Press Relase: Warner Bros. to release on Blu-ray only

Finally! I waited out the holidays and bought my first Blu-rays on Wednesday with the Amazon BOGO. Will this mean Blu-rays of Batman Begins and the Matrix Trilogy?

[Post edited by mybills on Jan 4, 2008]

I guess stalling by lying to the consumers paid off.

I think so mybills. I recently bought a HD-DVD standalone player (have 60+ movies on that format) but now that Warner is going Blu, this means the war is completely over. At least I know I can still play my titles on HD DVD for years to come on the player I bought.

Now it turns out that I have to save up for a Blu-Ray player if I want to keep enjoying HD. A shame that they are still so expensive in Europe....

As usual, three threads on the same topic!

Anyone want to buy my A3? Might as well junk it now.

WB - you are scum. Instead of waiting and waiting and waiting to do this, and allowing so many consumers to jump in on the HD DVD bandwagon over the holidays, why on earth are you doing this now?

Nice way to piss off your supporters. Should have done that months ago.

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Nice way to piss off your supporters. Should have done that months ago.

agreed

Warner is giving time to HD-DVD owners and others. The HD-DVD support will drop in May which is almost 4 months from now. Do you recall Paramount dropping support immediately? They cancelled all their BD releases with immediate effect. In this aspect, I respect Warner's decision on dropping HD-DVD support 4 months from now.

Giving time? That is total BS.

There was a huge influx of HD DVD player sales over Thanksgiving and Christmas, which only means more support for the format. What Warner Bros. is doing is screwing all the people that bought into the format recently, because they could have done this last year when HD was in half the number of households.

That doesn't deserve respect. They wait until after the holidays to make this announcement so now people have to go by a totally new player? They just wanted us to buy their movies on BOTH formats. Those scumbags.

Know what? I'll just repost my thoughts in each thread and see which sticks more:

First...good news is that maybe we'll get to a one format system. CES is ahead and who knows what will happen there. I really don't care, I DO have both regardless of who I support.

What I DO find sad is that Warner waited until after the holidays, after those people were beginning to start a library of HD-DVDs, AFTER people already plunked down money for their new players and their DVDs and THEN said "oops, sorry, we're done....but thanks for your cash!" Even $ony and M$ don't pull that much of a fast one.

That, and now you know we'll all get screwed on players and DVD prices. Bye Bye BOGO offers.

I dunno....Warner's tactic really makes me think if I even want to buy any more HD media. It was pretty scummy of them to pull this now and stick the new adoptors with junk. Universal and New Line and Paramount are still in the game for now.

Well, either Sony finally gets a win in forcing people into their media OR we reject it wholesale until the next round of home media. I want to think positive about this, but Sony has never instilled confidence in me.

Ok, no doubt this is bad news, but let's not sell our players yet.

The holiday numbers are in and it's obvious that this deal was brokered months before that, especially since it's obvious now that there was at least one Blu-ray insider posting on this forum with this knowledge. Companies do change their mind and Warner may rethink it's position before May based on the holiday numbers. Personally I'm going to wait until I see the titles actually dry up off the shelves before I switch formats.

Also I think we are going to see a lot of animosity and possibly lawsuits from retailers. Think of how many of those thousands upon thousands of customers are going to be showing up on the retailers door demanding a refund. Warner should have either done this before the holiday season or much, much later. This timing is only bad for the consumer and shows Warner is lying through their teeth when they said they were doing this in the consumer's best interest.

I really don't see what legal grounds people might have on this, but then I don't know law very well.

