Another flurry of Blu-ray news today.
First, a slightly silly item, DVD International will be releasing their ‘HDScape’ titles on Blu-ray this October 30th. Why is this silly? These are ‘scenic’ discs, not movies. The titles:
# HDScape(TM) Sampler Blu-ray Disc
# Exotic Saltwater Aquarium
# Serenity: Southern Seas
# Fireplace: Visions Of Tranquility
# Visions Of The Sea: Explorations
# Antarctica Dreaming
# HD Window: Hawaii
# HD Window: The Great Southwest
You too can turn your big-screen HDTV into a high-definition fireplace. 
(From Blu-ray.com.)
In more serious news, Warner Home Video will have some major releases later in the year – in time for the holidays, of course. They’re doing a number of deluxe DVD box-sets – but the Harry Potter collection of the first five films will also be available on Blu-ray and HD DVD for $149.99 ($119.97 for the DVDs). The set will include exclusive memorabilia such as bookmarks and collectible trading cards.
Of more interest to me (sorry HP fans) is the 25th anniversary Blade Runner release. There are two special editions – a 5-DVD set for $78.92 and a 4-DVD set for $34.99. The 5-disc version will also be released on Blu-ray and HD DVD day and date with the DVDs. No pricing is available yet, but I’m sure it’ll be more than the DVDs. (From VideoBusiness via Blu-ray.com.)
Swinging back toward silly for a bit, Disney is taking their show on the road with “Disney’s Magical Blu-ray Tour”. The roadshow will be visiting 18 malls across the country from August to December, touting the benefits of Blu-ray. They’ll spend three days at each location pimping Blu-ray in general, and Disney Blu-ray releases such as Cars and Meet the Robisons in particular. See all of the dates here if you want to check it out. Looks like the closest they’ll be to me is the Burlington Mall in Burlington, MA on Nov. 9-11. Maybe I’ll check it out just for laughs. (Noticed via Blu-ray.com.)
And, finally, serious again – see how I did that? – with an interesting report via AnimeOnDVD.com. It seems that Bandai Visual Japan has been doing public demos of Managed Copy, moving content off of the Japanese Blu-ray edition of the Patlabor movie. The original report is in Japanese via AV Watch – enjoy the Google translation.
