What is the difference between “uncut” and
“recut”? Is the “special edition” more
special than the “deluxe edition”? Is the
“extended” version more extended than the
“unrated director’s cut”?
Students are discovering more and more that, only weeks after
buying that shiny new DVD, there is an updated rerelease of their
favorite films. With deleted scenes included. And in a collectible
tin.
Recently, the film industry has been pushing alternate releases
of existing DVDs, a practice known as
“double-dipping.”
“For movie companies … you’re getting more bang
for your buck,” said Roya Vakili, a graduate student in the
Producers Program in the School of Theater, Film and Television at
UCLA. “It costs a certain amount of money to master a DVD,
print the art, and release it. Once you’ve done it, doing it
a second, third or fourth time is cheaper, but you can charge just
as much if not more for the DVD.”
Cult films popular among college audiences are no exception.
In fact, in the past several years, rereleases of films ranging
from “Animal House” to “The Boondock
Saints” have increasingly packed the DVD shelves. Many of
these rereleases do offer a new take on films.
Films released in the early days of DVD often lacked extra
features, sometimes offering little more than the theatrical
trailer. New special editions can contain outtakes, deleted scenes
and feature-length commentaries, revealing the magic behind the
movie-making process.
However, even film fanatics feel that such quick rereleases are
thinly veiled attempts to cash in.
Cheryl Kenner, a third-year political science student and an
officer of the “Napoleon Dynamite Fan Club” group on
Facebook, is not enthused about the “Napoleon Dynamite
““ Like, the Best Special Edition Ever!” DVD, which saw
release this May.
“Extra features justify buying movies made a long time
ago,” she said.
Locally, retailers have had some trouble marketing the new
versions.
“Consumers are confused sometimes,” said John
Travis, a Best Buy employee and avid filmgoer. “In the case
of “˜Wedding Crashers,’ I had to steer people towards
the “˜Uncorked’ (unrated) edition because they simply
didn’t know it existed.”
Even so, studios continue to double dip. June release schedules
list several on the way, including two versions of “The
Princess Bride.”
“It’s a gimmick to sell it again, to stretch its
popularity as far as possible,” Kenner said.