More Wrath Towards Warner

[Sam_Lowry]

I hate most of the Warner discs. The Exorcist (Both Copies), Blade Runner, Batman, All The President's Men, The Wild Bunch, Amadeus, Goodfellas, there's more! Warner really does suck.

[George McFly]

yep they're starting to piss me off too, see my Rant a few posts below

[Sam_Lowry]

Warner put out a few good discs, notably the Doctor Zhivago and Citizen Kane discs.

[Pollux7777]

The Matrix wasn't a bad disc either. Not great, but certainly better than WB's default suckiness level.

[GracefulGanesha]

They missed the boat on The Shawshank Redemption. Especially now that the director's saying he won't go anywhere near it for a long long time.

I don't have too much of a problem with Warner otherwise, other than the fact that their dics for big time movies are not great. I do, however, like the fact that a lot of their movies have great disc art.

[SeanL]

Why exactly do you hate WB? What is it about those discs that you don't like?

Warner Bros has put out some nice stuff(barring their pan-n-scan fiascos). Even bare bones discs had very good- excellent transfers.

[Pollux7777]

Yeah, their transfers aren't bad really. It just seems like they do things half-assed.
Take Goodfellas for example. The transfer is sub-par, and even worse, the disc is a flipper! Ugh.
There is absolutely no reason this disc should be a flipper.
Don't even get me started on snapper cases.....:mad: grrrrrrr

[Fluffmygarfield]

I'm usually very satisfied with the Warner Brothers discs I get. Some of there earlier stuff sucks but once they got with it they continued to make good discs (albeit with some bonehead mistakes such as P&S only for WW).

I know everyone hates snappers but I think one reason never discussed on to why they might continue to use them is because of the environment. Cardboard will decompose a *lot* quicker than plastic and the plastic part of the snappers is less than the plastic used in keepcases. Of course, if that's the reason, I don't know why they don't just go with the Citizen Kane/Zhivago stytle cases. They could easily be modified to fit one disc. Just have the outer cover and inside have the front part with the art, the back part with the chapter listings, the inner left with a sleeve for production notes and the inner right side housing the disc. Of course this might cost 9 cents extra but I wouldn't mind paying if it got rid of the dreaded snappers.

[elwood731]

I have no problems with the discs they do release, though they rarely release the discs I do want. The only thing that REALLY made me mad was the Return of the Joke incident. Otherwise, while I do dislike snapper cases, I move on with life. There are more important things to worry about. Usually their discs are alright in the features department. Goonies and others have even been great.

[tycho282]

Reasons to like Warner:
When they decide to do a Special Edition, they do it right (EX: Citizen Kane, Dr. Z, etc).
Great transfers, even on bare-bones discs (Blazing Saddles, Batman).
They ARE responsible for New Line, which consistently puts out fantastic discs.
When the public demands an improvement, they do listen (Willy Wonka WS, Friends seasons).
Pretty consistent low-prices.

Reasons to dislike Warner:
Their stance on pan-and-scan (if you prefer WS).
Their stance on TV shows (best-of vs. season-by-season).

While there is room for improvement, they are a pretty good company, in my opinion. The two reasons to dislike I listed above are, you have to admit, issues of personal preference. Some people prefer p&s. Some don't really want whole seasons of TV shows. Also, and I realize I am going to be flamed for this, I don't mind snapper cases.

The snapper case issue aside, on matters of personal preference I think all studios should offer consumers choices. Don't like widescreen cause you hate the black bars? Here's a p&s version on the other side of the disc or as a seperate, clearly marked release. Don't really care for all 24 episodes of Friends? Here's a ten-episode best-of set. The day studios realize all they have to do is give consumers choices is the day DVD will be in more homes than the VCR. Alas, that will mean the end of Internet message-boards, but that's another issue.

My two cents,
--Chris

[1138]

Originally posted by Pollux7777
and even worse, the disc is a flipper! Ugh.

Well, you have to take into consideration when it was released.

[Pollux7777]

Yeah..maybe. But there were a lot of other DVD's already out at that time, and they weren't flippers.
It's not like Goodfellas was the first DVD ever. Oh well...

[coffeeman]

hopefully that flipper of Goodfellas will be replaced with the long-rumored SE...and soon, dammnit!

[a.bunker]

The Wild Bunch is pretty good even though it is a flipper. The picture and sound are very sweet.

[Mr. McMinn]

Originally posted by tycho282
They ARE responsible for New Line, which consistently puts out fantastic discs.

Also, and I realize I am going to be flamed for this, I don't mind snapper cases.

My two cents,
--Chris

say New Line puts out good dvd titles?! Have you seen Fire Walk WIth Me (terrible (shitty piece of shit, I should say) documentary, no scene selection, no deleted scenes, non-anamorphic etc) is a horrible disc features wise. But I still love the movie (I'd have bought it barebones).


You don't mind snapper cases?! Are you crazy, yes? I try to keep my keepcases nice and even, but I can't do that with those damn snappers. One day warner will come around,
hopefully.

[a.bunker]

Snapper cases are probably the worst thing about DVD. They need to go. Ahhh...maybe someday.

[Jellodyne]

You know, if Warner is trying to save money on packaging, maybe they should just wrap the discs up in old newspaper. I might actually dislike that less, just on the grounds that they clearly put zero effort into it. The snapper, it's like they're working too hard on unsatisfactory packaging.

[1138]

Thy're not saving money, they're making it. They're invested in the snapper.