Oh well this really sucks.I felt like I got punched in the stomach when I read this.
I'll keep my XA2 and my 30+ HD-DVD'S. I'm not putting them in storage with my 300+ laser discs.
I hate to admit it but I felt SONY would'nt go down without a fight after Paramount/dreamworks. Did they offer something and Warner took the bait bait ? Probably not but damn this sucks.
I'm not buying any blu-rays for a while until Sony gets their act together and sends us vidiophiles and all around great player thats capable of playing without gliches. I can't believe I'm typing this but I love the picture of High defintion anything.
Samsung players ? I guess thats my best choice .
Any ideas my fellow HD-DVD supporters ???
Hey we still got great stuff from Paramount to count on and Dreamworks. ( Star Trek )
Please New Line stay mutaul.
I'm getting great satisfaction from my XA2 from my 1,600+ standard collection so Im not buying anything I already have. ( yeah right )
I'll buy new realeases only and I'll give Samung my money
I'm going to cry in my pillow now and I feel a big gas bubble in my chest and I will concede this looks bad for Toshiba and our beloved format.
4 months left Hmmmmmm what to buy ??? or not to buy that is the question.
Warner you have disappointed me and many others.....................shit this sucks.

[Post edited by mikek58 on Jan 4, 2008]

To the Blu-ray guys:

This is bad news for EVERYBODY. In the end whether HD DVD or Blu-ray wins isn't that big a deal. But this is a blow to HD ADOPTION period. Think of all the average consumers who are either one of the people who just bought a HD DVD player over Christmas or are going to be hearing horror stories about those who did. Whether or not the decision was correct, the timing was stupid on Warner's part.

This could spell the demise of both HD formats.

I hope you guys are happy.

Exactly chef. Lots of people don't make a lot of money and they jumped in during the holidays because they were getting a deal and all the reports were saying that HD DVD was growing faster than ever.

So now all these people are going to have an obsolete player if it creates a cascade effect and other studios follow. This certainly has left a foul taste in my mouth, but I'd bet the consumers that just purchased players on Thanksgiving and Christmas have it worse.

I think I'm going to boycott Warner. HD DVD, Blu-rays, reg DVD and in the theatres. Not because I support HD DVD but because I support HD in general and see this as a general blow.

And as to the legal ramifications. I guarantee there will be lots of big lawsuits. There have been over less. It's not the fact that they ditched one format and went for another, it's that they did it in a deceitful way and actively mis-lead the consumer.

Good luck Warner cause the writer's strike isn't your biggest problem anymore.

DVD Chef Keep us positive.

In the words of Marlon Brando " The Horror The Horror "

Paramount

That's true. I bet you that since it's only January 4, many consumers that purchased an HD DVD for Christmas that just caught wind of this shady announcement will return the players to the store. I know for a fact I would if I bought one recently.

Boycotting is a good idea. I already e-mailed WB and gave them a piece of my mind. I told them that if they were going to do something like this, they should have done so months ago. But doing it right after so many consumers purchased into the format is stabbing them in the back.

So I won't be going Blu, and if I do purchase any WB movies (although I'll try my hardest not to) I'll make sure that I buy them secondhand. That way at least the company won't be getting any direct support from me.

well, they ARE doing The Dark Knight, so I can't fully boycott Warners. I can pick where I spend my HD money, though

you're all right. the timing sucks, their move sounds weird, and they made a gredy move.

but atleast is signs of one format. we all knew in the back of our minds this could happen. QUICK run! you'll see your HDDVDs are still playable.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

WB just made themselves look like a bunch of greedy asses. Most people wouldn't care if they would have done this around the same time that Paramount and DreamWorks went exclusive. We would have said oh well, let's go Blu and we'd have one format.

But no, they wait until AFTER the buying frenzy from the holidays, and then crap on all those consumers. If they don't think this makes them look horrible, they must be retarded.

sum, isn't it time for you to have your juice box and take a nap? That's really mature.

Okay, Warner Bros. should NOT have done this. I just bought Blade Runner yesterday on HD and it was an astounding looking piece finally. WB has had more HD exclusive titles including Batman Begins, Matrix, and even Casablanca! The reason they haven't released in Blu-Ray (especially Matrix) is because of how it is coded on Blu-Ray.

Furthermore, WB has had bad luck with Blu-Ray titles. Most recently Terminator 3 had a bad flub due to 1080i.

There's something fishy about this announcement RIGHT BEFORE CES. So obviously either Sony seriously forked over massive sums of money for Blu-Ray support, or they know something about what HDDVD plans this weekend at CES.

