[Stuart Wright]

The studios have a clever way of making you spend your money on the same movie on DVD more than once. By releasing a standard edition, then a collector's edition, then a director's cut, then a box set, you can end up having several copies of the same movie on DVD. I have two Alien boxsets, for example!
The practise of buying the same movie more than once is called 'double dipping'.
Forget VHS copies here. What we want to know is do you double dip DVDs?

And why does everyone think that the studios release a standard version and then a special edition?
Is it purely a method to extract the cash from our wallets?
If you have something to say on this subject, please call 0208 123 9587 and leave a message. Your comments could be used in our podcast.

[Marc]

i do it a lot, but i then sell, or at least try to sell the original versions on the forums here

[ash]

Just get the normal versions usually apart from LOTR for which I have the normal and EE versions. What else? I've been tempted to buy superbit versions of favourite films like Spiderman, but I'll wait for HD versions

[Tejstar]

I have done so in the past, but only rarely. I bought a lot of films when dvd's first came out and recently there has been a lot of re-releases with better pq and features. However, I will only double-dip on the films I know I will watch again and again. The Matrix and Shawshank Redemption are good recent examples.

[hottstuff]

It's similar to the bands bringing out their BEST OF albums , in a lot of the cases you buy this for the 1 or 2 tracks , previously unreleased.

With the dvd's in some cases there is nothing new but outtakes and behind the scenes.
I would buy in the case of a movie being re-released in DTS or extended directors cut.
But for eg. Goodfellas & Casino were re-released with extras , Bitrates are the same so the dvd's in essence are a waste of money , and yes i re-bought them

[Monster]

I don't mind the special editions when you know they will be released later eg Lord of the Rings Trilogy (I have both of each )

I do get hacked off though when I've just bought a DVD only to find out a better version is announced a few weeks/months later. In that case I don't get the new version out of principle. If its a year or 2 later fair enough, again eg Shawshank Redemption.

[Endeavour]

It hasn't happened often but I have double-dipped for the following reason

1) It has to be a favorite movie
2) The original version is deficient eg dodgy transfer, no DTS, No extras
OR
3) Can't find original because

• I have lent it to my brother and its never come back
• The original case is present but is either empty or contains a CD. PS2 game etc. - my son is normally the primary suspect for this scenario.

[IronGiant]

Originally Posted by Endeavour

3) Can't find original because

• I have lent it to my brother and its never come back
• The original case is present but is either empty or contains a CD. PS2 game etc. - my son is normally the primary suspect for this scenario.

Hadn't thought of that one! very good.

I double dip only if the film footage itself is different and generally keep both.

Dave

[featherhall]

I only ever double dip if :-

a) there is a collectable release (eg OldBoy Copper Case, Matrix set etc)
b) the new version is considerable improvement (eg Goodfellas (non longer a flipper)
c) there is more film (eg LOTR extended, Dances With Wolves extended)
d) the foreign releases give you more (eg, Malena, Kill Bill Vol1)

The likes of Star Wars completely takes the biscuit for me, and I wouldn't fund that studio any more.

[Astaroth]

I tend to be fairly forgetful that movies are going to be released and so by the time that I find out that it is in the shops subsequent versions have already been released (eg LOTR) and then I tend to do a little checking round to see if the likes of Blackstar have another version with a later release date before going to buy.

I would only consider double dipping (never heard the phrase before) if it is one of my top films - unless of cause "upgrading" my VHS to DVD counts as double dipping?

[TheOriginalGuru]

I've only "double-dipped" a few movies, so I can't claim much to that question, and the ones I have done are because:

Star Trek: Insurrection = Had the original DVD, then the special editions of the series came out, so I bought that and gave the original to my sister.
Alien = Got the Directors Cut as a gift, so I kept it, and gave the original one to my sister, again.
Dazed and Confused = One of my favorite films, so I'm buying the Criterion Edition because of the improved picture and sound quality, and all of the extras.
And then, if they count, all of the stuff I had on VHS that I've bought on DVD.

I will be buying a few HD-DVD's when they come out that I already own on DVD, such as Robocop and Goodfellas.

[Grimley]

Rarely, its usually because the newer version has a DTS track (yep - that old chestnut!)

[cuzzy]

Never, once I have watched a movie I very rarely bother to watch a second time.