1997 - first batch of dvds? (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Mirza]

What were the titles in the very first batch of DVDs released back in 97's rollout?
4 years later (and thousands of discs later), I have completely forgotten! Ah, those innocent days of 1997!
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[Brad_W]

I believe one of them was Contact. It was also the first DVD I bought.
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[Roland Wandinger]

Some were:
Batman
Batman Returns
Gremlins
Robin Hood
In The Line Of Fire
The Fugitive
I bought my first DVD player in October 1997 along with Mars Attacks, First Knight and Beetlejuice.
Most of the early Warner DVDs are unwatchable today. Columbia titles on the other hand have held up much better.
[Edited last by Roland Wandinger on November 02, 2001 at 07:50 AM]

 

[Ryan Spaight]

Contact came out in December 1997, I think -- the first RSDL from Warner.
The early Columbia titles included Jumanji, Fly Away Home (P&S), and Jerry Maguire, I think.
The early Warner titles were pretty much as above, plus I think Blade Runner was one of the first, along with Interview with the Vampire and the P&S Purple Rain. I think New Line had the first Seven.
MGM had Raging Bull, Goldeneye, and some others.
My poor memory is fuzzy, too.
Ryan

 

[David Lambert]

From Jim Taylor's DVD FAQ:
http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html#1.6
MORE TV ON DVD, PLEASE!

 

[Neil Joseph]

- The Arrival
- Stargate (flipper)
- Total Recall
- The Substitute
- In The Line Of Fire
- Fly Away Home
I can speak from experience because I remember how extremely slim the pickings were in those days. They were tough times.
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My Favourite DVD's

 

[Brian Lawrence]

also
Rocky
Exorcist
Wizard of Oz
Singing in the Rain
Poltergeist
The Mask
Mortal Kombat
The Birdcage
Get Shorty
Raging Bull
[Edited last by Brian Lawrence on November 02, 2001 at 11:11 AM]

 

[Trace Downing]

I believe from C/T it was...
In the Line of Fire
Fly Away Home
Jumanji
Some Sesame Street thing.
Living in Kansas City...that was it. Lumivision, and Scimitar had a few others, but that was it.
In June, Live (Artisan) had a few like Total Recall, Cuthroat Island, Basic Instinct, etc. Polygram started theirs with Fargo & The Usual Suspects.
Warner, New Line, MGM didn't come around 'till late Aug. I think they had only 7 test markets.
Contact was released the first week of December, because I remember asking the Best Buy guy to go in the back and check for a copy. He had it.
Disney & Universal came out in Nov 97 with about 5 apiece.

 

[Craig Robertson]

that was back when new releases we so infrequent i could afford to buy them.

 

[JonZ]

Road Warrior
Blade Runner
Unforgiven
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[Neil Joseph]

The new releases were so infrequent that I remember coming close to buying some of the worst crap, just so I could have a new release, stuff I wouldn't even touch today. People have it so good now its incredible. They don't know what the early adopters had to go through and endure, and the changes that we had to force the studios to make.
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My Favourite DVD's

 

[Steve Owen]

Contact came out in December 1997, I think -- the first RSDL from Warner.

Yup, and the layers started to delaminate over time since. Mine (and I know many others) became completely unplayable. It was an extremely common problem with this disc early on. I bought it with my first player in Feb '98.
-Steve

 

[Brian Lawrence]

Among the first 4 Columbia titles was also LEGENDS OF THE FALL

 

[Carlo_M]

I gotta find my old BB receipt. I know I had 5 titles along with my Toshiba 2006 player that I bought back in May 1997. I think they were Batman, Batman Returns, Blade Runner or Blazing Saddles, maybe Desperado? and In the Line of Fire.
anyway, something like that. Now that I think of it, I might have turned in my original receipt for that buy 4 get 1 free WB deal. Oh well...

 

[Peter Manojlovich]

The first four titles from Columbia Tri-starf were Fly away Home(full frame only, ouch!), In the Line of Fire, Legends of the Falls, and Jumanji.
Warner had the largest array of offerings. The first title I picked up was Blade Runner from them.

