August 30, 2004

• Make just ONE!

  
  

  Now that I’m back in LA, I’ve been catching up on my movie watching, movie rentals (averaging 3-5 a day) and DVD purchases — hey, it’s my job to keep up with everything out there!

  
  

  I picked up the “Goodfellas” 2 Disc Special Edition (to hear the cast commentary), “The Bourne Identity” -Explosive Extended Edition (to hear Matt’s interviews) and “Kill Bill: Volume 2“.  When I got home and started putting them into alphabetical order on my shelves, I realized… I’m buying a lot of films I already have.

  
  

  I already have “Goodfellas“.  I already have “The Bourne Identity“.  And I’ll probably buy the whole “Kill Bill” set again when Tarantino releases it as one DVD with commentary.

  
  

  I understand the economics of wanting to milk a film for the most money possible.  But in the past, there seemed to be material that justified a re-release years later. (ie: ’94 ‘s “The Professional“‘s  US version versus the much superior ’98′s “Leon: The Professional” ‘s European version) or that the material at the time of a film’s DVD release wasn’t readily available (ie: “Goodfellas“). 

  
  

  Now it seems that multiple versions of DVD’s are pre-planned within months of each other from day one.  Just holding back the cool stuff (ie: “Spider-Man“, “Boogie Nights“, “Pearl Harbor“, “Die Another Day” and “Fight Club“).  “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy is another one but at least they TOLD you there was going to be another version so you knew to wait it out.  But with other film puchases, you’re under the impression of, “Okay, this is the definitive version.  I’m getting it.”  And then two months later, a better version of “forgotten” stuff pops up.  I mean, do it right the first time like the “Back to the Future” trilogy set – and then that’s it.  Or at least wait longer than 6 months to announce a “special re-release”.  Watch, now a better version of “Back to the Future” will pop up in December.

  
  

  *                   And just so I don’t sound like a hypocrite, there is a TON of extra stuff for “Better Luck Tomorrow” (deleted scenes, alternate ending, making of “BLT”, my wedding proposal, our trailer, cast commentary that the actors can do, etc) that didn’t make the DVD.  In fact, our DVD is disappointingly sparse - a fact mentioned by “Entertainment Weekly” that I whole-heartedly agree with. 

  
  

  But it’s not a ploy to extract more money.  It came from a situation where there wasn’t enough money to get the rights to songs, etc (so says Paramount).  We were lucky to even get a director/writer commentary on it. 

  
  

  So if there ever is a “BLT” re-release, celebrate and don’t hate.  Because as it stands right now, all those extras probably aren’t ever going to see the light of day. 

  
  

  *(Man alive, at least change the PICTURE on the cover!) 

  • 10:15 am
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