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page created: 1/15/00
Other DVD Awards for
1999
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| WORST
DVD - OVERALL |
Caligula
(R & Unrated versions) (Image)
There are probably worse movies on DVD at the moment, but it's
hard to think of one. Certainly, Caligula
isn't for the faint of heart. But the newly-remastered video on
this disc looks like do-do, and the extras are largely
uninteresting. Sure, Caligula
is probably an easy target for Worst DVD - Overall. But even as
bad as the Kubrick DVDs are, we'd rather have them than this any
day. At least they're great films. And did we really need TWO
versions of Caligula?
Yikes. |
|
| WORST
DVD - SPECIAL EDITION |
Night
of the Living Dead: 30th Anniversary Limited Edition
(Anchor Bay)
You may be wondering why this disc is on our hit list. Anchor
Bay's "limited edition" DVD of this classic George
Romero horror flick actually features an altered version of the
film, masterfully ruined by the film's producer John Russo with
new scenes (which he wrote and directed) and unbelievable
deletions from the original feature. The audio has been "enhanced"
with laughably bad sound effects and a lousy re-mix. The extras
are manufactured and silly - a newly created trailer, a stupid
music video, etc.... There's lots more, but given the fact that
this great film has been hacked so unmercifully to death (as if
by a zombie?), we say don't even bother. Our recommendation: go
get yourself a copy of the Night of
the Living Dead: Special Collector's Edition DVD from
Elite instead. It features a wonderful THX-approved transfer of
Romero's unedited film done from the original negatives, two
great audio commentaries (one featuring director Romero himself)
and more. We can't say this more highly - avoid the Anchor Bay
version at all costs! |
|
| WORST
DVD - STANDARD EDITION |
Barry
Lyndon (Warner)
It was a toss-up whether this would be Worst Standard Edition
or Worst Video. Even compared to the rest of the Kubrick
Collection, Barry Lyndon
is awful. There are lots of print defects visible, from dust and
dirt on the master to water damage. Tons of artificial edge
enhancement is also apparent. Look at chapter 5 - there's a
scene with Barry and his cousin in the forest, where the whole
frame seems to pulse with digital noise. And given that this is
a Kubrick film, the almost complete lack of extras makes this
DVD a tough swallow. |
|
| WORST
DVD - BOXED SET |
The
Stanley Kubrick Collection (Warner)
Was ANYBODY not pissed off about this set? The $149.92 SRP for
this mess of budget-line discs was a travesty. Virtually no
extras, non-anamorphic presentation for the widescreen titles
(think 2001!), crappy
re-used laserdisc masters, lousy-looking Snapper packaging...
this box set was a disaster from beginning to end. And these
seven films are among the greatest ever made. Sadly, now that
Kubrick is gone, the opportunity to have him involved in future
special editions of these classics has been lost. Still, Warner
absolutely MUST revisit these films as SE DVDs and fast. This
collection feels like a hastily-assembled effort to
capitalize... well, we're not going to say it. But you know what
we're thinking. If this is Kubrick's legacy on DVD, we're sorely
disappointed. |
|
| WORST
DVD - VIDEO |
The
American President (Warner)
This DVD looks simply terrible. First of all, this 2.35:1
widescreen film is NON-anamorphic - what's up with that? Right
from the start, the picture has a digital, muddy-looking quality
to it. The text of the film's opening credits just quivers with
digital noise and unnecessary edge enhancement, and it doesn't
ease up all the way through. Take a look at the way the pattern
on Michael Douglas' tie shimmers for the first 20 minutes of the
film. Yuck. |
|
| WORST
DVD - AUDIO |
1941:
Collector's Series (Universal)
The newly re-mixed Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound on this DVD
is flat and dull, with almost all of the sound coming from the
front of the sound stage - a very strong bias to the front
hemisphere. The dialogue is occasionally muddy, unnatural and
sometimes downright difficult to make out, particularly in the "restored"
scenes, where we actually had to turn on the subtitles to
understand several lines. In places that would have been obvious
for rear channel panning, such as plane fly-overs, most of the
sound is again from the front speakers. Even the subwoofer
channel falls flat. All in all, the audio here is lifeless. And
the video is not much better - too bad, 'cause we like this
flick a lot. |
|
| WORST
DVD - MENUS (TIE) |
The
Blair Witch Project: Special Edition (Artisan)
Now, we get what Artisan was trying to do with these menus -
create a spooky atmosphere. But the special features page is a
disaster. You all know by now, that we're big fans of animated
menus, but they MUST be easy to navigate. On this page, the
various selections are presented in text that flickers and fades
in and out constantly, making it hard to read, and impossible to
tell what's on the disc at a glance. May we recommend calling
MGM and hiring the folks who did the Bond discs in the future?
