unskippable advertisements on DVDs
 

i just bought the matrix reloaded yesterday :D and there are ads that play before the movie starts and i cant fast forward or skip them :(

why should i have to pay $31 AUS to watch an ad everytime i play the movie?

That almost sickens me more than ads before the movie at the theatre.

If I wanted to see TV advertisements, I would watch TV. That's what ads are for, to pay for the television shows that are on. I'm paying money to watch a movie, not be bombarded with ads.

I wish I could return movies that I purchase with those unskippable ads. They are on my 2Fast2Furious DVD and it pisses me off. Seriously, in five years when I am watching that movie, I don't care what is coming soon to theaters.

I don't mind ad's in theatres but on DVD's, it's inexcusable, I paid for the movie, not some fucking retard trailer for a bullshit theme park attraction I'll never fucking go to. It seriously pisses me off that they did that on the Reloaded DVD.

Ads suck ass on DVDs. They drive me nuts.

Terrible, just terrible. I really cannot stand it when I have to sit through that kind of crap before I can watch something I paid for. Why are they wasting disc space on something shitty like that when they could put on more extras instead? Unbelievable!

I remember less than 15 years ago, people were discussing the ethics of even putting ads on videos, period. In the beginning, only one or two ads were allowed. Now, the entire practice has gotten out of hand.

I can't say this will always work (because it won't, and I haven't tested with Reloaded) but try hitting stop, then from the DVD player's neutral screen, hit DVD menu. Sometimes it'll let you bypass the ads that way.

Trouble is that the ads are actually attached to the film itself, click PLAY MOVIE and the ads will roll then the film will start.

Tio remedy this simply choose Chapter 1 from chapter select but that isn't the point, they shouldn't be there in the first place.

BTW, I can confirm what RedCometChar mentioned, it does work on many DVD's.

Yeah, it sucks, but i sorta understand from Hollywood's end of things. If it's all about making money, then sticking ads on the DVD's will probably generate a truck of cash for them.

Disney is the worst, though, as they advertise for every other Disney DVD

First I heard of ads on DVD, that is bullshit, are they doing it on the new releases now?

The next logical step would be to play ads every 5-10 minutes during the movie, just like on TV... you know, that would be pretty hilarious, and sad at the same time.

If we sit here and quietly accept this, it just might become reality.

I haven't bought any new dvd's in a while, but I can remember a time when VHS tapes had about 1 commercial on them. The most recent tape I rented I had to fast forward through 14 minutes of ads. That would suck if I actually had to watch all that on a dvd.

14 minutes!? Back when I bought VHS, the threshold seemed to be 9 minutes. That is horrible.

I really don't mind if a company wants to put ads in front of DVDs that rental stores like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video get, but if I go to Best Buy and fork over my $15-$20 to add the movie to my personal library, I would at least like to watch it without having to suffer through those advertisements. Is that so much to ask?

I don't mind if you have some ads//trailers in the 'bonus features' menu, but I want to be able to choose wether or not to watch them.

disney is about the worse with this i heard they had 10 minutes of unskippable ads added to the front of the tarzan dvd. i can see justification of putting them on rental videos and dvds (still should be fastforwardable like videos were)but if you've buy the movie you shouldn't be forced to watch ads.reminds me of that snl sketch where people were locked in a theater and were forced to watch weeks of shelly long trailers.

I picked up the widescreen version of Matrix: Reloaded today and as far as I can tell there were no unskipable ads. Nothing before the main menu and nothing after hitting the play movie button. Was this a rental?

I haven't looked at my copy of Matrix: Reloaded yet, but note that the comment referred to the Australian version of the dvd. Still when unskippable ads first started appearing before the menu (I believe that disney was the first offender), Many people complained but it did nothing except maybe move them to in front of the movie (instead of before the menu). Either way, they should not have made the ads unskippable.

Note: The ads being unskippable is an exploit of the dvd design that allowed for the copyright notice (FBI warning to those of us in the US) to be shown and not bypassed. This was meant as a way to help reduce piracy.

Yeah, I have the US version and there are no ads.

The practice did start with Disney IIRC. Pretty ridiculous. Advertising has gotten entirely out of hand--not just on DVDs, but everywhere.

