bunkaroo

Thanks for your efforts!

dvd_luver

dolphinboy, that makes more sense, my hats off to Warner for throwing us all in the mud.

Skoobooz

I recieved my shipment from Amazon today...it was the old version in the snapper. I quickly returned it to them, but the CSR with whom I spoke knew nothing about anamorphic or keep cases or anything.

I look forward to some further information about this. Maybe I'll take the plunge and try ordering it from WB's website directly.

dvd_luver

Warner really has screwed up bigtime here. Did Amazon.com specify anything about what you ordered being the rumored new version, that's 16:9? Or did you just take a gamble on it thinking it was the 16:9 keepcase version?

Skoobooz

I took a gamble, ordered it on release date. Amazon specified nothing, and now knows nothing about the keep case or new transfer...just that it's supposed to have that Mother's Day stuff.

Mr.Briggs

I ordered mine on release day too. It's scheduled to arrive tomorrow. Any hope I had that I'd get the new version in a keep case are now dashed. I emailed Bill Hunt & keep checking the Bits to see if he's addressed the issue of AP since he'd reported (in January) that the April 18th rerelease was to be remastered, anamorphic & keep case but he hasn't mentioned it yet.

dvd_luver

From Barnes & Noble site:

dvd_luver

Is it possible that they used the snapper cases and the disc inside itself is new?

Mr.Briggs

I wonder if anyone has actually opened their snapper case & played it to see if perhaps it is anamorphic, etc.... & that they just used old snappers?

Snowball

From thedigitalbits.com:


I'm afraid we have a bit of disappointing news to report about Warner's recent re-release of The American President. It turns out that their press site posted inaccurate details about the title - it does NOT include anamorphic widescreen as we'd been led to believe. After getting a few confused e-mails from readers who picked up the new disc only to discover that it had non-anamorphic widescreen video (the same as the previous DVD), we made a call into the studio and were told that they'd screwed-up on their press site. Believe me, we're as disappointed as many of you probably are. Anyway, sorry for the confusion on that.

bunkaroo

I have a copy at home but it's still wrapped and about to be mailed back to Amazon for refund.

Not feeling like taking a $9 gamble since I already own a copy of the old release.

EDIT: Posted before the above. It's definitely going back.

tommyp007

blech....was excited about this release.

dolphinboy

Remember, I spoke at length with an executive at Warner Bros. who told me she spoke directly with the people in charge of this release and she was told the new version WAS released in a new amaray case with an anamorphic transfer.

While she didn't use these exact words, she certainly implied to me that if the new disc, which she had to order to her office, was NOT as it was described to her that heads would roll.

Giving bad info to digitalbits and others through a press site can be an honest mistake, but I doubt it will be seen that way when these people do that to their boss.

I am leaning towards believing this mistake was so bad, that this person in the executive offices was given the same bad info that the rest of us got. She will not be happy and I am going to look forward to what she says when she calls me to confirm this.

Rather than bust her chops for being an executive of a studio and in charge of department and still unable to get a straight answer about her own products from her own staff, I will do everything I can, instead, to try and see if she'll try and get this title back into consideration for a 16 x 9 release ASAP. Even if that takes the chances from 0% to 25% with a promise to have someone let me know what Warners will do when this whole fiasco is discussed at length is better than nothing.

The person that I spoke with is very high up and we spoke for over an hour and she joked with me, because it was clear how much I loved the movie, that if they ever did release it again, she'd push for me to get to do a commentary track. If this turns out bad and she feels awful, I'm going to see if I can get her to get me a role as Rory's new older boyfriend if Logan dies.

dvd_luver

Finally, clarification, we've been had by Warner. I think this confusion now might get them to do it to, re-release The American President in Anamorphic Widescreen.

dvd_luver

Rid of it as fast as you can, I feel bad for all those who sold their snapper versions in light of this news months ago, and those who actually ordered a $10 mothers day card. Damn Warner for this major screw up!

Mr.Briggs

Why the fuck did they even rerelease it (if no 16 X 9)?

dolphinboy

That was one of the biggest questions that I had for the exec at Warners and why she was so convinced the info that she got, which was that the re-release, IS anamorphic and in the new amaray case.

I said something to her like, "who would come up with the idea in some meeting to re-lease a very popular title in your catalog with no changes just so people could get a card?"

I said, "wouldn't I have been better off keeping my own dvd and picking out my mom a card of my choosing, it's not even an American President themed card?"

I have a feeling that this lady will do everything that is possible to find out what happened, how it happened, and get this movie back into consideration for an anamorphic release once the dvd arrives in her office and she find out her own people gave her bad info and no such "new" release exists.

ps- and am I wrong in thinking this isn't even a re-lease? I mean, they didn't take an old dvd and put in out in new packaging, like, say, Election. This was just taking old stock of an already existing title and adding a card to it. If they got rid of snappers, then this re-release would be in a different case in anything about it was really new.

