Bad movie covers for Aus releases

[Templar]

I had to start this one as there have been MANY times i've ordered titles from O/S purely due to the local covers. Why do we have such badly designed covers here (or why are they changed) - the ones that are used in other countries are great (Alien Quadrilogy, Drive) but we get ones that look as though they are hastily cobbled together by the work experience kids!

I'd be interested to hear others thoughts on this...

[Cevolution]

I've got to say I disagree. IMO the odd Aussie release has a poorly designed ugly looking cover, but too me the artwork of our covers and covers from the UK are generally more attractive that the artwork from a lot of U.S releases. Out of the 38 U.S blu titles I currently own, I think over half of them have poorly designed no frills looking artwork, like they are pirate copies or something.

[Anamnesis]

The worst cover art in Australia by far is this: http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/dvd/d...blu-ray/651468

[Hucksta G]

Yep that Fast Times cover is pretty bad, I also MUCH prefer the US cover of Blue Valentine to that of Aus/NZ and the UK.

[imMango]

Anything with a Triple Play banner.

[MacEachaidh]

Mostly I think it's swings and roundabouts. (And personal taste.) Some releases the OZ one appeals to me more, sometimes it's the US or UK. (Look at The Frighteners – love the OZ/UK cover, but the US one has that cobbled-together-by-the-receptionist look about it.)

Most consistently bad thing about OZ covers is the eyesore that is the ratings blurt, but that's probably a wee bit OT. I know I'll sometimes even pay a bit more to buy the version that doesn't have intrusions on the artwork like "Blu-ray + DVD" splashed across them in bright blue, so I get where you're coming from, Templar.

[LordCrumb]

Originally Posted by Templar

I had to start this one as there have been MANY times i've ordered titles from O/S purely due to the local covers. Why do we have such badly designed covers here (or why are they changed) - the ones that are used in other countries are great (Alien Quadrilogy, Drive) but we get ones that look as though they are hastily cobbled together by the work experience kids!

I'd be interested to hear others thoughts on this...

Whats wrong with the Alien Quad here? The FaceHugger version was a limited thing, we were lucky enough to be the first to get the individual releases, with GREAT cover art.

[beechy]

Originally Posted by Cevolution

I've got to say I disagree. IMO the odd Aussie release has a poorly designed ugly looking cover, but too me the artwork of our covers and covers from the UK are generally more attractive that the artwork from a lot of U.S releases. Out of the 38 U.S blu titles I currently own, I think over half of them have poorly designed no frills looking artwork, like they are pirate copies or something.

I agree 100% I reckon even sometimes the actual print job & reso on the us ones especially some older titles can e bit on the cheap looking side and a lower gsm of paper to my opinion only but that's my take

[xxmatthewxx]

I hate the Buena Vista covers that were coming out for a while with that horrible silver thing on the cover. Finding Neverland was one off the top of my head.

[LordCrumb]

Originally Posted by xxmatthewxx

I hate the Buena Vista covers that were coming out for a while with that horrible silver thing on the cover. Finding Neverland was one off the top of my head.

I think they might be slowly replacing those covers.. which is great, as I agree, the silver wave is really old.

[Cevolution]

Originally Posted by xxmatthewxx

I hate the Buena Vista covers that were coming out for a while with that horrible silver thing on the cover. Finding Neverland was one off the top of my head.

Originally Posted by LordCrumb

I think they might be slowly replacing those covers.. which is great, as I agree, the silver wave is really old.

I always thought it was supposed to represent the 'D' in the official blu-ray disc logo.

[Templar]

Great responses! Just for the record, i'm not completely writing off our local covers, but there are quite a few out there that don't stack up to what's available in other countries. I saw the local covers for the Millenium Trilogy extended editions yesterday -

Originally Posted by Anamnesis

The worst cover art in Australia by far is this: http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/dvd/d...blu-ray/651468

Yup, that is a bad one, right along side Animal House - the US got the original Jack Davis poster art as their cover, and we got a 2 minute Corel Draw effort

Originally Posted by imMango

Anything with a Triple Play banner.

Completely agree - put this on as a sticker over the plastic wrapping so that it doesn't intrude on the cover art.

Originally Posted by MacEachaidh

Mostly I think it's swings and roundabouts. (And personal taste.) Some releases the OZ one appeals to me more, sometimes it's the US or UK. (Look at The Frighteners – love the OZ/UK cover, but the US one has that cobbled-together-by-the-receptionist look about it.)

