Commercials you can't skip through on Universal DVDs
 

I just plunked in Bruce Almighty and was prepared for a night of enjoyable movie watching. DVD playback is one of the few uses my TV sees since I don't watch much TV now-a-days . Almost all of it is garbage designed to be just barely interesting enough to get you to stick around long enough to see the commercials.

Therefore, imagine my surprise when the first thing that popped up was a mess of promos for other movie titles. This in itself was bad enough to spoil things for me. It's nothing new to me, but at least I'm able to skip through them with the push of a button. With a grumble, I pushed the 'Menu' button like I've done many times before. This time around though, my DVD player responded with a innocent little "Prohibited" icon, the same one you get when you try to skip through the equally annoying FBI logo.

Not willing to back down from this challenge, I was determined to find an alternate method of getting this defilement off my television. I tried pushing the button to forward to the next chapter, but was restricted as well. I tried to manually enter in another chapter number, but that too was restricted. Ultimately, I was left with my fast forward button, forced to skip through these intrusions in the same time honored manner that was once a trait of the classic VCRs.

By this time, I was ROYALLY pissed. I was ready to go down and return the DVD, except that once its opened, you can't. So, with an extremely irate mood (just the right kind of mood you want to be in to watch a comedy movie), I went ahead and played the movie, but the prospect of having unskippable commercials on something I PAID MONEY FOR lingered on my mind throughout the entirety of the film.

So I ask you now: What the HELL is up with that?!! I can understand if this was something I was renting, borrowing, leasing, pay-per-viewing, or getting for free, but I PAID for this disc. I OWN IT. Why the hell must I be forced to sit through an advertisement like a captive audience?

That's like me buying a car without being allowed to test drive it, paying for it, and when I get behind the wheel the car refuses to start until the radio blasts 5 minutes of commercials every time.

Is there anything legally questionable about this practice? I'm mega PISSED.

Its their company, they can advertise on any of their products that they want to. They can stop the movie and stick a three-minute Universal commercial in the middle if they like.


But I totally agree with you, this practice is attrocious! In fact, I watch these movies less because I don't want to sit through ten minutes of crap to see the movie that I own forever. I mean, the companies just don't seem to get the concept of ownership; when you own something, you want to be able to enjoy it leisurely, and not be battered endlessly with commercials.


The sad thing is that I would watch their trailers if they were just a part of the special features; I'm always looking for something to watch. But it makes no sense for them to make us sit through the same ad every single time we put the disc in! At least back in the VHS days, you could set yourself up so you'd begin playback after the trailers. With digital, every time is the first time.

Re: Commercials you can't skip through on Universal DVDs
 

if you let this bother you that much...I'm not sure what to say. everybodys in a rush now-a-days. typical for young people(not saying you are a teen). the FBI logo....BIG deal.-rolleyes-

as for the ads....of course I dont like them. but to let this upset you so...that you lose yer focus throughout the film....jesus. if you are pissed...then do something about it. that means write letters, make yerself a loud voice to those responsible. but I wouldnt let it ruin my life, man.

improper bonding on dvds...get pissed about that. it's a MUCH bigger deal.

Universal has been a topic for awhile. They pretty much suck at every aspect of DVD releases right now.

http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...ight=universal

just hold down the chapter skip button to fast forward the commericals

What I most of the time do is, I pop the disk in the player, THEN I put the MW popcorn, wich take about 3 minutes to pop, then I prepare the drinks and other...not poping anymore???...good!

finally reach the living room and sit down and enjoy...

so all the comercials are done by the time I sit...simple!

I punish them by renting the DVDs and then copying them



jk.
:)
I try to press stop multiple times before it loads, sometimes that works.

While I certainly don't like the forced trailers, it isn't that big a deal. I will usually watch the trailers the first time I pop a disk in. Sometimes there are previews for things I haven't seen or known about, so I don't mind having them there. Now for future viewings, if I know the disk has the forced trailers, I just pop the disk in a few minutes before I am actually ready. Like others have said, pop the disk in, get a snack, get a drink, go to the bathroom, just let it play. I do the exact opposite for disks that don't have menus and just start up.

