Issue Three, October 2002

Welcome to NUFF-NUFF CENTRAL

And this issue our conductor is...

I love the Digital Versatile Disc format. It has revolutionised home cinema, and as an ex-film student and future media teacher (and all-round movie buff with no life) there is nothing I like better than chilling out on the couch with a good dvd and my dear cat by my side. Over the past couple of years my dvd collection has grown considerably, and I sink a great deal of my free cash (ha ha! groans the wallet and oevrdue bills) into the studios that produce these discs. But lately they have been exhibiting a disturbing trend: release a disc and then a few months or a year later release a "special edition" with better transfers and extra features in what is a blatant attempt to squeeze more money out of consumers.

Before I continue, I can hear some nay-sayers say "But that is your decision to continue to buy the newer products." Yes, that is true. But many of the studios are neglecting to tell the consumers that they are planning multiple releases of the same title, thereby allowing the consumer to make up their mind in advance which version they wish to buy. A major bone of contention in the past few months has been the Warner Bros release of Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone. Warner Bros released a pan and scan edition (for the uninitiated into the dvd realm, many dvds are released in their original widescreen film ratio, thus preserving the film maker's original vision of what you see on your screen. Many people forget that when they watch a film at the cinema, the picture is rectangular. Yet your television screen is square. Therefore, over a third of the original picture gets cropped out to fit on your television. Dvd preserves the original picture by 'letterboxing' the film with black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. Many people new to dvd resent this as they actually feel they are missing more of the picture, which is certainly not true.). Anyway, back to the Harry Potter issue. There was an uproar as most people wanted the original widescreen version, and it seemed it was only Australia that was getting pan and scan. Warner Bros released a statement saying that there would not be a widescreen version, and everyone (myself included) reluctantly bought the version available as some do not have multregion players, or simply could not afford the expense of ordering an overseas copy. Fast forward a couple of months later, and Warner Bros release a statement stating that a widescreen version will be released in November, long after people had bought the pan and scan version, and that it would be at a price almost $20 more than the first version. I feel it was an underhanded tactic, as they would have most likely known at the time they would also be releasing a widescreen version at some point, so why not let the consumers know and make up their mind over which version they would buy?

Instead, most studios develop a habit of releasing a "bare-bones" version, only to release a "special edition" half a year later. Then another half year after that we may get a so-called "ultimate edition". Over the next few months at least we will be seeing re-releases of films such as Shrek, X-Men, Interview With The Vampire, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings among others. At least in the case of the latter New Line Cinema announced at the time they released the 2 disc edition that a 4 disc and a 5 disc edition would be released four months later - therefore warning the consumer in advance and letting them decide whether to wait or ultimately buy both (which sadly, geek as I am, will do. But I have made that choice, and I am glad I was informed of that choice. I am happy to part with my cash if I am not lied to. And although I hate myself for it, I will be buying the new version of Harry Potter because I hate the pan and scan one with a passion). Yes, I may be a tool of the studios. But I love film so much. I rewatch most of the extras each time I watch the film itself, because I like to view it as a whole cinematic viewing experience, unlike others who claim that you only buy the film for the film itself, so why care if we miss out on extras? I am sure a lot of people would agree with that opinion. But the dvd format opens up the world of home cinema. Movies are meant to let us experience worlds and situations we will likely never experience in real life. And the dvd format allows us to take extra steps into that world. So, studios, please don't jerk us around. Most of us are people who love movies passionately, and we invest a lot of time and money in them. Just be honest with us.

There are other issues I could bring up e.g. not giving us the original version of E.T. The ExtraTerrestrial which other regions were given for free on their 2 disc sets, releasing discs in colour formats that a lot of people would not be able to watch on their televisions and not giving us the same extras on titles that other regions do among other things. This is an issue I feel very passionately about, as you can probably tell. You, on the other hand may be bored silly, or just confused as you may not have entered this wonderful realm yet and do not know what I am rabbiting about. Just believe me.