Toshiba’s Blu-ray player did not bring HD DVD back from the dead, however Indie film makers WETNWILD FILMS and Anthem Pictures are resurrecting the HD DVD format with at least one brand new title: Deadlands 2: Trapped due out on October 27, 2009, in a limited run of only 500 copies.
What started out as a small discussion at the AVS forum has turned in to bigger news in the HD DVD world. Director/writer Gary Ugarek, an HD DVD fan himself, passed along a press release on Friday afternoon about his zombie horror film, Deadlands 2: Trapped. Here are some of Gary’s quotes:
- “Some people thought I was flat out nuts and were asking, why HD DVD? Are you not a Blu-Ray supporter? I answered I am, but when you have a dedicated fan base for a format, like HD-DVD does, and you see the passion of its supporters I immediately knew I wanted to do this for the fans. I want to give them something special.”
- “Right now we have 30gb of space to fill up, so Anthem and I are working together to see what can be included, and if we have the space I will keep adding more to the list to make it a packed to the brim HD DVD release of the film.”
- “I know it’s a gamble with HD DVD having lost out on the format war, but based on feedback from HD DVD fans we expect this to be a huge moment for them, the film and HD DVD. Kind of ironic that a zombie film would be helping HD DVD try to come back from the dead, even if for a short period of time, but who knows, if the program is a success maybe other indie filmmakers and distributors can do something similar for the HD DVD fans and keep it alive for the hard core.”
And more info directly from the press release:
“Over the last 18 months, since HD DVD’s demise, I and small group of HD DVD enthusiasts have scoured every part of the planet trying to obtain the left over releases of HD DVD material. We were early adopters of the format and still felt to this day the format shouldn’t have been left to die off. So I set out to do some research and realized the following:
During HD DVD’s release over 1,000,000 player units were sold and over 800 titles were released for the format. At the end of its tenure the market penetration still remained strong, and the format built a dedicated fan base.
So I set out to see if these HD DVD owners would be interested in a brand new release. I presented all the information about the film, gave them access and links to trailers, the press kit and the technical aspects… and you know what… THEY LOVED THE IDEA. The feedback was unbelievable. Within 36 hours of putting the question out there, I received over 200+ emails, within 96 hours 380+ requests from HD DVD fans asking me to make this happen.
I presented the idea to Anthem Pictures, the distributor, and they liked it, and immediately jumped behind it.”
One wouldn’t think a $6,000.00 zombie film would be a candidate for such a release, but Deadlands 2 is that candidate. The HD DVD release will be limited to 500 copies only, with each disc noting the fact it is a LIMITED COLLECTORS EDITION. Also, each disc will also come with a Certificate of Authenticity numbering which copy the purchaser received. Since it is such a limited item, HD DVD fans will want to jump on this opportunity as this will be the first HD DVD to be mastered and press for release since March 2008, which is when production of the format ceased. Thus making the HD DVD release of Deadlands 2 a rarity.
Because of the limited production run and the extensive cost to produce HD DVD, the disc will retail through the distributors website for $29.95 + S&H and will be available for both US and International customers. HD DVD unlike Blu-Ray does not use a region coding system, so one master is just made and the disc even if purchased in the US will play in any HD DVD player around the world.
Based on the research data Ugarek has conducted he is expecting a good response and Anthem Pictures is setting up a special page on their website for HD DVD fans to pre-order their discs to make sure they have their copy reserved for when the film hits the street on October 27th.
Deadlands 2: Trapped stars Jim Krut (DAWN of the DEAD) and Josh Davidson (Prekins 14)
September 14th, 2009 at 10:24 am
Bought it.
I would buy more as well if anyone out there is listening?!! yoo hoo, there are still quite a bit of us HD-DVD owners actually!
(And we just buy more movies in general, than those ‘other’ format guys.)
September 14th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Well said Rick.
September 15th, 2009 at 3:07 am
I’ve pre-ordered it, I would wait around over half the 500 already accounted for.
September 23rd, 2009 at 10:30 am
So no one else is getting this? lol My eyes and ears are still glossed from Blade Runner the final cut, I don’t expect the same production values from this b movie horror schlock, but I am hoping for some extras. I’ll post back when it finally lands in my lap.
(And probably before!)
September 24th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Though I have not been actively participating in any of the forums lately, I have been following all your post. I must admit that this one caught me by surprise; the idea of a new hd dvd title coming out is always welcomed. And I, of course, ordered the zombie film a while ago. However, I am a bit concerned about this becoming a trend that I am not willing to follow. What I mean is that, clearly, this zombie film is not going to be “Casablanca”, and I would even say that it may be closer to the crappy side of quality than to the sunny one. And this time this is ok with me. But what if, once this proves to be a successful strategy by the filmmakers and a decent amount of money is made, what if others try to do the same thing and start dumping their crap (I am no saying this zombie film is crap because I have not seen it yet) on the hd dvd format? Now, that would be an extremely sad way to really end all this, don’t you think? Anyway, just a few thoughts. Once again, thank you Pravin for an excellent job and for your invincible patience. Long live Red!
