Bad DVD Covers

[Mofo Rising]

This is no recent trend, but the recent release of A History of Violence reminds me how much I hate it.  Instead of trying for any sort of artistry with ttheir packaging, movie studios will simply shove a DVD out onto the shelf plastered with a close up of the actors faces.  Lazy, lazy marketing, especially for a David Cronenberg film.

It is especially egregious when the original poster art is something worthwhile.  One of the worst examples is the DVD cover for the movie One Crazy Summer, one of my favorite screwball comedies.

Compare this:


To this:


Terrible.  Not only does it demolish the original art, it gives off the entirely wrong tone for the movie.  It's as if the designers had come to the table only knowing John Cusack and Demi Moore were in the movie, instead of actually watching it.

These DVD covers are lazy and stink of "movie as product", which is a terrible thing.

That's it.  First thing tomorrow morning I'm going to go down to the movie studio and punch their marketing guy in the back of the head.

[The Burgomaster]

I'm a fan of box covers that are the same as (or similar to) the theatrical posters.

[Just Plain Horse]

Theatrical posters are fine... I don't like DVD covers that giveaway scenes from the movie. The title, not the movies "money shot" needs to be seen.

Also, the worst cover I've ever seen wasn't a DVD, but rather a VHS tape of Rhino's MST3K release of Red Zone Cuba; a face like Coleman Francis' really doesn't need to take up that much room.

[daveblackeye15]

The American DVD cover of FInal Wars is kind of neat but the original Japanese poster is epic!

[PSlugworth]

Thinking of Planet of the Apes?

[Psycho Circus]

I just bought the dvd version of 1989's Headhunter, which looks like this:



Boring, badly done picture of a head under some sort of sheet. Now compare that to the original VHS:



Beyond awesome, so why change it!?

[diamondwaspvenom]

This speaks for itself:

Highlander-Original artwork:


DVD artwork:

[diamondwaspvenom]

I'm gonna have fun with this thread. 

Despite the fact that I despise this movie, I admit that the poster artwork for Nightmare On Elm Street 4 is millions of times more awesome than the DVD cover (and the movie itself).

Original art:


DVD art:

[zombie no.one]

"yeah , you know...Last House On the Left...

...that movie about a haunted house in a scary supernatural wood where giant skulls beam down from the night sky"

[Mofo Rising]

This thread... RESURRECTED!

I posted this somewhere else, but...

The DVD package for Near Dark was surprisingly stylish.



The redesign for the Blu-ray release is one of the worst things I've ever seen.

[thetoxicone]

I don't have a picture handy but aren't there cheapo dvd releases of the movie mutant that use a picture from forbidden world for the cover since forbidden world was also titled mutant

[Pilgermann]

[Criswell]

Any kind of DVD's that are not close to the original posters and have "Floating head syndrome".

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FloatingHeadSyndrome

[Psycho Circus]

Yeah I'm sick of heads, all they use on everything now is big goofy heads!!

[Raffine]

Thinking of Planet of the Apes?

SPOILER ALERT!






...woops.