Okay, my opinion on single disc double features is
it's a great idea, when done correctly. I have run
into four ways it can be handled:
1) Cheap, no name companies who buy rights
to films no one wants or is public domain that
compress two films with just video and one audio track
and squeeze them on one single layer disc. Usually
sold for a buck and worth as much with a picture
so pixelated it's hard to believe it could be watched.
GRADE:D
2) Big name, yet lazy studios that dig through their
underselling catalog and put two titles together by
taking their already processed master and pressing it on a DVD-10 (aka dual sided/single layered). Sure, you get the exact same quality as released before, but it's exactly
like before, just now with another movie on the flip
side. Sometimes the company (namely Warner Bros)
has their master formatted as a DVD-9 (single sided/
dual layer), so they spend the extra buck, instead
of any extra work, and press two movies like this
on one DVD-18 (dual sided/dual layered). Probably
either size is the easiest & most popular to do this,
but it still means you have to flip the disc over to
get to the other flix.
GRADE:B+
3)As far as I know only Paramount & New Line have done
this coming method: Pressed on a DVD-9, they take the
masters of two existing movies, remove all extra content
leaving just the movie & menu, then reformat it for 4.3GB
(the size of one layer), place them one per layer, and
create a new main menu to select between the two. To me,
this is by far the best way to do this. A new compression
which usually looks even better than say the 5 to 7 year old
dual layer version, and a new main menu to switch movies
without ever having to get up.
GRADE:A
4) Simply put, they take the discs out of two different cases/
releases, reprint a cover featuring both titles on front & back,
and put the whole thing in a single keepcase with a leaf in the
middle. Pretty much an easy bit, as the discs are exact as before.
But this is sorta off-topic, more like single case double features.
GRADE:A+
Personally, I prefer Number 3, but they are far in between and
usually you'll find them like Number 2 or 4. Don't even bother with
Number One as they are unbearable to watch. Oh, if
you ever buy any of those "20 Movies On 5 Discs" cheapy sets,
they are made with the principal of Number One but with
Number 3's method, which still is two movies per layer, meaning
the picture still stinks. My only complaint about Number 2 is that
you have to be real careful with them because each side
is vulnerable & hard to handle.
Concerning if I just like them or not, the answer is Yes. Done
correctly, they are an easy way to complete a franchise/collection
& take up alot of less space than buying them separately. And no
I'm not the type of guy to trip over alphabetical questions, I
just put it based on the first title on the spine. It's going to
be nice when Blu-Ray does this in about 5 years, because it's
GB is so huge, it could be done even today.
Thanks for reading, hope it was helpful!
-RedSabbath-
)