Why I Don’t Buy Bootleg Blu-rays (And Why You Shouldn’t Either)

I get your perspective and love the channel but I have a slightly different take. I have bought a handful of bootlegs and have occasionally sailed the high seas when there is no other option available. However, I prefer to buy things and support creatives, actors, etc etc. But I refuse to buy digital because it can be taken away at any time.

But let us not forget, the industry has put us here. They decimated physical distribution. They loaded digital purchases with tons of restrictions and drm and rarely any special features. It didn’t have to be this way. Digital could and should be as good or better than physical. Consumers should have increased ownership rights to products they “buy”. A downloadable copy can display far better than streaming it but many services don’t allow that, and when they do, the file is so compressed it is not great quality. For the price of digital purchases they could do better and upload some special features as well.

Also, There is no reason we should not have the option to buy digital even without a physical release. But they often choose not to do these things.

My perspective is that I want to do things the right way and support all parties, and I will continue to do so, but when piracy and bootleggers are offering an oftentimes better experience than the official releases then what can they expect? I would rebuy an official release if it’s significantly better than the bootleg I bought. But If they cannot clear that low bar then I am not going to rebuy it. They had their chance, i would not have bought the bootleg in the first place if they had offered a physical release.

So, if that seems like I don’t care enough, then let’s also ask if the studios are caring enough about the consumer. It cuts both ways. They need to learn that.

WHEN THE SERVER S GO DOWN Y ARE SCREWED BECAUSE Y DONT HAVE IT ON DVD

Wild that "True Lies" 4K won't look as good as that Spanish one.

So tell me where I can go buy an official released Blu-Ray HD quality Dukes of Hazzard or Gilligans Island complete series sets? I already know the answer, they dont exist. BUT digital copies(1080p mkv files) from prior streaming do exist. These are easy to find and burn on blu-ray disc. So whats wrong with doing that? They are just place holders in peoples collections until the real thing gets released. People will support the official releases when they get released, but I see nothing wrong with owning digital files and burning them on disc. There is no money involved at all...I dont support actually paying someone for downloading the files and burning them and selling them, thats wrong. BUT if you do it yourself for personal use, more power to you..

if it’s not available physically (on dvd or blu ray, i don’t care which) officially, then I’ll find a way to add it to my collection. Then if they ever release it officially, I’ll buy it and replace the boot.

Yes give money to Disney and buy their shite so they can continue producing more shite. I would rather buy a bootleg dvd of The Mandalorian or Andor (the only shows worth watching by Disney) than buy anything from them. And I have been collecting physical movies for 20 years. Stfu.

If they weren't worried about that then they'd never go after small time downloaders like they've been doing.

Trouble is official BR releases are thin on the ground, esp if you're outside of Europe and the Americas.

There are only 2 options left.

Option 1: Import the official BR releases but
A. I would have to upgrade to an all regions player and
B the cost of the imported discs is prohibitively high

Option 2: Unfortunately go the bootleg route

How about like "Stranger Things" series? Cannot buy it anywhere except Ebay (bootleg i guess) they force customers in EU to buy it from China and it's sad.

This argument is bullshit and also elitist i live in brazil and thanks to piracy i got started with criterion and when i got the money to buy one i go there and buy it but is too expensive so sometimes i have to stay on piracy. And also i love dbz dubbed in portuguese our dub is one of the best in the world because we dub everything from all over the world so we have a lot of experience on that but there is no dbz in bluray here in brazil because the company that owns the rights to dbz will never release so the only way to get it, it is by bootleg

Screw the studios! Bootleg at will!

Every time you buy a digital copy, you drive another nail into the coffin of physical media.
I don't buy bootlegs, but people who do are probably doing us a favour - if the numbers get significant.

At the time I didn't know the movie was bootleg, but it turned out great. In The Line of Duty 4 was so hard to find at the time in a reasonable price range.