CertifiedTHX

How can this even be called a re-release? There's nothing to differentiate it from the original. Don't re-releases have at least a new copyright date on the back? This is the same artwork, the same packaging, the same disc.

This isn't a re-release, this is just a Mother's Day promotion.

--THX

tofferman

I hope this was simply an honest mistake and not a lame promotion to tie in with Mother's Day. If it was intentional, then it could set a new precedent for devious (deceptive) marketing. I was one who did sell the snapper when the supposedly new release was announced on the digital bits. Thankfully, I can reacquire it again for cheap at Walmart, but this will make me even more suspicious when a movie re-release is announced. The double dips these days are bad enough. It also makes you want to hold onto the previous release until there is definitive confirmation (i.e...a review at dvdtalk for instance) that it will be anamorphic after all. I don't like to have to replace dvds that even cost $10. This is too expensive a hobby and there are so many titles I would like to acquire with my limited resources.

Snowball

I also sold my snapper in anticipation of this release, but I won't be rebuying it. The transfer on that disc was absolutely horrid. I will wait for a 16x9 DVD or HD version to come out.

davidvp

Yes, you are exactly right. (And after receiving my "new" 2006 copy from Amazon, I did play the disc to check on it....and it's definitely NOT a new 16x9 transfer. It's exactly the same non-enhanced version from '99.)

But .... To be technical, this "Mother's Day" thing DOES have a new UPC/ISBN number on it. WB has put a (new) loose info/specs sheet on the back of the package (this is due to the fact that the greeting card is blocking the normal avenue of seeing the back of the DVD case...so a loose-leaf sheet was created to place underneath the shrinkwrap).

And this loose paper has a different UPC code on it.....no doubt signifying the difference between the 08/31/1999 original release and the 04/18/2006 Mother's Day deal. But the copyright date (1999) and all other details/info on this loose paper are 100% identical to the back of the snapper case itself. Only the UPC is different.

Also: Another thing that seems odd to me re. this re-release is the extremely short "window" of sales opportunity that will exist for this Mother's Day edition. Nobody is going to want this Mom's Day thing after the second Sunday in May. Which means that WB has created a release (with a newly-printed separate info specs grid to put on the outside of every pkg.) that will be completely obsolete after just three weeks and five days on the market.

I suppose they can re-release all the unsold M.Day card versions in April 2007 if they choose to (in order to unload the no-doubt large number of unpurchased and returned-to-the-stores-because-the-damn-thing-isn't-anamorphic-as-promised Mother's Day editions that WB will be stuck with).

But the whole idea of marketing a time-sensitive release with such an incredibly-short 'window of usefulness' as this April 18-May 14 "Mother's Day Gift Set" (per Amazon's verbiage) seems to me to be a not-so-hot marketing strategy (even if the DVD was a brand-new Anamorphic Widescreen transfer).

Obviously, many of the discs can still be sold and the Mother's Day cards can be kept for next year or the year after or whenever (and the MSRP is certainly very low, which is a plus), but this whole Mother's Day/DVD idea just seems a tad strange to me.

I've also noted that Amazon has jacked up the take-home price for this DVD Disappointment by $3 just since release date. (That'll certainly make even MORE people happy about this turkey, huh?)

Footnote -- How's this for a short "window" for sales? .... I see where DVD EMPIRE lists the Mom's Day DVD, but they've got a "May 2nd" release date attached to it (just 12 days prior to Mother's Day). Weird. And cur-i-ous. And they've got the aspect ratio listed incorrectly too (should be 2.35:1).

dvd_luver

All these crazy developments are very amusing I think. I would agree that this may set a new low for marketing a dvd just for a lousy mother's day card. If people want that they can go to a dollar store and buy one for just a buck or cheaper. For those who want to buy a nice mothers day gift, like a dvd with a mother's day card, I think for $8 bucks or so they can do a whole lot better. I hope whoever at Warner thought this idea up get's fired. Warner now owes fans of this film a re-release with Anamorphic Widescreen video. I would also agree that the video quality is just horrid, which explains why some who sold their snapper cases in anticipation of a re-release won't miss it at all.

Seriously, all this over a card. It's just plain stupid.

Mr.Briggs

Super fast shipping for my order as I received Out of Sight CE, Moonstruck DE & American President (fucked up edition). Since I don't have a printer with my webtv I had to call them & they are mailing me a label to ship this turd back. I'm supposed to receive it in 3-5 days & get credit when it gets there. Hopefully by then we'll have all the skinny from our friend Dolphinboy from his contacts at Warner.

dvd_luver

ROTFLMFAO!

bunkaroo

Just wanted to mention here, for anyone with an Xbox360, they have a pretty nice 720p version of the film on XBL right now. Looks better than a typical anamorphic DVD to me, but it's not "knock your socks off" HD quality.

Worth a rental for sure.