DVD Menus: A Lost Art

[BJBMK2]

Inspired by the discussion in GB about the possible decline of physical media, and in particular, the DVD boom, it got me thinking, that's one thing that really sucks about Blu Ray, no one puts efforts into the presentation anymore. I'm not talking about the film/TV show itself, more the stuff surrounding it.

The recent lack of effort that seems to go into extras is a good example of this, but I can't remember the last time I saw a really decent options menu. I mean, example in point, the menus for the Neon Genesis Evangelion movies: https://youtu.be/ay174Yvnx7s

Someone at Manga or whoever clearly put a lot of effort into those, and I think they do a pretty good job at capturing the mood and tone of the main features, while admittedly, they probably are a little spoiler-y if your sitting down watching them for the first time.

Are there other good examples, of a really cracking DVD menu/intro/blah?

[St_Eddie]

The I'm Alan Partridge DVD menus are fraking ace.  Whether it's the Lady Boys pay per view channel of series 1, or the infinite bass slapping Alan of series 2; just fraking ace.  Oh, also This is Spinal Tap with the logo disappearing into the ether, ever diminishing, much to the chagrin of the band.

Ahhhh... and also The IT Crowd. I know Glinner is a cunt and the series is not all that but man, those DVD menus are aces.  Designed by a fella who once described the process in an interview and it was impressive, but I don't remember where the interview was now and as such I cannae share it with you, so that's not particularly helpful, now is it?  Soz.

[greencalx]

I could watch the TDT menus all day, with its globe-crushing nonsense and dramatic sound effects. Of course it eventually yields to the Twin Towers report which is ok, a bit Morris by numbers, and personally I prefer the menu.

I've never really got into the DVD thing. Generally I've found the video encoding a bit shit - a result of trying to squeeze too much on, perhaps. Commentaries can be a bit hit and miss - I guess because audio doesn't take up much space it's a cheap way to enhance the perceived value of the product. I'm often not sure if I can be bothered to sit through the whole disk again on the off chance that someone might say something interesting. I do recall the Spinal Tap one being worthwhile though, as the subjects of the rockumentary giving their reaction to how they were portrayed onscreen added a new dimension to the movie.

I think I once read somewhere that the extras were often a factor in enticing people to buy the DVD but rarely get watched. We've basically stopped buying them since we started getting Netflix, although the movie selection is rather thin. I'm hoping that one day there will be a comprehensive streaming service for movies but I guess the studios don't want that so it'll likely never happen.

[madhair60]

The more elaborate and noisy they are the more I hate them. Just a plain text list please, I'm trying to watch a film

[mjwilson]

Yeah I've read that there was a "golden age" where people were buying loads of DVDs and so it made economic sense to spend the money on bonus features and commentaries. Now that most people are streaming the economics of it don't add up, so there's no extras to speak of. I do occasionally still buy physical media (I think Midsommar and Parasite were the last ones) but it's hard to justify it these days.

Mind you I am going to have to dig out my Sopranos DVDs - I had been watching on Now TV but they've started sticking ads into the middle of shows, so fuck them.

[DrGreggles]

The Simpsons s1-8 DVD menus are funnier than The Simpsons s9-1000.

[Shit Good Nose]

Yeah I've read that there was a "golden age" where people were buying loads of DVDs and so it made economic sense to spend the money on bonus features and commentaries. Now that most people are streaming the economics of it don't add up, so there's no extras to speak of. I do occasionally still buy physical media (I think Midsommar and Parasite were the last ones) but it's hard to justify it these days.

Mind you I am going to have to dig out my Sopranos DVDs - I had been watching on Now TV but they've started sticking ads into the middle of shows, so fuck them.

It's not streaming that killed off/reduced extras, they started to die off a few years before streaming got big, when contracts changed and were rewritten so that people involved with the extras were being paid extra for them.  Prior to that they were just included in the overall budget of producing the DVD, and some actors/directors/writers were contracted to contribute to extras as part of their marketing and promotion agreement.  I think it was Arnie demanding something like half a million dollars to do the commentary for either Conan or Total Recall (where he literally just describes exactly what is happening on screen) that made others realise they were getting diddled by the previous arrangement and basically working for free and so they all started to demand extra payment for involvement with extras.  That's why the mainstream studio labels don't bother with them as much as they used to, perhaps only keeping extras for the absolute guaranteed big sellers.

Having said that, the boutique labels have actually increased the amount of extras they include, particularly labels like 88 Films and Indicator who typically include multiple/alternate cuts of the film, which is a huge godsend for fans of 70s-90s martial arts films, which were chopped up to suit various markets, which often made a BIG difference to the films (an 80 minute version prepped for the US/international market, for example, wouldn't make any sense because the film in question is actually two hours long and that version may have been reserved for the domestic market only).  With a lot of 88's recent martial arts releases you are very much watching the film for the very first time because you've never seen the full version with the original soundtrack, correct subtitles and in the correct aspect ratio.

