Welcome to the physical home video thread. A place for discusing physical home video in its many forms. Talk about things you recently or are about to pick up, your collection, impressions and memories of watching movie and tv on home video. Also feel free to discuss players and other av equipment too.
This thread is really meant to just focus on current format like 4k Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD, but you can talk older formats like VHS, Laserdisc, HD-DVD, etc as well. All are welcome.
I'm a big physical media fan and want to spread my apprection for this kind of thing with other likeminded people on Famiboards.
Boutique spotlight:
There's a number of boutique labels that release movies and tv to disc that the big studio labels are uninterested and/or unwilling in doing themselves, Also titles from smaller companies or individual rights-holder who don't have the infrastructure to do this themselves. I'd like to mention several below that I feel are essential for the home video super fan.
Discotek Media:
Specializes in anime, mostly older shows, but they do newer stuff do. They also release some tokusatsu and live action stuff and even the occasional American cartoon. They only do blu-ray and 4k blu-ray, they stopped doing DVD recently. They have a stellar track record of providing top class discs, with top of the line video and audio quality. They will go the extra mile to include everything they can for a show or movie, even sometimes dubbing older shows that never got one, For things in standard definition they release them as sd-bd, which allows them to fit tons of tv episodes on fewer disc and with less compression than a DVD.
Discotek titles are available on Amazon and the Crunchyroll website.
https://www.discotekmedia.com/
Warner Archive Collection:
Technically they are owned by Warner Bros Discovery, but they are run separate from the main Warner Home Video operation. Warner Archive releases films and tv as MOD (made on demand) discs. All of their blu-rays are pressed, just in smaller batches but are indistinguishable from a regular mass market blu-ray. Their DVDs are mostly burned. The archive doesn't do 4k discs although Warner Home Video sometimes does 4k MOD which get mistaken as Archive titles. The Archive releases a bit of everything, ranging from the 1920s into the 2000s. They do Horror, animation, action, drama, musicals, westerns, a bit of every genres and era really.
They tend to make announcements on their Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/warnerarchive/
Warner Archive titles are available from Amazon and Moviezyng (Moviezyng is the storefront of the company that makes their discs).
Shout! Studios:
Known as Shout! Factory until last year, they release titles licensed from many of the big studios. They have a sub label called Scream Factory that specializes in mainly horror (with a bit of sci-fi action and the odd thriller). Lots of big horror titles too, from series like Friday the 13th, Childs Play, Halloween, etc. Lots of John Carpenter stuff too. They also have a line of numbered titles called Shout Select, which is a mix of cult classics are more mainstream films. Beyond that they release tv shows like MST3K, films by Roger Corman, and other oddities and offbeat things. They tend to produce new special features for many (but not all) of their titles. They also tend to release relatively newer stuff (mostly 60s or 70s through today, including many new titles, not much really old stuff).
https://shoutfactory.com/
Kino Lorber:
Kino releases titles from the big studios like Shout does, They tend to release things from all genres and even from the earliest days of filming. They are known for having a long line of noir boxsets. They also do some french films as well. Also some big TV shows like Night Gallery, Monk, and Colombo. They also do regular sales with deep discounts.
https://kinolorber.com/shop
Arrow Video:
A UK based label that expanded to the US a long while ago. Arrow are well known for the quality of their restorations and for the physical extras that accompany the first tuns of their titles. They really like including things like booklets with writings and pictures about the film. Also posters and sometimes even lobby cards. As for what Arrow releases? All sorts of thing, horror, big studio films, cult classics, martial arts, science fiction, you name it. No matter what kind of movies you like they are sure to have something up your alley.
https://www.arrowvideo.com/
Criterion:
The Criterion Collection is the granddaddy of boutique labels (founded in 1984, when Laserdisc reigned supreme), Criterion tends to release critically acclaimed films. Lots of art house cinema and films from around the world too. They are also known for their practice of spine numbering (Gotta Catch "Em All). They put their whole cataloge for sale every July and November (in addtion to a couple 24 hour flash sales throughout the year), so its always good to stock up around then.
https://www.criterion.com/
88 Films:
A Uk based label that recently expanded to the United States. The release a mixture of giallo, martial arts films, horror, and many other things along those lines, though only their martial arts films hit the states for the most part. They tend to include booklets and posters with the first pressings.
https://88-films.myshopify.com/
Deaf Crocodile:
Per their website: "Deaf Crocodile's mission is restoring and releasing Independent, Lost/Unseen and World Cinema with a focus on World Animation, LGBT+ films, Genre Cinema, and the work of neglected and underrepresented Filmmakers from across the spectrum."
https://www.deafcrocodile.com/
American Genre Film Archive:
Per their website: "Formed in 2009, the American Genre Film Archive (AGFA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit located in Austin, Texas. AGFA exists to preserve the legacy of genre movies through collection, conservation, and distribution. Housing theatrical and home video distribution arms, a 4K film scanner, and over six thousand film prints, AGFA will never rest until genre movies rule the world."
https://www.americangenrefilm.com/
Gold Ninja Video:
Per their own description: “The Criterion of Public Domain Bargain Bins: A boutique film distribution label that focuses on releasing neglected films with lots of new special features.”
https://goldninjavideo.com/
Resources:
https://www.blu-ray.com/ is a great reource for finding everyhting there is to know about discs. Sales, reviews, impressions, news. Even cataloging your collection.
https://www.gruv.com/ is an e-commerce site run by Universal Home Entertainment. They and Warner merged their distribution for their home studio titles a few years ago. Gruv has sales all the time. If you buy off their eBay store you can even get 15 or 20 percent off all orders. They mostly carry Warner and Universal stuff, but also some thing from Lionsgate, Paramount, Viz Media, etc. Great way to bulk up the collection.
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