For several months now, U.K. newspapers have been giving away free DVDs (housed in thin cardboard sleeves), usually as part of the weekend editions. There are now so many of these freebies that it's difficult to keep up with them. Last weekend alone saw CLOSELY OBSERVED TRAINS given away with The Independent, LET HIM HAVE IT given away with The Guardian, and both HIS GIRL FRIDAY and PENNY SERENADE given away with one of the tabloids (I think it was The Daily Mail). Previous freebies have included CABARET, INDOCHINE, LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE, CINEMA PARADISO (the short version), BAGDAD CAFE (also the short version), A HANDFUL OF DUST, WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND, and several Hitchcocks. And this coming Sunday, The Observer will be giving away David Lynch's DUNE.

Has this phenomenon spread to other countries?

I know a lot of magazines in Germany give away free movies. And across Europe there are large numbers of magazine/DVD combos, generally for around 10 euros, that are racked with the regular magzines.

In the UK they are generally given away with a Saturday or Sunday paper which will probably det you back around 1 to 1.50. I have a bunch of such DVDs lying around most, if not all, of which remain unwatched. I always seem to miss the ones I might actually want to see.

A few interesting titles being given away with tomorrow (Saturday)'s newspapers: TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN with The Times, THE SKY IS FALLING (starring Isabella Rossellini) with the Independent, and SATURDAY NIGHT, SUNDAY MORNING with The Telegraph.

Must be Kitchen Sink weekend at the Telegraph - they're giving away A Taste of Honey with the Sunday edition tomorrow!

Not forgetting The Mail's copy of Michael Winner's THE BIG SLEEP with Robert Mitchum, Edward Fox, Oliver Reed and Joan Collins.

Victor

Well, you'd have to buy the Daily Mail for that....probably best to swipe it out of the bag while no one's looking.

Actually, it's been advertised on TV here in the UK fairly heavily it seems. Well, I've seen the ad godknows how many times. It looks fairly dreadful to me though...

And The Sun is giving away DVDs of Carry On films every day next week. I might actually pick up CARRY ON CLEO tomorrow, simply because it was filmed on the sets of Mankiewicz's CLEOPATRA, which I adore.

You could also have gotten CLOCKWISE today with the News of the World. Next week, The Sunday Times are doing DONNIE DARKO - THE DIRECTOR'S CUT. Quite pleased about that, I only ever picked up the theatrical edition on DVD.

It's created quite the furor within the retail industry. Expect it to get more heated.

I'm not surprised. It really devalues the product. After all, if it's something that can be given away free with a newspaper, people are sure going to be less inclined to shell out for a DVD alone. I paid good money for a lot of those CARRY ON... films and to hear they're now been given away doesn't exactly fill me with cheer.

The counter argument is that it creates a lot of revenue for distributors who can then go out and buy more product. Most of the complaining is being done by retailers who don't like the fact that money for the DVDs (and it can be quite a bit of money, these DVDs are paid for by the newspaper, they're not promotional fodder from distributors giving something away literally for free) isn't going though their tills. A lot of the concern about "detriment to the industry" is fairly disingenuous exploitation on their part. Some research has shown DVD sales of a particular title go UP what with all the free exposure.

And this is the same group of reailers who have no qualms about singing "Buy One Get One Free" and other such promotions (loss leader promotions for instance) from the rooftops if it'll get people into their stores. Which is it: do they like NO "devaluation" of product, or just "devaluation" of product they don't get a cut of ?

Hello,

What is the general quality on the bonus DVDs? I go to school in England and have been tempted to buy a few papers just for the supplemental movie (and then promptly place the Sunday gossip rags into the recycle bin.) I have refrained from doing so, however, since I'm weary about poor quality. For example, whenever I'm back in Asia visiting friends and relatives, I pick up the odd serial with a bonus DVD or VCD packaged in the bundle. Invariably, these tend to be no-frills if not middling quality affairs--in many ways inferior to what you would normally purchase at a normal retailer. If I upgrade, the old bonus disc becomes a new extra-shiny beer coaster or a super fancy circular bookmark. But if these Sunday paper discs are of standard release quality, well, one has just "discovered" a great new way to economically boost one's modest media library.

