Universal kicks off the month of March with freshly lowered prices, and retailers are busy updating their price lists to pass the savings along.

Universal essentially reduced the list prices of their already released discs by $10, and then you throw in the standard discount from your favorite retailer. This means you can now get American Gangster at Amazon for only $16 instead of $26, and the entire Bourne Trilogy for only $30. In fact, most of Universal’s movies are now only $11.95 at Amazon.

This pricing will show up in some form at all the other merchants, and I’ll update this posting as news about those sales comes in. We’ll start with Amazon first and add to this list as the other retailers chime in. DeepDiscount is included here, but at the time this article was posted, their prices did not yet reflect Universal’s new discounts (compare with Amazon’s pricing). Click-through and see if that has changed by the time you read this.

• Universal discs on sale at Amazon.com (goes to a search results page for ‘Universal’)
• Universal titles on sale at DeepDiscount.com

UPDATE: It looks like Amazon’s pricing has gone up slightly from earlier in the day. American Gangster is now $19 instead of $16. Click through to see whether the lower pricing has returned. The Bourne Trilogy is still $30, however.

UPDATE: Our friends at FormatWarCentral.com are reporting that Best Buy has put their HD DVD discs on sale at 30% off. The online pricing is still a little more than Amazon and DeepDiscount, but it appears that the deals at the stores are more compelling. Read more at FormatWarCentral.com…

UPDATE: March 6 – It looks like Amazon has lowered prices on Beowulf to $20.95 and American Gangster to $17.95 and other titles are a buck or two cheaper as well. Click through to the links above and see if you get the same or lower pricing.

Now that Paramount has stopped making new discs, their entire HD DVD collection is about to enter the “get them while they last” phase. Paramount rolled out a huge discount on about two dozen titles earlier in the week, and this showed up at Amazon, DeepDiscount.com and Fry’s right away. We’ll have to see whether that discount is extended to more titles in the coming week or further down the line. The new low pricing on those titles ($10 or $11.95 depending on the store) is bound to make them sell out faster than the movies that haven’t gone on sale yet, so you might want to consider whether to get them now or keep waiting.

Universal had a promotion in February that resulted in Amazon’s month-long 50% off sale, and $12 titles at DeepDiscount.com. Warner had a similar sale, and it looks like their new one for March has started up and brings some new savings on Harry Potter titles among others.

The sales can only get better and continue from here on in, so here’s a quick recap of the promotions that are going on right now:

• Selected Paramount titles 60% off at Amazon and DeepDiscount
• Planet Earth and Sunrise Earth sales at Discover Channel Store
• Amazon 50% off sale on 150 titles which includes the bigger sale on selected Paramount titles
• 56 Warner titles up to 57% off at Amazon
• Plenty of popular discs for $10 and $12 at DeepDiscount.com

The Discovery Channel Store is bringing back last week’s $29.95 sale on the US version of Planet Earth, and adding a promotion on Sunrise Earth: American Sunrise this time.

You can only get this deal through the various websites that are affiliates for the Discovery Channel Store (like this one). If you go to the site on your own, the discounts are not going to show up.

The US version of Planet Earth is not the same as the BBC version currently selling on Amazon for $55. Sigourney Weaver narrates the US version, and while the BBC version is 1080p, the US version is 1080i just as it was broadcast on the network. Because it’s the same thing that was on TV, each episode is also a few minutes shorter to account for where the commercials were placed. A lot of people have been willing to overlook these differences because of the $29.95 price, and they loved what they saw on TV.

The other promotion they’ve got is Sunrise Earth: American Sunrise for $35 off at $24.95, plus free shipping. Same deal on this set, you need to click through from an affiliated site instead of visiting them directly on your own.

Here’s the tricky part: if you want to do both deals, you need to make them separately. In other words, click on one and then complete it. Then come back to click on the other deal and complete it separately. You’ll see the free shipping and discounts on both only after the item is added to your cart. These aren’t being advertised at the site. If you’re having trouble seeing the discounts, then clear your browser cache/cookies and try again. I did one transaction in Firefox and another in Internet Explorer in order to see/get both discounts, and I tested the cookie clearing method in IE to get both offers to work. (How to clear your browser cache)

Here are the links (they open in a new window/tab so you can try to order both if you want to):

• Sunrise Earth HD DVD Set for $35 off at $24.95 and free shipping
• Planet Earth HD DVD Set $50 off at $29.95 and free shipping

Amazon has had this 50% off sale for a few weeks now, and lots of websites that are new to covering HD DVD seem to think it’s a fire sale. Just a little bit of investigation would show that this is simply an ordinary sale where many discs are $15, $17 and $20 instead of closer to $30.

