droidguy1119

I bought the LD for $2.99 at Scarecrow Video in Seattle. For some reason Fox ignored the audio commentary by Mel Brooks on this laserdisc when creating their recent “Mel Brooks Collection” box set (one of the many blunders with that release – why they wouldn’t sit the man down for, at the very least, new interviews on all of the included films seeing as he’s still alive and well is beyond me).

Anyway, I don’t have a laserdisc player. I was wondering if someone wanted to make this into a DVD. You can even keep the laserdisc, seeing as I have no other use for it.

I searched Taxi Driver and nothing came up. Has anyone preserved the Scorsese commentary from the Criterion Laserdisc? I just bought the film on DVD and I really wish Criterion had licensed out its track, even if it never does that, just to make the DVD feel more complete.

Stunningly, studios have begun to offer fewer and fewer DVDs that contain the original theatrical trailers and TV spots. I don’t understand this. In regions other than R1, trailers are still included. Why have the people at Universal, Sony/MGM, Buena Vista and occasionally Paramount decided that Americans don’t like trailers?

Personally, as I read in Entertainment Weekly once, I have to say that trailers are like little short films. Assuming you watch them, they end up in your memory as part of the filmgoing experience. Maybe a movie had a fantastic trailer that was innovative and imaginative, but the film itself failed to live up to the hype. Maybe the trailer contains a plethora of footage not in the final film or included on the DVD. Maybe the trailer was just damn cool in its own way and it has nothing to do with what you thought when you saw the movie.

In any case, I’m getting pissed off seeing more and more trailers get the boot. I always feel weird, suggesting projects when I have neither the tools nor the talent to do anything myself but maybe I can find some like-minded people and get them riled up enough to participate. Has anyone thought about making a DVD that compiles important, noteworthy, missing or generally cool theatrical trailers or TV spots? This is preservation, in my opinion.

Anyway, just thought I’d ask.

As for a list of things to be included, here are a couple. It’s a very short list but I haven’t thought about it and I will update the list from time to time.

Theatrical Trailers…

Brick (2006)* [Red-Band Theatrical Trailer]
The Cable Guy (1996)
Comedian (2002) [Theatrical Trailer]
Dawn of the Dead (2004) [Theatrical Teaser and Trailer]
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) [Theatrical Teaser and Trailer]
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
The Fifth Element (1997)
A Fish Called Wanda (1988)*
George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead (2005) [Theatrical Teaser]**
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005) [“The Guide on Trailers” Internet Trailer]
Jarhead (2005) [Theatrical Teaser and Trailer]
The Magnificent Seven (1960)
Misery (1990)* [Theatrical Teaser and Trailer]
Predator (1987)
Slither (2006)* [Red-Band Theatrical Teaser, Green-Band Theatrical Teaser, Red-Band Theatrical Trailer]

TV Spots…

The Weather Man (2005) [“Whip It”]

*Based on the track record of the studio in question, there is a special edition on schedule/to be released that will not include the trailer.
**From what I remember, there are two different versions of this teaser trailer. I believe the original featured footage from Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Day of the Dead (1985), while the one I linked (the first result on Google) is the version that only features footage from Night of the Living Dead (1968). If anyone can find or has the teaser that contains footage from all three films, that/both would be great to preserve on this DVD.