# Why are so few older and classic movies available on DVD? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 1, 2002, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-few-older-and-classic-movies-available-on-dvd/116879 "2002-07-01T18:44:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gsteinma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/77aa72/32.png) [@gsteinma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gsteinma)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-few-older-and-classic-movies-available-on-dvd/116879/1 "2002-07-01T18:44:49Z")
Every new movie that is released on Video (VHS) for the first time is also available on DVD. A great many older movies are available ONLY on VHS. Why don’t they come out on DVD too? Now that a big chain (Best Buy, I believe) has announced it will no longer stock VHS, will we see more DVD releases? If the powers that be can put such crapola as “Freddy Got Fingered” on DVD, why can’t we get “Meet Me in St. Louis”? It is and has been only available on VHS for years. What is the holdup? Certainly the people who own the rights to produce the video can also produce a DVD. What does it take? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-few-older-and-classic-movies-available-on-dvd/116879/2 "2002-07-01T19:32:31Z")
I’ve seen plenty of ‘old’ movies out on DVD. Unfortunately they are hard to dig up at a local Blockbuster or Best Buy as they tend to carry only newer movies (at least on DVD). Nevertheless try a web search for a given movie to see if it is available. You also might try [http://www.netflix.com](http://www.netflix.com) and rent your DVDs from there. I’ve gotten movies from them made in the 1940’s. As to other movies being released on DVD that aren’t out yet I can only assume that the people who hold the rights to the movie either feel it isn’t worth the investment to go to the trouble given how many people they estimate will buy it (there’s more to making a DVD than just copying the film to one) or they will go to the trouble but they’ve got 20 movies ahead of it they want transferred first and they just haven’t gotten around to it yet. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-few-older-and-classic-movies-available-on-dvd/116879/3 "2002-07-01T19:35:37Z")
For DVD releases, a great deal more care is being put in their creation than had been for VHS releases years ago. DVDs have twice the resolution VHS gave, necessitating greater concern for image quality, and several times the storage capacity, allowing for much supplemental material. Many classic movies are undergoing restorations in the process. The best source materials are being sought, and any flaws in the image or soundtrack are being digitally minimized. Documentaries are being created to show the story of the making of the movie; participants in its creation are recording commentary tracks. So, give them time. Also, if only a third as many DVD titles are available as VHS titles , keep in mind that only about a third as many homes yet have DVD players as homes with VHS players. The earliest buyers of new audio-visual systems are usually young male technophiles, and the first movies to be released on DVDs were geared to interest that market. So you were much more likely to see _Speed_ and _Blade Runner_ offered than Judy Garland musicals. Gradually, as the market fills out to the general population, you will see a broadening of available titles. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-few-older-and-classic-movies-available-on-dvd/116879/4 "2002-07-01T20:04:30Z")
I wrote a longer response, but the hamsters were in a feisty mood and shredded it for nest material. Hope it doesn’t mysteriously reappear. Basic answer: Supply and demand. No (or low) demand means no supply. Example: I may fervently want to be able to get a nice, clean, restored version of _The Awful Truth_, a marvelous screwball romance from the 30’s starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunne, on DVD. But until the distributor knows that there are 100,000 other people like me who will grab that disc the moment it hits the shelf, they’ll never produce it. The simple fact is that the movie market is driven much more strongly by people who want to see Tom Green’s schlock than by people who want to see Billy Wilder’s classic _Ace in the Hole_ (from the 50’s, I believe). And the second tier? Movies like _Blessed Event_ (1932) that are good but not great and almost completely forgotten today? Fuhgeddaboutit. Consider this: Somebody in my office asked me if I was planning to see Adam Sandler’s new _Mr. Deeds_ when it opened this weekend. I said no, because Sandler doesn’t compare favorably to Gary Cooper, and I thought it was a superfluous remake. “It’s a remake?” asked my co-worker. “And who’s Gary Cooper?” So again, supply and demand. And it’s only going to get worse as our consumer population proceeds through successive generations. ---
**Author:** ![Malice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/278dde/32.png) [@Malice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malice)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-few-older-and-classic-movies-available-on-dvd/116879/5 "2002-07-01T20:20:59Z")
I’d agree with the reasons already stated. Comes down to money. But ever the optimistist, I note that a great numbber of older movies _are_ available on DVD: It Happened One Night, Some Like It Hot, All About Eve, the Philadelphia Story, etc. If your local Blockbuster doesn’t have 'em, Amazon usually does… ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-few-older-and-classic-movies-available-on-dvd/116879/6 "2002-07-01T20:40:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Walloon \* > \*\*For DVD releases, a great deal more care is being put in their creation than had been for VHS releases years ago. \*\* It would be nice if this were true but unfortunately it’s not. That’s not quite fair…it is sometimes true but not always. It is up to the people who own the property to decide how much effort they want to put in to a DVD transfer. It’s great when they go the extra mile by remastering the audio and video and add extras but it is by no means a foregone conclusion. Some DVD transfers are lousy and you are in fact better off watching from video tape. Reading the DVD package will sometimes tell you what might be inside. Usually if they’ve gone to the extra trouble of re-mastering and such they will tout it on the cover. You can also peruse the web for reviews of movies that not only deal with the movie’s content but also the quality of the digital transfer. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-few-older-and-classic-movies-available-on-dvd/116879/7 "2002-07-01T21:05:40Z")
Actually there are many cheap DVDs out there with old movies. The transfers aren’t the best and there is nothing but the movie, but they are there. Check the side bins at Wal Mart and K Mart. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-few-older-and-classic-movies-available-on-dvd/116879/8 "2002-07-01T21:08:36Z")
Those budget-priced DVDs and VHS tapes you see at Wal-Mart and Kmart are often movies that are out of copyright and in the public domain. Their image and sound quality are usually inferior. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-few-older-and-classic-movies-available-on-dvd/116879/9 "2002-07-01T21:18:53Z")
I’ve often noticed how even in the VHS-only days, much older stuff was being produced in very poor editions. Someone gave me a copy of _It’s A Wonderful Life_ that I simply could not watch: though it was a commercially sold copy, it was done in EP format and was of such poor sound and picture quality that it would not track in my VCR. Sad to say, older movies in general garner little respect today. I noticed that when _Ocean’s Eleven_ was remade a common criticism lodged against the original was its “slowness”, not to mention the hackneyed characters and male-chauvinistic attitude of the film. The latter complaints, to my mind, are justified, though I tend to enjoy such older movies for their inherent strangeness. But the “slowness”…what, a movie’s not good unless it zips along like _The Matrix_, these days? Maybe we can rework some old novels too, and take out the all the boring character development and scene setting. I suppose _The Caine Mutiny_ only really needs a couple of chapters at the climax to carry the story, and we can leave out all that stuff about Willie’s OTC days, arrrgh–oh wait, I’m sorry, this isn’t the Pit? ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-few-older-and-classic-movies-available-on-dvd/116879/10 "2002-07-01T22:00:43Z")
Odd, but Circuit City is no longer going to keep VHS either, but blanks, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Satyagrahi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f475e1/32.png) [@Satyagrahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satyagrahi)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2002, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-few-older-and-classic-movies-available-on-dvd/116879/11 "2002-07-02T01:32:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Malice \* > \*\* > If your local Blockbuster doesn’t have 'em, Amazon usually does… \*\* And if Amazon doesn’t, [Movies Unlimited](http://www.moviesunlimited.com) does. Cheaper, too. No, I’m not affiliated with them; just a happy customer.