You've all seen this warning when you put a disc in your DVD player. Either this warning or a variation of it, depending on what country you live in. Sometimes it remains on the screen annoyingly long, and it's not possible to skip it. Especially amusing is the UK version of the warning screen, which adds that it's not allowed to show the film in oil rigs or prisons. This obviously doesn't refer to personal viewing, it has to do with showing a film to a group of people in a communal environment. But what happens if you show a film in a prison? Will you be arrested and sent to prison?
When I watch a film I expect the technical best in picture quality. I'm not happy with a fuzzy picture that's been compressed by a pirate somewhere. I want to see the film in high definition, and in whatever ratio it was expected to be viewed in. I don't accept compromises. And don't even mention films that have been copied with a digital camera by someone sitting in the back row of a cinema. That's just disgusting! This blog is written for those who love films as much as I do. If you're looking for free downloads, look elsewhere. You won't find them here.
In my house I have more than 1100 films on DVD, not including many tv series on DVD. "It must have cost a fortune", people often say when they see my collection. Yes and No. They did cost a lot, but let's put it in perspective. I've been buying DVDs for the last 10 years. So that's 110 films per year, on average two a week. But how much did they cost me? I'm a smart buyer. I don't buy a film when it's new and costs £15. I wait 12 months, by which time I can usually get it for £3. If a film was a good film last year it's still a good film today. So that's £6 or less than $10 per week. That's less than the price of 30 cigarettes, or three pints of beer in the pub. Looking at it this way my 1100 films were very cheap.
I use the excellent web site Find-DVD.co.uk to assist me in finding good deals for DVDs. I strongly recommend it to anyone who lives in the UK. The website has a pricewatch facility. I enter the name of a DVD and how much I want to pay for it, then I'm sent an email when it's available for the price. Usually I have to react fast, because a price might only be valid for 24 hours. Sometimes a price listed on a website is a mistake, but it's picked up by the pricewatch facility and reported to me. Some companies such as Play and Amazon honour prices that were listed in error. Others such as The Hut and Asda first accept the order then send an email saying "We are sorry that we have run out of DVDs at the special promotional price listed" – their subtle way of saying they never had any at this price – "so we have cancelled your order, but you may reorder at our usual price".
So would I never ever download a film online? Under very rare circumstances I would. One example is that I downloaded "The Paperboy" because it was unavailable on DVD. It still hasn't been released in America or England, but after finding that it had been released on DVD in Greece I ordered a copy and deleted my inferior downloaded version. Since then it has also been released in Australia. If a film in my collection is no longer available on DVD I might make a digital copy to share with friends, but only after being completely sure they have no possibility of buying a new copy of the film.
I'll end up with this parody of the FBI warning screen shown above. What it says is entirely true, so read it carefully:
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