How Are You Handling DNR Disasters?

[Pirate]

That title sounds a bit melodramatic, but it is a big deal and I was wondering how you guys were handling it.

With something like Gangs of New York, where there seems to be no good Region 1 option, do you suck it up and get the Blu-ray or do you boycott the release, taking a stance against this heinous studio practice?

Note: Poll is not public.

[biglyle]

I am not overly bothered by DNR. If I like it I buy it, simple as that.

[Wirehed]

Is "it depends" an optional answer?

I don't like the practice, that's for sure. I happen to love the look of film, and a home release should be as close to the theatrical experience as possible.

[powerknowledge]

I'm extremely bothered by it, even angry: for better or worse, digital is the future and the preserving force of cinema, and anything (especially in HD, as close to the original source prints as we'll get for a long, long time) that uproots cinema from its history and, more specifically, from its material essence -- i.e. celluloid, to which grain is integral -- and its aesthetic properties -- e.g., the use of specific film-stocks and processing procedures for their grain properties -- is nothing short of outrageous in my book. If I want crystal-clear video HD, I'll watch sports. If I want film, I want something that actually looks like it. All things "HD" are NOT visually equal, nor should they be, and the qualitative variations across visual media (video, celluloid, etc.) are rich in history and specificities that should not be ignored or erased.

The film scholar and purist in me, however, will probably always buckle for the sake of having a title I want. The GONY situation irritates and saddens me to no end. And I'll still buy it tomorrow, because the collector and completist in me wants the best available presentation of a film. This is as good as we can get, and as we're going to get; if BVHE didn't see fit to strike a new HD master now, they're likely never going to, and boycotting a title like this (seen as "minor Scorsese" in the grand scheme of things, and a low-stakes catalog title from a revenue point of view) simply won't do anything. So I'll buy it, I'll appreciate that it does look better than the horrible SD edition...and all the while I'll grit my teeth, and I'll bitch about it while I watch it with my wife and friends who will probably roll their eyes and say it looks great to them. Alas.

[ganthc]

Since I don't see most titles in the theaters, the DNR doesn't bother me, and I will not boycott the movie because of DNR.

[Pirate]

Gangs is killing me. I really want something better than the DVD, but I really don’t want them to have my money. Maybe I can find a used copy.

I shouldn't have to be making the decision with this BRAND NEW format.

[dugpa]

According to the review posted today on High-def Digest, it's not just DNR on Gangs. They used the exact same crappy edge enhanced transfer used for the dvd. Argh!!!!!!!!
To the poll question, it's a case by case basis. Patton I sure as hell won't pay $27 or $24 for with all the DNR. But if it shows up at a Fry's $13.99 sale (which I'm sure it will), I'll probably pick it up. I like the film too much not to at that price. Otherwise I'll stick with the two DVDs of it I already have. Gangs, I probably will pass on since it's not just DNR. The DVD is painful enough to watch, I don't need all the transfer's faults in HD.