DVD Review HTF DVD REVIEW: There Will Be Blood: 2-Disc Collector's Edition (1 Viewer)

[Yumbo]

I was being nice - it was pretentious to say the least, in the league of No Country for Old Men in terms of being overrated. Add The Mist to that league.

Kite Runner wasn't, and had a lasting message (and not a waste of time).

Waiting for the end - TOO LONG.

Subtitles - trying to watch on a laptop was quite heard to catch DDL mumbling along with his pseudo accent.

Mind you, I did like Magnolia and Punch Drunk Love.

 

[cafink]

Well, if you think the film sucked, then just say so. But I still don't understand why I'm supposed to care where in the film the title appears, or why you'd complain about being unable to hear the dialogue when you're trying to watch it on a laptop.

Anyway, I agree with your comparison to No Country and The Mist--all three were among my favorite films of 2007.

 

[Yumbo]

It didn't suck.
There is a difference. Revolver is a movie that 'sucked'.

The meaning of the title, is only literally dispensed at the end.
Of course actual titles appear at end with different movies.

The Emperor's New Clothes comes to mind when thinking of these three movies.

 

[cafink]

Okay, I thought you meant that the actual words "There Will Be Blood" didn't appear on-screen until the end of the film. That would have been a strange criticism indeed.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Ok, I picked this up today. I ended up with the two disc set because it was less than the single disc for some reason. $16.99 for the 2 disc, $19.39 for the single disc. I don't understand that but that's the way it was.

A word of warning, if you don't already know these discs come in the worst packaging I've ever seen for a dvd. If any of you are familiar with how "An Inconvenient Truth" was packaged, well, that's how the single disc of "There Will Be Blood" comes. The two disc collector's edition is pretty much just as bad with a cheap paper slip cover and cheap folded paper holder that slides into it. The discs slide into two flaps cut in the paper, so yes, you slide the discs in and out which will scratch them up.

Great film, but I rate this as the worst dvd package I have ever purchased. It's way over priced at the $22.99 I see it's being sold for at most places and with a package like this and the limited features this is more a "bargain bin" set than a "collector's edition", sorry but that is the case.

 

[Eric Peterson]

I agree 10 fold. This is absolutely shameful packaging. I'm all for "GREEN" efforts by reducing plastic, but if that's the case the price should also be lower. This is the most that I've paid ($23) for a single movie (non-Criterion or OOP) in at least 5 years.

I'm getting ready to sit down and watch this again, and if I didn't love this film so much, I would have held off and waited for the eventual clearance sale, or a used copy.

If anybody designs a keep-case version of the art, I would love to have a copy.

 

[cafink]

I agree completely regarding the packaging. I love the actual artwork on both releases, but the cardboard cases are really crummy.

 

[TravisR]

If you're that worried about the case, go buy a used copy at Blockbuster and you'll get the cover art and you can put that into any case you choose.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Strange and inaccurate. The gothic sans logo appears at the immediate start of the film right after the logos.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Why should the price be lower just because they're using more environmentally friendly packaging? I haven't seen this film in stores priced any differently than standard new releases; it doesn't appear that they've raised the pricing because of the packaging. And if anything, environmentally friendly/green packaging should raise the price, not lower it; everything about the packaging is more expensive, from the cost of materials to the fact that these non-standard cases need to be packed by hand instead of by machine.

I wouldn't mind paying an extra dollar or two if it meant that the environment would be better off with each purchase, but that doesn't seem to be the case here (that is, being charged extra for packaging). I love good packaging, don't get me wrong, but I don't think it has to be an amaray to be considered good, and I like the "Inconvenient Truth" case - both in how it looks and the thought that was put into it.

 

[Thomas T]

Let me add my voice to the chorus of disapproval of this horrendous packaging. Cheap and flimsy cardboard that must be handled with kid gloves lest you tear it and the DVD jammed in so tight in the slot that you almost can't help getting your fingerprints on the disc itself.

Oh, the irony of a major Oscar winning film from a major director packaged like the cheap sleeve public domain DVDs that you can pick up at the 99 cent store.

 

[Eric Peterson]

I don't question anything that you say here except for your opinion that this is good packaging. I've seen some other cardboard packaging that did not nearly give me this knee-jerk reaction, but this is just plain bad. The artwork is OK, but nothing that I would be tempted to put on display or show-off and everytime that I take the disc in or out, I'm going to be scared that I'm destroying the discs. I shouldn't have to worry about that when I'm paying $23.

This is an incredible movie, but in my opinion the package is crap today, and it will be crap tomorrow and next week.

Of the nearly 1500 titles that are in my collection, this is the first one that I'm 100% planning on re-packaging.

