Sounds like a wonderful deal. I look forward to seeing which movies they are offering.

The HD rendering of the Shining is pretty decent

read the fine print, you dont "Own" anything.

id rather not have video chomping up space on my hard drive...give me a disc instead

You can only watch standard def videos on your PC.

I like, "or until they're all gone"....like you're getting something tangible.... in this stored format, THEY'RE NEVER ALL GONE...they can allow MILLIONS to access

Can they be download to a hard drive? If not, the statement about not owning makes sense. If they can be Downloaded then I'm ok not having the disk or box. I have most of my DVD's in binder cases & then store their cases. It seems every time I turnen around I have scratched another disk. As I write I ddo wonder how you could loan it. Can it be moved from one cloud drive to another?

Thinking I might use my video credits to get National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation [HD] except that it's on that deal where it's available to Prime members free until Jan 20. Does anyone remember if it was free on Prime before this offer? Thought it was. I'd hate to get it and have it be free to me after Jan 20th and I paid for it. Anyone have any comments on the picture quality of this one if HD?

[Deleted by Amazon on Jan 2, 2013 3:50:44 PM PST]

Purchase rights: Stream instantly and download to 2 locations.

From the item description for Willy Wonka HD. You can download it onto two devices or stream it. So yeah you do pretty much own it, in my opinion. I see about 4 here I'd like to own.

Yes, it was free before this promo. I've been thinking about watching it on my Roku Since before Christmas, but keep watching something else.

As for ownership, you own the right to watch the movie. It's sad that people don't understand "Cloud Computing" and/or Intellectual Property rights. I am personally very happy that this is available on Amazon. Amazon is a company that's not gong away, like say Blockbuster may go away someday and buying the rights to a movie sitting in the cloud of Amazon feels pretty safe to me. Having limited living space and a Japanese spouse that's wants everything extra tidy, not having a bunch discs sitting around is a good thing.

This is EXTREMELY tempting. This comment is coming from someone preferring actually owning physical media, but the Amazon Instant Video App on Wii U is so horrendously slow just to navigate to a movie for even $5 it's not really worth it. I've been a Prime member for years and never used it until Ithey had it preinstalled on the Wii U so I just gave it a try and if they really want to be a contender with Netflix they need to start using Netflix.

In fact I already emailed them using their feedback in the app. I told them about the serious lag while navigating (Netflix is negligible). I told them scanning the movie is a pain (Netflix shows you what's happening while scanning) and many other nuances that I currently am running out of time to list. They replied and said that feedback was for feature requests or bugs found. Uh... the former is buggy and the latter is a feature.

Other then that AIV does have some Prime videos that Netflix doesn't, but Netflix does have a whole lot more Amazon doesn't. AIV does let you purchase movies in App while Netflix doesn't allow you to see in app what is available for DVD queing.

You can browse the list of HD compatible devices (brand filter as well):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/video/ontv/devices/ref=atv_dp_hd_dev

wouldnt be bad if the choice of movies were better,these movies are bogus..not worth the money

I have utilized AMZN Instant Video using only the AMZN Instant Video Player for PS3 so far. Please keep that in mind while reviewing this post.

In addition to the usual concerns, following are points to consider for some who are debating between
(1) owning copies of logical, intangible, digital files making up an A/V intellectual property (IP) and a corresponding license to access them on their physical, tangible, analog BD/DVD distribution medium using a reader, versus
(2) owning a license to access the logical, intangible, digital AMZN Instant Video files making up the IP using a PS3:

* While closed captioning (CC) may be available for IP distributed under another method, e.g. BD, DVD, OTA broadcast, satellite broadcast, cable, Internet (ITV), etc., it may be unavailable via AMZN Instant Video. The AMZN Instant Video Player for PS3 provided no CC from all titles I have streamed from the service so far. It may just be the application. I am uncertain whether this is fundamental to the service itself.

* The AMZN Instant Player for PS3 application to-date still has not incorporated an instant rewind function. While not entirely difficult to engage, the user must still actually use the regular rewind function, introducing a slight lag to initiate.

* The AMZN Instant Player for PS3 application's control panel always appears during a pause. It is nondismissible. Should an user pause the stream to see/get a closer look at something appearing momentarily near the bottom of the display, that something is still obscured by the panel during any pause.

FYI.

It wasn't on Prime. It was available through Netflix through Jan 1 as well.

"Due to licensing restrictions, this movie (in my case, "Happy Feet") will be unavailable for online viewing and downloading starting on Sep 29, 2015.
To access this movie while it's unavailable for online viewing, you may download it to a compatible device prior to Sep 29."

"You can only watch standard def videos on your PC."

I realize this is probably an eye roll-inducing question, but does this mean that a high def video is un-viewable on your PC, or just that it will only playback in standard def?

You can very easily watch HD (Blue-ray) discs on your PC...you just need a BD player and the right software....I do it all the time.

VLC Media Player is a great free software for download....it will play most anything you throw at it, including HD video (files or discs).

I have Amazon streaming through the Wii U and have not experienced any lag. Maybe it is your connection. I also have Amazon streaming on another tv through Roku and I have no issues there either. I have a fast connection. The selection at Netflix is better but I like Amazon Prime as well.

Its $5 a movie. Download it, burn to a DVD if you have to have a hard object to scratch up.

Has Amazon upgraded their streaming to 1080p yet or are we still stuck with 720p?

Hopefully Amazon will make PC streaming HD soon like Vudu just did.

More & more Amazon is pushing this streaming stuff. Frankly, the fine print says that you DON'T own it, and, to top it off, it chomps up all kinds of space on your hard drive. Give me the discs. That's the way to go! Besides, it's always nice to have something to hold onto.

Would be a good deal if it was the actual DVD they were offering. I can get these at local stores when they are sale for almost the same price. I prefer DVDs to insant streaming. The DVDs often have bonus features which tell more about the movie, how they are produced, etc., which I find as interesting as the movie itself. So I'll pass on these.

Would any of those who claim that you don't actually "own" the video after you purchase it care to elaborate on their claim? I have owned numerous videos purchased from Amazon for years, and they do me the favor of keeping it for me, in the cloud, so I don't have to store it anywhere. Any time I want it, I can watch it. I own the videos just as much as I own the money I have in my bank account. I don't actually hold it in my hands, much, but it's still mine to use as a I please. Seems like ownership to me.