The DVD Is Dead, Long Live The DVD

Listeners of The Dorks Deduction will already know this but I have a major thing for DVDs. My obsession with them runs so deep that I even have a spreadsheet to keep track of what they are and where they are. I also have a thing for spreadsheets but this is not the time to get into that (there will never be a time to get into that). I even know when the obsession with them started, I was 16 and researching for a piece of coursework I was doing for college so my father gave me £20 and I popped down to HMV. That day I owned my first 5 DVDs outright and it was an amazing feeling, I didn't have to share them with anyone. From then I always believed my adding to the collection was just because I was able to claim ownership over something but lately I've come to realise it's a lot more than that, the DVDs mean a lot more to me and not just items I possess. My emotional attachment to these inanimate objects has left me incredibly disappointed whenever I've purchased them within the last year.

My collection runs into the hundreds and I do have some semblence of a life so of course there is no way in hell I could ever get through them all but it's nice to have options. These options matter whenever plans get cancelled or I'm off sick from work or I've taken annual leave specifically to catch up on watching things (yes, I have done that), these movies and television shows keep me company for hours on end whenever I'm in need. I know this probably sounds sad but they are always dependable, they're always there waiting for you whenever you're ready for them (unless someone has borrowed them for months on end, you know who you are).  It's not even the actually movie or episodes that make these DVDs so special, it's the extras and of late DVDs have been skimping on them a lot.

When you fall in love with a TV show or film of course you want to rewatch it but I personally want to know it, understand it and see the work that goes into it. I loved watching commentaries, making of featurettes, interviews with the cast and crew, outtakes and deleted scenes as the more I learn about it the more I felt connected to it. Now, in glorious 2016 you'd be lucky to even get deleted scenes on your DVD which is making me question adding to my collection. Is there really any point of me buying the DVD just for a movie that will likely be on Netflix or Amazon Instant video at some point in the future? The amount of money I've spent on them over the past year alone could've fed a small nation and should have made me happy but it didn't, I just get aggravated the moment I look at the back of the case to check out which special features I've gotten. Why do I put myself through this?

Case in point, Crimson Peak. I was what seems like one of the few loyal Del Toro fans that made the effort to find a place screening the film and went to watch it, and although it wasn't his best feature I must admire the beauty of it. Due to my love of all things Del Toro related and my need to add to my collection I went ahead and pre-ordered the film and waited 3 whole months for it to arrive to me and do you want to know what I got for my money and the wait? About 4 minutes of deleted scenes. 4. Minutes. A film that used practical effects and built an aesthetically beautiful house from scratch on a sound stage only gave me four minutes of deleted scenes. No making of which would be expected from a film like this, no commentary which probably would've been amazing and no interview with the cast so you can figure out if the cabin fever helped their portrayal. It felt insulting.

A quick google search confirms to me what I already knew, the blu-ray had extensive special features. Not only did it have special features but it had the exact same special features I wanted on my disc and I don't understand, it's not like the blu-ray actually cost more than the DVD and if it did I probably would've been happy to pay the difference. I don't have the hardware to play blu-ray discs and nor do I care to, I feel like I'm buying more than enough of what companies are trying to jam down our throats. I have 200+ DVDs, and I understand that they'll probably still work on the blu-ray moniters but I also don't care. I'm a spiteful so I will hold out buying a blu-ray player for as long as I can just to make a point and to be honest I'll be doing a lot more research when buying DVDs, if they aren't giving me any extras then what really is the point of it? I will wait for it on a streaming site because it'll end up being a lot cheaper, less hassle and won't royally annoy the heck out of me for days. Yes, I said days.

Companies, I understand you're trying to get me to buy into your stuff but I am making a plea to you now. My DVDs aren't just items that sit flaccidly on shelves, they mean something. Don't bloody ruin it by trying to kill them off. That is all.

Live Long and Blog!