The contenders seem to be:

The Godfather Trilogy-
Pros: two of the greatest films ever
Cons: one weak film, poor transfers, no original mono

Brazil: CC-
Pros: The biggest, most authoritative DVD of its time that still holds its own today (certainly has quality over quantity)
Cons: Non-anamorphic, title has limited audience appeal

The Matrix-
Pros: Hugely popular, brought more people to DVD than any other single title
Cons: suplements are slim and of poor quality

Indiana Jones-
Pros: Heavily anticipated title, second most anticipated after SW
Cons: People would probably prefer more suplements, like Godfather poeple might prefer seperate releases

Back to the Future-
Pros: Probably third most anticipated after Indy and SW
Cons: Confusion over botched transfer anoyed public (I still haven't gotten around to buying it)

Metropolis-
Pros: Spectacular restoration of all extant footage of a film that had been more or less writen off as unrestorable
Cons: Limited audience appeal (sadly this has trouble holding its own to Indy)

Passion of Joan of Arc: CC-
Pros: Spectacular restoration of a film that was thought to be lost for all time
Cons: Limited audience appeal (sadly)

Snow White and the Seventh Dwarfs:
Pros: Spectacular supplements, truely authoritative collection of concept art, production art, and marketing materials.
Cons: Too filtered through the Disney magic machine, not enough material for film afficianados who want authoritative info and opinions about the production

Wizard of Oz
Pros: Extremely popular title. You couldn't tell from talking to DVD Talkers because we all love The Matrix, but the restored version of Oz was possibly a bigger killer app than The Matrix. Christmas 1999 this thing was in everyones stocking. Incredible picture, a lot of suplements
Cons: No original mono

I vote for Indy, but the only two that I think can challange Indy's crown are Snow White and Wizard.

Snow White and Wizard of Oz are authoritative discs of unquestionably classic films that are extremely popular with all ages.

The Matix DVD is not authoritative, the film is not unquestionably a classic, and it is not popular with all ages.

Again I have to argue with this.

It WAS the first truely popular DVD.

It WAS the first truely SMASH HIT DVD.

But it WAS NOT the first truely great DVD. It wasn't even that great for its time...just popular. There were many other SE that were far better.

I have
fight club
the matrix & reloaded
superman
godfather collectionback to the future set
scarface
aliens box set....etc could go on and on

but to say inndy isnt a important release is crazy. the numbers will prove it and when matrix came out people were begging for Indy. it is an important release. how it can be made any lighter than star wars trilogy being relased is nuts. its just as important and a major release.

I guess I have to ask this question, since no one has specified: Most important DVD release [b][i]for what[i][b]? For the DVD format--i.e. showing the possibilities for presentation, making it more popular or accepted, or by showing (through sales success ?

Or are we talking about the most important DVD release for film in general? A lot of the discs mentioned has been really great for film in terms of promoting restoration and preservation of film.

Then of course, there's numerous releases which are important because they're changing both television and DVD--DVD being used to promote still-existing shows for example, and television producers having a new avenue to cash in on their successful shows. I know it hasn't happened yet, but the possibility is out there for a recently cancelled show to be resurrected after a strong showing on DVD, which is to me exciting.

There's also DVD releases which are important to how the movie industry makes and sells us movies now--studios are closing the gap between theatrical and DVD release so much that you have to believe it's changing the way movies are marketed, how long they remain in the theater, and that productions are going on right now with DVD releases in mind (perhaps even more important to some studios than theatrical releases, considering how much more they're making on home video these days).

The Matrix is probably the first most important release for the format, because it showed the possibilities of the format and made it very popular. Somehow I think more important releases are in store for the format, though, especially if you think about the effect DVD is having on film, TV, music and other media formats.

Call my crazy then. Just because it was highly anticipated, i don't see how it makes the release important. I don't consider the Original Star Wars Trilogy an important release either. Sure there's a huge demand for the movies, but just because it'll sell a large number of copies doesn't add to its importance as well. If that were the case, Monster's Inc or Spider-Man would be in the running for being important dvd releases. If anything, the long wait for the movies in contrast to the high demand lowers the significance of the release. Despite the obvious appeal, the dvd's STILL took this long to be released, which is a head scratcher.

Since I started the thread, I suppose I should answer, at least, what I was looking for. It was actually more of a two part question. The first question was what do you consider to be the most important DVD release (for whatever reason)? The second part was why do you consider it to be the most important DVD release (i.e., it's up to you to decide what makes it important)?

