'On the Rocks' Becomes First Apple TV+ Movie to Get DVD and Blu-Ray Release

[Ubele]

When DVDs first came out, my wife and I would buy pretty much any move we liked if we saw it on sale for $5-10. In practice, we've watched only a handful more than once. Now that most movies are available on streaming video, we rarely buy anything on physical media anymore. The exceptions are old movies that aren't available on streaming media, or spectacles like the "Lawrence of Arabia" special edition and the "Lord of the Rings" director's cut, which we buy on Blu-Ray. We have a 120" projection screen and a 7.1 surround system, which makes it worthwhile.

 

[el-John-o]

It's extraordinary that DVD's are not only still popular, but still the 'default'.

I just bought an RV and although ours didn't come with one, brand new, 2022 RV's are still being advertised with "DVD Player" as an exciting, amazing feature!

 

[freemyheart]

Don't understand why Apple, HBO, Netflix, Amazon and others do this. There's a certain part of the public that will never sign up for a streaming service just to watch a movie. That part of the public prefer to buy or rent their movies. Leaves that part of the public no choice but to torrent those so-called exclusives. In that sense, no one is benefitting. Not the community that it took to make that movie, nor the greedy studio. Even A24 went that route with "Saint Maud." Again, I don't understand the logic. Sure, the studios are paid by the subscription service to have the exclusive. But for how long? Make the "exclusive" titles available to purchase at digital retailers after a year. Or two. Just make them available.

 

[batmccoy]

I enjoyed the film. I'm worn out of action-packed films. This movie is low on conflict. I appreciate the tone.

 

[Packers1958]

Who in their right mind still buys low res DVD crap? Apparently those who don't care about PQ.

 

[sw1tcher]

How about NTSC VHS?

Some people are trying to keep the format alive

Forget Netflix, Some Movie Fans Rewind to VHS Tapes

‘Free Blockbuster’ movement helps people who love the comforting format. It isn’t the easiest of hobbies; ‘an art form in many ways’

www.wsj.com

 

[Veeper]

Some people are trying to keep the format alive

Forget Netflix, Some Movie Fans Rewind to VHS Tapes

‘Free Blockbuster’ movement helps people who love the comforting format. It isn’t the easiest of hobbies; ‘an art form in many ways’

www.wsj.com

Good to see people are tracking this issue.

 

[VaruLV]

Wont call this movie bad, but nothing extraordinary either, just a ok'ish movie if youve got nothing else to do/watch, then its OK.

 

[Deliro]

Blu-ray 4K is superior than 4K streaming. Also audio quality. Less compression noise. However it’s minimal and a title like this it won’t matter. I know lots of people on this thread chuckle at the notion of physical media. I’ll take the convenience of streaming for -most- titles.

However! An interesting thing to point out is with physical media you are not at the mercy of streaming services editing or cutting scenes. The narrative gets re-written and the past is forever altered to reflect it. Disney+ no doubt will edit some older Disney stuff, if they haven’t already.

I’d love to get original cuts on streaming but my physical media of certain films will have to do.

 

[Macaholic868]

I'm a huge Apple TV+ fanboy but this movie was terrible.

I wouldn’t say it was terrible but it certainly was underwhelming and I couldn’t recommend it to anybody looking for a good film. I also didn’t feel like I wasted my time. It was very “meh”.

 

[alexhardaker]

For some reason, I find this quite strange. I wonder if Apple tried to push against this happening. I also find it odd that Defending Jacob didn’t have any Apple TV+ branding at all. Will these be released on iTunes as well? I doubt it.

I’m starting to see the appeal of streaming services. I mean, I watched the 3 Aladdin films on Disney+ for £8, along with other stuff of course, when each film is still quite expensive to purchase on iTunes. The first Aladdin film is still £14 & it’s only in HD quality. At the same time, I still don’t really like subscriptions, as I prefer to “own” stuff via iTunes. How often will I watch everything I’ve purchased many times? They’ll be there if I want to, as long as I have them downloaded (just to be safe). For someone that mainly streams, they’d need to pay more money than I have in order to have the same (continued) access to a film I’ve bought, but they are getting thousands more films to watch for that price 🤔

 

[laurieballard]

People still buy physical media?