And on a related note, it does seem that places like HMV, Virgin, WH Smith, etc down to boutique places like Fopp and Silverstreet appear to be running a lot of DVD special offers since the advent of these Sunday bonus discs.

The quality is usually excellent - certainly every bit as good as the full-price releases, though without any extras (but then many of the full-price DVDs of these films don't have any extras either). The only problematic discs are the ones taken from public domain titles - the version of HIS GIRL FRIDAY given away with one of the tabloids a few weeks ago contained a particularly ugly NTSC transfer.

Of course the other problem here is the certificates - some films given away have had 12 or 15 certificates, which means if you innocently send little 10-year-old Johnny down to the shop to pick up your paper, you could end up with your local newsagent being busted by Trading Standards. The irony of course is that papers like the Daily Mail would probably be first to complain about said newsagents corrupting our youth!

Another downside that I've noticed on all of the discs that I've picked up is that they do not have any chapter stops.

Some don't (CINEMA PARADISO, for example), but most do. The disc of Lynch's DUNE given away with The Observer a few weeks back certainly had chapter stops, though, curiously, a couple less than the retail edition.

Um...how did you find that out?

For the last few months it has become a weekend tradition for me to pick up any paper with even a remotely interesting DVD, so I should make a few comments on what has been posted here.

Firstly, the quality of these DVDs is most definitely NOT the same as retail versions. The vast majority of free discs are DVD5, not DVD9, meaning a lower bit rate. Many are non-anamorphic or even cropped. Some do not feature a menu. There are no extras - unless they are advertising features (The only exception to this I have found is the Time' Cabaret/LIFF disc which featured some short films). Subtitles are often 'burnt on'. Some titles are clearly taken from below par prints.

As for retailers complaining, I should point out that many of the Free DVDs - especially the 'free DVD every day' offers - are redeemed via a Token in a shop. WHSmith and Woolworths have both participated in this kind of offer, and they are two of the biggest high street DVD retailers AND sell newspapers. Many of the free DVDs are promoting sell-through releases - this is especially true of those discs where you get one episode of a TV series. The recent Carry On Up The Khyber disc (which despite what I say above, was a revelation in 'scope), was designed to promote a Carry On collection, whilst the Times' Heat And Dust contained a long trailer /intro to the Merchant Ivory Collection. My point is that many of these freebies are designed to boost DVD sales, not harm them.

What about us, the humble DVD buyer. Are our purchases devalued? Many think so, but I have to say I have never bought into this argument. I have always been delighted to get something free or cheap, and have never felt upset when somthing I have paid full price for turns up free or in a sale. I would probably never taken a full price gamble on Wings of Desire or Closely Observed Trains, so it was a major bonus to get them for free. It didn't make me buy less DVDs.

Interesting BBC Article about the phenomena.

I already had the 'full price' UK disc of DUNE, and simply compared that with the Observer freebie (which, incidentally, was anamorphically enhanced).

Also interesting to note how the free DVDs reflect the self-image of the Newspapers and their readership.
e.g.

Working Class tabloids (Sun, Mirror etc) - Straightforward, uncomplicated mainstream fun (e.g. Carry On, Highlander, Cannonball Run).

Middle Class tabloids (Mail, Express) - Uncontroversial, Unpretentious, straight-laced (e.g. Catherine Cookson adaptations, some Elvis film)

'Quality' Papers -
Guradian - Something liberal that thinks it's young and hip (e.g. East Is East)
Independant - Worthy, International, Oscar nominated, Tedious (eg Indochine, Pelle The Conqueror, Like Water For Chocolate)
Times - Portentious, 'Classical', traditional - (eg Merchant Ivory, Last emperor)
Telegraph - Northern, Working Class, Politically left-wing...Erm. OK, it all falls apart here (e.g. Saturday Night, Sunday Morning, Taste Of Honey)

Also I once got Paris, Texas from an offer in the Sun.

The Sun had an Anchor Bay DVD thing going last year, while THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY and MONA LISA may be suitable for your category they also gave away PARIS TEXAS which I don't think is so typical.

I did mention that, yes. Certainly an anomaly in my tongue-in-cheek guide to free DVDs. Still, I doubt that you will be getting Battleship Potemkin in the Daily star any time soon. Or Police Academy in this weeks Sunday Times for that matter.

