Universal apparently has been having problems making disc that aren't messed up in some way. I just mailed off my Monty Python's Meaning of Life DVD to get a replacement from the compresion issues.. I emaield them twice regarding it and never got a reply. I finally found an 800 number to call regarding it..

In 1881 Tesla went to Budapest as an engineer for a telephone company and a year later took up a similar position in Paris. He went to the United States in 1884 and worked for American inventor Thomas Edison for a year before setting up his own workshop. For much of his time in the United States, Tesla worked with American industrialist George Westinghouse, who bought and successfully developed Tesla's patents, leading to the introduction of alternating current for power transmission. Tesla became a United States citizen in 1889. After his mother’s death in 1892, he became increasingly withdrawn and eccentric. In 1912 both he and Edison were proposed for the Nobel Prize in physics, but Tesla refused to be associated with Edison, who he believed had conducted an unscrupulous campaign for the adoption of direct current. Neither inventor received the prize. Tesla neglected to patent many of his discoveries and made little profit from them. He lived his last years as a recluse and died in New York.

OK.

What a sad day for DVD consumers.

I feel that apathy is not the solution here. It's not about having to sit through 3 minutes of previews I would watch anyway. It's about choice and Universal taking it from you. Consumers losing the right to use a product the way they deem fit can't be cool.

I sent in my Kraft UPCs to get this practically free, but I'm writing a letter anyway. As a company trying to maximize profits, Universal will try to get away with as much as they can, unless consumers express their displeasure. I encourage everyone to take 5 minutes out of their day and give Universal their feelings on it's decision.

Doug

Another thing is that even if you watch the trailers in the bonus section on the DVD, and use that as a reason to not have a problem with this, you do not watch those trailers in the bonus section EVERY TIME you watch the DVD, do you? Not that I would probably make the Hulk one of my most watched DVDs, but still...

I never went as far as to actually pre-order this mess.

Replace "go to the bathroom" with "pop the popcorn and pour the drinks" and you had my sentiments exactly.

Did you just refer to a technological inconvenience as a "social injustice"? Wow . . . boy do we need to find a new issue on which to redirect your indignation . . . maybe world hunger, child labor exploitation, depletion of natural resources . . . Let me know your pick and I'll send you more information.

This just is terrible. It's the principle. The studios are gaining control through ever so subtle manipulation of the consumer such as this. Yes, it is a "minor inconvenience" but imagine in 5 years when all movies will have it if we sit idly by and let this continue. Apathy is not the answer. Let's get those letters to Universal coming, folks! Here is one that I just wrote which can act as a springboard for you more lazy types:
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Gentlemen:

Today is a sad day in the world of the DVD consumer.

I have just been informed that your DVD release of THE HULK contains unskippable previews that the viewer must watch prior to the film itself.

Although I have no interest in acquiring this title, I feel that this action is very alarming for several reasons:

1. Watching our favorite movies should be about CHOICE. Should we want to watch the previews, we should have that choice. But it is quite another story for you to FORCE us to watch them.

2. The previews take away valuable space that could be used to MUCH greater advantage by making the quality of the movie presentation better. The amount of compression needed for the main feature is increased because these "advertisements" take up valuable space in the finite digital capacity of the DVD disc.

3. You set a very bad precident and example. In ten years if this action continues, you will have us consumers paying $20 for 30 minutes of advertisements as a "bonus" accompanyment to our beloved movies.

So for now, I am very glad that I have a hacked player the has P-OPs disabled and I will be able to skip your forced advertisements. I will also speak with my wallet and refuse to purchase any future titles that contain unskippable advertisements. I will also encourage all of my friends in the industry to do the same.

Regards,
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Universal sucks, what else is new.

Wow, talk about overreacting. My god, its a few minutes of stupid trailers. There are worse things in the world to complain about then a few ads on a dvd.

Yes . . . principles are important.

Yes . . . apathy is bad.

However . . . choosing what principles you are going to support and choosing when you are not going to be apathetic are essential, too. I've got far more important things in my life to get up in arms about than waiting a few extra minutes before seeing a movie. I'll stick with those. Once I have helped all of the kids in my youth group develop stable relationships with their parents and navigate there way through the minefield that is teenage life, I'll get back to you as to whether or not I can help you with your concerns about "unskippable trailers".

It really doesn't take much time to draft a quick letter expressing your disapproval when a company does something you don't like. Vote with your wallet AND a letter to back it up. Yes, it really DOES make a difference.

Of course, writing a letter for every cheapened release (no insert, poor transfer, bad packaging, etc.) could be a full-time job.

That's questionable (this was the worst movie I've ever seen!)