We bulk sold all our DVD/Blu Ray stuff about 3 years ago. What would have been thousands new, we got about £40 for them all.

The film was ok in my opinion, not great but not horrific either. Fairly easy watch.

These days I just don't pay for stuff unless I know I am going to watch it again. I will pay for stuff I deem 'classic' like Die Hard, Godfather, The Shining etc etc but I would be paying a tenner to buy a film like this knowing I was unlikely to ever watch it again.

 

[Icelus]

Netflix still have a DVD plan with almost 3 million subscribers.

 

[Michael Scrip]

Netflix still have a DVD plan with almost 3 million subscribers.

Dang... that's wild!

The cheapest DVD plan is $8 a month... and Netflix still has to pay the post office... and buy the DVDs!

Contrast that to the 200 million streaming subscribers they have.

I wonder if Netflix is actually making money from the DVD plan... or if they are simply throwing a bone to people who live in rural areas who don't have decent internet.

Note that there are still RedBox machines all over my town... but I honestly haven't seen anyone use them in years.

 

[Icelus]

Dang... that's wild!

The cheapest DVD plan is $8 a month... and Netflix still has to pay the post office... and buy the DVDs!

But not that many compared to 10 years ago.

Just a decade ago, the physical media library possessed by Netflix was well beyond 100,000 titles strong, offering a staggering degree of diversity that essentially made it the equivalent of the best-stocked video store in the world.

[...]

We traded in a library of 100,000 titles for one that currently has less than 4,000—and we’re never going to get the former back.

The Former Netflix DVD Library Is a Lost Treasure We’ll Never See Again

A decade ago, Netflix possessed the biggest and best DVD film library that the world had ever seen. Today, it's a shell of…

www.pastemagazine.com

 

[MacBH928]

I am sorry to say dvd and bluray is DEAD , physical media is DEAD. $10-20 imo is too much not to mention stuff like shipping charges. Meanwhile I can get a full month of entertainment 24/7 non stop from stuff like Hulu.

The business model does not work any more, its worth it for renting but no one rents any more, the only way I see physical media worth is for a long series like 3-4 seasons. That might be worth $50-60 price tag.

 

[MacBH928]

Netflix still have a DVD plan with almost 3 million subscribers.

but...why?
I will guess those are people who forgot they are on the plan, or don't know how to use the internet like older people. Maybe people who live faaar away like alaska maybe? idk.

 

[Packers1958]

I am sorry to say dvd and bluray is DEAD , physical media is DEAD. $10-20 imo is too much not to mention stuff like shipping charges. Meanwhile I can get a full month of entertainment 24/7 non stop from stuff like Hulu.

The business model does not work any more, its worth it for renting but no one rents any more, the only way I see physical media worth is for a long series like 3-4 seasons. That might be worth $50-60 price tag.

Huh? Go to Redbox and buy the blu rays for $4.

 

[Googlyhead]

but...why?
I will guess those are people who forgot they are on the plan, or don't know how to use the internet like older people. Maybe people who live faaar away like alaska maybe? idk.

But not that many compared to 10 years ago.

The ‘why’ for renting physical DVD is curious to me too. Although the linked article does suggest it’s perhaps due to poor connectivity; there’s the simple fact that streaming / downloading is far more convenient if you don’t care about owning (physical) or quality (dvd?).

Also of particular note in that article is that while the author laments the loss of 96% of the dvd catalogue; there is still the surprising observation that the number given for dvd titles remaining is actually larger than the number of movies on the Netflix streaming service.
It certainly lends support to the suggestion that you can’t rely on a title remaining available on any rental service (dvd rental included!)

 

[Icelus]

The ‘why’ for renting physical DVD is curious to me too. Although the linked article does suggest it’s perhaps due to poor connectivity; there’s the simple fact that streaming / downloading is far more convenient if you don’t care about owning (physical) or quality (dvd?).