Good about Blu-ray is: HD (Up to 1080p, 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray runs in 4K), More Protection with Scratch and Damage, Finger Prints removed, Soft and Smooth Disc, 7.1 Surround Sound and later on Dolby Atmos Audio, Plays it on PlayStation 3 or Later Models, Xbox One and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Only on Xbox One S/X and Xbox Series X, Windows and Mac, Trailer got much better than 90s and before with Movie Trailers, Cases of Blu-ray, No Internet Connection Required, Blu-ray and DVD Disc stacked up with Packages at once, Space Savings, Digital Codes and The name Blu-ray makes scene because of Blue Lasers.

Bad about Blu-ray is: Software Updates, Disc Holders for some Movies and Can't Skip Warnings and Home Entertainment Logos stuff.

I would buy a 4k bootleg of 4k77 in a heartbeat

You are supporting someone when buying the bootleg , and that is important to note that investigations of the bootlegging mechanism is revealing that the Sri Lankan hub may in fact be receiving Chinese finance. I personally believe that the war on physical media is in fact not about the future , it’s about making us pay 90 dollars a month for an ever shrinking small percentage database. Like comcast. Honestly , bro your point on the film maker is a two edged sword.
The maker of barbarian was told hey blu ray make millions of dollars in sales but you should pass on millions of dollars. Your beloved director agreed with that ? Bro to be straight , you wanna support him send him a money order for his work , getting the full 10 dollar bill rather than netflix 2 points on a Film will give him way more love. Netflix is actually removing content with no physical release , permanently, imagine a world where Star Wars doesn’t exist , are kidding me?

Ted lasso has no physical the moment Apple decides meh it’s time is up every human for the rest history cannot see it ever for the rest of human history? If that is what streaming winning means , the complete destruction of entertainment value to a short attention span theater , margin column production society , producing for the moment and only for such , that is not futuristic at all , shakesphere invented that , it called the theatre , the globe ran its shows and after a period of time never showed them again. That is 14th century vision not 21st.

It problematic enough the Hollywood itself stated it would not digitally upgrade 1/3 of the catalogue , streamers vision is even a good movie is only good for about eight years and nobody cares after that remember that next time your looking at Scarface. If streamers win , it gone.

Look clearly I’m seven months late to this party , but bootlegs existed for a reason in both movies and music. They are the correct response to a corporation either not releasing what should be released , or what they know they should and refuse too.

Side note in the engagement of ethical bootlegging , people need to become aware and use an oft forgotten agent in the era of the internet. The foreign importer. I have true lies on blu ray. A legit corporate sanctioned copy from Spain. Mission to Mars . Legit from Germany.

Some shows are basically forgotten media. The only time i support bootleg movies is when the show/movie is so old with little/no physical media. Like Beetleborgs for example. Its almost 30 years old and the ending was never put on dvd. I'll still buy the digital release but I'll also buy the bootleg incase the platform decides to take it away (even if you buy it, its not actually yours).

I dont have any bootlegs, but It honestly is tempting. Ive wanted some blu ray releases from netflix for ages now and after 4 years a lot of these shows still dont have one. Idk what other option there is than to get a bootleg. I buy netflix every month but I like the collection aspect of blu rays. If a blu ray is available Id much rather watch it on that instead of streaming it.

This man is a hypocrite.... as he , himself owns a few or a couple of bootleg (unofficial) blu rays in his collection as seen in one of his tour vidoes now to point out , he did mention that some people brought those bootleg blu rays , so he didn't buy them , but great that you are speaking out against it at least

Buy digital and make your own physical copy. You own the rights at that pont

People who own physical media, i believe, also care about quality. And thats where i have issues with streaming. My other issue is whenever licenses start expiring and movies start to disappear and theres no longer a way to watch them.

Because of this, I just purchased a copy of Barbarian as a booklegged bluray (i watched it twice in theaters). If it ever "disappears" from streaming platforms, i own a copy. However, bootlegged versions will never look as good as an actual copy released from the studio. Whenever Barbarian comes out officially, i will be buying it again. Loved the video man!

More than half of the bootlegs are poor quality anyway. The aspect ratio is off, the volume and sound quality isn't right. Sometimes out of sync, sometimes too loud.. Etc. So I'm not wasting my money for a half a$S job.