However there is a noteworthy development in this sale for this week. It seems that almost two dozen Paramount titles are now 60% off and selling for $11.95. The same titles are selling at DeepDiscount.com for $9.98. There are some pretty good titles in this 60% off club, so take a look and see if there’s anything you might like. All of these links here open in a new browser window that goes to the corresponding Amazon ordering page, and clicking on other links here opens that title in the same new window. You can visit DeepDiscount.com from the link at the end.

• Selected Paramount titles for $10 at DeepDiscount.com
• Amazon 50% off sale on 150 titles that the list above is part of
• 33 Warner titles up to 57% off at Amazon
• Previous post about sales, many of which are still on like these at Amazon and DeepDiscount.com.

Just about a week after Toshiba formally announced the end of their HD DVD player production, Microsoft has followed suit and announced that the HD DVD add-on player for the Xbox 360 will be discontinued. There had been rumors that the drive would start selling for $50, and those came true today as all the major retailers updated their pricing overnight.

The “non-believers” (people who never supported HD DVD and still don’t) will say that this is $50 too much to pay for technology that’s going nowhere. If you’re a little more involved with HD DVD, for example you have a reasonable collection of discs, there’s a whole other angle to consider.

The HD DVD add-on drive is actually just a USB peripheral that can even be hooked up to a PC. With the right software and capable video card, you can watch HD DVD movies on your computer, or let your computer pass the signal along to an HDTV. $50 is much cheaper than any of the internal drives made for the PC for this same purpose (usually because those internal drives are combo drives that also play Blu-ray discs, and can burn DVDs).

If you already have a 360 to hook it up to, $50 is now the cheapest way to get into the fading world of HD DVD. This may be more important to people looking for a way to have some sort of back-up drive in case their primary HD DVD machine breaks down.

Another reason to get this drive right now (as commentor Bob points out) is because it comes with King Kong and qualifies for the 5 Free Movies offer (if you get it by the 28th). That’s 6 HD DVD movies for $50!

Whatever your reason for wanting the $50 add-on drive, the time is now. Amazon appears to have sold out and is now offering them through their partner vendors, some of whom had not updated their prices yet. Amazon could also get these back in stock in case you’re patient. We’ve also had at least a couple of visitors to the site report that Best Buy currently offers this same price, and I’m sure it’s available at Circuit City and elsewhere for $50 as well.

• $50 Xbox 360 add-on at Amazon.com
• $50 at Best Buy
• $50 at Circuit City

Many sites unfamiliar with the high-def disc formats are reporting that Amazon’s 30%-50% off sale is part of a clearance on HD DVD. The fact is that Amazon always sold HD DVD (and Blu-ray) titles for at least 30% off, and their 50% off sale has been going on since before Toshiba’s announcement about halting HD DVD production. For example, this important looking Canadian site is reporting that Amazon’s got a fire sale on movies, and I’m sure you’ve seen this kind of ignorant talk elsewhere.

Why the lack of arson on movies? Retailers aren’t in a hurry to clear out movies since there’s a renewed demand for them from people who want to get the titles before they’re completely out of print.

Also, put yourself in the retailer’s position. Why sell a $30 item for $10 when there are still people willing to pay $20 or $25 for it? The nature of liquidations is that the price only gets drastically lowered as demand for the product at a higher price fades. Consequently, we see huge discounts right now on players. It’ll be a little while before the huge discounts come to movies. The risk one takes for waiting it out is that there will be fewer movies to pick from later on.

It’s much easier to find used movies on sale. For example, stores like FYE and Hollywood Video are likely to have some appealing prices, and there are the hundreds of sellers on eBay.

Some of you are not planning on increasing your HD DVD libraries, while others want to make sure they get their copy of certain titles before those movies are gone for good. Going into this first weekend of the fall-out from Tuesday’s big HD DVD discontinuation announcement, we see that the usual places are still running many of their big sales that started earlier in the month:

• Hollywood Video rental stores should be selling their used HD DVD movies at $10 each, if they haven’t already started

Apparently, some HV stores are actually franchisees and this 2 for $20 plan may only be happening at the corporate-owned stores. Bug the store manager if the sale hasn’t started, he/she probably needs to check their email or make a phone call to confirm.

• 50% off on 98 HD DVD titles at Barnes & Noble, even more off with membership
• 50% off sale at Amazon.com on 150 titles
• 33 Warner titles for up to 57% off at Amazon.com
• Movies under $16 (some are $11 and many are $12.20) at DeepDiscount.com
• Tower has movies at around 50% off.
• Fry’s Electronics has many HD DVD titles for $15.

The specific offer may differ at the stores in your area.

• Planet Earth HD DVD Set $50 off at $29.95 from DiscoveryStore.com!

