A League of Thier Own SE - Flipper? :(

[cherno]

If I read the review on the main site correctly, the movie disc will be a flipper.
I am very happy to have a new version of this with the special features and improved audio and video but I hate flippers more than snap cases
Did I read this wrong?

[cardaway]

I read the same thing. Maybe this is the new compromise, the only way we are sure to get OAR. In other words, they have to make the widescreen haters happy for at least a couple more years.

Just yesterday I read another online thread at a Disney related site where there was a majority whining that "black bars" are distracting. And there were people trying to tell them what they are missing with P&S, but they will not hear it.

Sadly, I think despite what many here think, there are more people pumping their fists in joy over catalog titles being P&S than there are people doing so in anger because it's not OAR.

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by cardaway

Sadly, I think despite what many here think, there are more people pumping their fists in joy over catalog titles being P&S than there are people doing so in anger because it's not OAR.

I agree with you on this. Even though we vent on forums like this, our opinions aren't being heard since they are being overshadowed by the "other side".

What can we do? We've signed various online petitions and have contacted studios at other points in time about this.

I wish there was a DVD retailer with a store front (or fronts) as well as a web presence that specialized in OAR DVDs, period. There used to be laserdisc specialty shops that have no just about all vanished. When I was in L.A. last year, I actually went to one (I don't know the name or what street it was on) and it was very cool. We need a DVD specialty shop that we ALL make our purchase from. Stop buying from BestBuy and Circuit City and support this shop. Maybe that might communicate our "message" much more effectively. Alternatively, we could all just boycott non-OAR DVDs but we really don't know the circumstances behind non-OAR DVD releases all of the time. Too many of us just want to own the DVD if that's the only release available. I know I've done this myself with No Man's Land.

I know I'm going to exercise a bit more discipline and express myself with my wallet. If Mambo Kings or Private School come out in non-OAR releases only, I'm not going to buy them and will just deny myself having them part of my movie collection.

(Realistically, I'll probably rent them from Netflix and hold onto them for a year or so... )

Peace...

[JeffHanawalt]

This is discouaging news about another f**king flipper
release. I love this movie so I'll get it, but I agree that
flipper discs are worse than snapper cases.

Hey tomdkat- I'm one of the many DVD fans that insist
on OAR. I used to buy foolscreen DVDs when I first got
into collecting DVDs, but now I don't and I even upgrade
my foolscreen DVDs to widescreen when I can.

No OAR= No sale!

[limacharliewhiskey]

The way I read the review, Disc 1 is a flipper with widescreen on one side and fullscreen on the other. Disc 2 is loaded with the extras.

All you really miss is the disc art on Disc 1. I don't understand what the complaints are about. Columbia has done this with other releases in the past. This isn't anything new.

Did you want separate widescreen and fullscreen releases? Most studios don't do that with SE re-releases, only with new releases.

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by limacharliewhis

The way I read the review, Disc 1 is a flipper with widescreen on one side and fullscreen on the other. Disc 2 is loaded with the extras.

All you really miss is the disc art on Disc 1. I don't understand what the complaints are about. Columbia has done this with other releases in the past. This isn't anything new.

My comments above were in response to the comment about the "demand" for P&S DVDs over OAR DVDs. I still have no issue with the sheer existence of P&S DVDs but if studios are considering stopping production of OAR DVDs, I'll have a bunch to say.

With that being said, I'm in total agreement with you LimaCharliewhis (can I call you "Chuck" from now on? ). I didn't read the DVD review but I think having OAR on one side and P&S on the other is a perfectly acceptable solution.

Peace...

[cardaway]

Like I said, the new compromise. I would rather have a League of Their Own flipper than a league of their own P&S only.

What I hate more is when they put both on the same disc reducing the disc space, possibly resulting in half rate audio/video. A close second is when a two disc set has the P&S on one disc which takes up space as well. It never fails, all the cool stuff extras eat up space on the OAR disc, which is about the same as stuffing both versions on one disc.

[cherno]

Originally Posted by limacharliewhis

All you really miss is the disc art on Disc 1. I don't understand what the complaints are about. Columbia has done this with other releases in the past. This isn't anything new.

Why does everyone always misunderstand my objection to flippers?
It is not the disc art at all. I could really give half a shit about disc art when it comes down to it.
Flippers are sooo susceptible to disc scratches and mishandling so much more than one sided discs. THAT is my concern.

