You have to hand it to Excel to truly listen to what fans are saying. As a result of one such request, as a first in the world of sorts, and maybe for the first time ever, a 3D Blu-Ray disc has been packaged with a free DVD disc of the same movie in 2D!!

http://www.infibeam.com/SDP.action?cata ... 1736054003
and
http://www.flipkart.com/life-pi-3d-blu- ... %20of%20pi

Go Excel!

What would actually be nice, is if they were to include a 2d Blu-ray of the movie, as is now the standard overseas.

Is this not standard for international films? Do Excel remaster the discs, or repackage the European/US releases?

I have never come across any pack that has a 3D-BluRay plus 2D-DVD of the same movie in the same pack. It's a special packaging they've done in India for Life of Pi, over and above other standard packaging, such as 3D-BD-plus-2D-BD in the same pack, and 2D-BD-plus-DVD in the same pack.

There are 3D+2D BD combi packs from Excel, including for Life of Pi. Check them out! (http://www.flipkart.com/life-pi-3d-stee ... %20of%20pi)

The 3D-BD-plus-2D-DVD combi is an additional pack from Excel, and very exclusive!

Sadly, no combis seem to be available from other distributors in India, and I believe this is because of practice followed by their parent brands abroad.

Really? I'm surprised by this. In the UK, having such combos is fairly standard. Examples include Avatar and Captain America:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Limited-Edition ... rds=avatar

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Captain-America ... =3d+bluray

Just out of interest, why do you think that a 3D BD and 2D DVD is 'over and above' a 3D BD and 2D BD combo?
And do Excel remaster the discs, or just repackage?

Bhaskar, those examples are DVD in addition to 3D-BD and 2D-BD. And India does these limited editions too for some titles.

India also does (through EXCEL at least) 3D-BD--plus--2D-BD combinations and also 2D-BD--plus--2D-DVD ones.

But have you ever seen a simple 3D-BD-plus-2D-DVD combi anywhere?

--

My take is:

If I have a 3D-system, I will enjoy the 3D version through BD. Having enjoyed the high quality 3D on BD, I may not really thirst for the same experience on a 2D BD, but may just pop in the DVD and play it upscaled if at all I ever needed to watch in 2D, and this also means, that with this exclusive pack, I can still use my old DVD players for the 2D version! Which also means greater value for a joint family

3D-BD--plus--2D-BD simply don't make sense to me.

Plus I am sure some systems will allow you to watch 3D-BD in also 2D... ??

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one - I don't understand why you'd want to watch an upscaled version of a 2D DVD, if a 2D BD is also included in the pack! 3D, in my opinion, is a matter of taste - some people enjoy it, some people don't (I believe Christopher Nolan has gone on record stating that he would never have made any of the Batman films in 3D) - and hence having a 3D BD and a 2D BD gives people the same high definition experience, whichever format they would like to watch it in.

I understand how having a BD and a DVD in the same pack is useful for watching the film in another room, or elsewhere where a BD player isn't available - Triple Play packages (BD, DVD and Digital Copy) are common in the UK.

You don't work for Excel do you?

no i do not work for excel, but am a fan nevertheless


2D-BD works for me if the movie is 2D. If the movie was 3-D, and I wanted to watch 3-D in theatres, why would I go for a 2D BD at all? I'd go for the 3D BD and would be happy if a 2D-DVD was packed alongside for family to enjoy on standard DVD players. The upscaling is just another option if you happen to have a normal BD player additional to your 3D player.

Plus, packing a 2D-BD with a 3D-BD means a costlier package!! (compared to a 3D-BD packed with a standard DVD) -- that's how it makes even more sense to me.

Ok, so let's agree to disagree on this one.

BTW, 2D BDs make perfect sense to me if the movie is 2D.

Haha was just kidding!

I understand your point, but a lot of films in 3D also get released in 2D - and as far as I know both versions are equally popular - as I said, it's a matter of opinion, so we're both right

To each their own. But to me, a 3D-BD plus 2D-BD makes perfect sense. DVD for me is dead and buried. Have absolutely no desire to watch anything on DVD unless it is not available on BD at all and even then I would have to be really interested in the movie to watch it on DVD.

PS: I have approx. 1900 DVDs (all US imports) all packed in cartons and kept in a friend's office basement for the past 4 yrs. That's how much interest I have in DVDs. Mind you, these include hundreds of titles that have not even been released on blu-ray yet.

True, to each his own. My take on 3D BDs was only because of the 3D format of the movies for which I'd neither watch their 2D versions in theatres, nor desire to own 2D BDs of the same. But yes, a bonus DVD in the 3D BD packing would enable usage of existing DVD players and also TVs -- at a lower cost than a 3D-BD--plus--2D-BD

Otherwise 2D-BDs make perfect sense for 2D movies, though overall, there's not as much excitement for BDs as there was for DVDs. Like Ali also said in one of his posts "BDs don't excite me as much as DVDs..."