"Movie split between 2 DVDs" thread...
 

Just wanted to complain about a couple recent releases which, I hope, are NOT representative of a new "trend in packaging".....splitting a long film between two DVDs.
"Apocalypse Now: The Complete Dossier" and "King Kong: The Deluxe Extended Edition" both have their feature films SPLIT between two DVDs, for no apparent reason other than to milk folks out of more $$$, I think, as these films would each fit on one disc.
It's actually the main reason I didn't buy AN:TCD (that, and the fact that I already owned both single-DVD versions). And I already own KK, so I may pass on that extended version, too.


Has this been done with any other films?

I don't really mind changing discs in the middle of a long movie. If it helps keep compression low, I'm all for it.

Dances with Wolves the Theatrical Cut, I forget if the extended version does too but I think it does also.

Schindler's List

Gettysburg, Gods and Generals (I think)

Lord of thw Rings Extended 4-disc versions

Kingdom of Heaven Director's Cut (I think)

That's all i can think of right now...

The special edition of Malcolm X does it as well.

Agreed. In the case of the Extended Lord of the Rings, it was a nice way to take a little breather before diving right back in.

Come and See
Ryan's Daughter
Moscow Doesn't Believe in Tears
there have to be many others that don't come to mind right now

And its even easier when you have a 3-disk carousel DVD player like I do.


Titanic (3-disk set)


Are we counting flippers too?

I do not mind this practice on long movies.

Here are a few more:

Ben-Hur - Four-Disc Collector's Edition
Lawrence of Arabia
Godfather Part II
Once Upon a Time in America

Makes perfect sense for long movies - I'm not about to stay put on my couch for 3-4 hours, anyway.

Pearl Harbor

Yep, you are correct.

Also:

Cleopatra
Gone with the Wind 4-disc CE

Add me with the majority that don't mind this practice for long movies.

I think it's been established that the split film dvds are made that way to allow less compression on the films. Otherwise the film would suffer in quality on one disc due to the increase in compression needed to fit it all. Not to mention that DTS or other optional audio tracks take a fair chunk of space, so would either need to be removed from a 1-disc, or worsen the video quality more.

Also, it seems highly unlikely the movie is split solely to increase the price. For example, "Apocalypse Now: The Complete Dossier" sells for the same price as the "Apocalypse Now - Redux: Special Edition" DVD. Godfather Part 2 costs the same as the other 1-disc Godfather films.

Gangs of New York

1900

the new Seven Samurai CC is split.

I remember when DVDs first came out a lot of non anamorphic discs was split onto the two sides. I thought it was just lazy authoring since they obviously would have fit on the one side. I recall Se7en and Stargate were like that.

Stephen King's Storm of the Century

They screwed up CLEOPATRA. The intermission title is at the end of disc one. but the intro music to the second half is still on the first disc. instead of at the start of disc two where the music begins the second half of the film. Bad way to present a roadshow film.

The earlier titles were flippers because they hadn't perfected dual-layer discs yet.

I don't have a problem with movies being split if they had an intermission and the break is at that point, but if they played continuously in theaters that's how they should be on disc, space permitting. If they have to split a movie I prefer they do it on a 2-sided DVD-18, since technically it's still one disc (and no, I don't have a changer.) I would not buy the new Lord of the Rings discs though because the regular discs have the theatrical versions on one side, but you still have to change sides for those versions on the new ones.

I don't mind at all. Film quality is pretty critical and I wouldn't want it compromised by having a four hour flick on a single side of a DVD. Some of the movies just need to find a better breaking point if they're going to split things up, but most movies are good with it.

Yeah, because at $12.99 "Apocalypse Now: The Complete Dossier" was a complete ripoff. Without that second disc they could have gotten it down to $12.49.

By the way, what are qualifications to make such pronouncements? How many DVDs have you authored? "These films would each fit on one disc" means nothing if you don't know what you're talking about.

Sorry, I'll take better picture quality over a single disc any day.

Das Boot, Superbit

Malcolm X really sucks cause I think the disc ends right in the middle of a line of dialogue. It's a really stupid cut they made.

Grand Prix is another movie split between 2 discs.

"Space permitting" is the important part there. Studios know fully well that people would much rather have a complete movie all on one side of a DVD. The only times they split a movie, either over multiple discs or multiple sides, is when space isn't permitting.

I really don't see the appeal of a DVD-18, and no, I don't have a changer either. You lose the disc art, you now have to protect both sides of the disc, making handling more difficult, and you still have to get up and eject the disc and swap sides. I much prefer 2 DVD-9s over one DVD-18.

