Page 1 of Comparison of the quality of several recent Free Newspaper DVDs

I have made a comparison of a number of the recent Free DVDs which have come with various newspapers. Some are of very good quality while others are probably best thrown in the bin and certainly not worth buying a newspaper for. Ratings are given based on the quality of the disc produced rather than the actual film - opinions on films vary anyway.

The Independent :

Wings of Desire (Anchor Bay, 122mins, Widescreen 16:9)
Has a menu which includes scene index (chapters); no adverts on this disc Rating 5/5

Indochine (Arrow films, 151mins, Widescreen 16:9)
Has moving menus with scene index (chapters); no adverts on this disc. Rating 5/5

My Life as a Dog (Arrow films, 97mins, Widescreen 16:9)
Has moving menus with scene index (chapters); no adverts on this disc. Rating 5/5


The Times and Sunday Times

The Last Emperor (Optimum Releasing & The Practice, 156 mins, Widescreen 2.35:1)
No menu, no chapters (can only navigate with forward and reverse buttons) Rating 3/5
Note it is possible to buy the 2 disc Special Edition of this film with theatrical and directors cut at Play.com as part of their 2 for £12 deal at present (might have given 3.5 otherwise)

Moby Dick (Studio Canal & The Practice, 110 mins, 4:3 ratio)
No menu, no chapters, no adverts. The original film was in widescreen unlike this disc and the quality of the print used was poor. Rating: 2/5

Where Angels Fear to Tread (Prism & The Practice, 108 mins, Widescreen 16:9)
No menu, no chapters (can only navigate with forward and reverse buttons)
Includes a 1 min advert for the Sunday Times (can forward) Rating: 3/5

The Guardian
The Madness of King George (Film 4, 104 mins, Widescreen 16:9)
No menu, no chapters, forced 1m advert for Film 4. Rating: 2/5

The Daily Mail

Bob the Builder (Hit Entertainment & The Practice, 30 mins, 4:3 Ratio)
No menu, no chapters, forced adverts lasting 8 minutes before you can see any of the three ten minute episodes. There is no way to avoid these adverts every time you watch the disc even on a computer. This is the worst disc I have ever seen.
Rating: 0/5

Sunday Express

Charade (ca 110 mins, 4:3 Ratio rather than the original widescreen of the film)
Basic Menu, but no chapters. This is the worst quality print of a film I have ever seen. It is surprising that such poor quality was ever transferred onto a DVD. Rating 0/5

It is clear from all this that the quality of DVDs from newspapers varies a great deal. Recently the best have been from `The Independent` and are worth trying even if you don`t normally go for subtitled films. The main problems with discs from other newspapers are the lack of chapters and in some cases forced adverts. Companies like `The Practice` appear to author the DVDs for many newspapers, limiting the features and may add forced adverts. At a time when the cost of set top box DVD recorders is dropping all the time, newspaper DVDs have to offer something more than home recordings. Bear in mind it is possible to have basic menus and chapters on any disc you record off the television!

Hope this is of interest

This item was edited on Saturday, 15th October 2005, 19:13

Excellent. Thanks for that. Was wondering how they all compare. Nice one. :)

Would it be possible to have a `sticky` thread for each week`s free newspaper DVDs?

cool

Me fail English? That`s unpossible!

This item was edited on Saturday, 15th October 2005, 20:03

Quote:
No menu, no chapters, forced adverts lasting 8 minutes

Its even worse when one of the adverts is for the "wiggles".

You have to see them to see how bad they are.

Hey, great thread! :D

The Sun.
Cannonball Run.

Restored, digitally re-masterd, widescreen,no ads, also no chapters.

Great picture, good sound, and a funny film, all for 50p ( also included paper and weeks TV guide) :) :) .

5/5 :)

This item was edited on Monday, 17th October 2005, 01:41