I would like to copy an old Movie to a new Blank DVD but blank is 4.6 Gb and Movie is 7 Gb. Any Ideas?

Well, other than using dual-layer DVDs, your only option is to compress the video down. Are you trying to play this on a standard DVD player, or a computer?

In other words, does it have to be a proper DVD, or can the video codec be something a little more exotic?

It's an old movie I bought several years ago and has been played a LOT. I wanted to copy it before it wore out and I would have to order a new one.
I'm not sure what a dual-layer DVD is. Will it record an entire 7Gb movie just like the original? The other questions would be where to obtain one and what program to use? Thanks.

You could always use k9copy, which will shrink the dvd onto a 4.6 GB disk.

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Yes, it would fit the whole movie as-is. Almost all commercial DVDs are put out on dual layer discs, which are also referred to as DVD9. If you want to burn the contents of a commercial DVD to a single layer disc, you would need to compress it pretty hard.

As for where to get them, any store that sells burnable media will have both single and dual layer discs. You don't need any special software either, all the burning software will be able to understand a dual layer. The only thing you need to check is if your drive is capable of burning a dual layer disc. Any modern drive should be, but if it is an older machine it might only support single layer DVD-R/RW.