September 24th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
George,
I hadn’t even thought about that. You make a very good point. It would suck to see a bunch of “made for SyFy channel” movies and other movies of the same “lack of” quality to make their way to HD DVD.
It would be nice if hit films would make limited HD DVD releases, but that’s just wishful thinking.
Kudos George for bringing this up.
September 24th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
You stay classy San Diego.
September 25th, 2009 at 9:34 am
Hey, um original Rick poster here, (Not Vermont Rick) anyway, yes I too would not like only b movie releases for HD DVD, but, the format was abandoned by it’s creator, and the person putting this out is doing this just for us with a bunch o extras, which I personally applaud. (In fact I sent a thank you to Gary after I ordered it.) So yes I would love to see Batman the Dark Knight on HDDVD, but all I have is Batman Begins. lol
(Which actually is really good, lol)
September 26th, 2009 at 11:43 pm
My friend just got back from Hong Kong and got an HD DVD bootleg of Iron Man. I know, I know… Bootleg? I don’t support bootleg cvopies, but I’ll make an exception for this one. The case looks so well done that it almost looks official. As far as I can tell, it’s a rip of the Blu-ray and burned unto an HD DVD. We compared the quality of it to my Blu-ray of Iron Man and it’s pretty close, but not all there. Still better than regular DVD.
September 28th, 2009 at 7:35 am
oohh, hong Kong underground HD DVDs? Sweet, wonder what else they’re putting onto HD DVD there.
That is the underground industry I had expceted to crop up after Toshiba’s abandonment of HD DVD, Blu ray rips to Hd DVD. No more web enabled content though. Still I would like to know what else is making the ‘Cut’ in Hong Kong.
September 29th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
From what I’ve heard, there’s more to choose from in Beijing cause it’s even less regulated than Hong Kong. My friend saw lots of HD DVD support during his trip to Hong Kong and the surrounding areas. Since China introduced their own HD format based on HD DVD technology, most people look at HD DVD as the original HD pioneer and not Blu-ray. Some people even told him that there already is a player in China that plays both CH-DVD and HD DVD. Don’t know if it’s true or not since he didn’t see one, but I wouldn’t be surprised that someone had to manufacture one with all the HD DVD pirated content available in China.
September 29th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Correction, the format in china is CBHD.
September 29th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
Did a little bit of research and Iron Man was released in Germany on HD DVD this past December. My friends bootleg is a rip of that version and includes web enabled features. Seems that there have been a few number of blockbuster titles that have been release in HD DVD in Europe despite of Toshiba no longer manufacturing the players. This reminds me of the old Beta days, even when you couldn’t find movies in Beta here in the U.S. you could still find American movies in Beta from Japan. Having held this HD DVD bootleg copy of Iron Man and then finding out that it was released in Europe this past December makes me feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone.
September 30th, 2009 at 11:24 am
After reading your post I went ‘a searching’ as well, and it seems as if both Iron man and the Dark Knight were suppossed to be released on German HD DVD, but I found nothing further. aaahhhhh well, I’ll keep a lookout!
October 3rd, 2009 at 12:42 am
Rick, let me know if you find anything. All I’ve found is the Iron Man one, but can’t find The Dark Knight. Would like to buy them both as collectible and add them to my LaserDisc collection.
October 5th, 2009 at 7:34 am
lol nice laser disc ref!
I will of course post if I find any more on them, (And I will be lookin!) I just bought another batch of some HD DVDs. Oceans Twelve, 2Fast and 2Furious, a few others…mostly because I have the others in those series. I still troll Inetvideo and where-ever the search links take me.
Have a good one Juve.
October 5th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Thanks Rick,
I too will keep on looking for some of those foreign releases.
I wish they would do a limited “Fast and Furious” release in HD DVD since I have the first three in that format already. It would make a nice collection.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Your dreams come true: a seller on Ebay has the following titles on hd-dvd for $20 each: Coraline, The Dark Knight, Fast and Furious, State of Play, The Last House on the Left, Bolt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Fighting, Dance Flick. Buy at your own risk, but personally I think this is not going to end well.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
George,
I looked them up. The only actual HD DVD was Coraline. The others are Blu-rays that were mislabeled by the poster as HD DVD instead of HD. But Caroline alone lets me know that some studios out there are not dismissing the HD DVD crowd… at least over seas.
I couldn’t find Fast and Furious even mislabeled, so it might of been purchased already as a limited HD DVD release. I’ll keep my eyes open for that one as well.
Thanks for the heads up.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Juve,
I emailed the seller and he said they are all hd-dvds, not blu-rays. I also noticed the blu-ray logo…
October 6th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
We will eventually enter a phase where people think “hd” is a generic term to apply to “dvd” and may eventually think that Blu-ray discs are HD DVDs. They are correct from their perspective, and we can only face-palm.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Pravin,
I ran into that when I lived in Orlando. Before Blockbuster went Blu-ray only at their stores I went to my local store and asked if they were going to add HD DVD like at some stores in L.A. were doing at the time. The clerk looked at me and said “We already have HD DVDs.” and pointed at the Blu-rays. I spent ten minutes explaining the difference between the two and he still kept telling me that Blu-rays were HD DVDs. His manager came out in the middle of the conversation and looked at him as if he had just arrived from a parallel universe. The following month Blockbuster went BD only at their stores nationwide but kept offering them for on-line rental.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
You are right, guys. However, I think this Ebay guy is selling are hd-dvd copies of blu-rays. Since this is of certain interest to us I went ahead and bought Coraline. I will report once I get the disc. The seller has a bad reputation as a slow shipper so it may take a while.
