As more people adopt Blu-ray, prices continue to ebb. The same practice happened with DVDs. New titles were gobbled up in the first week of release. Months later, the title would see a significant drop in price. What once retailed for $17 could be found for less than $10.
Blu-ray is tricky. On one hand it is competing with DVD for new release dominance. The other side is the catalog titles that come in waves from each studio. Consumer buying standards come into play.
When it comes to catalog titles, buyers won’t pay more than x amount. The “x” is how much they deem a catalog title should cost. Personally, I’d fall around the $10 – $13 scale. Though, I did luck out once and got a brand-new copy of Lethal Weapon for $5.49.
Pricing can be wishy-washy like that. If you hold out long enough, bargains can be found. For instance, as part of Sony Pictures “Staycation” promotion, which ended October 31st, the studio offered $2 off select DVD catalog titles and $3 off select BD catalog titles. The coupon could be used in brick-and-mortar stores like Best Buy or through online retailers like Amazon.com. Since Amazon traditionally matches certain DVD deals offered by Best Buy (and now Fry’s Electronics), some real deals can be had. Recently I saved $15 when I placed an order for five catalog BD titles from Sony. Five discs for a little under $50 is not a bad deal at all, considering some from Sony’s catalog retails for upwards of $25.
And more recently I got six Universal catalog releases for $67 and change. The deals are there, you just have to look around.
On to our feature presentation: Or, A reason on how to be a kid again Blu-ray style.
Studio: Warner Home Video
Running Time: 102 minutes
MPAA Rating: G
Number of Disks: 3
MSRP: $84.99
Special Features
– Audio commentary
– Outtakes and Deleted Scenes
– L. Frank Baum Biopic
– Previous Film Versions of ‘The Wizard of Oz’
– Digital Copy
– Limited Edition 70th Anniversary Watch with Genuine Crystals
– 52-Page Commemorative Book
– Original 1939 Campaign Book Reproduction
– Original Movie Budget Replica
– Documentaries
– Featurettes
– Still Galleries
– Theatrical Trailers
– Sing-Along Track
– Music-and-Effects Track
– Vintage Film Shorts
– Vintage Radio Programs
– Recording Sessions
– Video Storybook
– ‘MGM: When the Lion Roars’ Documentary (BD Exclusive)
– BD-Live (BD Exclusive)
The Wizard of Oz is probably the most recognized film of all time. It has become a part of our global culture, influenced modern film, and can stake its claim as one of the greatest films ever made. Poll a hundred people and ask them who the vice president is and I bet you would get less than a 50-50 response. But ask them to hum “Over the Rainbow” and you’ll be amazed.
Victor Fleming’s film tells the tale of Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland), a farm girl swept up in a tornado and deposited in the mystical land of Oz, a kingdom ruled by an all-powerful wizard (Frank Morgan) and two evil witches. Make that one evil witch, as Dorothy’s tornado-tumbling house kills the Wicked Witch of the East as it touches down. The Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton), her sister, vows revenge, however. But Dorothy’s got bigger problems, namely getting home. Doing so requires her to travel across Oz to enter the Emerald City and get help from the Wizard. On her journey Dorothy befriends a trio of strange-looking fellows: a Scarecrow (Ray Bolger) who is in need of a brain, a Tin Man (Jack Haley) who was never given a heart, and a Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr) who lacks courage. Together, they’re off to see the Wizard…the wonderful Wizard of Oz.
At the time of its arrival, 1939, war was being waged overseas and the Great Depression was still plaguing the U.S. Hope was a commodity so rare you couldn’t buy it or steal it. And yet here comes The Wizard of Oz, a Technicolor marvel, with visuals that widened eyes and fueled imagination. Seventy years later and it still has the power to make a child’s cheeks turn red with delight. When Judy Garland sings “Over the Rainbow,” there’s a sense of hope in the lyricism, which holds true even in this day and age. The Wizard of Oz is a cinematic treasure that should be required viewing for all, even the most jaded cynic.
Three years after getting the royal treatment from Warner Bros. on DVD, Oz arrives on Blu-ray in one of the most elaborate packages I’ve ever come across. Opening this Ultimate Collector’s Edition box, I feared that I should be wearing protective gloves. Examining the contents, they are as snuggly packed as they are frivolous. Which means die-hard fans are sure to enjoy owning a 70th Anniversary watch, a reproduction of the original 1939 campaign book, and a 52-page commemorative book. The books are nice to thumb through, but honestly, you won’t flip through them that much, except to get to the most important article of the box: a cardboard sleeve housing three discs in a gateway foldout package.
Three of the documentaries found on the first disc (“The Making of a Movie Classic,” “The Art of Imagination: A Tribute to Oz,” and “The Legacy of Oz”) add up to more than two hours of supplemental material – more than the feature itself. With these features you get to trace the legacy that The Wizard of Oz, from its production problems and casting changes (The Tin Man was originally to be played by Buddy Ebsen – The Beverly Hillbillies‘ Jed Clampett) to the impact the film had on filmmakers like Peter Jackson and the phenomenon it became thanks to television and merchandising. (And if you don’t know what merchandising is, watch this clip below.)
The first disc is also heavy on stills galleries (105 minutes worth) and is a treasure trove for audio enthusiasts. With the Jukebox extra, Oz aficionados can hear original recordings and outtakes of “Over the Rainbow,” and rehearsal tracks for nine other songs. Other audio perks: a music and effects only track, the original mono track, a 1950’s Christmas radio broadcast of The Wizard of Oz with Judy Garland voicing Dorothy, and the Good News of 1939 Radio Show, where host Robert Young interviews the cast and plays music from the upcoming theatrical release of Oz.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. The second disc has half-hour docs on director Victor Fleming and author L. Frank Baum, a NBC biopic about Baum from 1990 starring John Ritter, Annette O’Toole and Golden Girl Rue McClanahan, three silent films from 1914 relating to The Wizard of Oz, as well as a 1910 silent adaptation of Braum’s book. Both discs also include some smaller featurettes, trailers, outtakes and deleted scenes, and a Sing Along if you’re planning a karaoke party.
And finally, disc 3. As if this set needed any more documentaries, the Blu-ray has the added treat of a two-sided standard DVD disc for Frank Martin’s When the Lion Roars, an exhaustive six-hour documentary about the rise and subsequent fall of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios. (If purchased on its own, it would cost you $30. Here you get it for free.)
If my highlight summary of the extras wasn’t enough to make you click your heels together and head to the store, I don’t know what will. Warner Bros. knows how to package a classic. With a great high-definition presentation (those ruby red slippers have never looked better) and features that will send Wizard of Oz purists over the rainbow, this is a must have for all Blu-ray collections. So if you do see this release in stores and hesitate a purchase, ask yourself, “What Would Dorothy Do?” The answer, when it comes to watching Oz, there’s no place like home.
