The State of Physical Media In 2022!

What does 2022 hold for fans of entertainment on disc? Heath has some big predictions for the future of 4Ks, Blu-rays, and DVDs in the new year...and beyond!

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[davejanes]

Hey Heath. I remember, and miss, walking into a Best Buy or Future Shop and seeing rack after rack (after rack) of media. In some cases almost 25% of the store. Now you're lucky to find a store with a few shelves.

[midlevelmedia]

I'm excited to get more into these older catalog releases in 2022. Not really interested in the mainstream stuff anymore either. Great update Heath!

[joshua]

Not to beat a dead horse, but I still can't get past the mindset (ten years isn't that long ago to me) of being able to walk into a single store get most of the movies I want and pay in cash. It's great that all this stuff is out there, but I have a hard time remembering (I do sometimes) to go to all the various boutique's websites and to budget for credit card spending (as opposed to I can spend as much as in my wallet). I guess I'm the equivalent of my depression-kid grandpa who hid his money in jars around the house well into the 80s. On the positive side, your Youtube and Patreon alerts are helping me.

[crazytexan]

I so miss the days of Video Rentals, in my small town we had like 2 blockbusters and 3 Rent-A-Flicks which were great for the main stream VHS that were out, but then we had this little independent Video Rental store I can't remember the exact name but they had the unique VHS copies. Where Blockbuster would get 20-30 copies of new releases this other store would have 2 but get 15-20 movies. This was where I was able to mind films from Fulci, Argento, Soavi, and several other Gallo films. You are 1000% correct that is something that we miss and the new generations will never enjoy....

[perryfan]

I never thought as a martial arts and Asian cinema fan that in the last 2 years I have gotten so many blu ray remastered movies with tons of features and great packaging! Eureka and 88 Films are already announcing new titles for this year! Great physical media surprises to come!!!

[MrRutty]

I'm from the UK and its just been announced that Second Sight films has found the negative for The Hitcher (1986) so finally the UK will get it on 4k and blu ray. I have been waiting for this for ages. Originally saw the film late at night on TV when I was 14 and loved it and I don't think I've seen it since. Great channel here's to a great 2022 in the physical media world.

[roberthuerta]

Great Video Heath, you hit the nail right on the head! When i was a kid Hollywood Video, Blockbuster was rows and rows and rows of movies, them stores are gone and have been for a long time. I remember walking into best buy and they had rows and rows of movies to purchase. The dwindling of movie selections in Target, Walmart, best buy, we can see that it will never go back to that because of the demand for streaming, big money for the movie distributors and streaming companies. It's where we are at but like you said we are dedicated to the cause and companies like Kino Lorber, Arrow Video, Shout Factory, Imprint, Vinegar Syndrome, to name a few and businesses like FYE, Bullmoose and Hamilton Books show us each and every day that it's not the end and that physical media is alive and kicking! Still.

[Subilon]

I’m somewhat encouraged by something you said in one of your videos on the future of physical media.Everyone was so into kindle ten years ago and ditched books in favour but then books came back.I’m confident that physical media will progress in the same way after all what comes around…..

[CinemaDaveMedia]

Hi Heath. I love your take on the state of physical media for 2022! I’m so excited for the “year of the deep cut” as you named it. Kino Lorber’s release of “The Great Escape” is at the top of my list this year. Buckle up is right. Happy 2022!

[movieedge]

I totally agree catalog titles are where it’s at . I’m so happy that companies like Paramount, Universal, Warner Brothers are putting out on their labels or boutique labels that I haven’t seen in years. Companies like shout factory Kino Lorber Millcreek etc. are great to see cranking out these classics otherwise they wouldn’t be available to view at all.
Great video as Always Heath and Happy New Year to you and your family 👍🏻🍻

[PaulLBerriman]

I completely agree - though its sad to see the decline of physical media in stores (in Aus we've gone from maybe 6 retailers in most shopping malls carrying physical media, down to 2 at most). But the content the boutique labels are releasing with massive amounts of special features is SO good to be a part of as a collector, and for it to feed content for people like you who champion the releases in your videos and written reviews.

[Terry.W]

Physical media companies are wise to the knowledge that less may be sold ...but there is a massive demand for.. collectors editions ..special editions ..remasters ..and two things are apparent 1..the prices remain high and 2..the product is a must for collectors....also as a side issue they are at least in the UK marketing at what they call the " mature market" and not youngsters ...who have more cash to spend, ..

[eiadtarabulsi]

I consider myself to be very lucky to be born in a time when there are so many options to choose from in terms of physical media, whether it's movies, TV shows, video games or music. As great as 2020 and 2021 were, 2022 could possibly be even bigger. I don't know what to expect moving forward, but I'm definitely excited for the journey that lies ahead. You are absolutely right. It's going to be an amazing ride for sure. Otherwise, thanks as always Heath for another wonderful video. I really appreciate the hard work!

[MasterJediDude]

As always, this was well-researched and I enjoy your take on the industry. Great job and thank you!

[dravenlee]

2021 was pretty nuts and that was during supply chain issues and continued COVID problems. I see 2022 being even wilder. It's shocking to see some of the stuff that is getting released on UHD in particular. Movies have really shifted to the video game model. The big games are still going to be in stores but the obscure stuff gets crazy releases from boutique labels and those collector's eat it up. I recently picked up "The Victim" on Blu-ray. A little obscure TV movie with Elizabeth Montgomery. Is that even going to sell 1000 copies? Yet, here it is. I'm hoping these companies are making money and there are enough of us out there to keep it going.

[terrytalksmovies]

Love the channel, Heath. Just picked up the Imprint blu-ray of The Naked Jungle. Heston in Secret Of The Incas, for me, is the progenitor of Indiana Jones much more than The Naked Jungle. That one's an eye-opener.

[TheMarketplaceofideas]

Happy New Year to you, your family and the community

[robertobuatti]

I'm a huge movie collector, been collecting movies over 27 years, since I was 12 in 1993, I own around 7, 000 thousand movies spread across Blu-ray, 4K and DVD and used to collect video cassette but not anymore because of how bad the picture and audio would degrade over time, I really dislike streaming, it's not for me because of the horrible video and audio quality, plus you really never own anything on streaming, it can be removed from the streaming service anytime. I really dislike how everything today is going digital and how movies are skipping theaters for a streaming release, like there's no love or effort being put into them and for the movie collector like myself it's sad that I can't own any of these movies in my physical media movie collection as they're only available to watch on streaming platforms.

[snowpuppy]

Really enjoyed this interesting assessment for 2022. My wife and I certainly have some hope that some of our favorites will get some love with a proper 4k transfer. Main ones we want to see are Twister, Somewhere in Time, Apocolypto and Dances with Wolves.

[gridman]

Ive emailed Disney Movie Club about details on the Rescue Rangers release. I really hope they are the original uncut/unedited broadcast master versions, 4x3 (1:33:1) aspect ratio, and all episodes are in the right order. I got the Tangled complete series set and its fantastic. The quality is crisp and they put the tv movie before the series starts which is really nice. I hope they do more series releases. I want all of TRON UPRISING on Bluray, the Honey i Shrunk the Kids tv series and all of the other Disney Afternoon shows remastered as well.