October 6th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Thanks George
October 7th, 2009 at 11:02 am
Cool definitely keep us appraised please!
October 13th, 2009 at 5:15 am
So Coraline HD-DVD arrived today and… well, I am at work so have not had a chance to play it. However, as an owner of over 600 hd-dvds I am pretty confident to say that this disc is no hd-dvd and it is no blu-ray either. It is clearly an Asian import (aka: bootleg) and has Blu-ray written all over it… Wait a minute, I am just going to play in my computer and if it does play then it is not a high def disc. Here I go; well, it plays without problem. I do not know if this makes any sense but it plays as if the contents of a blu-ray disc have been copied onto a regular dvd; is that possible? The image quality is fairly poor; the blu-ray logo is there and so is the blu-ray menu from Universal pictures, but this is NOT a high def disc. Sorry guys, but this was a scam as we already suspected. Now I need to get my money back (I will keep you posted on that too since I have the feeling dealing with this jerk is going to be interesting).
October 13th, 2009 at 9:51 am
So a blu rip to regular DVD, well, can the menu be accessed while the movie continues? just curious, for a DVD does it look good? Anyway good luck with the getting your money back and please let us know how it works out.
October 14th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
I finally tested the disc at home and I was right: it is a blu-ray transferred onto a regular dvd with an awful lot of compression and a dreadful image and sound quality. A nightmare. And I got all my money back. Stay away from this kind of crap.
October 15th, 2009 at 8:27 am
Sorry to hear it George. Thanks for the update though, glad you got your money back.
October 15th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Very disappointing. You would think that he would at least be selling a Blu-ray rip unto an HD DVD disk. This is sad, poorly advertised on eBay. Not that I am condoning pirated content, but if someone is going to do it anyway, they should at least do it right, or at least make sure that what they are selling is exactly what they are describing. Oh well. Thanks for looking into it George.
October 16th, 2009 at 5:44 am
@ George: I’m not sure if its okay to publish it on this forum about that seller’s name so we could all avoid that seller. I do buy alot of HD DVDs at eBay and I would like to avoid this buyer. If it’s okay, please publish the seller’s name so we are aware of this turd.
October 16th, 2009 at 5:50 am
George did get his money back, so that seller is only a partial turd. George, did that seller change his ebay ad to reflect the truth about these discs?
October 16th, 2009 at 10:01 am
Hi. The seller blamed his provider and said he was out $300 because of a few titles like the one I bought. I really think he is full of crap. As of right now he is not advertising these movies any more. I hope this helps. Thank you.
October 17th, 2009 at 6:04 am
Glad that you get your money back. It’s always a risk buying at eBay but I can’t help myself sometimes, especially for good HDDVD deals.
October 19th, 2009 at 5:19 am
Hi,
For those who likes very rare HD-DVD movie, I have one to sell.
This is an eastern europe import with only french audio track (DD5.1+ and DTS HD).
The movie is a comedy produced by Luc Besson (The fifth element, leon the professional, …).
The title is ‘Taxi 4′, maybe you know the US remake (of taxi 1) of this movie with queen latifah.
I could send photo if somebody is interested.
Regards,
Shawshank.
October 19th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Shawshank,
It’s tempting… very tempting. Only thing is that it’s with French tracks. If it was in English, I would buy it to watch it. Now, if it had been like the Dark Knight, or Iron Man… I would of jumped on it even if it didn’t include English language track, just to have as a collector item. If you run into any of those tittles, let me know. I’ll buy them from you.
October 20th, 2009 at 8:49 am
Hi Juve,
I’m french, that’s why I own this HD-DVD
but it could interest people from quebec
I will probably never had Iron Man or The Dark Knight because, as everybody know, french speak an awful english ! lol (you can read this for proof)
Or maybe if there is french audio track too in this 2 titles in addition of english one…
October 20th, 2009 at 10:30 am
Shawshank,
It’s cool. I do wish there was more of a list out there of foreign released HD DVDs. If they are only in French or any other language, at least to me, it wouldn’t matter as long as I had them. I have a laserdisc collection, and right now it’s pretty worthless to sell, but to me it’s priceless. I had tons of movies in LD before they even came out on DVD. I look at HD DVD the same way. There are lots of HD DVDs that still have not come out on Blu-ray. By the way, thanks for explaining your French, that explains why you have this tittle with a French language track only.
Shawshank, you have been redeemed.
October 23rd, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Hello. Does anyone know when this zombie flick will be shipped? Thank you.
December 4th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Scheduled for December 8th