With that being said, I guess what the essence of the question was what is it that the people on this board look for in a truely great DVD release? So far, I have been very impressed and fascinated by the diverse reasons that people have used, some that I had never considered before. Even better (at least to me), is that it has brought a number releases to my attention that I had not previously considered buying, but very well may, based on the high praises and heavy "importance" that they have been given here (e.g., "Metropolis").

I guess that didn't really clarify the question, but hopefully, it, at least, clarified the reasoning.

- - - - -
The Matrix . . . wow . . . I doubt I ever would have even considered it as being in contention for the most important release (I don't actually own it, myself). At the same time, I hadn't considered impact on the public interest/acceptance of DVD technology as one of the possible criteria by which to judge. There is no denying that The Matrix had a huge impact in that area.

Still not sure that it is enough for me to agree, though.

- - - - -
Personally, I think it's a little too early to make that statement. I think that there is great potential for it to make a huge impact, not only as the most important release to date, but as the most important DVD release for a long time to come. However, I think it is completely up to Lucas to accomplish that. He has the potential, the neccessary materials, and the ability to do amazing things with the OT release, but there is no guaranteeing that he will.

I do agree that the mere release, on it's own, might not be enough to get it to "most important" status.

I have to agree with The Matrix. I remember I used to demo my home theater to friends when they stopped by and I used to get the most comments on the sound and picture for The Matrix. and once I showed them the Follow the white Rabitt they loved it. Converted many into believers with it.

The Matrix.


Until the Star Wars trilogy comes out. (Oh, I also think the Indy trilogy is a huge and important release, just not THE most important release.)

Another vote for the X-Files Season Boxsets.

The Matrix is the easy answer (and probably correct), but I have another one that goes way back that NO ONE has mentioned. I recall this from thedigitalbits new book on dvd.

Lost in Space (The Movie with Joey from Friends).

New Line released it on dvd feature loaded (1997 or 1998) and it sold 200,000 copies in the first week. Every studio in Hollywood took notice and we are where we are today due to that huge number for a sucky movie. At that moment, Hollywood decided dvd could really sell. Remember, for the studios money is ALL THAT MATTERS.

I also have to agree with the Matrix. It really did go further than any disc at the time in establishing what DVD could be all about. It may have been clunky, with suppliments that we now may not appreciate, but at the time it basically forced dvd player manufacturers to step up to the plate and give the consumer a better product.

I don't think I'll ever believe that Indy or any of the star wars releases could be more important. I don't think that a director's decision to hold back a popular title should make it any more important. Popular, yes. Important, no.

I also agree that the x-files boxed sets basically paved the way for complete seasons of television shows. I don't know that compete seasons would have gotten so much support if it were'nt for the x-files.

r

I can't believe no one even mentioned T2 UE...Sure, The Matrix sold a lot of DVD players, but T2 UE was the first DVD to have virtually every tidbit of information one would want from a movie (minus a real commentary track, granted...but the one on The Matrix shouldn't count it's so bad)

Maybe Im biased since this is my favorite movie and first ever DVD, but I still think this set the standard for other awesome sets like Brazil CC and FotR:EE...(at least I think T2 came before Brazil, but I can't remember)

No, Brazil came out before the T2 Ultimate Edition.

Again, what are you talking about? Contact, Vertigo, 12 Monkeys, and BRAZIL all utilized the amazing ways DVD could enhance the home presentation, long before The Matrix came out. If you want to argue that it's the most popular I'll listen, but I'm not going to listen to people say that The Matrix was the best disc of its time. It wasn't.

I thought it might have been, so I'm glad I stuck that disclaimer at the end I still stand by T2UE, because it's extras are more abundant, though...

Exactly. CDs have been around since 1980 and are going no where. Mini Disc failed, Super CD and DVD Audio are failing.

CDs beat tapes because they sounded better, but mainly because they were more convenient (no fast forwarding or rewinding to get to songs like tapes, less scratch problems than records etc.).

DVD beat out VHS for the same reason. Better quality, but mainly convenience of not having to rewind, being able to jump to scenes, having extra features.

I mean the average person has a cheap tv from wal-mart and uses the TV speakers, so AV quality isn't the big selling point, so HD DVD will not beat out DVD as it only offers better video quality.

