Worst DVD covers
 

I searched and didn't find a thread on this topic. My impetus for starting this discussion is that I received the following ridiculous-looking DVD today for the movie, I Never Sang for My Father. I don't know why they didn't just slap on the old VHS cover instead of this egregious crap. One can't even ascertain the title of the movie.

http://resources3.deepdiscount.com/r...833.zoom.1.jpg

Another one that comes to mind is the cover for the superb movie, The Silent Partner. Not only does it have typos (Suzanne York), but the image bears no relation to the content of the movie. Hell, it's an overtly Canadian movie, yet there's a U.S. bill pictured. This film deserved much better than such a slapdash cover treatment.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51V7-Sb2EKL.jpg

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

Not to defend it (because it's truly, truly ugly), but the cover of the I Never Sang for My Father DVD(-r) is one of its theatrical one-sheets. So, for those wanting original posters as case artwork, well, there you go.

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA300_.jpg

I think we've done this type of thread before... but Merry Christmas :)

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

I thought so, and it's totally inappropriate and inane (what's with the gigantic "YES"?) as both a poster and a cover.

"Hey honey, what movie do want to go see tonight?"
"I'd consider this one if I knew what the hell it's called."
I was surprised when a search yielded nothing, but maybe I used the wrong terms.

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

That's tacky. Looks like a Troma cover.

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

Yeah, weird. I am almost positive we've done it before. Or maybe it was part of another thread. Ohwell. Always fun to look at bad covers.

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

Here's another I just remembered. An absolutely outstanding movie. Too bad the cover makes it look like some el cheapo mad-scientist programmer.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...1.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

It was called "Great Movie with a Crappy Poster/DVD"
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/movie-talk/...dvd-cover.html

Mods! join this shit up!
...please

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

i don't think this thread should be moved or merged with another. This is about crappy dvd covers.. whether the movie is good or not. I can't think of any awful dvd covers at the moment.

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

The original Planet of the Apes DVD:

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

I agree that these can be separate .. We have....

"Great Movie with Crappy Poster/DVD"

"Crappiest movie with the coolest DVD cover?"

"Worst DVD covers" (this one)

I wonder how many more categories we can come up with .... that will be fun and chanllenge.. :D

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

& btw.. if you include Blu-Ray in this.. don't forget Minority Report... lol

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

Sure, Blu-rays, DVDs from other regions, etc.

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

Ditto. Dumb shits.

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

While not as iconic as the aforementioned movie...I hated this cover because it revealed a pretty big spoiler to anybody who never saw the movie. (Hancock.)

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

The Hancock cover is a bigger offender than PotA, in my opinion, as Hancock spoiled that surprise less than 6 months after release. PotA, on the other hand, had already been referenced and parodied enough times that it was no longer much of a secret.

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

cover that Val Kilmer exactly look like Beavis from Beavis & Butt-Head lol.

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

This is still my favorite:

http://cc.sadvdstatic.com/l/65/6665/16665.jpg

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

^Oh, that is garbage! Makes it look like an exploitation cheapie.

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

Not "terrible" I guess because the cover does feature a smokin' hot Yunjin Kim (of Lost fame), but it's incredibly misleading as there isn't an ounce of skin or sexiness in this straight-up action film. (I enjoyed regardless.)

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3.../shiri-dvd.jpg

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

http://homepage3.nifty.com/housei/MysteriousIsland.jpg

I liked the movie but I thought the cover was terrible.

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

What I really want to know is what's holding companies up from using the original poster art for DVD/Blu Ray covers?

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

My guess is that they have to pay the artist of the poster another fee.

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

I really doubt that any artist was or is keeping any royalties or copyright over movie posters. Criterion and a couple other studios use them on occasion but I think the thinking these days tends to be that consumers want 'contemporary' even for old movies. What gets me is why they don't put cover/poster galleries on the disc - surely that must be the easiest/cheapest and smallest-disc size special feature they could make.

Anyways, here's my nomination for worst cover http://img.amazon.ca/images/I/515dwNzQgkL.jpg

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

One reason may be that studios seem very worried about the "visibility" of their movies. What works on a 24-inch poster may not work as well on a 7-inch DVD case. They want you to be able to grasp 1) the title and 2) who's in it from a few feet away. Only when the image itself has become iconic do I see studios retaining poster artwork.

The other reason studios change poster artwork is that new artwork constitutes enough of a reason to consider an old DVD a new "edition" and thus get stores to re-order stock. With catalog titles, stores will often order one batch of stock and then never order another, but if they change the cover every few months it will look like new product and might get re-ordered.

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

Meh.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...YL._SL500_.jpg

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

http://cdn3b.dvdempire.org/products/27/49127h.jpg

http://cdn3a.dvdempire.org/products/58/477658h.jpg

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

I saw it in the theater, I could not believe they did that, really? good going there, I hate when covers give away too many plot points or the menus, it is possible we have NOT seen this yet.

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

Good point :up: I hate the animated menus that you cannot skip through that proceed to show you beats from the movie you are about to watch.

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

I HATE that. Biggest offender is To Kill a Mockingbird. I show this to my students every year and I have to quickly get to the first scene because the animated menu reveals what Boo Radley looks like. It's such a memorable reveal in both the book and film, and even though we know by that time that he's not the squirrel-eating monster the kids initially paint him to be, it's still a surprising and moving scene.

/offtopic

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

That's an example of the re-release of a title with a new cover when the stars in it become bigger than they were when the movie was first made. I hate that trend..but like somebody else already pointed out the studio wants to bring visibility of who is in the movie from a glance. So we get stuck with bad covers for re-releases.

I think the worst offender of this (and there may be others...this is just the first one I think of) is Wet Hot American Summer. When the movie came out the biggest names in it were that brother from Frasier and Janine Garoffolo? Yeah, not exactly big name stars. But the other people in it are a who's who of comedy movies today. So the inevitable re-release with the new floating head cover came out to focus on these bigger name stars.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/617HSfIBCTL.jpg

The original cover is MUCH better...in line with classic artwork for movies like American Graffiti and Animal House. WHAS isn't as iconic as those movies, of course, so they can screw around with the cover art and get away with it, I suppose.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA300_.jpg

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

I do not agree with this selection.

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

love the movie and the anchor bay cover is good but this is just awful

http://content7.flixster.com/photo/1...965677_gal.jpg

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

Not sure the original cover release is much better... but it is better....

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/be...006/1629-1.jpg

Re: Worst DVD covers
 

I actually prefer the new cover to the old cover, because while the idea of the painting is fine, I really don't like the final product. However, my DVD is autographed by Michael Showalter, so I'm stuck with the old-fashioned version.