 

[TravisR]

When there's a movie with a two disc and a one disc release, the two disc is regularly $22.99. Obviously, some are more than $22.99 and some are less but $23 isn't unusual for a two disc release and it's been that way for at least a year.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Well, I'm all for being green but I don't think there is much question that this is not only lousy packaging but a lousy second disc in the two disc set. So, it's already got my vote for worst dvd release of the year. This has nothing to do with the film itself only the total package of the dvd, features, packaging, and what I would see as total value of the entire set. The extras are of minor interest and have little to no business being tossed onto a second disc to bump up the price. I love this film but I will probably never load that second disc into the player again now that I've watched it. The scenes that were cut from the film add nothing and should have been cut. They were pretty lousy and do not at all gel with the tone of the rest of the film. The outake is a waste of time unless watching a weaker take of an existing scene where Daniel Day-Lewis laughs at the end is of interest to you. 15 Minutes is a slide show. The Story of Petroleum is an interesting silent that is not related to the film but is of some very minor historical interest. It's worth watching once if you have an interest in the history of the oil business but in all honesty there are better places to go if this is an area you wish to research.

So, if I am grading this dvd package I would do so as follows:

Film: A

Extras: D-

Packaging: F

Advice: Buy whatever version you can get the cheapest because the 2 disc "Collector's Edition" is a complete waste and the only thing worthwhile is the film. If you really are a "collector" (which implies you want to preserve the disc or discs in the best possible fashion) you will want to repackage your disc or discs once you get them home.

Basically this is the second two disc set I've seen recently where there is no reason for the second disc (Into the Wild being the other example). I would compare the There Will Be Blood set with the No Country for Old Men single disc because they are both from Paramount Vantage/Miramax and it's quite obvious that for the "collector" the No Country single disc is a far better value. I applaud any efforts to "go green" but I do not find calling something a "Collector's Edition" when it's anything but a good deal.

Hey, I still bought the product because the film is worth having but the rest of this can be tossed in the trash...that's not very "collectable" is it? I think a "green" option and an honest "collector's edition" would have been the way to go. They did two versions anyway right? I think people are correct to say, "Hey, I bought this product and I don't like what I got for my money."

The last thing I would say is if the idea was to go "green" with this set there is a great deal of comedy in that. If that was really their idea they should have just done the single disc edition with the green packaging and stated they were doing so in an effort to be green. It's far more wasteful to print and run two separate editions, one with a wasteful second disc, two sets of artwork, etc...to do that and then claim they did things this way to be "green" is, quite frankly, idiotic. You either go green with the single disc green package or you don't. I have not heard anybody claim this was "green" packaging yet and so we are just speculating that is what they did. Either way they look foolish.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I don't feel that I'm being ripped off - I generally pay $15-20 for a new release. I bought "There Will Be Blood" from Newbury Comics, a smaller chain in New England. The single disc edition was $19.99, and the double disc was $21.99. A giantly popular new title, like a Harry Potter DVD, definitely comes in at the lower end of that range, while films that don't quite have the same blockbuster status generally come in at the higher end of that range. For these newer releases where the studio puts out a single and double disc simultaneously, I usually expect to pay about two dollars more for the double disc version. I could probably go to Best Buy and save an extra dollar or two for the major titles, but for how long it takes to travel to and from Best Buy from my house, it's really not worth it, and I don't have a Wal-Mart or big discount place nearby either. So yeah, the movie was on the higher end of the range I normally see new releases, but it didn't seem to be priced out of that range either.

[q]You have some fair points, but the only one that I buy 100% is the hand insertion. To that point though, it's not like they're paying college graduates to stuff these. In fact, I'd highly doubt that they're even US citizens, that is assuming that these are even assembled in the US.[/quote]

Though I don't work for Paramount, I know a little about some of the packaging they've done for other titles, like an "An Inconvenient Truth"; that film had packaging done by Ivy Hill, which is in North Carolina. The package for "There Will Be Blood" certainly looks like something Ivy Hill would come up with (I have worked with them before), which would mean it would likely have been packaged in either North Carolina, Pennsylvania, or Indiana. The plants for the major CD/DVD manufacturing companies (not just Ivy Hill) are in those states, and while I cannot claim to have visited every single one of them, what I have seen suggests that the employees are perfectly legal. Probably not Harvard grads, but not illegal immigrants making ten cents an hour either.

[q]I've seen some other cardboard packaging that did not nearly give me this knee-jerk reaction, but this is just plain bad. The artwork is OK, but nothing that I would be tempted to put on display or show-off and everytime that I take the disc in or out, I'm going to be scared that I'm destroying the discs. I shouldn't have to worry about that when I'm paying $23.[/quote]

All I can say is that I like the packaging a lot, and that I'm not concerned about the discs getting scratched or damaged anymore than I'd be worried about an amaray or digipak.