[bjh_18]

It's not actually a "flipper," is it? I mean, isn't a "flipper" technically a dvd with the first part of the film on one side and the second part on the other side (like the recent atrocity that is the Schindler's List dvd). Isn't this just a double-sided dvd (which is still a big pain, but at least if it's going to get scratched, you can scratch up the fullscreen side)?

[cardaway]

Originally Posted by cherno

Why does everyone always misunderstand my objection to flippers?
It is not the disc art at all. I could really give half a shit about disc art when it comes down to it.
Flippers are sooo susceptible to disc scratches and mishandling so much more than one sided discs. THAT is my concern.

But it's the fool screen side, so who cares?

[cherno]

Originally Posted by bjh_18

It's not actually a "flipper," is it? I mean, isn't a "flipper" technically a dvd with the first part of the film on one side and the second part on the other side (like the recent atrocity that is the Schindler's List dvd). Isn't this just a double-sided dvd (which is still a big pain, but at least if it's going to get scratched, you can scratch up the fullscreen side)?

My definition of a flipper is based on the format of the disc, not its contents.
A flipper is any DVD in which you have to "flip" the disc to the other side to get to anything, be is special features or the rest of the movie.

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by cherno

A flipper is any DVD in which you have to "flip" the disc to the other side to get to anything, be is special features or the rest of the movie.

Yep, this is what I consider to be a "flipper" as well. A League of Their Own doesn't qualify since you're not going to watch the widescreen version and then the fullscreen version and then put disc 2 in to watch the extra content.

As for the flippers being more susceptible to scratches, etc., I don't agree with that at all. I also don't care about disc art but care in handling DVDs is care in handling DVDs. If you don't trust your kids to handle them properly, keep them away from your kids. If you don't trust yourself to handle them properly, but some DVDs you don't care about and use them to practice so you can develop better handling skills. This isn't an issue with the media at all.

Now, you can always send me $19.95 for my "Tomdkat's guide to handling DVDs" DVD that I will gladly send to you.

Peace...

[moviezzz]

I don't understand why someone would be afraid of flippers.

How do you handle your DVDs to be worried about scratching them? Do you have frisbee contests? Have your dog get them out of the player for you? I've never scratched a disc.

As for having to flip, if it is the P&S on one side, then who cares about that? You don't have to watch it. Pretend its blank. If there are any extras, most are ones you would watch only once. Watch them, then forget about them.

The film quality is improved by having each on a different side. That is the important thing.

[cherno]

Originally Posted by moviezzz

I don't understand why someone would be afraid of flippers.

How do you handle your DVDs to be worried about scratching them? Do you have frisbee contests? Have your dog get them out of the player for you? I've never scratched a disc.

As for having to flip, if it is the P&S on one side, then who cares about that? You don't have to watch it. Pretend its blank. If there are any extras, most are ones you would watch only once. Watch them, then forget about them.

The film quality is improved by having each on a different side. That is the important thing.

Some players don't fully eject a disc tray and you have to handle them a little differently to put them in.
Also sometimes you don't have the disc handy and you want to set the DVD down for a second, so you put it artwork side down. With a flipper this isn't possible.
While I am always careful with my DVDs the possibilty but for scratching is increased when you don't have at least one semi-protected surface.

[bjh_18]

Originally Posted by moviezzz

I don't understand why someone would be afraid of flippers.

How do you handle your DVDs to be worried about scratching them? I've never scratched a disc.

The reason why I don't like flippers is because I have all of my dvds in large albums. Now, I would prefer to keep them in their original cases, but I'm in college and after I reached a few hundred dvds, it just became too much trouble and took up too much valuable car space to tote them all back and forth in five or six boxes. So I bought a few albums for them so that I can easily take them back and forth and be able to have my entire collection with me (because I never know what movie I'll want to watch when). I'm extremely careful pulling them in and out of the slots in the albums so they don't get scratched, and to date I haven't scratched a single one. But if the movie is a flipper (like Schindler's List) that means that one part of the movie is exposed to the plastic and it must rub against it and the lip at the top in order to be removed. The possibility of getting scratched increases significantly. Now, if it's just the full screen version on the one side, I don't worry about it too much. But if it's half of the movie or the extras, it really becomes a hassal. Having disc art helps to prevent this.

Of course not everyone has their dvds in albums, so not everyone has this problem (and I fully intend on putting them all back in their original packaging as soon as I'm done moving around so much). But to me this is a completely valid reason to not like flippers.

[Efstar]

It's a flipper because it's a chick flick, when I have watched dvds with my mom and sister they always prefer fullscreen over widescreen. Granted there a few women out there who are hardcore cinema buffs who prefer widescreen, but Columbia is just trying to statisfy both type of people.