The Wizard of Oz: Special Edition
(Warner)
Anyone else out there think that the special features on a DVD
ought to be called what they are, instead of by cute names? This
was a really nice special edition DVD... except for the fact
that the menus were so confusing that Warner felt the need to
include not just one but TWO booklets in the Snapper case to
show you how and where to find all the bonus material! How am I
supposed to know that "The Emerald City" is really a
page that lets you access deleted scenes, a documentary and
more? Why should I need a booklet for that? Same advice for
Warner as for Artisan - hire the Bond menu team. And by the
way... those booklets would fit a lot better in a keep case. |
|
| MOST
DISAPPOINTING DVD |
The
Stanley Kubrick Collection (Warner)
Read our comments above for WORST DVD - BOXED SET. It would
hurt too much to have to say it all again. |
|
| DIGITAL
IN |
Steven
Spielberg
1999 finally saw director Steven Spielberg jump on the DVD
bandwagon, and he made quite a splash. Having Saving
Private Ryan on our favorite format is a real treat,
and we got Amistad and a few other Amblin titles as well. And
2000 looks bright, with Hook
on the way, and good rumors placing Jaws,
Duel, Men
in Black and Jurassic Park
in the works too. We say thank you, Steven. Now how about Close
Encounters? |
|
| DIGITAL
OUT |
George
Lucas
Sorry George... but Radioland
Murders doesn't cut it. We know you're busy writing
Episode II, but would it
take that long to put together a good team of people - Star
Wars fans all - lock 'em in a room with instructions
to make some nifty DVDs, and let 'em have at it? You know - just
to satisfy the masses until you can work on your much-ballyhooed
super DVD special editions? If you don't get these films on DVD
soon, those bootleg copies are gonna start looking pretty good.
Come on... pretty please? Would it help if we promise to stop
bitching about Jar Jar? |
|
| DVD
STUDIO TO WATCH |
Artisan
They were responsible for the surprising Pi
and Joan of Arc. They did
the first movie on DVD-18 with The
Stand. They've done seamless branching on Stargate:
SE. They got a nifty Blair
Witch: SE out on DVD in record time. And they've got
the Terminator 2: Special Edition
on the way. We can't wait to see what else in store for DVD fans
in 2000. |
|
| DVD
STUDIO WE WANT MORE FROM |
Paramount
Don't get us wrong - Paramount's done a fair job of DVD thus
far. They've thankfully gotten back into the habit of supporting
anamorphic widescreen on almost everything they do, and they're
putting a lot of great films on DVD. We really dig those Star
Trek TV discs. But Titanic
arrived a year too late, and with few extras and no 16x9, it was
DOA. It would also be nice to see some genuine special editions.
And what's taking Braveheart
and Gump so long? We're
hoping they impress us in 2000 - keep your fingers crossed. |
|
| WORST
TREND IN DVD |
| BILL
SAYS... |
| Adding
lots of nifty bells, whistles and interactivity that doesn't
really enhance the movie experience, or worse... actually makes
the disc unworkable on some DVD players. Do we really need menu
screens that play like a maze game? Isn't it better to let
people quickly and easily access the contents of the disc? And
just 'cause you can add a DVD-ROM screensaver doesn't always
mean you should. Repeat this phrase: It's about the MOVIE...
it's about the MOVIE... |
| TODD
SAYS... |
| Knowingly
releasing a standard edition of a movie on DVD (at a premium
price) so that everyone runs out to buy it... and then releasing
a collector's edition version a few months later (at an even
more premium price) when you knew the collector's edition was
what we all wanted in the first place. |
| FRANK
SAYS... |
| Lame
audio re-mixes for music titles on DVD. Or worse yet...
releasing music titles on DVD without even trying to remix the
audio for PCM or Dolby Digital 5.1. |
|
| WORST
USE OF DVD FEATURES |
| BILL,
TODD & FRANK ALL SAY... |
| Bad,
poorly-planned, lame, silly, technically-problematic or
otherwise unnecessary DVD-ROM content on a movie disc. No folks,
a weblink doesn't cut it. Nor does a screensaver, chat-room
access or a theatrical trailer sampler. (In fact, we HATE
trailers on the ROM side. Bring 'em over to the Video side where
they belong!) And we really hate it when ROM content makes a
disc crash on a regular DVD player. What we do like: browsable
and printable screenplays (like Script-to-Screen), in-depth
production notes, storyboards, production artwork and other
production materials, links to online events, and the occasional
well done trivia game. In short, the DVD-ROM content should
support and reveal information about the film, and not just be
an excuse to get people to check out the studio website. Once
again, repeat this phrase: It's about the MOVIE... it's about
the MOVIE... |
|
| TREND
WE'D LIKE TO SEE IN DVD |
| BILL
SAYS... |
| Standardized
labeling of the specs and features on ALL major studio DVDs.
Here's a hint - look at what DreamWorks and Universal are doing
with the features grid on their discs and just copy it. This is
particularly important with DVD-Audio on the way. |
| TODD
SAYS... |
| More
use of DVD-18 format discs to increase the amount of special
edition content on a disc, or even to include multiple versions
of a movie. |
| FRANK
SAYS... |
| Standardized
packaging of DVDs. We say the keep case rules - run with it.
Once again, this is particularly important with DVD-Audio on the
way. |
|
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