2003

Our Seventh Annual Consumer Poll

Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings has increased its stranglehold on the best DVDs of all time in our DVD-Laser Disc Newsletter Seventh Annual Consumer Poll, taking the first and second positions with the Extended Edition versions of The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, and we suppose it will continue until New Line Home Entertainment releases all three in a single box, as 20th Century Home Entertainment did with the third place title, The Alien Quadrilogy. Since both Towers and Quadrilogy were released in 2003, they also took the first and second place positions in our best of 2003 category. Several hundred readers responded to the poll and 11% chose The Two Towers as the best of all time, while 9.5 chose The Fellowship of the Ring. Another 6% just voted for The Lord of the Rings without specifying which movie they preferred. 7% chose Alien Quadrilogy.
A little under 5.5% chose Artisan Entertainment’s Terminator 2 Judgment Day, though just exactly which of Artisan’s fancy DVD versions of the title they preferred was usually left unidentified. Walt Disney Home Entertainment’s Finding Nemo was next, with just under 2%, while Warner Home Video’s Singin’ in the Rain and Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs were tied with 1.5%, and DreamWorks Home Entertainment’s Gladiator. Paramount’s The Godfather Trilogy, and Fox’s The Red Curtain Trilogy featuring Moulin Rouge, William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet and Strictly Ballroom (along with a scattering of votes for the individual titles) were tied with just over 1%.
Other titles receiving significant votes in descending and alphabetical order include The Criterion Collection’s Rebecca, HBO Home Video’s Band of Brothers, Warner’s Citizen Kane, Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment’s Lawrence of Arabia, Warner’s The Matrix, Warner’s North by Northwest and MGM Home Entertainment’s West Side Story.
Two Towers received more than 35% of the vote for the best DVD of 2003, while Alien Quadrilogy received just under 8%. The third most admired title, Finding Nemo, received a little over 4%, followed by Paramount’s The Adventures of Indiana Jones boxed set, which received a little over 2.5%, Warner’s The Adventures of Robin Hood and Paramount’s Once upon a Time in the West, which were tied at just under 2.5%, Miramax Home Entertainment’s Chicago, MPI Home Video’s Sherlock Holmes Collection Vol.1 and Disney’s Sleeping Beauty, tied with just over 1% and Warner’s reissued Casablanca, with just under 1%.
Other titles receiving significant votes in descending and alphabetical order include Columbia TriStar’s Superbit version of Lawrence of Arabia, Warner’s Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Fox’s X2: X-Men United, Kino on Video’s Metropolis and Disney’s Pirates of the CaribbeanThe Curse of the Black Pearl.

Ten Favorite DVDs
The Lord of the Rings
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Terminator 2 Judgment Day
The Godfather Trilogy
Lawrence of Arabia
The Matrix
Once upon a Time in the West
Casablanca
The Fifth Element
Singin’ in the Rain

We always ask readers to identify their ‘favorite’ DVDs in order to differentiate from the DVDs they feel were the best produced. In this instance we have combined the Lord of the Rings votes, which total 7% of the votes, with Fellowship of the Rings receiving 3%, Two Towers receiving 2% and 2% unidentified. The next placed title, The Adventures of Robin Hood, received 3% of the votes, while Terminator 2 received just over 2.5% and The Godfather Trilogy received just under 2.5%. Lawrence of Arabia, Once upon a Time in the West and The Matrix were tied for the fifth position with 2%, and Casablanca, Columbia TriStar’s The Fifth Element and Singin’ in the Rain were tied for eighth with just over 1%.
Other titles receiving significant votes in descending and alphabetical order include Warner’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, Fox’s The Abyss, DreamWorks’ American Beauty, Fox’s Star Wars Episode II Attack of the Clones, Criterion’s Brazil, Chicago, Citizen Kane, MGM’s Dances with Wolves, Fox’s The Fight Club, New Line’s Magnolia, Metropolis, Warner’s The Searchers, New Line or Criterion’s Seven, Warner’s 1954 A Star Is Born, Columbia TriStar’s Starship Troopers and Warner’s The Wizard of Oz.

Eleven Great DVD Audio Tracks
The Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines
Terminator 2 Judgment Day
The Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
Saving Private Ryan
Apocalypse Now/Redux
Star Wars II Attack of the Clones
Gladiator
U-571
X-Men
X-2 X-Men United

72% of the respondents say they have their DVD systems hooked up to stereo surround sound system, down a little from the 75% who responded that way last year, and 70% say they utilize the 5.1-channel Dolby Digital encoding, down from the 75% last year, but 25% say they are using Dolby Digital with EX-encoding, which is up from 19% last year. Similarly, 47% say they use DTS, down from 50% last year, but 22% say they have DTS with ES-encoding, up from 15% last year.
More than 7% of the respondents identified The Two Towers as having the best audio track on DVD, while just over 3% identified The Fellowship of the Ring and 2% just identified Lord of the Rings. Squeezing in between the two siblings, Warner’s smashing Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines received 6% of the vote for the best audio track, and Terminator 2 received 3.5%. DreamWorks’ Saving Private Ryan received 3% of the votes, followed by Paramount’s Apocalypse Now or Apocalypse Now Redux with just under 3%, Star Wars II with just under 2.5%, Gladiator with 2%, Universal’s U-571 with 1.5% and Fox’s X-Men and X2: X-Men United with just over 1%.
Other titles receiving significant votes in descending and alphabetical order include Columbia TriStar’s Blackhawk Down, MGM’s Die Another Day, DreamWorks’ The Haunting, The Adventures of Indiana Jones, Universal’s Jurassic Park, Universal’s Jurassic Park 3 and The Red Curtain Trilogy.
We’re down to one hotly demanded trilogy left to go, with 10% of the respondents, given four opportunities to list a title they want to see released on DVD, saying that the Star Wars trilogy is the one that they want, with the individual titles receiving an additional 2% of the votes each. Fans shouldn’t have much longer to wait, however, as press reports have stated that the films are being prepared for release this year.
Last year, the most requested title was the Indiana Jones trilogy, and now that it has been released, the next five titles match the order of their appearance last year. Following Star Wars, the most desired title is Warner’s original King Kong, which received just over 6.5% of the votes, Warner’s Around the World in 80 Days which received just under 6.5%, The High and the Mighty, which received just under 6%, and El Cid, which received 5%. Restoration work has begun on King Kong, though the future is still blurry on how long that work will take. A major announcement about Around the World in 80 Days should be forthcoming shortly. The High and the Mighty is owned by the John Wayne estate, which is restoring the title, so a DVD release could be on the horizon. We have no word on El Cid, which is apparently under the control of Miramax at the moment.
Another long sought-after title, Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard, which received just under 5% of the vote, recently underwent a major restoration, so if a home video deal eventually surfaces, the film will definitely not be the pink-and-white version that has been circulating in revival houses for decades. Everyone is still waiting for the pendulum to swing back so that Disney’s The Song of the South can be released, but with the Confederate flag getting so much bad press lately, it looks like the pendulum is going to be stuck in the up position for a while. Anyway, just under 4% of our readers requested it. Paramount’s 1900, which received 3% of the vote, is probably under consideration, but nothing is happening at this time. We haven’t heard much about Fox’s The African Queen lately, which received over 2.5% of the vote, but it is likely just a question of when it works to the top of Fox’s marketing queue. Porgy and Bess, on the other hand, which received just under 2.5%, is under the control of the Gershwin Estate and no movement on it appears likely in the near future.
Other titles receiving significant votes in descending and alphabetical order include Paramount’s The Conformist (under consideration), Let It Be (we really thought with the release of the CD and all that things would be moving on it, but so far we haven’t heard anything), Warner’s Meet Me in St. Louis (coming April 6 as an ‘Ultra-Resolution’ title), Warner’s The Sea Hawk (should be available before the end of the year), Stairway to Heaven/A Matter of Life and Death (sometimes we hear Columbia TriStar has the title, sometimes we hear it doesn’t), 55 Days at Peking (no word from Miramax), Universal’s Ace in the Hole (no word), Warner’s The Band Wagon (an ‘Ultra-Resolution’ release in 2005), La Dolce Vita (still in a rights quagmire—Trimark buying Artisan which has Republic doesn’t help), Warner’s The Magnificent Ambersons (no date yet, but they’re working on it), Paramount’s Murder on the Orient Express (it may be released this year), Warner’s Ryan’s Daughter (no date yet, but it has been restored), Universal’s Schindler’s List (coming March 9), a remastered Titanic (may happen one of these days at Paramount), Zulu Dawn (we have no idea), MGM’s The Alamo director’s cut (instead, MGM is reissuing the 162-minute version, with a new documentary, in April), Warner’s Bringing Up Baby (it’s being worked on), Fox’s Call Me Madam (we may actually see it before the next poll), Warner’s Captain Blood (probably this year), Chimes at Midnight (haven’t heard anything), Paramount’s Day of the Locust (probably this year), Warner’s East of Eden (still in legal limbo), Hondo (see The High and the Mighty), Warner’s Ice Station Zebra (the 65mm version has been restored and a 2005 release is likely), Paramount’s Naked Prey (under consideration), Warner’s A Night at the Opera (coming in May), Warner’s O Lucky Man! (probably out in 2005), Paramount’s Ragtime (probably this year), Paramount’s Reds (under consideration), Universal’s Tarnished Angels (no word) and Fox’s With a Song in My Heart (no word).

