PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Region 4 DVD Hall Of Shame

Region 4 DVD Hall Of Shame


The Worst
Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)
MGM
Distributed by Beyond Home Entertainment
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Inducted 2nd September 2000 by Ian M
A passable film but you would not know it. A shocking DVD, badly mastered from poor source material displaying just about every artefact known and possibly inventing a few new ones. Makes an excellent two-pack with Dune to demonstrate how NOT to do DVD.



Dishonourable Mentions
Emma (Blu-ray) (1996)
Miramax
Distributed by Icon Entertainment
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Inducted 8th December 2009 by AdamG
The Promise (Wu ji) (2005)
?
Distributed by Anchor Bay Entertainment
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Inducted 22nd August 2008 by DanielB
Rabid Grannies (Les mémés cannibales) (Stomp Visual) (1988)
Troma Team
Distributed by Stomp Visual
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Inducted 16th June 2007 by Ryan A
The Inspector General (MRA) (1949)
Warner Bros
Distributed by MRA Entertainment
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Inducted 19th November 2005 by Mick C
A pretty period piece is ruined visually by awfully uneven focus, light leakage, the use of a jerky 60hz video encode and all manner of print issues. The film's Oscar winning score is muffled by a muddy 2.0 score that makes a mockery of the DTS label.
A visually beautiful film decimated by pan & scanning a 2.35:1 original, doing an NTSC-to-Pal conversion and then blurring some of the picture when you might have seen a brief glimpse of naked flesh. Including a widescreen trailer just adds to the pain!
Troma have done the impossible by making an unwatchably awful horror film more unwatchable. A scratchy, dirty 2.35:1 transfer cropped to 1.33:1 with completely terrible dubbing and no original language track makes for possibly the worst DVD ever produced.
Many of Danny Kaye’s films are now in the public domain which means they can be cheaply exploited. This ugly, muddy transfer has come from a video tape source with obvious damage, and the audio is not much better, being full of hiss and distortion.


Dishonourable Mentions
That Cold Day in the Park (1969)
Commonwealth United
Distributed by Beyond Home Entertainment
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Inducted 9th December 2004 by Steve C
Jailhouse Rock (NTSC) (1957)
MGM
Distributed by Warner Home Video
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Inducted 14th October 2003 by Tony D
Black Sabbath-Volume 1: 1970-1978 (1992)
?
Distributed by Warner Vision
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Inducted 27th September 2002 by Dean M
Johnny Cash-The Man, His World, His Music (1969)
?
Distributed by Warner Vision
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Inducted 10th August 2002 by Ian M
A reasonable gothic drama, spolit by a terrible transfer. Almost unwatchable at times due to the lack of image cohesion. Bright whites bleed constantly, blacks and shadows are woeful. Should have been so much better.
One of Elvis Presley's most famous films, stellar transfer, right? Wrong, let's present it with one of the worst video transfers we can and see if anyone notices. Oh, and forget the extras, they cost too much!
An incorrectly framed video transfer that is constantly on the verge of pixelisation plus a 5.1 transfer that barely sounds like 2.0 most of the time equals one of the worst DVDs I have ever seen from a big-time distributor.
Whilst I was expecting not too much from the DVD, I was expecting something better than this at times shocking effort. Some restoration effort could at least have been made...


Dishonourable Mentions
Rainbow Bridge (1971)
Eagle Vision
Distributed by Umbrella Entertainment
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Inducted 8th July 2002 by Sean A
Three Colours: Blue (Trois Couleurs Bleu) (1993)
MK2 Productions
Distributed by Shock Entertainment
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Inducted 2nd April 2002 by Sean A
Xanadu (1980)
Universal
Distributed by Universal Pictures Home Video
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Inducted 11st March 2002 by Ian M
Clerks (Shock) (1994)
Miramax
Distributed by Shock Entertainment
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Inducted 10th March 2002 by Nick J
Combine video sourced from a dirty, aged, poor quality theatrical print, a "5.1" re-mix that you struggle to hear above the hiss, a movie with no plot or purpose, and a blatant cashing-in on the Jimi Hendrix name and you have Rainbow Bridge.
With the Three Colours trilogy being such an important cinematic achievement, these DVD releases definitely could have been and should have been much better. An object case study of minimal effort and poor quality source making for a poor quality DVD.
A guilty pleasure of a film ruined by a DVD that should not have passed even modest quality control checks. A shockingly badly balanced soundtrack stifles an otherwise acceptable offering.
Clerks is a great, hard-hitting, comedy that deserves much better treatment on DVD. Terrible framing, incorrect aspect ratio, grain and film artefacts galore are just some of the problems with this terrible transfer.


