Special Edition DVD's are they worth the money?

How many out here have run out to buy a favorite movie on DVD to add to your collection that you notice has just been released? Ok, then how many walk into the Wal-Mart or Target or where ever a couple three months later, only to see the same movie released as a Director's Cut, boxed set, extended cut, unrated version, a two-disc set, a special collector's edition, complete with deleted scenes and/or bloopers? It's called "double-dipping" and Hollywood has found a way to wring some more money out of these films. This is fine, but are they worth it and which one is the best deal?

The only time I wanted to drop to my knees and cry is when I bought Spiderman 2 for about 25 bucks as it just came out and I was wanting that movie bad. Doc Oc was a must have. Then, like a couple months later, I'm in a store somewhere and I see Spiderman and Spiderman 2 in a two box set for 20 bucks. D'oh!

No statistics are kept, but observers agree it is increasing rapidly. Hardly a Tuesday release date has passed this year without several new versions of previously released movies, ranging from "Bambi" to "Raging Bull," with "Chariots of Fire," "The Crying Game," "Malcolm X" and even "'Class of Nuke 'Em High" all showing up on shelves recently. "It confuses people, cause they don't know which one to go for," says Preston Jones, a DVD reviewer for the Web site www.dvdtalk.com. But, he adds, "the more this goes on, the more people get clued in and realize that a lot of times if you wait, you get more." Do you buy "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" the moment it's released? If you do, you're going to be less than sunny when the studio releases "Eternal Sunshine 2-Disc Collector's Edition" less than three months later, with lots of added goodies like behind-the-scenes documentaries and special audio commentaries. "That was ridiculous '” I would have been (angry) if I'd bought the regular edition when it came out," says Joshua Smelser, who has more than 100 DVDs in his collection, including plenty of double-dips. (He waited and bought the special edition of "Sunshine.")

By the way, what the heck is the deal with these Tuesday release dates for DVD's? Does anyone know? My other beef is, can these studios please try to print the film format and sound information in a standardised table, in the same place on each box, in a print that I don't need a magnifying glass to see? You can read the article in it's entirety here.

Source: Palm Beach Post