The Eleven Most Wanted TV Boxed Sets
Seinfeld
The Adventures of Superman
Batman
The Addams Family
Kolchak The Night Stalker
Northern Exposure
Berlin Alexanderplatz
Golden Girls
Hill Street Blues
SCTV
Twin Peaks

This year, we asked for a separate, single listing of the most wanted TV boxed sets. The first season of the most requested title, Seinfeld, which received 3% of the votes, is being released later this year by Columbia TriStar. The second most requested title, with just under 3%, the old Adventures of Superman, is going to come out from Warner within the next year or two. We haven’t heard anything on Batman, which received just under 2.5%, but Fox is surely working on it. We don’t know who has the rights to The Addams Family, which received 1.5%, along with Kolchak the Nightstalker (we believe that Universal has the show, but we haven’t heard any status) and Northern Exposure (haven’t heard anything from Universal). We have no idea who has the rights to Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s magnificent Berlin Alexanderplatz, but it received a little over 1% of the vote, along with Golden Girls (we haven’t heard anything from Disney/Buena Vista), Hill Street Blues (Fox has plenty of cop shows to choose from, but they’ll surely get around to it), SCTV (Fox is preparing something, we believe), and the second season of Twin Peaks (the Artisan/Trimark thing has to get straightened out first).
Other titles receiving significant votes in descending and alphabetical order include Angles in America (likely coming from HBO later this year), Birds of Prey (Warner has no plans at this time, but they’d better move fast before folks forget), Centennial (haven’t heard anything from Universal), Cheers (Paramount has released the first two seasons and more are on the way), Dallas (Warner will probably start it up this year), Have Gun Will Travel (Paramount will probably start it up this year), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (Warner should be coming up with something shortly), Sgt. Bilko/You’ll Never Get Rich (it may be under consideration from Paramount), Bakersfield PD (no word), Maverick (Warner may have something later this year), Mission: Impossible (it may be under consideration from Paramount), Oz (HBO will eventually get around to releasing the remaining seasons—the Third Season is due out on March 4), The Paper Chase (haven’t heard anything), Perry Mason (may be under consideration from Paramount), The Rockford Files (haven’t heard anything), The Time Tunnel (we suppose it depends on how well Lost in Space does, but we haven’t heard anything officially from Fox), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (see The Time Tunnel) and thirtysomething (haven’t heard anything from MGM).
50% of our respondents say they utilize 16:9 encoding when it is available on a DVD, identical to the response last year. 25% say they have in some way played a DVD on a computer, which is down from 28% last year, and 12% say they have seen digital artifacting on recently released titles, an bump up from the 10% last year.
We would like to thank everybody who took the effort and spent the postage to respond to our poll and remember, even if a title you requested did Alan Hershkowitz <laserwanted@hotmail.com>such information to the powers that be.

 

2002

Our Sixth Annual Consumer Poll

In a confirmation of the inevitable, at least for this year, one third of the respondents to our DVDLaser Disc Newsletter Sixth Annual Consumer Poll voted The Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Rings Special Extended DVD Edition the greatest DVD ever made, and a whopping 45% voted the New Line Home Entertainment release the best DVD of 2002. Several hundred readers responded to this year’s poll and a vast majority clearly thought that the Lord of the Rings DVD set a new standard for DVD programming. The only question is how well the DVD will stand up to the release of its sequel later this year.

Coming in second for the Best of 2002, with 6% of the votes, was 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment’s Star Wars II Attack of the Clones. Fox’s Baz Luhrmann: The Red Curtain Trilogy, a repackaging of Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge, William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet and Strictly Ballroom accompanied by a fourth platter of special features, came in third, with 3% of the votes, followed by Buena Vista Home Entertainment’s Monsters, Inc. with a little over 2%, Warner Home Video’s Singin’ in the Rain Special Edition with just under 2%, and, tied at 1%, Buena Vista’s Amelie, Universal’s Back to the Future The Complete Trilogy, Warner’s The Civil War A Film by Ken Burns, The Criterion Collection’s Contempt, and Universal’s E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. Other titles placing significantly in descending and alphabetical order include Buena Vista’s Pearl Harbor The Director’s Cut, Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment’s Spider-Man and Paramount’s Sunset Boulevard.

As for the greatest DVDs of all time, Lord of the Rings finally wrested away the spot from Artisan Home Entertainment’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the champion since our DVD poll began, which fell to the number two spot with a little over 8% of the votes. Star Wars II Attack of the Clones came next, tied with Buena Vista’s Toy Story The Ultimate Toy Box with a little over 2% of the vote, followed by Fox’s The Fight Club, Paramount’s The Godfather DVD Collection and Monsters, Inc. all tied with a little over 1.5%, Warner’s The Matrix, The Red Curtain Trilogy and Buena Vista’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, all tied with just over 1%, and Paramount’s Apocalypse Now Redux, Warner’s Citizen Kane, Pearl Harbor, Criterion’s Rebecca, DreamWorks Home Entertainment’s Saving Private Ryan, Singin’ in the Rain and Paramount’s Titanic, all with about 1%.

