Lock Down

It's been two years since the DVD format was first introduced to the general public. Many of the promises of the DVD format have been fulfilled, but many of the touted features of DVD are not yet being used.

Things like anamorphic widescreen DVDs and Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks have become the norm (well, except in Disney and Fox's cases), as have interactive menus and for the most part, subtitles.

Some other DVD features have never really been utilized, though. For example, most DVDs are still provided in only one language per region, and if multiple languages are supported, it's usually through the use of subtitles rather than alternate audio tracks.

A few of the DVD spec features which have remained under utilized are seldom used for understandable reasons. Multi-angle, for example, is only useful on live concert titles (where it has been used), and apparently adult titles. Multi-angle has also found use in some other strange ways, most notably with the overlaid story boards on the Tomorrow Never Dies: Special Edition DVD.

Another seldom-supported feature of DVD, which should be more widely in use, is the ability to have different versions of the same movie on one disc. I'm referring to the ability to have, for example, a PG-13 and an R rated version of the same movie on one disc, having the DVD player discern which version will be played based upon its internal settings.

Until recently, I assumed this feature had been primarily ignored due to problems with slow seek times on DVD players, and difficulty in mastering the discs. That was until I actually viewed a demonstration of this very useful feature.

Simitar Video recently distributed a demonstration DVD called, simply, Ultimate DVD Demo. The video was given away free with any DVD purchase at Music World outlets across Canada, and by freaky coincidence I managed to obtain one.

The DVD does a great job of showing off the various features of the DVD format, including multi-angle, multiple aspect ratios, multiple audio formats and languages and subtitles. It also has a demonstration of the Parental Lock feature, and the abilities of the player to edit down a sequence.

The sequence they used for the demonstration is from John Woo's Once A Thief television series. It involves an action sequence where several people are shot and killed. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of this feature, your DVD player must have its parental lock feature switched on.

When you watch the clip without the parental lock feature off, you can watch as several people are shot and then as a result, die. With the parental lock turned on, the sequence has several moments edited out. You still see the guns being fired, but the bullets hitting people and the resultant dead bodies are edited out. Consider it the "A-Team" version, where lots of bullets are flying, but nobody gets hurt.

The effect is surprisingly seamless. Not much different than watching a version of a movie which has been edited for television. If you're familiar with the material, it's pretty obvious something is missing, but if you've never seen it, you'd never know anything was gone.

I had expected there to be slight pauses as the player skipped from video bit to video bit in an effort to clip out the violence. Not so. The clip played just as seamlessly as if it was encoded that way on the disc in the first place. Turning the parental lock back off, and then replaying the same clip confirmed that the editing was indeed being done, on the fly, by the DVD player.

So, in this era of increasing concern over violent images in entertainment, why isn't this feature not only being used more, but touted as one of the great features of DVD? Why not release, for example, the Matrix in it's original R-rated and a PG-13 version on one disc?

Like the V-Chip, the parental lock feature included on ALL DVD PLAYERS allows parents to once again be in control of what their children are watching. It not only allows them to lock out questionable content, but it also allows them to set the level of content which is appropriate for their own children. It moves the responsibility for the safety of America's children (and Canada's) off the shoulders of the studios, and onto the shoulders where they belong, parents.

It's also worth noting that every DVD player I've seen supports setting the viewing standards based on American or Canadian rating systems. I suspect overseas units support appropriate standard for their region.

So...studios get with it! Use the parental lock feature to your (and our) advantage. Give the responsibility for parenting back to the parents. They want the job. Really, they do.

For something totally unrelated, those of you who read regularly will know that I'm a big fan of Jeffrey Wells' column over at mrshowbiz.go.com. Well, the bad news is that Mr. Wells is moving on, and this Thursday's column will be his last for the popular entertainment site.

Being a consummate professional, Mr. Wells cannot mention where he is moving on Mr. Showbiz, but I am not a part of the Mr. Showbiz site and as such, feel no need to keep a secret. As of August 20th, he will be writing for the very popular on-line movie buying site Reel.com.

Last week's quote of the week went unanswered. I'm not surprised given the relative obscurity of the quote, and the (I suspect) youthful audience for this column. The quote was from the 1963 version of The Haunting. A much better film than it's 1999 counterpart, but no shining moment in itself.

This week's quote is from something a little more popular.

"They all have husbands and wives and children and houses and dogs, and, you know, they've all made themselves a part of something and they can talk about what they do. What am I gonna say? "I killed the president of Paraguay with a fork. How've you been?"

As usual, if you know the name of the movie, email me at ken@dvdfuture.com

Until next time...