By Lee Pfeiffer
We long ago gave up on seeing dynamic artwork on most DVD releases from major studios. Before you blame the studios, however, keep in mind that one studio executive told me in confidence that the sleeve designs are basically dictated by the buyers at Wal-Mart, who believe consumers can only relate to very simple, basic graphics. Thus, most major releases feature horrid scanned-in head shots of the movie's stars...often super-imposed on other actor's bodies. (See some of the James Bond releases). Once in a while, a studio will actually use original poster graphics on older, catalog titles and independent labels generally have visually creative sleeves for DVDs. However, the low point has to be the new DVD release of Paramount's
Star Trek film. Director J.J. Abram's has not only reinvigorated the flaccid series, but enthused people like myself who were not major fans of the original films. However, the DVD sleeve is a boring, graphic-free piece of work that simply spells out the name of the title and doesn't convey a bit of the film's excitement or the acclaimed cast members. Granted,
Star Trek doesn't need traditional marketing to make it succeed, but it would have been nice if someone in the home video department had put more than two minutes thought into the packaging of such a prestigious release. Come on, guys, you can do better...On the up side, the Blu-ray release promises to be a 3-DVD doozy.
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