Which DVDs will you rebuy on Blu-ray?

Last week, we noticed an interesting conversation over at AVS Forum titled "Your Blu-ray replacement strategy," where users commented on how they decide which of their DVDs to replace with Blu-ray Discs. It's a fair point to discuss, because while most people didn't hesitate to rebuy their VHS tapes on DVD, many would argue that the gap between DVD and Blu-ray is smaller and it's only worth replacing certain titles. Furthermore, some people are just tired of repurchasing movies altogether, after buying them on VHS, DVD, and maybe even Laserdisc. Some of the strategies from the discussion were pretty interesting:

Poster Phanson is mostly a deal hunter:

I replace my SD DVDs with Blu-ray:

1. If the price is right. Example: I purchased both of the Kill Bill discs the other day for $40, with a $20 rebate for owning the SD DVD. Trade my two SD DVD discs in at dvdplanet for $8. That means those discs were $6 each net. Darn good deal. BTW, I would have upgraded these at full retail also.

2. Movies that I really enjoy and have replay potential.

3. Quality usually isn't an issue. Most of the time it is a nice upgrade on video as well as audio.

As for new releases, I do not purchase SD DVD anymore.

Poster BuckNaked's method is a bit more sophisticated:

Here is an exercise I recently went through, which I found very helpful:

1. I imported my collection from DVDSpot into an Excel spreadsheet.

2. Then I deleted all the non wide-screen TV shows, documentaries, and music video collections on DVD. This left me with 484 titles.

3. I then went through the list, and highlighted my current Blu-ray titles in blue (42), and HD DVD titles in red (48). This left 394 SD titles remaining.

4. I then went through the list of 394, and made an honest assessment of each remaining SD title as to whether or not it was worth it to me to upgrade. For each "yes," I highlighted the title in yellow.

5. The final result yielded 77 additional titles (including trilogies, etc.) I have to have in Blu-ray once they are available. The remaining 317 titles will remain in my collection in all their SD glory, and will be just fine for me.

While we admire how rigorous that method is, we have to admit Elementalism probably had our favorite response:

I don't really have one. Right now we will rent from Netflix. But I have no interest in replacing what I already own.

We know plenty of readers have no interest in Blu-ray and are perfectly content with DVDs, but we're more interested in those who are into Blu-ray and have to pick which titles to buy. What is your criteria for a "rebuy"? Will you just rent Blu-ray movies? Or is the jump to HD significant enough that you want to replace your entire collection, when (and if) the movies become available?

[umbrae]

When Blu-Rays are $16 each, I will buy them. Until then they are rentals...

[dirty55409]

I sort of agree, it'll be years until they reach $16 (New DVD releases are still around 16-20) but Netflix is a godsend because most new releases really aren't worth $25-$30.

[lk335]

I still have yet to replace my VHS collection with DVD. So when I go Blu-Ray next month I'll be buying the VHS movies I need on DVD as blu-Ray first, then considering what I want converted from DVD to Blu.

I already know Casino Royale and Serenity will be amoung my first HD buys.

[Zen-Masta]

None, I don't plan to buy any BR until the pricing is under $10 per disc.

[Waam]

see in you 5 years at the Walmart bargain bin.

[aeroku]

I am pretty much only buying new releases on Blu-Ray. All of my SD DVD's are upconverted by the PS3, so they look pretty good, and in some cases, better than some Blu-Ray transfers that I have seen.

[stuntman_mike]

I buy new releases on BD for the cheapest price that I can. Amazon has had some really good deals, especially on pre-orders. As far as replacing titles that I have on DVD, I usually go the route of what titles would benefit most from being on BD. Something in the blockbuster Sci-Fi/ Action genre usually. Other titles like dramas and comedies will probably be ok on DVD for the most part.

I am still picky about what Action movies to get and I will usually wait until I can find them around $20 or less.

Some titles that are not new releases but new to BD can be had for $16 a la Batman Begins and Transformers. Trading in the DVD version also helps the bottom line as well.

[jakebala]

As of right now I do not plan on upgrading my DVD's to Blu.

Also, I only buy Blu when the movie will be much better with it. For example, my most recent blu-ray purchases and soon to be purchases:
1.) transformers (had to hold out for it)
2.) 300 (cause that movie was amazing)
3.) Godfather Trilogy (b/c it's amazing)
4.) Iron Man (have to get it in blu, no question)

[titolajko]

I understand that blu-ray is not justified yet for some of you, but I reccommend you go to your local best buy or circuit city and see a blu-ray movie on a new samsung or sony 120hz tv. it will change the way you watch movies and you will want to own every movie on blu-ray. Some people think it looks too real, but is there really such a thing. I watched the Pirates of the carribean yesterday on my philips 120hz on blu-ray and could not believe what I was seing. Anyway, check it out.

