Universal's BD-59 Blu-ray / DVD flip discs to debut on Bourne trilogy releases
By Richard Lawler 
posted December 1st 2009 2:22PM
posted December 1st 2009 2:22PM
Once upon a time Universal was the hybrid disc king, with plans to release up to 90% of its 2007 HD DVD titles on the dual sided discs, but we know how that ended. Now the company is back to its old tricks, ready to ship the first BD-59 discs with a 50GB Blu-ray / 9GB DVD configuration promising movie and all available special features in whichever format is desired. The expensive answer to a question no one was asking or the perfect way to add future proofing and extended compatibility to new movie purchases? We'll know more once a price is announced for the Jason Bourne trilogy of movies -- seeing their first individual Blu-ray releases -- due on January 19.
Now, if only I didn't already have some of the series on dead-format HD-DVD.
@Nerdtalker
still waiting on the laserdisk release...
@Nerdtalker
you know they have hd-dvd to blu-ray replacement programs right? although i dont know what they offer since i waited. :)
Awesome
Movies need to either be released on this or released with a blu ray and dvd in one pack on separate discs.
Forget all these digital copy discs, just waste of discs and space. Need to re-install your OS? Yup, your digital copies are gone and you're not getting them back without buying them again. At least with a DVD I can play it wherever I want and make my own digital copies.
@Jordan
You sure? I got a digital copy of star trek, reinstalled from Vista to 7. Told itunes to check for purchases and there it was.
@Jordan
Dude, you don't know what you're talking about. You can "re-download" digital copies as many times as you want providing you use the same account you used the first time.
@Jordan: hmmm prehaps I'm wrong about the redownloading.
But it still holds true, digital copy is a waste. Give me a DVD I can watch any where and make my own digital copies of, don't give me your DRM bullshit.
@Jordan Agreed. A physical DVD is far superior to a digital copy. I'd prefer it on a separate disc, but I guess this is Universal's way of making sure I don't buy it on Blu-ray, then give the DVD to somebody else for free.
@Jordan
I agree. In my opinion, Disney is the only company doing this right. The Blu-Ray/DVD Pixar combos are excellent. I have the high-quality version for home use, and a DVD for grandma's house, loans to friends, whatever. UP threw in a Digital Copy, but I'm staying away from the DRM drama.
Blockbuster + AnyDVD or DVDFab + Handbrake + Backups = No problems here.
@Jordan My blu-ray copy of the Dark Knight came with A blu-ray and a digital/dvd copy.
I don't see the point of this.
@Jordan
Um.. you do realize that making your own copy is still illegal, at least in the US.
"don't give me your DRM bullshit"
DVDs are DRM-protected, it's just very easy to bypass now that the format has been around so long.
@bstock: Right.
But pretend for a second you are a studio. You want people to buy blu ray because of the copy protection, but they're not budging because of DVDs universalness. So you give them a digital copy. They don't like it because they can't load it to their portable players nor can they play them on a dvd player. This leads to them not adopting DVD and just copying DVDs as usual. "Copying" here meaning actually copying the disc.
Now let's say you sell blu rays with a DVD copy of the movie. This intices people. They want the high def version and they're happy it comes with a DVD. Now they don't need to copy the DVD, they already have it. Sure they might copy it onto their comptuer to play on their portable device, but is that really going to hurt you? Are you not better off with them buying the blu ray and not just renting the dvd and copying it?
You need to give a little to get some. As long as I've paid for my copy of the blu ray, that comes with a DVD, I see no reason why a studio should have any problem with me copying it to my computer for the sole purpose of putting it on my portable device.
@Jordan
I think we're missing a big point here. I'd be enticed to buy a Blu-ray/DVD combo because I'm not shelling out $200 for a BD player right now. The tech is still too early and expensive, and waiting for HDMI 1.3 to settle in. For the past year or so, I have not legitimately purchased ONE DVD because I know that a couple years from now, I'm going to want everything in HD, so why should I support a dying format? With the combo packs, I don't have that problem. Future proofing is an excellent idea and all studios should follow suit. Digital copies? Sure, whatever. I'll keep torrenting til we are no longer getting hosed. FUCK THE MPAA/RIAA/DRM.
@paradigm HDMI 1.4 is already in place to take over with 3D support and other such fanciness.
@Jordan I agree, Blu-Ray is way too expensive! and FYI, I DO love the new dual format, about damn time!!
@faslane your comments don't make any sense. You complain that blu ray (discs) are too expensive but welcome disks which add even more expense to the bottom line. If you hate blu ray, why would you even want to buy a combo disk?
Shoot! I just bought the Bourne blu-ray set last month.
@(Unverified)
You do realize it's no longer trilogy, right? ...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1194173/
$14.99 please!!!! Seriously, the cost of new release Blu Ray movies needs to come way down. I think this would be the magic price point. I would actually go out and buy a BD player and movies if this was the price of movies.
