I know there are still a lot of folks out there still on the fence as to whether or not they’re going to start buying into DVD. The reasons are usually several, including...

   •  DVD is too expensive.

   •  I don’t see the difference between VHS and DVD.

   •  DVD doesn’t have anything I want/need.

   •  Everything I have is on VHS.

   •  And the most retarded, I prefer VHS to DVD.

I’m going to respond to these five concerns, beginning with that last one. For those of you who prefer VHS over DVD, you are classify as one of two kinds of consumers. You’re either stubborn about breaking into a new format (probably because you were burned on 8-tracks and cassettes, or other such nonsense) and don’t know much about the differences… or you’re an idiot. Yes, that’s right. I may have just called you an idiot. Well, now that I’ve made my intentions clear in this column, you have two choices. You can either follow me past this section and learn a little about DVD, or you can return to your life muddled in a prehistory of home entertainment that is doomed… yes, doomed… to extinction. Now is your chance to leave before you start to learn something. Last warning… OK, you’ve made it past the first test. You’re either intelligent or bored enough into faking curiosity, but whatever the case you may just walk away from this a smarter consumer. Now let’s discuss the other four statements. If you think DVD is too expensive, it’s probably been sometime now since your last visit to Best Buy, Target, Circuit City or any local store that carries the format. That or you just haven’t been paying attention. The DVD players themselves, due to massive consumer response, have lowered in price tremendously. I’m not talking about enough so that people with lots of money tucked away can now afford them. No, I’m talking about general affordability for anyone. The price of a regular videocassette tape and recorder in 1995 is now about the exact same cost for a digital videodisc and player. Yes, I do understand you can’t record onto a DVD, but as blank VHS tapes now cost a few dollars apiece… I’m sure you can afford to hold onto your VHS player until DVD recorders become cheap and commonplace. They have already broken into the standard market place (such as Best Buy), so it’s just a matter of time before they are sold in enough volume to become affordable as well. The standard five-disc changer DVD player is just $70 more than the cheapest, regular player is. Let’s get into specifics.

From what I’ve seen, the most dependable and affordable DVD players you can find locally are probably Samsung and Toshiba brand products. Having owned and operated a Toshiba SD-1700 for over a year now, and having friends with an earlier Samsung model, I can tell you that these two companies have given us a product that not only performs better than some competition (Sony especially), but is dependable and hasn’t yet demanded repair service or replacement. Keeping track of their latest models, I’ve made the most pleasant discovery. Not only have they improved and replaced these earlier models, but the price has been lowered so significantly that I find myself shocked. While I had paid over $100 retail for a new VCR in just the last several years, the average DVD player cost sits just over that mark. The latest low-end (do not let my definition frighten you) Toshiba (model SD2800) runs for about $129.99, while the comparable Samsung (model DVD-S221) runs at $119.99.

These are not shitty players that won’t run half the DVDs you purchase, or explode after you turn it on a few times these are the standard prices for standard packages. Buy it, buy your movies, and play them again and again and again. Now, don’t get me wrong. There are cheaper alternatives. But once you drop below the prices and models I recommend here, you’re on your own. I’ve worked at Best Buy in the past and seen the kind of “low cost” brands (that I’ve still never heard of) they offer, as well as other stores that carry the format. Not only can they frequently turn out defective, but as DVD is a form of software, you may find yourself shit out of luck when one of the more advanced and well-done movies refuse to start in your new player. This is not commonplace, so don’t let the possibility frighten you. Most of the software advances and kinks were worked through the system (and upgraded models) years ago, so only the lowest end and cheapest made devices will cause you problems. That is why I recommend you stay with the given brands (Toshiba & Samsung), or if you have the resources, something bigger. However, once you decide to deviate from the path I have given you, you’re on your own.

