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Waiting for DVD - not always a good idea
Some comments I got on my Speed Racer review, and some I heard elsewhere recently, got me to thinking about the whole “I’ll wait for DVD” mentality.
Regular readers of this blog know that I strongly advocate the theatrical experience. At the same time, I know a lot of people don’t have the money/time/patience to venture out to the megaplex. And whether they like it or not, filmmakers know that most people will first see their movies on DVD.
That said, the way people categorize “wait for DVD” bothers me. It seems that when people hear that a movie isn’t so great, they say “Well, I’ll wait for the DVD” -as if somehow the movie won’t be so bad on DVD as it would be in the theater.
Excuse me?
I suppose the reasoning here is largely economic. People reason that if they just rent a DVD and the movie turns out to be mediocre (or worse), then at least they won’t have blown a big chunk of dough on it. All well and good, but does that mean that if you wait to see, say, Jumper at home, that passage of time and the lowering of the price suddenly makes the film better? I doubt it. A bad movie is a bad movie no matter where you watch it.
Here’s what really brought this issue home. A colleague recently asked me about 10,000 BC. When I twisted my face into a grimace of disgust, my co-worker said “Wait for DVD, huh?”
I replied, “No! Don’t see it at ALL!” If I were hogtied and forced to watch 10,000 BC on DVD, I’d still think it was a terrible movie. And if I were hogtied and forced, my opinion of the movie would probably sink even lower.
Although bad movies don’t become better at home, bad movies do work better in a theater in some cases. Take Speed Racer. I didn’t think the movie worked, but if I had a young child who wanted to see it, I would absolutely take him/her to the theater. It has enough visual pow that the movie would lose something on even the biggest small screen. (And if you mean to see it, you’d better move quick. Given how poorly it fared at the box office, it will probably be out of most decent theaters by the end of June.)
So the next time you say “I’ll wait for the DVD,” make sure you’re waiting for something that might actually be good. That’s how you get the most bang for your buck.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: Sir Critic muses
Comments
By Reynaldo
May 14, 2008 12:56 PM | Link to this
It’s more a matter of avoiding rude obnoxious movie-goers, arriving late, playing with cell phones, etc. Theater owners know it’s a huge problem but are un-willing to deal with it, especially the cell phones. Nope, I’ll wait for the DVD thanks.By SRCputt
May 13, 2008 7:38 PM | Link to this
If I could see every movie on the big screen, I would. With Speed Racer, I not only drove out of the way to a bigger scrrened theatre, but waited an extra 25 minutes to see it on a bigger screen in the complex I saw it. Actually, for me, it is less wait for DVD, but wait for HBO and Starz, which is even cheaper.By Kim S.
May 13, 2008 1:52 PM | Link to this
I agree with you. Although the rental slate (new release wise) is so bad that redbox is sending me free rentals once a week for the rest of the month. Given that price, I might see something I wouldn’t normally see. I’m finding the less it costs, the more likely I am to see it. (As also judging by the fact that I redboxed “Untraceable” and “Mad Money”. They may be worth a dollar, but they certainly aren’t worth 10 of them!