I'm a huge fan of trailers.

It's lame when studios like Paramount don't pay for the music rights to use a trailer even though they're charging us a lot for the disc, of part should go toward them securing the rights to the music on the trailer.

It's lame when a studio includes the DVD ad instead of the actual theatrical trailer.

It's lame when studios like Universal include trailers for other movies but not the one for the movie on the disc itself.

This is a good point, quite interesting, hadn't thought of it that way. The thing is, I think a lot of people don't consider it an "extra". Like, if you gave me a list of things which the back of a DVD considers extras, and said "Which is most important?", I'd rank "interactive menus" and "trailers" low because I don't think of them as extras, they just seem like a standard thing (ditto letterboxing, but I'd *never* put a low ranking on that in a poll).

I feel as if I'm missing something if no trailer is included. As many have pointed out, often today's trailers are capsule versions of the film that contain spoilers. A bit off topic, but the trailers that I enjoy most are ones that have different footage from the film, like the one for Psycho where Hitchcock takes us on a tour of the sets, or Citizen Kane where Welles narrates but is never seen, etc. One of the trailers for The Incredibles is like this, the one where Mr. I is trying to squeeze into his suit, a scene that isn't in the movie (and isn't accurate given the film's chronology, but it's funny anyway).

Also, if they still exist and can be licensed, tv and radio spots are great to have. The radio spots for The Long Goodbye were fascinating to hear ... trying to sell a pretty quirky movie with a 30 second audio ad.

Ah, but it's not listed on the box. Thanks for the heads up. The trailers are about the only extras I bother with, so I don't even bother throwing in the 2nd disc.

Hitchcock's trailers are the best, they're so quirky and funny.

Trailers used to be a standard feature on DVDs, much like scene selection. When a disc didn't include a trailer, people always raised a big ruckus about it(Unbreakable comes to mind). But at some point over the last few years(probably after the aforementioned stupid poll), studios started omitting them from DVDs.

In fact, it's almost as if they go out of their way to leave the trailers off. Rounders, The Bourne Identity, and Meet the Parents each got new DVD releases in 2004 which actually dropped the trailers that had been included on the previous version.

If it really is a lack of space issue, then they need to quit with the bonus trailers/sneak peeks BS because it's a waste of everyone's time. Seriously, has anyone actually ever bought a DVD after viewing a bonus trailer?

Not I...

Yet the Star Trek: First Contact SE DVD will have the teaser and full trailers. Go figure. :)

Not bought but I've admittedly rented a few. Usually independent or foreign films that I hadn't heard of otherwise, and none have been forced trailers. I actually like extra trailers on non-R1 DVDs for much the same reason.

I'm not a big fan of trailers( though I do like them on internation/indie movies that have trailers for other international/indie movies) but would never think of denying you all the pleasure of having them on discs. They're so small(size wise) and such a no-brainer that it really doesn't make any sense for any modern movie to not have all the rights issues squared away so they could be thrown on a disc.

I have a question for you all though. Do you look at trailers as completing the movie experience/having the full experience? Like would you equate trailers to having dvd covers being the original movie poster?

Well, I bought STRIPES after seeing the hilarious trailer included on the GHOSTBUSTERS DVD. I haven't regretted it.

Me too, mainly some Sony Classics foreign films I've rented several times, movies I thourougly enjoyed. I like the fact that a company will put other titles' trailers on a DVD AS LONG AS it does not interfere with transfer quality of the actual movie, and as long as the actual movie we bought has its trailer. As long as there is adequate room for it and we can choose whether or not to watch them, I think it can be a good way to find out about other movies of similar taste.

The trailer on the DVD of Hitchcock's "Rope" is like this. It contains footage not in the movie and actually "sets up" the opening part of the movie.

I also really like having the trailers, but absolutely never watch them until AFTER the movie. Too much risk of running into a big spoiler.

