Finally the wait is over. After months of anticipation and speculations Fox have finally committed to the DVD platform and Paramount have announced their first tiles.

Many of you have probably wondered why we have been so quite during the past weeks regarding Paramount’s upcoming announcements and the increasing number of rumors floating around the Internet. Well, ultimately it was because we here at “DVD Review” have at one point made the decision not to publish rumors, stirring up expectations and possibly creating bad blood in the wake of it. We have made it our goal to make sure that the information you find on our pages is reliable and factual. After a meeting with Paramount a few weeks ago and an ongoing communication with them in the past weeks, we knew a few things that were really going on. We knew that some of the rumors floating around where completely unsubstantiated while others were accurate. “Why didn’t you tell us?”, you ask? Well, as I said before, for one, because we do not want to participate in these public rumors and secondly clearly because Paramount had explicitly asked us not disclose any of the information. While we feel we have a responsibility towards our readers, I believe we also have a responsibility towards the publishers and have to respect their decisions. While rumors may be fun to read sometimes, they can actually do some serious damage to people and their jobs. It would not be fair to put someone else’s job or career at stake just for some information that will become readily available in a short period of time anyway. I just cannot imagine that we have gotten so caught up in our DVD world, that a title announcement carries so much importance. As you see from Paramount’s line-up, the wait has been worth the while. They have some great titles in preparation and we are definitely looking forward to reviewing them.

The same is, of course, true for Fox. If you carefully read our VSDA report, you know that once again, we knew a little more than we publicly offered. It became clear during the show that Fox had made their decision and that they are preparing their announcement. We received this piece of information from a number of sources very close to Fox and our conversation with a number of Fox’s representatives reassured this. During the VSDA report we already hinted at it, but since our pages are dedicated to official news and reports, we did not want to give away too much, also, because clearly Fox did not want the word to spread. Again, I believe it would have been inappropriate and counterproductive to disclose too much of our information. The flame wars that flared up in the various Internet newsgroups are proving this point. In no time flame mails led to unnecessary personal attacks, went off topic and everyone was more concerned about proving the credibility of their sources, than the giving actual substance of the original rumors. While I think there is nothing wrong with rumors per se. After all, the movie industry is about the glitz and the excitement about what’s going on. The problem lies how these rumors are perceived as facts and almost turned into a religion, and how people turn into militant fanatics trying to take personal pot shots at each other, instead of discussing their mutual interests. Just imagine how a newcomer must feel when he takes a first look at the “alt.video.dvd” newsgroup. I look at the Internet as a way to communicate with friends and like-minded people. If the newsgroups deteriorate into places of fury over a piece of information of no real value, I think we have missed the point and the whole concept of the Internet. After all, we are still talking about movies here, right? Plain and simple entertainment, just in a new presentation. They are still the same movies, just on a tiny shiny disc with some extras.

Fox’s announcement immediately raised new concerns among DVD users. I agree, their prices are high, but we all know how rapidly the market is changing. We can all witness it on these very pages every single day. Street date changes, content updates and price adjustments happen all the time. Warner Home Video are on the forefront of cutting back prices on DVD and the DVD community owes them big time for that. Fox obviously want to try a different route. Fair enough. I am convinced that sooner or later, they too will reduce their prices to allow for a better market penetration. It is a mechanism that works all by itself. How, you ask? Well, if you wonder who is going to shell out $35 for “Home Alone 3”, you are actually one of the people activating this very mechanism. Fox doesn’t force anyone to buy their product after all and if you decide that the price tag is too high for a certain product - in this case “Home Alone 3” - just forget about it and buy something else instead. I am sure however, that there are plenty of people out there who are willing to pay $35 for exactly this one movie, because they like it, just like I am more than happy to pay over $40 for a Hong Kong import. It is all about variety. If you like it, buy it. If you don’t, don’t. Everyone has a different taste and everyone has a different opinion about things. DVD is very affordable in general, considering its young age and limited market. Of course VHS is cheaper. It’s been around forever, it has a huge audience and sells in vast numbers, but most of all, it is not half as good as DVD. Not even Laserdisc comes close to the quality of DVD and yet, until recently legions of people went out there to buy discs for $70 or more.

DVD is an infant and needs to grow. Strategies have to be created, markets have to be developed and technologies evaluated. The first audio CDs retailed at horrendous prices compared to vinyl albums and yet people loved it and embraced it. The price is not the ultimate measure. It is content. And it is the content where no other medium can compete with DVD in the long run. Let’s enjoy it for what it is. An entertainment format that is supposed to bring us joy, relaxation, information and pleasure. Let’s not waste our energy by complaining about things we don’t like or things we don’t want to have. Be positive and just sit back for a minute to remember how DVD has changed your video experience. I am sure you will agree it has mostly improved it, which makes me wonder why ultimately so many people complain about it. Could it be that we are just a little too demanding and spoiled already? Given the time, things will level out and everyone will get what he wants. It’s a law of nature and is applicable for DVD just as it is for anything else in this world.

Of course, everyone is entitled to his very own opinion and everyone is free to articulate his opinion. I am sure, though, if every once in a while we step back and reconsider, we will see that things are looking pretty good in DVD-land, especially now with Fox and Paramount on board. The only one missing the party now is Dreamworks. But again, give it time and they will join, too. Just like all other studios, Dreamworks are in the business to make money and with DVD rising to stellar success, not even Stephen Spielberg can afford to miss this train in the long run. In the meanwhile, why don’t we just pop a good DVD in our player and enjoy what technology has made possible for us. Movies as good as they get.

With that in mind, I’d like to sign off for now, and wish all of you a happy day!

 August 13, 1998

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