(Add to your cart and see the discount there) This is the version that was broadcast in the USA with Sigourney Weaver narrating. It’s not as highly regarded as the original BBC version that’s closer to $55, but some people do like this one.

By the way, if you’re aware of sales at European sites or stores, please feel free to share about them in the comments or email me. I’ve heard that Amazon’s German site has a promotion on HD DVD titles which might be a little closer to the “fire sale” description if your native currency is Euros. There are many titles which were Blu-ray exclusive in the USA, but available on HD DVD over in Europe, so many people over here are interested in keeping up with this kind of information.

While this week has had its share of bad news from some corners, it turns out that the last few weeks have been a really wonderful time for many HD DVD owners looking to build their libraries.

It had been reported in a few places that Planet Earth was out of print, which led some people to entertain discussions about Warner (who distributes the title for the BBC here) and format support. Checking this morning, it’s back in stock at Amazon for $55, right through Amazon itself and not one of their associated vendors.

Here’s a look at some of the deals that are currently available. Many of these are continuations from earlier in the week. The anti people will say some of these are fire sales. In truth, Amazon’s “Buy 2 Get a Third” sale, for example, is happening on both high-def formats, with a few more titles on Blu.

Without further ado, here’s what you can look forward to over this weekend:

• 50% off HD DVD at Barnes & Noble, even more off with membership.

A little birdie tells me that using code Y4R4K7D might save an additional 25% on a single item

• 50% off sale at Amazon.com

Don’t forget to also see if something interests you in the buy-2-get-1 free offer

• Amazon Buy 2 Get the Third Free

This one can get confusing because of the 50% off sale that’s also going on. Your cart might become a confusing mess of discounts, consider placing separate orders.

• Buy One Get One Free at Best Buy from Feb 10 to Feb 16

The trick appears to be to have them ring up the cheaper movie first

• Movies under $16 (some are $11 and many are $12.20) at DeepDiscount.com
• Tower has 52% off too, but the movies are not listed in any friendly order

UPDATE: Just added (Feb 12): Amazon Buy 2 Get the Third Free

Steve Jobs says that people don’t read books any more, but I’m sure that Barnes & Noble would disagree. However, if you have reduced your book reading, or forsaken it altogether because you’ve been spending more time in front of your HDTV, then Barnes & Noble still wants to prove that they can be friends with you. Their gesture is a 50% off sale on HD DVD movie titles.

It’s pretty much the same sale that Amazon had all last week and expanded for this week, except that you can get an additional discount if you’re a Barnes & Noble member. It means that a title that’s on sale right now for $14.99 would only cost $13.49 for members.

Alas, membership is not free. I used to have me one of these memberships a couple of years ago when I was picking up books like crazy. They do save you a lot of money in the end, but only if you’re a frequent shopper.

Here are the links of interest for all of your HD DVD movie shopping for this weekend, including this sale at B&N:

• 50% off HD DVD at Barnes & Noble, even more off with membership. A little birdie tells me that using code Y4R4K7D might save an additional 25% on a single item.
• 50% off sale at Amazon.com
• Buy One Get One Free at Best Buy from Feb 10 to Feb 16
• Movies under $16 at DeepDiscount.com
• Tower has 52% off too, but the movies are not listed in any friendly order

UPDATE: Amazon has now combined the Universal, Paramount and Dreamworks titles into one sales page.

This week started off with a two-for-one sale at Amazon featuring 103 Universal titles. It’s actually a 50% off sale, but the math works out to essentially the same thing as buying two (at full price) and getting one of them free, which is called a BOGO (buy one get one) nowadays.

Paramount/DreamWorks is now joining the fun and bringing about 46 titles on sale for 50% off. I wasn’t able to find a special page for this deal, as there is for the Universal one, but here’s a list of the movies involved in this sale. Most are going for about $15, which is half off their usually $30 price tag.

Two box sets are also included at 50% off: Mission Impossible for $50 and Star Trek for $98.

The sale comes just in time to for all the new HD DVD owners from the Xbox 360’s HD DVD add-on player. You can start off with favorites like Transformers for only $20. Or perhaps movies like Stardust or Failure to Launch for Valentine’s Day.

It’s a long list, so I’ll break this posting into a couple of parts to not clutter up the main page. If/when a dedicated page becomes available at Amazon, I’ll update with a link to it.

UPDATE: Here’s a link to their page, which combines the Universal, Paramount and DreamWorks movies, making for a big selection of 147 titles.

You can hover your mouse over the movie title to see its 50% off price. Clicking will open up a new window (or tab) on your browser, and clicking on any other title will open that page up in the same window/tab.
Click here to see the list of Paramount/DreamWorks titles at half-off