Quote:
Originally Posted by pwalker8
Let's see, the Wrath of Khan was released in 1983 for $40, half the normal price and is credited with starting the trend to release at lower prices.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_T...han#Home_media
Top Gun came out in 1986, for $25. So the Wraith of Khan was the first VHS released at the lower price($40 instead of $80), but Top Gun was the first released at the $25 price point. |
Yeah, it looks like there were experiments, like The Wrath of Khan, but Top Gun is the watershed release that set the price point from then on.
Here's an article from the New York Times about Top Gun's release, from 1987. Though it mentions the typical price for a home video release was $80-90 (crazy!), it also mentions that Beverly Hills Cop and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom were released for $30. There's a quote from a Disney exec saying that there could be two home video markets. Releases for rentals from video stores and releases for the mass public to own.
Interesting bit of trivia:
The success of Top Gun finally convinced Steven Spielberg to release E.T. to home video.