But that's why extras these days tend to be contributed by critics, academics, journalists, biographers etc rather than anyone involved with the film, because they're a lot cheaper, sometimes they'll even do it for free (I know for a fact that some people who have done commentaries and/or writing for 88 and Arrow have done them for a copy of whatever release they worked on).  Sure, the quality varies, but then the quality has always varied when the main people involved contributed - have you ever listened to a Jay Roach commentary?  He's the dullest man on the planet. 

[Ferris]

I remember ones you could trigger extra deleted bits if you highlighted sections or right clicked on stuff or whatever. Used to love them.

[Shit Good Nose]

I remember ones you could trigger extra deleted bits if you highlighted sections or right clicked on stuff or whatever. Used to love them.

Easter eggs.  You still get them every now and again, and most DVD ones have been carried over to their blu-rays where applicable (although a lot of them are now just listed in the extras menus).

[Replies From View]

Always felt a bit cheated when a DVD included "commentary" on its listed extras, yet when you listened to it it wasn't a commentary at all but clips from interviews that had been edited together and ran for less than the film's duration.

The Back to the Future trilogy has it, and if I'm not mistaken so does the Terminator 2 DVD.  Not commentaries.



But I am a big fan of extras, especially in depth documentaries and commentaries.  Sometimes it's a good commentary that gives any film or show rewatch value.  I would never have bothered getting the Red Dwarf DVDs if they had never had extras.

[Shit Good Nose]

But I am a big fan of extras, especially in depth documentaries and commentaries.  Sometimes it's a good commentary that gives any film or show rewatch value.

Yep.  And SOMETIMES you do get extras that are better or almost as good as the film they're supporting - Tropic Thunder and Spinal Tap (respectively) being two obvious examples.  Also, completely ignoring the fact that he's now persona non grata, Bey Logan's commentaries on those Hong Kong Legends and Dragon Dynasty DVDs are worth the price of admission alone.

[Replies From View]

The only way to watch the Matrix sequels is with the critics' commentary turned on.  Same applies to Superman 4.

[Jerzy Bondov]

I've got several Blu Rays that just dump you right into the film and I love them. Get the film on and then fuck off.

[Magnum Valentino]

have you ever listened to a Jay Roach commentary?  He's the dullest man on the planet.

Yes! I bought the first Austin Powers for a quid on DVD recently because none of the HD releases have the commentary and it wasn't memorable at all outside of Myers making fun of him by the end for going on about the narrative arc too much.

Always felt a bit cheated when a DVD included "commentary" on its listed extras, yet when you listened to it it wasn't a commentary at all but clips from interviews that had been edited together and ran for less than the film's duration.

One of AC/DC's live DVDs has this and it runs for the first 20 minutes then the rest of the concert plays at the lower volume that would usually accomodate a talk track over the top. Ridiculous.

The only way to watch the Matrix sequels is with the critics' commentary turned on.  Same applies to Superman 4.

Batman & Robin's commentary is also worth sitting through as an indictment of how studios get involved with comic films and turn a sure thing into an absolute disaster. I really like Joel Schumacher anyway so it was a nice easy listen but for anyone interested in movie history in general its a laudably apologetic account of one of the biggest flops of all time from the man responsible.

[idunnosomename]

But I am a big fan of extras, especially in depth documentaries and commentaries.  Sometimes it's a good commentary that gives any film or show rewatch value.  I would never have bothered getting the Red Dwarf DVDs if they had never had extras.

it was annoying how you had to fucking watch the tinkly BBC logo and then fly through a fucking spaceship for like two minutes before you could watch anything

[AsparagusTrevor]

The Simpsons s1-8 DVD menus are funnier than The Simpsons s9-1000.

The 'Schindler's List' DVD menus are funnier than The Simpsons s9-1000

[BJBMK2]

Batman & Robin's commentary is also worth sitting through as an indictment of how studios get involved with comic films and turn a sure thing into an absolute disaster. I really like Joel Schumacher anyway so it was a nice easy listen but for anyone interested in movie history in general its a laudably apologetic account of one of the biggest flops of all time from the man responsible.

If I recall correctly, he fucks off with about 15 mins of the film left to go.

[peanutbutter]

I got pretty into these about a year ago trying to recreate  one. From what I recall the Shrek 2 DVD menu is wildly inventive, one of Rob Zombie's films had a good one too.


Films with well done menus typically either had to have a second disc devoted to special features or have a rather short runtime (or potentially both if it's a multilanguage disc...). As far as I'm aware audio only menus ate into the same amount of time as video based ones so that's why it was pretty standard to never have especially long audio tracks (I imagine everyone can remember a DVD menu on a maddening loop somewhere).