Nah, you vote with your wallets and it absolutely DOES stick it to Disney and they DO feel it

I bought bootlegs for The Mandalorian and Prey because I refuse to pretend to own something that isn’t in my hands, something that I will have forever. A picture of a movie on a screen in my ‘owned’ list just sucks, but I think we can all agree on that.

As far as I’m concerned these bootleggers are fulfilling a service that the big companies are not providing. In fact you could argue that the volume of bootleg sales are encouraging them to release physical copies. If that means we don’t have this whole will they won’t they release it then it’s a win win

honestly with all the payout data revealed during the wga strike : streaming goes towards the companies not the creators. any bootleg i've gotten was through legal means as a consumer, usually a record store thats selling stuff they got secondhand. of the boots i do have : none are available on official channels streaming or otherwise. at that point becomes the same argument for video game preservation, should art become unavailable because no ones trying to actively sell it. i agree with you on new releases though but the entertainment industry has always minimalized artist payout, hence stuff like the WGA strike, theres plenty of creators in music/movies/etc that have actively encouraged piracy of their works just so people can experience their stuff. hell even lars ulrich came out this week saying it makes him happy that people still bother to download metallica

Sometimes there is and will probably never be a physical copy. Mighty Max is a prime example. If there is a physical down the line, I can purchase that and get the official.

If studios want collectors and consumers to not buy bootleg's then just release the physical copy. Stop holding us hostage with the streaming services.

I bought a bootleg of After Hours from spain not knowing that it actually was a bootleg. The quality was pretty good but not quite bluray (especially the sound). And now it's finally available on 4k, so that movie just skipped bluray and went from dvd to 4k

I was at a garage sale and found a bootleg james bond collection and for 2 bucks I now own the first 20 films

The only time id ever buy a bootleg bluray is if the media (tv show or movie) isnt on Blu-ray. One example is inhumans, which was a one season long marvel show that isnt on home media at all. It was on tv and later on disney+ but not on any physical media, no dvds, no blu-rays. Trust me id buy an official Blu-ray of the stuff i love in a heartbeat but when its ether not on blu-ray or home media in general then i would buy a bootleg.

From what iv seen thats what people have done too, the mcu disney+ shows were streaming only for ages (until only recently) and so blu-ray bootlegs for those shows were very popular. Only now have marvel announced that they are gunna be making official blu-rays which people realy didnt think would happen but from what iv seen about people talking about the official releases, it seems like alot of people who have the bootlegs also say they will get the official release when it comes. Because they aint getting bootlegs to undercut disney, they want them to complete up to date mcu blu-ray collections and to just have the show physically

TL:DR most people only buy bootleg blu-rays when theirs no official release of it

I have several blu-rays from Amazon that I suspect are bootleg. The clarity of the image on the artwork, particularly the text, is questionable.

Many companies won't make physical copies of movies and shows several examples the live action 1978 spiderman tv series or other rare shows like spectreman that are obscure and almost forgotten. It's fans that are keeping shows and movies like those alive some fans like spiderman are actually working to improve the image quality of the series and they deserve to get paid for their labor of love. I see nothing wrong with supporting them and how would that be stealing money from the companies when those shows and movies are not available on DVD or Blu-ray and are not even available on streaming or television? And don't get me started on actual company released products that are censored and inferior to the original versions. Example star wars and E.T. etc

Literally got a bootleg copy of Prey. 😅

I own four bootlegs, The complete series of Goosebumps, Obi Wan Kenobi, Mandalorian S1-2 and Book of Boba Fett

bull, if they REFUSE to release films like Prey or Barbarian on blurays it is the only way to get them on physical. THAT is your only choice to show places that refuse to release them they cannot force you to perpetually rent it on their scammy streaming service. If that "Young and up coming filmaker" can't put his foot down, then so be it. But many of us will not be punked by a studio. IF it does finally come out I'll buy the official release, until then, I'll have the movie in the only way I can OWN it. Hulu will not make us perpetually rent a title. You "Assume" things NOT in evidence by their behavior. Those places you are talking about show ZERO sign or intention of doing the things you claim they "may" in the future. SO, unless someone shows them what they ARE doing will not work, they will not change. You sound way too much like a SHILL whenever you make a video on issues like this. Especially the way you appear to try to guilt trip or moralize folks into subbing to streaming services or buying digital or "go without and wait and hope". A real collector never gives up and never gives in...lol

