I also have the older single disc version. I've always found it to be perfectly adequate, and it can probably be found used (or even new) online for way cheap. In purusing reviews of the newer DVDs, the reviews seem to indicate that the picture/sound has not significantly been improved (if at all). More likely than not, it's just a marketing ploy on the part of Paramount to get you to SPEND MONEY on the latest and greatest. The advertised special features appear to be pretty worthless to me, and not worth spending the money. The Rosemary Clooney interview/featurette is all you need.
Remember that this is a 57 year old film; how good of picture quality do you expect? :-)
The only thing that would get me to upgrade without question would be if it came packaged with the ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK RECORDING, which has never been released in any format. I understand that a few years back, you could get the DVD for a limited time at Starbuck's, packaged with the Bing Crosby/Danny Kaye/Peggy Lee "soundtrack" album that has been previously issued in various forms including CD. But this is not the original soundtrack, so no dice, since I already have that album on CD elsewhere.
This is also the same gripe I have about WB's constant repackagings/reissues of THE WIZARD OF OZ. Seems like every couple a three years they come out with a new and improved souvenir/special/anniversary/collectors/ultimate/apocalyptic edition, with new material added every time that usually seems to take the form of lobby posters, "collectable" photos (which are usually just a free Google search away), shooting schedules, costume/set/screen tests, producers notes, and other miscellaneous garbage. Again, just to get you to spend money. The same IMPORTANT featurettes and documentaries are usually in every set. I still have the SINGLE DISC set from 1999. As long as it has the old Angela Lansbury documentary I'm happy. Although the 2005 set did have a pretty good feature on the digital restoration and transfer process. But short of the discovery and inclusion of original footage of the Jitterbug and other deleted scenes that were destroyed decades ago, I'll save my money!
"Snozberries? Who ever heard of a snozberry?"
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Sitcom_Sally
13 years ago
I understand your frustration of the reissues. I have a six-year-old, and we've purchased a few movies for him that happened to be reissued at the time we went to buy them (e.g. Aristocats, Finding Nemo) that were around $45. It's nice for some films to have all of those extras, but we don't care about them for most and don't want to spend that much on every one for our child who might not care about them a year later. It's different with favorites over time. Fortunately, we still have a DVD/VHS combo and can watch some of those for him on old VHS. If he likes them a lot then we can splurge on the DVD. Maybe it's time for me to trade my VHS of White Christmas for DVD. Ya think?
- Sally
The perfect human being is uninteresting. - Joseph Campbell
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