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Friday, March 29
The Indiana Daily Student

Rating DVD quality

Movie studios have yet to fully figure out the possibilities of DVD, but they are getting there. \nThe best studio overall is probably Twentieth Century Fox, which consistently takes the time to produce extensive DVDs of films ranging from the box-office smash "Independence Day" to the underrated "Fight Club" to the barely-seen "Titus." Like many other companies, though, they have yet to take all of their discs to the ultimate sound levels of DTS and produce all of their films with anamorphic widescreen. New Line is another studio that is big on extras for all films, with its Platinum Series stretching from the greatness of "Magnolia" to the blunder that is "The Corrupter." Columbia Tri-Star is also testing the DVD format a lot, producing the memorable "Ghostbusters" and, most recently, "Men In Black." And Artisan should not be forgotten, with their loaded DVDs of "The Blair Witch Project" and especially "Terminator 2," which with its extensive extras is proving to be one of the best DVDs yet produced. \nThere are a lot of companies that are in the mid-range of DVD quality. MGM releases films with phenomenal prints, including "Blue Velvet," but rarely do they include more than a trailer and a supposedly "collectible" booklet of liner notes. Warner Brothers has gone to great lengths on some discs, especially the jam-packed "The Matrix," while faltering horribly on works like "Heat." Universal is also all over the boards, with high-quality looking to be on their side with the upcoming deluxe releases of "Jurassic Park" and "The Lost World," while most of the rest of their films have no extras whatsoever. Paramount has gotten better lately, though, with all of their recent releases featuring anamorphic widescreen and some, including "Braveheart" and "Nashville," going the extra mile to include director's commentary.\nThe worst of the worst, though, is Disney. Even with its lucrative animation empire and ownership of Miramax, Dimension, Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures, Disney has barely even tapped into the realm of DVD possibilities, with only a handful of films including more than one measly trailer and anything better than a lackluster print. This is even true for most of its animated work, including "Pinnochio," and some of its most important recent films, like "Pulp Fiction," which actually has a better DVD version in Canada, "The English Patient" and "The Straight Story."\nThe best DVDs being produced are actually made by independent, non-studio based companies. Criterion leads the pack, with each of its discs, which include acclaimed foreign works like "Seven Samurai" and recent domestic releases like "Rushmore," including the best possible print of the film and assorted extras ranging from commentaries by film critics to restoration demonstrations. Anchor Bay is proving to be the leader of oddball discs by devoting extensive time to the likes of the cult classic "Evil Dead" trilogy, Hammer horror films, the works of Werner Herzog and even "The Santa Clause." The best example of Anchor Bay's eccentricities is its recently released "Supergirl" two-disc set, which features two versions of the film, commentaries and even THX mastering. Another independent company worth mentioning is Image, which released probably the most important DVD yet -- Krzysztof Kieslowski's 10-hour acclaimed work "Decalogue."\nOne can only hope that DVD companies will wise up soon and take more time on their discs so that the best possible version of every great film can exist far into the future.

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