Wal-Mart may be getting out of the VHS business, but in the DVD department they're still running strong. It's quite amazing what they carry, and the price they ask. I was at the local store just today and managed to find two absolute classics - The Shootist and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - both for $15. (That's not each - that's $15 for both!) (Both, by the way, are late-period westerns starring John Wayne. The Shootist was actually one of the primary inspirations for the award-winning Clint Eastwood film Unforgiven.)
I had a quick look around the other offers and noticed a distinct trend. All those films that so many laboured on for years, now offered at bargain bin prices. Some have slipped out of copyright and into the hands of low-cost distributors, others have simply fallen under the radar for too many years. Either way, the cost of DVD's is on the way down, and fast. It wasn't that long ago that collectors like me were paying $30 for a VHS copy (albeit a letterboxed one) of any number of films. Now $30 is expensive for a DVD, a much better technology.
It makes me both optimistic and nervous. The ownership cost of DVD is sinking to a point where the next technology (probably some kind of HD format) is looming on the horizon. I'm sure I'll have to buy Blade Runner again in five years. Oh, well. Such is the life of a cineaste.
I had a quick look around the other offers and noticed a distinct trend. All those films that so many laboured on for years, now offered at bargain bin prices. Some have slipped out of copyright and into the hands of low-cost distributors, others have simply fallen under the radar for too many years. Either way, the cost of DVD's is on the way down, and fast. It wasn't that long ago that collectors like me were paying $30 for a VHS copy (albeit a letterboxed one) of any number of films. Now $30 is expensive for a DVD, a much better technology.
It makes me both optimistic and nervous. The ownership cost of DVD is sinking to a point where the next technology (probably some kind of HD format) is looming on the horizon. I'm sure I'll have to buy Blade Runner again in five years. Oh, well. Such is the life of a cineaste.
| :: posted by Ian Dawe, 6/15/2005 | Comments (0) Links to this post |
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