It's possible to skip the ad on Finding Neverland:
-press stop when the Miramax logo appears on the tv screen
-press on the "Top Menu" button (NOT the "Menu" button) and you'll be taken to the DVD menu.

Let me know of it works.

hey, it worked for snappers. and if less people thought they way you are about this, in a snapper sense, the change would of come a hell of alot sooner. imagine warner puts out the matrix and it doesn't sell. if the snapper was the only reason, the next week we'd have the matrix in keepcases.

it just takes some disiplince and belief.

This is so lame. While I doubt this will make me avoid a release I want to own, I do think discs with forced ads on them should be saved for rental outlets only. If you are willing to buy the dvd you shouldn't have to deal with any forced anything (ads nor trailers). I swear soon these dvds are gonna start coming with those coupon mailers that I get from Columbia House and all.

I bought my daughter some Sesame Street DVDs and you are forced to watch some 3 minute Whoppi intro every single time before getting to the menu. Really irritates me that it can't be skipped. I ended up just re ripping the DVD without the forced intro.

I don't mind ads on the DVDs or trailers or promos or whatever. However, we should have the choice on watching them or not and not be forced to sit through them every single time we watch the disc.

That'd be nice, but I remember that when they first added commercials to movies in the theater, they said it was to lower the cost of tickets... but the ticket prices only went up. And since we put up with that without raising a stink, that means they won't care about our complaints now.

I've been saying this since for years now, but the restrictions companies can put on DVDs (disabling fast forward, subtitle/audio changes) is the single handed WORST thing about the current DVD format. It disgusts me.

Plus selling the ads directly lowers the price the publishers have to charge the reader for the paper. Not true here as FN is just as expensive as any other DVD.

The only vote you have in corporate America is whether you buy or not. No buy = vote no, yes buy = vote yes. If you want to vote no but still want your dvd, here is an option:

http://www.netflix.com + one of the DVD decrypting programs + Nero

You get the DVD for the price of the rental plus the blank disc. About how much they should be selling a DVD with advertising for anyway.

;-)

This is THEFT and against forum rules to discuss.

lol... So is charging full price for a DVD with advertising.

Buh Bye.

Yep. They should be PAYING US to watch the ads. We shouldn't have to pay to see them!

I can't say I condone what you suggest but I understand your reasoning. Trailers for upcoming features are one thing but product commercials are another. Pay to watch commercials? The bastards are completely insane. I will never knowingly buy a dvd that contains a product commercial. Reviewers and review sites have better be very careful to at least disclose the presence of commercials on dvds or lose all crediblility with people who wish to avoid them. Frankly, I think they should refuse to review them and we should refuse to buy them.

If one is acting scandalized simply about the idea of paying money and getting advertising in return, the internal economics are irrelevant to the transaction faced by the end consumer. When one buys most newspapers or magazines, quite simply, one is giving over money for certain expected content, but that content also comes with advertising. It's fine believe that such activity is more justified in one industry over another, but to act like paying money and getting advertising in return is unheard of and somehow beyond the pale is preposterous. People in this thread and others act like they've never allowed their precious time and money to be wasted with advertising before movie theatre ads and DVD ads came along, and, for me, people acting like they are so incredibly scandalized just makes the entire situation seem silly and petty.

DJ

I don't mind the trailers that much as that is somewhat relevant, you're about to watch a movie and they are showing you some other movies that you might be interested in. Of course I get sick of that same stupid melodramatic voice that the announcer uses in all American trailers lol... But I think you can hit menu on most DVDs if you don't want to watch the trailer. Wasn't it Disney that used to prohibit that? Lame... But to put regular commercials on a DVD, now that really just blows. I don't have any DVDs like that. Hopefully it won't become commonplace.

We never before got forced advertising in return. When I buy a paper I turn the pages at my own pace, read what I wish and ignore the rest. That is a far cry from being forced to sit through several commercials... or even one. Further, the quality of the paper's print is not degraded by the presence of advertisements. DVDs have limited space and quality/content tradeoffs are made. I don't want that space taken up by commercials.

Do movie theatres and DVDs keep your eyes and mind glued to the screen and your body strapped down to your chair, as well? You can pay attention to those ads you wish to and ignore the rest.

I'd love to be shown an example of a DVD where every single available byte was taken up as a result of a commercial. Even Superbit releases typically don't come close to using all available disc space. I doubt there is any release that has it had its content quantity or quality reduced as a result of some manner of brief commercial spot.

DJ

That's just completely stupid. You're sitting there in a dark theater... what the hell else are you going to do? Advertisers LOVE a captive audience and that is exactly what you are. Now that I'm aware of this practice I have no intention of repeating the experience while it continues.

Maybe not, althought it wouldn't surprise me if it had already happened. If there is no protest from the public how long do you suppose it will take them to ramp up to movie theater levels? You know... 20-30 minutes of ads. My guess is, not long.

[QUOTE=Feathers McGraw]Great. So now not only do I have to print up my own cover to replace the original bilingual abomination, now I have to modify the disk to remove the commercials, and burn it to a blank.
QUOTE]

That’s my move if they start adding commercials. I am already sick of the FBI warnings on every disk (especially FOX).

Rent it, scan it, copy it, burn it, return it.

Is the only DVD that has this: the Canadian version of 'Finding Neverland' ?
That is an issue with Alliance Atlantis.

How about this... Take it back and say "The movie isn't on here. All I get is a #$%^&* commercial!" When they test it, you'll prove your point.

Whatever I was doing before the ads came up. If I'm with other people, this usually involves continuing whatever conversation was already going on. I could also run to the bathroom or snack bar, or step outside to talk on my cellphone for a couple of minutes, or...

DJ

Perhaps someday we will pay a higher admission to enter a movie WITHOUT all their shitty ads and a higher price for a DVD WITHOUT the forced ads.

It would be beautiful if someone could come up with a way to make the marketing genuises who created forced ads to take it in the ass as much as they expect us to take it in the ass.

Ads have long been part of some print media like magazines and newspapers, and like others have pointed out, you can flip past them easily. And sometimes you're actually seeking out ad info in print. I don't know of a single person who sees a film and thinks "gee... I hope to see an ad for a product I might be interested in". You also don't see ads in books, unless it's for other books by the same publisher. I've never seen a car / softdrink / whatever ad in a book. And I don't want to. The difference is that a book is a more long-term permanent item compared to daily/monthly print media, and is not traditionally ad-supported but rather, audience-supported....like films.

I'm disgusted by the thought of a commercial you can't skip past on a DVD. I have Finding Neverland on the way and hope there's no stupid commercial on it. I think it's more fair to compare DVDs to music CDs. What if you were forced to listen to 60 seconds of soft drink propaganda before you could listen to the music you paid to hear? How about if you had to sit through a commercial before driving your car or booting up your computer? These things are not intended as ad vehicles, but obviously can be abused as such.

I'm so sick of the constant barrage of advertising that I don't do business on the phone with places that spam me with commercials while I'm on hold, I don't buy gas at pumps with those idiot TVs that blather on with "helpful info" while I'm pumping gas, and I don't care how upscale your hotel is, if you have TVs in the elevators spewing ads at me, I'm not coming back. If offered a choice of a DVD with no commercials for $20 or the same DVD for $10 but with forced commercials, I'd plunk down the $20.

FWIW, advertisements in paperback novels had a short-lived run the 1970s.

DJ