Link This | Email this | Blog This | Comments (0)

National Treasure's Jon Turteltaub: Blu-ray Great, But Temporary
March 25, 2008

Oops - Disney's plan to enlist National Treasure 2 director Jon Turteltaub to help promote the film's May 20 DVD/Blu-ray release may have backfired a bit. In a Tuesday online roundtable discussion with reporters, Turteltaub was asked how he personally felt about the BD format. He totally likes it, but he indicated it may soon get replaced by a newer technology. 
"No question Blu-ray is the way to go. It's superb," said Turteltaub, who has directed both National Treasure installments. "And as great as it is, it's probably going to be gone in a few years. Things are moving quickly and something better will come along soon, which is great in some ways. But it also makes things very confusing and very expensive for distributors. Knowing when to change is tricky."
This guy is refreshingly honest about the Blu-ray dilemma: Most people love it when they see it, but they also must wonder if they should seriously invest in the format if high-def downloads happen to take off commercially. Apple TV and Xbox 360 Live do offer high-def content. Yet the viability of such streams and downloads is curbed by today's limited storage options for digital content.
I do applaud Disney for letting Turteltaub talk about his experiences with Blu-ray, even if he might not have been the absolute cheerleader the studio was probably expecting. We need to connect Blu-ray with known filmmakers to push the entire creative community into rallying around the format. We need a filmmaker to get excited about making some exclusive features for a movie's Blu-ray edition, or push for his/her back catalog to bow in the format. We need to make the format really stand out as something to be coveted.
Also during the online roundtable, Turteltaub acknowledged that he has had to change to keep up with new emerging technologies, explaining, "From Blu-ray to V.O.D. to Internet streams to iTunes, movie and television production are going to have to adjust the way they work."
As far as his favorite highlight of the Blu-ray edition of National Secrets 2, "Without a doubt, my favorite moments are the ones where my hair looks good."

Posted by Susanne Ault on March 25, 2008 | Comments (0)