[TitanJamie]

'I reccommend you go to your local best buy or circuit city and see a blu-ray movie on a new samsung or sony 120hz tv. it will change the way you watch movies and you will want to own every movie on blu-ray. '

My wife and I purchased a 120hz 52" Samsung a few days ago. The first thing we watched was Ratatouille on BR (we have to little girls), and we were stunned. Stunned. I has a 46" DLP before that, and felt the picture was pretty good. Totally amazed when I watched the intro-short 'Lifted' on the Rataouille BR. The viewing experience IS different, and takes a little adjustment. We watched 2/3s of Casino on the 120hz, and finished it on the DLP upstairs. The 120hz technology makes movies look like you're 'there' when the movie is being filmed- I'm sure you understand. Prior to the 120hz purchase, my wife didn't understand why I buy DVD's or BR's, but now I legitimately have a solid arguement for future BR purchases. To stay on-topic, I'll easily be re-purchasing all six Star Wars movies, and quite possibly the LOTR Trilogy--basically, anything with digital enhancements. Most dramas and comedies can stay on SD, but 1080p of digital PS3-rendered beauty (displayed @ 120hz) is truly something that must be experienced to be believed/understood.

[goonsterboy]

I will only replace existing titles of my all time favorite movies, I don't care if they are HD-DVD or Blu-ray, I can play both. This has given me an opportunity to grab a few of my faves at a discount on HD-DVD since it is now playing second fiddle to Blu-ray (and also not yet available on Blu-ray most of the time).

For new movies, I don't buy all Blu-ray. This comes down to cost justification. If it's a movie I want to watch but don't necessarily have to collect, then I'll either get it on DVD or rent it. If it's a movie that I want to collect, then I'll get it on Blu-ray.

In one instance (Batman Begins), I actually have three different copies of a movie, one on DVD, one on HD-DVD and one on Blu-ray. It has made for some interesting format comparisons. I plan to buy Iron Man on Blu-ray and also The Dark Knight on Blu-ray.

[robertz1200]

Rentals until the disc prices come down. No plans to buy or rebuy anything at the moment regardless of title.

[Waam]

gas is never coming down again.
food is never coming down again
utilites is never coming down again
heck, candy bars used to be .50 cents.
people are stupid when they think a BD disc release or catalog title is coming down to $10.

one day, there will be a blu-ray bargain bin, and it will be $10 or less, but that will be a long time out. people need not respond about these options.

[OmeganOne]

I will not buy movies I already own due to the high price and inconsistant quality of Blu Ray transfers. While most releases look great, I have seem many that do not look better than their DVD counterparts. I do like Blu Ray, but in general I find it to be too expensive. $30.00 for a new release is just too much. I can see $24.99 but not $29.99. Yes it's only five dollars but for me if it gets too close to the price of a video game, then I am going to buy the game as I'll get more entertainment for my money from the game.
As an aside I think the PS3 is a terrible Blu player. If you can afford a stand alone maching, with internet hook ups, you'll be much happier with your purchase. Ths PS3 has too many start up "pops" and glitches; it's really anoying for a "state of the art" machine to have such problems for one of it's key selling points.

[dirty55409]

I'm thinking Dark Knight will be my first blu ray purchase, and maybe when I have the extra dough classics like Pulp Fiction, Dune, Fear and Loathing, Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles etc.

[jdb5388]

I replaced Transformers and 300 on Blu-Ray because of the action. I think going forward most of my new purchases will be Blu-Ray but I don't think I will be replacing a lot of my old movies. Especially the drama and comedy because the differences really don't matter to me. Looking back though, I'm really happy I decided to set up my system for 7.1 surround.

[ckarabian]

Step 1: Check releases for week.
Step 2: Is it a MUST HAVE disc...a.k.a. - owned and played more than once or twice on DVD and in my collection (many of my DVDs were played only once or twice = FAIL). Those that are rewatchable = WIN.
Step 3: Check review sites for BD transfer and audio quality
Step 4: Find Cheapest Price online/in-store

This is averaging about 1 Blu-ray for every 5 DVDs I own. The rest will likely NOT be replaced.

[hameiri]

My strategy is pretty simple. I will make most of my new purchases in Blu-ray. The ones that I will purchase in SD are old TV shows like the first season of Mannix, and movies my wife buys that she wants to share with her sister (no Blu-ray).

