Damn, Warner's! (1 Viewer)

[DaveK]

Is it just me or has the majority of everyone's DVD purchases each year (for the last 2-3 years) come from Warner Home Video?

 

[Haggai]

It's definitely not just you.

Some ambiguity in this post title: rather than cursing them--"Damn Warners!"--don't you mean something more like, "Damn, Warners!"

 

[Bradley-E]

The good part is that I do not think it will slow down.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

They've been putting out FAR fewer Foolscreen transfers lately than other labels as well!
Too bad THEY didn't get MGM.

 

[PopBodhi]

Honey, please edit that title. Damn, Warner's! with a smilie is probably better. Warner Bros. is the best studio with regard to everything DVD. Snapper cases have even turned-out to be better than keepcases because of disc hub cracks! I love WB.

 

[Bradley-E]

It is a tie between Warner and Fox with me these days. They have both been wonderful with Classic titles.

 

[Cees Alons]

Title edited.


Cees

 

[DaveK]

OK...sorry about that folks.

Warners is on a winning streak and it's not going to stop for a long time.

 

[Steve...O]

Warners gets so much of money it's not even funny. Actually, it's pretty sad if you ask my wife

Nobody is even close. Universal was #2 last year with their great collections of classic comedies, but I've only bought one Universal title this year (Bedtime for Bonzo). In my opinion, Fox was a major disappointment for a long time due to questionable entries in their "Studio Classics" line and their mind boggling refusal to do anything with their Charlie Chan films. However, I'm very pleased with their Noir line and the fact they're releasing titles like "In Old Arizona" and I give them credit for that.

Still, I don't see anyone catching Warners this year or next.

Steve

 

[Lars Vermundsberget]

Well, I buy all of the Walt Disney Treasures (only a handful a year), quite a good number of Criterions and just a few TV shows. As for the rest of my DVD-buying money, I guess most of it indeed goes to Warner. Fox deserves a smiley as well for the Noirs.

 

[Mikya]

For me, all Warner box sets are release-day buys, blind or not. It would be wonderful if the other studios took a lesson here. On the other hand, my wallet would be even slimmer than it already is. I don't mind giving my money to Warner -- I'm happy to do it. I always feel like I get more than I bargained for, and that's the way it should be.

 

[JohnMor]

I actually LIKE giving my money to Warners, because I know I'm getting a quality product in return. My absolute favorite studio, both in Hollywood history and current DVD product. And don't even get me started singing the praises of their boxset pricing!

I've also been very pleased with the Fox classics and noirs. You can't beat their prices and they give you extras too!

 

[DaveK]

John....
I totally agree.

 

[John Kilduff]

I feel comfortable knowing that when the 80s flicks I love ("Crossing Delancey", "Feds", "Electric Dreams" and many others that can be found in my postings under the Warner chat thread) are released that they'll recieve the same care that the classic titles get.

When I say that, I mean in terms of audiovisual quality (You only get foolscreen transfers from Warner once in a blue moon).

Warner is the best studio out there.

Sincerely,

John Kilduff...

The only way they could get any better is if they *RELEASE THE SPIELBERG CARTOONS ON DVD!*

 

[Patrick McCart]

I blind-buy only for Criterion, Warner, and Fox.

Warner has the best balance of price, presentation, packaging, and supplements. Not to mention they put out cost-cutting box sets ($70 for 9 Hitchcock films!).

Just last year, I ended up buying Around the World in 80 Days, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (double feature), the Alfred Hitchcock Signature Collection, Mutiny on the Bounty, The Iron Giant: SE, Looney Tunes Golden Collection V2, That's Entertainment!, THX 1138: 2-disc, Goodfellas: SE, Freaks, Blazing Saddles: SE, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Hamlet (1990), and My Fair Lady: SE.

Oddly enough, I've only purchased one this year... Bringing Up Baby. I seem to be on a Criterion kick (just in the last 5 months, I've purchased six: The Third Man, Brazil, M: SE, F for Fake, Rushmore, and The Life Aquatic: 2-disc). I'm also seeking a lot of older titles I never got around to picking up (like Universal's Hell's Angels, Kino's Griffith Masterworks set, and a lot of the marked-down titles put out by Paramount, Fox, and Columbia).

ADD:

My goodness, I forgot to include Gone with the Wind: 4-disc SE in my Warners list. Talk about bad omissions...

 

[Simon Howson]

I like paying money for a great DVD of a film I love too. With Warner you can be confident that some of the money will go back into restoring films for new DVDs.

 

[Ed St. Clair]

Robert Harris has WB as his DVD "Studio of the Year" (If I remember correctly, he had them in 1st, 2nd, & 3rd place, far and away the big winner).
Nuff Said!
For me the WB as been taking most of my DVD money, since day one.

 

[StevenFC]

Look, if it was up to me, "A Tale of Two Cities", "The D.I.", and "The Mortal Storm", and other such Warner properties would be on DVD tomorrow. But, I know that it's possible that I may never see those or other films mentioned in other threads on DVD. I'm okay with that because it's just not possible to do that and stay profitable. They have to maximize their profits on more well known movies in order to guard against potential flops.

But for me it's not really what they release, but how they release them. They don't really deserve all that much praise for releasing "Ben-Hur" or "Gone With The Wind" and other such films. That's like saying Ford deserves praise for selling their F-150 trucks. No, for me it's the care and effort they put into almost all their releases. They really didn't need to put the effort into their "Looney Tunes" DVDs, for example, that they did. They would have sold well anyway. But they genuinely seem to care about their customers and their films. And that's saying something considering most studios maintain a strictly "bottom line" mentality.

All the boxsets that they have released or are going to release would sell just fine, I'm sure, without the work that they put into them. "Easter Parade" is an AWESOME f****** DVD that could have easily been a barebones release with a little cleaning. And I would still be happy as a clam to have it. But they went that extra mile that they really didn't have to.

Yes, I understand that a good reputation is a good thing to have in any business. So I'm sure that that's part of their thinking. I'm not naive. But come on, can anyone really tell me that with the effort that they put into so many of their DVDs, that Warner sees their films as nothing but cash cows? You can't be so clearly head and shoulders above everyone else and not care at least a little bit about the quality of your films and DVDs.

This is why, for me, that Warners is the only "blind purchase" studio.

 

[Lars Vermundsberget]

Taking good care of business AND seeing one's property (movies) as something more than cash cows are not mutually exclusive, it seems. Proves that not everything is hopeless in this world.

 

[Ocean Phoenix]

Also, bless them for apparently being the only company not to do bilingual packaging in Canada. I'm very happy that I didn't have to order the "Batman: The Animated Series" DVDs from the United States like I've had to for DVDs from some other studios.