The No Man

Lately I've been feeling really guilty for buying dvds of movies for $15-$20 each. I say this because there are a lot of great tv show dvds that cost just as much, but give you so much more content for your money. I feel like, "why spend $23 on the Departed dvd when I can get any season of the X-Files for $20, or buy two seasons of a show from the DDD B1G1 sale for $18.99.

Anybody else feel the same way?

This thread could also be a great way to list inexpensive but great tv show sets.

Fincher Fan

Any of the Kevin Smith flicks are always stuffed with content.

Spiral Staircase

I usually choose quality over quantity. There are some tv shows I really admire, but they are vastly outnumbered by the number of films that I would consider to be great works of art (and entertainment). In general, movies are much more expensive to produce than tv series. TV series pay for a large percentage their production costs with advertising revenue. I have no problem paying more per hour for movie content as compared to television content.

matome

I'm not an extras guy, but I think The Dead Zone (Anthony Michael Hall) sets are one of the best deals for TV shows. For under $30 you get full seasons with commentaries, deleted scenes for all episodes plus other stuff. Also nice anamorphic transfers and DD5.1 sound. Oh and the show itself is pretty damn good (the most important part)

Simpson Purist

I don't mind paying over $25 for a "deluxe" set if the bonus stuff is really well-done like Sin City or Lord of the Rings. That said, I'm getting annoyed at this 1-disc vs. 2-disc trend, especially since most studios re-release the DVD with more extras in the future

As for "bang for your buck" DVDs, you can't go wrong with Futurama Volumes 1-4 at Wal-Mart. Each volume is $19.99 and has commentaries on every episode, animatics, deleted scenes, and other easter eggs.

Brian Shannon

I have never felt guilty about buying any dvd. I buy only that which I have seen and would like to watch again.

TylerDurden_73

Extra content doesn't always equal quality. Click comes to mind...

nateman

A large portion of my dvd collection is tv on dvd sets, thats because there is way more content, if its an hour show its at the very least 22 41min episodes and that is almost half a movie.
i like movies don't get me wrong but i watch alot of tv shows and have enjoyed tv shows more than movies due to the fact that i don't go to the theaters and i only blind buy once and awhile.
i buy a fair amount of movies but %90 of them are blind buys. so far in 07 i have actually bought quite a few movies that were new releases over the last month and a half.
even if there is alot of bonus features on a movie, %90 of it is just garbage. im not a fan of sitting there listening to the Directors commentary or how the movie was made, the only thing i would watch in a movie dvd special feature is a blooper reel.
i do not feel guily about buying a movie through, its just that i enjoy a tv on dvd set a bit more.

-ER-seasons 1-6 are all not that expensive and there are a great bang for your buck, seasons 1-3 are all 20 bucks at some stores and seasons 4-6 are only around 39 bucks which isn't that much more than a 2 disc special ed dvd.
thats canadian dollar not american through.
seach around and most tv on dvd sets really arn't that more expensive than a movie.

Mr. Cinema

I recently picked up the Master and Commander 2-disc set. Well worth $30. Great movie, audio, video, extras, and packaging.

Mike Adams

Better still, the "An Evening with..." releases are plenty long and have a decent amount of extras. Definitely substantial enough to sink your teeth into.

chileorgullo

see: criterions--

most of the ones with less content can be found cheaper on places like dvdplanet. I paid 42 for in the mood for love cc the day it came out. and it is still one of my favorite dvds. I don't know if it was because I just felt like I had to like it more paying all the money for it, but it is a great set and is worth more than most.

Rizor

I'm pretty dang happy with the Alien Quadrilogy ($62) and James Bond UEs ($200!). They sure cost a pretty penny, I'm I don't regret making the purchases.

ResIpsa

TV sets are cheap but how many times are you going to watch that season of Monk again? TV has very little replay value for me, while I can watch some of my favorite features many times and never grow tired of them, so the cost per hour of content might actually be equivalent for me on some titles.

Trevor

Why are movies more re-watchable than TV?

It varies, depends on the quality of that particular series or movie.

Personally, I know more people that re-watch TV shows over and over again.

The whole concept of syndication seems to back up that view.

Time is a factor also. Sometimes you don't want to commit 2 hours to a movie, but have 20-45 minutes to watch a TV episode.

