Results from EW's Poll "What Makes a Good DVD?" (1 Viewer)

[Nils Luehrmann]

Entertainment Weekly recently hosted a poll on "What Makes a Good DVD?".

Most of the results were rather predictable, but some where surprising, a couple even alarming, and of course a few humorous ones... (e.g. “Which movie would you most want to see with the full DVD treatment?”... 4% answered ”Gigli”)

The official results will be published in the next issue of EW coming out on 4/15/05, but here is a sneak peek:

1. Do you watch DVD extras?

• 69% Sometimes. But only if the extras are really special.
• 23% Always. Every last scrap, even the trailers. Can't get enough!
• 8% Never. I want to watch the movie and that's it.

2. Which one of these DVD extras is most important to you?

• 38% Deleted footage
• 11% Commentary
• 11% Behind-the-scenes clips
• 4% Interviews
• 27% All of the above
• 9% None of the above

3. Do you hunt for Easter eggs?

• 50% Never. If they're hidden, how good can they be?
• 33% Always. They make me feel like a member of an exclusive club.
• 16% What are Easter eggs?

4. Do you use CD-ROMs?

• 64% Never. Who can be bothered?
• 34% Always. The more interactive, the better!
• 3% What are CD-ROMs?

5. Which director is taking fullest creative advantage of the DVD format?

• 64% Peter Jackson
• 19% George Lucas
• 12% Quentin Tarant
• 4% Christopher Guest
• 1% John Hughes

6. Which director is phoning it in most shamelessly when it comes to DVD?

• 34% Woody Allen
• 33% George Lucas
• 15% Martin Scorsese
• 12% David Lynch
• 5% Richard Linklater

7. Which movie would you most want to see with the full DVD treatment?

• 34% Titanic
• 25% Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• 21% The African Queen
• 16% Bonnie and Clyde
• 4% Gigli

8. Now that additional edits and footage are available on DVD, what's the ''definitive'' version of a movie?

• 46% The version I like the most
• 29% The theatrical version
• 25% The longest version

 

[Anthony Neilson]

I'm not a huge fan of STAR WARS but I think that's a bit unfair on George Lucas. His DVDs are pretty good. Better than Spielberg's, that's for sure.

 

[WillG]

John Hughes gets a mention for a director that takes full advantage of the format?! I know it was only 1% but still. I think the only DVD of one of his films that has a special feature (besides trailers) is "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and that commentary was probably ported over from a laserdisc.

 

[Harold Wazzu]

Where is BLADE RUNNER???!!!

 

[Chris Farmer]

Definitely some Lucas backlash there. Say what you will about the prequels, but the DVDs he's done have hardly been "phoning it in." The picture quality on the Star Wars OT was incredible, and while sparse, the extras that were there were very well done. And the PT DVDs have been excellent across the board except TMP's EE, and THX was quite good as well.

As for alarming trends, I don't really see any, except for perhaps considering the definitive version of a movie as the one they like the most. I don't really have a problem with that though. Theatrical cuts are nice, but sometimes they are severely compromised (Daredevil, Alien 3), shortened for theatrical viewing reasons (Lord of the Rings), both versions been out for so long that the two stand side by side (Aliens), or otherwise difficult to distinguish. Other DCs are generally considered weaker then the theatrical (Amadeus, although I've never seen the TC there, only the DC) I think for example that many here would consider Daredevil DC and LotR EE the "definitive" versions of the movies, and would say that the definitive Alien 3 doesn't exist because it was never made, even though none of these are the theatrical cuts. In other cases the theatrical cuts are generally considered superior and is therefore definitive. And some people are simply split. Given all these options I have no problem with people just saying the version they like most is definitive. My only preference would have been to include a fourth option: "whichever version the director says most closely represents his vision," but other then that I'm fine with what they have.

 

[Michael Martin]

The only answers that "alarmed" me were the responses for question #2. Trailers weren't even mentioned. :frowning: Makes me wonder if most people think "I have the movie, why do I want the trailer?"

 

[Gabe D]

I wouldn't be too alarmed by any of these answers, because they were obviously multiple choice questions. They were the only answers people could give.

 

[Travis Brashear]

23% Always. Every last scrap, even the trailers. Can't get enough!

WTF is this? Even the trailers??? When did trailers beome the red-headed stepchild of extras? They're my single most important extra!

 

[Casey C.]

Richard Linklater "phoning it in shamelessly"? He wanted to give "Dazed and Confused" the full treatment but couldn't get Universal to push the release date back. The "School of Rock" DVD from Paramount had good extras for a first release, including a great commentary with him and Jack Black. I haven't seen Criterion's "Slacker" DVD though.

 

[Matthew Chmiel]

In addition to the packed Slacker special edition AND the School of Rock DVD, his DVD for Waking Life contains more bonus material on one disc than a lot of two-disc special editions.

 

[Mike.B]

I despise CD-ROM extras. I am really surprised that the percent saying that they use those features "always" is so high (34%).

Just put them on the disc(s) the regular, traditional way, please!

 

[Colby]

34% of people put DVDs in their CD-ROMs? That's quite impressive, indeed. I'd really like to know how they get that to work.

 

[Mike.B]

Hmm... good point. I suppose it was a misprint and they meant DVD-ROM.