Diving further into that statement, there are folks who think the DVDs themselves are costly. Can they run you more than videotape? I say yes. Can they run you less than videotape? Yes, they can. Let me explain. From what I’ve gathered, it’s not only most expensive to produce the VHS format (after all, it’s bits of plastic and magnetic tape that must be assembled), there is also more variety and distributors in the field of DVD because they are easier to produce. You may find yourself going to the electronics store to buy the latest feature film released on home video, only to discover that the DVD version actually runs you a few dollars LESS than the VHS copy. Again, as the market for videocassette shrinks (the volumes sold), the cost of the tape production and distribution increase and are added to the retail cost. However, some of the more cult or alternative products, say old 50’s horror films or slightly harder to find foreign films, will also figure in the cost of a smaller market and more difficult distribution. That’s where you’ll run yourself anywhere from $25 to $40 in the actual suggested retail price. But then again, you’re not going to find these titles (at least not easily) on VHS anymore. You just can’t compare the price of the new version of "Ocean’s 11" to a Hammer film like "The Devil Rides Out". It’s neither a fair or valid comparison. Again, I can’t help but stress how a copy of Terminator (the original) cost me $20 on videocassette in 1995, and today I can buy the special edition (with all sorts of DVD specific goodies I’ll cover later) for the same price or just a bit more (standard DVDs cost $10 to $20). What’s the difference? I can tape over the VHS copy if had the sudden and disturbing urge to do so? That’s the only advantage I could see anyone arguing of VHS over DVD.

And that brings us to our next discussion, the difference between formats. The best way I can begin to describe this, especially to newbies, is to talk about the compact disc (CD) vs. the audiocassette. While the cassette will force you to rewind and fast-forward to reach your favorite tracks, the CD uses chapter stops. On a digital readout, you can skip to any given track on a whim. The DVD works almost exactly the same way, but with more options. Like the CD, you can skip to chapter stops predetermined by the manufacturer who developed the DVD release or use your standard rewind/fast forward options to find your favorite scenes manually. Even better, you also have the option to stop the film where it is (regardless of chapter stops) and pick it up at the same place the next time you turn your player on as long as you leave it in unmolested. If you do decide to pull the disc out and go back to it later, you can still find where you left off with ease because of the specific chapter stops (unless you’re watching a David Lynch movie which have no stops and is a whole other discussion). In addition to these features, DVDs share the digital quality of CDs. You won’t hear or see the magnetic fuzz that comes from using the cassette, and any apparent damage or wear on the tape (as in audio or video formats for cassettes) will never be a problem. Now it is possible to damage or scratch a DVD, but unless you’re a very clumsy or lazy person, there is little reason to manage these problems. As I have discovered through the last two decades, your actual treatment of VHS or audiocassettes matters little over the years. You will eventually wear them down or damage the tape from use in various VCRs and massive repeat viewing. Unless you plan on playing the same DVD movies over and over 24 hours a day for weeks on end, the chance of wearing down your digital discs is minimal if even possible at all.

Aside from durability and CD-like abilities, there are also even more quality issues. As I mentioned above, the digital clarity is definitely notable. For one thing, the static that travels across your screen from reading the magnetic tape is gone. Other tape related problems, such as color bleeding is also gone. Another sign of wear, the problem with colors spilling out of their designated regions have ceased. There’s no reason for problems such as these. The quality of your first viewing of a DVD shouldn’t be any different from the 100th time. The same goes for the audio. Yes, DVDs are being released with all kinds of different audio presentations (sometimes more than one on a single disc), but this will not interfere with your viewing experience if you’re without some kind of Uber-entertainment center (receiver, speakers, subwoofer, etc). Yes, they can enhance your experience by leaps and bounds, but they are not required. Any television with standard two-channel sound (stereo) will interpret the audio properly enough to give you what you need to enjoy the movie. Remember, investing into DVD doesn’t mean you’re going to have to spend another thousand dollars to be happy. You can buy the player and be done with your home theatre advancement. I’ll give you another example

