chipangga naman talaga ang pagkagawa ng DVD.

Nagsisimula na ngang tangkilikin ng mga tao ang legit DVDs tapos lolokohin pa ng Magna at C-Interative! Shiiyyeet!

[av_phile1]

Maybe if Magna prices them at P99 each, puede na rin.     Guranteed dedo yung piracy business for those titles.

[seph1018]

If that's the solution that Magna is presenting to eliminate piracy, we still have to commend them for doing so. But for us discerning consumers, iwasan na lang natin bumili. Alam na naman natin na low quality e. They'll eventually take notice that their "solution" is not so viable.

[Chet]

Hey firewired, guess what? There are actually 3 editions of Kung-Fu Hustle on sale. Odyssey record bar in Gateway mall Cubao has all these:

The 1st release, worth Php895.00 (yup, I bought this too)


The 2-disc SE, worth Php999.00 (whoops, don't be misled by that '28% off' tag)


And the budget release from Magnavision, worth Php299.00
(sorry, I can't find any image of this on the 'Net. The cover, though, is that of Stephen Chow holding an axe and a lollipop)

When I saw the 2-disc edition for the first time, I groaned. Why did the Magna people decide to release this recently alongside the other editions?

So which of these has the best/most features? 

[viper_mla]

anu update on the features of the two editions?  help naman so others can decide which to buy....  (others - includes me  )

[viperkid]

I wish they would give us more quality DVDs rather than cheap useless DVDs.

[Mr. Hankey]

I was at a shop today, and someone was asking the salesgirl what the difference was between the 299 and 375 releases of Magna. I actually joined in on the conversation, and explained about the features and the quality of the more expensive title. It was a very pleasant little talk.

After my explanation, though, the girl put down the 375 title and went for the 299 version of the same film. She told me, "Sayang din kasi, papanoorin ko lang naman yung sine, e isang kain na rin sa Jollibee yung 76 pesos."

And I understood her completely, and even applaud her for buying this over "the 75 peso alternative." I guess each type of disc, "full featured-DVD9" or "budget DVD5", has its own target consumers. I just hope the DVD9 market remains profitable enough for the local companies, so we collectors can have the option to purchase the kind of DVD we want, and not be stuck with something we wouldn't be happy with.

[ranran]

point taken completely sir Hankey, i guess at this point sana lang ayusin naman ng Magna yung printing ng cover art nila kasi very cheap tingnan.  mas maganda pa yung pirated DVDs in terms of quality of cover art print, hindi parang madaling mapunit. 

[av_phile1]

And I understood her completely, and even applaud her for buying this over "the 75 peso alternative." I guess each type of disc, "full featured-DVD9" or "budget DVD5", has its own target consumers. I just hope the DVD9 market remains profitable enough for the local companies, so we collectors can have the option to purchase the kind of DVD we want, and not be stuck with something we wouldn't be happy with.

The target market seems to be the market buying original VCDs. 

Most really just want to watch the movie.  But at 299, I think that is still expensive, especially if only DVD5s are used (which blanks retail at just P15 each).  Those pirated copies selling at P75 ea have reasonable mark ups for the distributors and producers.  And I read on the net that it doesn't cost more than $1.20 to pay for the artist/studio royalties and the DVD licenses.  So I think P150 would be just right for a legit DVD movie only.  (But that would still give legits a problem considering that the pirates include some of the special features for P75 each.  With better cover printing and with some, smoother amaray cases.  )

So there's sense to segment the market, one for bare movies copies but really priced to compete with the pirates, and another for collectors with all the neat features and unique packaging priced much higher.  I think there was a time when there were DVD's specially priced for rental stores and commanded higher prices like what they did with VHS. 

[aesha]

I always see in all dvd stores (astro, tower records...etc) that they are selling titles for 299 only but I have noticed that all the spines have the sony pictures logo...i wanted to buy good titles but i'm having second thoughts coz i'm worried about the quality just like the c-interactive releases which has really poor quality.

Are they selling this cheap because the discs are not that good or nagtitipid na lang??? even the covers are not that good, medyo malabo ang print.


Hope to hear some feedback from you guys.


Thanks

[fredrk]

IMO, it's safer to get the same title from their other releases priced at P375.   

[viperkid]

They are turning to be Crap-Interactive. 

[munky]

Guys,

Sori, I know that my concern is not about P299 Magna releases.  I believe sila rin nagrelease ng Dirty Dancing Ultimate Edition priced at P250 for 2 discs.  At the back cover, it indicates that its R1, totoo po ba ito o gaya lang to ng C-Interactive sa P375 LOTR?  Sa mga nakabili nito, is it DVD9?  I want to hear more feedback before I purchase this DVD.  Thanks.

[coco_men182]

I saw that there were special features-a-plenty listed on the back, so I took a chance and bought this title when it was on sale at P250 a couple of weekends ago (I'm not worthy! I'm really sorry!). And when I tried playing it, I noticed that the special features were accurate, and that it completely mirrored this R1 version, with multiple languages, subtitles, etc. You know, the works.

I just looked under the disc and it says that it's a DVD5. I was just wondering how all those features were crammed in there. I haven't viewed the film itself, but I don't think that the PQ has been compromised. I'm confused.

[techdude]

lower bitrate.  The movie is encoded at lower-bitrate or screen resolution (or both), mostly not noticeable on a small screen regular TV. 

But if you have a big screen high-resolution TV, the difference will show... either the picture is more grainy, exhibit banding, or color will not be as vibrant and sharp (something akin to the difference between a 4096-color picture and a 64,000 or higher color picture).

Even on a regular TV, especially on high-speed scenes, or where there are multiple shades of a single color (most noticeable with black), you can see the picture will degrade and not as sharp...

They really should release two edition, and brand it clearly, so no guess work (DVD5 or DVD9) on the part of the consumer...

[coco_men182]

Okay thanks man.

[jekoy]

the problem with the budget dvds these days is that magna is not even doing an alternative cover anymore! all the features in the original packaging is included in the cover. but when you watch it, trailers lang ang laman!