Lastly, it's more peculiar that they are not dropping allegiance with HD-DVD immediately like Paramount did with Blu-Ray last summer. This means that WB has one last chance to redeem themselves before May, and it would be in their best interests to retract their plans and massively apologize.

HD-DVD to me has been the more superior format, and I will continue to have faith in their format no matter what because they have been fighting the good fight.

ALL HD DVD SUPPORTERS, HERE MY CRY!!!!!!! NOW IS THE TIME TO BAND TOGETHER AND MAKE A STAND AGAINST BLU-RAY AND SHOW THEM WHAT OUR FORMAT IS TRULY MADE OF!!!!!!!!!!!!!


one more thing


(Sony, you will not get away with this)

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

If I were to boycott a studio for being out-right underhanded, greedy and sneaky I'd probably never see another movie the rest of my life. Big busniess has always played dirty tricks and all for the interest of greed . . . that's why it's BIG business. I need my entertainment just like I need my overpriced fossil fuel, so in order to survive I really can't boycott either. Nevertheless, I'd rather see the oil companies boycotted more than a movie studio . . . but hey, what can you do?

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If I were to boycott a studio for being out-right underhanded, greedy and sneaky I'd probably never see another movie the rest of my life. Big busniess has always played dirty tricks and all for the interest of greed . . . that's why it's BIG business. I need my entertainment just like I need my overpriced fossil fuel, so in order to survive I really can't boycott either. Nevertheless, I'd rather see the oil companies boycotted more than a movie studio . . . but hey, what can you do?

Yeah, and I'm sure you would have this exact same opinion if Warner has gone the other way.

Nah, its better to be apathetic than try and create change.

So, Tim, marched any for lower oil prices or alternative fuel funding?

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Yeah, and I'm sure you would have this exact same opinion if Warner has gone the other way.

What would I care Chef? I don't own either format and am waiting in the wings for the war to be over (looks like soon, now).

However, for all those that bought into HD DVD . . .

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So, Tim, marched any for lower oil prices or alternative fuel funding?

Yes, actually I have. How about you?

damn u warner!!! sony will stab u in the back once its done with yah.

Microsoft!!!! Please buy Warner Bros!!!

Blu Ray supporters make all the immature statements you need to make. Just remember SONY has your future dollars and HD-DVD supporters will have to make do with what we will have available.
Studios are all money driven and we are talking billions of revenue from all of us supporters.
I plan on waiting to see whats going to be released as far as my favorite movies.
We have to face the facts LOTR/Star Wars/Indiana Jones/ these type of movies that look and sound great in High Def is what I'll make my decision on from now on.
Blade Runner kicks ass on HD-DVD
Lets not kick anyone while they are down because that makes us worse then the greedy studios.
Sony/Toshiba just agreed on a wireless format for something......... together so YES there is some reason Warner has made this decision.
Lets see what the price war will be next,Sony come down to a lower price in players and software ?
Not likely............
All Buisiness my friends all money minded corporations and Sony is one of the biggest.
We only count to them when they estimate what we will spend on a product regardless of the glithes and troubled issues.
BUT I believe Toshiba had the consumer in mind before they spent.

the blu format still has a bunch of issues and is inferior. with or without warner. That shows studio support makes your crappy format win.

Yes, Tim, in fact I have. But by saying that, you have my respect since you actually HAVE spent your time fighting something more productive. You go and preach for your format, you!

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Not because I support HD DVD but because I support HD in general and see this as a general blow.

How could it be a "general blow" to HD media? Nearly every industry analyst on earth thought the confusion and consumer anxiety caused by two competing formats in the marketplace were slowing the adoption of HD media. You believe the war was beneficial in HD adoption? Why?

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How could it be a "general blow" to HD media? Nearly every industry analyst on earth thought the confusion and consumer anxiety caused by two competing formats in the marketplace were slowing the adoption of HD media. You believe the war was beneficial in HD adoption? Why?

Congratulations Skyhawk, once again you don't read the post and are just trying to put words in my mouth. I have come to expect this childish behaviour from you.

