Buying an older movie with an "expired" digital download - any experiences?

[bcla]

There's one movie that I enjoy watching. I used to be able to find it included in several streaming services (usually with ads) but now they're all rentals that I don't want to pay for. I didn't like waiting 2 minutes for ad breaks, but that was the price of watching them. The Blu-Ray version with an Ultraviolet download was fairly reasonably priced. However, Ultraviolet is now defunct, and in any case the product description says that the download expiration was in 2018.

I've done these types of downloads (especially Disney titles) over the years with iTunes, Disney Movies Anywhere, and now Movies Anywhere. I'm pretty sure that one can download this studio's current content to MoviesAnywhere. I'm still not sure how it works, but I have my iTunes account linked to MoviesAnywhere and Amazon, and I can access my downloaded titles via streaming on Apple TV or Amazon Prime.

I heard somewhere that old Ultraviolet codes still work even if "expired". Anyone tried this out?

 

[sam_gordon]

Why not just try it yourself? You'd have an answer by now.

 

[bcla]

Why not just try it yourself? You'd have an answer by now.

I'm thinking of ordering it. I've never really dealt with anything that "expired". I found some of my old Universal Blu-Ray titles that I bought for $5 and they say nothing about an expiration date. Certainly the Disney titles (with Disney Rewards) don't have an expiration date. I could always just "buy" it from a streaming service (like Amazon Prime or Apple TV, but the price for just that is around $15 when the Blu-Ray plus digital download is $7.

 

[Mysterian]

There's one movie that I enjoy watching. I used to be able to find it included in several streaming services (usually with ads) but now they're all rentals that I don't want to pay for. I didn't like waiting 2 minutes for ad breaks, but that was the price of watching them. The Blu-Ray version with an Ultraviolet download was fairly reasonably priced. However, Ultraviolet is now defunct, and in any case the product description says that the download expiration was in 2018.

I've done these types of downloads (especially Disney titles) over the years with iTunes, Disney Movies Anywhere, and now Movies Anywhere. I'm pretty sure that one can download this studio's current content to MoviesAnywhere. I'm still not sure how it works, but I have my iTunes account linked to MoviesAnywhere and Amazon, and I can access my downloaded titles via streaming on Apple TV or Amazon Prime.

I heard somewhere that old Ultraviolet codes still work even if "expired". Anyone tried this out?

What movie?

I never tried expired codes, but I tried redeeming Valerian before the expiration date and was surprisingly denied. You had to redeem via Europacorp (Europaredeem.com), which is Luc Besson's own film studio. As it turns out, they shut down due to sexual harassment allegations against Besson. So no digital copy. (Supposedly Vudu would still redeem the code if you contacted them and sent a photo of the code or something, I never tried it.)

 

[wenrob]

It depends on the studio, some are stricter than others about it. I think it was Universal that absolutely not work with me even though I had no idea the movie I bought was expired. Disney on the other hand I’ve redeemed movies long, long past expiration. Honestly I’d pay the $15 rather than paying $7 and then $15 if it doesn’t work out.

 

[bcla]

What movie?

I never tried expired codes, but I tried redeeming Valerian before the expiration date and was surprisingly denied. You had to redeem via Europacorp (Europaredeem.com), which is Luc Besson's own film studio. As it turns out, they shut down due to sexual harassment allegations against Besson. So no digital copy. (Supposedly Vudu would still redeem the code if you contacted them and sent a photo of the code or something, I never tried it.)

I'm thinking of the US though. I understand that a lot of these studios (in the US) have moved to Movies Anywhere except for Paramount and Lionsgate. Mine is Sony/Columbia movie. I ordered it from Amazon and surprisingly can pick it up today. I guess it was located in a local warehouse for same day delivery.

I mentioned my old download code (for Despicable Me) which was distributed by Universal in the United States. The Universal website redirects to Universalredeem.com. I redeemed the code back in 2015 and when it's entered I get a message to that effect. But I remember I used to be able to see it on some other linked application. I also tried entered it into MoviesAnywhere (a consortium that including Universal, Disney, and Sony) and got that it had already been redeemed. So I guess my best bet would be to try MoviesAnywhere since it's linked to my iTunes account.

