Blu-rays With the Worst Cover Art (1 Viewer)

[Josh Steinberg]

Scott, I'd be curious if you happened to remember which were the ones you've replaced over the years - should be an interesting list. Ironically, after all this Superman Returns discussion, I've had no reason to even consider doing that as I have the movie in part of the tin set that came out with all the movies, so at least I don't have to see that ugly cover on my shelf at all.

 

[Cinescott]

Originally Posted by Josh Steinberg
Scott, I'd be curious if you happened to remember which were the ones you've replaced over the years - should be an interesting list. Ironically, after all this Superman Returns discussion, I've had no reason to even consider doing that as I have the movie in part of the tin set that came out with all the movies, so at least I don't have to see that ugly cover on my shelf at all.

Sure I remember. The list is pretty short, since the really bad offenders are thankfully few. Although as in all walks of life, it's a matter of taste. The titles I have replaced to date with some pretty terrific covers are:

Grease (I use the illustrated poster art)
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Poster art)
Superman Returns (Ditto)
Master and Commander: The Far Side of The World (Nice custom cover with the ship)
Lawrence of Arabia Superbit DVD (Poster art. Can't wait for the Blu-ray on this! Hurry UP Columbia/Sony!)

Titles I intend to replace, but have yet to find a good cover:

Superman: The Movie (God-awful cover, nice DVD covers, but nothing for Blu that I like, yet)
Superman II: The Donner Cut (Deserves better)
Saturday Night Fever (Embarrassing cover, there should be better options out there)
The Wizard of Oz (Just ugly)
The Silence of the Lambs (Actually just found a very nice one for this)

There are probably others I will replace, but thy don't come to mind at the moment. The custom covers I use actually look far more professional than what the studio churns out. Maybe if all else fails I'll take a crack at creating one myself for Superman: The Movie; that one's just hideous to me. All the elements in template form are out there, so it wouldn't be too tough to design something with a high resolution.

 

[GMpasqua]

Don't you hate when they give everything away on the cover and make it look like a cheap violent action film

 

[cafink]

Nick, I am with you 100%. I've seen a very small number of DVDs with reversible cover art, and it always seemed like a really good idea to me, especially if the studio is going to insist on using crummy giant-head photoshop disasters as their main cover art. I'm sure they know that many collectors would like to have the original poster art, instead. Surely it can't cost them that much to print an alternate design using existing art on the other side of the cover?

 

[Cinescott]

Originally Posted by GMpasqua

Don't you hate when they give everything away on the cover and make it look like a cheap violent action film

Please tell me this is not a real cover. They're almost all so bad it's hard to exaggerate.

 

[GMpasqua]

no it's not real, but maybe it is....

Originally Posted by Cinescott
Please tell me this is not a real cover. They're almost all so bad it's hard to exaggerate.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Greg, that's freaking brilliant!

 

[Douglas Monce]

I fear that it's not a lack of understanding - but rather, that the covers aren't meant for collectors, that they're not designed for the people who are already familiar with the film.  I think they figure that those people will buy it regardless.  I think the (crappy) redesigns are about trying to catch the attention of people as they browse very quickly who aren't necessarily huge fans of the film, who either might be casual viewers or people who haven't even seen it.  They're not about, "This looks like a great cover, I'm gonna pick up the box and look at it" -- they're about "That looks like Superman flying!  I'll walk a little slower down this aisle and stop to pick it up instead of just walking by!"  I don't like that mentality at all, but I think that's the real impetus behind most of these decisions - make the most familiar aspect of that film or series as big as possible to get the quickest thought recognition in the least amount of time possible, keeping in mind that shelf/display space is extremely limited these days. In the case of "Superman Returns" specifically, I love the film, love the original poster, and think it's the best possible example for this conversation -- but I know a lot of people didn't love the film, and that some of the complaints were about it being too slow, with not enough action.  I think that new cover design was meant to attract someone who maybe hadn't seen the movie before and heard it was slow or boring, and to make it clear to them that it's a film that does have action in it.  Truthfully, I don't think it makes that much of a difference on sales, but I think that's the thinking behind it (when it's not a simple case of no longer having the rights to the artwork or not being able to locate the contractual release forms signed by the people whose likeness is featured in the cover).

I think you've hit the nail on the head here Josh.Doug

 

[Douglas Monce]

The West Side Story special edition DVD uses the original poster art for its cover.

Doug

 

I love that boxed set. If the lip sync issues weren't there it would have been fantastic...love all of the extras! I hope the blu-ray includes a repro. of the original program, like this set did.

 

[Cinescott]

The cover for the DVD Special Edition of West Side Story was perfect. I hope they keep it for the Blu-ray.

 

[Charles Smith]

So do I. But that was then and this is now. Expect a quartet of Faces (Tony, Maria, Bernardo, Anita) staring at us defiantly and heroically against a blue sky background.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Originally Posted by Douglas Monce
Another reason for removing an actor or model who was in the original art, from the DVD or Blu-ray cover, is that the release documents may not be able to be found for that particular model. Rather than taking a chance that they may or may not have the rights to use that particular person's image, they just play it safe and cut the person out of the art.
Doug

I'm sure that's a possibility on a rare occasion. However, I think the marketing department is always looking to spice things up and make things look new again. Just about every title mentioned in this thread has officially licensed reproduction posters available at numerous poster websites. Warner went through a period of many years where they used the original poster art on just about every DVD title. In the case of "Saturday Night Fever", that original cover was on the VHS release for 20 years or so. In fact, I'd say that a majority of VHS releases used original poster art. I just have a hard time believing that suddenly there are legal issues that are causing these atrocities.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

 

[Jeff Adkins]

 

[Jeff Adkins]

 

[Jeff Adkins]

 

[Jeff Adkins]

 

[Charles Smith]

Incredible.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

The Bond films have always been bastardized since the original CBS/FOX releases in the 80s. But this one is the worst offender that I've seen: