Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Doubles Down
I have what I would like to think is a fairly respectable DVD collection; 211 at last count. But as the collection grows, some larger questions arise:
1. When will I have time to watch all of these damned things I keep buying? and
2. Do I really need all these crazy "Special Features" anyway?
It turns out the two questions go hand-in-hand, actually. Bottom line: I have NINE movies sitting on the floor in my living room that I have bought in the last month but not watched yet. Next to those are THREE T.V. boxed sets that are also unwatched. These are all on the floor because if I put them away in the cabinet with all the others, they would probably go unwatched even longer. I just don't have that much free time. I'll get to them eventually, don't worry. That's not the point.
I hear you all thinking now: "So what the fuck is the point, then?" The point is this: My current situation has caused me to re-think my buying habits, and the movie studios and retailers have been gracious enough to give me a push. There's been a recent trend in DVDs to release two editions simultaneously: A single-disc edition with just the movie, and a two-disc special edition with all the bells and whistles. Oh, sure, it's been done before, but it's much more pronounced nowadays. In the last few weeks alone, three of this past year's biggest films (King Kong, the new Harry Potter, and Narnia) have all been released with one- and two-disc editions. Here's the rub: The first week they all went on sale, my retailer of choice had the single discs for $13.99 each. I don't remember all the prices of the doubles, but it was considerably more (around $7-$10 each).
So I started reminiscing, and looked over all the DVDs in my collection. I've watched most of the actual films several times, but how many times have I watched the special features? Once. Sometimes not even that. There's literally HOURS of stuff about The Lord Of The Rings that will forever remain on a part of the disc that no laser has ever touched.
Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed most of the special features I've watched. But the point is, do I want to spend $10 extra for something I'll never watch again (and maybe not at all)? This "collector's mentality" that was developed in me from twenty years of buying comics was screaming in the back of my head to buy the double discs, but time and money were both singing a different tune.
I bought the single-disc editions of all three.
1. When will I have time to watch all of these damned things I keep buying? and
2. Do I really need all these crazy "Special Features" anyway?
It turns out the two questions go hand-in-hand, actually. Bottom line: I have NINE movies sitting on the floor in my living room that I have bought in the last month but not watched yet. Next to those are THREE T.V. boxed sets that are also unwatched. These are all on the floor because if I put them away in the cabinet with all the others, they would probably go unwatched even longer. I just don't have that much free time. I'll get to them eventually, don't worry. That's not the point.
I hear you all thinking now: "So what the fuck is the point, then?" The point is this: My current situation has caused me to re-think my buying habits, and the movie studios and retailers have been gracious enough to give me a push. There's been a recent trend in DVDs to release two editions simultaneously: A single-disc edition with just the movie, and a two-disc special edition with all the bells and whistles. Oh, sure, it's been done before, but it's much more pronounced nowadays. In the last few weeks alone, three of this past year's biggest films (King Kong, the new Harry Potter, and Narnia) have all been released with one- and two-disc editions. Here's the rub: The first week they all went on sale, my retailer of choice had the single discs for $13.99 each. I don't remember all the prices of the doubles, but it was considerably more (around $7-$10 each).
So I started reminiscing, and looked over all the DVDs in my collection. I've watched most of the actual films several times, but how many times have I watched the special features? Once. Sometimes not even that. There's literally HOURS of stuff about The Lord Of The Rings that will forever remain on a part of the disc that no laser has ever touched.
Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed most of the special features I've watched. But the point is, do I want to spend $10 extra for something I'll never watch again (and maybe not at all)? This "collector's mentality" that was developed in me from twenty years of buying comics was screaming in the back of my head to buy the double discs, but time and money were both singing a different tune.
I bought the single-disc editions of all three.
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Interesting post. Although I usually opt for the deluxe, collectors, or silly titled special edition, I see your point. I'm glad that the studios are releasing these variants on the same day.
With HD-DVD on the horizon and disc space no longer an issue, I'm curious as to if we will still see mulitple versions of movies coming to disc.
With HD-DVD on the horizon and disc space no longer an issue, I'm curious as to if we will still see mulitple versions of movies coming to disc.
I have probably 250-300 dvd's. I am not normally that huge on special features because it's not often that I watch most special features more than once. Unless it's a Bruce Campbell commentary or something like that. My downfall is the $5.50 bargain bin at WAL-MART and their occasional $4.88 specials. I might not touch some of these movies for $7.50, but it gets down to $5.50 and I can't resist.
I have over 100 DVD's myself and at least that many on VHS. There are certain movies that I will buy the Special Editions of (Lord of the Rings; Star Wars, etc) but for most movies I'm happy as long as it's the widescreen version.
You're right though.........most just sit there waiting for someone else to borrow them.
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You're right though.........most just sit there waiting for someone else to borrow them.
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