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The official WORST STUDIO COVER ART thread. Post your worst covers!

post #1 of 175
6/30/11 at 6:43pm
Thread Starter 

It never ceases to amaze us how many times studios botch

original poster art and put out a product with something on the

cover that has been badly photoshopped.

 

Oh, okay, it doesn't really happen that often -- but when it does --

you just cringe at the fact that your favorite movie's poster has been

reduced to hack job work on the front cover.

 

We want everyone to have some fun with this.   

 

Think of one or more Blu-ray or DVD titles whose cover art was

so completely far off from the original artwork that you ended up

hating it.

 

If you can, post a picture of the movie's original poster alongside

the offensive Blu-ray or DVD release.

 

Here is one of my most favorite examples:

 

 

Take a look at this great poster for one of my favorite comedies,

Murder By Death....

 

murder-by-death-movie-poster-1976-1020452726.jpg

 

And this is the best that Sony could do with that artwork. With all

the comic greats that appear in this film, one would think this was

a Peter Falk movie with a supporting cast:

 

51COaGPDyXL.jpg

 

I mean, what ghastly ugly artwork!

 

(and by the way, Sony, we need a Blu-ray release on this one please)

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post #2 of 175
6/30/11 at 6:58pm

Here's one of my favorite movies and its hideous Blu-ray cover:

 

370238d3_deerhunter.jpg

 

.........................Here's one of the more-than appropriate poster images, used on the DVD:

 

poster.jpg

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post #3 of 175
6/30/11 at 7:35pm

froof.jpg

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post #4 of 175
6/30/11 at 9:19pm
500
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post #5 of 175
7/1/11 at 2:13am
Psycho, classic movie poster

500

Blu-ray is the exact same as the Universal Legacy Series, and on top of that both covers have the iconic Bates House, but the covers make it look like its about the house. You'd think Universal could come up with something more original for the 50th Anniversary.

500
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post #6 of 175
7/1/11 at 4:44am
500500

Do I win something? hee hee hee!

Seriously, the worst poster to DVD cover botch I've ever witnessed! REally...who okay'd that?
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post #7 of 175
7/1/11 at 10:28am
500500
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post #8 of 175
7/1/11 at 10:28am
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post #9 of 175
7/1/11 at 10:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by darkrock17 View Post

Psycho, classic movie poster

500

Blu-ray is the exact same as the Universal Legacy Series, and on top of that both covers have the iconic Bates House, but the covers make it look like its about the house. You'd think Universal could come up with something more original for the 50th Anniversary.

500

Actually, a quick glance of the Blu-Ray cover on a store shelf would make me think it's Psycho. A quick glance of a box with the original poster would make me think it's a film adaptation of a Tennessee Williams play. biggrin.gif
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post #10 of 175
7/1/11 at 11:30am
^ Hahahee

I wasn't going to say it...but I kind of like the iconic sign and house on that blu cover. Not bad...
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post #11 of 175
7/1/11 at 11:38am
Yeah, I agree, and about Fiddler on the Roof, too -- those disc covers are different, but they aren't exactly terrible.
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post #12 of 175
7/1/11 at 11:45am

Can't post artwork from work, but will when I get home.  In the meantime, I agree 100% with Ron.  LOVE Murder by Death, LOVE the original poster art, LOATHE the dvd cover art and NEED a blu ray of the film!   (I'm feeling very emphatic today! LOL) 

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post #13 of 175
7/1/11 at 11:50am
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post #14 of 175
7/1/11 at 12:19pm

the-apartment-movie-poster-1960-1020144022.jpg800x600px-LL-B0010AN7Z4-51oAuWnCEiL.jpg

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post #15 of 175
7/1/11 at 3:09pm
Lion's Gate's "artwork" for the NEAR DARK Blu-ray is atrocious. It makes it look like a TWILIGHT film.

Vincent
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post #16 of 175
7/1/11 at 3:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vincent_P View Post

Lion's Gate's "artwork" for the NEAR DARK Blu-ray is atrocious. It makes it look like a TWILIGHT film.

Vincent
I try to take a glass is half full view of that cover and hope that many Twilight fans bought Near Dark thinking it was like Twilight.
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post #17 of 175
7/1/11 at 4:15pm



 

Quote:
Originally Posted by darkrock17 View Post

Psycho, classic movie poster

500

Blu-ray is the exact same as the Universal Legacy Series, and on top of that both covers have the iconic Bates House, but the covers make it look like its about the house. You'd think Universal could come up with something more original for the 50th Anniversary.

