Tired of Special Editions?!

I for one am.

While I can' t say I only buy the best of everything (as I can' t afford the best of everything), I usually purchase the superior product when I can.

If a videogame comes out for all three systems, I have all three systems, so I' ll buy the best version of it. If a band releases a song that I love, but later remixes the song and makes it better, I go after the remix.

That' s why if there' s a superior version of a movie that I love I will go after the superior version..... but it' s never that simple. With videogames I usually have a heads up about which is the best version and music remixes can easily be downloaded (and often have to be since you can' t usually buy them).

But DVD' s are another story. Rarely are special editions announced at the time of the release of the normal DVD. Having no clue there' s another version to come you rush out and purchase you DVD. It' s filled with deleted scenes and extra footage. You' re happy.

Until..... 5 months down the road there' s a special edition announced filled with even more deleted scenes, alternate endings, cast interviews, and loads of other features. You love the movie, and want the best version, but you just plopped down 25 bucks for this damn movie 5 months ago. And now your copy is just outdated.

What' s even worse is when there are several special editions out there. Like Spider-Man 1 has at least 2 special editions. I believe Field of Dreams is another offender.

So you purchase the superior version of the movie only to learn that and even better edition is released. Talk about pissed.

It has gotten to the point where it has actually begun to affect my buying habits. When a popular movie hits DVD I assume that a special edition is always right around the corner. Instead of going out and buying the movies I love, I wait for a better edition to be released.

I loved Freddy vs Jason and rented it when it first came out (it was a free rental). I was going to buy it, but when I saw the slim pickings the DVD offered I said to myself, " This could not be it?!

I' m so positive that there' s going to be a special edition released later that I can' t bring myself to buy the current DVD. I went to see the extra footage/deleted scenes that special editions often have but I will not buy 2 versions of the same movie any more. Got burned in the past. Probably will get burned again unexpectedly. But I' m just going to wait to purchase my DVD' s from now on. If I ever need to see a movie they' re still 75 cents to rent at the local library.

The One, The only One
- The Lotus One

Special Editions are not always superior. Deleted scenes do not always improve a movie. I prefer the theatrical cut of Terminator 2 to any of the 10 billion Special Editions there are out there. The scene where they remove the Terminator' s chip is really lame and degrades the movie. Scenes are cut for a reason. And it' s not because movie theaters can' t show long movies. It is usually because those scenes add little or nothing to the movie, or may in fact slow down the pace entirely. Now with Lord of the Rings, scenes had to be removed otherwise each movie would have been 3 or 4 weeks long, and I consider that an exception.

But for the most part I couldn' t give a rat' s ass about director commentaries, deleted scenes, the " making of" (usually a bunch of crappy camcorder footage from the set following the director around), etc etc etc. What I REALLY dislike are the " making of' s" that play the music from the movie and keep cutting to scenes from the finished movie between really short clips of interviews. Basically it' s like one long advertising.

5 months down the road there' s a special edition announced filled with even more deleted scenes, alternate endings, cast interviews, and loads of other features

I agree
It wouldn' t be bad if they told you that a better one is coming out but noooo they only announce it after you' ve already picked up the original DVD.
That happened to me for the first in the lord of the rings series
I was not happy and am not happy that they do that
Corporate scam to make more money? Or do they really not know that they will be making a special or extended edition a couple months down the road?

I think this really varies from movie to movie, if they ever put out a SE for say, Goodfellas, I' d be all over it. But when they have SE for any old movie, thats when I think it' s going over the top.

The Hot Chick - SPECIAL EDITION (boooooo)

The Hot Chick - SPECIAL EDITION (boooooo)

But you still brought it, didn' t you?

I agree with Joe, I hated the added scenes in the director' s cut of Leon' The Professional. I much prefer to watch deleted scenes as an extra feature...just what would have been, instead of forcing us to watch it in the movie. Actually...I think the abyss dvd did it the best...it let you choose from two different versions to watch right from the beginning(rather than having to buy two different versions,ugh.)

But for the most part I couldn' t give a rat' s ass about director commentaries, deleted scenes, the " making of" (usually a bunch of crappy camcorder footage from the set following the director around), etc etc etc.

I agree 99%..

The opposing 1% likes checking out the deleted scenes in movies that I really enjoy. Unfortunately most of the stuff I really like never have deleted scenes and appear to be just straight DVD conversions.

Of course it is a corporate money making scheme. They have to bleed people dry. And their target audience is the yuppie generation, who has to have the best. The people with little financial concerns and money to burn.

As for special features, i like them. I think they are fun. They don' t necessarily add to the movie, but they are harmless fun. I don' t purposely wait for a special edition, but if i know one is available and it is a movie i love, I will find the special edition. But really, to me it doesn' t matter. Though sometimes the cases are nicer and that is what I am a sucker for. All about the asthetics

That' s odd- I haven' t noticed very many special editions... and I especially haven' t watched many. I saw Star Wars Trilogy special edition, but I haven' t seen the original. However, in one of the versions of the special edition, I saw just how much it was improved over the original. However, not noticing many special editions might have something to do with how I haven' t watched many more movies recently. (Summer just started, the school year was a busy one, and in terms of entertainment, in those rare chances I got, I chose video games)

Most things that are being rereleased (for the first time on Dvd etc) are usually titled special editions, or then you get anniversary re-releases, or just the money making, six months later, let' s releases a new edition special edition (look at what Shrek and Spiderman did prior to the release of their second parts)