TomOpus

I don't have any real rules but I generally will buy the SE since I like extras. This differs on what's announced and such.

Heartagram

I used to buy the SE just so I could have the "best" edition (region 1 only). But now as of late I have realised I dont watch all of the features as well. So I am going to try to just get what I really need (like Blade Runner which I cant wait for).

LikeMiamiVice

depends on the movie,like i did it in a heartbeat for Children Of The Corn,Creepshow 2,Day Of The Dead,and countless other flicks,but I ralrely do it for a new release,like i still have the old edition of Resident Evil

Altimus Prime

I'm a sucker for special editions, anniversary editions, collectors editions and directors editions. I will more freely buy those than a standard edition.

I'm not big on extras either. I may watch features, trailers and deleted scenes once, but that's it. I almost never listen to commentaries - when I watch a movie, even if it's one I've seen a dozen times, I still want to watch and listen to the movie, not a commentary.

And since I came to DVD just relativelyl recently, within the past two years, double dipping hasn't been much of a problem for me. An example is the Star Trek movies. Nemesis is the only one I have that isn't a special edition. I never bough the earlier releases of the earlier movies because I wasn't in the market then. So I only buy the special editions now.

But besides extras, special editions are usually superior because in most cases they improve the transfer, so you get a better picture and sound.

Iron_Giant

SE about 90% of the time and I never Double Dip. Buy once and do not give the studios any more of my money.

I do hate the 2 Spiderman release at the same time. Spiderman 2 with extras, and at the same time Spiderman 2 "Superbit". I bought the SM with extras, but I would have loved to have bought the Superbit SM.

MetalGator311

I try to read on here about double dips and what not. I'll buy the SE usually from DDD during the sale. However, this past week I bought Get Shorty SE b/c I don't own the first one and it has the Be Cool ticket. If I already own a good edition, it has to be one of my faves to get me to double dip. I double dipped on Matrix, triple dipped on Terminator 2, but I doubt I'll get xXx DC.

mwj

Last year I bought SEs of The Thing, The Iron Giant, The Manchurian Candidate, Goodfellas, and The Shawshank Redemption. I did not buy the SEs of The Untouchables or Predator because I try hard not to double dip. I have done so only once. I purchased MST3k The Essentials and I already owned Manos, The Hands of Fate MST3k DVD.

Filmmaker

It's always struck me as funny different people's priorities (and, by saying that, I'm not ranking mine above anyone else's)--some people wear their mandate of not double-dipping like a badge of honor; meanwhile, collectors like myself are looking at their collections and thinking, "Oh how sad, all that dude has are the boring old single-disc releases!" He he...

Spp

I'm not really into extras, so I'll usually buy the cheapest edition. Unless it contains poor audio/video quality, which is usually the case with older movies first edition.

Master Shake 05

If the release has commentaries, even if I would never listen to them, i might buy the SE. However, I have never double-dipped once in my life when it comes to DVDs. As long as the version I have has a commentary, good A/V quality and a few featurettes, I'm good. However, when the Kill Bill SE's come out I may have to break my streak, which isn't too bad considering I bought em both for $22

DeanoBKN

Call me crazy, but I ALWAYS buy the SE, limited, special, etc edition when I have a choice, and I double dip on everything. I just gotta have the latest/greatest edition, even if I don't really care about the extras too much. Most of the time, it's just for the packaging or something.

gutwrencher

I have no shame when it comes to double, triple or qaud-dipping. If I find the film worthy of adding to my library, and as long as the transfer and audio are free of initial screw-ups, I'll always buy the first release, even if it's bare-bones. I'm not a fan of waiting and going without....I'll take it now. Later, and again depending on the film, I'll have no problem upgrading for features, alternate cuts and so on.

Since it's my personal library of personal fave films, concerts and TV shows...it's essential to have as much of everything as possible. It makes research and enjoyment through study more complete.

So my answer is...No, I am not buying less SE's. And do I always buy an SE? If it's a film I love....usually I do and on the day of it's release.

Master Shake 05

why do you care about owning the "most complete version of the film", vandelay, if you don't give a damn about the special features. Aren't features what makes it the most complete?

Atreus

I usually get the best edition available at the time I'm buying the film. I don't always double dip just cause a Special edition came out a couple of months after I bought my copy though. It depends on whether I really like the film or how much of an improvement it is. It's got to be something more than deleted scenes or making of features which I probably won't even watch once. If there is much better transfer or a great commentary track then I'll go for the double dip.

Dazed

i'll buy the best version I can find (any region) at the time I want to buy the film (unless I know for certain a better version is on the way soon).

These days every dvd claims to be a special edition with only a few of them living upto the 'Special' part.

The Ferret

I go on a dvd-by-dvd basis. I always buy the SE if there's better video/audio, which is most of the time. That being said, if I already own a version, i never go out a buy another version. I'm not a big fan of extras, so if that's all a SE has to offer, i won't bother (unless it's the same price).

Sondheim

Of course, if I have a choice between the special edition and single-disc edition I almost always get the S.E., as long as there isn't a huge price difference. For a long time I would double-dip on even the titles I hardly ever watched - but I've started to change that a little. With the impending release of HD-DVD I've decided I'm only going to double-dip on my favorite titles, ones that I feel the need to see the extras.

For quite a while I rarely watched the extras on DVDs, even on my favorites such as "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy and "Vertigo." Recently though, I've started going through my collection, watching all the extras on each DVD - and in a lot of cases they fascinate me. I'm currently trying to learn more about the history of certain films and filmmaking in general, and, depending on the disc, the extras can be quite informative. Over the next few days I'm going to go through all the extras on my Criterion "The Battle of Algiers" DVD, and I'm kind of excited.

nightmaster

There are scads of SE titles I've seen on the shelf and passed up; these days I'll almost always opt for the first release, especially regarding movies that have been made within the last 5 years or so, because the movie is what matters to me, and movies made in the last few years are going to look great (to me, anyway) on DVD the first time around.
In the case of some older films getting a new release that have been enhanced, cleaned up, improved upon over what they looked like at the onset of DVD I'm far more likely to double dip, but in the case of something like The Terminal I'm happy with just having the film itself and not the extras. Extras are somewhat lost on me because I seldom watch them; they're cool, sure.....but in most cases they don't warrant me buying a DVD all over again just to have them. If they purposely leave them off the first time around in order to persuade me to buy a title over again, they can forget it- it's not happening. I cheat from time to time; favorites I'll cave in and rebuy.....Raging Bull was a good example of that, and when Kill Bill gets a new release I'll be there on Tuesday with wallet in hand. Otherwise, I'll keep what I have, buy for the movie only, and save my double dipping dollars for the HD era down the road, because really..... how 'special' are these editions that are getting third and fourth DVD releases going to be when an HD version comes out?