What's with this trend of BD's with no main menu that just starts right away? (1 Viewer)

[Inspector Hammer!]

I have two like this so far and it's annoying.

BATMAN is like this and it's especially irritating because you must engage the commentary by Tim Burton while the movie is playing and then must go back to hear what you've missed, granted it's only a few seconds but I still freakin' hate it.

I also have the remake of Friday the 13th and in that case I couldn't tell which version I was watching because there was no menu to choose a version from, it took me a few minutes to realize that it defaults to the 'Killer Cut'. It couldn't even tell you on the back of the case.

 

[TravisR]

I think Warners is the only company that does this and I don't really like it either. I guess years and years of DVD viewing has conditioned me to expect the menu to come up before the movie so it seems odd when it doesn't.

That being said, I'm pretty sure that there's been threads devoted to people saying how much they love that the movie starts right away. Can't please 'em all.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

I just feel that menus on DVD's and BD's was invented because it was a good idea and still is.

 

[TonyD]

Trend?
Warners has been doing that since way back in the days of dvd.

I prefer this to what many studios do and that's have a bunch of ads and fbi warnings and other junk that can't be ff through.

 

[brap]

Fire up T2: Skynet Edition and you will see the extreme opposite. It takes almost 5 minutes to load on a fairly new player. I just want to watch the movie.
I'll take hitting menu, making a choice, and the pressing the back button over waiting for java to load for something as simple as a movie menu.
Keep it up Warner. You are saving me minutes I will never get back.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Originally Posted by TonyD

Trend?
Warners has been doing that since way back in the days of dvd.

I prefer this to what many studios do and that's have a bunch of ads and fbi warnings and other junk that can't be ff through.

Yes but there was a menu that could accessed by pressing menu.

It's the absence of any kind of menu that I object to, not really that the film starts immediately.

And yes, trying to start the film on the T2: Skynet Edition is a tremendous pain in the ass.

 

[Joseph Young]

Originally Posted by brap

Fire up T2: Skynet Edition and you will see the extreme opposite. It takes almost 5 minutes to load on a fairly new player. I just want to watch the movie.
I'll take hitting menu, making a choice, and the pressing the back button over waiting for java to load for something as simple as a movie menu.
Keep it up Warner. You are saving me minutes I will never get back.

Not to stray too OT, but I have to second this. T2: Skynet is bizarre. You either must sit through a cumbersome loading process before being ushered into the menu proper or, if you wish to skip this step and not get online, you're still presented with an warning message before being taken to the main menu. For the life of me, I can't think of another BD in my collection that does this - softly chiding the user for simply wanting to eschew the bells and whistles for the film itself.

The very first BD I ever popped into my player was Warner's "Batman Begins," and I recall being a little surprised by the movie immediately starting up. Fortunately, most BD pop-up menus provide the user with an option to visit the 'full menu,' so aside from some inconvenience, this issue is easily sidestepped. Some BDs also default to the non HD audio track, and in the event I have to switch is over to DTSMA or TrueHD, it's still just a few extra seconds of my time. The whole notion of 'pop up menus' solves a lot of the plodding 'screen by screen' menu issues with DVDs anyway.

 

[Nick Martin]

I picked up a combo HD-DVD / DVD of Miami Vice recently in a bargain bin (obviously I can only play the DVD side) and it had a promo for the format, touting the immediate start-up as one of the advantages of the new format. The film and disc were released by Universal, but the promo featured several studio's titles (especially Batman Begins) so maybe going straight to the film was something both HD-DVD and Blu-ray wanted to be available if studios wanted to take advantage of it.


Batman Begins was my first Blu-ray as well, as it came free as part of a package.

 

[David Deeb]

This is a Warner thing but I love it. I wish every studio did it.

You can always select the top menu or pop-up menu. It's still there. Or toggle through the audio selection on your remote & get the commentary.
I'm so sick of having to trudge through preview after preview, then a disclaimer about the commentary not being endorsed by the studio, then more previews, then more "loading" for the fancy menu, then more previews, then copyright warnings, then more disclaimers, and then finally everything repeated in Spanish.

Aagggh! Just start the movie.