Ten Favorite DVDs

1. LOTR Fellowship of the Rings Extended
2. Citizen Kane
The Godfather Collection
4. Lawrence of Arabia
The Matrix
6. Singin in the Rain
7. Star Wars II Attack of the Clones
Saving Private Ryan
9. The Red Curtain Trilogy
The Searchers

Terminator 2 dropped off the list of favorite DVDs entirely. We always ask respondents to list their favorite DVDs, so that it won’t interfere with what they believe is the best DVD. Nevertheless, more than 9% felt that Lord of the Rings was their favorite. A little over 2.5% favored Citizen Kane and The Godfather Collection, while a little over 2% preferred Columbia TriStar’s Lawrence of Arabia and The Matrix. Just under 2% voted for Singin’ in the Rain and a little over 1% favored Star Wars II Attack of the Clones and Saving Private Ryan, with about 1% voting for The Red Curtain Trilogy, and Warner’s The Searchers. Also placing significantly were Paramount’s Star Trek The Next Generation series (no particular season was identified on any of the votes) and Columbia TriStar’s brand new XXX, which was released on the last week of the year, suggesting that it may be an up and comer.

Ten Great Audio Tracks

1. LOTR Fellowship of the Rings Extended
2. Star Wars II Attack of the Clones
3. Saving Private Ryan
4. Terminator 2 Judgment Day
5. The Red Curtain Trilogy
6. Gladiator
The Matrix
Pearl Harbor
The Directors Cut
9. The Abyss
Air Force One

79% of the respondents say they have their DVD players hooked up to a surround sound system, up from last year’s 76%. 75% are hooked up to 5.1-channel Dolby Digital, up from 71% last year, and 19% have Dolby Digital EX, up from 16%. 50% have a DTS system, up from 38% last year and 15% have DTS ES, only up from 14% last year. 12% of the respondents voted again for Lord of the Rings as having the best audio track on DVD, with 9% voting for Star Wars II Attack of the Clones. About 5% preferred Saving Private Ryan, 4% preferred Terminator 2 Judgment Day, 3.5% preferred The Red Curtain Trilogy, 1.5% preferred DreamWorks’ Gladiator, The Matrix and Pearl Harbor Director’s Cut, and just over 1% preferred Fox’s The Abyss and Columbia TriStar’s Air Force One. Other titles earning significant votes in descending and alphabetical order include Buena Vista’s The Fantasia Anthology, Monsters, Inc., Apocalypse Now Redux, Universal’s Jurassic Park and Fox’s Star Wars I The Phantom Menace.

The home video companies have been busy making sure that all those best-loved trilogies find their way to the marketplace. There are only two left to go, actually (the Krzysztof Kieslowski’s ‘color’ trilogy, requested by 1% of the respondents, is due to be released the first week of March), Paramount Home Video’s Indiana Jones trilogy, which was requested by 20% of the respondents, given the opportunity to list four titles that they would most like to have released on DVD, and Fox’ Star Wars trilogy, which was requested by 15%. Star Wars—who knows? There has been quite a bit of talk, however, about the Indiana Jones films, particularly since efforts seem to be gearing up for a fourth sequel, so we would guess that the chances would be fair that the DVDs will appear sometime in the foreseeable future.

Warner is busily searching for the best elements to do gorilla-sized justice to King Kong, requested by 5.5% of the respondents, but it doesn’t look like they will reach Skull Island and return with the goods anytime soon. Things are looking much better for Warner’s Around the World in 80 Days, requested by 5%, which ought to come out about a year from now in its original road show format. 4% requested The High and the Mighty, a classic controlled by the John Wayne estate, which doesn’t seem to be budging at the moment, and a little under 4% asked for El Cid. 3% asked for Warner’s The Adventures of Robin Hood, which should be out by the end of the year, and Warner’s Meet Me in St. Louis, which will probably appear sometime next year. Buena Vista’s Song of the South was requested by a little under 3% of the respondents, but there does not appear to be any plans for it at the moment. The political correctness pendulum will probably have to swing more in the other direction, first.

Fox’s Call Me Madam had 2% of the votes. It is probably a matter of Fox negotiating with the Irving Berlin estate to bring Madam out, but it likely won’t happen unless they are inundated with mail, so write 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2121 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles CA 90067 to ask, “Can you use any money today?” and let them know that if the movie came out on DVD, it would be something to dance about.

Other titles that received significant votes in descending and alphabetical order include Zulu Dawn, Fox’s The African Queen, Warner’s East of Eden (a rights problem that is being solved at a glacial pace), Fox’s Laura, Fox’s The Leopard (nothing at this point), Buena Vista’s The Lion King (eventually), Fox’s Porgy and Bess, Paramount’s Reds (eventually), Universal’s Schindler’s List, SCTV, Warner’s That’s Entertainment (it may appear in 2004), Warner’s Treasure of the Sierra Madre (should appear before the end of the year), the Soviet War & Peace (coming momentarily from Image), Warner’s The Band Wagon (next year), Chimes at Midnight (no word), Warner’s Giant (due in June), The Godfather Trilogy re-edited into a single chronological work, Paramount’s Once upon a Time in the West (eventually, they want to make sure the source material is improved over previous releases), Seinfeld, Paramount’s full length Shogun (sometime in the foreseeable future), Warner’s The Thing from Another World (soon), The Beatles Anthology, Roger Vadim’s Blood and Roses, Blow Up (soon), Warner’s Bringing Up Baby (hopefully next year), Warner’s The Devils (no plans at present), a decent version of The Final Countdown, Fox’s Garden of Evil, Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film (no plans), Columbia TriStar’s The Jolson Story, Warner’s Kiss Me Kate (due at the end of April), Let It Be, large collections of Warner’s Looney Tunes cartoons (sometime this year), Columbia TriStar’s Lord Jim, Universal’s Love Me Tonight, Warner’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (needs to be remastered but may appear next year), Fox’s Miller’s Crossing, Warner’s 1962 Mutiny on the Bounty (no plans at the present time), Once upon a Time in America (sometime this year), Out of the Past (next year), The Passenger (Jack Nicholson owns it, ask him), MGM’s Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Fox’s Silver Streak, Columbia TriStar’s Stairway to Heaven, Warner’s The Thorn Birds (they’ll get to it eventually), Universal’s Thriller, Paramount’s Titanic remastered, To Live and Die in L.A., Universal’s The Uninvited, Wings of Desire and Fox’s With a Song in My Heart.

