Shrek – NOT the Whole Story

Here’s a riddle even Shrek’s Donkey could solve: why buy Shrek Forever After on Blu-ray for $50 when you can import all four Shrek movies in a Blu-ray box set for about the same?

Inexplicably, Universal Pictures isn’t releasing the DreamWorks dream box set, Shrek: The Whole Story in NZ.

You can buy it in Australia, the US and the UK, which is fantastic for fans as the first two Shrek movies previously haven’t been released on Blu-ray.

But in NZ, only the DVD box set is for sale, under the banner, Shrek: The Whole Story Quadrillogy.

It retails for $67, which is more than it costs to land Shrek The Whole Story Blu-rays from Amazon in the US (where it’s selling it for $US40) or the UK (where it’s £23) – both of which are better buys than the $A99 across the Tasman.

Moreover, it’s a region-free release, so you don’t need a Blu-ray player like Oppo’s BDP-83 to watch it here.

Universal Pictures didn’t respond to ScreenScribe.tv’s query about why NZ appears to be one of the few territories to have missed out on the Blu-ray box set, which has scored top reviews at Blu-ray.com, DVDFile.com and DVDTown.com.

But it follows other key Blu-ray releases not getting the green light here — like seasons six of House (which Universal offers in the US and the UK) and four of Dexter (which Paramount offers in Australia but isn’t distributing here through Universal).

Given declining DVD sales and rising Blu-ray sales, why are such signature releases going begging?

Even Donkey would think this stinks worse than Shrek’s breath!