Why "Special Edition"? Why not? - DVDfile.com forum for DVD, Blu-Ray, and HD-DVD

wireFrame9 · 02-26-2002, 11:28 PM

This is really annoying. I don't know why but the studios these days are following a very strange pattern.

I was recently browsing amazon.com to put an order forFinal Fantasy's DVD. The disc was titled as a special edition though there's no sign for a normal edition. But let's forget it, it's a 2-Disc set and perhaps it deserves the world 'Special Edition'. But when looking at the pre-order of Jet Li's The One DVD, I also found out that it's a Special Edition release. The strange thing is that this release is only one disc that has nearly nothing but the WS and P&S version of the movie...

I then hit back in my browser and looked at amazon's recomendations, here they were...

- Legally Blonde
- Tomb Raider
- Planet Of The Apes

And guess what? They were all Special Editions. I'm not saying here that all the DVDs are special editions, but if we would forgive the publisher saying that 'Planet Of The Apes' 2-Disc Set is a Special Edition, what about 'The One' or 'Legally Blonde'?

I guess that the word 'Special Edition' will start to be meaningless if most of the releases are very special this way

I even saw one titled 'Special Collector's Edition'. Perhaps they felt that a lot of movies have been titled 'Special Edition' or 'Collector's Edition' so they felt they must make a BIG difference

Wurms · 02-27-2002, 12:34 AM

Hence the reason for your super supoer title names such as "Vista Series" and "Superbit" etc. To break away from the stupid Special Edition bare bones crap.

Why they stick "Special Edition" on the "only edition" of the movie beats the hell out of me. I already dont care if it says special edition or not. I think studios should stop this cause it makes it seem like another version is out there somewhere to people who arent as "crazy" about dvds as us.

Marq · 02-27-2002, 12:36 AM

It certainly seems that way, doesn't it?

To add to your list, on top of Special Editions, and Special Collectors Editions, each studio tends to use different labels to market their DVDs:

Ultimate Edition (Univeral)
Director's Edition (various)
Widescreen Collection (Paramount, even though almost ALL their movies are widescreen)
Platinum Series (New Line)
Infinifilm (New Line)
Vista Series (Buena Vista)

and many more.

Call them whatever they want. I really don't care, and I don't think most DVD fans will be deceived into buying a film solely because it is a "special edition". The bottom line is I won't get deceived into buying a DVD that doesn't have what I want. For the most part we all buy DVDs because we love the film. We are collectors and the studio's think we will be drawn in by their labelling it a special or collector's edition. But I'd buy the film nomatter what label it is given. Never have I said to myself, "I've never been interested in that film, but wait a minute it's a collector's edition?!?!!? I gootta get it"

wireFrame9 · 02-27-2002, 09:37 AM

You're right. No one - nearly no one - buys a movie because it's a special edition. but why not save this special edition term later??

Although what Warner Brothers did with 'The Matrix' was a bit wacky, when they released another DVD for the movie with more extras but I can call a bundeled set of the 2 discs as a special edition. I've for example Gladiator's DVD, and I'm sure they could have done pretty more amount of extras for the movie, so, releasing for that a new released called 'Special Edition' will be quite good.

And by the way, you forgot the Signiture Edition. It's as if we are all made about the director so that we want to see his amazing handwriting...

Fluxus · 02-27-2002, 12:42 PM

Maybe the studio's put "Special Edition" on movies to try and convert the average VHS Joe to DVD. It's rare that a VHS copy of the same flick would have "Special Edition" plastered in big letters acrross the box. It could be a ploy to get VHS users to feel like they are missing something on VHS so that they make the switch to DVD.

rolisme · 02-27-2002, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Fluxus
Maybe the studio's put "Special Edition" on movies to try and convert the average VHS Joe to DVD. It's rare that a VHS copy of the same flick would have "Special Edition" plastered in big letters acrross the box. It could be a ploy to get VHS users to feel like they are missing something on VHS so that they make the switch to DVD.

I agree with this statement. People are easily influenced by thinking they are getting something like a "special edition" when it really isn't much more than a regular DVD. The only special editions type things I like is Superbits, Infinifilm, and Vista Series.

Hollow Man · 02-27-2002, 06:38 PM

I would buy any movie that came out as a Turbo 256 3D Uber-Ninja Grafix Edition.

