Now, I certainly don't judge books or movies by their covers, but I most definitely judge the covers themselves. And there's nothing you can say that will make me stop!
R1 vs R2
Aug 16, 2010
R1 vs R2 smackdown!
I've said it before and I'll say it again: in the all-important Battle of the DVD artwork, Region 2 generally kicks Region 1 right in the down-belows. Not always, mind you...but most of the time. I was looking for - *BORING STORY ABOUT MARTYRS* - when I came across a few DVDs that illustrate what I'm talking about. Some of these R1s are alright- maybe I even prefer one or two to the R2 covers...but then there's the newest R1 Near Dark, which makes me want to buy one for the express purpose of gluing eyeballs on it for the express purpose of clawing them out.
Now, I certainly don't judge books or movies by their covers, but I most definitely judge the covers themselves. And there's nothing you can say that will make me stop!
Now, I certainly don't judge books or movies by their covers, but I most definitely judge the covers themselves. And there's nothing you can say that will make me stop!
I think for the next three years or so, every single vampire movie released on DVD in the U.S. will get a Twilight ripoff cover. If they put out the 1931 version on Blu-ray, the cover will show Bela posing with his shirt off, or something like that. That way Hot Topic will stock it.
ReplyDeleteWHAT did they do to "Near Dark"??? Wow.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of them except for The Crazies, and The Descent. I've always like the colour choice for The Crazies, and the faces chosen for the latter films are awful. The individuals look like they're barely even trying to convey the emotions they should be, especially the one for Part 2. Painfully nondescript.
ReplyDeletePlus the R1 release for Near Dark is an absolute travesty. When I saw it at my work the other day I had no idea it was even the same film.
Oh. My. God. I don't know how else to say it. That "Near Dark" R1 cover makes me want to claw my eyes out, too - and then force feed them to the exec who said "Teens! Teens! Put some angst-ridden teen vampire on the cover, that's what that picture needs! Oh, and how about throwing my niece in there, too?"
ReplyDelete... suppose Kathryn Bigelow could beat said exec to death with her academy award?
That's funny, I was just about to say something about that "Near Dark" cover too. That's so shameless of them to do that- they might as well have gone all the way and put Robert Pattinson's picture on it.
ReplyDeleteUum, FG, I have a question and you're the only other blogger I know (not really "know" I guess, the only other blogger I've exchanged messages with) so you're the only person I can ask-
Sometimes people leave comments on my blog posts and I'll read them and everything's fine, but other times (often actually) the message will just be two or three rows of empty squares. What does that mean?
The R4 cover of Mandy Lane is even better: http://www.ezydvd.com.au/item.zml/804467
ReplyDeleteTo a lesser extent, the same goes for the R4 cover of Broken: http://www.ezydvd.com.au/item.zml/795052
That R1 cover of Near Dark is pretty obviously a lame attempt to cash in on Twilight’s success. I'd say the Twilight crowd are in for a bit of a rude shock if they fall for it.
…and I still don’t understand why the "s" in Frontiers has brackets around it.
Anyway, forgetting R4 (as so many distributors often do) here’s how I see the R1 vs R2 smackdown:
R1 Winners: The Decent
R2 Winners: The Broken, Splinter, Near Dark, Martyrs, Inside, Broken
Drawn: Frontier(s), The Descent Part 2, The Crazies
I thought I was being all original and all, but I'm pretty much with the crowd: the R1 Descent is the only R1 one that rocks faces off more than its R2 counterpart (many of which are excellent).
ReplyDeleteAnd, wow, I'm glad I've already got Near Dark on DVD…
I'm gonna have to say that the Region 2 cover art takes the cake for me in almost all instances except for perhaps the "Descent" boxes. I think we're all in agreement on the "Near Dark" R1 box but the Region 2 release for that film doesn't look all that sharp either.
ReplyDeleteI think I prefer your (U.S.) cover for The Broken.
ReplyDeleteThe All the Boys Love Mandy Lane cover is naff, the original artwork was better. Film ain't up to much either.
Dude, I like the R1 Crazies cover too. I think it's pretty rad. Maybe I'm crazy.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, eff them for doing that to Near Dark.
On the plus side -- i get an a huge smile on my face imagining the reactions as a bunch of Twilight fans gather round at a sleepover to watch this "new" vampire film called Near Dark.
ReplyDeleteWow yeah - the R2 covers are totally better. Especially Splinter, sheesh - not even close.
ReplyDeleteAnd God, that R1 Near Dark poster is flippin twi-riffic. Dubya tee eff.
Though I do kinda prefer the R1 Descent cover... or at least, I wish the ray of light wasn't on the R2 cover. Kinda spoiler-ish, no?
God, the R1 covers from Broken and Inside are almost exactly the same... close up of bare female stomach with some gore. Identical color palettes don't help, either.
ReplyDeleteOh look, and they're both Dimension Extreme too! Imagine that.
I do like the bit of underboob on Broken though, but the backwards "K" in the title ruins even that.
Call me crazy but i like the R1 Broken cover better.
ReplyDeletePS - Mandy Lane rules.
The 'Inside' artwork I have is this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.blockbuster.dk/Files/Billeder/MediaDB/Thumbs/17/PROD426496_jpg.jpg
I really like the dark background.