Dishonourable Mentions
Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
Lions Gate Films
Distributed by Madman Entertainment
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Inducted 22nd August 2001 by Carl B
The Elephant Man (1980)
Studio Canal
Distributed by Universal Pictures Home Video
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Inducted 19th July 2001 by Anthony K
The Life of Birds (1998)
BBC
Distributed by Roadshow Home Entertainment
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Inducted 10th June 2001 by Ian M
Operavox (1994)
?
Distributed by Wild Releasing
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Inducted 26th May 2001 by Carl B
The video quality is no better than a bad VHS tape, and almost unwatchable in places.
This is a fantastic film on an extremely disappointing disc. The transfer displays aliasing artefacts in nearly every scene and at points is almost unwatchable. This is extremely distracting as you find yourself watching the aliasing more than the movie.
The Life Of Birds is an excellent example of material that is in all other respects very good being let down badly by a distinct lack of quality in the mastering process. The result is an occasionally unwatchable transfer.
Operavox is one of those DVDs that makes you wish they simply hadn't bothered. The number of transfer problems is the stuff of legend!


Dishonourable Mentions
Avenue One
?
Distributed by Avenue One
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Inducted 20th March 2001 by Michael D
Communion (Sonart) (1989)
Pheasantry Films
Distributed by Select Audio-Visual Distrib
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Inducted 2nd March 2001 by Anthony C
Spitfire (The First of the Few) (1942)
Samuel Goldwyn
Distributed by Select Audio-Visual Distrib
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Inducted 9th February 2001 by Ian M
Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective (1999)
Infinite Ventures
Distributed by Wild Releasing
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Inducted 20th December 2000 by Andrew S
Consistently horrific sub-VHS quality video transfers have lead us to take the extreme step of inducting an entire Distributor into the Hall Of Shame. Caveat Emptor.
How can R1 get it so right and R4 so wrong? Another awful effort from Avenue One had me watching this one in chunks to relieve my aching eyes from every transfer defect known. Sync problems didn't help the audio, either.
Want to remember how bad VHS tapes can be? Just indulge in this appallingly artefact-riddled and indistinct video transfer, coupled with a lousy audio transfer.
From what sounds like a good concept comes an awful DVD. Shocking video quality that looks worse than home video and audio that sounds like it has used a microphone from the $2 shop. To top it off, the DVD is remarkably hard to beat - too hard in fact.


Dishonourable Mentions
Jamaica Inn (MRA) (1939)
Mayflower Pictures
Distributed by MRA Entertainment
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Inducted 29th May 2000 by Ian M
Angel and the Badman (Avenue One) (1947)
Republic
Distributed by Select Audio-Visual Distrib
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Inducted 8th March 2000 by Michael D
The Shining (1980)
Warner Bros
Distributed by Warner Home Video
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Inducted 14th January 2000 by Dean M
The Story of O (Histoire d'O) (1975)
Yang Films
Distributed by Beyond Home Entertainment
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Inducted 30th December 1999 by Ian M
An almost illegible Jamaica Inn sign opens this movie, and the definition does not get any better. A snow storm of film artefacts fails to hide the appalling quality of this transfer, and the appalling sound does not help the situation.
A decent movie ruined by shockingly substandard source material (NTSC analogue video tape converted to PAL). The worst video and audio transfer I have ever seen.
Poor, and incorrectly framed video. Audio that sounds like it was recorded in a washing machine. This film should never have been made like this, let alone transferred to DVD in this manner.
The Story of O is a good example of a DVD hampered by poor quality source material, compounded by a dreadfully remastered soundtrack and very poor presentation of the whole package. Art film? Bah. Utter rubbish.


Dishonourable Mentions
Backdraft (1991)
Universal
Distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertain
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Inducted 27th July 1999 by Michael D
Thelma & Louise (1991)
MGM
Distributed by Twentieth Century Fox
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Inducted 8th February 1999 by Michael D
Dune (1984)
Dino De Laurentiis
Distributed by Beyond Home Entertainment
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Inducted 10th January 1999 by Michael D
The Wedding Singer (1998)
New Line Cinema
Distributed by Roadshow Home Entertainment
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Inducted 27th November 1998 by Michael D
Backdraft is a great movie hobbled by the use of an old laserdisc transfer. It is incorrectly framed, not 16x9 enhanced, and suffers from severe aliasing at times, making the image almost unwatchable.
Thelma & Louise is a classic movie ruined by a cheated anamorphic transfer which has severe aliasing problems, a very poor audio remix to 5.1 and which hangs at the layer change on a number of players.
The original release of Dune was horrible and should be avoided at all costs, but the remaster is excellent.
The Wedding Singer is ruined by a Dolby Digital soundtrack that is frequently out of sync with the visuals, making it almost impossible to watch. The latest master, their third attempt, finally fixes the problem.


Dishonourable Mentions
Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995)
Fox
Distributed by Roadshow Home Entertainment
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Inducted 29th June 1998 by Michael D
The first version had awful aliasing problems. The second version, taken from a print source, fixed the aliasing but suffered from really nasty telecine wobble which gives you eye strain when you watch the DVD. The third version is a little better.