We would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who responded to our poll, and remind them that even if a requested title did not appear in this article, we are aware of it and are actively working to determine

2001

TOP TEN DVDS OF 2001

The Ten Best DVDs of 2001

1. Star Wars I The Phantom Menace

2. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

3. The Godfather DVD Collection

4. Shrek

5. Moulin Rouge

Pearl Harbor

7. Lawrence of Arabia

8. Star Trek The Motion Picture

9. Planet of the Apes

10. The Terminator

 

The Ten Best DVDs of All Time

1. Terminator 2 Judgment Day

2. Star Wars I The Phantom Menace

3. The Matrix

Se7en

Toy Story The Ultimate Toy Box

6. The Fight Club

7. The Godfather DVD Collection

Shrek

9. Brazil

A Bug’s Life

 

The Ten Most Wanted DVDs

1. Indiana Jones trilogy

2. Star Wars trilogy

3. Around the World in 80 Days

4. King Kong

5. Back to the Future trilogy

6. El Cid

7. The High and the Mighty

Horror of Dracula

9. Call Me Madam

The Leopard

Our Fifth Annual DVD Consumer Poll

For the first time since we began asking which film titles consumers would like to see released, some eighteen polls ago, not one of the top ten most requested titles is a Walt Disney cartoon. Confident, perhaps, that whatever Disney cartoons have not been put out on DVD soon will be, respondents to our Fifth Annual DVD Consumer Poll focused instead on titles whose futures are less clear. The only Disney cartoon to place with any significance at all in the poll was Song of the South, and it was a long way down. It is not impossible that Disney will release the racially sensitive but relatively innocent film sometime in the future, but it does not appear to be happening any time soon.

The two titles that dominated the ‘Most Wanted’ requests this year were The Indiana Jones Trilogy, attracting the attention of 18.5% of the respondents, and The Star Wars Trilogy, attracting the attention of 14%. This was the first time that the requests for Indiana Jones exceeded those for Star Wars, perhaps because the recent release of The Phantom Menace provided at least a partial satiation for fans. Well, they’re starting to talk a bit more about a ‘fourth’ Indian Jones feature film, so if that becomes a reality, then Paramount Home Video would probably step forward to cross-promote it with the DVDs. Otherwise, it is hard to say.

As for rest of the Star Wars films, it is probably more a matter of available time than of desire, if The Phantom Menace is any indication, and we’re sure that at some point 20^th Century Fox Home Entertainment will put the production into motion, if not when next summer’s sequel finishes production, then when the sequel after that is over.

Warner Home Video’s Around the World in 80 Days placed next on the list, with about 4% of the votes. Warner is still trying to piece together decent source material, so if they do get around to putting it out, it is more likely to appear next year or some time after that. Warner is also responsible for the original King Kong, and while it will be likely that the title will get Citizen Kane-like attention when it does come out, nothing seems to be happening with it at the moment. It earned about 3.5% of the vote.

Judging by the forthcoming Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment release, Used Cars, director Robert Zemeckis has been having more and more fun doing commentary tracks, so he may well be chomping at the bit to get Universal to put out the Back to the Future trilogy, which earned 3% of the votes, but when that will happen is unclear.

The rights for doing El Cid on DVD are probably up for grabs, and whoever gets them is likely well aware that a good 2.5% of our respondents were interested in obtaining the film. When is the John Wayne estate ever going to get around to releasing The High and the Mighty to the public? Who knows, but a little over 2% of the respondents would like to see it happen. That film was tied with the Hammer Productions Horror of Dracula, a Warner title that is likely to appear in the near future.

As for Call Me Madam, it would technically be a Fox title but the rights are held by the Irving Berlin estate, which isn’t budging at the moment, despite the desires of just under 2%. It is tied with Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard, another film whose rights are probably up for grabs, or would be if anybody could ever find some decent source material.

Also placing significantly in our poll, in descending and alphabetical order, were Koyaanisqatsi (no word), Porgy and Bess (nothing happening on it, though the source material is said to be in good shape), Saturday Night Fever (Paramount will get around to it), the Soviet War and Peace (nothing happening at this time), The Adventures of Robin Hood (Warner will probably do it next year or sometime after that), The African Queen (no word from Fox), The Beatles Anthology (a likely bidding war), Eraserhead (a rights problem), Grease (Paramount will get around to it), Let It Be (another likely bidding war), Meet Me in St. Louis (next year or perhaps sooner), 1900 (Paramount will get around to it), The Outer Limits (could be happening at MGM Home Entertainment), Schindler’s List (no word from Universal), Song of the South, Stairway to Heaven/A Matter of Life and Death (no plans at this time by Columbia TriStar), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, All in the Family (the first season is on the way from Columbia TriStar), Babylon 5 (if you buy the first one, perhaps Warner will release more), Chimes at Midnight (no word), The Conformist (Paramount will get around to it), East of Eden (a rights problem is holding it up at Warner), The Flower Drum Song (no word from Universal), The Great Race (Warner will probably do it this year), Gun Crazy (no word), La Dolce Vita (no word), The Magnificent Ambersons (this year or next from Warner), Shogun (Paramount has no plans) and To Catch a Thief (Paramount will get around to it).

It seems to us that Paramount is in need of some needling in regards to the complete miniseries, Shogun. If you would like to see the epic series released in a box on DVD, go to the Paramount web site, www. paramount.com and click on the ‘e-mail’ button at the site. Tell them how much you would enjoy buying such a boxed set, and that you know all of your friends would want one, too.

For the second year in a row, Artisan Entertainment’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day was voted the ‘Best DVD of All Time,’ garnering 13% of the votes. Coming in a distant second was Star Wars I The Phantom Menace, with 7% of the votes. Beyond that, the titles were closely bunched together. Warner’s The Matrix, New Line Home Video’s Se7en and Disney’s Toy Story The Ultimate Toy Box each got 2.5% of the vote, Fox’s The Fight Club got a little over 2%, Paramount’s The Godfather DVD Collection and DreamWorks Home Entertainment’s Shrek got just under 2% and about 1.5% of the votes went to The Criterion Collection’s Brazil, Disney’s A Bug’s Life, Disney’s Fantasia Anthology, Columbia TriStar’s Lawrence of Arabia, Fox’s new Planet of the Apes and Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Other titles earning significant votes in descending and alphabetical order include Fox’s Moulin Rouge, Fox’s The Alien Legacy, Columbia TriStar’s The Fifth Element, DreamWorks’ Gladiator, MGM’s The James Bond Collection and Warner’s The Wizard of Oz.

As for the best DVDs of 2001, the clear winner was The Phantom Menace, with 14% of the votes. Second was Snow White with 9%, followed by The Godfather with 7.5%, Shrek with 5%, Moulin Rouge and Touchstone Home Video’s Pearl Harbor with just under 3%, Lawrence of Arabia with 2.5%, Star Trek The Motion Picture The Director’s Edition with just under 2% and Planet of the Apes with 1.5%. Other titles placing significantly in descending and alphabetical order include Paramount’s Apocalypse Now Redux, Citizen Kane, Fox’s Cleopatra, Anchor Bay Entertainment’s Suspiria, MGM’s The Terminator, Se7en, Image Entertainment’s Treasures of the American Film Archives, Warner’s Superman, Disney’s Davy Crockett, Universal’s Jurassic Park III, Universal’s The Mummy Returns, Touchstone’s O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Fox’s The Simpsons The Complete First Season.