-HM

netgrlx · 02-27-2002, 06:45 PM

Maybe special edition has come to mean "pretty shiny disc that you don't have to rewind"?

Jerm · 02-27-2002, 07:01 PM

I also agree that the "Special Edition" label has been over-abused. But in defense of "Planet of the Apes"...yeah the movie wasn't special (it was pretty good the first time I saw it, but the 2nd wasn't so good) but the DVD was truly packed. So I would classify this as an SE.

wireFrame9 · 02-27-2002, 07:57 PM

Jerm, you're right. But what about movies that aren't worth the term and they get it??

Again, I will refer to The One DVD. Whatever it has I don't think is much. It's ONE disc with 2 format (WS and P&S) so that free space won't be enough to store anything meaningful; yet, it's Special Edition.

The Limey · 02-27-2002, 08:15 PM

Originally posted by Hollow Man:

Quote:

I would buy any movie that came out as a Turbo 256 3D Uber-Ninja Grafix Edition.

Jerm · 02-27-2002, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by wireFrame9
Jerm, you're right. But what about movies that aren't worth the term and they get it??

Again, I will refer to The One DVD. Whatever it has I don't think is much. It's ONE disc with 2 format (WS and P&S) so that free space won't be enough to store anything meaningful; yet, it's Special Edition.

Wire frame, I totally agree. Of course I can't think of any of those at this moment, but they are out there. There are so many problems with the way some companies put their disks together. I was shopping last night, and I looked at a copy of Planes, Trains, & Automobiles...granted it didn't say "Special Edition" on it, but it was priced at $23...which usually connotates an SE. I looked at the list of "Features" and NOTHING...not even a trailer! You have to love Paramount. Heck I once did, when I collected vhs Paramount was great. A huge library, "Great Movies at Great Prices" and I had a bunch of Paramount tapes. Now, Paramount means "Some good movies, but we'll take allyou money!"

wireFrame9 · 02-27-2002, 09:12 PM

Till now, some still refer to the price tag of DVDs being 15-20$. But in fact, it's no longer that. I can see that all the new movies are released in a price range of 20-25$...

Drexl · 02-28-2002, 05:37 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Fluxus
It's rare that a VHS copy of the same flick would have "Special Edition" plastered in big letters acrross the box.

Not that I have been shopping for them or anything (honest!), but I have noticed that in the past few years, studios such as Paramount have been putting the "Special Edition" label on VHS tapes. They'll add a featurette or something from the DVD, presumably at the end of the feature.

wireframe9-about those prices, are you referring to the retail price of new discs, or the price it usually sells for in stores such as Best Buy? Most stores sell their discs for $3-8 less than the retail price. Sometimes there's even more taken off than that. For example, Forrest Gump retails for $29.95, but Best Buy had it for $17.99 the first week of release.

wireFrame9 · 02-28-2002, 12:15 PM

I was talking about amazon.com

02-26-2002, 11:28 PM	#1 (permalink)
wireFrame9 Supporting Actor Join Date: Feb 2002	Why? Why not? This is really annoying. I don't know why but the studios these days are following a very strange pattern. I was recently browsing amazon.com to put an order forFinal Fantasy's DVD. The disc was titled as a special edition though there's no sign for a normal edition. But let's forget it, it's a 2-Disc set and perhaps it deserves the world 'Special Edition'. But when looking at the pre-order of Jet Li's The One DVD, I also found out that it's a Special Edition release. The strange thing is that this release is only one disc that has nearly nothing but the WS and P&S version of the movie... I then hit back in my browser and looked at amazon's recomendations, here they were... - Legally Blonde - Tomb Raider - Planet Of The Apes And guess what? They were all Special Editions. I'm not saying here that all the DVDs are special editions, but if we would forgive the publisher saying that 'Planet Of The Apes' 2-Disc Set is a Special Edition, what about 'The One' or 'Legally Blonde'? I guess that the word 'Special Edition' will start to be meaningless if most of the releases are very special this way I even saw one titled 'Special Collector's Edition'. Perhaps they felt that a lot of movies have been titled 'Special Edition' or 'Collector's Edition' so they felt they must make a BIG difference __________________ "The more I C, the less I see"

02-27-2002, 12:34 AM	#2 (permalink)
Wurms Actor Join Date: Nov 2001	Hence the reason for your super supoer title names such as "Vista Series" and "Superbit" etc. To break away from the stupid Special Edition bare bones crap. Why they stick "Special Edition" on the "only edition" of the movie beats the hell out of me. I already dont care if it says special edition or not. I think studios should stop this cause it makes it seem like another version is out there somewhere to people who arent as "crazy" about dvds as us. __________________ MY DVDS "I don't hustle with people who are dishonest."

