Topic: Random stuff about DVDs (everything but the film itself)

[Blair]

I'm mainly just pinning ideas through my head at the moment, but most are insignificant enough that they fit better in a single topic.  I'm curious as to others thoughts on mine and other random issues.

1) I was given several DVDs for Christmas. New and cellophane wrapped. In fact other then a few off of eBay, I buy all of my DVDs new. Among the DVDs are Iron Man and Iron Man 2... the first of which doesn't have the slip cover. That sort of thing is really starting to tick me off.

A while back I saw two versions of Misery on DVD. The features were mostly the same; the UPCs were different. For the features, each had something different, so I wouldn't get "everything" no matter which I picked. So my deciding factor ended up being the cover art. I ordered the one with the slip cover of which I loved the art.  Well, guess what? It came in with no slip cover. Try to talk to anyone in sales about it, though, and they neither understand nor can they guarantee if they send me another that it will have the slip cover.

I want what I pay for, and as minor as it seems to those who don't collect, DVDs, the slip cover is an important part to me.


2) Likewise, years ago I got The Core in full screen. Recently I got it in widescreen. Same cover art, same release, same year... yet I open it up and it's missing the insert that is inside of the full screen one. I have a hard time believing that they were manufactured at the same time yet one was given the insert and the other was not. What this means is the packaging was removed, the case opened, the insert removed, the case close and resealed... all probably in an effort to "go green" when it fact that used up more energy than was gained.

I want my DVDs to have film-based inserts (such as chapter menus) even if that seems pointless.


3) Along those same lines of "going green," I can't stand the recycled cases with holes in them, and this Christmas, the DVDs received had more of that type of case than ever.  Again, it's likely many were created with the sold standard keep case, every one still in stock was taken back to a factory, the cellophane packaging removed, the DVDs removed from the cases, the cases set aside, and the discs placed in newly-formed cases with the recycling-shape holes punched out of them and resealed wherefore being able to recycle the cases with such an insignificant amount of more material than the recycled ones that they burned 10 times more energy just to get them out there than they would have just leaving them alone.


4) I hate bare-boned DVDs. I will wait years in the hope that a new version will be released that has more than just the movie itself on it. Even if that something is nothing more than the film's trailer; the original point for me moving from VHS to DVD wasn't image quality. It was to get more than what you got on VHS.  It actually bugs me that not all films that had a trailer produced for them do not include them on the DVDs.


5) I had been putting off buying The Ultimate Matrix Collection for years. Finally I buy it new (on eBay, but it was factory sealed) and one of the clips was broken holding the main DVDs in place, and since its a digipak, it can't just be interchangeably replaced any more than a snapper case when it comes to the artwork on the case and such.




That is all..... for now.

[Achim]

I used to hate bare-bones myself, but eventually realized that it really depends... I used to watch everything on every disc I watched, but eventually was overwhelmed by the quantity. Now I only watch the special features for films where I am really interested about them. Also, after watching hundreds of Making Ofs I learned that they are often all the same...


As for the slip covers: I think they often just make those for the initial batch, then drop them for all subsequent pressings. So, buy it early or don't have the slip cover. What Ihate more though is, when they change the cover image and still release the disc with the same UPC

[Blair]

I only want DVDs that I plan on watching over and over again. Granted the more DVDs I have the less chance of being able to do that since I am not watching them constantly. This means (for me) that I want to watch everything about everyone of them, even if it seems to often be the same.

When I get a new DVD, the very first thing that I do is check every DVD menu and type down all of the features (and in what menus they are found) into a text file I've been using since 2006. Whenever I watch a feature, I remove it from the list. This way I don't have to watch everything for a specific movie all at once and can still keep track of what I haven't seen. The biggest deal for me are commentaries. If they are informative and not dull-speaking, I enjoy them, but it also means having to play the movie a second time just to hear them when I could use that time to watch a movie over again, so I tend to put them off more as of late.


Other things that I just remembered:

6) I hate that you often have to wait and click through so many menus just to get where you are going. Why should it be required to read the federal "5 years in jail" warning when ignorance of the law isn't a defense? Let me skip past it if I want and get it out of the way. Every DVD should with what Disney DVDs call "Fast Play" where you have the option right from the start to jump into the film instead of clicking to get past the warning, then the trailers one by one, then the "Piracy Is Stealing" and (as of late) "Smoking is Bad" messages.


7) Although I know many would disagree with me, I love animated menu introductions (I don't mean the animations overlaying the screen while looking at the menu) because it's usually something original based on the movie just for the DVD. For instance, on one of the X-Men DVDs, you aren't instantly at the menus when the chapter changes. Instead, the door to Cerebro opens and you pan around a 3D replica of the room eventually zooming into the menus.

[Dragonfire]

It is just as annoying to me to see all the warnings in I don't know how many languages at the end of movies about stealing them or piracy or whatever they are calling it.  I don't always watch through the credits, but sometimes I do.  I don't like having to get past all those warnings...it takes forever.

I hate it when stores put stickers - for the price or a sale or whatever - on the slip covers.  It drives me nuts when there is residue left on a case or slip cover because of that.  Once or twice the stupid stickers have ripped the slip case.   