 

[JeremySt]

1. DAS BOOT
2. THE PROFESSIONAL
3. SEVEN (flipper)
4. BLADE RUNNER

 

[Richard Travale]

Wasn't The Long Kiss Goodnight one of the first DVDs as well?
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[Mike Voigt]

You had the 7-city test - which didn't end until (IIRC) September 1997. Of course, lots of places were buying them in those 7 cities and then reselling them in other places... that's how I got mine, as I lived in Houston at the time and Dallas was one of the 7 cities.
My DVD player came with 4 DVDs - Fly Away Home was one of them, In the Line of Fire was another.
Things like Mortal Combat etc. didn't come out until later that year.
It was slim pickings for quite a while. The place I got DVDs from had all - ALL, including multiple copies - of them in a 12"x24" box.
It was huge when Best Buy started carrying them...
Mike

 

[David Lambert]

From Image Entertainment's ADVANCED SEARCH function at their site, here are the first batch, in order of release date, through the end of Nov. '97. The date is the DVD release date. Discontinued titles are NOT included:

• Product Name Release Date
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  Batman (1989) 03/25/1997
  Birdcage 03/25/1997
  Blade Runner (Director's Cut) 03/25/1997
  Bodyguard 03/25/1997
  Bridges Of Madison County 03/25/1997
  Color Purple 03/25/1997
  Eraser 03/25/1997
  Fugitive (Movie-Only Edition) 03/25/1997
  Get Shorty 03/25/1997
  Glimmer Man 03/25/1997
  Goodfellas 03/25/1997
  Mask (Special Edition/ 1994) 03/25/1997
  Midnight Cowboy 03/25/1997
  Mortal Kombat: The Movie 03/25/1997
  Raging Bull 03/25/1997
  Road Warrior 03/25/1997
  Seven (Movie-Only Edition) 03/25/1997
  Species 03/25/1997
  Streetcar Named Desire: Director's Cut 03/25/1997
  Time To Kill (1996) 03/25/1997
  Unforgiven 03/25/1997
  Woodstock: Director's Cut 03/25/1997
  Sleepers 04/01/1997
  Michael Collins 04/08/1997
  Batman Returns 04/29/1997
  Disclosure 04/29/1997
  Driving Miss Daisy 04/29/1997
  Long Kiss Goodnight 04/29/1997
  Rain Man 04/29/1997
  Tin Cup 04/29/1997
  10 (a.k.a. Ten) 05/20/1997
  Batman Forever 05/20/1997
  Chariots Of Fire 05/20/1997
  Dumb And Dumber 05/20/1997
  Eric Clapton: Unplugged 05/20/1997
  Madonna: Girlie Show 05/20/1997
  Outbreak 05/20/1997
  Wild Bunch 05/20/1997
  Zeus And Roxanne 05/20/1997
  R.E.M.: Road Movie 05/27/1997
  Michael 06/10/1997
  Battle Arena Toshinden 06/11/1997
  Cutthroat Island 06/17/1997
  Mars Attacks! 06/17/1997
  My Fellow Americans 06/17/1997
  Reservoir Dogs 06/17/1997
  Beetlejuice 06/24/1997
  Blazing Saddles (Regular Edition) 06/24/1997
  Cool Hand Luke 06/24/1997
  Grumpy Old Men 06/24/1997
  Pelican Brief 06/24/1997
  Purple Rain: Prince 06/24/1997
  Right Stuff 06/24/1997
  Rumble In The Bronx 06/24/1997
  Turbulence (1996) 06/24/1997
  Desperado (Special Edition) 06/26/1997
  Jerry Maguire (Movie-Only Edition) 06/26/1997
  3 Tenors In Concert 1990: Carreras/ Domingo/ Pavarotti 07/01/1997
  3 Tenors In Concert 1994: Carreras/ Domingo/ Pavarotti 07/01/1997
  Alanis Morissette: Jagged Little Pill Live 07/01/1997
  MTV's Beavis And Butt-Head: The Final Judgment 07/01/1997
  Odyssey Into The Mind's Eye 07/01/1997
  Sesame Street: 25th Birthday Musical Celebration 07/01/1997
  Street Fighter 2: The Animated Movie 07/01/1997
