I Need to Vent..........

I went out yesterday and picked up the 2 disc set of I Am Legend. I took it home wanting to sit and watch the features. I knew going in that I was going to have to use my PC to access the behind the scenes content. For reasons beyond my control, we are not running an authorized version of XP and therefore I could'nt download the newest version of the media player. The disc requires 7.0 or higher. So now I have a $25 dollar set that I can only watch two thirds of. I'd like to add that the Blu-Ray version has all those features contained within the set.

This is the first DVD purchase since 2000 that I have been disappointed with. Do you think that DVDs will start getting shorted on features as a way of the studios nudging people like me to HD? I completely see the advantages of going HD and am looking forward to getting in on that, I just didn't plan on doing soon. I don't see DVDs going away for at least a couple of years and don't like the feeling of being coaxed into another format. Especially when bonus features are one of the trademarks of our trusty format. Tell me what you think.........

Chris

I think you should buy an XP serial number. those are pretty cheap right now.

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we are not running an authorized version of XP and therefore I could'nt download the newest version of the media player.

This seems to be the problem, not the bonus features being shorted. Run a legit copy of XP and you'll have no problems. Use a jacked copy...well, you get what you paid for.

Jason

I second that Kuco.

Yeah, my wife's laptop crashed and she was in the middle of her semester and needed a quick fix. I just don't like the idea of having to watch features on a seperate machine. They should've tacked the alternate ending and deleted scenes on like they do on most movies out there. Then save the whole second disc for features.

We're getting a new PC in a month or so anyway, so then the XP thing will be put to bed.....

[Post edited by cmmoore82 on Mar 19, 2008]

I could care less about all the extra features. They're just the same BS over and over again. They're like coming into the DVDTown chat forums and finding nothing but the same old high-def topics. I have found extra features so boring anymore that I prefer buying the single disc with just the movie -- I don't need all the stupid bells and whistles that are like an assembly line of one car model of the same color.

The only DVDs I purchase that come as anything with extra bells and whistles are movies with extended footage and/or Director's Cuts. As far as I'm concerned, studios could stop putting all the extra crap on the disc and it wouldn't bother me in the least.

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The only DVDs I purchase that come as anything with extra bells and whistles are movies with extended footage and/or Director's Cuts. As far as I'm concerned, studios should stop putting all the extra crap on the disc and it wouldn't bother me in the least.

Yup I totally agree. When i used to buy DVD's I always looked for the Superbit versions where they saved all the disc capacity for better quality video and DTS audio....usually the extras are nothing but crap and a waste of disc space.

[Post edited by Bosshog7 on Mar 19, 2008]

That's why on SD DVD they have single disc and 2-disc editions.

I do dig special features, specially since the first DVD that we purchased had an EXCELLENT making-of documentary, The Begining (yes, from Star Wars Episode I)...

However, some 'extended cuts' or 'director cuts' just don't add to the movie, or are just another tactic to get you to buy the movie again.

Unfortunately, the quality of special features has been declining to a point were the extra features aren't worth us buying them. However, the prices have been going up, with these new crappy features (don't tell me that Cars/Ratatouille had better features than The Incredibles or the new Toy Story releases?)...

I think you have to look at it in a different perspective. Say the studio sold the movie seperate without anything bonus on it, and then say they sold the extra features as a seperate disc without the movie, question being, would you buy the extra features disc?

Good point Tim. I don't think anyone would buy the extra disc unless it was a Star Wars or Star Trek release where they had interviews with the cast and Directors and such. There are certain franchises that fans can't get enough of but there aren't THAT many.

[Post edited by Falcon01 on Mar 19, 2008]

Just to be clear, the SD DVD 'special edition' release of I Am Legend, si by far, one of the worst 'special edition' DVDs EVER, specially the DVD-ROM features, come on! Who in these days actually pops in the DVD into the PC to 'watch' special features???

For me, good special features is a MUST on DVD, a good making of documentary, some deleted scenes, gag reel, and a commentary...is not much to ask for a production is at least $15 million, don't tell me that a small crew recording footage and editing it would spend that much budget (?)...

