Can 'The Dark Knight' Save Blu-ray?

278w ago - Nine years ago, the DVD of "The Matrix" shattered records and catapulted the budding DVD format into the mainstream. Can "The Dark Knight" do the same thing for Blu-ray?

The Blu-ray release of "The Dark Knight" is slated to Dec. 9, and as Video Business [via High-Def Digest] reports, Warner Brothers has more than a million Blu-ray copies of the Batman blockbuster teed up for retailers–reportedly, the most ever for a Blu-ray movie to date.

Indeed, "The Dark Knight" is perhaps the biggest gotta-have Blu-ray title yet, bigger even than "Iron Man" (which has sold about 500,000 Blu-ray copies so far, according to Video Business) and "Transformers."

But here's the big question: Will the popularity of "TDK" translate into a tipping point for Blu-ray, as "The Matrix" (which was the first DVD to ship more than 1.5 million units back in 1999) did for DVD?

Hard to say. On the one hand, as an eager tech geek myself, I can't think of a better combo than, say, a PlayStation 3 (or another Blu-ray player) and a Blu-ray copy of "Dark Knight" under the tree. (OK, a brand-new MacBook Pro and an iPhone 3G would be pretty sweet, too, but you get my drift.)

And besides being the biggest blockbuster of the year–of several years, for that matter–the "Dark Knight" Blu-ray is set to come with some unique, HD-friendly special features, including full-frame (16:9) sequences that mirror the eye-popping action segments in the IMAX release.

Then again, just because Warners plans to ship a million "Dark Knight" Blu-rays doesn't mean it'll sell a million of them, or that consumers will line up to buy their first Blu-ray decks.

Consider: Even though Blu-ray player prices are finally starting to fall south of $200, the bleak economic picture of 2008 is a far cry from the booming economy of 1999, when conspicuous consumption ($300 for a 1999-model DVD player ... sure!) was the name of the game. I'm putting off several big-ticket (read: $200+) tech purchases myself, and I'm betting you are, too.

And then there's the fact that for most people, the difference between Blu-ray and DVD isn't nearly as stark as it was between DVD and lowly old VHS.

Personally, I love the way my Blu-rays look on my 1080p, 46-inch Sony Bravia–but I still run into plenty of relatively discriminating viewers who say that their upscaling DVD decks look just fine, thanks very much. (And had I not bought my PS3 before the crash of '08, I might be saying the same thing.)

So, I'm curious: Will the release of "Dark Knight" convince any of you to go Blu? Or are you content to stick with DVD?


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shoothimnow's Avatar
#5 - shoothimnow - 278w ago
Its too early to say that Blu-Ray is already going under... And to say that "Can The Dark Knight Save Blu-Ray" makes it sound that if people don't but it, then they will stop creating Blu-Ray movies. Either way, I am sure that people will buy the movie, but i wouldn't exactly say Blu-Ray is in need of saving.

sorceror's Avatar
#4 - sorceror - 278w ago
Save bluray? from what? Overwhelmingly successful sales? It's selling at multiple times the speed DVD was at the same point in it's lifespan, and is already cheaper than DVD was too.

It's not quite that simple. DVD was competing against basically just VHS. Blu-ray isn't just competing against DVD (where it has a quality advantage, but (in many eyes) not an overwhelming quality advantage) but also against streaming/downloaded movies. Another difference is that DVD also got going in a mostly healthy economy.

Blu-ray isn't a shoo-in for 'format of choice' yet. It's nice, but while I can see a difference, my wife has trouble noticing the difference between Blu-ray and upscaled DVD. Those kind of people are going to find the price premiums rather hard to justify. DVDs and streaming movies are cheaper and less hassle.

PS3 News's Avatar
#3 - PS3 News - 278w ago
Good point, although on the other hand the only Blu-ray movie disc I have is the free one that came with the PS3.

For movies I'm fine with the DVD/DVD9 media format... although for people into high-def (cough, CJPC ) I can see where Blu-ray is definitely on the rise. Even though they may be cheaper than DVDs at this point in their lifespan, I imagine they are still out reach from most consumer budgets.

The bigger question I'm wondering is... when Blu-ray does become affordable for everyone will people actually re-purchase all of their DVD sets on Blu-ray or only buy new stuff on Blu-ray. I know myself, even if Blu-ray was priced the same as DVD releases I wouldn't be pursuaded to go Blu-ray (like when people made the analog to digital move from VHS to DVD) to justify re-buying just for the HD.

tilla's Avatar
#2 - tilla - 278w ago

Most people dissing on BluRay now are those with an interest in selling downloadable movies, IE Microsoft and Netflix - and it looks like Yahoo is trying to please it's future owners early with this article.

BlingOnMyWrist's Avatar
#1 - BlingOnMyWrist - 278w ago
I've only got Iron Man on BluRay because I mainly download movies when I do want to watch them.

I may actually pick this one up though. I was also looking to get Transformers on BluRay as well.
