Does the Bluray cover artwork influence which release you buy?

[drush9999]

I have loads of German BDs with dodgy covers and the title in German, doesn't bother me at all, it's all about the disc content. Having said that I did get the Arrow Robocop steelbook for the original art.

[jkoffman]

I really appreciate this post and I am kinda shocked at the overwhelming response that the disc content is king here. Frankly, I’ve learned to stay away from the topic of slipcovers and steelbooks because I usually get shouted down here for not caring about them. Many threads are filled with just that and not much else. Looking at you, Best Buy “deals” thread.

[Deezer1986]

9 times out of 10 no. But every now and then, I’ll look for alternatives. For example, the Burton/Schumacher Batman films. Hated the 4k standard editions, hated the 4k box set even more so (the one with the Batman silhouette that is so clearly George Clooney’s Batman). Saw the steelbook set and thought those looked great, ended up getting those for Christmas.

That’s really the only time it’s bothered me, come to think of it.

[guizhang]

missed out on days of heaven on criterion.

could've gone for the way cheaper paramount version, but opted for the imported imprint version, just because of the cover.

so yes, i'm guilty of this

[kishiro]

I go for the release with the best source and/or encoding of the film (that I know of at the time of my purchase-decision) . If it's the same release wordwide, I usually go for the US release. If the cover-art is really bad, I make a new one myself. I often make some quick customs for german or japanese releases when I want the spine and the front to contain the english title.

Originally Posted by Akibiyori

I never bought the original Blu-ray edition of Meet Me in St. Louis because of the cover art. It’s the only time I’ve done this.(...)

You're in luck buddy! It was re-released by Warner Archive with the original poster-art (which was used on the old DVD.)
Meet Me in St Louis

[Bates_Motel]

No, just like a movie poster doesn't persuade me to not see a film in the theater.

[Jay H.]

Originally Posted by bigdaddyhorse

I bought Near Dark, so no, the cover doesn't matter.

I did buy some wack shit on dvd back in the day due to pretty covers though.

I will admit: the Near Dark Blu-ray cover was so bad, I put the disc in the Anchor Bay 2-disc DVD set and put the actual Blu-ray paper artwork in the recycling bin. That is the only time I've done that.

It's pretty amusing you bought some DVDs because of the cover. A lot of people have rented or bought a movie based on the cover, and that's been happening for years. You are not alone.

[karsten]

Originally Posted by Jay H.

A lot of people have rented or bought a movie based on the cover, and that's been happening for years.

Back in the days of VHS/bematax video-rental stores (i.e., the '80s, prior to the web), the case cover was pretty much the only determining factor when it came to deciding which unknown flick to rent on a Friday night, when all of the familiar blockbusters had already been checked out.

This was especially true of horror titles, and is probably why a good many horror films in the '80s benefited from surprisingly visually impressive videocase covers, despite the B-grade quality of the films themselves.

[karsten]

Originally Posted by jkoffman

I really appreciate this post and I am kinda shocked at the overwhelming response that the disc content is king here.

It's probably worth adding that, if it weren't possible to compare colour timing and picture quality between different releases via online-posted screencaps (or via reviews with screencaps), I would base my choice on cover artwork every time -- even despite significant price discrepancies.

It actually annoys me to buy releases with poorer covers over those with better covers -- but not as much as bad colour timing does. That was seldom a factor with DVDs, but with blu-rays, I find that bad colour timing (and especially, bad colour revisionism via post-hoc digital grading) is epidemic, so that's the consideration that has to take precedence over all others.

[Deezer1986]

Originally Posted by Jay H.

I will admit: the Near Dark Blu-ray cover was so bad, I put the disc in the Anchor Bay 2-disc DVD set and put the actual Blu-ray paper artwork in the recycling bin. That is the only time I've done that.

It's pretty amusing you bought some DVDs because of the cover. A lot of people have rented or bought a movie based on the cover, and that's been happening for years. You are not alone.

One word: R.O.T.O.R.

The absolute greatest awesome poster:terrible movie ratio in the history of cinema.

[BerryTheMusicMan]

No !

[Jill Valentine]

Not really but the cover of Ghostbusters Afterlife 4K I don’t really like but I’ll pick it up still.

[hasslein]

If I don't like the cover I'll just print a custom. On the flip side, I upgraded to the Arrow boxes primarily for the cool packaging...

[SpazeBlue]

Originally Posted by kishiro

You're in luck buddy! It was re-released by Warner Archive with the original poster-art (which was used on the old DVD.)
Meet Me in St Louis

You literally cut out the part of his post in your quote where he talks about exactly that.

[bigdaddyhorse]

Originally Posted by Jay H.

It's pretty amusing you bought some DVDs because of the cover. A lot of people have rented or bought a movie based on the cover, and that's been happening for years. You are not alone.

In fairness to me, they were cheap. Evil Breed was used for like $3, and I was quite familiar with Jenna's early work. The other was when Blockbuster or Hollywood closed and was 1 or 2 bucks. Wouldn't do it for $5 or more.

[Jay H.]

Originally Posted by Deezer1986

One word: R.O.T.O.R.

The absolute greatest awesome poster:terrible movie ratio in the history of cinema.

I remember seeing the one-sheet at a flea market when I was in high school. I finally watched the movie a couple years ago (it was the Rifftrax version). You, my friend, are not kidding! Oof.

[Geode]

No. But I once bought a DVD because of its cover.

sally.jpg

[UnionJackMix]

To answer the question here: yes. However mostly for titles I have never seen.
The problem is an awful artwork for me is immeditely followed by the assumption a cheap studio released it and will also look awful.
Arrow is the worst, making custom covers that all look like cheap slasher movies, omit and credit from most artworks so if you want to quickly browse their shop you need to know the titles otherwise you'll slip most titles, like I do.