I recently bought myself a DVD player as well as a few discs. Firstly, the actual movies were superb, with visual and sound quality far superior to the "old" video cassettes. Problem though - I was shocked by the lack of bonus features on a number of my purchases - especially on those discs which I think ACTUALLY NEED them. Take Blade Runner (Director's Cut) for example - my version only has subtitles/dubbing options as its extras. Now BR is one of my favourite films, and I thought a nice director's commentary, a "making of" featurette and cast/crew bios would have been great, as well as maybe the orginal version included along with the director's. I got none of this. Hell, the Region 4 edition of "Momento" DVD is JUST the film!
Also, doesn't it appear that the Regions 1 and 2 DVDs come with a hell of a lot more extras than "foreign" versions? Take "Almost Famous" - the US version has a commentary track, as well as over 30 minutes of deleted footage - in addition to a "making of", Rolling Stone articles etc. The PAL version only includes the latter features.
Keen to hear some opinions on this.
P.S. I'm not complaining about the "Ghostbusters" DVD - a "making of", trailers, deleted scenes, a special FX doco, before/after special FX shots, storyboards and a brilliant commentary from Ivan Reitman, Harold Ramis and Joe Medjuck. If only all DVDs had these kind of extras!
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Blade Runner is coming out in Special ...
Blade Runner is coming out in Special Edition as is the Usual Suspects (two that I own and am pissed off about).
Isn't there two versions of Almost Famous? Normal and some fancy name for Special Edition?
Re: Ghostbusters, you forgot the German soundtrack. "Oh, Spengler!"
I like extras they definitely add to buying them but when you buy a video you don't normally get them so try to view it that way.
Ah, YES! The German dubbing for ...
Ah, YES! The German dubbing for Ghostbusters alone is worth the price of admission: "Ich bin Vinz, Vintz Clothor, Slustermeister von Gozer", "Mein namen is Peck!!" - brilliant.
That special edition (or "bootleg edition") of "Almost Famous" is supposedly going to be out in December, though if there is a expanded Blade Runner - and I've heard rumours of one - it's unclear of when it's going to be available.
Re:Almost Famous. Really? Can't you ...
Re:Almost Famous. Really? Can't you rent that version already though?
//I like extras they definitely add to ...
//I like extras they definitely add to buying them but when you buy a video you don't normally get them so try to view it that way.
Yeah, I know - if a film is excellent but the extras are shoddy, the DVD can rest on the movie's merits alone - "Lone Star" and "Betty Blue/37.2 le Matin" are good examples. But "Blade Runner is one film that needs extas - both the theartrical release and the director's cut, a commentary by Ridely Scott pointing out intricacies and a "making of" (essential, 'cause I've heard the making of BR was quite a story in itself).
A few more things: "The Last Waltz", arguably the greatest rock concert film of all time, should be due for sale Monday next week - I hope the Region 1 extras are in tact. "Amelie" is supposed to be out soon - minus many of the extras found on the French and US versions. AAAAAAAARGH!
//Re:Almost Famous. Really? Can't you ...
//Re:Almost Famous. Really? Can't you rent that version already though?
I dunno - but I'd much rather own it, anyway.
Damn lots of money to save up, Amelie, ...
Damn lots of money to save up, Amelie, Star Wars Ep II, LOTR Special Edition, Office Space (wasn't released here damnit), This is Spinal Tap (I know, never got round to buying it)...
The Internet seems to have betrayed ...
The Internet seems to have betrayed me...again: "The Last Waltz" won't be available here till, well, whenever. Oh well, Marbecks stocks $80 Region 1 imports of the disc - pricey, sure, still I doubt many of it's extras will be included on a Region 4 edition - too good.
Yes, the regional variations and ...
Yes, the regional variations and paucity of extras on some releases are very annoying. But a bigger concern is the quality of the main feature itself. In particular, TV shows like Angel and Xena were produced in widescreen, but only the pan&scan version is being released. And some movies are still being released in non-anamorphic letterbox!
I was just talking to my girlfriend ...
I was just talking to my girlfriend about this as well. This past weekend we rented Serpent and the Rainbow, Logan's Run and Man Bites Dog. Serpent and the Ranbow had only the trailer as an extra, and the sound and video quality were VHS quality at best. We didnt really notice til we put Logan's Run on right after. Digitally remastered sound and video on movie a lot older was coming through in amazing crystal clear beauty. Big Difference to the overall enjoyment factor. What's the point of putting something on DVD if it isn't going to have all the extras and better quality? I hope film distributors don't get lazy and stop putting all the great extras on. And if they do it better be reflected in the price.
The buying points for me are when they ...
The buying points for me are when they put these on the box:
Extras:
- Picture Disc (oh watch the picture spin as the movie plays)
- Interactive menus (wow, it didn't choose the option for me, wow)
There was a time not too long ago when the companies were considering dropping extras all together. This was mainly because "The Grinch" sold insane amounts without extras and an Arnold Schwartzengger DVD managed to spend most of its budget on his audio commentary. Stupid film companies.
[ http://www.showbizdata.com ]
best dvd I owned for extras was Die ...
best dvd I owned for extras was Die Hard the original. directors cut. Nice 3-D model of the building that you navigate to choose your options. Amazing sound, Commentaries etc. But the best was this cutting room feature that gave you a bunch of different scenes they had filmed differently before releasing. You picked from a few different choices of 1 minute scenes to put together your own 5 minute sequence. Great Fun. Also watching the part where they try to motivate this poor little 6 year old girl to cry is a somewhate scary look at hollywood.
Beastie boys DVD rules - it's two DVD ...
Beastie boys DVD rules - it's two DVD and so huge I haven't got through half of it yet - multi-angles and soundtracks for videos, videos I've never seen before and a poster. nice.
I dig the Zoolander DVD interface - it's almost better than the movie.
Well, my player's back from Dick ...
Well, my player's back from Dick Smith's and now it can play Region and 2 DVDs - yippee! Now there's no reason for me to by the inferior Region 4 transfer of "Amelie" - amazon.com/co.uk, here I come!!!
Region 1 and 2 DVDs, I mean...
Region 1 and 2 DVDs, I mean
wow it worked? Does it stuff up your ...
wow it worked? Does it stuff up your warranty? We bought a remote from Dick Smith for about $70 or so that comes with a CDR that apparently programs your PS2 to be multizone. We haven't tried the multizone thing yet but the remotes damn handy!
coincidentally enough this was on the ...
coincidentally enough this was on the bbc news website this morning.
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stonking. My little bro just loaded a ...
stonking. My little bro just loaded a CD-R with some program on it to multi-zone mine.