The shipping is free, they'll mail you an envelope if you speak to the shaved chimp at the 888 number. (No kidding, these people were too stupid to get jobs at the department of motor vehicles)

That said, the replacement is also screwed up. Recently I got a letter saying they're going to send another copy and that I don't need to return the first replacement.

Incredible, isn't it??

They misframed Spaceballs?

I don't know if it ranks as a "greatest crime," but I start to get extremely irked by forced commercials, especially about the time the third one in a row starts...

Bridges of Madison County. Beautifully shot film about a National Geographic photographer and Warner releases a pan 'n scam version only.

want a bigger crime with that one? an arsonist has been burning down those famous bridges and the house is in ashes also. just fyi. I live a short drive from there and all I can say is..."hang the bastard".

Universal is too busy reissuing Casual Sex and Mad Dog and Glory to focus on trivial titles like This Island Earth, MST3K, or Flash Gordon.

After all, the OOP Casual Sex would sometimes sell for as much as $8 on eBay before the reissue. Clearly, there was a bloodthirsty mob clamoring for this film.

Making DVD's region coded!

Any movie previously available on laserdisc in widescreen issued only in pan & scan.
Any previously-released DVD with both formats REISSUED with only pan&scan (several Columbia titles like Last Action Hero)
Any DVD that has the pan & scan version labeled as "FULL SCREEN"

Yes. New York Times (a couple years back) reported that if disc manufacturers had only paid 2 or 3 cents more (per disc) they could have used a plastic that was much, much more durable and scratch resistent than the thing we're stuck with.

Of course, if consumers have to replace their discs, the manufacturers will be crying all the way to the bank.

Amen to that . . .

Not only forcing people to have to buy all three Godfather DVD's or nothing, but more so the horrible video quality for these Academy award pictures! The studio should be ASHAMED!!!!

As a generalization that applies to lots of DVDs, sacrificing bitrates to make room for pointless special features is pretty high on the list, as are bad transfers (which often contribute to poor video quality more than compression does).

IMO though the worst crime committed specifically was the original DVD release of all the Kubrick movies. Thankfully WB realized their mistake and did them right in the end, but kindof a screwjob to all the fans who had to wait those extra years for the remastered versions.

Columbia Tri-Star's decision (according to a post on HTF) to release Just One of the Guys, the 80's classic so many of us have been waiting for... in fullscreen.

Rob

The upcoming Annie SE comes to mind. After overly compressing and screwing up the widescreen transfer on the previous release and AFAIK never fixing it, they have the stupidity to release the SE in pan and scan only. Note that the film was a 2.35:1 scope picture so it's not open matte.

Oh, but what about those extras? In addition to the trailer, this release will include:

-Exclusive musical performance of "It's a Hard Knock Life" by pop group Play

-The Age of Annie trivia game

-Sing along with Annie!

-My Hollywood Adventure with Aileen Quinn

- Disks that get SE's everywhere BUT in America. *grumble*BrotherhoodoftheWolf*grumble*

- Locking the audio track button.

- Godzilla, or any other foreign language film that's released dub only.

- Releasing a film without any kind of digital cleanup to get rid of grain and dirt.

- Non-skippable FBI warnings in multiple languages!

- The inevitable Cat in the Hat SE.

Oh, and the ever popular...

- SNAPPER CASES!!!

Exactly. Many review sites called the set one of the best DVD releases around when it was released, how could they have been so wrong? The video truly sucks for all three and the audio defines "muddy". I'm not sure why more reviewers didn't call them on it.

The Monty Python issues, the E.T. DTS scavenger hunt when those came out, and the Back to the Future misframing.

On a larger topic, not making universal worldwide releases for films. Bring the Hitcher release to the US, give the Hulk its DTS track, don't force me to go elsewhere for that stuff!

Couldn't agree more...

maybe they should have put Jay-Z's version of the song on there for good laughs

1) no english captions for moderately recent films (i.e. Elizabeth, The Man Who Wasn't There).

2) puffing up your special features description only to end up with 3 minute fluff, making-of featurettes.

3) not including the trailer for the film

4) chapter stops that are far and few in between. I have dvds with chapter stops every 15 to 20 minutes: ridiculous!

5) making me play stupid games just to get the damn disc to play (i.e. Memento SE); it's not even interesting the first time.

6) Trying to be clever in your packaging and ending up with nonsense (i.e. Memento SE, Terminator 2 Extreme Edt, Total Recall)

7) labeling special features that are anything but special (i.e. animated menus, subtitles, text bios, storyboard comparisons)

8) Brief deleted scenes. If all they have to offer is a dozen 20 second scene compilations, then don't bother.

9) Deleted scenes that haven't undergone post-production. Watching most deleted scenes is like looking at your television through a screen door covered in mud. If you want a reference to how deleted scenes should be presented, take a look at Road to Perdition!