One of the several new advancements in DVD technology is a new widescreen format (we’ll touch on widescreen a bit more in a minute) called anamorphic widescreen. The movie studios have realized that while most households may one day have a widescreen or big screen television at an affordable price, that day isn’t just around the corner. To accommodate families, or sticklers for the easy way out (pan & scan), the development of anamorphic widescreen has solved the immediate problem. Any DVD with this feature will automatically register, through the DVD player, the size of your television and then, I kid you not, reformat it’s video data to the size (length & width) of your screen. Not every company has adopted this feature yet, but it’s becoming more and more standard, especially for popular releases. Consumers can get the picture they would otherwise miss out on, without the black bars that upset them so very much (sigh).

Now is the part where we transcend what’s the difference between and reach what does it have that I need. I understand that what some may find important, others really don’t care about. Well, this is what I have to say to those annoying VHS advocates who continue to repeat their disdain for new formats. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. I have two parents over the age of 50 who, at first glance, despised the widescreen videocassettes I would bring home. After about a week or two, they found it hard harder to go back. Why? Because once you begin to see what pan & scan costs you on your favorite movies, where you’ve memorized the details of certain scenes, you’ll find it aggravating to go back to less. Yes, less. You see folks, no matter what you THINK, you’re getting less when you buy the films that “have been formatted to fit your screen.” In order for them to easily place any given film on television, they have to eliminate the extra footage provided because the picture was filmed in “scope,” or what some of you may remember as Cinema-Scope.

The short story is, back in the 50’s, folks in the entertainment business realized it was a distinct possibility that people wouldn’t go to movies anymore when they could get the relatively same experience at home. To avert disaster, film producers and directors widened the film photography width to allow for, literally, a bigger picture. Even more importantly, this new visual format was impossible to fit on a television screen, so the only way you could see the entire film was in theatres. However, that didn’t stop television stations. Eventually they began to crop the films by cutting off the edges of the picture, sometimes at the expense of actor performances, special effects and detail. Yes, some directors began to make their films with the inevitable cropped television appearance in mind, focusing actors and action in the center of the picture. Yet, many did not adopt this behavior so more drastic measures were called for. The industry developed a technique for reformatting movies filmed in “scope” called Pan & Scan. A special device would, literally, pan over selected areas of the entire film footage, scanning a television-sized image to be placed on a separate videocassette and shipped to their network clientele for domestic presentation. Regardless of what important performances or visuals were taking place on screen, this operation would select what they deemed the most crucial portion of the image and then move over to whatever other images were important, throughout the entire length of the film. Not only does this remove 50% of the film’s detail and effect, but the procedure itself was sometimes so difficult to pull off that the picture quality itself would begin to slip as the speed of the scan topped the running speed of the film. This could cause anything from distraction to a slight case of nausea. Was it really worth all this effort? Well, televisions aren’t as bad looking or small as they used to be… and now we have films that, due to studio negligence, only exists on the Pan & Scan copies distributed through television.

Through digital technology, laserdiscs were introduced in the late 80’s to collectors knowing better than the rest of us. Widescreen presentation, where the original (or close to) aspect ratio of each film was now properly presented for home video. Films like Jaws and Star Wars were treated with respect and available in their entirety, while the rest of us wallowed in the mediocrity of our water-downed versions. And I really don’t care what people say about the differences not being noticeable. That is, without a doubt, complete and utter bullshit. I could tell something was missing from the images on the VHS copies of Return of the Jedi and Raiders of the Lost Arc when I was 5. That’s right, five. If you don’t believe me, well, f%*k you. I could tell when I saw Jabba’s palace or the shoot-out between Indiana Jones and the Nazis in Alaska, that something was horribly wrong with the picture. People and things were cut off from viewing, sometimes to the point where some events just became unintelligible chaos. I didn’t know what widescreen was and wouldn’t for another ten years. But sure as Hell, the problem was there. If you honestly couldn’t tell or care, then I feel sorry for you. I really do. You’ve either come to be complacent with what you’ve lost (at the very least, subconsciously) or you honestly don’t care. And if you don’t care, trust me, thinking about whether or not to buy into DVD is the least of your problems. You should probably just go out and buy some tickets to a football game or something. To put it bluntly, movie appreciation is not your strong point, so putting too much thought into what you’re getting or missing with DVD is a waste of your time.

