Mike Adams

Hey folks, there doesn't seem to be any discussion of the "Sci-Fi Essentials" DVDs found at Circuit City, so I thought I'd start a thread. The only one I had any interest in was Flatliners, so I picked that up earlier this evening. Coincidentally, I also picked up an OOP WS/FS copy of "Starman", and I didn't realize until I opened the "Flatliners" DVD that "Starman" was also one of the titles in "Sci-Fi Essentials" series (have I used enough quotation marks yet? ). I've never seen Starman, and typically I'd prefer Flatliners with the original cover, but the fact that it's apparently a limited run sold me, especially since the revised cover art had that pretty purple border around it.

I would be interested to hear from anyone who bought the "Sci-Fi Essentials" version of Starman as to whether it contained the recent fullscreen-only disc, or the original WS/FS flipper disc. Flatliners was still a flipper (okay, a 2-sided disc), but after checking the thread on Sony's dastardly deeds in that area, it doesn't seem that Flatliners fell victim to that policy, so I assume it's always been 2-sided. If anyone knows of an R1 one-sided disc that's widescreen-only, please let me know.

Anyway, I really just wanted to open up discussion of these DVDs. For those who haven't heard about them (and that was me just a few days ago), it's a group of 10 titles in the Sci-Fi/Horror genre that have been re-released with a purple border around the cover art, and they're available exclusively at Circuit City. Here are the titles:

BATS
Christine
Darkness Falls
Flatliners
Frankenfish
Hollow Man
The Mothman Prophecies
Resident Evil
Starman
The Seventh Sign

I couldn't find anything on this at circuitcity.com, and the only way I found anything at sonypictures.com is by going to the web address listed on the insert found inside the DVD case:

www.sonypictures.com/scifipromo

Due to the limited availability, less-than-stellar lineup of titles, and utterly pathetic selection of so-called "special features", I'll go ahead and post the code that was on the insert in my Flatliners DVD:

TAKFLP-NHHNDC

Nobody should have to pay even $9.99 to get the pathetic "Countdown" trailer, cover art wallpapers and MySpace skins that you'll find once you "unlock" the extra content. The "Horror Movie Name Generator" is particularly lame, so don't say I didn't warn you.

I welcome comments from anyone who's purchased other titles in this series -- what do you think of the whole campaign? Were there any differences between the DVD you bought and the original release? Should I have just left well enough alone and not even mentioned this lame-ass gimmick?

One last note -- the logo on these DVDs looks suspiciously like the Sci-Fi Channel logo, but I've found no evidence that they are in any way involved with this promotion. I did find a Sci-Fi Essentials page at scifi.com, but there was no mention of these DVDs.

Joe Molotov

I have to question the use of the word "Essential" in this case.

The Valeyard

Definately a Sci-Fi Channel promotion. The Sci-Fi previews and trailers on the above site are Sci-Fi Channel shows.

Seantn

And I saw a commercial on the Sci-Fi channel earlier this week for the promotion.

Mike Adams

Exactly!

I think "Essential" is probably Sony's term, meaning it's "essential" for them to get rid of their backstock of these turkeys!

It also struck me that they're playing fast and loose with the term "Sci-Fi" when it comes to most of the titles offered. No idea how they cajoled The Sci-Fi Channel into supporting these particular titles.

My guess is that CC and SFC picked up the tab for the new covers and Sony's just shipping out discs they've had in warehouses for years. Think I need to check the creation date on my Flatliners DVD -- it's probably original vintage.

Mike Adams

Right, yeah, I didn't notice that. Thought that looked a hell of a lot like their logo. You'll have to excuse my ignorance on that, as I watch precisely zero TV, unless it's reruns of FRIENDS or Seinfeld on tbs. I own too many DVDs to waste time sitting through commercials, even though I could simply fast-forward through them if I started watching 15-20 minutes after the show's start time (DVRs are a gift from heaven ).

Thanks for the clarification, guys. Funny that scifi.com has nothing on the promotion, unless I'm just missing something... again.

Seantn

But I thought the discs had trailers for new Sci-Fi channel movies on them? Maybe i'm wrong on that.

Anyway, I wouldn't really want a sci-fi essentials disc, even for a movie that I like. The covers look cheesey, and the "Sci-Fi Essentials" border takes up a big chunk of the cover art. I know ,the movie is what counts, and normally I wouldn't care, but I don't like how much of the cover is that purple border.

Mike Adams

The trailers mentioned earlier in the thread were on Sony's website. If you click on the link I provided and enter the code just below it, you'll have access to all the so-called "special features" that are unique to these DVDs. Know why the content has to be online? Because they couldn't be bothered to press new discs, and the crap they're offering wouldn't be worth it, anyway! I never bothered to watch the three trailers, but yes, they're for Sci-Fi Channel shows. As far as I can tell, Flatliners is the same disc that's been out for almost a decade, and I'd assume the same is true of all the others.

I don't think the borders are all that intrusive, especially when compared to stuff like SUPERBIT DVDs and even the Infinifilm banner. The revised cover art would bother me if I was really into the movies and closely associated the original key art with the movie, but it's no big deal to me in this case. Without the purple border, I wouldn't go for the revised art, I guess I just feel that this limited series kind of justifies the new covers. In fact, the only place I've seen Flatliners available to order online with the original poster art is on CC's website, and I'm betting that if you ordered it today, you'd probably end up with the SFE version. I haven't seen the original Starman cover either, although it is listed in the "Different cover, same disc" thread, so I guess there must have been a different cover originally, perhaps using the same art as the VHS release.

You're not alone in taking the whole package into account instead of just the movie, though. I think we all consider more than just what's on the disc, otherwise we probably wouldn't be here. Still, if the Starman disc is the newer fullscreen-only version, that'd definitely be a reason not to buy it. Like I said before, I may not even end up liking Starman, but given that WS/FS versions are gonna be tough to find, I didn't think twice about snapping it up.

...by the way, the DVD referenced in your sig was at BEST BUY for $2.99! Too funny!

NoirFan

Christine isn't a bad film.