Sony Drops Superbit DVD Line

[Woochifer]

It's now official -- Superbit is dead. Superbit was Sony's higher quality DVD line, which featured higher-than-average video bitrates and DTS soundtracks (which Sony otherwise did not other include with most of their other releases), but usually created that extra disc space by eliminating the special features and alternate language tracks.

The signs have pointed in this direction for a while now. Sony apparently had not released a new Superbit title since April 2005, and Best Buy has priced its Superbit titles at $10 for more than a year.

Sony's VP of Marketing says that with Blu-ray now on the market, there's no longer any need for a separate premium DVD line, and that Superbit was always positioned as an "interim bridge" strategy. According to the article from Video Business, Superbit sales never amounted to more than 2% of the sales for a particular DVD title, so it obviously served a very limited niche.


“We made the decision back in 2000 and 2001 that when we were officially in the market with Blu-ray technology, that is the time [to end Superbit production],” said Marc Rashba, Sony’s VP of marketing. “Now that we are regularly releasing Blu-ray titles, there is no room left in the market, in retail or in consumer’s minds for a standard-definition higher-quality format.”

...

“It was always an interim bridge strategy to get people excited about what high-def would be looking like in 2006 and 2007,” said Rashba. “As we move full steam ahead with Blu-ray, [Superbit] is a product line and brand that we are no longer supporting.”

http://www.videobusiness.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA6408427

Too bad, because I did like Superbit's video and audio quality. When Sony put out the two-disc Ultimate Edition DVDs for The Fifth Element and Leon: The Professional that included the Superbit movie disc and a bonus features disc with a street price of ~$18, I thought they were onto something. But, I never saw Sony issue any other titles along those lines.

Makes me now wonder if the days of repeatedly remastered DVDs are now over, and if some of the marginal DVD titles that might still need some video or audio clean-up will now wait for the Blu-ray/HD-DVD releases before consumers see any improvements.

[Dusty Chalk]

...Sony put out the two-disc Ultimate Edition DVDs for The Fifth Element and Leon: The Professional that included the Superbit movie disc...
They did? I need to track those down -- those are two of my favourite movies.

[PeruvianSkies]

They never promoted the Superbit titles correctly to begin with and if they had, and actuallly put forth the money and energy than the bridge would have been much shorter between DVD and HD. How do I know they never promoted it correctly?

Well, when you release a movie like VERTICAL LIMIT or SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET it's not exactly going to attract alot of attention in the high-end world.

Wooch you make a good point, they were onto something in the later years with the Deluxe Editions, too bad it was a late breaking idea.

[emorphien]

All the Superbits I've bought were $10 at BB.

[PeruvianSkies]

Since we are bidding farewell to the Superbits I thought I would post movies that should have been issued as Superbits...

MEMENTO
ALI
APT PUPIL
BOYZ N' THA HOOD
WOLF

These titles were issued outside the US as Superbits and are awesome if you can find them and have a non-region DVD player.

BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI
DR. STRANGELOVE
ON THE WATERFRONT
GLORY
TAXI DRIVER
A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS
ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN
AWAKENINGS
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
EASY RIDER
ERIN BROCHOVICH
GANDHI
GHOSTBUSTERS 1 and 2
HANNIBAL
GLADIATOR
LAST ACTION HERO
IN THE LINE OF FIRE
KRAMER VS. KRAMER
MESSENGER: JOAN OF ARC
PHILADELPHIA

[Woochifer]

They did? I need to track those down -- those are two of my favourite movies.

You can probably find those titles for cheaper if you just want the Superbit movie-only disc. The "ultimate editon" versions of those titles simply added a new bonus features disc, and at the time they came out, they were priced cheaper than the Superbit movie-only discs. So, it was a win-win all the way around.

But, with Best Buy now selling the Superbit movie-only discs for $10, you got more of a dilemma -- is that bonus features disc worth the extra $8 to you?


They never promoted the Superbit titles correctly to begin with and if they had, and actuallly put forth the money and energy than the bridge would have been much shorter between DVD and HD. How do I know they never promoted it correctly?