And I took the Star Wars example, because that DVD is a good 'role model' for most of the rest of the DVDs...and don't start with the LOTR extended editions, since they weren't the first to be released...but had excellent extras, great audio...if only I really digged the movies for what they are instead for their technical achievement...

I have all three LOTR extended editions -- I've only watched one disc of extra features since I've owned them. Even for the one disc I watched I found docs. on the History Channel more entertaining. All I care about is the extended film footage but the extra discs make nice coasters.

Many, many discs provide excellent documentaries about the film's subject matter (or persons), such as Seabiscuit, Glory Road, Miracle, Vertical Limit, 3:10 to Yuma, etc. Heck, even that TV 'special' hype-doc on The Blair Witch Project was very good, compared to the POS movie (rental for me).

-JIMI (the Voodoo Child)

Thank you mvckalel for feeling me on this one!! And I do agree with Tim in that the majority of the features anymore aren't very good. I enjoy the film making process a love in-depth features like the ones found in the extended LOTR set. I Am Legend intrigued me and I was looking forward to looking in on the process a little. Then when I find that I have to watch the features on my 17" PC monitor and not my 50" DLP, I was a little hacked off. I will, however, shut up and enjoy the alternate version. Thank you guys for the input!!

Later On!!

Thanx!

I watched the 'alternate shocking' ending, and yet once again, IT SUX...it's lame, and so is the release...at least the blu-ray has one documentary, I think ( )...wonder why...

I mean, prices go up, good extra features go down...

Once again, I plea blu-ray to make things right and give us quality and quantity, because it's the LEAST we can expect from this 'new format'...dissappointing first releases, but it's getting better...

This is a good thread. Everybody has a great point-of-view from both sides.

Remember when "The Matrix" was released on DVD? It was JUST the movie, and a few extras (great commentary track, BTW, with Carrie-Anne Moss). Then a while later (a year?) the studio released "The Matrix Revisited" on a separate DVD - bundled with "The Matrix" (both of them in those crappy cardboard DVD cases, I might add). How many ways do we need to see that bullet-time effect shown?

Anyway, when the horrible sequels were released on DVD, there were two-disc versions of both sequels (I don't think they did a single-disc, movie-only version). I hated the sequels, but I loved the first movie, and "The Animatrix." I wish I could just buy "The Matrix" and "The Animatrix" in HD - without the sequels!

I think they should ALWAYS have two versions on disc: a single-disc movie version (including alternate scenes/endings. With digital, that's easy!), and a multi-disc version for the people who MUST have extras. Why charge EVERYBODY for an expensive, above and beyond version with every scrap from the cutting room floor, when "some" people just want the movie?!

Oh... and when someone pays extra to get extras... it SHOULD be on the disc, not ONLY from the Internet (not when a blu-ray version has it included - that's cold)!

P.S. Yes... people should be using a valid copy of Windows (legal issues, aside). The free updates and support (I just wish Windows didn't need so many darned updates)!

I will admit, that I did buy the 2 Disc I Am Legend for the alternate ending. Even after I read some comments on here about it. But hey I got a really cool colectable tin that the movie came packaged in. Um that was a joke by the way LOL

I thought it was for real IB...

Anyways, yeah, this is what most threads should look like...

And yes, the Matrix sequels are just things that are left forgotten, hence why I still don't have any of them, and still treasure Matrix as the one and only...do you think they'll release an upper dupper ultra extreme double disc edition for it? It soooooooo needs and update.

Oh, and once again, sometimes the first times are done right, like some of WBs releases.
For example, The Fugitive, or Ben-Hur, which had a good transfer, good audio and pretty good extras...the new edition (Ben-Hur) just adds the earlier silent version of the movie...

IF I AM A big fan of the film i am buying then I LOVE the extras (ie, Dawn of the Dead 4 dvd set). If it is some film i am not sure of or whatever i get the single SDVD.

Also lay of the dude about his OS. I have not paid for stwae since he Commodore64 days. I run Adobee CS3, Office 2007, and MANY other programs all with oem serials, and they never expire, etc. so p Screw making thee companies rich, i will save my money for films.

If you don't pay for it, it's stealing...

To me stealing is charging me over $1000 for the CS3 suite, so that's how I rationalize it. Doesn't matter, I will never pay for software, EVER, so it's a moot point IMO, nothing more needs to be said