Most Disappointing: Legend Ultimate Edition

Most Pleasant Surprise: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition

Most Disappointing - how Paramount screwed up the covers of Friday the 13th parts 5-8

2nd - the blood-smeared Sleepaway Camp Survival kit; it looks hideous on the shelf. There was no first-aid kit in any of the movies, so it seems like a cheap gimmick.

Most Pleasant Surprise - the cool r1 Futurama slimpaks in a box

DISAPOINTING -
Basic Instinct: LE
Total Recall: LE
E.T.
Anchor Bay TINS/not normal sized packages(Book of the Dead)
The "NEW" Friday the 13th Cover-Art
Rambo: Box Set
American Pie: UE
Snapper Cases
The Sopranos: ALL Seasons (visually nice, I just don't like the front opening w/the pull tab)
The Royal Tenebaums: CC(spelling?)
Pearl Harbor: VS Big Ass Army Pack (Too Confusing... It's just a movie)
Those cheap thin clear plastic case that the "Discount Movies" at Best Buy come in.
Grease
Sat. Night Fever

PLEASANT SURPRISE -
People vs. Larry Flynt: SE
Usual Suspects: SE
Tombstone: VS
Pulp Fiction: CE
Jackie Brown: CE
Sleepaway Camp: Survival Kit (EDIT: The Red Cross version of this set)
Thelma & Louise:SE
T2: UE
True Romance: SE (along w/the other WB SEs)
The Shield: Season 1
Fargo: Upcoming SE (Looks great!)

ON THE FENCE -
Son Of The Beach: Vol. 1
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: CC
South Park: Season 1 (this would have made the good list but the damn writting on the spine is backwards)


I'm spent.....

E.T. has to be the all-time worst.
And I too thought after seeing print ads on Dances with Wolves on how good the ads looked that the packaging was going to good.
Big disapointment.

The most disappointing: Jackie Brown:CE and Pulp Fiction CE (Canadian versions)

These DVD sets were repackaged and distributed by Alliance Atlantis in Canada and are NOT even close to the quality of the ones Miramax/Buena Vista distributed to the USA. If you live in Canada, chances are you'll get the inferior sets.

The Canadian ones I purchased used instead of the digipack hard plastic trays (USA) a cookie package plastic tray with an Alliance Atlantis logo on them. The plastic is so thin that when I pulled the first DVD out of Jackie Brown it bent and ripped off the cardboard case (the whole tray). There isn't even a hub really on the trays. Just a bump that gets fatter towards the base. You have to squeeze the DVD's down onto the bump and hope they stay. The cardboard is a bit thinner than the USA product, is riddled with Alliance Atlantis’ name and logo all over, and is splattered with bi-lingual text. The two center strips inside the cases at the seams, are actually cut out and the inside case isn’t one continuous picture like the USA jackets.

Pulp Fiction CE was missing the Jack Rabbit Slims Menu insert and Jackie Brown CE was the defective pressing with the out of sync trivia track on DVD 1.

The Most Pleasant Surprise: Jackie Brown:CE and Pulp Fiction CE (American versions)

Beuna Vista replaced my Jackie Brown CE set with a brand new US version (including DVDs). Buena Vista also sent me a complete new packaging set for my Pulp Fiction CE including the Jack Rabbit Slims menu etc. Free of charge and without ANY haste in about 4 days via mail! My hat goes off to Beuna Vista for taking care of Alliance Atlantis’ screw up.

Disappointing: Wrong Men and Notorious Women (not the individuals)

Surprise: Speed Racer

What was wrong with The Royal Tenembaums? I thought it was great. I love how it looks like a book when it's sitting on the shelf.

Also, I'm sure this has been covered before, but was the packaging for the Memento Limited Edition changed? Did the discs used to come in little envelopes inside the packaging?

Most disappointing--the old 10th Kingdom box because the dvd's keep falling out of it and getting scratched. I ended up moving them to jewel cases to protect them.

Most pleasant surprise is Buffy and Angel in region 2. I like the book because it's so thin--even thinner than DS9, and I've never had a problem with them scratching. Plus, the "book" has all the info that would normally come in pamphlets and inserts, which is an advantage because unless you rip a page out, you won't lose anything.

tasha

Most disapointing cases:

Next Gen Series sets R1
X-Files Seasons
E.T.
Dances With Wolves SE
Legend SE

Most pleasant surprise:

Antwone Fisher
GMK R2
Gamera box set R2
LOTR EE

I'm gonna say the most pleasant was FOTR:EE, as well as Se7en and Fight Club. Those are just two good lookin' sets.

Although I don't own them, but my girlfriend does, I have to say that HBO's packaging for Sex in the City is probably the worst I've seen, along w/ Universal's Ultimate Edition packaging.

I'm sure there are plenty more out there for each of these categories, but I'm gonna leave them at that.

Most disappointing:

Akira LE tin
Basic Instinct icepick package
Die Hard Trilogy Ultimate Collection (box is ugly, bad spine)
Legend Ultimate Edition
Total Recall tin
Any Warner Bros 2-disc set where the 2nd disc is in a paper envelope

Most pleasant surprise:

Futurama box
Twin Peaks Season 1
ADV's new trend of releasing the first disc in a series in a box that will hold later volumes (i.e. Noir, RahXephon, Gamera Trilogy, etc.)

Just out of interest Josh, what did you particularly dislike about this..does it pertain more to the actual construction / case art or the fact that you were hoping for some kind of comprehensive leaflet and other materials to have been included as part of the package?

Most pleasant surprises:

Amélie: the discs match the inside packaging, which itself is taken from a scene in the movie. Very classy. (It is unfortunate that the R1 edition has so many subtitle errors. Unforgivable.)