I think we'll just have to agree to disagree about the rest At least we both feel it's a fantastic film well worth owning, which is the most important part!

 

[Walter Kittel]

In complete agreement. My disc (single disc - I plan to double dip when a Bd copy is available) was pristine.

- Walter.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

You guys that like the packaging, I'd be interested to know what you like about it. I think the art work on the collector's edition is sharp but overall I find nothing else to like. If you pick up a cold drink and then touch this slip cover or case you will likely leave marks from the moisture on your hand. I don't see how sliding the discs in and out is better than securing them in an amaray. I think this will end up scratching up the discs. Spill a little of something on this cover and it's finished. What's to like about that? I let family and friends borrow my discs and in a case like this the original package will soon be trashed.

I have no issue with paying more for better packaging or even to buy from a store I prefer (like Newbury Comics) but I see no upside to this packaging and just stuck the discs in new amarays. I'll scan the covers to create my own art work for the sleeve and I'm done, problem solved. Basically though they just created more paper for me to throw away...not real green, if that was even their idea.

I'm not a package freak, the most important thing to me is the film and storage of the discs. It's a bonus when the package is good but I don't care much about it. This package to me is just like the plastic it was wrapped in, junk to be thrown away. I'd rather they just sold the disc in a lined paper sleeve with no art work if this is how they want to put it out. To me it just seems like poor planning.

 

[Walter Kittel]

I like the artwork and I really like the gate fold with Plainview laying on the assayer's office floor (which IMHO, visually communicates his drive.)

I've never had a problem with a paper sleeve damaging a DVD, so I'm not certain why this would be different. I will admit that moisture could damage the sleeve, but I don't tend to loan my discs, and I try to keep them stored properly so once again not an issue for me. Perhaps part of what I like is the distinctive nature of the packaging.

- Walter.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Fair question. I'm at work right now and don't have it in front of me, but of what I remember, I really liked the front cover. Very Criterion-like as someone pointed out here, and more arty than I've come to expect from studio releases. I liked the inner case, the one with the plain background with a slightly aged look and the title of the film printed on it, very distinctive, just seemed to have the right feel for the movie. I liked the picture on the inside showing Daniel and H.W. Plainview and Eli Sunday sitting at that dinner table, key scene in the film and just evoked the right memories of the film for me when I opened it. That's obviously not the most scientific description of the cover; it just felt right to me. (There are plenty of examples of packaging that just doesn't feel "right" for the film it's promoting...of semi-recent purchases, the "if you liked Armageddon, you should check this out" design of Fox's "Sunshine" stands out to me.)

I generally don't loan out my DVDs anymore, not because I've had a lot of issues with things being returned damaged, but because I've had issues with things not being returned. The people that I do loan stuff out to tend to be as careful with their discs as I am with mine, so that's not really a concern. I do have a few empty Amarays I keep around, generally to replace any broken ones, or if I'm loaning someone a single disc out of a set; if I was that worried about loaning someone this disc, I suppose I'd put it in one of those. But again, just knowing the people I loan my stuff to, it's not an issue. However, I am the oldest of three children and I definitely do understand what it's like having people wreck your stuff when there's not a darn thing you can do about it, so I get where you're coming from. It doesn't appear to be as durable as a standard Amaray, but for my needs, that's OK.

As for the scratching of the discs, I'm guessing I'll watch "There Will Be Blood" on DVD maybe two or three times this year, and I'm just not that worried about the disc getting scratched from being taken out of its case a handful of times. And let's not forget, there are some Amarays where the disc is stuck so tightly on that hub where it feels like you're going to snap the disc in half trying to take it out. I'm just sayin', there's not one perfect kind of case that's totally without flaws. This case to me is no worse than storing discs in a binder or spindle, and I have plenty of DVD-Rs/CD-Rs stored that way that have never been a problem.

 

[Jeff Swindoll]

Different disc, but I got the History Channel disc "How the Earth was Made" that comes in 100% Recycled materical. I ended up with a two-disc set - that was because trying to get the damned thing out of the packaging I snapped the disc in half. So much for saving the world since this disc is going into the trash and a landfill somewhere (rolls eyes).

The spindle is made of the same recycled cardboard-ish stuff as the inside. To get it out you have to press down on it very hard (I discovered on the other title that was like this). Problem, once you do that it doesn't spring back and the disc will not go back into the packaging and is always falling out of the damn thing.

I would've preferred the There will be Blood "sleeves" instead of the new There will be Broken DVD version. Sigh.