02-27-2002, 09:37 AM	#4 (permalink)
wireFrame9 Supporting Actor Join Date: Feb 2002	You're right. No one - nearly no one - buys a movie because it's a special edition. but why not save this special edition term later?? Although what Warner Brothers did with 'The Matrix' was a bit wacky, when they released another DVD for the movie with more extras but I can call a bundeled set of the 2 discs as a special edition. I've for example Gladiator's DVD, and I'm sure they could have done pretty more amount of extras for the movie, so, releasing for that a new released called 'Special Edition' will be quite good. And by the way, you forgot the Signiture Edition. It's as if we are all made about the director so that we want to see his amazing handwriting... __________________ "The more I C, the less I see"

02-27-2002, 07:01 PM	#9 (permalink)
Jerm Moderator Emeritus Magical Hall Monitor Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: In my house	I also agree that the "Special Edition" label has been over-abused. But in defense of "Planet of the Apes"...yeah the movie wasn't special (it was pretty good the first time I saw it, but the 2nd wasn't so good) but the DVD was truly packed. So I would classify this as an SE. __________________ "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."

02-27-2002, 07:57 PM	#10 (permalink)
wireFrame9 Supporting Actor Join Date: Feb 2002	Jerm, you're right. But what about movies that aren't worth the term and they get it?? Again, I will refer to The One DVD. Whatever it has I don't think is much. It's ONE disc with 2 format (WS and P&S) so that free space won't be enough to store anything meaningful; yet, it's Special Edition. __________________ "The more I C, the less I see"

02-27-2002, 12:36 AM	#3 (permalink)
Marq Actor Join Date: May 2001 Location: Ottawa	It certainly seems that way, doesn't it? To add to your list, on top of Special Editions, and Special Collectors Editions, each studio tends to use different labels to market their DVDs: Ultimate Edition (Univeral) Director's Edition (various) Widescreen Collection (Paramount, even though almost ALL their movies are widescreen) Platinum Series (New Line) Infinifilm (New Line) Vista Series (Buena Vista) and many more. Call them whatever they want. I really don't care, and I don't think most DVD fans will be deceived into buying a film solely because it is a "special edition". The bottom line is I won't get deceived into buying a DVD that doesn't have what I want. For the most part we all buy DVDs because we love the film. We are collectors and the studio's think we will be drawn in by their labelling it a special or collector's edition. But I'd buy the film nomatter what label it is given. Never have I said to myself, "I've never been interested in that film, but wait a minute it's a collector's edition?!?!!? I gootta get it"

02-27-2002, 12:42 PM	#5 (permalink)
Fluxus Actor Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Kingston, Canada	Maybe the studio's put "Special Edition" on movies to try and convert the average VHS Joe to DVD. It's rare that a VHS copy of the same flick would have "Special Edition" plastered in big letters acrross the box. It could be a ploy to get VHS users to feel like they are missing something on VHS so that they make the switch to DVD.

02-27-2002, 06:38 PM	#7 (permalink)
Hollow Man Not Kevin Bacon Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Connecticut	I would buy any movie that came out as a Turbo 256 3D Uber-Ninja Grafix Edition. -HM

02-27-2002, 06:45 PM	#8 (permalink)
netgrlx Actor Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Allergy Nightmare, Louisiana	Maybe special edition has come to mean "pretty shiny disc that you don't have to rewind"?

02-27-2002, 09:12 PM	#13 (permalink)
wireFrame9 Supporting Actor Join Date: Feb 2002	Till now, some still refer to the price tag of DVDs being 15-20$. But in fact, it's no longer that. I can see that all the new movies are released in a price range of 20-25$... __________________ "The more I C, the less I see"

02-28-2002, 12:15 PM	#15 (permalink)
wireFrame9 Supporting Actor Join Date: Feb 2002	I was talking about amazon.com __________________ "The more I C, the less I see"

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