Eleven Favorite DVDs

1. Terminator 2 Judgment Day
2. The Godfather DVD Collection
3. Fantasia Anthology

Lawrence of Arabia

Star Wars I The Phantom Menace

Shrek

1. The Fifth Element

The Matrix

1. Citizen Kane

The Fight Club

Singin’ in the Rain

To assure objectivity in the votes for the best DVDs, we also ask readers to identify their favorite DVDs. Terminator 2 still came in first, but with just under 3% of the votes, followed by The Godfather with just over 2%, Fantasia, Lawrence of Arabia, Phantom Menace and Shrek tied with just under 2%, The Fifth Element, and The Matrix tied with just over 1.5% and Citizen Kane, The Fight Club and Warner’s Singin’ in the Rain with just over 1%. Other titles receiving significant votes include Apocalypse Now Redux, New Line’s Boogie Nights, Brazil, A Bug’s Life, Fox’s The Sound of Music, Universal’s Vertigo and The Wizard of Oz

Eight Great Audio Tracks

1. Star Wars I The Phantom Menace
2. Apocalypse Now Redux
3. Saving Private Ryan
4. Terminator 2 Judgment Day
5. Gladiator

U-571

1. Pearl Harbor
2. Lost World Jurassic Park

76% of the respondents have their DVD player hooked up to a surround sound system of some sort. 71% have Dolby Digital and 38% have DTS, while 16% have Dolby Digital EX capabilities and 14% have DTS ES capabilities. What DVD’s have the most fabulous audio tracks? Over 10.5% say Phantom Menace is the best, while just over 7% go for Apocalypse Now Redux. Just over 5% are impressed with DreamWorks’ Saving Private Ryan DTS, and 5% like Terminator 2. Just over 2% are impressed with Gladiator and Universal’s U-571, just over 1.5% like Pearl Harbor and just over 1% like Universal’s Lost World Jurassic Park DTS. Other titles with great soundtracks, in descending and alphabetical order, include Columbia TriStar’s Das Boot, Fantasia, Fox’s Independence Day, Moulin Rouge, Universal’s Jurassic Park DTS and Paramount’s Titanic.

33% of the respondents are using a widescreen TV, 27% use DVD-ROM features once in a while, and only 10% see digital artifacting these days on recent releases. As for us, viewers say they want fewer reviews of adult titles, Hong Kong titles and anime titles, and more reviews of obscure films, older sound films and science-fiction films, so we suppose it is time to dust off our copies of Things to Come and The Final Programme and to get cracking.

 

2000

Two years after the film was knocked out of the top position, Artisan Home Entertainment's Terminator 2 Judgment Day has returned to dominate the Ten Best DVDs of All Time voting, also capturing the top spot on the Ten Best DVDs of 2000 in our Annual Consumer Poll, thanks to the elaborate two-platter collector's edition issued by Artisan last summer, which in many ways duplicated the collector's edition LD that dominated our LD polls for most of their existence. About 500 DVD consumers responded to our Fourth Annual DVD Consumer Poll (sorry, there aren't enough LDs being released to include them any more), and over 14% voted Terminator 2 the best DVD ever, with 15% judging it the best DVD of 2000.

 

The Best DVDs of All Time Retrospective

 

1997: Terminator 2 Judgment Day

1998: Tomorrow Never Dies

1999: The Matrix

2000: Terminator 2 Judgment Day

 

The next closest competitor for the Best DVD of All Time, last year's winner, Warner Home Video's The Matrix, scored less than half as many votes, earning about 7%, followed very closely by Disney's Toy Story The Ultimate Toy Box , which also earned 7%. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment's Fight Club and DreamWorks Home Video's Gladiator achieved a little over 4% of the vote, followed by Disney's The Fantasia Anthology with just over 3.5%, Disney's collector's edition of A Bug's Life with just under 2.5%, DreamWorks' Saving Private Ryan with a little over 2%, Fox's The Alien Legacy with just over 1.5%, and Fox's The Abyss set and The Criterion Collection's Brazil , both with a little over 1%. Other DVDs gathering significant votes in descending and alphabetical order include Columbia TriStar Home Video's The Bridge on the River Kwai , Fox's Independence Day , Columbia TriStar's MIB Men in Black , Warner's The Wizard of Oz and Criterion's Armageddon .

Gladiator placed a little more strongly in the votes for the Best DVD of 2000, capturing second place with 9% of the vote, followed by Toy Story with 7%, Fantasia with 6%, the critical darling, Fight Club , with a little over 4.5%, Columbia TriStar's The Patriot with just under 2%, Men in Black with just over 1.5%, New Line Home Video's Magnolia with just under 1.5%, and Universal's Jaws and Fox's The Sound of Music tied with just over 1%. Other titles placing significantly in descending and alphabetical order include The Abyss , The Bridge on the River Kwai , Fox's The Rocky Horror Picture Show , Fox's Titus and Fox's X-Men .

Ten Favorite DVDs

1. The Matrix

2. Gladiator

3. The Fantasia Anthology

4. Terminator 2 Judgment Day

Toy Story The Ultimate Toy Box

6. A Star Is Born

The Wizard of Oz

7. North by Northwest

Singin' in the Rain

Vertigo

 

We always ask respondents to identify their `favorite' DVD in order to make their assessment of the best DVDs more objective. Here, the bestselling Matrix clearly ruled, amassing a little under 4.5% of the vote, followed by the bestselling Gladiator , with 3%. Fantasia gathered a little over 2%, followed by a tie between Terminator 2 and Toy Story with 2%, Warner's A Star Is Born and Wizard of Oz with a little over 1.5%, and a tie between Warner's North by Northwest , MGM Home Entertainment's Singin' in the Rain , which is now available through Warner, and Universal's Vertigo , all with about 1%.

For the Favorite category, there was a much wider response of titles. Others placing significantly in descending and alphabetical order include Fight Club , Saving Private Ryan , Sound of Music , Alien Legacy , DreamWorks' American Beauty , New Line's Boogie Nights , Warner's Casablanca , Warner's The Wild Bunch , USA Home Entertainment's The Big Lebowski , Bug's Life , Columbia TriStar's Das Boot , Columbia TriStar's The Fifth Element , DreamWorks' Galaxy Quest , Universal's Gods and Monsters , Anchor Bay Home Entertainment's Halloween , MGM's first James Bond Collection , Pioneer Artists' Judy Garland Collection , Fox's The Last of the Mohicans , Men in Black , Miramax Home Entertainment's Shakespeare in Love , Criterion's The Third Man , Paramount Home Video's Titanic and USA's Topsy-Turvy .

 

10 Great DVD Audio Tracks

1. Terminator 2 Judgment Day

2. The Matrix

Saving Private Ryan

4. Gladiator

5. U-571

6. The Fantasia Anthology

7. Jurassic Park

Toy Story The Ultimate Toy Box

9. Twister

10. Fight Club

 

73% of the respondents have their DVD home video system hooked up to a stereo surround system, while 68% are hooked up to Dolby Digital and 62% have DTS. The Dolby Digital figure has risen just slightly from last year's 66%, but DTS has more than doubled from last year's 30%, which had more than doubled from 13% the year before. For the best DVD audio track, once again, Terminator 2 was first in the voting, earning 8% of the responses, followed by The Matrix and Saving Private Ryan with just under 7%, Gladiator with 5%, Universal's U-571 with 2.5%, Fantasia with a little over 2%, Universal's Jurassic Park and Toy Story tied at just under 2%, Warner's Twister with 1.5% and Fight Club with just over 1%. Other titles with significant scores in descending and alphabetical order include Paramount's M:i-2 , Universal's remake of The Mummy , Columbia TriStar's Air Force One , Men In Black , Warner's The Perfect Storm , Paramount's Apocalypse Now , Armageddon , Das Boot , Independence Day , Sony Music's James Taylor Live at the Beacon Theater , Magnolia , The Patriot , Fox's Titan A.E. , and MGM's The World Is Not Enough .

