JamesM

Of your last ten Britmovie DVDs, how many were decided upon by:-

a) the synopsis ?

b) the specifications (aspect ratio OR extras) ?

Steve Crook

a) none
b) none

They were decided on the fact that I knew the film (or TV show) and wanted it on DVD when it was released.

Steve

penfold

a)none
b) Rarely....the Criterion Canterbury Tale because of a combination of better restoration, and a decent set of extras; Despite having a Carlton version and knowing it off by heart; and the two different releases of Tales of Hoffman, one for the better picture, the other for the soundtrack cd's in English and German. the rest - mostly archive telly - by reputation or having seen an episode or two.

Bit of a Bay Window, what??

DB7

Same here. If it's a film like The Wicker Man SE with restored footage I would pick it up. But the extras have got to be something better than the original trailer or a stills gallery.

Cuffy

Personally, I've never bought a film for anything but the film itself.

Ironically, my most recent Brit purchases all had to be done by Amazon US because they weren't available over here.

As for extras and the like.... all very nice, but I really can't remember the time I actually looked at the extras on any of my DVD's. I'd love to have the option of a 'film only' version.

David Brent

The extras have never really interested me on any DVD I've purchased.
Most comprise of boring interviews and pointless narative.
It's the film for me, first and second.

Dave.

JamesM

Thankyou for your answers.

I have been looking at a few websites of companies who release older British films and have noticed that they largely attempt to sell a film on the cast and plot. To me, it's not the film they should be selling, it's the DVD.

Take DD Video. They have Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968), Island of Terror (1966) and Blood of the Vampire (1958) on DVD and try to sell these DVDs by presenting the premise of the film and informing us who the film's stars are. I would have thought that the people who buy these DVDs know this information by the title. The important information, I believe, would be how these DVDs make good representations of the films they contain. At least two of them are Anamorphic (therefore potential high quality image) and all three are in a widescreen format closer to, if not exactly, the original theatrical ratio. If you already own a film on another format, this would make all the difference as to whether you purchased a DVD version.

DD do not even bother letting you now there is an interview with Christpher Lee on two of these titles. They have not even bothered putting a link on the IMDb to their DVD of The Curse of the Crimson Altar on sale at Amazon.co.uk.

Odeon have just branched out into releasing British films but their first four titles all comprise of the same idea to market the film not the DVD. I do not believe any of these films have been released on video in the UK but if people have home recorded copies of these films, these DVDs need to offer something above the quality of those. Most of their first 9 titles were released in the 4:3 ratio so there is nothing they can offer in that respect, but one of the films recently announced on their site, Double Bunk, was in released a ratio of 1.66:1. They have yet to announce whether their DVD will be. There are no extras on these DVDs whcih, even if you do not actually like, can serve as an indication of quality.

I am hoping that Odeon Entertainment do well and continue to release films but I fear that these DVDs might not sell that well and they might conclude this is solely down to the titles they have (which it might in some cases) and not the product they have made or how they have marketed it.

DB7

DD are very poor on the marketing front. I know of an affiliate who approached them with a view to stocking their titles and they never even replied to the query. Network do at least manage get the word out and promote their forthcoming releases.

Fellwanderer

I'd agree totally with penfold - even down to ACT!

Apart from dvds starring you-know-who, A Canterbury Tale is just about the only film I would have considered buying for the extras alone and that is because it is particularly special to me for reasons I've gone into previously.

All the best
FELL

A signature is no substitute for a life

Steve Crook

Now Fell, you don't have to buy a DVD just because I'm on it

:)

Steve

Fellwanderer

:) - and I was trying to be very good by not naming her!

All the best
FELL

A signature is no substitute for a life

MrDrakesDuck

Not interested in film extras but additional material on music DVDs can be attractive.

"I thought I had to shoot Germans, not chew 'em"