When buying, what's more important: the movie inside, or the packaging?

[theater dreamer]

Happy Sunday, everybody!

Since joining the forum a few months ago, my movie addiction, which has always been pretty strong, has kicked into the high gear. I can't begin to approach some of the collections I've seen here, at least, not yet, anyway. And I don't yet have the A/V system a lot of you guys do, either. All things in good time.

Since I am in the relatively early stages of building my collection, I'm trying to figure out how, exactly, I want to do it. I've put together a pretty good list of a few hundred films I want to get by the end of the year. This should be a pretty good start. Included within my master list are all the Academy Award Best Picture winners, as well as AFI's 100 Greatest American Films list.

But I find myself on the fence about how I want to put this collection together. Let me give you an example.



Lionsgate Films has assembled a 5 movie pack, including No Country for Old Men, Crash, Chicago, The English Patient, and Shakespeare in Love. This collection could be had for under $20. That's a steal. None of these rank among my favorite Best Picture winners, but at that price, it's hard to pass up.

However, I love looking at the cases and slips Blu Ray movies come in, and it's pretty clear this collection won't have those. I've looked everywhere, and can't see a picture of the discs, or the interior packaging. It looks like it's just a fold out like in the Superman Motion Picture Anthology. As somebody who loves color, and typography, photography, and working in Photoshop, I would really miss those. Plus, I like to display the movies side by side.

So, on the one hand, for $20, I can knock out 5 Best Picture winners. And the money I save can be put towards other films. Yet, the packaging will likely fall well short of what I really like.

So, I ask you all, what's more important? Is it just important for you to own the films you want? Or, do you spend substantial time considering the appearance of your collection?

Thank you all for your input!

Bill

[spectre08]

personally I loathe mutli-film sets unless they're proper collectable box sets.

My view on packaging is that having a particular film is nice and all, but you will probably only spend a few hours watching it, maybe a few times a year. The case on the other hand is always there, always visible. I have to see it every day.

DVDs are kind of like books. Yeah, the $1 airport paperback has the same words as the First Edition Hardcover, but which do you want to see every day on your bookshelf? Which is going to make you more likely to pick it up and read again at some point in the future?

[Chiefy]

For me, I don't even have to think about this. The movie(s) is what matters. Packaging is a very distant 2nd, unless of course it's so bad, that it actually damages the discs.

[OI8T12]

The most important thing to me is the movie. If it comes in a nice slipcover, that's fine. There are some really nice looking slipcovers out there, but the most important thing is still the movie. I'm not going to go crazy looking for a slipcover, unless it's a Disney title. All Disney titles in my collection must have a slipcover. The packaging is nice, but to me, the movie is what counts the most.

[Race Bannon]

I can't believe you even have to ask.

Avoid future misery and self-loathing. Don't assemble a "collection." Collect a bunch of movies that you either already love or are interested in watching.

You'll feel better in the long run about it if it's built around genuine love of the films.

[StingingVelvet]

Movie of course, however like you I am turned off by multiple films in one package like that. If individual releases are available I will pay more for them.

I have definitely seem some around here refuse to buy a movie because it lacked a slip-cover, so I don't think this is a weird question. Some people collect packaging as much as movies.

[rdodolak]

The problem I see with that slip cover is that it doesn't list the titles on the spine. So, after a while once it's sitting on the shelf, and all you see is the spine, you're less likely to remember where you may find any one of those titles on your shelf. It might not be a problem if you have a small collection but as your collection grows bigger I can definitely see this becoming an issue.

[Todd Tomorrow]

I thought the thread title was satirical.

[wvuwhat]

I buy movies I have already seen and liked. And, will watch more than once. With that said, I still have many unopened Blu's in my "collection."

New movies that I buy are 90% digital. Occasionally, I'll buy a new movie if comes in Steelbook form.

Don't get caught up in trying to be a "collector."

[nik666uk]

Originally Posted by Race Bannon

I can't believe you even have to ask.

Avoid future misery and self-loathing. Don't assemble a "collection." Collect a bunch of movies that you either already love or are interested in watching.

You'll feel better in the long run about it if it's built around genuine love of the films.

So true, I used to blind buy a lot of dvds and have to own every film's sequels too and ended up running out of space to put them, now I only buy blu rays of films I love(apart from a couple of cheap blind buys) It felt so good selling all my dvds!

[MTS]

Originally Posted by Race Bannon

I can't believe you even have to ask.

Avoid future misery and self-loathing. Don't assemble a "collection." Collect a bunch of movies that you either already love or are interested in watching.

You'll feel better in the long run about it if it's built around genuine love of the films.

I wish you had written this, and I had read it, a few years ago. Maybe there's still hope for me...

[Drooch]

Movie is all that matters, of course. It's sad that most blu packaging is horrifc, with floating heads and bland new designs replacing great original artwork, but the quality of the disc is all that matters.

I bought a copy of Touch Of Evil in the UK, it came in a glorious steelbook, only to discover the transfer is lazy and terrible compared to the US version. What a waste of a great presentation. Like a fancy box with a turd inside .

They really screwed up blu-ray. The number of shoddy releases of catalogue titles is unforgivable.

[Quake1028]

I don't really care much for packaging, at all. If I can get cool packaging (Steelbooks, etc.) without going out of my way or paying $$$$$$$$ for them, fine.

