OTHER TECH

4. Indiana Jones

With Kingdom of the Crystal Skull sitting pretty on Blu-ray racks across the country, high-def consumers are all thinking the same thing: Where are the first three Indiana Jones flicks? Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, and The Last Crusade have a nostalgic and loyal following who made the 2003 Adventures of Indiana Jones DVD box set one of the top selling multi-disc releases of all time. Furthermore, Paramount's subsequent 2008 Special Edition release of each film produced considerable revenue, managing to far exceed expectations and sales projections. Even when Kingdom of the Crystal Skull disappointed many, DVD sales at many outlets actually increased as hungry fans had a need to revisit the classic trilogy. If properly remastered and given the full high-def treatment, Paramount would make a killing and give DVD owners serious pause.

While I was disappointed to see Kingdom of the Crystal Skull arrive on Blu-ray without the original trilogy in tow, a few inquiries and off-the-record comments made me feel much better. Paramount could have capitalized on the latest entry in the series, jammed the older films onto Blu-ray discs, and fed them to a ravenous public who would eagerly buy anything marked Indiana Jones without a second thought. But the studio took the high road and apparently decided to devote serious time and effort to producing proper versions of the films rather than rushing them out. Besides, when you consider the fact that Paramount only recently returned its support to the format this past summer, its lack of high-def Indy releases shouldn't be cause for too much concern. Ultimately, if its September BD release of The Godfather Collection is any indication, Paramount is poised to attract lots of attention when Indiana Jones enters the Temple of Blu.

3. Titanic

Take a look at the top-grossing films of all time. Notice anything that looks out of place? Towering above a laundry list of sci-fi epics, animated family films, and comicbook icons sits a pair of star-crossed lovers who met their end on a CG cruise liner. Titanic became a cultural phenom and box-office titan - not by appealing to parents or young males - but by capturing the hearts and imaginations of teenage girls across the globe. Critics can debate the merits of the film itself till they run out of breath. The fact remains: Titanic single-handedly racked up $600 million domestically and $1.8 billion worldwide, it remains one of the top-selling catalog titles on the market, continues to earn distributor and owner Paramount and co-owner Fox plenty of cash, and is still very fresh in the minds of its fans.

Why would Titanic be such a boon for Blu-ray? Simple. All those 13- to 19-year-old girls who spent more than $2 billion in theaters are now 24- to 30-year-old women. Not only would a high-def release catch the attention of a massive pre-existent audience, it would arm husbands looking to upgrade their home theaters with serious ammunition, expand the appeal of Blu-ray to a largely ignored and untapped demographic, and deliver a worldwide blockbuster to a format that needs every hit it can muster. Unfortunately, early adopters and gamers (the two crowds who own the vast majority of the BD players) are overwhelmingly male. As a result, it would be easy for a studio to see a title like Titanic as a low-profit release since its base audience is largely female. But if studios want to see Blu-ray reach mainstream success, they'll have to adopt the approach of studios like Sony and Warner Brothers who are working to diversify their line-ups and attract anyone and everyone to Blu-ray.

2. Star Wars

It never ceases to amaze me when I run into someone who has never seen a Star Wars film. Even thirty years later, you can't walk into a Target without tripping over piles of Hoth-Gear Lukes and Bowcaster Chewbaccas. Toddlers can properly use the word "lightsaber" in a sentence and middle-aged men can tell you exactly how many parsecs it took the Millennium Falcon to make the Kessel Run.

There's no denying that Star Wars is one of the most recognized and beloved series on the planet. There's also no denying that Star Wars is exactly the sort of release that would ensnare fence-sitters and casual filmfans alike who've yet to plunge into high definition.

So why hasn't Lucasfilm and distributor Fox taken advantage of a ripe new market and their foremost property? First, George Lucas is notoriously cautious when it comes to embracing new formats and releasing new versions of his films. Remember how long it took the original Star Wars trilogy to appear on DVD? He loves to maximize profit and see his fanbase explode with excitement when a new version of Star Wars is announced. More to the point, he has little incentive to embrace a still-fledgling platform. Since Fox only has limited distribution rights, Lucas decides when, where, and how his films will be released. Fox and the Blu-ray Disc Association have long been courting the reluctant director in an effort to get him to deliver his films to the 1080p masses, but until a shrewd businessman like Lucas sees more profit potential (that is, a larger installed customer base), he probably won't drop X-wings on HDTVs anytime soon. Ironically, Star Wars would most certainly bring with it a substantial audience that would be more than willing to purchase the latest and greatest incarnation of the series.

1. The Lord of the Rings

The Star Wars saga might be the first thing that pops into people's minds when the word "trilogy" is mentioned, but let's not forget the cultural draw and box office swagger of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings. With nearly $3 billion in theatrical-release gold lining New Line's coffers and countless billions more in home-video sales, merchandising, and the like, The Lord of the Rings trilogy arguably carries more cinematic clout than any other threesome on the block. It also doesn't have a trio of critically panned prequels in the wings hampering its legacy (see entry No. 2 above). In fact, its standard-DVD releases have nabbed massive worldwide sales, completely redefined fan expectations for supplemental content (in volume and quality) and extended cuts, and helped propel the popularity of the series to immeasurable heights. And, lest we forget, there's the little matter of two Guillermo del Toro-directed, Peter Jackson-produced Hobbit films looming on the horizon. If any Blu-ray release is set to generate a marketing firestorm, it's The Lord of the Rings.

So where is our faithful fellowship? Until recently, distribution rights for the trilogy sat squarely in the lap of New Line Cinema, a studio that's been slow and cautious in its approach to high-def media and releases. But Warner Bros.' recent acquisition of the company bodes well for a LoTR Blu-ray release. While many have attacked the technical quality of some of Warner's BD discs, it's been much tougher to criticize its aggressive approach to releases. After all, they've already brought out plenty of big guns including The Matrix Trilogy, the Harry Potter series, and a large chunk of The Stanley Kubrick Collection. Warner has repeatedly proven it's looking to attract niche-market consumers, classic-movie junkies, and enormous pre-established fanbases. With recent insider chatter suggesting we'll definitely see The Lord of the Rings (in some form or another) on Blu-ray in 2009, next year looks to be an exciting time to be a fan and high-def enthusiast.

Kenneth Brown is a staff writer and reviewer at High Def Digest.