The philosophy behind DVD releases

Something occurred to me while I was revisiting and reviewing Miami Vice. I had mentally noted that Miami Vice released two DVDs simultaneously: an unrated director's cut, and a regular theatrical version. And when I wrote that in my review, I remember thinking, "Now watch yet another DVD hit the shelves in another 6 months or so, a 2- or 3-disc newly-extended edition that'll make the current DVDs obsolete."

I'll be honest, I really don't like how some companies release their DVDs—releasing a single-disc, bare-bones edition first, then waiting a few months or a year to release an extended edition with 10 times as many features. A perfect example of this would be the Lord of the Rings movies. Each installment of the trilogy was first released on DVD with the standard theatrical edition and a handful of special features. Then soon after, the deluxe extended editions would be released, with each movie now crossing the 4-hour marker and holding enough special features to fill the Grand Canyon.

I guess, to me, it feels like I'm being played for a fool, because the studios presume that I'll want to get the new and improved DVD as soon as it hits the shelves. And I hate to disappoint them, but I'm not one of those people who has to immediately upgrade. My rationale is, why do I need to burn money for multiple copies of the same movie? Sometimes I'm honestly, perfectly satisfied with just the minimalist DVD that I originally bought, because I bought it for the movie and not for the special features. Only in select cases will I upgrade the DVD—when I like the movie enough to genuinely want to know more about it, the making of it, and all the back stories associated with its genesis.

Which leads me to another point. I generally admire 2- or 3-disc sets, but I also have to admit, it sometimes becomes very tedious going through all the special features on those discs. When it comes to minimal extras vs. a mountain of extras, I myself prefer somewhere in the middle. If it's enough to satisfy my curiosities about the movie, I'm happy. On the flip side, though, sometimes a lot of extras may actually be warranted, like when the movie was a gigantic achievement either cinematically or with special effects, where you're wondering "How'd they do that?" with each shot. A good example would be Terminator 2 (which just so happened to release not one but two uber-edition DVDs in the last 5 years). But basically what I'm saying is, sometimes a bevy of special features is warranted, and sometimes not. But as a general rule, I don't necessarily feel the need to know absolutely everything about each movie I see or own, up to and including the director’s phone number.

And even with a mountain of extra, sometimes the quality can be a mixed bag, because I’ve already seen DVD extras that are really useless (e.g., some of the recent Star Trek films). And sometimes we have a second disc of extras that could easily have all fit onto the first. For example, The Deer Hunter was given a new DVD release recently, under the Legacy Series banner. It was a 2-disc set, and when looking over the special features on the second disc, it hardly seemed like enough to warrant a second disc. Perhaps some movies are released in a 2-disc format just to make it more marketable, more "sexy" to the consumer?

Extended editions or quote-unquote director's cuts can work either way, because sometimes it vastly improves the film (like Miami Vice) while at other times lessens it (Star Wars people, I'm looking in your direction!).

I guess the purpose of this rant is, I wish studios would make DVDs that won't waste the moviegoer's time or money. No more of this initial-release bare-bones disc followed by the deluxe set 6 months down the road. No more of multiple extras that are there as a selling point but ultimately prove to be uninteresting. If I could point to anything to use as a model, it would be the Criterion Collection, who always makes a spectacular DVD: a perfectly remastered print of the film, and a respectable amount of extras that genuinely engage the viewer while never coming across as arrogant or there for the sake of being there. I have three of their DVDs in my collection (Traffic, Charade, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), and they're very worthy editions.