 

[Mysterian]

I'm thinking of the US though. I understand that a lot of these studios (in the US) have moved to Movies Anywhere except for Paramount and Lionsgate. Mine is Sony/Columbia movie. I ordered it from Amazon and surprisingly can pick it up today. I guess it was located in a local warehouse for same day delivery.

I mentioned my old download code (for Despicable Me) which was distributed by Universal in the United States. The Universal website redirects to Universalredeem.com. I redeemed the code back in 2015 and when it's entered I get a message to that effect. But I remember I used to be able to see it on some other linked application. I also tried entered it into MoviesAnywhere (a consortium that including Universal, Disney, and Sony) and got that it had already been redeemed. So I guess my best bet would be to try MoviesAnywhere since it's linked to my iTunes account.

I usually try ITunes first.
And the Valerian DVD I bought from Walmart, it’s just the website for digital redemption is owned by a European film studio, but open for US customers. A larger US studio likely distributed the film, I didn’t check to see. I haven’t even watched the movie yet.

PS- Proofreading my post, “Digital Redemption” sounds like a Catholic school techno band.

 

[bcla]

I usually try ITunes first.
And the Valerian DVD I bought from Walmart, it’s just the website for digital redemption is owned by a European film studio, but open for US customers. A larger US studio likely distributed the film, I didn’t check to see. I haven’t even watched the movie yet.

PS- Proofreading my post, “Digital Redemption” sounds like a Catholic school techno band.

It was available streaming for me with my old satellite package and then on Amazon Prime. It’s an interesting movie. Rihanna has an interesting part.

 

[MillauFr]

If I have the DVD / BlueRay I'll just rip it to my DVDFab Movie Server. Then I don't have to worry about the streaming services discontinuing it.

 

[bcla]

If I have the DVD / BlueRay I'll just rip it to my DVDFab Movie Server. Then I don't have to worry about the streaming services discontinuing it.

All the titles that I can access on MoviesAnywhere are linked to my iTunes account, and I can have my own download on my computer. I can also variously have it downloaded ahead of time to my devices through several apps that are linked, such as Prime Video or iTunes/Apple TV.

 

[bcla]

Oh - I picked it up and entered the code in MoviesAnwhere and it worked. The label and the card inside says "Expires 12/31/18" but it seemed to work just fine. Go fig.

 

[bcla]

Someone asked what movie. It was Cameron Crowe's Aloha from 2015. I know a lot of reviewers called it a mess, but I liked it from the point of view where little pieces were strung together. It was quirky and messy. A lot of what they had just didn't make much sense (but made more sense understanding the original script/plot), but I enjoyed it.

I'll just get into the weeds even if nobody really cares.

I also liked the access to many of the featurettes and deleted scenes. They had completely different beginning and ending scenes ready, in addition to some deleted or longer versions of existing scenes, as well as an alternate ending where Emma Stone's character ends up in India working for the National Reconnoissance Office. I wonder why the original beginning scene was changed. It included one character (the brother of the protagonist played by Jay Baruchel) who is completely cut from the final movie. It shows what happened to the protagonist in Afghanistan and why someone tried to kill him. Also far more goes into the CIA officer, whose presence isn't explained terribly well in the final cut. He tells him that his flight to Hawaii is piloted by his old Air Force buddy, but in the final cut he seemingly heads for the cockpit to talk to him without explaining how he knew he would be there. Then there's why they're so concerned about the Chinese space program, where they sent a rocket into space to destroy one of their dead satellites as a message that they could do that to any satellite. That - plus some scenes that I thought might have been more interesting plus an exposition of what Rachel McAdam's character does, which is try to identify the remains of American service personnel to provide closure for their families.

Part of the problem of the final cut was that they didn't explain a few things, such as why the protagonist is called "The Great One" (his brother called him that) or how serious his injuries really were. Or why he called the time between Christmas and New Years "The season of chill", which is what an enlisted man on the same flight called it. All this stuff that never made it into the final cut could have easily made it easier to under what was going on.