Its the combination of quality and popularity that make in the "most important" release of all time. It was the first movie with all those extra, and neat features like the white rabbit thing, in a film that the average person actually gave a shit about.

Those that are touting "The Matrix" as being the DVD that showed what DVD could be are either forgetting or are unaware of the great titles that preceded it's release.

"Ghostbusters" was out before "The Matrix" and across the board makes better use of the DVD format's capabilities.

"Apollo 13" (with the Lovell commentary) showed what a commentary could add to a movie.

Many others exceeded "The Matrix" in video and audio quality prior to its release.

That it was a record setting seller early on is significant, but I wouldn't assign too much credit to "The Matrix" for seeding the explosion in DVD Player sales, that year was a huge period for DVD releases and it was the combined committment of studios to the format that encouraged people to buy into DVD, just look at what came out in that time year:

The Matrix, The Mummy, Ghostbusters, James Bond Collection, Saving Private Ryan, Bugs Life, Brazil, Alien, Aliens, Alien3, Die Hard 1, 2 & 3, Predator, Star Trek IV, V & Insurrection, Friday the 13th 1 & 2, Nightmare on Elm Street Platinum Series, Halloween, Apocalypse Now, Big, The Blair Witch Project, China Town, From the Earth to the Moon, X-Files, The Kubrick Collection, Home Alone, Jungle Book, 101 Dalmatians, Peter Pan, Pinnochio, Lady and the Tramp, Mulan, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Prince of Egypt, Life is Beautiful, Run Lola Run, The Longest Day, Tora! Tora! Tora!, Papillon, Run Silent Run Deep, Taxi Driver, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Patriot, Raising Arizona, The Shawshank Redemption, The Wizard of Oz, Sleepless in Seattle, Notting Hill, There's Something About Mary, You've Got Mail...

The list goes on and on, the point being that this year saw studios commit to DVD and start putting out lots of movies to appeal to every segment of consumers, "The Matrix" was the biggest movie to that point because there were far and away more DVD players in use when it was released than when previous "event" DVD's had been released, and the reason there were more DVD players? There was a real selection of movies...

Something else happened in 1998 that led to a surge in DVD sales: Disney, Spielberg, et.al. began to abandon DIVX. With those big studios embracing DVD a lot of hesitation to buy DVD players vanished.

Let's also not forget what was happening in the marketplace in 1998, people weren't buying DVD players in the Fall of 1998 so they could own "The Matrix" they were buying them because player manufacturers were offering great deals (buy a DVD player get 5 or 6 movies free), they were buying them because every week there were new DVD releases in the stores selling for less than VHS, or with special offers (buy one, mail in for a second movie free), they were buying DVD players because the DVD catalog finally had many titles to appeal to every consumer.

And once they had their player "The Matrix" was pushed and marketed extremely well to appeal to all those new DVD player owners, or it was being given away to people who bought new players.

Don't get me wrong, I love "The Matrix", and it was a huge release, but the hype that it is what caused DVD sales to explode just doesn't hold water. The massive push by studios to embrace DVD is part of the reason. Disney, Spielberg, et.al. starting to abandon DIVX is the other reason 1998 is a watermark year for DVD...

If we're looking to 1998 for a DVD release that really set DVD on the road to widespread adoption I'd have to go with Saving Private Ryan or one of the first wave of Disney releases as those announcements signaled the impending death of DIVX and the complete committment of Hollywood to DVD...

Again, the Matrix was the first super mainstream movie that had great special features.

Yes, there were other movies before with as good or better features, but the weren't the kind of movies Joe Six Pack got exited enough about to buy a DVD player for.

Of course the hype was a big part, the other quality titles of the time weren't hyped, which was another strike against them in addition to no being mainstream blockbusters.

Good points, jim_cook87, but I believe you meant to say 1999 instead of 1998, right? I probably would have killed to get SPR in 1998.

When did Spielberg ever support DIVX? I know he wasn't keen on DVD for a while, but I don't remember reading anything about any of his movies on DIVX.

There are certainly some mainstream blockbusters in that list, but most of them were catalog titles. As we know, catalog titles are far less important to the average consumer than new releases.

I will say I just got done watching reloaded and hell that was a damn good movie.

A couple of realeses that stick out to me...

