The reason for crappy DVD releases...

[Prince Phillip]

A lot of people complain about the crappy releases of DVD's, and rightfully so. Bare-bones and Pan and Scan DVD's...YUCK! But did it ever occur to you why such big companies like Warner Bros. and Disney might be doing this?...

I think the obvious answer is money, but not in the way you might be thinking. DVD's are meant to last forever... therefore, one perfect release, and theoretically, you would never have to buy a title again. By first releasing bare-boned, Pan/Scan DVD's, they are ensuring that any real fan of the movie will buy again. Now a certain company can be evil, and rerelease and rerelease a certain title, each time making it better, or they can later just release a really good, meaty SE release, that is sure to make the fans upgrade...

WhenI first heard about DVD's, before they came out, I heard that they would each allow the viewer choice of Full or Wide Screen, that each would have like 5 different languages, and that they would be divided into chapters, like a CD.

Well, some of those things may aply to some DVD's, but certainly not all, as originally promised. A lot of companies may now be excusing their horrid forst releases by saying, we had no idea that DVD's would be such a success, or that there would be such a demand for special features and such, but one of the basic things they could/should have atleast delivered on, was the choice between full and widescreen.

So, inconclusion, don't buy a barbones pan/scan DVD if it seems like a title that could be rereleased again, because more than likely it will eventually be released again, with atleast a widescreen presentation...

I have bought my share of Pan and Scan DVD's, like Honey I Shrunk the Kids, and wish I didn't ...

[indianajdp]

So, inconclusion, don't buy a barbones pan/scan DVD if it seems like a title that could be rereleased again, because more than likely it will eventually be released again, with atleast a widescreen presentation...

While I personally subscribe to this line of thinking it is extremely hard to do ... especially for movies you absolutely love. A couple I can think of off teh top of my head that I have NOT bought the current release of (hoping for a better release down the road):

Office Space
Bottle Rocket
Lilo & Stitch
Gods & Generals

...and I'm sure there are afew others that I'm just forgetting at the moment. It's a shame that even today studios release bare-bones discs when consumers have demonstrated a willingness to pay a couple dollars more for a loaded coollection. But on theside I doubt any of us can truly understand what it takes to get these things done...especially lining folks up to do commentary tracks.

[Luke]

Office Space
Bottle Rocket
Lilo & Stitch
Gods & Generals

I've bought the first three - Bottle Rocket Criterion sounds like if it will happen, it will be quite some time, and then Columbia has to come to an agreement with them, unlike Disney, who's been very willing to work with them on Armageddon, Rushmore, Royal Tenenbaums, etc.

The Office Space SE is murky right now because Mike Judge feels he's being shafted by Fox on the deal. After waiting years for this to come, I finally got the widescreen disc that's been around for years - through the $5 Columbia House deal, though. So I'm glad with that.

It does appear if January's Special Editions hold true, and they are worthwhile re-releases, that I'll be upgrading Lilo, Alice, and Poca. But it wouldn't be the first time I've upgraded, and normally I come out even (or sometimes even ahead, as was the case with Peter Pan) by trading/selling and using those funds to buy the new one.

Anyhow, to address the first post, yes, Prince Phillip, I do believe you're right. Certain features are withheld so that down the line, when all the catalogues are entirely released (a place we're very close to), DVD sales won't slow down altogether - they'll just be focused on new theatrical releases and Special Edition re-releases.

DVD has been such a lucrative format for the studios that it doesn't surprise me they'd milk it for as much as they can. Hey, that's business.

Though the practice doesn't necessarily raise customer satisfaction much.