Are Motion Menus A Thing Of The Past? (1 Viewer)

[barry]

I have been noticing on various dvd's recently (SWAT, 28 DAYS LATER) that they are using non motion menus and buttons. Is this a new trend?

Thanks To All...

 

[Tom Tsai]

I don't think it's going away. For example, recent releases like Love Actually and The Last Samurai do have animated menus. However, they're short and sweet (thank God, can't stand those menus that take forever to get through). Maybe simple animation is the new trend.

 

[Michael Harris]

God I hope so. Yes they are cool the first time you see them but long animated menus are as worthile as the FBI Warning and forced trailers.

 

[Mark-W]

I think motion menus had "neat-o" factor on DVDs because it is the first thing a novice noticed was unlike VHS. BUT, I am so sick of LOUD repeating motion menus. I am glad that on many newer releases, motion menus are less elaborate, and when you watch the film, they often default to a motionless and silent "special features" menu.

This is great!

I, for one, often watch films before going to bed, and I can set my television to go off in two hours, but a motion menu means that after I have difted off, I will wake up in a few hours to some repeating sound bite.

Also, I cannot imagine that the wear and tear on equipment because the kids forgot that they left "Shrek" going in the DVD player is a good thing.

I think the original release of "My Fair Lady," and "Hairspray" were two of the worst offenders on the motion menu front for sheer irritation of droning sound.

Seriously, If I wanted to torture someone, I would just strap them to a chair and make them listen to the main menu on "Hairspray" repeat for hours and hours.

 

[GerardoHP]

I hope so too. The motion menu in MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS is I-N-T-T-T-E-R-M-M-M-M-I-N-A-B-B-B-B-B-L-E. Who needs all that crap? Just cut to the chase and give a complete menu with easy access.

 

[Ben_@]

I totally static menu is pretty drab, at least the main menu should have some sort of animation, IMO. If its a special edition, I want to feel like they put some effort into presenting these options or extras to me. Though its also easy to go overboard.
I would agree that simple menues are a new trend, though I think people are still working out how to present different information in DVD menues. A good presentation of options will make me explore more of a disc, and revisit extras.

 

[Rolando]

I think you can give all the intro/animation you want just make it so I can skip it. IF I can click the chapter button and go straight to the "choice" menu and pick what I want GREAT!

Another annoyance is long animations or movie clips after every single selection. Look I just want to pick the audio track and play the movie. If I have to wait for a 20 second clip to play when I select "setup" then another one when I click "audio" and another when I pick English Dolby Digital" then still another after I select "main menu"... well you get it.

 

[Randy A Salas]

On most Warner DVDs, you can press the chapter-skip button during a motion menu and skip right to the ultimate selection screen. This is true of many motion menus, regardless of studio.

I also think many motion menus are going away simply due to disc space. On well-packed DVDs that are increasingly fighting for every bit, motion menus are an easy thing for DVD producers to drop.

 

[Chris Bardon]

I hope so! Loud moving menus not only make it hard to find things sometimes, but give away bits of the movie in some cases! It's like flash intros for websites-they may look snazzy, but they don't make the site more useable.

 

[Daniel Lawhon]

I hate how some dvd's give away the important parts of the film in the motion menus like in the The Matrix, Kill Bill (R2 Japan), and Die Another Day (R2 U.K.). Also I remember when Disney did with their earlier dvds they had static menus and when you left it on for a while the movie will play by itself, for example Little Mermaid II, Heavenly Creatures, & Princess Mononoke.

 

[Dave Gorman]

Not just Disney... I've had this problem a lot. I tend to put in the DVD and then walk away to make popcorn, refill beverages, visit the bathroom, etc., so I don't have to sit through the 20 minutes it often takes to get to the main menu. (Seriously, there was one time I remember there were 15 minutes of forced trailers.) I hate it when I return to find I'm several minutes into the movie already. What makes matters even worse is that on some DVD's, after auto-starting the movie, when I hit Menu to return to the menu to start the movie over, when I select Play Movie (NOT Resume), it returns me to where I was in the movie!

 

[Bryan Ri]

There's got to be a happy medium inbetween the non existent and the overly long.

Two that come to mind that were obscenely long are the original X-Men Movie DVD, and the Mummy Returns.




Bryan

 

[Tom Tsai]

^ I thought the original Crouching Tiger DVD was pretty annoying too.

 

[Bryan Ri]

The initial release of the Usual Suspects has the ending ruined in the DVD opening menu.

 

[Terry St]

Criterion's first-tier releases often have excellent menus. No FBI warning screen. They load up fast so you can dive in right away if you want. However, there's often a lot of sweet animation going on. I think my favorite Criterion menu is on the 1943 disc of the "The Killers" set. It would be nice if a few other companies would follow the example Criterion has set!

 

[Keith Paynter]

I have occasionally been able to skip the motion intro by hitting the MENU button during the 'warmup'.

 

[GerardoHP]

Since we're at it, let me just say that I wish menus had, in addition to faster access to the features, softer and less grinding music. On some menus the music is louder than the movie, which is really annoying when you start the feature and you think you're deaf.

Personally, I'd also rather have a silent menu than the same intrusive cue playing over and over on a loop. The Munchkin's song cue over THE WIZARD OF OZ's menu has often made me feel like killing my stereo.

 

[Mark Bendiksen]

I've gotten to where I appreciate motion menus that are more subtle. For instance, the menu on the recently released Schindler's List was quite classy and effective, IMHO.

 

[Eric_B_C]

Only Criterion disk I own is "Chasing Amy" and it's marvelous to just slap the disk in and VOILA! At the menu almost instantly. (Accompanied by David Pirner's great opening theme from the movie.)

I don't like static menus. Boring. But one that immediately springs to mind as tedious is "From Hell". Took forever to get where you wanted.

I like the menus for "Chappelle's Show". Several versions of the opening accompany the options on the right.

Best menus ever I think are "Fight Club" Very arty, with a cool mix of music from the movie.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Panic Room SE can get pretty irritating too as you swoop endlessly through the house every time you make a selection. Really the only flaw (other than lack of a play all button) on the set.