Still here? Good, then let’s get back to the point. As the cost to produce these laserdiscs never dropped, the format eventually went the way of the Dodo. Fortunately for us, that’s because DVD was introduced and was so much cheaper to develop. As DVDs were a follow-up to the collector’s market of laserdiscs, widescreen was remained an important feature. As the DVD market grew, many studios (Warner Bros. Especially) joined in the effort with business as usual attitudes, i.e. Pan & Scan releases. Boy, was that a mistake. As the consumer market was still largely based on the older and more film appreciative viewers, Pan & Scan was not received all that kindly. The studios learned from this, however, and widescreen once again became the dominant picture format. As more and more casual consumers dipped into DVD, an extraordinary thing happened. They discovered widescreen… and liked it. They liked it a lot. In fact, the largest customer bases that still prefer Pan & Scan are soccer moms and grannies. And that is definitely a base that is anything but large. Aside from modern family film releases and the occasional animated feature, just about everything is released in widescreen (even if coupled with a pan & scan version).

With some DVDs, especially the releases that state enhanced for 16x9 televisions, the black bars can be quite noticeable. Though these editions are becoming less frequent, these can provide the largest appearance of black bars. However, just like with foreign films that use subtitles, your eyes will get used to them. If you were about to say, I prefer dubbing, then again, perhaps you need to drop some needs. Look folks, if you honestly think getting the entire film isn’t worth the black bars (which aren’t always apparent), then you’ve got some issues. Turn off the damn lights, after all, the bars are black. Geesh.

Now, if you’ve survived the simply horrifying option of having to get widescreen, we can begin to get into the variety of special features that you will find on DVD. While the average VHS offers little more than the actual feature film, the average DVD is a veritable encyclopedia of information and enhances the repeat viewing value. For one thing, you should fully understand and believe that the standard release that is worth your dollar should have 3 things. First, you should expect a decent quality, widescreen presentation. Second, if you don’t at least get a trailer for your trouble, then it isn’t worth shit. Lastly, if the DVD doesn’t include chapter stops (David Lynch excluded, as his films are a special case) then fuck them. They’re not worth the discs they’re printed on. Unless you’re extremely desperate for the movie and it’s the only version available, you shouldn’t bother with anything without AT LEAST those three features. While that is the starting point, there’s a whole world of other items you might find accompanying your favorites.

Before we go any further, I want to provide a little more information on the accessibility of the information on each disc and how they work differently from tapes. Most DVDs, and all the ones currently being produced, come with an option screen/menu that usually starts as soon as you put the disc in your player. Some films will start automatically and you’ll have to use the “menu” button on your remote to access it (or cycle all the way through the film), but the menus are the standard for setting your options. These options include any and all special features (commentaries, trailers, documentaries, etc), subtitles and optional languages (don’t let any assholes tell you these two features are special), and smaller text items like production credits for the DVD or small production notes from the making of the film. Menus should be easy to use, with the directional pad and enter/select button on your remote controls being all that you need to work it. Menus can be anything from a blank screen with a company logo and film title, to a fully animated work of art created for your entertainment. Sometimes they even include games or hidden features, also called Easter Eggs for those fluent in software language. Both are available through the menu, though Easter Eggs can vary in difficulty (finding/activating) and value depending on how much time the DVD production team spent on them. Some Easter Eggs are worth the entire DVD edition as they can turn out to be entirely new cut of the film, documentary or otherwise unavailable film footage (Independence Day included every bit of mock television footage created as backdrop for the movie). Now that you’re familiar with the basics, let’s get more specific.