 

The 11 Best DVD Supplementary Sections

1. Terminator 2 Judgment Day

2. Toy Story The Ultimate Toy Box

3. Gladiator

4. The Fantasia Anthology

Fight Club

6. The Matrix

7. The Abyss

8. The Sound of Music

9. The James Bond Collection

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

The Wizard of Oz

 

74% of the respondents said that the presence of supplementary materials on a DVD strongly influenced their decision to purchase a title, with 22% saying they weren't interested in the supplements and 4% not responding. Close to 16% of the respondents were most enamored with the supplementary section of Terminator 2 , while 6% liked Toy Story and just under 6% liked Gladiator . Fantasia and Fight Club were tied with 5%, while last year's number one, Matrix , had 2.5% of the vote this time. The Abyss earned 2%, The Sound of Music had 1.5% and the first James Bond Collection , Rocky Horror and Wizard of Oz all tied with 1%. Other popular supplements in descending and alphabetical order include Bug's Life , Jaws , A Star Is Born , MGM's This Is Spinal Tap , Image Entertainment's Bob Clampett's Beany and Cecil The Special Edition , Criterion's Carnival of Souls , Universal's 1931 Dracula , Independence Day , Magnolia , and Disney's Tarzan .

DVD commentary tracks are proliferating at a rapid pace. Not only is almost every major release accompanied by one, but some have two or more, and even minor or obscure titles have them. Not only are they entertaining and informative, but the next generation of filmmakers (or should we be saying `video-filmmakers'?) could well be learning their craft from the lessons and insights provided. The best commentary track was judged to be director Ridley Scott's adept reflections and teachings on Gladiator , which garnered 5% of the responses, followed by Fight Club with a little over 3.5%. The very funny track on This Is Spinal Tap got just under 3.5%, followed by Terminator 2 , which had 2.5%, Fantasia with 2%, Alien Legacy featuring Scott again, with 1.5%, New Line's Dark City with 1%, and Das Boot and Universal's Mallrats with just under 1%, followed closely by Ghostbusters . Touchstone Home Video's Pretty Woman and Universal's The Thing also garnered significant votes.

 

The 10 Best DVD Commentary Tracks

1. Gladiator

2. Fight Club

3. This Is Spinal Tap

4. Terminator 2 Judgment Day

5. The Fantasia Anthology

6. The Alien Legacy

7. Dark City

8. Das Boot

Mallrats

10.Ghostbusters

 

Just like last year, the three most desired DVD titles or collections are Fox's Star Wars trilogy, Paramount's Indiana Jones trilogy and Paramount's Godfather trilogy, amassing 17%, 16.5% and 13% of the votes respectively. There is no official word on when any of them will be released, though we would tend to be a bit more optimistic about The Godfather films than about the other two. We asked respondents to list four titles they would like to have released on DVD. Ben-Hur , scheduled to be released next month by Warner, was requested by 5% of those filling out the poll. Warner's Around the World in 80 Days , requested by 4.5%, could well appear within the next year or two, while The High and the Mighty , which had 4%, is owned by the John Wayne estate and doesn't seem to be going anywhere at the moment. Tied with High and the Mighty is Columbia TriStar's Lawrence of Arabia , which is due in April, followed by Universal's Back to the Future trilogy with 3.5% and Warner's Babylon 5 TV series with 3%, neither of which we have heard anything about, and rounding out the top ten most requested titles with just under 3% is Warner's Citizen Kane , which ought to show up sometime in the next year or so.

Other titles placing significantly in descending and alphabetical order include Disney's Song of the South (who knows--this is the first time, incidentally, in the seventeen years we've been doing our Poll, that a Disney title did not appear on the Ten Most Wanted list), Fox's Phantom Menace (who knows), El Cid (no word), MGM's It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (no word), Warner's King Kong (probably within a year or two), Superman (it might appear within the next year or two), Twin Peaks (no word), Koyaanisqatsi (no word), Columbia TriStar's Close Encounters of the Third Kind (no word), Warner's Dr. Zhivago (probably this spring), Paramount's Grease (no word), The Leopard (no word), Let It Be (no word), Warner's Once upon a Time in America (no word), Porgy and Bess (waiting for the Gershwin Estate to wise up), Columbia TriStar's A Matter of Life and Death/Stairway to Heaven (no word), Warner's The Civil War (no word), The Beatles Anthology (no word), Columbia TriStar's Eraserhead (no word), The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai (no word), The Adventures of Robin Hood (nothing happening), Fox's Call Me Madam (nothing happening), Fallstaff/Chimes at Midnight (no word), Fox's The Simpsons (no word), Disney's Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs (no word), MGM's Some Like It Hot (no word), Warner's The Devils (nothing happening), Universal's E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (probably after the theatrical re-release), Columbia TriStar's Funny Girl (no word), Fox's Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (coming this summer), Warner's Meet Me in St. Louis (not happening at this time), Columbia TriStar's The Natural (coming in March), Paramount's Once upon a Time in the West (no word), MGM's Pennies from Heaven (no word), Paramount's Saturday Night Fever (no word) and To Live and Die in L.A. (no word).

A surprising 69% of the respondents say the prefer a menu appear on the screen to prompt them to play the film, with 25% saying they don't like it (we can't stand it, either, but worse is the plain inconsistency in the prompts not only from one label to the next, but even with the labels), and 5% undecided. Nobody likes being forced to watch commercials, however, or at least 98% don't. Most respondents voluntarily cited Disney and Fox as the worst offenders, but let's not forget Warner's PBS Home Video, the `Public Broadcasting' label, which is the worst of all. 98% also have no use for the parental lock function. 49 % are not interested in having both the letterboxed and the non-letterboxed versions of a film on the same release, but 46% are, with 5% undecided. Two years ago, 13% said they saw a lot of digital artifacting on recently released titles, while last year only 11% did. This year, however, it is back up to 13%, with 71% saying they don't see the artifacting and 16% undecided.

We would like to thank everyone who took the time to respond to our Poll and would remind respondents that even if your requests didn't place high on the list, we are often in contact with representatives of the DVD industry and readily relay your desires to them.

1999

Our Annual Poll results

The best selling DVD ever, Warner Home Video’s The Matrix, has also rocketed to the top of most of the major positions in our Third Annual DVD Consumer Poll. While it somewhat tellingly came in second in the Best DVD Sound category, it was otherwise voted the Best DVD of 1999, the Best DVD of All Time, the Most Favorite DVD, and the Best DVD Supplement.