I absolutely LOVE the OZ/UK Frighteners cover - simple but completely effective! Personal taste is definitely the key - comepletely agree there.

Originally Posted by LordCrumb

Whats wrong with the Alien Quad here? The FaceHugger version was a limited thing, we were lucky enough to be the first to get the individual releases, with GREAT cover art.

I like the individual ones, but the Facehugger one that had the embossed front just didn't do it for me. The UK/US box with the Alien curled up was the winner by far.

Originally Posted by beechy

I agree 100% I reckon even sometimes the actual print job & reso on the us ones especially some older titles can e bit on the cheap looking side and a lower gsm of paper to my opinion only but that's my take

Yeah, a few of the older titles do have a lower GSM of paper, but i can see where the studios are coming from - why print something on anything above 80-125 GSM when it's going to be sold at a low price due to it being a back catalogue title...then this affects the print job...

[Cevolution]

Originally Posted by Templar

Great responses! Just for the record, i'm not completely writing off our local covers, but there are quite a few out there that don't stack up to what's available in other countries. I saw the local covers for the Millenium Trilogy extended editions yesterday -

What's wrong with those? They are not pixelated or cheap looking, and imo are not poorly designed at all. The cover art of them is almost identical to the Scandinavia versions. I think they look quite good, better than the cover art of the boxsets from the U.S and the UK IMO.

[Templar]

Originally Posted by Cevolution

[/B]

What's wrong with those? They are not pixelated or cheap looking, and imo are not poorly designed at all. The cover art of them is almost identical to the Scandinavia versions. I think they look quite good, better than the cover art of the boxsets from the U.S and the UK IMO.

Honestly, it's just me but i think they look like not much effort was put into them. Don't know why but they just don't sit right with me. Each to their own - glad you like 'em!

[MacEachaidh]

It's curious, the power a cover can have to influence whether you buy a title or not – bad covers especially. A few times now I've picked up the Dick Lester Musketeers films, both of them, looked at the the covers ... and put them down again, even though they've been a mere $10 apiece. The covers are just low-res shots of the main characters, cropped (not very well) out of a screenshot, and pasted onto a solid-coloured background. Erkk. The UK releases look much nicer ... but they're nearly twice the price. So I've dithered, and ended up not buying them at all, from anywhere.

When covers are so different between regional releases, I can't help but wonder why: is it a rights issue, or licensing costs, or did the marketing department think that the different cover would be more appealing to the local market? I get curious. Maybe it's nothing more than some local marketing honch forcing a chance to express his/her own design sensibility? (In which case, they should often just stick to their real job!)

[Trekkie313]

Originally Posted by Anamnesis

The worst cover art in Australia by far is this: http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/dvd/d...blu-ray/651468

Oh lord, that's just sad...

[Pink Bits]

I don't dislike any of the Australian covers I have in my collection, with the only exception being a US cover...

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Groun...-Blu-ray/2560/
Bill Murray's face looks awful on this cover.

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Groun...-Blu-ray/2655/
The UK release looks a lot better.

[Black13teen]

I dont mind the new covers, except when they use some crappy photoshop alternative. I prefer the artwork from the old video rental covers myself, especially from the 80s. Atleast they chose a good one for The Evil Dead

[Supernaut]

The worst one in my collection has to be this:



I hated it so much I created my own custom cover using the original theratrical poster which is just miles better.

[beechy]

Originally Posted by Templar

Great responses! Just for the record, i'm not completely writing off our local covers, but there are quite a few out there that don't stack up to what's available in other countries. I saw the local covers for the Millenium Trilogy extended editions yesterday -



Yup, that is a bad one, right along side Animal House - the US got the original Jack Davis poster art as their cover, and we got a 2 minute Corel Draw effort



Completely agree - put this on as a sticker over the plastic wrapping so that it doesn't intrude on the cover art.



I absolutely LOVE the OZ/UK Frighteners cover - simple but completely effective! Personal taste is definitely the key - comepletely agree there.



I like the individual ones, but the Facehugger one that had the embossed front just didn't do it for me. The UK/US box with the Alien curled up was the winner by far.



Yeah, a few of the older titles do have a lower GSM of paper, but i can see where the studios are coming from - why print something on anything above 80-125 GSM when it's going to be sold at a low price due to it being a back catalogue title...then this affects the print job...

True true