The only ones that will be replaced are mistakes, gifts and disc failures. That is, until I have all the movies I want. Then I will begin replacing the SD with Blu-ray.

Oh yeah, I might begin replacing my VHS tapes too. I have found that I just don't want to watch those anymore.

[markdoiron]

I've been delighted with DVDs on my 42" HDTV. Sure, there's a modest improvement when I watch high def content, but for most shows it's not worth rebuying in Blu-Ray--heck, it's not even worth more than a buck or two more than DVD for the content. The exceptions tend to be shows where the cinematography is compelling--Planet Earth, etc. So, there are a few titles like that I will rebuy. And I'll hope that Blu-Ray offers an alternative for reducing the physical size of my collection--which is heavy into sci-fi, including multi-disk TV series--and which is overflowing its storage space. --mark d.

[jblanco.ucla]

I have no plans of replacing any movies from my current DVD collection because it is too expensive and not worth it with the up-conversion feature on blu-ray players. For the time being, I will continue to rent blu-rays on netflix and purchase only the blockbuster titles that have amazing special effects and high replay value (such as Transformers and Iron Man)

[devilfan9500]

I agree most dvd titles don't need a bd upgrade on my part. BUT sd dvd's are starting not to be worth even a rental when you see bd quality I would like to see more bd rentals available other than netflix(always long wait) or blockbuster($6 rental). already purchased transformers pre ordered iron man and definately looking forward to TDK.

[felderga]

I don't have a Blu-Ray player yet as I'm waiting to see what deals arise on Black Friday (or I may I might even hold out longer until next spring when I think Sony will finally have to do a price cut on the PS3).

However, I did pick up two HD-DVD players and the XBOX Add-on for my PC last spring and my video collection upgrade plan is pretty simple thus far:

1.) CHEAP PRICE Hi-Def disc only (this is been great with all of the HD-DVD fire sales as well as EBAY).

2.) If a good or recent transfer exist on SD-DVD and not HD-DVD...buy the SD-DVD version.

Since I'm mostly interested in getting rid of my VHS movies first as those look the worst on a HDTV my initial HD-DVD buying spree has now lead me to instead to consider SD-DVD as oppose to waiting for the Blu-Ray price drop. Overall, I'm been very pleased with the upscaling that my Toshiba HD-A30 provides which has now led me to now replace some titles of my favortie VHS (and even Laserdisc) titles on SD-DVD (i.e. Lawrence of Arabia, Seven, Jackie Brown, Pulp Fiction).

As far as upgrading SD-DVD to Hi-Def , there are probably only a handful of titles that I would consider (mostly action). What I find interesting is that newer releases on SD look almost as good as the HD version (take Forbidden Kingdom, Transformers...although the audio is better on the HD disc). Its is only when you compare an older SD version an Hi-Def that has a remastered transfer that the difference really stand out.

Personally I think the best thing that Blu-ray (and HD-DVD) is that it has now allowed some classics like (i.e. The Godfather) to be re-release on SD-DVD with an even more stellar picture and sound than its previous release. Hence, its this development has made me more motivated to upgrade to DVD than ever before. I've compared a couple of fims that I both in SD and HD (300 and Bourne Indentity...which I got as freebies as well as Transformers and Batman Begins...which I only bought because of fire sale prices) and to be honest the difference are noticeable but not earth shaking (compared to VHS vs DVD).

BTW...If and when I do get a Blu-Ray/PS3 I won't be upgrading any of my HD-DVD to BR. Now that's a definite waste of money (unless you really want to dump your HD-DVD player).

[fngenious]

I've had PS3 since christmas, and I own 7 blu-ray movies. I have 600 DVDs. Tons of those DVDs I'd love in HD, and I think I will get them, however, being in Canada, at $30+ a movie, I have to be really picky, and choosy. I'm finding I still buy DVDs, because I can't rationalize spending $32+ on a new release when the DVD will be at most $24. Next week Sarah Marshall comes to video, and I'm struggling with the decision of choosing the format to buy. On one hand, the DVD will be $19.99, but will look crappy on my HD television; and on the other hand, the blu-ray is going to cost $32.99, and look amazing! But then I can't share the blu-ray with friends and family, everyone will have to venture up in to my theatre (my bedroom) to watch it...

I guess the point is: Blade Runner, Gladiator, Terminator 2, Saving Private Ryan, Matrix, Die Hard...those, and movies like them, are the ones to get on Blu Ray, all the rest, just stick to the DVDs.