I don't watch the trailers when I watch a film anyway. I buy DVDs to watch the movie and anything else on the disc is sometimes gravy, sometimes fluff. The more space they use to give us the best rendition of a movie the better. I'd love to see the companies stop putting previews of OTHER films on discs.

I would rank it even higher in importance, but yes, in the sense of how you're asking the question, I believe the trailer to be an integral extension of the movie it's advertising; it's like a ghost track on a CD album; separate yet still fundamental to the larger work. Especially in terms of teaser trailers, which are the great "mood/tone setters" of trailerdom. Films like STRANGE DAYS, STAR WARS: EPISODE I and ALIEN (to choose a random sample) would seem somehow diluted without access to their stellar teaser trailers. As I mentioned above, the fact that I'll never see another trailer on DVD for the newer Spielberg releases kills me. Have you seen the teaser to this summer's WAR OF THE WORLDS? HOLY CRAP! But ya better soak it up now, 'cuz it won't be on the Dreamworks DVD at Christmastime. Oh, and all those old non-anamorphic Live/Artisan Entertainment DVDs like UNIVERSAL SOLDIER and STIR OF ECHOES? Better not let 'em go when you upgrade to the new Lions Gate Special Edition releases--the latter drop the trailers found on the former. It's such a frustrating practice that I, as a consumer and film aficionado and trailer-loving minority, feel powerless to counter. Can you feel my pain?

And even forced them to recall the disc after they had printed sleeves listing the trailer.

The Italian Job remake had one of the worst trailers in terms of spoilers I've ever seen.

I like trailers alot, and when they come out with special editions, the trailers aren't on alot them. Wanting you to keep the bare one.

If it's because of disc space, I'd rather them use that space for the trailer instead of menus with motion in them. I like my menu to be plain. Also, some show parts of the film. I hate that as well.

The amount of disc space a trailer uses is so infitismal it is not an issue. Paramount has pretty much cut out trailers all together on catalog titles. Columbia has never been good about including the trailer to the actual movie on the disc but if you buy enough Columbia dvds you'll probably get it eventually. With all the forced trailers and those of movies coming to theaters or dvd, you'll get the trailer eventually if you buy enough dvds, it just won't be on the same disc as the movie. One issue may be that a good quality print of the trailer doesn't exist anymore and they don't want to use a scratched up, choppy one on the release. Better to have people gripe about no trailer than be flooded with complaints about the quality. Also don't want to spend the money to clean them up. Except maybe for a rights issue, there is no good reason to leave the trailer off a current new release. In the case of catalog titles, dvds are being popped out faster than M&Ms these days and they don't take the bother to go that extra step as much anymore. The success of dvd is a double-edged sword. The number of classic releases is on the rise, but what was once seen as a premium upscale product has been reduced to the free prize inside a box of cereal.

Well said! And people would be surprised at how many discs have plenty of space for the trailers and still leave them off. I'm constantly amazed at how many studios release single layer discs and leave about half a gig (plenty of room for a handful of trailers) unused.

Another good example is Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. They put no Trailers or Teasers on the 2-Disk or 1-Disk sets. That's crap of Paramount to do that. The only way you get the Trailers is on the Limited Bonus Disk that Circuit City has when you buy the 1-Disk DVD.

I happened to be watching CSPAN maybe a week or 2 ago, and there was a forum at some conference with CEO's of like Time Warner, News Corp, Disney, I think Sony, and maybe 1 or 2 others, and when asked what their biggest current moneymaker was, I'm pretty sure each and every one said DVD's. You'd think that for something that is making so much money for every company they could be a little more attentive to their customers. I guess the majority of DVD purchasers are probably just 'middle America' picking up every new big name release and probably doesn't ever get around to the extras.

I also really like trailers and absolutely hate it when studios include trailers for other films but not the one for the movie on the disc itself. I think Paramount, Universal and Sony are studios that do this and it makes me angry. While I do like trailers I hate them as being used as previews and especially trailers being forced.

All I know is I'm an audio/video guy, so I don't usually care for the special features. But I love watching the trailers.

How much space do animated menus take up?