Also of particular note in that article is that while the author laments the loss of 96% of the dvd catalogue; there is still the surprising observation that the number given for dvd titles remaining is actually larger than the number of movies on the Netflix streaming service.
It certainly lends support to the suggestion that you can’t rely on a title remaining available on any rental service (dvd rental included!)

Reasons I've seen:

* No broadband access
* More titles to choose from (a few years ago)
* Poor internet connection
* Poor internet speed
* New releases not available via streaming
* Monthly data cap
* Less compression artifacts (blu-ray)
* Cheaper if you're only interested in a few movies per month
* SD TV

 

[CPTmom2wp]

Reasons I've seen:

* No broadband access
* More titles to choose from (a few years ago)
* Poor internet connection
* Poor internet speed
* New releases not available via streaming
* Monthly data cap
* Less compression artifacts (blu-ray)
* Cheaper if you're only interested in a few movies per month
* SD TV

We have a huge Blu-ray library and watch through PLEX, on 3, LG OLED TV's with quality sound systems. We also stream some content through AppleTV+ but generally enjoy owning our own media. Examples include Disney titles that are only available for a limited time and older movies that are no longer available. We particularly enjoy keeping TV series that disappear from streaming services, seemingly randomly. We do live in an area where internet speed and connection can be spotty at times and generally don't watch more than a few new titles a month, so don't want to pay for subscription services, other than Apple+. So, I guess we are a hybrid of physical and streaming with the best of both worlds.

 

[MacBH928]

The ‘why’ for renting physical DVD is curious to me too. Although the linked article does suggest it’s perhaps due to poor connectivity; there’s the simple fact that streaming / downloading is far more convenient if you don’t care about owning (physical) or quality (dvd?).

Also of particular note in that article is that while the author laments the loss of 96% of the dvd catalogue; there is still the surprising observation that the number given for dvd titles remaining is actually larger than the number of movies on the Netflix streaming service.
It certainly lends support to the suggestion that you can’t rely on a title remaining available on any rental service (dvd rental included!)

Reasons I've seen:

* No broadband access
* More titles to choose from (a few years ago)
* Poor internet connection
* Poor internet speed
* New releases not available via streaming
* Monthly data cap
* Less compression artifacts (blu-ray)
* Cheaper if you're only interested in a few movies per month
* SD TV

I find the number of 3 million people is too huge for people that live far away, remember with such subscriptions you still have to wait for the dvd to come in and you have to mail it back so you have to plan your viewing before hand. I also worry about the dvd quality, as rent DVDs are extremely scratched and can skip around the timeline a lot.

200,000 might make sense more. But who knows maybe there are 3 million people who live in rural areas.

We have a huge Blu-ray library and watch through PLEX, on 3, LG OLED TV's with quality sound systems. We also stream some content through AppleTV+ but generally enjoy owning our own media. Examples include Disney titles that are only available for a limited time and older movies that are no longer available. We particularly enjoy keeping TV series that disappear from streaming services, seemingly randomly. We do live in an area where internet speed and connection can be spotty at times and generally don't watch more than a few new titles a month, so don't want to pay for subscription services, other than Apple+. So, I guess we are a hybrid of physical and streaming with the best of both worlds.

you can always buy digital and download even if the internet is slow. Digital is also cheaper, you can find $1-3 rented movies or purchase at $5 in HD.

 

[MacBH928]

Huh? Go to Redbox and buy the blu rays for $4.

a quick look up on Amazon shows bluray prices between the $15-30

 

[Packers1958]

a quick look up on Amazon shows bluray prices between the $15-30

Yes, if you want to pay full price. Wait until 6 months after release, get them used from Red box for $4. Or go on Ebay and buy them for used for a lot less. I have never paid full price for any of my blu rays.

 

[ntlman]

For those without blu ray, you can rent the DVD from Redbox for $2, and use Handbrake to rip to 1080p upsampled per Apple's codec and end up with a digital file only 1gb in size that you can play on any device. It's not as good as pure HD or blu ray, but an AppleTV puck will render it nicely enough on large screens.

Most movies today are now shot and edited digitally, so the transfer of an SD is not as stark in comparison to HD like it was for older movies shot on film.