The little DVDs that Hollywood hates

What is wrong with this photo? That's right; this movie isn't on DVD yet.

Because this thing landed in my lap, almost literally, for the very first I watched a rather illegal underground DVD of a hit Hollywood movie already in theatres.

This little underground industry is a migraine to the entertainment industry itself. Not that much different than knockoffs for Rolex watches, Luis Vuitton bags, etc. The companies try to police it and prevent it, but what can you do? Apparently this practice of selling DVDs of first-run movies on the street is real hit in major cities such as NYC, LA, London, as well as to our troops in the Middle East.

For years I had heard of people buying these movies from street vendors, only to see the quality range from a blank screen, to the language being Japanese, to trash, to OK. Going this route to watch a movie is a role of the dice; you don’t know what the movie is going to be like, if there is one at all. It is not as if you are going to be able to return the movie from the person who sold you the DVD to ask for an exchange or a refund.

This copy of The Rise of the Planet of the Apes starring James Franco on DVD for $5 is worth it, because it is $5. There are a few scenes where Franco or Freida Pinto’s head is slightly cut off in the shot. The picture quality is like a second-generation VHS recording. And the three or four scenes that require subtitles appear to originally be in Russian.

You get what you pay for.

Regardless, even with Freida Pinto, this movie would have honked in theaters.

@MacEngelProf 
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Comments

[Dr. Zaius]

This movie was aweful

[Keyser Söze]

Another big budget movie gone bad. It's a shame. Go Ape -- NOT!