My Two Cents
[10/13/23 Update: Variety and Media Play News have now confirmed my reporting that Best Buy is phasing out physical media in the new year, following the 2023 holiday shopping season. The company will apparently still continue to sell videogames. A Best Buy spokesperson provided this statement to Variety: “To state the obvious, the way we watch movies and TV shows is much different today than it was decades ago. Making this change gives us more space and opportunity to bring customers new and innovative tech for them to explore, discover and enjoy.” So... there you have it. Longtime readers of The Digital Bits can rest assured of two things: First, no this does not spell the end of physical media. And second, I’ll have a great deal more to say on this topic here at The Bits on Monday and all next week. See you back here then.]
All right, folks... we’ve got a little bit of a whopper for you today. And so as not to bury the lede, let’s get right to it...
The Digital Bits has learned from industry sources—and we’ve confirmed it with multiple sources now—that Best Buy plans to exit the physical media business for good next year, possibly as soon as the end of Q1 2024.
This includes not just their in-store Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD sales, which the retailer has been gradually phasing out for a couple of years now in their many store locations nationwide, but online sales as well. This means no more Best Buy-exclusive Steelbook titles, and no more titles from Best Buy period.
The fact that Best Buy is discontinuing physical media sales in their retail locations should come as no surprise; anyone who’s visited a Best Buy store location on a Tuesday recently will be all too aware that the retailer’s disc sections keep getting moved around and have gotten smaller and smaller. Our own experience here at The Bits is that some store locations don’t even bother to stock new-release titles on the sales floor anymore—even their exclusive ones. More than once, in their Southern California locations, I’ve had to ask for the titles and wait while a clerk checks the storeroom.
But the idea that Best Buy would discontinue online sales too comes as a bit of a surprise... though perhaps it shouldn’t. We’ve noted in recent months that Paramount has quietly shifted their Blu-ray and 4K Steelbook exclusive titles—titles that would normally have been released at Best Buy—to Amazon instead. And it seems very likely that other studios will follow Paramount’s lead in the months ahead. [Read on here...]
All right, we’ve got some ground to cover today here at The Bits, so first things first. We have a trio of new disc reviews for you to enjoy this afternoon, including...
Tim’s take on Amando de Ossorio’s Tombs of the Blind Dead (1972) on Blu-ray from Synapse Films.
And Dennis’ thoughts on William A Wellman’s Westward the Women (1951) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection, as well as James Foley’s After Dark, My Sweet (1990) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.
Don’t forget, Amazon’s Prime “Big Deal” Days Sale continues until the end of the day today, so be sure to take advantage of all the great prices on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD titles, box sets, and collections. Click here and here to see what’s on sale and act fast!
For the record, some of today’s deals include...
- Universal Classic Monsters: Icons of Horror 4K UHD (regularly $79.99) Now $29
- The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection 4K UHD (regularly $69.98) Now $38
- The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection #2 4K UHD (regularly $69.98) Now $38
- Game of Thrones: The Complete Collection 4K UHD (regularly $219) Now $94
- Batman: The Complete Animated Series Blu-ray (regularly $79) Now $24
- Superman: The Complete Animated Series Blu-ray (regularly $69) Now $19
- The Last of Us: The Complete First Season Blu-ray (regularly $49) Now $26
- Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series Blu-ray (regularly $99) Now $49
- Bonanza: The Complete Series DVD (regularly $244) Now $159
- Back to the Future: The Ultimate Trilogy 4K UHD (regularly $55) Now $23
- The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy (Extended & Theatrical) 4K UHD (regularly $89) Now $39
- Harry Potter: 8-Film Collection 4K UHD (regularly $178) Now $59
- Mission: Impossible 6-Movie Collection 4K UHD (regularly $83) Now $50
- The Godfather Trilogy 4K UHD (regularly $90) Now $54
- The James Bond Collection 24-Films Blu-ray (regularly $144) Now $54
So be sure to act fast if you’re interested.
Also today here at the site, we’ve got word on some long-awaited 4K Ultra HD catalog titles... [Read on here...]
If you’re a longtime reader of TheDigitalBits, you’ll know that we’re an Amazon affiliate, which means that when you purchase physical media titles (as well as literally anything else from Amazon) after clicking to them from one of our links, a bit of that sale helps to support our work here at the site.
Well, if you’d like to show your support for The Bits—and get great deals on movie and TV titles in the process, Amazon is currently holding a massive Prime “Big Deal” Days sale on all kinds of products, from laptops to power tools and everything in between—including Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K titles.
So for your shopping convenience, here’s a link to their sale page that shows all the different categories of Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD titles available for sale, including popular films, TV titles, Box Sets, and Collections: https://amzn.to/48KoJQz
And here’s a direct link to browse the individual Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD titles that are currently part of the sale: https://amzn.to/46Bu8HW
There are LOTS of great deals, featuring significant and popular titles, so be sure to give it a thorough look, thanks for helping to support The Digital Bits in the process, and good hunting!
(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)
All right folks, here’s an announcement we know some of you have been waiting for…
ON DECEMBER 5, THE FINAL ADVENTURE COMES HOME!
INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY ARRIVES ON 4K, BLU-RAY & DVD WITH OVER 2 HOURS OF EXTRA CONTENT!
Lucasfilm’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Comes to Physical Media December 5 with bonus features including an exclusive new score-only version of the movie!
Also Available: Exclusive Best Buy Steelbook Design and a Walmart Exclusive Including Enamel Pin
BURBANK, CA (October 10, 2023) – From Academy Award–nominated writer-director James Mangold (Logan, Walk the Line) comes the final chapter in the saga of one of cinema’s greatest heroes. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny sees Harrison Ford reprise his iconic role as the whip-smart archaeologist one last time for a “rip-roaring adventure” (Maureen Lenker, Entertainment Weekly) full of “exciting action, wonderful banter and fantastic twists and turns” (Germain Lussier, Io9). [Read on here...]
We’ve got some interesting release news for you today, as well as updates on forthcoming 4K catalog titles we’ve been tracking for a while, and of course more new disc reviews. So let’s get to the latter first...
Our own Stephen Bjork has posted his in-depth review of Loki: The Complete First Season in 4K Ultra HD Steelbook from Marvel Studios and Disney. The short version is that the studio really does seem to have done this title right, in terms of AV quality, which bodes well for forthcoming Disney+ streaming series in 4K UHD.
Stephen has also turned in a look at Barry Levinson’s Rain Man (1988) in 4K Ultra HD from the MVD Marquee Collection.
And Stuart has delivered his take on Kino Lorber Studio Classic’s Audie Murphy Collection II on Blu-ray, which features Sierra (1950), Kansas Raiders (1950), and Destry (1954).
In terms of new release news, we’re hearing from retail sources that Universal’s forthcoming Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release of David Gordon Green’s The Exorcist: Believer (2023) will arrive in stores on 12/19.
Lionsgate has also delayed their 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray release of Jean-Luc Godard’s Contempt (1963) from 9/26 to 10/24. Adjust your plans accordingly. [Read on here...]