Not all DVD' s are created equal. This is one of many lessons we learned watching all these movies. The great thing about DVD' s is that we can see the format taking shape in front of us. The special features, deleted scenes and commentary are all beginning to come together.

In years previous, the movie buff had to go for the laser disc to get that superior sound and cool features. Unfortunately for everyone, the laser disc was too expensive for the causal user. The quality was there and only the best movies made to the format, but it was just not accessible to most people.

DVD picked up the features and the commentary and made it affordable. As the studios began to pump out tons of disks, things began to happen. The consumers noticed that some DVD. s had nothing special on them (Small Time Crooks), While other were a veritable film school in a box (Fight Club).

Over time, consumers will send the message to the studios demanding more than the re-release of every bad movie they ever made. With any luck we will see quality special features become a necessary part of the DVD release.

It is arguable that the best DVD' s of last year, Gladiator, Perfect Storm, and MI2, all were greatly enhanced by their special features. Will an extra DVD of special features increase product sales? I have no doubt that they do. On more than one occasion I have overheard conversations which people are having about the features, and how they affected their perspective of a movie.

The holiday season has also reminded us that the growing pains of the DVD medium are far from over. The number of DVD players flying off the shelf has far outpaced the number of DVD rental movies at the big chains such as Hollywood Video and Blockbuster. Since these stores are taking the conservative approach to expanding their DVD offerings, we the consumer are at risk of renting some horrible movies. Witch House II begins to look like a good choice for the man with a DVD player he is dying to use. Take care and let the Filmdudes guide you to the obscure but great movies that you can find hiding out there.