500


Well..in this is a case I believe the Blu-ray cover is better than the original poster art (sort of reverse what most are saying).  The Original is the actor's faces where as the blu-ray is the hotel ..and really, it's what's going on at the hotel that the film is about not Janet Leigh's face

 

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post #18 of 175
7/1/11 at 4:16pm

Oh, the horror that is The Apartment dvd reissue cover.  Just hideous.  Never cared much for the original poster art, but it's certainly preferable.

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post #19 of 175
7/1/11 at 4:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by TravisR View Post

I try to take a glass is half full view of that cover and hope that many Twilight fans bought Near Dark thinking it was like Twilight.

Good point.

Vincent
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post #20 of 175
7/1/11 at 8:09pm
The Bond movies, especially the first three that had magnificent, painted artwork. My disappointment, beginning with the first tape releases, was acute. I never really feel I've got the 'movie', no matter what it is, unless the cover carries the original poster art - good, bad or indifferent.

Thanks, Ron, for the opportunity to vent...........confused.gif
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post #21 of 175
7/1/11 at 9:29pm
Anything Disney has done this century of its non-new releases qualifies. I'm not even going to bother posting any or I'd be here until I died.
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post #22 of 175
7/2/11 at 5:36am
Guys, I agree --- I love the original artwork too and I wish the studios would use it. But the reason they don't is because they want to have eye-catching covers featuring the actors, which grab the attention of browsers who might not notice otherwise. The new covers for MURDER BY DEATH and THE APARTMENT are examples of that. (Personally I prefer the video cover of THE APARTMENT to its original artwork). Looking at it from an objective POV, if it helps sell more units, at least that's a good thing.
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post #23 of 175
7/2/11 at 6:19am
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post #24 of 175
7/2/11 at 8:02am
I agree. If it helps sell units, then that is a good thing. What bugs me, is that it seems as though not much thought is given into the design of the eye catching covers. Sure, garishly ugly catches your eye, but wouldn't something that's well thought out and attractive catch your eye just as much?

Having said that, I wouldn't be surprised if the people designing these new DVD/BD covers are given all of a few days and less than $0 to come up with something. Some poor sucker that dreamt of being a great graphic designer in the movie business, is being told "you have 2 days to come up with a cover for this film, and you can't spend over X amount of dollars." A job that might normally take a couple weeks to a month and for a substantial amount of money, is now done in a day or two for nothing.
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post #25 of 175
7/2/11 at 9:16am
I say they're given a TEMPLATE with the genre and number of BIG FACES called for. One Face? Here's the size, perfectly centered. Two, this size, side by side. Three, Main Face large with a heroic or defiant expression grabbing the attention of the store browser, the two smaller ones on either side, slightly above and behind, with admiring expression toward the main Face, or alternatively a quizzical/questing but nevertheless supporting expression. That's for drama, action and fantasy. Background color, Blu-ray Blue unless otherwise stated. Comedy? Wacky expressions on a white background.

I'll stop now before I puke. But this is only a slight oversimplification, right?
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post #26 of 175
7/2/11 at 9:28am
I do know it isn't always just Big Faces. Things go horribly wrong in other layout designs, too. Those Mad World and Murder by Death examples are among the most hideous examples ever.
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post #27 of 175
7/2/11 at 3:56pm

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Edited by Professor Echo - 7/3/11 at 4:10pm
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post #28 of 175
7/3/11 at 1:00am
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Connery's wink and the casually held smoking gun sum up this new-to-movies character in a few brushstrokes. I wish they hadn't smeared the figures in those ugly washes, but the advantage this U.S. one-sheet has over the Briish 'quad' poster (not shown) is the blurb that the latter doesn't have: "Now...meet the most extraordinary gentleman spy.........." What an introduction!

Same with 'The Apartment'. The blurb is the key there. In the movie, adding the suffix '-wise' to a word was the hip thing to do. That's what the poster aims to convey. The figures are secondary.
Edited by marsnkc - 7/3/11 at 1:18am
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post #29 of 175
7/3/11 at 1:15am
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First U.S. one-sheet is the original 'dark head' poster that was pulled because a poll showed that some people rolleyes.gif thought Lawrence was dark-skinned.
Second is the road-show replacement with a smaller, partial dark head next to the title. Give me either one over the DVD!
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post #30 of 175
7/3/11 at 1:48am
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Finally, and ironically, the reverse has happened at the Warner Archives. In the beginning, all the covers were similar to the first one here - ugly and dull as sin - though this sepia job is an improvement over the usual black and white photo they slapped on. With the success of the project, the Archives is now issuing, and reissuing (much to my chagrin because I have more than a dozen of the first type) their DVDs with original poster art.
(Not the same movie movie here, of course. I looked for examples of the original and reissue DVDs of their Gordon Scott 'Tarzans' to compare, but Amazon shows only the reissues, now with original artwork. Then I ran out of time!)
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