Can think of very few TV series that had much going on in their menus (understandable when they're just stuffing episodes in), Partridge was def the standout but I also recall it being quite awkwardly janky feeling almost like one of those awful DVD menu games, I can remember some pretty weird stuff on the Six Feet Under series one boxset too that they totally scrapped afterwards.

[Brundle-Fly]

I hate menus that would show a proper spoiler snippet of the movie before settling down. "Oh great, now I know the affable neighbour is actually a psycho". Or shows a real spfx highlight. Surprise ruined. Thanks for that.

[touchingcloth]

it was annoying how you had to fucking watch the tinkly BBC logo and then fly through a fucking spaceship for like two minutes before you could watch anything

They were gorgeous menus, but the fact that to navigate between episodes one and two involved following a CGI Skutter down a corridor and into a different room got wearing quite quickly.

[Pauline Walnuts]

The Simpsons s1-8 DVD menus are funnier than The Simpsons s9-1000.

That spinny head thing on Series 2?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKYMpMPvAds

No thank you.

[thenoise]

I've got several Blu Rays that just dump you right into the film and I love them. Get the film on and then fuck off.

Finally using the technology as it is meant to be used. No unskippable warnings and logos - which were only put at the beginnings of film prints and VHS tapes because that bit would get all ragged after a while. The best menus are functional, plain and silent.

HOWEVER...

I've a soft spot for the ultimate Halloween DVD, Something Weird Video's MONSTERS CRASH THE PAJAMA (sic) PARTY. Ludicrous menu which is supposed to replicate walking through a graveyard encountering bits and bobs from the dvd as you go. In reality, a maddening exercise in random button mashing. But it works as a novelty gimmick, in a genre which has always been about the novelty gimmicks. A modern day spook show in a plastic case.

[Replies From View]

No unskippable warnings and logos

Or unskippable trailers, one after the other.  I can't remember which company was worst for this - might have been Disney. 

[touchingcloth]

I always found it a bit rum when you tried to skip a trailer for an "operation prohibited by disc" message to show. You're mine you DVD-playing fuck. How dare you listen to a disc rather than me? How dare you? I'll deck you, cunt.

I'd have thought advertising a player with "skips everything, no fucks given" would have been a marketing coup, so why did Tandy never do this to take over from the big boys?

[Gurke and Hare]

I'd have thought advertising a player with "skips everything, no fucks given" would have been a marketing coup, so why did Tandy never do this to take over from the big boys?

Is it because they wouldn't have been allowed to? I think DVD player manufacturers had to get a licence to access the decryption code for the DVD, which I imagine involved signing something that said they wouldn't do that.

[Replies From View]

Or they could just fuck off.  Their own choice.

[Replies From View]

What is the reasoning behind creating unskippable trailers anyway?  Does it make the DVD less easy to rip?  It's always struck me as quite amazing that anyone who bought the deluxe version of The Lion King on DVD was forced to let trailers for Pocahontas 2 and Tarzan 2 play every time they put the disc in.

It's not the cinema and the trailers are not advertising new films.  After five years those films aren't "new to DVD", either.  At least when they did it on VHS you could fast-forward them.  It's just odd.

[idunnosomename]

At the height of the (in hindsight brief) DVD boom, Disney started lauding a feature called "fast play" which actually just frontloaded a bunch of trailers before the main feature.

The sheer contempt for customers at that time. "YOU WOULDNT STEAL A CAR" no but i bloody wish id downloaded an avi off the internet for free if youre going to make me watch this every time

[peanutbutter]

The few blu rays I have seem to be capable of much more advanced menu stuff, are there any especially creative blu rays?

What is the reasoning behind creating unskippable trailers anyway?  Does it make the DVD less easy to rip?  It's always struck me as quite amazing that anyone who bought the deluxe version of The Lion King on DVD was forced to let trailers for Pocahontas 2 and Tarzan 2 play every time they put the disc in.

It's not the cinema and the trailers are not advertising new films.  After five years those films aren't "new to DVD", either.  At least when they did it on VHS you could fast-forward them.  It's just odd.

The old people at the various corporations were unwilling to get rid of the trailers at the start of a  VHS, upon discovering they could make them unskippable it would've probably been impossible to convey to them how much more appealing that made piracy and how broadband was gonna cripple them.
DVDs sold ludicrously well until the arse completely fell out of the market, so they probably convinced themselves it was a good plan.


The most ludicrous one being forcing people who paid for a DVD to watch the YOU WOULDNT DOWNLOAD A CAR ad. We're talking about people who couldn't see how uneffective that would be

[touchingcloth]

Is it because they wouldn't have been allowed to? I think DVD player manufacturers had to get a licence to access the decryption code for the DVD, which I imagine involved signing something that said they wouldn't do that.

I'm not sure. It would be possible without decryption I'm sure - from memory I used to be able to put DVDs in my computer and just open the individual files on them in a media player.

Do Blu-Rays do the unskippable thing?