Well, when you release a movie like VERTICAL LIMIT or SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET it's not exactly going to attract alot of attention in the high-end world.

Wooch you make a good point, they were onto something in the later years with the Deluxe Editions, too bad it was a late breaking idea.

This was definitely a case where I wanted to support a higher quality product line, but so many of the titles that Sony released on Superbit left me underwhelmed. Johnny Mnemonic was part of the first group of Superbit titles that came out. Not exactly a flagship title if you're trying to get video enthusiasts on board with a premium product line!

If anything, I thought that Sony or Best Buy (or whoever was responsible) did a decent job promoting Superbit at those stores. Best Buy often set aside dedicated sections for their Superbit titles with placards explaining what Superbit was all about. But, this didn't carry over to other stores. That shiny generic looking sleeve design didn't help either -- kinda hard to locate a title on a store shelf, if the name of the movie isn't printed along the sleeve spine.

Generally, I don't like buying movie-only discs, and the Superbit titles presented quite a dilemma -- go with a movie-only edition featuring a higher bit rate and DTS soundtrack, or go with the more full featured version that includes the supplemental features. I thought that those Ultimate Editions were a sign that Sony was ready to make a new marketing push by combining a Superbit disc with new bonus features and more attractive packaging. Basically giving consumers the best of both worlds. But, that never came to pass.

Sad to see that so many of Sony's best titles managed to get out on Superbit overseas (never knew that many of the classic Columbia titles were available as Superbit in Region 2), but not in the U.S.

[PeruvianSkies]

Complete Superbit Listing (or at least as close as possible), this includes releases in the US and outside the US. Note that some Universal titles are owned by Sony outside the US such as GLADIATOR and JURASSIC PARK.

A Man for All Seasons
Adaptation
Adventures of Baron Munchausen
Air Force One
Anaconda
Anacondas
As Good As it Gets
Awakenings
Bad Boys
Bad Boys II
Bewitched
Bicentennial Man
Big Hit, The
Black Hawk Down
Bone Collector, The
Bridge on the River Kwai
Brown Bunny, The
Charlies Angels
Charlies Angels II
Cliffhanger
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Closer
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Cowboy Bepop the Movie
Dark Crystal
Das Boot
Desperado
Devils Own, The
Dr. Strangelove
Bram Stokers Dracula
Dralion
Easy Rider
Erin Brochovich
Fast and the Furious
Fifth Element (released twice)
First Knight
Fly Away Home
From Here to Eternity
Gandhi
Gattaca
Ghostbusters 1 and 2
Gladiator
Gloria
Glory
Guns of the Navarone
Hannibal
Heavy Metal
Heavy Metal 2000
Hook
In the Line of Fire
Jerry Maguire
Johnny Mnemonic
Jumanji
Jurassic Park Trilogy
Kramer Vs. Kramer
Kung Fu Hustle
Labyrinth
Last Action Hero
Lawrence of Arabia
Legends of the Fall
Les Miserables
Mask of Zorro
Men in Black
Men in Black II
Messenger Joan of Arc
Missing, The
Mummy, The
Mummy Returns, The
Music Teacher
Naked Fish
On the Waterfront
Once Upon a Time in Mexico
One, The
Panic Room
Patriot, The
Philadephia
Professional, The
Punch Drunk Love
Quick and the Dead
Resident Evil
Riverdance
Road Home, The
S.W.A.T.
Seoul
Shakespeare In Love
Silverado
Snatch
So Close
Cirque du Soleil: Solstrom
Spider Man
Spider Man 2
St. Elmos Fire
Stand By Me
Starship Troopers
Taxi Driver
Tears of the Sun
Tommy
Underworld
Vampires
Vertical Limit
XXX

[Dusty Chalk]

Kung Fu Hustle was released on Superbit?!?!?

I wish Dark City was released on Superbit...

[PeruvianSkies]

KUNG FU HUSTLE was released outside the US on superbit, and DARK CITY would never be a superbit title as it is a New Line Cinema owned film, not Sony.