I NEVER said the format was was good. I said this made things WORSE. It's going to scare consumers even more than the format war did. You can explain to a consumer all you want that the war is over and just suck it up and buy Bluray, but all they will see is the hundreds of thousands of people who got screwed by Warner.

[Post edited by the_dvd_chef on Jan 4, 2008]

the_dvd_chef, how can having now one format scare consumers even more? I don't understand your logic? And how is a few hundred thousand consumers relevant to the big picture of future HD media adoption, when even Beta was in the 10's of millions before its death? It certainly didn't spell the end of video tape media at the time. The fact is that those who will adopt the format in the future don't own either! And many don't because the prospect of having to choose a format that might go the way of the Betamax. Now that barrier is gone. This is a good thing for future growth of the HD media market.

And come on, enough of the fanboyish name calling. Soon this site will be normal and we can just argue about movies again.

[Post edited by Skyhawk on Jan 4, 2008]

It's funny how Blu-ray has all of these disc playback problems that originate on the internet.

My Blade Runner 5th disc is correct.
My Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End plays without issues.
My Rented Terminator 3 played in 1080p

Why don't you HD DVD guys stop making isolated issues look like a major problem. Historically Standard DVD's have the biggest disc callbacks, playback issues, missing discs, audio issues etc.

Meanwhile Amazon HD DVD's customers say they can't playback rental discs because of scratches and can't play discs at all without an immediate firmware update.

The war is over can't we all just get along.

[Post edited by sumlikeitnot on Jan 4, 2008]

Well even with a unified format the adoption of High Def media is not a given. The average consumer still cannot see a significant difference between DVD and either of the HD Formats. Frankly the differences aren't as large as VHS was to DVD. So we probably won't see widespread adoption until the movie companies slowly phase out DVD's like they did with VHS tapes.

Retailers have already begun to phase out DVD's. Best Buy and Circuit City have buyers (with a budget) who work out of the corporate offices. Technically the moment the buyers began investing in HD DVDs and Blu-ray they began buying less standard DVDs.

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the_dvd_chef, how can having now one format scare consumers even more? I don't understand your logic?

Again you are arguing for the sake of arguing without reading what I actually posted. Most consumers won't know there is one format, which despite what you think hasn't happened quite yet, a lot didn't even know there was two to begin with. All they will see is that people bought HD players for Christmas and they went obsolete less than a month later. A lot of people are going to be scared away completely.

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And how is a few hundred thousand consumers relevant to the big picture of future HD media adoption, when even Beta was in the 10's of millions before its death?

First of all it's a few hundred thousand that got screwed right after buying them. In a market that has less than 3 million players on the market in both formats (less if you count the PS3 for what it really is) and a few hundred thousand is huge. And those few hundred thousand are going to tell a lot of people the horror story each.

Also where did you hear that BetaMAX had tens of millions of players on the market? I've never heard anyone claim that before and it makes no sense. What have you got to back that up?

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And come on, enough of the fanboyish name calling. Soon this site will be normal and we can just argue about movies again.

Funny coming from one of the poster fan-boys. And no this site is going to get worse too, because we are going to have to listen to the Bluray fanboys congratulate themselves for all eternity.

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Retailers have already begun to phase out DVD's. Best Buy and Circuit City have buyers (with a budget) who work out of the corporate offices. Technically the moment the buyers began investing in HD DVDs and Blu-ray they began buying less standard DVDs.

You know you had scored points today with the Warner announcement. But here you go running away with it and tripping. This is just an idiotic statement. Retailers are not phasing out regular DVDs, not even close. The HD market share is a few percentage points. We're not going to see them phase out regular DVD until HD is the majority of the market. I was in HMV the other day, and there was 2 floors of regular DVDs and only 3 racks of HD media (2 HD DVD, 1 BR btw).

I'd like to think that this post is just inane ramblings on your part, but sadly I think it may indicate what is to come for this forum. You Bluray fanboys need an enemy and someone to hate which you had in HD DVD supporters. Now that in your mind HD DVD is dead, you are turning to regular DVD.

