DEAR COLUMBIA... I no longer buy your movies without first renting them... (1 Viewer)

[Dick]

My take on this is that you don't much care about me, one little movie aficionado, but I am telling you that, whereas I used to buy your DVD's sight unseen when you released titles I wanted, I no longer do this automatically. I rent each title and in most cases that is all I do now. I am stunned by the crumby transfers of many catalog titles during the past year or two. I did buy WINGED MIGRATION and WHALE RIDER, but dozens of others just don't stand up to the work you used to do. So, guess you're not losing much money from just me, but i'll bet you're losing big when you add all the lost sales from people on this and other forum sites who are sick of pan and scan, sub-par transfers, etc. Bring back the execs who worked for your company three, four and five years ago. Now, those were your great days!

 

[larry bender]

I have to agree. The dvd of IN COLD BLOOD in some of the night scenes have terrible black levels and are full of artifacts. As bad as some of the worse video tapes. Someone fell asleep at the controls at some point in this transfer.

 

[Paul_Scott]

i agree with you Dick.

Its a shame Columbia- you guys were doing so well early on and many of the discs you produced back in '99 and 2000 still stand up.
what the hell happened?

 

[Jesse Skeen]

It's time to officially ask: What the HECK is going on over there???? They used to be one of the BEST studios but have become one of the WORST! There's obviously been some change in management over there, but I haven't heard a word about it. Strange seeing how everyone heard about the change in personnel over at Fox when they went from one of the worst (in terms of pricing and non-16x9 transfers) to becoming one of the best!
Their RE-ISSUING of movies that used to have both widescreen and pan & scan versions now with ONLY the pan & scan takes the cake! They have irreparably tarnished their company's once-good image. Because of this, I will not buy any Sony electronics since they seem to condone the playing of substandard material on them.
I'm out to get the titles out there that I want before they become unavailable; I doubt I'll be buying anything else from them afterwards.

 

[MatthewA]

Don't forget that sometimes cut episodes slip onto their TV show discs. I bought the What's Happening: S1 set yesterday and was spared this trauma, as all episodes are around 24:30 in length.

 

[Bradley-E]

I agree. There are many Sony films I would have bought. Casey's Shadow for example. But NO WAY will i purchase a 2:35 scope movie Pan & Scan. And the prices for catalogue titles are too steep. Would buy The Front but no for $24.00!!! Take a lesson from Paramount. They are releasing their catalogue titles with decent transfers, All OAR and at a $15.00 price.

 

[Bill J]

Columbia needs to start using burned in subtitles on their discs.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Thing was, I was FINE with their prices in the beginning ($29.99) since they were cheaper than laserdiscs and (with a few exceptions) their quality was consistent. When I found some Columbia titles at Walmart for $9.99 I thought that was an INCREDIBLE bargain.
With the company in the state that it is now though, I wouldn't even pay $2 for one of their discs (I turned down the Jim Henson movies in the cereal boxes for about that much since they were pan and scan.)
Again, WHAT'S GOING ON??

 

[Paul.S]

The sense I get from talking to people involved in the authoring/telecine process is that this is one manifestation of the fallout from the runaway popularity of the format. As DVD has arguably become the new VHS in terms of how it is treated/regarded by most of the studios, the time crunch of deadlines has become more intense. Studios are wanting to get DVDs to market sooner and sooner.

To wit, check Monday's Daily Variety story regarding the release of the Secret Window DVD. Excerpts:

"The $46 million Johnny Depp thriller "Secret Window" will have an unusually short window of less than 15 weeks before it arrives on DVD on June 22.

"It's the latest in a series of DVD releases by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment with quick turnarounds from their theatrical debut. Most of the previous ones have been productions by Revolution Studios, including "Radio" (14 weeks), "The Missing" (13 weeks) and "Mona Lisa Smile" (12 weeks)."

This is pinching quality. I think this will continue to be a problem as Hollywood becomes more concerned with/focused on piracy. We may eventually reach a point wherein the theatrical and DVD releases are simultaneous.

-p

 

[Colin Davidson]

I wonder if we "HTF'ers" are somewhat responsible for this situation?

We are always screaming for new material to be released, and I can hear the song in my head....

"I don't care how - I want it NOW!"

(for those who don't know the reference, it is from Willy Wonka just before Ms. Salt heads down to the furnace)

Now that studios are pumping out the product it is now quantity over quality.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

That still doesn't explain why they would reissue down-graded discs with only foolscreen versions when the previous discs had both, or putting out catalog titles only in foolscreen when widescreen masters are available.

 

[MatthewA]

We want it before we die, and we want it done right. But we do get a little impatient, I admit. But there just isn't an excuse.

Hell, a producer of a certain film released in a P&S "special" edition died less than a week after it hit stores. Coincidence?