To let it ruin the movie for you is taking this issue way to serious.

then i sure hope you don't own or buy alot of the older titles that start automaticly.

just imagine 20 years from now when we want to watch films like Animal House, or Meaning of life, and we put it on and what do we see? Commericals for dvds that will not only have been out for years, but are probably non existant, replaced with super mega special editions.

takes me back to the dark ages of vhs.

sad

you mean the Scarface promo? the one I sped through in 1.8 seconds with my 4x ff button?

It is a small nuisance.

Kudos for the elegant posting, but i doubt you were that angered about the trailers to let it hurt your enjoyment of the movie that much, let alone question the legality of it.

Regardless, like i said in the Hulk thread, its annoying but no big deal.

Getting mad does nothing. Not buying the DVD will do nothing. Only contacting Universal and voicing your opinions will do anything. Bug them enough and they will change their policies (I HOPE!). It worked with the Disney DVDs.

To skip the trailers at the beginning of Universal disks press stop during the FBI warning then play. At the end of the FBI screen the main menu will come up without playing the trailers. Still a PITA if you're not thinking about it when you put the disk in.

Knowing this, I still contacted Universal. For all we know, they actually plan on disabling our stop buttons on the FBI warning on future releases. Compromise is what brought the state of DVDs to this.

Re: Commercials you can't skip through on Universal DVDs
 

Quiet! Dont let them hear you!

Actually that's only two steps away. The next one is to completely disable the STOP button so those smart-alecks who figured out a way to get around the locked scan/chapter search buttons will have to watch them as well!

aren't they just loading the menu and waiting you to select play??

I haven't had one yet that the movie started right off??

name some titles please?

alright
most early 97-98 tittles (batman movies, fifth element)
led zeppelin 2 disc dvd

Re: Commercials you can't skip through on Universal DVDs
 

Yeah, there's nothing that does more to put you in a pleasant mood to watch a nice comedy than being threatened with law suits and imprisonment. It's so disheartening to see people come to accept this type of customer abuse as "normal/ok". Really, do you really think it's about being in a hurry?

Universal's new "control freak" activities practically force people who don't like this kind of nonsense to make a side copy of the DVD that doesn't have these user prohibition handcuffs.

Re: Re: Commercials you can't skip through on Universal DVDs
 

Um . . . "customer abuse" . . . huh? OK . . . I'm just going to assume you are being sarcastic . . .

Or, perhaps to suck it up and deal with it . . .

well if u skip through it at like 16x speed it will only take a few seconds. No big deal. :)

What I find annoying are voerly drawn out long animated menus. I watched the original X-Men DVD the other day in preperatiopn for X2 (not 1.5 but THE original X-Men DVD with the silver cover) and the menu takes FOREVER! Still, NBD as far as I am concerned...

Re: Re: Commercials you can't skip through on Universal DVDs
 

Gut, quite often I find your posts entertaining, informative and interesting, but... (and don't take this the wrong way) you are beginning to sound like a broken record on the "improper bonding" and poor manufacturing issue. Have you really seen that many discs go bad? I haven't and I find it strange what a huge issue it is to you. I mean sure... if it occurs, it should be corrected, but you are the only one I see mentioning it 98% of the time... I find that unusual if it is a real issue. Anyway, hope you don't take offence or anything... just making note of an observation.

On a side note, yes the commercials are annoying, but for the most part I don't let it bother me either... If it were like the pizza hut freebie promos all the time then yeah... that would drive me batty. I mean, most of the time the way I look at it is that I have to watch previews when I watch a movie at a theatre also (and I can't fast forward those). Now granted, if I want to watch the movie in ten years, the ads will seem dated, but that also can be nostalgic... everything is relative and it all depends on your perception. :)