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by bjh_18

But if the movie is a flipper (like Schindler's List) that means that one part of the movie is exposed to the plastic and it must rub against it and the lip at the top in order to be removed. The possibility of getting scratched increases significantly.

Can't you wrap the discs in a soft slip case and put that in your album? That way, the disc is protected while in the album. You could then put "disc art" on the slip cover and make it easier to identify those discs.

If you subscribe to Netflix, the slip covers they use would be a great example of what I mean.

Peace...

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by cherno

Some players don't fully eject a disc tray and you have to handle them a little differently to put them in.
Also sometimes you don't have the disc handy and you want to set the DVD down for a second, so you put it artwork side down. With a flipper this isn't possible.
While I am always careful with my DVDs the possibilty but for scratching is increased when you don't have at least one semi-protected surface.

Again, you make some really good points here. With regard to the "semi-protected surface", maybe you could get a cloth or something you could keep near the DVD player in the event you need to put a DVD down. It's easily accessible and readily available.

With regard to the DVD player you have, I think the vast majority of DVD players (and DVD-ROMs) use trays vs slots (of even being top loaders) which means the numbers of customers falling into the category as you are probably small enough to reduce the strength of this argument.

Still, I fully respect your dislike of flipper discs and I also agree they should be avoided if at all possible.

Peace...

[blakely614]

Originally Posted by bjh_18

The reason why I don't like flippers is because I have all of my dvds in large albums. Now, I would prefer to keep them in their original cases, but I'm in college and after I reached a few hundred dvds, it just became too much trouble and took up too much valuable car space to tote them all back and forth in five or six boxes. So I bought a few albums for them so that I can easily take them back and forth and be able to have my entire collection with me (because I never know what movie I'll want to watch when). I'm extremely careful pulling them in and out of the slots in the albums so they don't get scratched, and to date I haven't scratched a single one. But if the movie is a flipper (like Schindler's List) that means that one part of the movie is exposed to the plastic and it must rub against it and the lip at the top in order to be removed. The possibility of getting scratched increases significantly. Now, if it's just the full screen version on the one side, I don't worry about it too much. But if it's half of the movie or the extras, it really becomes a hassal. Having disc art helps to prevent this.

Of course not everyone has their dvds in albums, so not everyone has this problem (and I fully intend on putting them all back in their original packaging as soon as I'm done moving around so much). But to me this is a completely valid reason to not like flippers.

i too have started storing my discs in albums and i have the exact same concern. luckily this only affects maybe 15 or so discs out about 350 i own. i just hope these flippers don't become more common.

[tomdkat]

Ok, here's an interesting "dilemma" when it comes to flippers: backups. If you have a flipper, I guess you would have to back it up to two separate discs, since the current DVD-R technology only writes on one side.

Also, for those who rip DVDs to hard drives, I wonder how they maintain the "flow" of the movie when they rip both sides...

Peace...

[bjh_18]

Originally Posted by tomdkat

Can't you wrap the discs in a soft slip case and put that in your album? That way, the disc is protected while in the album.

I had thought about that, but there's not enough room for anything other than the single disc in one slot. The albums hold around 200 discs each, so they're pretty packed and the slots just don't allow for any extra room .

[kingtopher]

In this case, what does it matter if one side is P&S only? Just leave the WS surface facing down so it doesn't get scratched, and if the P&S side inadvertantly gets scratched, so what?

[cherno]

Originally Posted by kingtopher

In this case, what does it matter if one side is P&S only? Just leave the WS surface facing down so it doesn't get scratched, and if the P&S side inadvertantly gets scratched, so what?

Well honestly as much as I dislike foolscreen, I don't like the idea of any of my collection getting damaged, even a side I wouldn't watch.
As I said I take good care of my stuff, but the possibility is there for those who are not so careful. Just trying to protect people from themselves you know

[Ruined]

Like someone said earlier, the side of the disc with the widescreen label actually is the side with the p&s content, so who cares if you mess up that side? Just put it in the case with the widescreen label facing up.

[clemato]

I usually cringe when I get a new movie and find it's WS one side and P&S on the other. My watched-too-much version of Dumb and Dumber is a victim of this. I can only view it in P&S because the widescreen got mangled somehow. It's sad

But, for A League of their Own. Not sure if I'd bother. There's just too many other movies I have to get first and I already have A League standard DVD.

This gets so frustrating. I have 2 copies of West Side Story, Singing in the Rain, and The Commitments because those Special Editions could not be passed over.