Sorry Jeff, didn't notice the mention of PARIS TEXAS at the end of your post which makes my followup pointless!

Next Saturday's (25th Feb) Guardian has The Wicker Man, presumably the theatrical cut but it doesn't specify....

Just took a look at THE WICKER MAN disc. Sadly, it is the shorter theatrical version. A good-looking transfer, though, anamorphically enhanced. Oddly, this freebie disc includes optional English subtitles for the hard of hearing, a feature not present on Warner's full-price UK release.

Just a small heads up for UK people, but today's freebies include JUNIOR BONNER with the Sunday Telegraph and HOW TO GET AHEAD IN ADVERTISING with the Sunday Times - Anchor Bay UK are apparently considering their legal options on the latter as they have this scheduled for release in a few weeks and consider this giveaway (which they have had nothing to do with) to be in breach of their contractual conditions....

IF AB have the rights to release HTGAIA on DVD, does this means freebie discs that come with newspapers and mags are somewhow not subject to the same laws, and that the holder can sell the rights to a co. to release a film on DVD (eg. AB) and then again to a newspaper to inlcude it as a freebie? If so, this opens up a whole load of possibilities.

Seems to be the gist of it - this is what Marc Morris had to say over on the Anchor Bay UK forum:

Perhaps he has powerful friends, because there's so much snow lying in the Glasgow area here that I doubt any newspapers will be on sale today!

Disappointing - both of the aforementioned giveaways today are 4:3 - Bonner being particularly annoying, since the opening credits are 2.35:1, bah!

Gary

You mean P&S or just 4:3 LB (ie. not enhanced for 16;9 TV's)? My old JUNIOR BONNER DVD from AB is not 16:9, but can't recall if the more recent MGM release offered an upgraded transfer. There really seems no reason, and no use, even giving away a P&S of a film like JB in 2006.

P&S I'm afraid - and a cramped, grainy picture at that. Pretty much unwatchable in my book.

Not so sure about How to Get Ahead..., since I don't know how it was shot - doubt it was in Scope, but not certain if it's been panned and scanned from 1.85:1, or is presented open for the full-frame freebie.

Judging by the old, old VHS version of Bruce Robinson's WITHNAIL AND I (which was definitely a cropped P&S presentation of a 1.85:1 hard-matted feature) and the clips of HOW TO GET AHEAD IN ADVERTISING used to promote the freebie (and factoring in ABUK's lack of involvement in this unofficial DVD giveaway), I'd assume they were simply reusing an old cropped VHS master. Why spend money on anything else if (a) you don't have access to the original materials for a remaster and (b) you're literally giving the disc away for nothing?

These free DVDs sound like a great bargain but I suspect most of them are really just future coasters. (Unless you live in Greece, where newspapers seem to be giving away interesting stuff like rare Borowczyk titles - see the Euro board discussion.)

Wasn't RAISE THE TITANIC one of the newspaper freebies? Any idea if it was widescreen or a decent print?

I think the Greek DVDs are with magazines rather than newspapers. These seem to be common on the continent, and in the UK to a lesser extent. You get a DVD either with a magazine, or even just attached to a piece of board, which are distributed via newsagents. There is no suggestion that the DVD is free, it is simply included in the high cover price. The UK releases tend to be part of a series (i.e. Carry On, The Clint Eastwood collection, various TV series).

I have the freebie DVD of RAISE THE TITANIC, if I remember correctly it was available through The Sun. The opening credits were 2:35 but the remainder of the feature was 1:85. Cropped but decent quality. I believe the standard UK DVD has the correct ratio but I have not seen it myself.

If you are referring to the Borowczyk DVDs, they were definetely with Sunday newspapers. There used to be cardboard releases, but now it's mostly newspapers. A newspaper was giving some Alain Delon DVDs that I remember seeing as cardboard releases in Paris last year, so this supports your comment about continental releases.

Hitchcock's THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (the original, not the remake) will be given away with The Guardian this coming Saturday (the 25th)

Chabrol's 'Le Boucher' with today's Independent.

DON'T LOOK NOW is being given away with The Observer next Sunday.