This guy obviously does not watch foreign films for anime/toku etc., because if he did he would understand that most of those don’t get official releases and that there is no other way to view them at all in English, aside from bootlegs…

Back in the 90’s most of those were ONLY available in those bootlegs. Today they can also be downloaded & those companies ignore those of us who want to buy them.

Kamen Rider is a 50 year old series in Japan, to date there has NEVER been any official release of the original series on any home video format. Several sequels have; to date out of 50 years worth of Kamen Rider we have FOUR seasons of the modern seasons on Blu-Ray & ONE classic season on a limited Hawaii ONLY DVD. Then ONE movie got another Hawaii Only DVD. Other than a handful of them getting streaming releases via Amazon. That’s it…

I always support filmmakers. Despite having owned a bootleg, a fifth series is just about to get an official blu-ray & I payed $75 for a pre-order.

Despite growing up with this as one of my fav shows, the bootlegs have been the ONLY WAY to watch ANY of them until the last 4-5 years. It’s shitty as this has literally been one of my favorite shows since childhood.

We will still support, but those bootlegs are the only way a lot of us can watch most of what we enjoy. 🤷🏼

Love my Blu-rays personally especially the 3D ones. So sharp on the TV. So far got, Prometheus, Termiantor Genysis and Avatar. Looking to grow my colelciton though!

Unfortunately the future isn't looking great for Blu Ray releases. Here in Australia Disney has announced they're no longer doing any physical releases after GOTG3. I fear it might not be long until the rest of the world follows suit.

I only consider it when there’s no other option

So what is your take, now that Disney has officially announced that they will no longer release physical media in Australia (for now. other Countries will potentially follow). I go to the movies to watch Marvel films, I also subscribe to Disney Plus just to be able to watch all of the new Star Wars and Marvel shows. I am a collector and so I purchase official movies and games because I want to own what I pay for. But now, I won't have that opportunity. These streaming services will not always have the titles we want due to Licensing and storage so the reality is, not all shows/movies will be available to you when you want them. The only way to to keep our history is through physical media.

I wouldn't watch the Mandalorian or Prey on an illegal plataform again, lt alone buy a bootleg.

Unfortunately most streaming services has some kind of exclusive shows or movies. They choose not to release them on physical media in hopes you'll subscribe to their streaming service.

I'm subscribed to some streaming services but would still like to own my favorite shows and movies on physical media.

I make and sell bootlegs, however, I insert subtle fart sound effects during certain scenes fights/love scenes/anytime someone sits down etc

I would gladly give Netflix £60 for a full set of She-Ra, Amazon as much as they want for a box set of the expanse and Disney more than a monthly subscription for Prey.

Until they do they're on my shelf in some form. I can't wait to bin my unofficial Babylon 5 disks for the proper release on December personally.

❤️❤️❤️❤️

Yep still waiting for prey to release on dvd. Im tempted to buy a bootleg because im building up a complete predator dvd collection and this film is the only one missing.

I want the real deal. Amazon doesn't sell bootlegs do they. And how do i know if its a bootleg. I support the big companies so we get new seasons. I agree with you.

Bootleg simply means no authorisation of the owner. That does not mean the release will look bad or will be amateurish. There are lots of spanish bootlegs which are decent transfers, some produced on professional machines, with protective layer, with even cover being undistinguishable from a legal one. Only giveaway on lots of those is they are copied on recordables. But those that have protective layer and stuff you will not see those are bootleg. The spanish blu-ray release of True Lies for instance we know it is not released because the owner of the rights does not allow it. But there it is looking perfect with a protective layer also...for sale on Amazon, Ebay and spanish online movie stores with lots of positive comments..with lots of folks thinking it is a legitimate release which it is not.