Cinematical

Also, it is not a "special box" if they just wrap the same old dvd snapcase in a cardboar wrapper with the same artwork as on the case. Everything else I agree with.

Reply

All DVD's (special and "regular") need to have english-language captions. I watch movies late at night in a house full of sleeping people, so I like to turn the sound down very low and read the captions. I'm sure that there are lots of actual hearing-impaired people that will back me up on this one.

Reply

I agree entirely, especially on the last point. My favorite DVDs are the ones which dominate my shelf space. Granted, some of these are box sets, but even still, they're at least original. Next time you're at Borders or wherever, take a look at the DVD side of the Nightmare on Elm Street Collection. That clearly wasn't some technological feat, but it still makes the set look awesome on any shelf.

I remember the first time I opened the Alien Quadrilogy and as each section of the casing unfolded my smile grew wider and wider.

The case for the limited edition The Wicker Man kicks a lot of ass, as well...

Reply

I don't know how I feel about #3. I have the "tin box" Hellraiser and Evil Dead 2 sets, and they're such a pain in the ass to store.

On the other hand, the Chainsaw remake's fold-out chainsaw makes me smile every time.

Reply

Heck yeah these *are* the rules. Pay attention Hollywood. No commentary track(s), no buy. Simple as that.

Reply

I have only a few DVD, all of them "special" in some way. I have the three "Extended Edition" LOTR, with statuettes and all. That's special. I smile when I see them, but I also cry a bit because of how much they costed. There is a 3 pesos to 1 dollar ratio, so I had to save every cent I could those three years to get them.

Reply

I totally agree with everything you've said -- except if there is going to be special packaging it must be practical. The UK release of the first series of new Doctor Who came is a TARDIS shaped box -- which is cool, except that's exactly what it is -- a big empty box. It takes up more shelf space than five vhs videos and its a nightmare removing the dvds because of the interior design. When I bought mine I had to go through a few in the shop looking for one which didn't rattle because the discs had dropped out and fallen into the box, and apparently this was the standard way the set was delivered by post. That new Planet of the Apes boxset might look cool with the Monkey head but once you've bought that, you're going to need to find a place to put it.

Reply

I still think the Se7en Platinum Edition set the bar for special editions. I love the artwork, and it really sets the mood for the film and extras. Top Notch.

Reply

It makes me sad when I think that there's going to be new special editions of my favorite movies when HD-DVDs and Blu-Ray comes out. It wasn't so bad when I made the leap from VHS to DVD, because I didn't really have alot of special editions, aside from the Star Wars Extended Editions.

The other thing that irks me is when movies that really deserve special editions either don't have one or are done in a really bad way. For example, I bought Snatch in January since I didn't already have the movie. It was in this big box and came with cards, and the box listed off all these special features. I was really looking forward to displaying it on my shelf with all my other boxsets-The simpsons, Wayne's World, LOTR, The Office. However, when I opened it, the box had so much unnecessary empty space. The DVD was just the same Superbit DVD that came out, like, 4 years ago. The worst thing was that the DVD didn't have some of the features that the box advertised.

Reply

Amen. Brokeback fans are the latest demographic to be ripped by a less-than-adequate edition, with a later deluxe as inevitable as gravity. Complete lack of commentary (ergh) and no deleted/blooped/re-edited anything. There's 3 short featurettes (Heath Ledger can ride a horse!) and one long one that was already shown on cable. Alas, many of us will be quite happy to lay another $30 on the sacrificial altar of Focus/Universal/NBC/Vivendi/GE/whoever the hell else they are. Support your local media superconglomerate, just in case their jet engine business breaks down!

Reply

It's got to the point where I wouldn't know how to go about getting a "standard" edition. To my mind, a "special" edition implies the existence of a "standard" edition, for the special edition to be more special than. I recall when Pirates of the Carribean came out, I could only find a "2 disc collector's edition". I decided to keep an eye out for any other editions that came out. Two years down the line, and still the basic edition that you'll get if you order it from Amazon is the "collector's edition". Sure, they've bundled in a third disc now, in some attempt to boost sales among the fans who thought "collector's edition" meant "the edition for collectors", and now find themselves re-buying a package that insultingly even has the original 2-disc package in it, plus another disc in a slipcover, but to this day, I've not seen a 1 disc "just the film, no extras" edition. THat'd be the one for the real collector of rarities.

Reply

I think it's a really nice extra if sequels come with a box that will hold both the original (which you may have already purchased 3 years earlier) and the new one. For example, I rushed out to buy Kill Bill Vol I when it was released. A year later when I bought Kill Bill Vol. II, it came with a box that held both DVD's and displayed the name "Kill Bill". It was very cool I thought.

I'm going to be sad when I buy X-men: The Last Stand and it will have to be all alone instead of being coupled with my X-Men and X2 discs.

Reply

I see a lot of "one-disc, no extras" DVD boxes because I like to buy older movies on DVD. I guess the distributors figure that we're so grateful even to see "Holiday" or "Twentieth Century" at all that we don't care about the lack of extras. At least they're priced affordably.

I've never watched a featurette I thought was worth my time, and most commentaries seem kind of lame too. I would rather pay for excellent transfers with top-notch audio and video. I admit I like watching deleted scenes, and sometimes the more creative extras (the booklet Mark mentioned, artwork, or pages of the script of Sunset Blvd) are a treat. I like "director's cuts" but I want the original on the DVD too.

Also, I like Special Edition boxes to be attractive, but I also like them to fit on my shelf and to be practical. I got annoyed by the big-head Simpsons boxes not because they didn't match the others or because, as Fox claims, I "fear change" ... but because no information was printed on the spines, and because it was tricky to get the DVDs out of the box without dumping the inner cases on the floor. (Those aren't Special Edition boxes but are still a good example of form over function.)

Reply

This reminds me of something I wrote back in March:

Dear MPAA/RIAA/TV People

Please to be using technology to advance us please to be stop using old laws to stop technology.

Some ideas for you to use that would help you harass the power of the internet for...profit!

1) Start offering a listing of the songs from shows from the last week and offering...downloads! I heard the song, I know I wanted to hear it again; you are all missing out by not selling something that costs you almost nothing. It gives a legal way to get these tunes, promotes the bands and makes you money. I'm going to burn the cd myself so you aren't even out the cost of the media or the storefront etc, just some dude to watch the computers

2) Start offering downloads of the show. Same deal as above. You can charge a couple of bucks and by the end of the season; I have a set that you did not have to do anything for but offer up a download. It lets lesser shows stay around legally and you do not have to put out collections for things that did not do well in the ratings but we liked enough to record. I would pay a little bit for a better legal copy, which brings us to:

3) Learn how to tier your sets. You need to release three of them. One that's just the show (or cd), one that has some gives the groovy dvd extras and one that is the super deluxe version that gives extended versions, directors cuts, booklets etc. And this is the important part: RELEASE THEM ALL AT THE SAME TIME. You aren't stealing sales from yourself but when you delay the release of the set with the extras, you’re pissing off the very people you want to buy those sets.

4) Release movies in the theatre, on DVD and Pay Per View the same day. Or only delay the release of the DVD and Pay Per View a week after the theatrical release. Do you not know yet that the audiences for these are different? You are losing money by not doing this.

I couldn't agree with you more. If it's going to be a special edition, it had better be special

Reply