And don't knock Monk, I'm positive that I'll watch every Monk episode at least twice in my life, and most movies I see I'll never watch again.

acubfaninmd

there arent any cheap tv sets out right now i need. i want wire season 3 thats around $80. need sopranos s4 on and those are expensive.

matome

If I had the time I could probably rotate my Buffy and Angel sets non-stop forever

chileorgullo

I do rotate my shield seasons 1-4 all the time

Zodiac_Speaking

I will pay for a great disc and extras. I thought WB recently put out a good amount of extras (sans commentary) for The Departed. I didn't mind spending $22.95 for the Target exclusive. Criterions I don't mind either; great films and content.

I do get pissy when there's a new release and its averagely priced/on sale but lack of quality extras, ie The Prestige.

I feel this is what DVD is all about; movie in best quality and fun, informative extras and or exclusives. It makes buying fun.

TV shows are a blast, like you said for more content, but rarely do that have a package of extras. But if your a TV fan, its all good.

obscurelabel

The DVD I think of most often for (low price/lots of features) is Superfly. It has a commentary, a new documentary with many of the original cast/crew, a vintage featurette on Ron O'Neal, an audio recording of Curtis Mayfield talking about his soundtrack music, a new featurette about the clothes used in the file (the costume designer still has most of the outrageous outfits), and the original trailer. It can be found for less than $10.

The movie itself is very low budget, but bursting with grit and energy. Mayfield's music is some of the best ever written for any kind of film. Bonus: Ron O'Neal performs two stunts I had to rewind and watch again:

MEJHarrison

I would never add something to my collection simply based off it's price per minute value.

With that said, I love picking up a great TV show for a good price. But I won't pick one up because of a good price. I only buy the TV shows I know I really want. It's not only the value of my dollars to be considered here, but the value of my time. I don't wish to waste time to on a show I'm only mildly interested in.

ResIpsa

Well, I said that for me my favorite films are just as rewatchable to me as TV, if not more so. I love my original Twilight Zone and Twin Peaks sets but never had any interest in rewatching any other TV series so I eventually sold off the few that I purchased. Just my personal preference.

How did I knock Monk? It was simply the first series that popped into my head as I was writing. Tony Shaloub is one of my favorite actors and he is hilarious in Monk.

visitor Q

I'm anti-content for the money. If I weren't, I wouldn't have paid $330 for a DVD set that came with a mini-statue from Japan .. and one movie. Yeah, there is plenty of content that comes with the set, on four seperate DVDs, but they are all in Japanese. Absolutely useless to me.

At times I've purchased the collector or extended releases of for added content: Master and Commander, Kagemusha - Criterion instead of bare boned international release. But then at times I skip the content completely: Fifth Element Superbit over the Ultimate 2 disk, Dawn of the Dead Anchor Bay release over the ultimate 3 disk.

So in reality it all boils down to what I'm getting out of the purchase for the buck, quality presentation, certain extras, best soundtrack .. whatever. I'm linearly scattered!!

If I translated that over into TV releases .. I simply buy what I desire to watch (when I can afford it), period; regardless of content.

nateman

great comment.
to me a tv show that takes 20 mins to watch goes by faster than watching a 2 hour movie. even if for ex. i watch 2 hours worth of 20 min episodes it goes by faster than a movie.
in my opinion tv show sets are way more re-watchable than a movie, the only couple of movies i could watch over & over again are the green mile & forrest gump. and the green mile is a bitch to watch cause its long.
i can watch the simpsons, Will & Grace, roseanne and more dvd sets over and over again and not get tired of them.
a show like lost, i have the dvds but i don't think i would watch them alot due to the fact that its the type of show were in my opinion isn't really that rewatchable.
a sitcom/comedy or dramas can be watched indivdually cause most of the episodes stand alone.
lost is a continuing series.

thats just like lost they arn't as rewatchable as alot of other shows.

Jackson_Browne

I feel this way with a lot of more espensive DVD's, especially from companies like Criterion and Kino. While I would ultimately love to have more of those films in my collection, I often find it hard to justify spending $25 for a Criterion film when I get can 4 other great films for that price in the recent Universal sale.

The No Man

I like buying TV shows on dvd more because...

a) I do get more content for the money.

b) In my opinion they are more rewatchable

c) I don't always have time to sit down to watch a whole movie. Sometimes if I'm just gonna eat breakfast or something and I just feel like watching a dvd, I'll put on an episode.

d) I love being able to listen to the commentary for a specific episode if I want to. (Although I am obsessive when it comes to the Simpsons and Looney Tunes commentaries...I won't watch the next episode until I listen to the commentary for the one I just watched!)

Don't get me wrong, I still love movies on dvd, but when I have the option of spending $20 on a movie that has 100 min of content that I will watch once or twice, and spending $20 on a tv show set that has 1000 min of content with commentaries on all the episodes and a bunch of good extra material, I choose the latter.