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Okay, so you don't need every new gizmo as soon as it hits the stores. $10,000 for an HDTV set? No thanks. But how about DVD? The digital video disc, now 18 months on the market, is already one of the world's more successful new recorded formats — more than 500,000 players sold, compared with 230,000 VCRs and 243,000 CD players in the first two years after their introductions. And the discs are everywhere — about 2,000 titles will have been issued by year's end, available, in varying degrees, at Blockbuster Video, Tower, chains like Super Kmart, specialty stores, and online services. A lot more stores will soon be offering DVD for rent, too (among them, Tower branches and, in many cities, Blockbusters), something the all-but-dead laserdisc could never claim. So is it time to pony up? Let's review all the factors.
HOW'S THE PICTURE?
Stunning. It's even better than laserdisc,
with movies like The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Fox Lorber) and The
Wizard of Oz (MGM) so beautiful you'll want to freeze some
scenes and leave them on your TV the way others hang works of
art on their walls. Movies with lots of special effects or
ominously murky settings — Blade Runner (Warner) and the CGI-fest
Dark City (New Line) fit both descriptions — live up to their
reputations on DVD.
HOW'S THE SOUND?
Much better than on VHS. Though it still
has some catching up to do with laserdisc (that cumbersome
format's greatest strength), it's getting better all the time.
If you want to wow your friends, A Hard Day's Night (MPI) and
Starship Troopers (Columbia TriStar) will have them singing
along and spraying for bugs.
ARE PLAYER FEATURES THAT MUCH BETTER THAN A VCR's?
Yes. With
chapter searches, you can jump to any scene in a movie within
seconds. James Bond flicks like Goldfinger (MGM) are worth
watching over and over, but who can blame you for jumping to a
jaw-dropping action sequence when it's so easy to access?
ARE THE DISC EXTRAS WORTH THE EXTRA COIN?
They certainly can
be. Documentaries that take you behind the scenes, trailers,
outtakes, production stills, alternate-language and subtitling
options, audio tracks with the director and cast talking about
the making of the movie — VHS can't accommodate all these
bonuses, and special-edition laserdiscs can cost $100 or more.
L.A. Confidential (Warner) and Boogie Nights (New Line) are
outstanding examples, while hearing Jack Nicholson hold court on
the commentary track of As Good as It Gets (Columbia Tri-Star)
is a rare treat.
DOES DVD MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE FOR OLDER MOVIES?
Absolutely.
With DVDs, you're often seeing the movie in its best shape since
it first came out, such as with The Philadelphia Story (MGM).
And letterboxing — a DVD mainstay — is just as important as a good
print. Letterboxing lets you see a movie the way it was shown in
the theaters. For Born on the Fourth of July (Universal), 2001:
A Space Odyssey (MGM), and Ran (Fox Lorber) it's the only way to
go. But don't fret: Many recent movies are offered in both
wide-screen and cropped formats on the same disc, so you don't
have to choose.