Fellowship of the Ring: Extended Edition: I like the old book look. And, despite being a paper case, it is holding up surprisingly well.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. I really like the plastic overlap case and clear plastic slipcover. Downside is that it is a bit fragile and the trays can get separated from the backing unless handled gently.

Pleasant surprises:

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season sets - I think this a much more interesting and usable package than the Next Generation sets. It my be a broken mess in careless hands though.

Band Of Brothers - I knew it would be cool, but not this cool!


Disappointments:

Connections - After spending $150 for a five disc set, I was bummed that I didn't at least get a crappy box to hold the five amarays together.

Picked up the Family Guy set yesterday, and that gets a big from me. Favorite packaging so far.

I know this is kind of off-topic, but what are the subtitle errors? Any website where I could check these out? I watched it with them, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary (meaning that everything seemed to make sense). BUT, I'm not fluent in French so maybe I missed something w/ the bad subtitles? Thanks, and again sorry for the off-topic post...

Best surprise: Deep Space Nine sets. Not only are they much slimmer than the TNG sets (or other season sets), but the "book" format is reasonably easy to handle, and the fact that it's all made of a really tough plastic means that it's going to last forever. My B5 sets (which are also in the "book" format but with paperboard cover/spine) already have the spine separating from the pages, but the DS9 packaging is tough as nails.

Worst surprise: the Superbit packaging with the cardboard slipcover over the regular keepcase. What the heck? It's just the same cover, only with more silver coloring -- what a waste of packaging. I hate wasteful packaging, so this really irked me.

Doesn't Audition share the same packaging with Panic Room. I guess that isn't as popular of a film that Panic Room is though. I kinda like both of them to tell you the truth.
Pleasent Surprise
Sorpranos
Twin Peaks
Family Guy
Futurama

Disappointed
E.t.

Disappointing:

E.T.
Panic Room
Army Of Darkness - Boomstick

Pleasant Surprise:

Adaptation
The Royal Tenenbaums
Moulin Rouge

There are several things that I don't like about it.

The height of it comparable to standard DVD cases doesn't fit in my rack. The metal is prone to denting. The discs are very difficult to pry off their hubs without breaking them. And the fact that the technical specs were included on a separate piece of cardboard shrinkwrapped to the outside of the case, that cannot be fit inside the case without cutting it down to size.

And yes, a better booklet would have been nice.

The Amelie packaging would be much better if not for the huge "5 ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS" banner that is printed on both the outside and inside of the package.

If you like the movie, the Canadian box set is a much more elaborate and attractive package (no English subs on the movie, though).

There are previous threads on this, and it might be worth your time to do a search.

Basically, there are about 3 or 4 instances of mistakes or typos in the subtitles. The most perplexing one is when a character at the carnival tells Amelie that Nino won't "get in until 7" when she should be saying that he won't get off until 7. That's a fairly substantial difference, given that Amelie goes inside the ride a second later and there he is. Also, throughout the movie there are instances where the language has been slightly condensed or simplified, including the opening voice-over list of coincidences.

For some reason, the subtitles on the DVD are not the same ones that were on the theatrical prints of the film, which featured a better translation.

The subtitles really aren't that bad, and the issue has been blown out of proportion. It certainly isn't a deal-breaker. People with region-free DVD players who are bothered by this would be advised to get the UK edition of the film, which has the original theatrical subtitles (and a DTS track).

So many have dissed E.T. (I'm assuming the CE) that I should give a to the E.T. Ultimate Gift Set. The packaging is the sturdiest thing next to metal. 3 discs (plus the soundtrack CD), cool book.... okay, so the cover doesn't close all the way, but there are workarounds.

well (and no offense intended), I'm glad gutwrencher chimed in. sounds like a fun soul.

most favorable:

akira - limited tin.

however, at the same time, this container may have problems with some storage arrangements because of its size.

least favorable:

close encounters (2 disc)
fight club

[ .. because every time the disks are accessed, you need to pull the internal cardboard storage device out of external cardboard chassis - if you will. the more times accessed, the more likely that friction will break down one if not both of the mediums of storage.]

This could also be said in relation to the Lord of the Rings 4 disk set. But, I like the layout regardless.

so, as i've kept all of my collection, disks and storage mediums in immaculate condition, i've just purchased additional amaray cases (single and otherwise) for protection. simple enough.

Well, apart from those mentioned... I'll have to use more obscure ones.

Pleasant Surprise

The Paul Champagne Box for Kevin Smith's first three films. While different studios distribute them, you can buy the box seperately, and it does look very nice - brushed silver finish with engraved logos and charicatures!

A Hard Day's Night has a very nice slipcover with windows cut out to show the Beatles' heads Very sharp, I thought.

And, of course, my R@ of The Long Good Friday - black outer case with just the logo, then inside, it has the lovely original cover art.

Disappointing

Back To The Future. Um... blue?

The Italian Job R2. Flimsy cardboard slipcase with no cool pictures or anything? Just the same stuff over and over? Wasted potential!

And am I the only one who hates that bloody digipak nonsense?

Glad you reminded me of this one. I remember being extremely disappointed with the packaging of this set considering the stature of the title. It still looks rather ugly on the shelf.

Grease was another one that comes to mind. Considering how long we had to wait, packaging, transfer, and supplements were all subpar.

As far as pleasant surprises, the ET gift set packaging for the DVDs is very nice. I keep it on the shelf with my other DVDs apart from the huge external box.

I tend to like simple graphics on the package and the "old faded book" look of LOTR:EE, PH 60th and VS, Roger Rabbit (internal package), even DWW:SE if they hadn't made it so cheap and flimsy.