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February, 2002
by Michael Jacobson
With
the new year well underway, it’s time once again to update our semi-annual
Studio Scorecard. This is where we
take a look at all of the major DVD producing studios, rank them in order of
prominence, and talk a bit about what each one does best, and what each one can
improve upon.
I
first started this feature almost four years ago when I was a reviewer at DVD
Movie Review, and it has followed me through subsequent assignments, and
has stayed with me since the launch of DMC.
I’ve gotten some nice emails about it over the years, and I certainly
hope this continues to be a feature you find useful and entertaining…most of
all, though, I continue to humbly hope that for better or worse, the studios
take both the good and bad comments to heart…it’s not about negativity here;
it’s merely about trying to get each company to do the best it can possibly do
with the format for the consumers!
For
starters, though, let’s take one look back as we update our semi-annual Studio
Scorecard. As a point of reference,
we’ll start by recapping the last rankings:
Lights,
camera, action…welcome to the Studio Scorecard for 2002:
1.
CRITERION
COLLECTION
Big Plus:
The cinema lover’s best friend
Big Minus: Price
Gotta Have: Wild
Strawberries, Rebecca
For my money, nobody does it better than Criterion.
Not only do they release some of the most important (and possibly
unprofitable) titles that film history has to offer, but they usually get full
restoration efforts and a terrific package of extras to boot!
Other times, they take other studio’s half-hearted releases and turn
them into monumental special events, like their stellar double disc of Rebecca
2.
COLUMBIA TRI STAR
Big Plus:
The original anamorphic champion
Big Minus: Full frame inclusions
Gotta Have: Final
Fantasy
Columbia Tri Star remains consistent with their
audio/video quality, and continue to deliver top notch discs for both new
releases and catalog titles. Final
Fantasy
3.
NEW LINE CINEMA
Big Plus:
Infinifilm series
Big Minus: None, really
Gotta Have: Blow
Since the inception of DVD, New Line has
always been a top five studio, and they continue to produce some of the best
special editions for the money. Their
DMC Award winning Infinifilm series continues to lead
the pack in that category…you can lose yourself for many hours in a title like
Blow
4.
20th CENTURY FOX
Big Plus:
Dynamite double discs!
Big Minus:
Going to start releasing full frame/pan&scan titles
Gotta Have:
Star Wars Episode
One, Planet of the Apes
(2001)
Once upon a time, Fox drug
its heels in getting on the DVD bandwagon, but after a shaky start, they’ve
been a top five studio ever since. The
highly anticipated release of Star
Wars Episode One was worth the wait, and one
of the best looking color DVDs I’ve ever seen (and a DMC Award winner).
To become more consumer friendly, they’re beginning to release lower
priced, single disc versions of some of their hit double disc special editions;
that’s a good thing. Deciding to
re-release some widescreen titles as full frame or pan & scan?
Very bad idea…widescreen is the format of the future, and we
don’t need any more consumer confusion than is already out there.
5.
ANCHOR BAY
Big Plus:
Best studio for fans of classic and cult horror
Big Minus: Buy fast!
Gotta Have: Evil Dead: Book of the
Dead
Anchor Bay remains a personal favorite of mine
because they’re the best studio for fans of horror and cult films.
Most of us would be happy enough just having some of these
off-the-mainstream titles by Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci and others, but Anchor
Bay always delivers extra, with restored anamorphic widescreen presentations,
some of the best 5.1 remixes on the market, and a plethora of extras to go with
them. Their limited edition discs
are crown jewels…my double disc copies of Halloween and Army of
Darkness are still amongst my most prized possessions, and their new Evil
Dead: Book of the Dead release is even better…just act fast, or forever
hold your cash!
6.
MGM
Big Plus:
Most improved studio; library of classic titles
Big Minus: Still some anamorphic inconsistencies
Gotta Have: Mad Max, The
Princess Bride
MGM has slowly but surely gotten better over the
years…after initially being a prominent bottom-dweller on our list, the studio
now barely misses the top five. Though
still a bit inconsistent on anamorphic offerings, they’ve gotten better in
that department, and their continual release of classic titles from their
library is a benefit to every film fan. Recent
special editions of titles like Mad
Max and The
Princess Bride
7.
BUENA VISTA
Big Plus:
Continuing to improve
Big Minus:
Frustrating re-release policy
Gotta Have:
Snow White, Tron
It would be easy to bear a grudge against the Disney companies for
continuing to make me buy the same damn titles over and over again…can you say
Hercules, Peter
Pan, Mulan, everybody?
Less desirable titles get rolled off the shelf time and time again, while
we wait for The Lion King, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast and others.
But this studio surprised us all with their stellar release of Fantasia
as a box set the year before, and they did so again last year with one of
their best offerings to date, Snow
White…a title that raised the studio’s bar for restoration quality
and excellent features. Their
re-release of Tron
8.
PARAMOUNT
Big Plus:
Getting better features-wise
Big Minus: Those damned annoying warning screens you can’t skip
Gotta Have: Lara Croft: Tomb
Raider
Paramount climbs a couple of notches by continuing to
improve in the features department, and for releasing more and more classic
favorites like Beverly Hills
Cop and The Bad News
Bears movies. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
9.
DREAMWORKS
Big Plus:
Guaranteed audio/video
quality every time
Big Minus:
Small library of titles
Gotta Have:
Shrek
The only reason Dreamworks
ever slips on our list is because of their youth…they put out great DVDs every
time, but they have far too few! They
are arguably the most consistent studio in terms of audio and visual
quality…you can expect the best when you pop in one of their discs, because
the best is always what you get. Shrek
10.
UNIVERSAL
Big Plus:
Collector’s and Ultimate
Editions
Big Minus:
Can’t change audio tracks on the fly
Gotta Have:
American Pie 2, The
Fast and the Furious
Universal slips a little just because they’ve been
surpassed by others, but they’re still one of the top studios when it comes to
delivering special edition discs…just no more “Collector’s Edition”
today, “Ultimate Edition” tomorrow discs, please (i.e. The
Mummy, American Pie).
And their usually commentary tracks lose a bit of luster when you can’t
access them on the fly while you watch…that’s been going on long enough;
it’s time to address that issue.
11.
ARTISAN
Big Plus:
Major titles
Big Minus: Minor and not enough
titles
Gotta Have: Requiem
for a Dream
Artisan made the map with The
Blair Witch Project a couple of years ago, and they have parlayed that
reputation into a few quality disc releases.
Requiem for a
Dream
12.
IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT
Big Plus:
Silent films
Big Minus: Quality and features inconsistencies
Gotta Have: The
Who Live at the Royal Albert Hall
Being a silent movie buff, I have a soft spot in my
heart for Image. This studio has
delivered some of the best movies from the voiceless era, including this
year’s release of an all time favorite of mine, Earth. But this studio isn’t all silent…check out one of the
best concert DVDs on the market, The Who Live
at the Royal Albert Hall
13.
WARNER BROS.
Big Plus:
Pricing
Big Minus: Consistent in only one area:
declining prominence
Gotta Have: Dirty Harry
Warner seems to be striving for the bottom spot on
our list, and I have news for them…it’s definitely within their reach.
While their re-release of Dirty Harry
14.
USA ENTERTAINMENT
Big Plus:
Making lesser known but
great titles available
Big Minus: Small library of titles
Gotta Have: Traffic
Though their title list is far too small for USA
Entertainment to be considered a top DVD studio, they’ve at least managed to
insure fans a few great titles like Nurse
Betty and Traffic
