It's Full Stream Ahead

When the DVD format first hit the market a major selling point besides the improved picture and audio were the special features that could be crammed onto a disc, but these days special features seem to be vanishing. Check out the insightful article HERE on this very subject.


” I lucked out with the timing when I was in film school; I was there from 1998-2002, aka the glory years of DVD special editions. Nearly every movie had a commentary, and I swear I learned more from those than I did in any of my classes.”

The author of the article is quite correct and these days all but the biggest of titles seem bereft of special features, but far from seeing the death of special features we may be witnessing the death of DVD itself. Industry insiders believe that CD’s have another year or two left in them and that DVD’s have no more than five years. And the much trumpeted blu-ray format has not been the success that the industry wished for with movie fans being slow to adopt the new format. I myself consider myself a film buff and have well over a thousand titles in my DVD collection and  I haven’t opted for blu-ray because…well, because I don’t see the point. The audio and visual capabilities of a standard DVD are good enough to make blu-ray a wet fish.

It used to be that the industry were afraid of downloads but they seem much more comfortable  now, perhaps seeing a bigger profit to be made. According to the Wall Street jounal, the big shots have wanted DVD to die for quite some time, as it would be cheaper to sell movies over the net. But nobody wants to watch movies on their computer…or do they? BTIG Research analyst Richard Greenfield notes that Google searches for rental services such as Redbox and (especially) Netflix have skyrocketed and searches for DVDs have flat-lined. Searches for DVD terms such as “DVDs,” “movies on DVD,” “new DVD releases,” and “top DVD rentals” were off some 45 percent since their late-2008 peak, according to Google data. Contrast this with “Netflix,” whose query growth has eclipsed 90 percent in each of the past two years. Has the term Netflix become synonymous with home video, as Google has with search?

It would seem that Hollywood have turned their back on DVD and are now looking at streaming movies over the net.

THE REAL JAMES BOND 007 ON BLUE RAY

M, looked across the courtyard at James Bond. He'd known retirement would ruin him, see him go to seed. Too much time on his hands and 007 throws himself into wild indulgences without paying the price.

'Why I've retired from all that,' Bond said.'These day I prefer somewhat less dangerous pursuits. Isn't that right, girls?' The four girls giggled and continued to fawn over James Bond. He raised an eyebrow and to a girl they all blushed.

It was not what M wanted to hear. 'But England needs you, 007.' He said. 'This new guy's a thug. He's got no respect, looks like Gollum from Lord of the Rings and on his last mission he even broke someone's nose. And what's worse is that these days I'm a woman and Q and Moneypenny have been airbrushed out of the picture.'

Bond raised an eyebrow in disgust. ' I must say that's not cricket.' He stood up and worked a kink out of his aged back. 'Can't have someone running around using my name and actually hurting people. Why I never hurt anyone, maybe I ruffled a few people's hair, electrocuted the odd henchman in the teeth, tossed people off cliffs, ships,buildings and even out of the odd helicopter. But I never went around hurting people. The very sight of blood makes me queasy.'

With that Bond vanished into his luxurious apartment and emerged a split moment later ready for action. It really was amazing what a black polo neck and tight trousers could do.

'Take me to this Daniel Craig person,' he said. 'I'll show them there's only one Bond.'


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Live and Let Die came at the beginning of the 70's and followed on in the lighter vein started off with Diamonds are Forever. It marks the successful début of Roger Moore in the role and makes for a great antidote to the overly grim and dark latest entries in the long running series.

The theme song sung by Macca's pretty good too.

There are many action set pieces - the bus chase, the aeroplane chase, the leaping over the crocs to name but a few of the many highlights. I doubt very much if the latest Bond movie will be remembered as fondly as this classic. Maybe the current producers should look back to a time when Bond led and others followed, rather than copying the Bourne films.

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