[snowcat]

in the UK (and I think they are branching into Spain and America now) the shop CEX has started to rip up the slip covers of DVDs because "it saves shelf space"

....it may be a store only thing but they definitley do it in Coventry.  that was my face when I traded a few spare DVDs in.

I hate it when you buy a second hand DVD that doesn't work because it has big white rings around the disc.... You would think the shops wouldn't trade them in.

[Jimmy]

I throw 90% of my slip covers in the recuperation garbage, so it's really not something important to me. Of course they are most of the time censored version of the real cover in the category of film I collect so I don't feel guilty at all.

I even did the same with the transparent cover of Fargo and Stir of Echoes

[snowcat]

I even did the same with the reansparent cover of Fargo and Stir of Echoes

  JIMMY!!!!


Just kidding I understand :p but I love slip cases!

[Dr. Hasslein]

I had a friend who would put all the special features discs in separate cases because he was afraid that they would some how damage the main disc.
And was so paranoid about scratches that he wrecked several disc by buffing them back so much that you could see through them; madness, mad thing, its insanity.

[Dragonfire]

My mom and stepdad still throw away slipcovers sometimes.  Though they have stopped doing that to my movies.

This is kind of similar...it goes with my World of Warcraft game.  I got the collector's edition of the expansions that have DVDs on the making of the game and a book and stuff like that.  On the back of the case, there was this paper stuck on there that listed all the contents.  Sort of like what is on the back of some DVD cases.  I carefully took those papers off and kept them in the box. 
A few months ago, a friend wanted to borrow the DVDs and soundtrack and look through the book from one of the expansions.  He said for me to just bring the box over..well after he opened it and looked at the stuff inside real quick, he started to put the paper back in under the book.  I spoke up and said I put it on top of the book, that way it stays nice.  He then proceeds to fold it, saying that's what he did with his for the one expansion he had the collector's edition for.  I know it is just a piece of paper, but that bothers me.  I didn't want it folded.  If I had wanted the thing folded, I would have done it myself.  I don't give a shit what he does with his stuff, but that was mine and I didn't want it folded.  It bugs me that he just went and did that to something of mine.  I got into the box to check something after he was done with it, and he had it unfolded, laying on top of the book then.  That's all fine and dandy, but the damage was already done.  There is now a damn crease down the middle of it that I didn't want there.  I think he realized after he did it that I wasn't happy about that, though he just laughed at the time about how that is what he did with his.  I felt like saying you can do whatever the hell you want with yours, but don't do that with mine.  Respect my stuff and how I want it kept.

This is the friend that I mentioned before who threw away all his DVD cases about a year ago, saying they were pointless or something like that.  He hasn't done that with any of my DVDs..he hasn't suggested I do it either. 
He is a fan of Harry Potter too, but I didn't tell him about the Harry Potter book I got about a month ago that has reproductions of some of the props in it.  After the way he has treated some other things, there is no way I'm letting him touch that book.

[Blair]

you can do whatever the hell you want with yours, but don't do that with mine.  Respect my stuff and how I want it kept.

That's common in so many parts of life.

I have a brother and sister who, when each is going to spend the night, the first thing that they do when they get here is adjust the thermostat because I keep it warmer than "normal" in my house, especially when compared to my brother who keeps his house like an icebox compared to everyone else.  If I did the same thing without his knowledge at his house, as soon as he began feeling warmer he would change it back.

In my house and with my stuff, be respectful and follow my example. That's what I do for you.


A had a friend (she was more a friend of a friend) who collected books. I knew this but in the two years I knew her I had never been in her apartment. The friend and I went over there and as they went in another direction I walked into the main living space and saw a book in the table. Picking it up, they both thankfully just came around the corner because they quickly freaked. I was going to open the book, and she doesn't like that because it breaks the spine. Somehow she managed to read every one of the 1,000 books she owns without wrinkling the spine even the slightest bit. It's strange to me, but it's her stuff. I put the book down and didn't touch another thing in the whole place

[Halo2]

When my father was still alive, I would never let him near any of my books. He had a subconscious habit of tearing off a page corner and using it like a toothpick while he was reading. Even after point it out, he still did it. Resigned myself to just replace any books he read and gave him the ones he read. He never say any of my first editions, needless to say.

[snowcat]

When my father was still alive, I would never let him near any of my books. He had a subconscious habit of tearing off a page corner and using it like a toothpick while he was reading. Even after point it out, he still did it. Resigned myself to just replace any books he read and gave him the ones he read. He never say any of my first editions, needless to say.

 :/ my mum does that with magazines.... its really off putting when you want to read it after.

[Dragonfire]

I do try to keep my books in good condition, but I usually end up with the spine creased at least slightly.

I have folded corners down to mark pages before, but I've never ripped a page for any reason.  I wouldn't like that at all.

When I buy a new book in a store, I look over the covers..if they are creased or anything, I'll get another copy.  It may end up creased or whatever after I get it, but I don't want to buy one in that condition.  If a book is creased or smudged or whatever, I'd rather it be from me reading it.

Yes I have some issues about my stuff.   

[Blair]

Are you one of those who is careful unwrapping a gift because you want to save the wrapping paper?

[Dragonfire]

Nope.  I don't go that far.    I just want to keep my movies and books nice.  And for me, that includes keeping the cases.