Welcome to the new Bluray vs. DVD argument forum.

[Post edited by the_dvd_chef on Jan 4, 2008]

It's kinda good that the HD DVD guys haven't purchased a Blu-ray player yet.

At least you guys will get the spanking new Interactive Blu-ray player with pip and internet capabilities that will be introduced at CES.

Business Wire:

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Focusing on Blu-ray interactivity, studios will demo many new features that take advantage of internet-connected Blu-ray players and will enable users to download additional content to the player's internal memory, along with other "Web-enabled" interactive features, picture-in-picture technology and more.

For us PS3 guys, we just need to push the update button (when available).

[Post edited by sumlikeitnot on Jan 4, 2008]

the dvd chef said,

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I'd like to think that this post is just inane ramblings on your part, but sadly I think it may indicate what is to come for this forum. You Bluray fanboys need an enemy and someone to hate which you had in HD DVD supporters. Now that in your mind HD DVD is dead, you are turning to regular DVD.

Jesus, do you ever stop spewing out hate. You make yourself look bad by replying to everything that sumlikeitnot says. Just leave it alone. You're too thin skinned.

[Post edited by tony1569 on Jan 4, 2008]

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At least you guys will get the spanking new Interactive Blu-ray player with pip and internet capabilities that will be introduced at CES.

Business Wire:
Quote:
Focusing on Blu-ray interactivity, studios will demo many new features that take advantage of internet-connected Blu-ray players and will enable users to download additional content to the player's internal memory, along with other "Web-enabled" interactive features, picture-in-picture technology and more.

Wow your dumb. If we want these features all we have to do is push the 'on' button on the HD DVD player already sitting in our living room.

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Jesus, do you ever stop spewing out hate. You make yourself look bad by replying to everything that sumlikeitnot says. Just leave it alone. You're too thin skinned.

Any the hypocrisy continues.

I dare you to check any of the post that I have posted, you'll never find any kind of name calling or anything close to considered hateful. If you do I'll mail you a check for $100. Passionate yes, hateful never.

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Jesus, do you ever stop spewing out hate.

That's hateful when it's based on nothing. So when should I expect my check?

This is interesting:

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Warner/New_Line/HBO/Warner:_New_Line,_HBO_Not_Covered_By_Blu-ray_Announcement/1328

Did it occur to anyone that maybe Warner Bros. might have made their decision based on holiday sales? I did. I don't remember where but I read a breakdown of HD DVD and Blu Ray holiday sales and based on that I decided to jump in and start buying Blu Ray discs two days ago (though I haven't bought a player yet) with the Amazon BOGO.

WB was the last company to release in both formats and they've made a decision (let's not praise WB here they're as bad as all the others).

As for timing, before the CES is pretty timely! Better than after the CES or years later.

No one wants to be on the losing side of a format war (I won't even touch the question of which format is better) but this has been a pretty short war and no one made you buy an HD DVD or Blu Ray player. You listened to the arguments of both sides and you made your choice. You knew this could happen. If you're on this sight you're 100 times more knowledgeable than the average Best Buy or Walmart shopper.

No one doubts WB wants to make $ but they make way more $--all the studios do--by adopting one format quickly. In fact, WB might have made more money over the holidays had they made the announcement a couple of months ago when these rumors started. If consumers were given only one HD choice this holiday season I don't doubt there would have been twice or three times as many player and HD disc sales.

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Technically the moment the buyers began investing in HD DVDs and Blu-ray they began buying less standard DVDs.

And they should sell less because there are far more movies that are pure crap than ones that are epic. I don't care about looking for "Big Momma's House" at Best Buy when it's in the $5 bin at the angy poor people's store (Wal*mart).

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Funny coming from one of the poster fan-boys. And no this site is going to get worse too, because we are going to have to listen to the Bluray fanboys congratulate themselves for all eternity.

