Universal for introducing the forced trailer. Now other studios are jumping on the bandwagon. Thanks Universal. Well, on the other hand maybe the other studios will pick up on their "no menus" endeavor

What he said.

Criterion and Anchor Bay are my favorites overall. WB is probably my favorite amongst the big boys (especially now that they've officially dropped the snapper case). My vote for the worst of the major studios would be a toss-up between Universal and Columbia/Tri-Star (Sony). Universal has way too many screw-ups in their quality control and lost major points by starting up their crappy new design schema (i.e. all those "Totally Tricked-Out Editions" instead of the much classier Collector's Editions they used to do). They also are the king of bad special features (the shitty "Rapper's Reflect" doc on Scarface for instance). But Sony is right up there for the triple/quadruple re-releases, and for the entire Superbit concept which is nothing more than a cheap rip-off tactic (other studios give us the top-notch transfer and the extras on the first release and price it reasonably, Columbia!).

Amen

I hates all studioz that release FoolSCreen and cater to J6p!!!!

Columbia/Tri-Star (Sony) for their lack of Superbit Deluxes making you have to buy both the special editions and the superbit if you want DTS plus the extras.

Now that Warner has dropped it's snappers they've become my favorite.

Yes — this specifically is my gripe with Universal. I'll wait for the Claude Rains' (1943) PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, but it just annoys the hell out of me that classics like POTO are locked in U's friggin' vault with such apparent and total contempt for movie fans. Right now is when the mass populace is getting their first DVD's. I've certainly only had mine for one year, and I can tell you I won't buy Universal's newer releases until they reissue their classics, and horror specifically, first.

The only reason I don't hate Disme more than Universal for their product manipulation is that, given the scale on which Disme manipulates the consumer, I'm confident it is hurting them where they live. Eisner is for now; Disney is forever. I can be patient.

Who exactly is running Universal anyway these days? That's who we ought to be writing to.

PEACH

Sony by far.

I hate all studios equally

the only thing I hate is quality control. other than that....I really have no beef with a studio. they do what they want and then I decide on what I need to do. hating requires too much energy.

Agreed...

"Craig Kornblau was appointed President, Universal Studios Home Video (USHV) in March of 1999."
http://corpinfo.universalstudios.com/bio.asp?Bio=16

Good point. Universal's quality control is abysmal.

Paramount is #1 worst. Universal is close 2nd. These two companies compete to see who can put the most minimal effort (slap a title they own the copyrights to onto a DVD and send it to Mexico to reproduce; never a commentary or special feature) into their releases and snicker when people actually buy them. If it weren't for a few rare anomolies where Universal did good (e.g., classic monster series), it would be a tie. They have abolutely no regard for the value of the movies they own or the movie lovers who watch them.

Warner Bros. puts out the best releases, hands down.

Compare Universal's recent release of half of the Marx Bros. collection with Warner Bros. release of the other half. The WB set is graced with commentaries and special features in normal DVD cases (so you could buy or rent them individually, if preferred). By contrast the Universal release has zero commentaries (not even on Duck Soup), no special features, and bundled in a cardboard digipack case.

Studios I hate most:

1) Universal - Forced trailers suck. I don't watch them. They're just an annoyance.

2) Columbia- For getting rid of the widescreen versions of films when they become cheap. Everyone knows which version of the movie should be dumped. Let's not forget their quadruple dip policy.

3) MGM for getting rid of extras when the discs become cheap. Seriously, it costs the same amount of money to produce the disc, why not keep the extras?

4) Disney- Enough with the kids games and vaporware extras. How about some real supplemental features.

5) Miramax - Could be lumped with above - Their transfers are beginning to suck big time on some really great movies. Let's not forget about the "multiple bites of the apple" strategy being employed a la Sony/Columbia.

Prove this by naming some titles. The only time I've ever seen them re-issue something so soon was with Gothika. They did put out remasters of the Stanley Kubrick films in 2001, after the initial DVD's being released in 1999 or 2000.