Indiana Jones Box
Godfather Box
Back To The Future Box
Scarface Reissue
"The Tarentino Month" when True Romance, Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs & Jackie Brown were relesed in 2-Disc SE. All within a week or two of each other.

and a few Future dates...
Star Wars (Original Trilogy)
GoodFellas SE
Family Guy Movie
Friday The 13th SE Box
House Of 1000 Corpses UNCUT

I hate to do this, but I have to agree that 'Matrix' was THE DVD that made DVD owning the 'in-thing'. I know a LOT of Joe Six Packs that were converted over to DVD upon it's release.

X-files TV sets has to be the main reason I wanted to get a DVD player (Season TV sets that aren't 329 VHS tapes long? wow!) because this just wasn't an option on VHS.

There are a lot of titles being thrown around but I think the question 'the most important' DVD release can have many meanings and answers. If most important means that it was the DVD release that sealed DVD as the most important media format for home viewing then it has to be the Matrix.

X-files was most important for TV seasons being released and Indiana Jones is one of the most 'anticipated' releases.

None of these shows are the end all of GOOD DVD releases... I can think of 100 better DVD's than these... Although X-files is pretty much a standard to how I want my tv seasons shown...

Yes, I did mean 1999...

As far as Spielberg and DIVX, you're right that he didn't release on DIVX or outright support DIVX, but at the time Spielberg and Dreamworks didn't embrace either DVD or DIVX, the speculation being they favored DIVX but wanted to see what the market preferred. As I recall, when they announced Saving Private Ryan would be on DVD it was a watermark announcement...

Coupled with Disney opening the vault to DVD, it put the nail in the coffin of DIVX and removed a lot of trepidation from people that were suggesting a wait and see approach to adopting the new technology...

And asserting that "The Matrix" got the average consumer to buy into DVD is ignoring the statistics. By the end of 1999 there had still been less than 6 million DVD players sold in all of Region 1. It was definitely a record year, but it would be shattered in Q4 2000 when the biggest bump in sales would come over a full year AFTER "The Matrix", a time when "Jurassic Park", "Toy Story", and "American Beauty" were the must own titles. It was October 2000 when DVD Player sales for the month exceeded any two previous months combined and it was that Christmas season that marked DVD's beginning acceptance into the mainstream. In 1999 and much of 2000, we DVD owners were still a niche market that the studios were wooing and nurturing.

It wasn't until Q4 season 2001 that DVD players started outselling VCR's, so it's hard to support the idea that a 1999 DVD made the format mainstream...

"The Matrix" was a symbolic sign of DVD's increasing momentum, but had "Saving Private Ryan" released only a single SKU, instead of two separate SKU's "The Matrix" reign at the top of the charts would have likely ended soon after it started and we'd remember the record set by SPR... But they released a DD and a DTS version and split the sales numbers on the chart at #2 and #3...

Okay, I'm the one who got all of this started by claiming that Indiana Jones was the most "important" DVD release so far.

I meant that in terms of anticipated titles - if all films were released on DVD at one time and all had good extras and transfers (thus leveling the technical playing field) which would people buy first?

I'd say the Star Wars Original Trilogy, then Indiana Jones.

The Matrix was certainly the first "killer app" of DVD - it's the release that convinced a lot of people to upgrade to DVD. I was sold the first time I saw a demo back in March 1997 (Mars Attacks was the title). Heck, I was sold since I first heard about the idea of film on a small CD-sized disc.

To address another common theme coming up in this thread - I agree that we who have invested so much into our DVD collections may not be so quick to "upgrade" to HD-DVD, whichever format wins.

The reason is that HD isn't a compelling enough upgrade for many. Sure, the picture quality will be better, and that's reason enough for most of us to switch, but are you going to replace all of your DVDs in short order? I'd probably be slow to upgrade.

The switch from VHS to DVD was a no-brainer - there are SO MANY advantages of DVD over tape-based media: picture and sound quality, multiple audio and video streams, supplemental features, etc. DVD is "value added" and I think represents a much better value over CDs or VHS videos.

Notice how DVD-Audio hasn't taken off yet. Same reason. It's better audio quality, yes, but it's not better *enough*. HD-TV isn't really all that high of definition - is it better than regular TV? Of course. But it's really not that *much* better. And DVDs on a current HD-TV look pretty darn good.

A standard will emerge... eventually. But I'm not going to stop buying DVDs in the meantime.

And some of you really need to keep in mind that many of the films you've listed just are not important to the DVD-buying public. They won't be selling the Brazil Criterion discs at your local drugstore.