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MGM arrives on iTunes at last...

Published on 11th April 2007 by Joe Martin

Lions - roaring on to an iPod near you soon!

They may be a bit late on the scene, but it seems like MGM have at last decided to jump in with everyone else and embrace the joy that is iTunes, according to the latest Apple press release.

MGM have previously been linked to other digital movie distribution services, like the Unbox service offered by Amazon, though this is the first time they've struck such a deal with Apple.

Classic action movies like Ronin, Robocop, Mad Max and the Sylvester Stallone punch-fest, Rocky are now available at what Apple calls 'near-DVD quality' (640x480 4:3 versus 720x480 16:9) for the usual price.

MGM have made over 500 movies available initially, but we movie lovers suspect that list will only grow as Apple continues to devour all forms of entertainment (ironically) like a maggot in an apple.

If you've got an opinion on any of MGM's movies, or just fancy a place to mouth off then pop down to our forums - it's where all the cool kids hang out!

5 Comments

Discuss in the forums Reply

DeX 11th April 2007, 20:33

Nice. But for those of us who don't have iTunes, remind us what is the price of a movie again? Oh and how big is a standard movie file and what kind of speeds does iTunes allow you to download at?

As far as I'm aware, MGM's addition of 500 movies to the catalog is the largest made by any studio. How many other movies are there currently available?

Edit: Oh yeah, now I remember why I haven't read much about the iTunes movie service; when will they make movies available to us UKians?

Tyinsar 11th April 2007, 22:32

Why the lower resolution? + If I buy it on DVD I can rip it to whatever I want.

TheEclypse 11th April 2007, 22:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyinsar
Why the lower resolution? + If I buy it on DVD I can rip it to whatever I want.

They are gonna launch a DRM free download that has extras like the bits of the movie that would otherwise be chopped off.:D

sunny_man 12th April 2007, 00:34

It's a shame we here in the UK don't have the option to download TV shows and films from the UK iTunes store. They sell video iPods here and yet they won't supply the media to take advantage of it.

Firehed 12th April 2007, 01:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyinsar
Why the lower resolution? + If I buy it on DVD I can rip it to whatever I want.

Because despite how trivial it is to do so, it's illegal (at least in the US) to do that. No idea about Canada or the UK, or anywhere else for that matter.

Personally, I think the extras are a waste of space, so I'd rather pay a tiny bit less since I'm still getting all that I want. But once again, conditionally: their distribution costs have dropped to almost zero, so I should get *at least* the same quality a DVD has, and at a notably lower cost (or HD for the same price). And, of course, sans DRM. It's not like you can't already download any film in existence off of bit-torrent, and unlike with music, emailing a friend a copy of the movie you just bought isn't especially feasible (and it's this casual piracy that DRM is designed to prevent).