  Tony Bennett: MTV Unplugged 07/01/1997
  Absolute Power 07/08/1997
  Vegas Vacation 07/08/1997
  Amazing Feats Of Young Hercules/ Young Pocahontas 07/15/1997
  Fugitive: John Wayne: The Young Duke Series 07/15/1997
  Killer Volcanoes/ Deadly Peaks 07/15/1997
  Night Of The Living Dead (1968/ United American) 07/15/1997
  Player (Special Edition) 07/15/1997
  Royal Wedding (United American) 07/15/1997
  Shine 07/15/1997
  Where The Red Fern Grows 07/15/1997
  Arthur 07/29/1997
  Blown Away 07/29/1997
  Executive Decision 07/29/1997
  Forever Young 07/29/1997
  Jerry Herman's Broadway At The Hollywood Bowl 07/29/1997
  Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome 07/29/1997
  Maverick 07/29/1997
  National Lampoon's Vacation 07/29/1997
  Bad Boys (Movie-Only Edition/ 1995) 08/05/1997
  Matilda 08/05/1997
  Murder At 1600 08/05/1997
  Night Of The Living Dead (Special Edition/ 1968/ Elite) 08/06/1997
  Freeway (Special Edition) 08/19/1997
  Killer: A Journal Of Murder (Special Edition) 08/19/1997
  Cyborg 08/22/1997
  Elvis: That's The Way It Is 08/22/1997
  Island Of Dr. Moreau (1996) 08/22/1997
  Postman Always Rings Twice 08/22/1997
  Risky Business 08/22/1997
  Rob Roy (1995) 08/22/1997
  Under Siege 08/22/1997
  Viva Las Vegas 08/22/1997
  Witches Of Eastwick 08/22/1997
  Madonna: Truth Or Dare 08/26/1997
  Red Heat 08/26/1997
  Aeon Flux 09/02/1997
  Luther Vandross: Always And Forever: An Evening Of Song... 09/02/1997
  Sesame Street: Elmo Saves Christmas 09/02/1997
  Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble: Live From Austin... 09/02/1997
  Awakenings 09/09/1997
  Black Stallion 09/09/1997
  Father's Day 09/09/1997
  League Of Their Own 09/09/1997
  Philadelphia 09/09/1997
  Rosewood (Special Edition) 09/09/1997
  Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (Special Edition) 09/16/1997
  Adventures Of Pinocchio (1996) 09/23/1997
  Computer Animation Festival #1 09/23/1997
  Dave Grusin: West Side Story 09/23/1997
  Rainbow Fish/ Dazzle The Dinosaur 09/23/1997
  Selena 09/23/1997
  Assassins 09/30/1997
  Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (1958) 09/30/1997
  Demolition Man 09/30/1997
  MTV's Beavis And Butt-Head Do Christmas 09/30/1997
  Neil Diamond: Greatest Hits Live 09/30/1997
  Ozzy Osbourne: Live And Loud 09/30/1997
  Police Academy 09/30/1997
  Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves 09/30/1997
  Tango And Cash 09/30/1997
  Tenchi Muyo In Love: The Movie 09/30/1997
  True Romance: Director's Cut 09/30/1997
  Turbulence (1997/ Computer Animation) 09/30/1997
  What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? 09/30/1997
  Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (Special Edition) 09/30/1997
  Tina Turner: Live In Amsterdam (Dolby Digital) 10/01/1997
  Video Essentials 10/01/1997
  Bram Stoker's Dracula 10/07/1997
  Cable Guy 10/07/1997
  First Knight 10/07/1997
  Last Action Hero 10/07/1997
  Armitage 3: Poly-Matrix 10/14/1997
  Thinner (Special Edition) 10/14/1997
  Art Of Nature 10/15/1997
  Cabinet Of Dr.Caligari (Special Edition) 10/15/1997
  Phantom Of The Opera (1925) 10/15/1997
  Austin Powers (Special Edition) 10/21/1997
  Batman And Robin 10/21/1997
  Menace II Society 10/21/1997
  Wild America 10/21/1997
  Planets: Holst/ Tomita 10/22/1997
  Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls 10/28/1997
  Addicted To Love 10/28/1997
  All The President's Men 10/28/1997
  Candidate 10/28/1997
  Dangerous Liaisons 10/28/1997
  Domingo/ Bolton/ Huang: Merry Christmas From Vienna 10/28/1997
  Green Berets 10/28/1997
  Jeremiah Johnson 10/28/1997
  Ladyhawke 10/28/1997
  Mary Chapin Carpenter: Jubilee: Live At Wolf Trap 10/28/1997
  Private Benjamin 10/28/1997
  Searchers 10/28/1997
  Stagecoach 10/28/1997
  Tequila Sunrise (Special Edition) 10/28/1997
  Wet Shorts: The Best Of MTV's Liquid Television #1 & 2 10/28/1997
  Open City 10/29/1997
  Fleetwood Mac: The Dance 11/04/1997
  Toxic Avenger (Special Edition) 11/04/1997
  Aerosmith: The Making Of Pump 11/11/1997
  Best Of The Andy Griffith Show 11/11/1997
  Bound (Special Edition) 11/11/1997
  Breaker Morant 11/11/1997
  Chinese Connection (Digital Multimedia) 11/11/1997
  Highlander 2: The Renegade Version (Special Edition) 11/11/1997
  Hootie And The Blowfish: A Series Of Short Trips 11/11/1997
  Killer Twisters/ Superstorms 11/11/1997
  Lovers And Liars (Digital Multimedia) 11/11/1997
  Oasis: There And Then 11/11/1997
  Planetary Traveler 11/11/1997
  Secret Of Anastasia 11/11/1997
  Ultraman #2 11/11/1997
  Where The Red Fern Grows 2 11/11/1997
  Who Shot Pat? 11/11/1997
  Africa Screams (Master Tone) 11/14/1997
  Angel And The Badman (Master Tone) 11/14/1997
  Little Princess (1939/ Master Tone) 11/14/1997
  Night Of The Living Dead (1968/ Master Tone) 11/14/1997
  Terror (Master Tone) 11/14/1997
  Babe (Dolby Digital) 11/18/1997
  Baker's Hawk 11/18/1997
  Beethoven (1992) 11/18/1997
  Body Heat (1981) 11/18/1997
  Bullitt (Regular Edition) 11/18/1997
  Class Of Nuke 'Em High (Special Edition) 11/18/1997
  Dirty Harry (Regular Edition) 11/18/1997
  Free Willy 11/18/1997
  George Balanchine's Nutcracker (1993) 11/18/1997
  Getaway (1972) 11/18/1997
  Grumpier Old Men 11/18/1997
  Hang 'Em High 11/18/1997
  High Lonesome: The Story Of Bluegrass Music 11/18/1997
  Last Man Standing 11/18/1997
  Little Princess (1995) 11/18/1997
  Man Who Would Be King 11/18/1997
  National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 11/18/1997
  Out Of Ireland: The Story Of Emigration Into America 11/18/1997
  Outland 11/18/1997
  Pale Rider 11/18/1997
  Paper 11/18/1997
  Portrait Of A Lady 11/18/1997
  Red River 11/18/1997
  Secret Garden (1993) 11/18/1997
  Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. (Special Edition) 11/18/1997
  Shadow (Dolby Digital) 11/18/1997
  Spawn: The Series (Special Edition) 11/18/1997
  Swept Away 11/18/1997
  Thelma And Louise (Special Edition) 11/18/1997
  When We Were Kings 11/18/1997
  Chaplin Mutuals #1 11/19/1997
  Chaplin Mutuals #2 11/19/1997
  Chaplin Mutuals #3 11/19/1997
  Treasures Of The Twilight Zone 11/24/1997
  C'est La Vie, Mon Cheri 11/25/1997
  Cliffhanger (Movie-Only Edition) 11/25/1997
  Johnny Mnemonic (Regular Edition) 11/25/1997
  Net 11/25/1997
  Umbrellas Of Cherbourg 11/25/1997
  Warren Miller's Ski World 11/25/1997
  Wolf 11/25/1997
  Assault On Precinct 13 (Special Edition) 11/26/1997
  Landmarks Of Early Film #1 11/26/1997

 

[Craig_T]

Columbia's early titles had good picture quality, but those generic menus are the ugliest things I've ever seen. Most discs have better-looking FBI warning screens.