Op-Ed – More reader support for older titles on Steelbook

Peter L has added his thoughts to the debate over whether too many older titles are getting steelbook releases:

One of the main draws of the blu-ray steelbook format is that it enables a personal film collection to be consolidated into something of the highest quality, both in terms of picture and packaging. For many people (including myself), the end of a line of upgrades has been reached that started with VHS, then DVD (and sometimes DVD special/collector’s editions), before blu-ray and blu-ray steelbook. Even allowing for advances in technology (e.g. 4k), blu-ray is the last tangible format that many people will adopt. And steelbook is its most desirable edition: the leather-bound hardcover to Amaray’s paperback.

For this reason, I welcome the release of old movies: the out-and-out classics and cult favourites, the forgotten gems brought to life by the likes of Arrow and Eureka’s Masters of Cinema line, the director collections (e.g. the matt black Kubrick steelbooks), and the film series (e.g. Pixar). They mean that I can assemble a collection of films that I will never again need to or want to upgrade. Having genuinely limited print-runs (see how quickly There Will Be Blood and Beetlejuice sold out) adds to the sense of the steelbook being a thing of value, and to the thrill of collecting. Personally, I would like more steelbooks to include an individual edition number, as per City Of God.

I agree, however, that the steelbook ought to be the definitive edition in terms of additional content, as well as picture and packaging. It was disappointing, for example, that I had to downgrade content when I traded my Alien Anthology six-disc blu-ray boxset for the four-disc steelbook equivalent. It would be nice to think that, as with the Eureka series, every effort was made to ensure that the steelbook remains a cut above the rest.

Thoughts? Let us know!