Not true dude, we used to talk about all kinds of topics on this site, and hopefully that's what it goes back to.

rpruthee said -

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"Warner is giving time to HD-DVD owners and others. The HD-DVD support will drop in May which is almost 4 months from now. Do you recall Paramount dropping support immediately? They cancelled all their BD releases with immediate effect. In this aspect, I respect Warner's decision on dropping HD-DVD support 4 months from now."

Good point about Paramount. Ironically, a few days ago I was on eBay and noticed some joker who had 5 "cancelled" Blu-ray copies of the Paramount film SHOOTER (w/Mark Wahlberg). He thought these were something "special" since they were recalled on the Blu-ray format (this past summer), so, if anyone is interested, they are for sale on the eBay site, for, get this, $75 each!! Ridiculous.

I wonder if soon an HD-DVD joker will decide to sell some HD-DVD titles (now that they will be a "collectors item", and soon no longer available), for a ridiculous markup as well...?

-Love Hendrix! (The Loverboy)
~ DVD/HD-DVD/Blu-ray/KURO Plasma owner ~
(and proud LaserDisc owner - 3 players still kicking!)

the_dvd_chef spouts:

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Funny coming from one of the poster fan-boys. And no this site is going to get worse too, because we are going to have to listen to the Bluray fanboys congratulate themselves for all eternity.

I've owned an HD DVD player for about one year, and have accumulated a fair amount of HD DVD titles (73). Since I bought my player when they were still very expensive, coupled with the number of disks I bought at full retail because BOGOs didn't exist then, I have a considerable investment in the HD DVD format - likely more than you. My last purchase was the delivery of the 4 Warner Harry Potter HD DVDs 2 days ago.

It seems you call anyone a "Bluray poster fanboy" who doesn't agree with you on ANY subject. Why is that? (Actually I know )

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Not true dude, we used to talk about all kinds of topics on this site, and hopefully that's what it goes back to.

God I hope so, it was nice when we used to discuss movies. Not whether they were coming out in High-Def and for what format. Hopefully after a few days we can get back to that.

Meh, my player still plays perfectly fine and the upconverting is practically HD quality anyways. I'm not saying I won't go with Blu-Ray eventually, but it won't be for quite a while. I want to wait for a good player to be released first. The PlayStation is fine, but I don't like how you can't really use a universal remote with it. Also, when updating firmware, can you use a disc?

WB, you are still scum. I just went on Amazon and canceled all my WB pre-order HD DVDs. I know I'm just one person, but I hope others follow so you have a bunch of movies that you can't get rid of for this stupid move.

Yeah, now we'll be able to talk about movies and complain why Blu Ray disks are triple the cost they are now. sounds like fun times.

BTW...I'm curious to see if Blu supporters actually do go after DVD now that HD-DVD is all but dead.

I feel like I should wear my Browncoat today since that's kina how I feel about all this. We lost. Don't mean I don't think we were better.

There's no news so depressing that injecting Firefly into it can't make me a least a little happier.

what did u think of the movie Serenity?

Great movie, one thing I loved about it was you didn't have to see the TV show to understand what was going on. Firefly is definitely in the brilliant but canceled category of TV shows, along with another favorite of mine Arrested Development.

Definitely. Also Brimstone (man that show was ahead of its time).

My theory with TV shows is...if the network execs don't understand it, it'll be great. Unfortunately when they don't understand it they feel the need to tamper, changing timeslots, airing shows out of order ETC.

Anyway as far as Warner's decision, well let's hope this isn't like winning the NFC championship and all Blu-Ray has won is the right to lose to the Patriots (SD-DVD) in the Superbowl.

Warner made this deal long before the holidays... They waited until after the holidays to GET RID OF INVENTORY! They have NO HONOR. And they could care less that hd sales SKYROCKETED in the 4th quarter BECAUSE SONY has pressured them as HARD AS THEY COULD.
I recommend AVOIDING WARNER PICTURES TOTALLY! I wont be buying any Warner dvds for my blu ray. And SONY should have their patents released by the courts to end this crap! Let the courts decide how much they should get for the R and D.
WARNER SHOULD BE ASHAMED!