 

[Powell&Pressburger]

I like a menu to be pulled up first and the reason is I like to have the best sound activated when i watch a movie with WARNER releases I have to sit there and hurry up pause it hit the pop up menu and choose the best sound. I hate doing that esp when you are trying to impress someone else on how nice blu ray is and they wonder why you have just paused the film etc.

 

[Douglas R]

I love having the film start right away. It gives an alternative. I hate all these elaberate menus which take ages to load up. It's easy enough to go to the menu if you want that, as soon as the film starts.

 

[Shane D]

almost every movie i have does this, my only gripe is those movies that default to dolby digital instead of a HD audio because then you do have to fiddle with audio settings and then restart the movie

 

[Michael Reuben]

Originally Posted by Inspector Hammer! ">[/url]


Yes but there was a menu that could accessed by pressing menu.

It's the absence of any kind of menu that I object to, not really that the film starts immediately.

[/QUOTE]Most Warner discs do have such a menu. You access it by hitting the "Top Menu" button on your remote -- at least that's what it's called on Panasonic remotes (Panasonic being the only BD players I've ever used). It's a fairly simple menu that usually just lists all the special features. Unfortunately, it usually doesn't contain the soundtrack options.

[QUOTE]Originally Posted by [b]Powell&Pressburger[/b] [url=/forum/thread/292374/what-s-with-this-trend-of-bd-s-with-no-main-menu-that-just-starts-right-away#post_3602278]

 

[TheBat]

the only title that I have.. from warner bros that does indeed include a main menu.. is the star wars: the clone wars animated movie. which was a big surprise because most or all of the warner bros just start up at the beginning with the movie.

Jacob

 

[Michael Reuben]

Originally Posted by TheBat

the only title that I have.. from warner bros that does indeed include a main menu.. is the star wars: the clone wars animated movie. which was a big surprise because most or all of the warner bros just start up at the beginning with the movie.

Jacob

All of the Warner titles I have that start up at the beginning of the movie also have a menu, which can be accessed as I described above. I frequently do that as soon as the Warner logo appears, just to see what's listed on the disc.

 

[TravisR]

Originally Posted by TheBat

the only title that I have.. from warner bros that does indeed include a main menu.. is the star wars: the clone wars animated movie. which was a big surprise because most or all of the warner bros just start up at the beginning with the movie.

Jacob

I think that's Lucasfilm's doing since Warners is likely only distributing LFL's discs.

 

[Nick Martin]

Originally Posted by Michael Reuben

As a result of feedback from HTF (and other internet sites, but principally HTF), Warner has changed its approach. Recent Warner releases default to the Dolby TrueHD track. Examples includ Fracture and Grumpy Old Men, both of which I reviewed for HTF. But the pipeline being what it is, we'll have to wait a while before all the discs mastered the old way finally work their way through the system.

Wow, that's certainly something to be proud of!

When dealing with that annoying audio track issue I immediately hit the 'audio' button on the remote as soon as the film itself starts.

 

[Brian Borst]

I can't watch the movie either way (have to set up the subtitles) but Warner's option of immediately starting the movie has advantages of it's own. It's at least better than Disney's option: multiple trailers, a slowly loading menu and a Blu-ray video before the movie can actually start. I'll take a movie that starts right away (except for a pause in the beginning) any day.

 

[Reagan]

Originally Posted by Brian Borst

I can't watch the movie either way (have to set up the subtitles) but Warner's option of immediately starting the movie has advantages of it's own. It's at least better than Disney's option: multiple trailers, a slowly loading menu and a Blu-ray video before the movie can actually start. I'll take a movie that starts right away (except for a pause in the beginning) any day.

I completely agree. I wish Disney would get on board.

-R

 

[brap]

Originally Posted by Powell&Pressburger

I like a menu to be pulled up first and the reason is I like to have the best sound activated when i watch a movie with WARNER releases I have to sit there and hurry up pause it hit the pop up menu and choose the best sound. I hate doing that esp when you are trying to impress someone else on how nice blu ray is and they wonder why you have just paused the film etc.

It's a lot better than your friend saying "Blu-ray's so much better, eh. we've been waiting 2 min just for a freaking menu and it's not even previews", but that's just BD-Java. It's only just for show.
I think a resolution for the whole thing is a static startup menu with just audio and subtitle options and then straight into the movie. The only glitter on it would be a still pic in the background.