More than 500 respondents answered our annual consumer query, and more than 14% voted Matrix the best DVD of 1999, nearly twice its nearest competitors–Walt Disney Home Video’s Collector’s Edition of A Bug’s Life, which earned a little over 7% and DreamWorks Home Video’s Saving Private Ryan, which earned just under 7%. The 20^th Century Fox Home Video boxed set, The Alien Legacy, followed with 4% of the vote, along with Universal Studios Home Video’s The Mummy (the remake) also at about 4%, Columbia TriStar Home Video’s Ghostbusters, which earned 3%, Warner’s The Wizard of Oz, which earned about 2.5% and New Line Home Video’s Austin Powers The Spy Who Shagged Me, Criterion Collection’s Brazil and Pioneer Artists’ The Judy Garland Show Collection, all of which earned 2%. Other titles placing significantly in descending and alphabetical order include Paramount Home Video’s The Titanic, Criterion’s version of Armageddon, MGM Home Entertainment’s The James Bond Collection, MGM’s Goldfinger collector’s edition, Sony Music Video’s Pink Floyd The Wall, Criterion’s The Third Man, MGM’s The Beatles Yellow Submarine, Anchor Bay Entertainment’s Halloween collector’s edition and Miramax Home Entertainment’s Shakespeare in Love.

It was Matrix with 9% of the vote and Bug’s Life with 6% for the position of Best DVD of All Time, followed by Alien Legacy with 5%, Saving Private Ryan with just under 5%, MGM’s Tomorrow Never Dies special edition with 3%, Wizard of Oz with 2.5%, Columbia TriStar’s Starship Troopers with just under 2.5%, Columbia TriStar’s The Fifth Element with a bit over 2% and Paramount Home Video’s Titanic and The Mummy, each with 2%. Other titles in descending and alphabetical order include Brazil, Warner’s Contact, MGM’s Gone with the Wind, Judy Garland Collection, Artisan’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Universal’s Vertigo, Armageddon, Columbia TriStar’s Das Boot, HBO Video’s From the Earth to the Moon, Fox’s My Fair Lady, Warner’s L.A. Confidential, MGM’s Singin’ in the Rain, Ghostbusters, Goldfinger, Halloween, The James Bond Collection, New Line’s Lost in Space and Universal’s Psycho (the original).

 

10 Favorite DVDs

 

We always ask readers to identify their ten favorite DVDs so we will get a less biased opinion in the ‘Best’ categories. While the admirable Disney production of A Bugs Life didn’t even make the honorable mention cut, Matrix still dominated the number one position, garnering more than 8% of the votes. It’s nearest competitor, Saving Private Ryan, had 3%, followed by Fifth Element with just under 3%, The Wizard of Oz with 2%, Titanic with just over 1.5%, Starship Troopers and Tomorrow Never Dies with 1.5% and Alien Legacy, Universal’s Gods and Monsters and Singin’ in the Rain, all with a little over 1%. Other significant titles in descending and alphabetical order include Austin Powers The Spy Who Shagged Me, New Line’s Boogie Nights, From the Earth to the Moon, L.A. Confidential, The Mummy, My Fair Lady, Paramount’s The Ten Commandments, Shakespeare in Love, Warner’s Blade Runner, Contact, Fox’s The Last of the Mohicans, Criterion’s The Seven Samurai, Vertigo and Yellow Submarine.

 

10 Great DVD Audio Tracks

 

78% of the respondents have their DVD playback unit hooked up to asurround sound system, while 66% have 5.1-channel Dolby Digital and 30% have DTS, more than double last year’s 13%. In our own review we noted that the audio track of The Matrix was missing, ever so slightly, the punch it ought to have, and apparently, consciously or subconsciously, the Poll respondents concurred, awarding Saving Private Ryan the number one spot with 15% of the vote, more than double the 7% Matrix earned in the number two position. Titanic followed with 3%, Mummy with 2.5%, Starship Troopers and Yellow Submarine with just over 2%, Das Boot with 2%, Tomorrow Never Dies with just over 1.5% and Columbia TriStar’s Air Force One and Paramount’s Apocalypse Now, both with 1.5%. Other great audio tracks in descending and alphabetical order included MGM’s GoldenEye, MGM’s Ronin, Terminator 2, Armageddon, Image Entertainment’s The Eagles Hell Freezes Over, Fifth Element, DreamWorks’ The Haunting, My Fair Lady, Warner’s Twister, Bug’s Life, Image’s Roy Orbison Black & White Night and Image’s Super Speedway. Some respondents, however, mocking the audio capabilities of DVDs, wrote in things like, ‘you’re kidding.’

 

1. Saving Private Ryan

2. The Matrix

3. Titanic

4. The Mummy

5. Starship Troopers

---The Beatles Yellow Submarine

7. Das Boot

8. Tomorrow Never Dies

9. Air Force One

---Apocalypse Now

 

10 Great Supplements

There is less ambiguity about the capability of the DVD format to deliver outstanding supplemental programs and materials. Here, Matrix was again firmly at the top, with 8% of the vote. The Wizard of Oz, with its massive audio supplements, followed with 6%, Brazil with just under 6%, Bug’s Life with 4%, Mummy with just under 4%, Ghostbusters with a little over 3%, Alien Legacy with a little over 2%, Goldfinger with 2% and New Line’s Blade and Tomorrow Never Dies with just under 2%. Other terrific supplements, in descending and alphabetical order, include Austin Powers The Spy Who Shagged Me, Contact, Psycho, Armageddon, Warner’s The Exorcist, The James Bond Collection, Universal’s Mall Rats, Das Boot, Gods & Monsters, Halloween, Columbia TriStar’s Heavy Metal, L.A. Confidential, Criterion’s The Passion of Joan of Arc, Criterion’s This Is Spinal Tap and The Wall. 69% of the respondents say that the presence of extra features on a DVD influences their decision to purchase the title, while 28% say the features do not influence their purchase and 3% don’t know.

 

1. The Matrix

2. The Wizard of Oz

3. Brazil

4. A Bug Life

5. The Mummy

6. Ghostbusters

7. The Alien Legacy

8. Goldfinger

9. Blade

---Tomorrow Never Dies

 

George Lucas is turning into the Darth Vader of the DVD market, cutting off the outstretched arms of consumers who would like to see the Star Wars movies and The Phantom Menace released on DVD. Although there is no relief in sight, 12% of the respondents, when asked to name three titles they would like to see issued on DVD, identified one or all of the Fox Star Wars movies, and nearly 12% identified one or more of the Lucas-produced Paramount Indiana Jones films. Can you imagine Campbell Soups not stocking their most popular flavor, or Levis not manufacturing the style of jeans most people wanted to buy? Their stockholders would run the management out of town on the rails. This is a business plan? Here’s what needs to be done. There is no point in writing to Fox and asking them straight out to release Phantom Menace because they won’t listen. Instead, embroider a sampler that says, "GIVE THE CUSTOMERS WHAT THEY WANT" and send that to 20^th Century Fox Home Entertainment, PO Box 900, Beverly Hills CA 90213. Perhaps if they receive enough of them, and start putting them up on the walls between the movie posters, somebody will get the message.

A further 6% would like to see Paramount release the Godfather movies and 5% would like Columbia TriStar to do Lawrence of Arabia (nothing happening at this time). 4% would like Warner to release Around the World in 80 Days (a major restoration is underway, but it will still take a while) and Ben-Hur (we’ll probably have to wait another year or so), 3% want Universal to put out Jurassic Park and Warner to get on with the 1954 A Star Is Born (it should appear shortly), 2.5% want whoever has the rights to High and the Mighty to put it on DVD and just under 2.5% want Warner to put out Annie Get Your Gun (the Irving Berlin Estate is anxious to have it released, but other interests are dragging their heels).

