Thou Shalt Not: A message from consumers to DVD producers (1 Viewer)

[Jeff_HR]

I have a real problem with DVDs that don't allow me to fully control any subtitles & audio options from my remote control. And I hate forced previews. Universal seems to be the main offender here.

 

[JohnAD]

Thou shalt set original language and English subtitles as the default settings for thy foreign language disks. Thy dub customers can use the holy appendage (the remote) to change it if they want to listen to the dub.

Thou shalt use subtitles that are easy to read, and can be turned off. If thou shalt use a print with burned in subs, thou shalt be relegated to a small hole in New Jersey for eternity.

John.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

*thou shalt pick up the pace on the Simpsons DVDs

Fox has no control over that, Gracie Films is the bottleneck

 

[Patrick McCart]

Thou shalt not waste thy disc space and thou shall use every bit possible for the video and audio for a motion picture or television presentation.

Thou shalt not put anything more than a short studio logo before the main menu. (In other words, all I want to see are: perhaps a studio logo, then it goes to the main menu. No trailers or overlong studio logos....)

Thou shalt include cool stuff that can be easily overlooked (Lawrence of Arabia's 70mm trailer, the 65mm version of The Big Trail, etc)

Thou shalt charge as much money as you want for a DVD as long as it fits the product quality. (Criterion's 8 1/2 is well worth the thirty-some dollars. It's not worth any price to have a crappy Quiet Man DVD like Artisan's.)

 

[Lary Larson]

Thou shalt not put stickers on thy cases - neither security nor informational - for if thou shalt the wrath of Lary shall surely be visited upon thee. And you wouldn't want that, would you?

Thou shalt not hide thy meaningful features behind Easter Eggs, or if thou dost, thou shalt provide alternative access for those of us who have a life and don't wish to spend it satisfying the whims of DVD producers.

This thread reminds me of:

And the Lord spake, saying, 'First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then, shalt thou count to three. No more. No less. Three shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, nor either count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then, lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it.'

 

[Darko]

Definately agree with David, the film is the top priority. Any extras should be relegated to a second disc if necessary.

 

[Scott DeToffol]

Thou shall create menus with clearly identifiable graphical selectors. I'm sick of having to study a menu to see if I can discern what menu item is selected (Play - Audio Setup - Special Features)

 

[Chris_Morris]

Thou shalt offer subtitles for any non-English speaking person whether his or her involvement was in front of or behind the camera.

Amen!
Are we listening MiramAxe? Hurts to have have Zhang Yimou and now Stephen Chow drop you like last weeks trash because of the way you treated their films, doesn't it?



Chris

 

[Dan Rudolph]

I don't care if they make seperate full/widescreen releases, but they should be easily distinguishable. Either a colored banner or different cover art. Stuff liek Die Another Day, which has tiny text that you might not notice at first or One Hour Photo, where the banner is on the back is unacceptable.

 

[Kevin M]

Thou shalt stop using spoilers on the cover and /or menus of DVD's that some may not have actually seen yet (Planet of The Apes - Deep Red etc.).

Nor shalt thou use horrible horrible photo shop talking heads on covers...Original poster art only.

Thou shalt offer subtitles and/or Closed Captioning for all titles and supplements. (OK I realize that second one can be prohibitively expensive but at least CC the deleted scenes.)

Thou shalt release more classic films onto DVD.

 

[Kevin M]

I'm not sure how many feel about this one but...

Thou shalt offer uncut (and in well marked packaging to avoid confusion) versions of classic cartoons that have been edited in recent years (Mable the Maid from Tom & Jerry is primarily who I am referring to.) due to political correctness. I would think that many of the ethnicity's that thee thinks thee is "protecting" would like to see the toons that they remember from their childhood as well.

 

[Jonathan Dagmar]

Thou shalt not issue separate OAR/P&S releases...put them on the same disc, one per side.

I absolutely disagree with this!

First of all, I hate double sided DVDs. Secondly, Pan and Scan is a waste of my time, I don't want to buy it ever.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Well,

If a studio *is* going to offer the market a 4x3-modified version...it is better that it be contained in the same package/SKU than be released separately.

Separate SKUs lead to consumer confusion. I've had many friends who bought the p/s version thinking it was the WS, and had some by the p/s version not realizing that a separte WS version was available.

Most consmers don't spend hours researching DVD titles on the web to get the skinny on the release formats...NOR SHOULD THEY.

It ought to be easy. You see a DVD on the shelf in the store...you like the movie...you buy it.

OAR should be available to that consumer...and if the studio feels strongly, so should 4x3-modified. But DON'T do separate releases.

Dual-disc is the preferred method...but dual-side is better than dual-release.

-dave

 

[Jonathan Dagmar]

i like dual release. I am sure I am not the only one.

 

[Randy A Salas]

Thou shalt not have long unnecessary gaps in the audio commentary where the narrator says nothing. Case in point: Ben-Hur, where there are long gaps between moments where Charlton Heston speaks.

Ben-Hur is a really poor example. Knowing that Heston did not speak over the entire movie, Warner Home Video smartly included a feature to allow the viewer to skip directly to his next set of comments. Did you miss it?

 

[Rob Gillespie]

Thou should stop using retarded bi-language covers which have both english and french on the same side, then exactly the same thing on the reverse cover but with the languages swapt around.

Thou should stop paying people money for making stupid decision. See above.

 

[John Watson]

The industry should resolve quality control issues, and player standards.

I am tired of reading about picture breakups, pixilations, sticks and skips. I have encountered enough of them to have lost significant time and money returning unplayable products. DVDs should be as reliable as CD.

I fully support all the comments pertaining to easy navigation of menus, and minimal disruption-delay getting to the movie.

Looking forward to Vince amalgamating all these points, and those yet to be made, in one Bill Of DVD Rights!

 

[James L White]

First of all, I hate double sided DVDs. Secondly, Pan and Scan is a waste of my time, I don't want to buy it ever

AMEN, double sided DVDs are evil!!!!!!!

 

[Kevin Grey]

I disagree. Since DVD-18's are hardly ever used this might lead to more titles being single layer vice dual layer.

 

[Jay Sylvester]

Thou shalt position player-generated subtitles within the image area itself, and not inside the "black bars", so those using masking don't cover up the subtitles with masking material.

Thou shalt use subtitles that are easy to read, and can be turned off. If thou shalt use a print with burned in subs, thou shalt be relegated to a small hole in New Jersey for eternity.

If the original theatrical presentation had burned-in subs, that's what I want to see. Player-generated subs are ugly. See the original release of Black Hawk Down for a perfect example.