And I don't think it's nearly the worst thing about DVD. There's sooo much more to worry about, IMO.

[Jellodyne]

Thy're not saving money, they're making it. They're invested in the snapper.

Yeah, I've heard this arguement before, but it really doesn't make any sense to me. The only people who use the snapper is WB and it's associated movie brands. So, they make the snappers, and sell them to themselves, and somehow they're making a mint doing it? They're just pushing money around internally! If pay myself $1000 to wash my car, does that mean I profited wildly from the carwashing business? No, it means I washed my car by hand because it was cheaper than taking it through the carwash, and then I also moved some money from one pocket to another.

If WB sold snappers to themselves at cost, it would be effectivly the same deal, except then the reason to do it would be that it is more cost effective than a keep case, ie cheap. The only other reason I can think to do it the way they do would be to screw someone out of royalties, assuming they have any royalty arrrangement based on whether the DVD was profitable. "Well, the packaging on these discs costs $10 each and we sell 'em for $9.99, so we lost money on every disc we sold, no royalties for you! Incidentally, WAMO made a MINT!"

As for the argument that WAMO (the division who makes and sells the snapper) is too invested in the snapper to stop making them, nothing says they can't come out with something different and possibly more keep case like.

Personally, I'm hoping the fact that AOL 'merged' with Time Warner is a good sign. AOL uses a massive amount of cheap keep cases to distribute AOL CDs. They must be getting a killer deal on them, and even a cheap keep case is better than a snapper. Alos, AOL is a much more consumer opinion aware company than the Warner boys have ever been, and maybe the corporate culture will rub off a little.

[1138]

Originally posted by Jellodyne

Yeah, I've heard this arguement before, but it really doesn't make any sense to me. The only people who use the snapper is WB and it's associated movie brands. So, they make the snappers, and sell them to themselves, and somehow they're making a mint doing it? They're just pushing money around internally! If pay myself $1000 to wash my car, does that mean I profited wildly from the carwashing business? No, it means I washed my car by hand because it was cheaper than taking it through the carwash, and then I also moved some money from one pocket to another.

Your analogy is flawed. More like, you can pay someone $15 to wash your car or you can pay yourself to do it. In the first example, your car is washed but you're out $15. In the second, your car is washed and you still have your $15.

Plus, it doesn't even cost $15 to wash your car because there is a mark up to pay for labor and other non supply criteria. So you come out even better because the money you saved helps defray the cost of the materials.

[Morticia]

Originally posted by Mr. McMinn
say New Line puts out good dvd titles?! Have you seen Fire Walk WIth Me (terrible (shitty piece of shit, I should say) documentary, no scene selection, no deleted scenes, non-anamorphic etc) is a horrible disc features wise. But I still love the movie (I'd have bought it barebones).

Well, it actually is anamorphic.....
The rest I can't argue with (including I'd have bought it barebones)...

[Jellodyne]

So you come out even better because the money you saved helps defray the cost of the materials.

So you agree with me that the right way to look at the situation is that Warner wants to save money pon packaging, rather than that they are making a profit by selling the packaging to themselves?

[1138]

Well then its semantics. They're making money by saving it.

[Sid]

"Don't judge a book by its cover"

People are flogging a dead horse with this damn snapper debate.
If WB put out nothing but bad discs, agrue all you want, I'd probably be there with you. But there are many high quality discs in snappers in my 123 disc collection and I'm sure there are in yours.

At least Warner doesn't put out no frills discs for 32.95 like Disney does with theirs.

And people, please quit bitching about Warners early discs. Man, at least Warner was putting out DVDs, and anamorphic ones to boot. Where were Fox, Paramount and Disney when DVD came out?

At least Warner never put out their first discs in Jewel cases, P&S transers and bullshit BTTF announcements.

[Mr. McMinn]

Originally posted by Morticia


Well, it actually is anamorphic.....
The rest I can't argue with (including I'd have bought it barebones)...

Ayup. I didn't see any indication of it being anamorphic on the snapper. Still, New Line could have done a better job. They dropped the ball big time.

[pdjennings]

Originally posted by Mr. McMinn
Ayup. I didn't see any indication of it being anamorphic on the snapper. Still, New Line could have done a better job. They dropped the ball big time.

Oh... & it's not intended to have scene selections. It is Lynch afterall.

[Mr. McMinn]

Originally posted by pdjennings


Oh... & it's not intended to have scene selections. It is Lynch afterall.

Thanks pdjennings, I forgot to add the "Lynch factor".

[Sam_Lowry]

I hate Warner! I hate every Warner disc I have except Citizen Kane. I need to get Doctor Zhivago.

[Jerm]

I don't hate Warner. I could do without snappers, but I've gotten some decent disks from them:
Young Guns 2, I got this for $10, not a lot of features, but more than MGM
Wizard of Oz had a lot of features...sweet
Batman Beyond, something like 3 hours of cartoons for $15
Scooby Doo's Original Mysteries, like 2 hours of toons also for $15
The Matrix was a decent package and I paid NOTHING (thanks tomdkat!)
I bought my daughter a Powerpuff Girls DVD and that was pretty packed too (for just $15)
And those are just the Warner titles that I can think of.

[Sam_Lowry]

Yes. Warner has more features than MGM. I have to admit that. But, Warner still makes garbage DVDs most of the time. Especially with the dreaded Batman, Goodfellas, and One Flew