A disturbing trend that needs to stop (1 Viewer)

[streeter]

rutger - the ad does not have any fine print. It doesn't say anything like 'special features subject to change.'

By the way, I have some news: I will be personally releasing the movie GIANT on DVD on October 10, 2002. The DVD will be a 3-disc set and will retail for just $9.99. The DVD features commentary by the director as well as Elizabeth Taylor. The set will also have an additional audio commentary track by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Can you tell I'm in a pissy mood today?

 

[streeter]

Will_B: for all we know, maybe the disc's producers never even asked John Ritter and Blake Edwards to sit down for a commentary.

 

[Will_B]

True. Though they did record him and Julie Andrews for Victor/Victoria, released the same day.

 

[Tom Rags]

Another trend is announcing that a title will be DTS in advertising and packaging, and in fact, no DTS track exists (see Groundhog Day SE, The Others, etc). Though this isn't a make or break deal for everyone, it still is false advertising IMHO.

 

[Damin J Toell]

I'd much rather see commentaries from the actual people who make these films and make them work. I see "talent" commentaries as marketing for the masses when most of the actors bring very little to the table in terms of quality commentary.

Actors don't make films and make them work? With all due respect to technical crew, the vast vast majority of films would not work at all (or, indeed, even exist) without actors. If you don't enjoy hearing what they have to say, that's fine. But it's pretty unfair to all of the highly talented folk (and all those who are quite interested in what they have to say) to exclude them from the equation of what makes films work.

DJ

 

[Daniel J]

The point that really is made here is the fact that studios finish their packaging, distrobution, and pricing plans long before the disc is even mastered. A commentary track must be recorded even before the disc menus are made, which is long before the disc goes to master, and that's a while before it ships to stores. There's plenty of time in there to rectify glaring issues like missing commentaries, but these studios are sitting on their hand waiting for the release so they can get more money.

 

[TheoGB]

Even with a disclaimer, I'm sure a case could be made due to the fact that the studio know there is no such feature on the disc and could have done something about it. If you brought it to the advertising standards council or whoever over there I'm sure they'd be able to do something about it.

 

[Christian Preischl]

Hi,
Bandits R1 was originally announced with a cast & crew audio commentary. When the official press release was out it had disppeared. I didn't think much of it at first, but...
Guess what's included on the Region 2 version of the disc (also distributed by MGM)!
And that commentary must have been ready for the R1 disc because you can listen to Blanchett's commentary on the alternate ending.
Chris

 

[streeter]

You can add WOLFEN to the list. This title was supposed to have a commentary track by Albert Finney. I have been officially scammed by Warner Brothers because I pre-ordered this title and it is too late to cancel.

I have notified the BBB about this. This is three titles released within a 2-3 week time period which were falsely advertised as having audio commentary tracks.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Add press releases from Miramax (Halloween H2O's producers) about 16x9 enhancement on Belle de Jour and Purple Noon...oops, we used the LD masters intead.

Many of these features are what get us to preorder titles, and until we actually have them, we don't know they are missing. I agree this needs to be made more of an issue.

 

[streeter]

Strike 4 for Warner Bros. in 2 weeks. I was browsing on starwars.com and POP I get a pop-up ad from WB about V: The Final Battle. Yup, it says THE FINAL BATTLE has director commentary. I closed it and then realized I should have saved it. So I hit reload a few times, but didn't get the ad back. Then went to scifi.com and POP I get the ad again.
In this case it's a clear miscommunication issue between the marketing department and ?? but it's a nice picture to get my point across. When the Better Business Bureau gets back to me about my complaint about the first 3 strikes, I'll show them this picture as well.
No wonder that they're investigating AOL Time Warner's accounting practices.

 

[Will_B]

You can add WOLFEN to the list. This title was supposed to have a commentary track by Albert Finney.

Unbelievable. That's the only reason I was going to get that one.

Are you saying there is no commentary track AT ALL, or just that Finney did not join the other two actors who were expected to be on the commentary?

It is so dishonest for them NOT TO BOTHER TO send out an updated press release. You can bet they knew earlier than this week that their plans for three cast members to do the commentary did not come together. I mean, how could they miss something so huge? Lying by omission is just as bad as plain lying.

 

[streeter]

I never knew that there were two other actors expected to do commentary.

There is no commentary at all according to the review at dvdverdict.com

At least Wolfen is a somewhat decent cult movie, and it definitely has its fans. It's not hideous like The Swarm or Collateral Damage. But I still feel betrayed by WB for making me pre-order Wolfen... at deepdiscountdvd nonetheless, where you have to make phone calls to cancel an order.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

Another one is October Sky.

Ads are one thing, but on this and other titles that LIST IT ON THE PACKAGING are just going too far

OH and Disney has twice listed "Commentary" when they meant interviews, Insider and Father of the Bride Part II (Which I bought mainly to hear that commentary, but at least i do like the movie)

 

[streeter]

I got a call today from Warner about the three discs: Wolfen, The Swarm, and Collateral Damage.

They said WOLFEN was a misprint. A misprint?? Okay. I didn't want to get into it. Plus, as outspoken as I may appear on this forum, I'm a sucker on the phone.
It doesn't even say that there is a commentary on the cover - only on the back cover scan that was sent to davisdvd.com.
For THE SWARM, they admitted that the announcement was sent prematurely.
Finally, for COLLATERAL DAMAGE, they said that they were planning for Arnold to record the commentary but the scheduling just didn't work out. But here's the kicker: They are STILL planning on Arnold's recording the commentary track when he has time, and it being available on the web through the magic of DVD-ROM. This is also what is (was?) being touted in the Region 2 announcement of the COLLATERAL DAMAGE DVD. The lady on the phone said that this is still tentative, but this is indeed what they're planning for. So NOTHING about $75,000. Then again, maybe Warner is paying Arnold $75k... but just to put it on the web, mostly for the UK release? I doubt it.

So, there you have it. My bitterness and sourness over being scammed into buying WOLFEN has faded a bit - just this past week, I finally opened the WOLFEN package and popped the disc in. I haven't finished it yet, but hopefully I'll enjoy it.

 

[Patrick McCart]

That ad is a mistake.
Isn't it odd that it has the same specs for the first V DVD?

 

[Sam Hatch]

I was extremely pleased with Warner when I saw they had the excellent Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey documentary on DVD with filmmaker's commentary and a full dramatic reenactment of Bruce's Game of Death script performed in Korea. Both extras are clearly listed on the packaging, but are not present on the disc. I wasn't so pleased anymore.
I found a few online reviews that mention the problem in passing, but nobody seems to care that these great sounding extras are nowhere to be found. I already had the documentary on VHS, so the DVD purchase was mostly fueled by my desire for obtaining those two features.
Makes me want to drive to the manufacturing plant with a black sharpie and personally erase these 'extras' from the back listing myself.

 

[Jean-Michel]

But I still feel betrayed by WB for making me pre-order Wolfen... at deepdiscountdvd nonetheless, where you have to make phone calls to cancel an order.

I would like to jump in and say that DDD has never given me any problems with cancelling via e-mail.

 

[Jeffrey Gray]

You know, you shouldn't feel that no commentary = no sale for these films...if you ordered them, didn't the movies themselves have anything to do with you wanting them?

 

[streeter]

It may have its defenders, but... THE SWARM? And COLLATERAL DAMAGE? The only reason I would have bought those is for commentary by the actors.