Garage Sales & Miramax

I put off buying Kill Bill Vol. 1 because I figured that eventually Miramax would release the complete original cut of Kill Bill. Well, they are going to do that very thing but not for months and months.

Miramax is setting a very bad precedent. They are systematically releasing stripped down DVD's only to supplant them months later with DELUXE SUPER MONGO WIDESCREEN SPECIAL WHOPPING EDITIONS.

I will readily admit that Miramax is not alone in this trend. Just this morning at our annual family garage sale I sold a copy of the WIDESCREEN SPECIAL EDITION Underworld for three bucks. Why? Because I now own the 2 DISC UNRATED EXTENDED CUT Underworld! The woman I sold it to said, "Are you sure you want to sell me the SPECIAL EDITION?" I had to laugh. At last year's extravaganza, I sold DVD copies of Dogma, Bull Durham, Dances with Wolves, and more.

But Miramax is guilty of bilking the DVD market more than any other company. Kill Bill is but anecdotal evidence exhibit #1. Need more? So be it! Exhibit #2--Dogma. They released a stripped down version of Dogma that retailed for more than the Special Edition they released several months later. As a Kevin Smith fan, I was stupid enough to buy both versions. Next month they'll be releasing Jersey Girl, but will it be packed with extras the way most Smith films end up being? No. You see, Miramax knows they have Smith fans hooked and they know they can snake money out of them time and time again. Exhibit #3 (and the prosecution will rest) is the super-mongo Clerks X Special Edition coming out next month along side the stripped-down Jersey Girl.

I will wait patiently for Kill Bill to hit shelves in the form it was originally intended. It won't be easy for me because I think Vol. 2 is one of the greatest movies I've ever seen. In many ways, I'm glad Bob and Harvey W. (Miramax execs) had the Big T (Kill Bill director) split the story in two. However, when it comes to DVD, I'm really angry about the entire affair.