If I bought a DVD and it had an unskipable ad, I would return it. If enough people do this, the message would be clear.

i hate those unskippables they are annoying as hell especially when they arent for movies but instead some TV show commercial that really heats me up

If it makes the DVD any cheaper, then I don't mind them. As long as they aren't in the middle of the movie, I couldn't give a damn.

The industries are just really big band wagons. Ads getting crammed into every oriface of media is the new big thing, it isn't going anywhere.

I remember when one of the perks of DVDs was that there were no ads like VHS... There are so many other places they could put ads. They could fill the case with seperate ads for all I care, or even make you watch so many minutes of ads when you purchase the DVD...anything besides making you watch them on the DVD.

you know- it amazes me that the industry wants to reduce piracy and get sympathy, but then pulls crap like this- I want to be entertained- not see comercials- if you want me to buy your products then make GOOD products every now and then and then I will buy more- at this point I could give a fuck if the industry goes belly up- maybe demand would create something better then

that would be ok, in theory, but.. It doesn't work that way. I have never seen dvds get any cheaper, just more expensive, (that's why I only buy from online discount places now) They are simply taking advantage of the people like us who are ethical enough to actually buy a movie, instead of getting a dvd rip from the web, or a friend.

'scuse me for calling on this, but BULLSHIT. (not your statement, but the logic of such a thing) making the copyright notice unskippable does nothing to reduce piracy.

You have the unskipable ads because you bought a DVD that was supposed to be just a rental. A lot of rental movies have the ads before the main menu - but when you buy them, they shouldn't be there.

At least with VHS I can fast forward though the ads.

How would people feel if at the start of every CD they bought, they had to listen to 10 minutes of ads before their music started? (Obviously you couldn't skip it, being a part of the music track and all).

This kind of bullshit is making me reconsider buying a DVD player. (I don't won one yet)

Question is: What can we do about it?

They're retarded, yes, but commercials at the movie theatres piss me off more. Its stupid as hell, its not like movies dont make enough damn money by themselves. Greedy assholes.

You can fast forward the ads in DVDs as well. At least the ones that I have encountered.

Maybe the Aussie version is different. But I popped my in and the menu was the first thing on my screen. I hit play and the movie started. No trailers, no ads.

I do however agree w/ you that on DVDs that do have ads suck. What I have more are the commercials in the movie theartre. You thinks it's the begining of some trailer and then you realize you've been duped.

It's horrible, but there must be a way around it. Just go to chapter 1 or something. The ads are there to make them money. That is what business is about afterall. They shouldn't piss off their customers though.

Leela: Didn't you have ads in the 20th century?
Fry: Well, sure... but not in our dreams! Only on TV and radio... and in magazines... and movies. And at ballgames and on buses and milk cartons and t-shirts and bananas and written on the sky. But not in dreams! No siree.

I love Futurama... and it sorta applies here.

In iTunes you can set Start Time and Stop Time for music tracks. i.e. if you set start time at 0:42, when you play the song it will begin at 42 seconds. So you could skip music ads that way if they were around. Just saying.


EDIT: Actually, if DVD players had that "start time" and "stop time" feature that would be nice.

whenever i start up a new dvd and have to watch PREVIEWS I want to take the DVD back to the store and demand my money back. If I am going to pay upwards of $20 for a DVD, I am not paying $20 to be forced to sit threw previews that will not even have a purpose in a couple of months.
I want to buy a movie, just gimme that!

no dude, proper store-bought, brand-new.

Yup, 'tis the bane of Region 4 Reloaded Discs.

Usually that's not the case... it's just a way to INCREASE profits.

I have Matrix Reloaded Region 1 (unopened) and Region 2 Scandanavian, neither of them have commercials in the beginning.

Wait wait wait... the movie companies aren't content with taking money from you for the DVD so they put ads in there to try and get even MORE money ?

Bah, if this trend continues I don't think I would even bother getting a DVD player (I know, I'm a heretic).

We bought a porn from Vivid and it literaly has at least 15 minutes worth of phone sex ads that you can't skip no matter what you do, by the time we reach the porn, the mood is gone (at least for her) :)

same with my version.. no ads on there