Other highly desired titles in descending and alphabetical order include Universal’s Jaws, episodes of Warner’s Babylon 5, Columbia TriStar’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind (nothing happening at this time), Paramount’s Nashville, Fox’s The Sound of Music, Fox’s The Abyss (which should be out shortly), Universal’s Back to the Future series, Paramount’s Shane, Warner’s King Kong (we’ll probably have to wait another year), Koyaanisqatsi, Fox’s Planet of the Apes, Warner’s Superman, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, Paramount’s Braveheart, El Cid, Let It Be, Warner’s North by Northwest (it should be out sometime this year), episodes of The Prisoner, Paramount’s Saturday Night Fever, episodes of Twin Peaks, The Beatles Anthology, Warner’s Dr. Zhivago (we’ll probably have to wait a year), Universal’s Legend, Columbia TriStar’s A Matter of Life and Death, Fox’s The Simpsons, a special edition of Terminator 2, and Disney’s Toy Story.

Last year, 13% of the respondents said they still saw a lot of digital artifacting on the DVDs they watched, while this year only 11% say they do, so things must be improving. 71% said they don’t see artifacting and 19% were unsure. 16% utilize DVD playback capabilities on a PC and 26% watch DVDs on a widescreen TV, up from 20% last year. Like last year, 2% say they make use of the parental lockout function. 53% say they would like to have both the letterboxed and non-letterboxed versions of a movie available on a DVD, which is down from the 60% that wanted it last year, with 40% saying they don’t want it (up from 33% last year) and 7% undecided. Most who don’t want it prefer just the letterboxed version, often asking that the extra space be used to improve the digital transfer rate. 14% of the respondents say they rent DVDs on a regular basis.

 

 

The 9 Best LDs of 1999

 

1. Saving Private Ryan

2. A Star Is Born

3. Titanic (DTS)

4. The Matrix

5. The Last Man on Earth
-- /Panic in the Year Zero

6. Two-Lane Blacktop

---Yellow Submarine

8. The Mummy

---Planet of the Apes

 

A little more than 450 respondents answered our Sixteenth and Final Annual LD Consumer Poll. Although consumers in denial insist that the LD market is still viable, pointing out that many titles are selling out as quickly as they are released, we can only shake our heads and respond that every time the distributor under-presses a title and it sells out, another group of consumers are unable to buy that title and decide to switch to DVDs. It is especially frustrating that DTS LDs have apparently been discontinued, for they would seem to offer a stable high end niche that would be impervious to inroads by inferior DVD audio tracks. But the producers and retailers apparently want to make LDs disappear, and they are succeeding all too quickly.

Needless to say, 90% of our respondents have obtained a DVD playback unit. 51% believe they will continue to buy LDs as long as they are on the market, with 36% saying they won’t and 13% undecided, but only 22% will buy the LD when a DVD version of the same title is available, with 66% saying they will and 12% undecided. Although 94% said they are happy with their LD system, only 85% plan to keep their LDs, while 7% are going to unload them and 9% are undecided.

Anyway, Saving Private Ryan was voted the best LD release of 1999 by our respondents, garnering 13% of the vote, followed by the 1954 A Star Is Born with 6%, the DTS version of Titanic with 3.5%, Matrix with 2%, Image’s The Last Man on Earth/Panic in the Year Zero with 1.5%, The Roan Group’s Two-Lane Blacktop and Yellow Submarine with 1% and The Mummy and Planet of the Apes with just under 1%.

 

 

The Best LDs of All Time

 

1. Terminator 2: Judgment Day

2. Brazil

3. The Ultimate Oz

4. Star Wars Special Edition

5. The Abyss Revised Edition

6. Jurassic Park

---Toy Story

8. The Sound of Music

9. My Fair Lady

10. Amadeus

 

A fairly decent consensus of the Best LDs of All Time was registered by the respondents who, once again, voted Terminator 2: Judgment Day as the best LD ever released, an honor it can now take into eternity.

18% judged Terminator 2 as the best, followed by Brazil with 6%, MGM’s The Ultimate Oz just under 5%, Star Wars with 4.5%, The Abyss with just under 4%, Jurassic Park and the collector’s edition of Toy Story with a little over 2%, The Sound of Music collector’s edition with just under 2%, My Fair Lady collector’s edition with 1.5% and Pioneer’s collector’s edition of Amadeus with just under 1.5%.

Other titles in descending and alphabetical order include Aliens special edition, Apocalypse Now, Blade Runner, MGM’s The Judy Garland Collection, Saving Private Ryan, Criterion’s Se7en, MGM’s Thunderball collector’s edition, Disney’s The Lion King collector’s edition, Disney’s Tim Burton’s The Nightmare before Christmas collector’s edition, Criterion’s Citizen Kane, Paramount’s Godfather Trilogy, Criterion’s The Red Shoes, Disney’s Snow White collector’s edition, Titanic and Fox’s True Lies.

 

10 Favorite LDs

 

1. Terminator 2: Judgment Day

2. Star Wars Special Edition

3. The Abyss Revised Edition

---The Ultimate Oz

5. Blade Runner

6. Aliens

---The Godfather Trilogy

8. Fantasia

---The Judy Garland Collection

---Raiders of the Lost Ark

 

Terminator 2 just edged out Star Wars in the Favorite LD category, both garnering just under 5.5% of the vote. The Abyss and Ultimate Oz each received about 2.5%, followed by Blade Runner with just under 2%, Aliens and The Godfather Trilogy with just over 1.5% and Walt Disney’s Fantasia, The Judy Garland Collection and Raiders of the Lost Ark with just under 1.5%.

Other titles in descending and alphabetical order include Ben-Hur, Brazil, Lawrence of Arabia, That’s Entertainment III, Braveheart, Se7en, Sound of Music, MGM’s Adventures of Robin Hood, Amadeus, Apocalypse Now, Pioneer’s The Beatles Anthology, MGM’s The Busby Berkeley Disc, Citizen Kane, Close Encounters, Jurassic Park, Lion King, Red Shoes, Saving Private Ryan and True Lies.

 

 

The 10 Best LD Audio Tracks

 

1. Terminator 2: Judgment Day

2. Jurassic Park

3. Saving Private Ryan

4. Apocalypse Now

5. Star Wars Special Edition

6. Titanic

7. GoldenEye

8. Independence Day

---True Lies

10. Strange Days

 

79% of our respondents have their LD player hooked up to a stereo surround system, the same as last year. 57% have Dolby Digital, up from 49% last year, and 26% have DTS, doubling again from 13% last year and 7% the year before. As in the past, both Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park vie neck and neck for the Best LD Audio title, and each have a little over 9% of the vote, with Terminator 2 just edging out its competition.

Newcomer Saving Private Ryan gained just under 5% and edged out its fellow battle spectacle, Apocalypse Now, which also had just under 5%. Star Wars weighed in with a little over 3.5%, followed by Titanic with a little over 2.5%, GoldenEye with 2%, Fox’s Independence Day and True Lies with just over 1.5% and Fox’s Strange Days with just over 1%.

Other titles in descending and alphabetical order include The Abyss, Amadeus, Paramount’s The Hunt for Red October, Universal’s The Lost World Jurassic Park, Universal’s Apollo 13, Armageddon, Universal’s Daylight, Paramount’s