The official WORST STUDIO COVER ART thread. Post your worst covers! (1 Viewer)

[WinstonCely]

I actually really like the Paths of Glory Criterion cover because the emotion on Kirk's face is the emotion I have when watching the film. To me, it's one of utter hopelessness, but defiance in the knowledge of that hopelessness.

 

[MBrousseau]

 

[marsnkc]

There's really no excuse for that Eureka Touch of Evil cover. Ironically, while it doesn't look as bargain-basement as Ron's Murder by Death example, it tells us less than the latter abomination does. If it wasn't for the title...
I've made a space on my wall for that German Wages of Fear job, should anyone have an original that's cluttering up their nice home... Great dramatic stuff!

 

[Stephen_J_H]

The thing that has become overwhelmingly clear over the course of this thread is that Sony is the worst offender when it comes to abominable cover art. As further evidence, I present" Paul Schrader's Hardcore, starring George C. Scott.
First, the poster, a model of minimalism:http://www.hometheaterforum.com/image/id/630026/width/1000/height/800

And now, Sony's DVD:

While not as bad as Real Genius, still pretty awful.

 

[Paul D G]

I have to say, the Hardcore poster would not work as a DVD cover. In a theater lobby, yes, but not as a DVD.

 

[Worth]

Totally off topic, but related to the above:

 

[Peter Neski]

what cruddy crap of a cover

 

[marsnkc]

I've loved movie poster art ever since I became aware of it as a kid (and why I'm a collector) with those black and white ads in the newspapers. I'm especially fond of posters that add those little drawings, like those on the bottom of Touch of Evil.
(Sometimes the art is too good, analogous to the smell of coffe where both are superior to what they promise...)

 

[Ethan Riley]

Old dvd:

Old two-pack dvd:

Upcoming Blu-ray:

 

[Ethan Riley]

I've loved movie poster art ever since I became aware of it as a kid (and why I'm a collector) with those black and white ads in the newspapers. I'm especially fond of posters that add those little drawings, like those on the bottom of Touch of Evil.
(Sometimes the art is too good, analogous to the smell of coffe where both are superior to what they promise...)

I wholeheartedly agree! Except that this thread is for when the reverse is true lol

 

[Ethan Riley]

This whole thread got me thinking--you know, I can create bad cover art too! In fact, I can create even worse cover art than these amazing college-educated graphic designers the studios have slaving away on these box covers. Sheesh~! I'll go at them, tit for tat--Here's my first offering. Who wants in? Who wants to create some really bad cover art and post it here? Let's show them that we can suck as artists and make money at it too !!!

 

[Ethan Riley]

Or how about...misleading marketing ideas?

 

[Ethan Riley]

Or how about PhotoShop catastrophes that totally give away the whole movie??

 

[Joe Karlosi]

Ethan - I think you're really exaggerating.
Guys - the whole thing is, they have to make the covers eye-catching so they would be spotted by potential fans/buyers. The original barren HARDCORE poster, for example, just would not really catch the eye if placed on a Blu-ray cover. What's so hard to understand about that? We want these to sell, don't we?

 

[WinstonCely]

I'm all for changing the cover art to make it more eye catching, but nine times out of ten, the new art is bad and there's no reason for it to be bad. I think that's the real point. We all can appreciate the original art, and if it's only a choice between old or new, most of us would prefer the old. However, that's not the question. The question is how to make the cover art catch the person's eye so they'll have a bigger chance of buying the title? It's just a shame that the studios are letting low costs drive the art, meaning they want to spend as little as possible to update these covers. I'm sure there's some laziness in there too, but I'm willing to bet that most of the time, it's the money involved (or lack thereof) that has given birth to these horrendous covers.
Having said that, I love this thread. It's always good for a laugh (or a scream!)

 

[TheLongshot]

One I'm surprised no one posted yet: the new release of Tron.

 

[JeremyLG]

I agree on the new Tron "classic" cover, horrid. The original poster was so much better.

 

[WillG]

Why can't studios just make reverseable cover art? Just have the bad photoshops that marketing comes up with up front in the stores and then original art on the back so that people who want to can just take the cover out and turn it around.

 

[JohnMor]

Ethan, LOL.

 

[Brisby]

Why can't studios just make reverseable cover art? Just have the bad photoshops that marketing comes up with up front in the stores and then original art on the back so that people who want to can just take the cover out and turn it around.

The company Arrow does this with some of their UK-exclusive Blu-Ray titles like Obsession.