One of the first digital-format specific features you’ll find is the feature length commentary. Quite typically, the standard special edition release will come with this and, on occasion, regular editions will include them as well. The commentary is usually accessible in one of two ways, either by the audio button on your remote control or by an option on the menu. Once started, you will be treated to a low/no-volume presentation of the actual film where one or more the of the folks involved in the making of the movie sit down and speak about it for the entire duration of the film. These people can be anyone from a film historian (typical with classic films from the late 1800’s to the 1950’s) to the director, producer and/or actors. While the regular editions I mentioned earlier may include a singular commentary with it’s director (say Mel Brooks on Spaceballs), a special edition may include up to 3 separate commentaries, one for each specific part of the crew (director & producer, actors, special effects team).

The comments themselves can be anything from a thorough and educational lesson in filmmaking and/or the making of the film, to several hours of laugh out loud funny antics (the Arnold Schwarzenegger/John Milius track on Conan: The Barbarian comes to mind). It should be noted, however, that not all commentaries are actually specific to the elements on screen. Sometimes you may actually have pre-recorded audio from people involved in the picture (or historians), or a load of interviews done with the cast & crew but re-edited to work along with a viewing of the movie. For an even stranger experience, DVD producers have apparently taken to the Mystery Science Theater 3000 approach, giving shadowed outlines of the people providing the commentary as if they were sitting in front of your screen. They’ll even get up and point (sometimes using magic markers, like sports commentary!) to events on your screen. Watching the Muppets in Space commentary where a bunch of the Muppets and the director sit through a screening of the film is definitely something else, not to be missed.

Next up, you have documentaries, featurettes and trailers. With most special editions and some regular editions, you’ll receive anything from the in-production featurettes frequently seen on television to HBO Inside-look specials and DVD-specific documentaries (with their own chapter stops). Though most DVDs only include one trailer, some include the teasers, trailers and even the TV commercials (though these are usually special edition only). Some directors prefer to leave their films without commentary because they believe it should speak for itself, so the documentaries become the next best thing. With older films and special editions, they may produce new documentaries filled with new (and old) interviews adding more depth due to reflection rather than more needless promotion. Even better, some of these will come with deleted scenes, outtakes and behind-the-scenes footage that you would have never even known about it. In many cases, these will actually be available as separate features accessible as footage strung together or individually. Which brings us to one of the most exciting aspects of DVD alternate cuts.

Whenever a previously existing version of a film is altered - adding/subtracting footage, changing music, re-arranging scenes, using alternate angles - the new cut is given a new status, as the original (and usually theatrical) intention of the film has been changed. If the director approved the new cut, it's called the "director's cut." If not, they may instead use "extended cut" or another such generalized theme or name. Though some films have been re-released on videocassette in this manner, the ration of VHS to DVDs produced in this manner makes these incidents rare. Between my family and I, we have at least 15 alternate versions of popular cinema (including Superman, Conan and the Lethal Weapon films). Some of these different incarnations are in actuality the International cuts because, unlike Americans, Europeans don’t whine about movie length and therefore receive extended versions. Other cuts are initial/complete cuts of the film that were locked away in studio vaults for so long they were forgotten (Supergirl).

Even more interesting, sometimes all-new cuts are created for DVD consumers to make peace with directors/producers who were not happy with the actual product that hit the theatres. Robert Wise disowned Star Trek: The Motion Picture until it’s recent re-release on disc, where he was able to supervise both the re-editing of the film and finish the special effects as originally intended (not like the Star Wars Special Editions, but rather with vintage looking effects). Another example that comes to mind is the recent X-Men feature film, which had an extremely rushed and cheaply done post-production. The director and producers agreed early on to re-do the film for an eventual special edition, which they’re working on right now. They’re even filming new footage during the production of X-Men 2 to go along with the release, which early word says will include previously deleted footage and a whole new score (not to mention a complete re-edit). Amazingly enough, DVD has not only given long-standing fans their closure with these wonderful features, but the filmmakers as well.