The original DVD's for Singin' in the Rain, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Casablanca, Amadeus, Unforgiven, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Fugitive, Blazing Saddles, Strangers on a Train, A Christmas Story, Goodfellas, The Shawshank Redemption, The Right Stuff, The Color Purple, My Fair Lady, Enter the Dragon, The Lost Boys, The Iron Giant, Christmas Vacation, Vacation, and Driving Miss Daisy were all released between 1997-1999 as trailer-only or even pan & scan/non-anamorphic. Most of these were upgraded between 2002-2004. So, for something like Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, there were 6 years between the initial release and the SE. The shortest on this list is probably The Iron Giant, which was released in 1999 and re-issued this year.


I really don't hate a studio, but I do find stuff annoying for a lot.

Columbia: Isn't OAR comitted. They release too many versions and overlook too many films. It's a real pity, though. They're capable of excellent work. A lot of their classics got excellent treatment.

Fox: Annoyed they practically ignore their pre-1940 films. Sunrise, a film often at #1 on film lists, should not be a freebie! People would have slammed Warner for releasing their Lon Chaney and Buster Keaton silents to DVD as part of a freebie deal. However, Fox has never released a non-OAR title to DVD, other than 3 licensed titles, without including both formats. They also do excellent work on a/v and extras. Fox is one of the best, hands down.

MGM: They're too spotty. They use too much filtering and go for "quantity" rather than quality. However, some DVD's are absolutely flawless like The Producers.

Kino: They're one of the best, but their low budget operations are too obvious sometimes. They have to deal with PAL conversions too much. However, it's great to have titles that no one else is interested in.

Paramount: Special features get snubbed often, yes, but they do fantastic audio and video work.

Universal: Too spotty. They can do incredible work, but they choose the easy way out sometimes.

Criterion: No problems at all. Expensive, yes, but they justify it by making some of the most perfect DVD's.

Warner: No problems at all. They do OAR, love classics, make sensible supplemental material, and have low prices. I love it when I can get a reference quality DVD (most of their 2001-2004 output) for $12. Also, they just put their skippable video logo before the main menu on their DVD's.

Disney: Spotty and they have no idea what they deal with half of the time. I despise moratoriums on DVD's.

So, I think Warner, Fox, and Criterion are my favorites. I actually have to do research before buying a Columbia, Disney, or Universal DVD.

i'm surprised more aren't mentioning Fox. if i lived in R1, and didn't import DVDs from other regions, i'd be damn bummed out that so many of their recent films get 1-disc releases in R1 while the rest of the world gets 1-disc and 2-disc sets to choose from.. The Day After Tomorrow and I, Robot are two releases off the top of my head that will only have a 1-disc release (for now) in R1, while here in Europe we get to decide which one we want without having to wait 6-12 months for the deluxe edition. i only have the 2-disc release for The Day After Tomorrow, and it's a pretty damn solid 2-discer.. I, Robot looks to be just as solid judging by the (R2) reviews.

Honestly, i don't pay much attention as far as studios are concerned. For the most part, i don't even give it a first or second thought when i buy them. So far, every studio has their good and bad releases.

I hate Universal....unbelievable how incompetent they really are.

Disney- Releasing sequels to some of the most classic films (Aladdin, Cinderella, Lion King....Why why why?

Universal, for forcing pan and scan on us for so many titles.

I think this guy hit it on the head. A distributor is only worthy of your wrath when they release a shotty DVD product.

Sony/Columbia for DROPPING widescreen versions from previous releases that included both versions.

Universal because of the Dazed and Confused debacle.

I really have been liking WB lately (especially with them getting rid of snappers), and whoever said Kino sucks doesn't realize the sheer number of films they put out. If they made each film packed like a Criterion, they wouldn't have been able to release all the classic/foreign/obscure titles they have. That said, no closed captioning on English language stuff is weak, and they should fix that.

I second that. That is why I boycott them.