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.

[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."

[Todd Tomorrow]

I thought the thread title was satirical.

[Clark Kent]

You have to decide what are more important to you, the movies or the collection. Given waning media sales, expect more multi-disc collections like this one with nearly random movies thrown together.

[sandman slim]

Plus, many of these multi-film collections are movie only, with the extras available only on the single film release. Some even have the aspect ratio altered, with 2.35 movies zoomed up to a screen filling 1.78.

[HD Goofnut]

PQ and AQ come first with packaging close behind.

[Mrlovkim]

If we are suppose to go by that Blu ray is suppose to have great PQ and AQ. I love packaging like Arrow Video and Shout.

[trainreck]

The movie should always be more important than the package but here's two things that come to mind; I always consider price when buying multi-pack sets. I do prefer single releases but I will spend $10 for a three film set before spending $5 each on 3 individual films. I also have to think about the space the films will take up. At this point I'm running out of shelf space so I'm much more inclined to purchase multi-sets that will only take up the space of 1 or 2 cases.

[cb1]

it is all about the movie for me. the package goes in the trash, the movie goes into a binder.

[csg91]

Depends on the movie for me honestly. If it's just a random movie I enjoy and that's all I care about and it happens to be double packed that's fine I'll grab it. But if it's a movie I really enjoy or has certain actors I really enjoy I tend to go with the one with the best bonus material.

[Supaclyde]

I'll buy because of packaging, but not only if it's a movie I'm interested in. I probably wouldn't own half the steelbooks I do, if they weren't released as steelbooks. But on the same token, I'm not going to buy a movie I don't like just because it's a steelbook or some other fancy packaging.

[mrrant_33]

Is it just me or does anyone else also love the smell of a brand new opened movie, or (preferably) box set?

[Pike Bishop]

Movie is more important than anything. I don't care about packaging at all with one exception: I tend to replace all eco cases with viva elites.

[DoubleDownAgain]

The movie first and foremost. I'd prefer in most cases to have individual releases but for me it is most important to have the movies. with Multipack releases you get much better bang for your $$$, so in the end I can have more movies I want than if I worry about how it is packaged.

I do like collectibles, SteelBooks, & DigiBooks, but those are just nice to have.