Audio Video News

DVD fans may soon be complaining less about the lack of available titles.

This past summer, the fastest-growing consumer electronics format in history reached 25% of the US market, for a total of 19.6 million players. That number, combined with the fact that, last year, Americans spent approximately four billion dollars on DVD purchases and rentals, has apparently been sufficient to convince the film industry's marketing executives that DVD is no passing fancy. Their response: flood the market with new titles.

The industry may have been listening to movie fans' complaints about the sometimes shallow depth of DVDs at their local video rental stores. DVDs to be released in the next few weeks include theatrical blockbusters like The Godfather trilogy, classics of American cinema such as Citizen Kane, and kiddie fare like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Film studios are said to be eager to open the floodgates of sales that new releases certainly represent, but some great films will still fill your "want list." Copyright and contract issues, and some technical glitches, are holding back some titles from an eager public—including difficulty in locating the best print or negative of a film from which to make the DVD. "It's even an issue with contemporary titles, not just old films," said David Bishop, president and chief operating officer of MGM Home Entertainment Group.

But money issues seem to rank near the top among reasons for delays—as with George Lucas's Star Wars epics and the Indiana Jones series from Steven Spielberg. Lucas, who has a virtually captive audience of millions of Star Wars fans, has refused to discuss the DVD question since Paramount Pictures first pitched it to him two years ago. The director is reportedly concerned about copy protection, and won't release his most popular work until he can gain some reasonable reassurance that it won't be ripped off. His successful 1973 film American Graffiti is available on DVD, but none of the Star Wars series are, nor is THX 1138, his 1970 science fiction cult classic.

Steven Spielberg reportedly wants to maximize the press on his best efforts before spinning them off as DVDs. The director has held back his most popular titles waiting for the market to reach critical mass, which in the case of ET may happen next spring, when Universal plans to re-release ET, the Extra-terrestrial in theaters as a 20th anniversary celebration, then follow that with the release of the DVD. In addition, Spielberg is a supporter of the DTS surround system, and is said to have been disappointed that Dolby Digital was chosen as the default surround system for DVD. Spielberg's Jaws and Jurrassic Park were both released with DTS soundtracks.

Another glitch in releasing some films on DVD is the problem of assembling bonus material such as deleted scenes, "making of" documentaries, interviews with director and cast members, and original theatrical trailers. These features were of limited importance for VHS tapes, but DVD's instant-access capability makes them more desirable than ever. In addition, the format's vastly better sound and video quality, excellent durability, and lower per-unit pricing makes it much more a "sell-through" product, rather than a vehicle for rentals. "We thought added-value material would be less important than it has turned out to be," MGM's Bishop commented. "It's now all about a collector's mindset, and waiting to get the elements perfect is a smart thing to do."

Just don't expect your favorites to appear all at once. The studios have learned that the best strategy is to mix new releases with vintage ones at a pace that keeps movie fans' appetites whetted, but never satisfied.