Plus the fact that you canceled a movie you want because of 10 minutes of previews is sad

What you said here was the bulk of my point, jough.

And here I thought Thunderball was just being sarcastic.

I guess what I'm saying is that everyone has to choose their battles. And if this guy wants to get all pissed off over forced trailers, so be it.

I'll dash off a letter to Universal, because I'm building up a bank of form letters for each DVD-related offense:

No insert.
Forced trailers.
Shoddy packaging.
Poor transfer.
Too few chapter stops.
Menus that will not end.
Audio out of synch.
Etc.

Of course there are more important things to concern ourselves with in this fine world. This I certainly realize.

Normally I'm not one to get worked up over things like this, but the issue at hand, "forced trailers". really hits a nerve. It infringes upon my hobby and it really is needlessly greedy.

Which brings me to the point that the trend in business in the US these days seems to be more and more about greed and less and less about what the consumer wants. There are "interests" to be served and it seems those interests often do not favor the consumer. The forced-trailer issue is just another manifestation of that trend that I am seeing.

Now back to more important matters like thanking the valient efforts of the firemen who are working around the clock to quell these terrible fires in CA.

Are forced trailers "No Big Deal"? No, not really.

Are they annoying as hell, but easy to deal with? Yeah - I think my remote can handle a couple of extra button pushes.

Should people complain? Hell yeah. Much like the TV bugs years ago when USA first introduced them, nobody complained. "It's a small thing - nothing to get worked up about" they said. Now look at TV today - bugs everywhere, squished programs on TNN, noise and animation. TV Bugs are no longer "just a small thing not important enough to get worked up over."

Say something now or forever hold your peace.

(Me - I got my Hulk thru Kraft, so I'm willing to put up with a little hassle. 3 bucks for a disc is a deal no matter how you slice it)

I DISAGREE U R SUPPORTING THEM. U R ENCOURAGING THEM 2 DO THIS MORE OFTEN!!!!111

OK, I'll write this again for those who may have missed it:

During the copyright warning at the beginning of the disc, press Stop. Then press Menu.

You've skipped the forced trailers.

And while we're talking about skipping things, for those of you who want to come in here and bitch about the things other people find annoying, I wish you'd just skip the thread. DVD Talk exists so people can air their complaints and concerns. What bothers one person may not bother someone else. If this thread isn't your issue, move along to one that is.

For what it's worth, a couple of years ago Disney started putting forced trailers on DVDs and people were almost unanimous in their hatred of the practice. Consumer complaints put an end to the practice. I hope that will be the case here.

OMG DUDE! U R SO WRONG.

I shouldn't have 2 hit 2 buttons just to get thru teh previews.1 button should b enough!!!!

I really have no problem with forced trailers as they are always at least skipable by simply fast forwarding. Granted, I like how Paramount lets us consumers choose if we want to watch the trailers or not, but I don't see the reason why people want to protest a release because there are previews. It's like people walking out of movie theaters because there are five minutes of ads before the previews. Hit the fast forward button at 20X for a total of about ten seconds (just did it with Babe) and you are done. That wasn't so hard, was it?

Now if people really want to get mad at Universal or other DVD companies, get mad at them for the lack of DVD inserts and having only promotional material for DVD notes or for stickers stating that there are security devices all over the box. At least that takes more than ten seconds to bypass through. That kind of irks me, but forced trailers, they have been forced for years and years and... most people like them.

Thunderball, I admit to being suckered-in by your initial post. You got me. Bravo.

I'll add my 133t-5p34|< word to this:

F0rc3d tr4i|_3r5 5ux the coq!!!!!

Funny . . . I always thought that discussion forums were for discussion.

I believed that the proposed response to the issue (an en masse email/letter campaign) was disproportionate to the severity of the issue. I expressed my view by using an exagarated comparison in response, to bring perspective into the discussion. This is a common debate tactic used for legitimate discussion . . . hardly "bitching".

For a more clear view of my opinion on the thread topic, I am going to agree with one of the points brought up by a member who has taken a position that has, in general, been contrary to mine:My addition to this point I think that choosing your battles not only includes choosing which ones are worth fighting for, but, also, chosing which ones for which fighting may actually hurt your overall position. In this case, I believe that if the studios keep getting complaints about relatively minor issues (which, in my opinion, this is), then they may very well start viewing complaints as merely whining and bitching which could lessen the impact of future complaints and protests regarding more objectionable issues.

One last clarification . . . would I like to be able to skip past trailers? Yes. Is it a major concern of mine? No. Is it worth me fighting? Not in my opinion. However, if they ever start adding unskippable commercials during the movies, come back and see me. I'll even draft a form letter for us all to use.