I could go on and on about the other, slightly less important items like picture galleries, blooper reels and the like, but I think I’ve covered the basics and more special features. When searching for a good version of your favorite film, you should keep all these DVD qualities in mind, as you never know when a standard release will be replaced with superior edition (like X-Men). The best advice? Don’t buy the DVD unless you feel comfortable with the features included, and never settle for less than what’s expected. Some DVD developers like Anchor Bay Entertainment and Criterion will do their very best to offer you the most complete collections, but then others such as MGM and Universal will also (usually) give you a decent deal. However, some companies such as Disney and Paramount will go to great lengths to confuse consumers and sucker them into buying their standard versions and then hit them with a special edition in six months to a year, leaving you $20 in the hole. It’s not rocket science, but it pays to pay attention to what is on the disc and what is should be provided for the price. Keeping up with the news on local DVD websites or newsletters/magazines also help. It’s not absolutely necessary, but you might find it beneficial in the long run as the more you know the easier it is to track down what you want (features or movies).

I think I’ve adequately answered the first 3 comments, so now I’ll take a little time to answer the last two. So you have everything on VHS...OK. I understand there are a lot of us who have already spent a lot of money on the format. Here’s the deal, and it really has little to do with opinion. VHS is going to die. There’s no room for argument. It’s already being phased out of retail stores and soon, when DVD recorders become affordable, it will be gone completely. Realistically speaking, we all know that it costs too much to replace our entire VHS collection now. Well, that’s fine. No one needs to. Just buy what you don’t already have, or if you become unhappy with the differences on VHS, go for the films you watch enough to make up for the cost of replacing it with DVD. VCRs will be around long enough to enjoy what you already have, as there’s no need to rush out as if it’s Armageddon. Just understand, you’re going to have to accept that it will be gone, and like 8-tracks, it will become more and more costly to repair and replace video cassettes and their players. Eventually, it will become nigh impossible to do so.

As DVDs are very affordable now, it won’t hurt to go ahead and make the jump. And if you wait long enough, more of your favorite titles will probably become cheaper. Though, I wouldn’t count on any standard titles falling below $10 or special editions lower than $15 anytime soon (or two disc sets below $20 - $25). You should also bear in mind that due to the low cost of DVD, many TV shows (both old and new) are being released season by season as collector sets (3 or more discs). These shows include Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Trek (both original series & Next Generation), Transformers, Robotech, Babylon 5, South Park, Planet of the Apes and more. And judging by the overwhelming success of these seasonal sets, there’s going to be a lot more coming our way. Think about all the quality and long-lasting DVDs you could get to replace your old recorded episodes on VHS, with commercials omitted and unedited material. Many of these sets even include documentaries (or interviews), episode length commentary tracks and more.

Last but not least, I’ll wrap up this edition with an answer to the final comment. I prefer VHS to DVD. Here we go, take a breath!

F%*k you.

I’m sure you think that impressed your friends and reaffirmed your confidence in not bending to peer pressure, but you’re allowing your insecurities over spending and format changes to alter your reality. Grow up and move on. By the gods.

For those of you still firmly convinced VHS is still great and my thoughts/opinion is unimportant, as I’m some kind of egotistical asshole (which I am, but at least I have a grasp on my reality), go check out D-VHS. I hear it’s the latest thing, and it has a lot of people talking (or laughing, depending on the person’s intelligence). It’s digital quality videocassettes with all the lovable problems of VHS. These players will not only play VHS and D-VHS, but they’ll also cost you two grand and there are only 10 releases in the format expected to be out by the end of the year. By the time you’ve special ordered your $2000 D-VHS player and another $40 for X-Men, the rest of us will be laughing at you when we get our X-Men: Special Edition at Borders.