That's because the LOTR LEs contain both the EE and Theatrical cuts on the disc through seamless branching. If you can live without the EE than the original 2-disc set would be fine.

You meant one disc... I think. :)

They could make the space but chucking off the extras.

Having two disks doesn't always improve the picture quality either.

For example, our UK DVD of Gangs of New York is on a single disk, made possible by moving the extras to Disk 2, and it has a better quality image than the US DVD.

Obviously there comes a point where you really do need to split the movie, but I don't think that point comes until you hit around the 3 hr mark (assuming no extras taking up valuable space).

The Unbearable Lightness of Being is split into two disks (the non-Criterion version). I think there's only like 30 minutes on the second disk.

Most of the films that are split over 2 discs don't have any extras on at least one of the discs, aside from alternate audio tracks like commentary, which needs to be with the film.

The better quality of the UK disc has little to do with it being on one disc. The US DVD actually has a better video bitrate, almost 1Mbps on average, but is overshadowed by excessive edge enhancement:
http://www.dvdactive.com/editorial/a...-r1-vs-r2.html

So bitrate isn't the only thing that determines quality, but it is an important factor, and usually the one that determines whether a film needs to be split or not.

Most of the films split over 2 discs are over 3 hours long.

There's about an hour of film on the 2nd disc on the newer Warner release:
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcom...elightness.htm

The Warner has almost the same bitrate as the Criterion, despite the addition of a French soundtrack and more subtitles. Some older films need a bigger bitrate to compensate for film grain, such as Godfather Part 2.

It doesn't need to be with the film for me. I don't care to have the continuity of the movie broken just for a commentary - the integrity of the movie takes precedence. If losing the commentary means the film can stay on one disk, I'd rather that.

no problem on long films...helps make everything look smooth.

Apocolypse now was such a clusterfuck because they could have but each cut on a seperate disc...

I have a sneaking suspicion that Paramount split both movies so that people who liked only one version of the movie didn't sell the other disc on eBay.

It's stupid logic, but it's the only thing I can come up with.

On a 3 hour movie, a commentary might take up 250 MB of a 9 GB DVD. So unless they split it across two discs because the last 4 minutes wouldn't fit on there, I don't think commentaries are to blame.

It might sound like an insignificant amount, but if you have to reduce the size of the movie by ~250MB, it can become enough to tip the balance into the introduction of visible artefacts into the video. When you also consider that a DVD will typically contain 2 or more DD 5.1 tracks to accommodate different languages as well as a 2.0 surround track, it becomes even more so. That annoys me too.

The ultimate point I'm getting at here is that if you minimise the baggage, you'd be able to get more films on a single disk without any loss in quality. Schindler's List without having to flip the disk, for example. I can't imagine the film would have needed to continue on Side B if it weren't for the fact that it had English DTS 5.1, English DD 5.1, French DD 5.1 and Spanish DD 5.1.

I actually like it on long films. Provides a much needed break.

You can take a break anytime you want on any movie by hitting the pause button.

Schindler's List is obout 3 1/4 hours long, so it would've been a tight fit on one side even with only one DD 5.1. With the lowest audio bitrate, the video bitrate would max out at 5.45Mbps, compared to the average of 7.34Mbps on the current DVD. A nearly 2Mbps drop in video bitrate would probably correlate to a drop in video quality.

I also disagree with classifying audio tracks as "baggage." For those for whom audio quality is as important as video quality, a DTS or at least a higher bitrate DD track is a must. Also, while I personally don't see the need for dub tracks, the studio is courting a certain demographic with them, one that's large enough to justify producing those tracks, let alone including them.

Finally, you've said before that a film probably needs to be split once it hits the 3 hour mark, and Shindler's List is over 3 hours.

I would consider that as a "tv miniseries", instead of a "movie". Quite understandable for a miniseries to be split up. :-)

1) The price of AN:TCD was not the point of my mention of value; it was the double-dip I was referring to.

2) My "qualifications to make such pronouncements"? Firstly, as stated in my original post, I already own both versions of AN, and they DO fit on a single disc. With a few extras. And I have authored (or assisted with authoring) several dozen DVDs (including menus, etc.), if you must know. Bitching about my qualifications in this field "means nothing if you don't know what you're talking about."

3) Better picture quality? Marginally, if at all, especially in the case of AN. Especially since Coppolla keeps allowing others to fuck with the OAR of this film.