[prozacnation1978]

Anyone who thinks packaging is more important than the movie itself has a screw loose

[Monterey Jack]

I like a nice slipcover or steelbook, but I won't go out of my way or pay extra for one...once I've bought a movie, I will not re-buy it for anything less than an improved transfer, or more extras, or preferably both. I got burned by re-buying movies on DVD for nothing more than "cool" packaging (or else just to get a regular case as opposed to those cardboard "snappers"), so no more of that for me. The closest I've come to re-buying just for packaging alone was the "Pop Art" steelbook for Taxi Driver, and that was mainly just so the movie would fit on the same shelf as my other Scorsese Blus.

[spiderfan1985]

The movie of course, but the packaging can be a nice bonus. Also the supplemental content can be a huge deal for me. Sadly documentaries are becoming scarcer. Unless you're Ridley Scott.

[Ray Jackson]

Ultimately the content is the most important factor...assuming you're a true movie geek.

But packaging is a very underappreciated aspect of blu ray purchases for me. A great package design is like a great album cover; it really enhances the overall aesthetic value of a great film or tv show.

It always bothers me when a company distributes a movie/tv show with some half-assed boring design on the cover. I'm already disappointed about the upcoming release of The Wire on blu-ray and it still more than three months away. Just don't like the case/cover art they came up with.

Blu ray cases that do it right just look so damn beautiful sitting on my bookshelf.

...Twin Peaks: The Entire Mystery

...Breaking Bad boxset

...the Criterion version of Eraserhead

etc.

Packaging is very important to me. It's one of the reasons why I take such good care of my collection.

[spiderfan1985]

You're looking at one of the guys who purchased 3 different copies of Big Hero 6. The packaging or the retailer exclusives was awesome, especially the Target steel. Some films will never get the grand designs, and some really don't require it, but the ones that do really get it. Look at Birdman for an example of some very well done packaging. I have yet to watch the film, but I can say with confidence that Fox outdid themselves for their Oscar darling.

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

Happy Sunday, everybody!

Since joining the forum a few months ago, my movie addiction, which has always been pretty strong, has kicked into the high gear. I can't begin to approach some of the collections I've seen here, at least, not yet, anyway. And I don't yet have the A/V system a lot of you guys do, either. All things in good time.

Since I am in the relatively early stages of building my collection, I'm trying to figure out how, exactly, I want to do it. I've put together a pretty good list of a few hundred films I want to get by the end of the year. This should be a pretty good start. Included within my master list are all the Academy Award Best Picture winners, as well as AFI's 100 Greatest American Films list.

But I find myself on the fence about how I want to put this collection together. Let me give you an example.

[Show spoiler]

Lionsgate Films has assembled a 5 movie pack, including No Country for Old Men, Crash, Chicago, The English Patient, and Shakespeare in Love. This collection could be had for under $20. That's a steal. None of these rank among my favorite Best Picture winners, but at that price, it's hard to pass up.

However, I love looking at the cases and slips Blu Ray movies come in, and it's pretty clear this collection won't have those. I've looked everywhere, and can't see a picture of the discs, or the interior packaging. It looks like it's just a fold out like in the Superman Motion Picture Anthology. As somebody who loves color, and typography, photography, and working in Photoshop, I would really miss those. Plus, I like to display the movies side by side.

So, on the one hand, for $20, I can knock out 5 Best Picture winners. And the money I save can be put towards other films. Yet, the packaging will likely fall well short of what I really like.

So, I ask you all, what's more important? Is it just important for you to own the films you want? Or, do you spend substantial time considering the appearance of your collection?

Thank you all for your input!

Bill

Personally, it's the movie that's most important. Hopefully, it also has superb video and audio as well. Packaging, unless it's just too cool, just doesn't matter as much to me.

As for multi-movie sets, this one in particular, the trouble is that a couple of these films have better stand alone editions available or picked up through various means.

No Country for Old Men, one of my favorites, had a two disc special edition released with DTS Master Audio 5.1. The version out now is the older transfer with PCM audio since the rights went to another distributor.

Chicago has a brand new deluxe version coming from Japan on April 22nd (for around $20) with a brand new Dolby Atmos 3D surround remix. Easiest place to get it from is Amazon's Japan site.

---

Some of these cheap multi-title packs will have lesser versions in order to reach the budget pricing some consumers really like.

Also, if it's a really popular or classic catalog title or fairly recent release it may be an obvious candidate for 2160p Ultra HD Blu-ray coming either late this year or early next, so you might want to consider that possibility if you're just starting out collecting films in high definition.

Disney classics are a strange beast. If you're a fan and you don't want to wait another five to ten years for the "vault" to open in order to own them in "4k," then you might as well buy them on Blu-ray if you can find them on sale.

Deep catalog, cult classics, or hit TV shows not shot and/or mastered in 4k at the time of their TV broadcasting run may take a while to show up in the next UHD format or it's possible they may not at all. Therefore, if you can find a title you want at a great price on regular Blu-ray, you might as well go for it.

If you're thinking of upgrading to a new receiver or pre-amp I would strongly recommend waiting for product with both DTS:X and Dolby Atmos decoding on board... those should arrive towards the fourth quarter this year.

[Astro Zombie]

I'm a sucker for packaging, so that factors in heavily on whether or not I want to buy a movie.