@(Unverified) Enough with this $14.99 BS. People have been asking for low-end DVD prices from both Blu Ray and HD-DVD since the beginning, and its just absurd. $19.99 is the lowest you can even hope to expect for a new (to the format) release, and especially if its a dual BD/DVD flipper disc or something.
@(Unverified) Actually I've seen many blu ray sales where titles sell for $9.99 you just have to look around.
@SikSlayer: So you want high prices?
@Jordan I said NEW titles. Older Catalog (heh, we can even say that now, how funny) titles of course should be cheap.
But people were crying for $14.99 Blu Rays and HD-DVDs from day ONE, and that was just stupid.
@(Unverified) I already have a Blu-Ray player, but I refuse to buy discs at $25-30 a pop. I generally don't buy movies for that matter either, why would I want to watch the same thing over and over again. I just use Netflix for Blu-Ray. If I want to watch a movie again I just re-add it to my queue or by the time I would want to watch it again its probably available for streaming. Redbox and Netflix are slowly killing physical sales and I can't really say that bothers me one bit.
is this the official color or just a PS job using HD-DVD color scheme?
@htd I can't imagine they'd deviate from the already established blue. That'd be just stupid. Then again, when Sony's involved ...
@htd
It's just a picture of the HD DVD release with the HD DVD logo replaced with the Blu-ray logo. This is how Universal released many of their HD DVDs back in the day.
@htd That was my knee jerk reaction too. But I think it's as Chefgon mentioned.
@Martin C Most Blu-rays are blue, but there have already been some deviations, like The Incredible Hulk.
@htd
It is a photoshop. Why? Because HD-DVD already had this feature years ago. HD-DVD was the superior format, with more features and consumer-friendliness. Yet Sony paid studios to support Bluray.
Ah well. Their loss, since many of us download instead of buying discs.
@htd
Are you serious?
"THE BEST ACTION PICTURE IN DECADES"
Um, I think DIE HARD movies have taken that title nubs.
@NAME
Die Hard is from 1988. So best in decades is still right.
@mattn
except decades is plural so no sorry die hard still wins... although the bourne series is still pretty sweet
@monkeyontherun4
isn't that two decades? Or are you just a Die Hard fan...Wait...are you THAT GUY? Did you pump your fists when Maverick buzzed the tower?
Whether it's this four layers of insanity or a separate disc for each format, it needs to be priced competitively with single disc releases on BD. There's no point for me to spend $35 for a combo when I could get the DVD now for $10 and the BD for $20 or less later.
Perfect. Now you don't have to bother downloading the movie for iTunes/iPhone/AppleTV/PS3, you can continue using handbrake.
@kressaty
Anything that keeps me from having to install the crap that calls itself iTunes is a win in my book.
Funny. My wife asked "How come they don't make..." PRECISELY THIS yesterday, citing how they used to have flippy WS/P&S DVD's.
@(Unverified)
I assume that they didn't have this before now because it was a feature exclusive to HD DVD. I don't know for sure, but I'd guess that since the same people were in charge of both the DVD and HD DVD standards, they licensed their legacy technology exclusively to themselves.
Or it could just be that Sony thought it was a waste of time and never added the option to the Blu-ray standard. Who knows.
@Chefgon: Studios. Release a hybrid disc and you aren't going to be able to force users to buy both the blu and dvd versions. This = less revenue for you.
Either that or the technology just hadn't existed yet for blu ray dual format discs.
@(Unverified) "im a tech geeks wife, and flippy discs were my idea"
I liked this format on the HD DVDs. Like most people, I don't have Blu-ray players on every TV in my house, but I do have DVD players everywhere. It's nice to be able to buy the movie once and watch it anywhere I want, with the movie in Hi-Def when possible.
It's too bad they have to sacrifice the disc art to make it happen, but that's a price I'm willing to pay as long as the cost of the movie doesn't skyrocket.
@Chefgon You just identified the holy grail: HD on one side for when you have a Blu-ray player, standard def on the other side when you only have a standard DVD player, and thrilling disc art on the other-dimensional third side for when you have no player at all.
@Chief2 Cha-Ching.
Universal had awful luck (or rather, the consumers buying the discs did) with the DVD-18 format, so I can't imagine why they would want to try it again. No likey.
@knight3d
This is a similar technology, but it's used for an entirely different purpose. DVD-18 was something that didn't really offer any advantages to the consumer. BD-59 makes your movie purchase playable in many places where it wouldn't have been before, so there's actually a tangible benefit for the people who are buying it.
@knight3d: I never had a problem with them....
@Chefgon. There's no benefit if either side stops playing (or never plays at all). This was the problem with DVD-18 (which is why all studios aside from Universal stopped producing them), and even affected some hybrid HD-DVDs.