National Lampoon's Animal House (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy) (1978)

Buyer Take Note! I've been a fan of this movie since its theatrical release in 1978 and give the movie five stars. However, National Lampoon's Animal House 30th Anniversary Edition (30AE) is simply a re-release, and the third dip on DVD, has nothing significantly new to offer from the previous release and my rating is for the 30AE release. The two documentary extras have been carried over from the 2003 Double Secret Probation Edition (DSPE). It does return the trailer from the 1998 Collector's Edition (CE). New to this release is a lame Scene It? game. Missing are two extras from the DSPE, the Shout music video and a text commentary of anecdotes. One improvement from the DSPE is that on the 30AE you are not forced to watch movie trailers before you get to the main menu. Universal appears to be repackaging this film every five years. The 30AE should have delivered all the previous extras and an audio commentary by the director, writers and cast. The trailer is amusing, but is it worth buying the 30AE if you already own the DSPE? The deciding factors appear to be whether you want the text commentary and everything on one disc or the trailer and the same contents spread over two discs. I would say skip the 30AE if you already own the DSPE. Maybe in five years we will get an ultimate edition of this movie on whatever video format is in use then. Here's a comparison of all three versions of Animal House on DVD:

1998 Collector's Edition:

The Yearbook: An Animal House Reunion

Theatrical Trailer

Cast & Filmmaker's Bios

Web Links

2003 Double Secret Probation Edition:

Digitally Remastered

Anamorphic Widescreen

Music Video "Shout" Remade By Hit Group MxPx!

Where Are They Now? A Delta Alumni Update

Did You Know That? Universal Animated Anecdotes About The Production Of The Film

The Yearbook: An Animal House Reunion

2008 30th Anniversary Edition:

Disc 1:

Digitally Remastered

Anamorphic Widescreen

Scene it? The DVD Game

Theatrical Trailer

Where Are They Now? A Delta Alumni Update

Disc 2:

The Yearbook: An Animal House Reunion

Universal has decided to shove advertisements down our throats. Viewers CANNOT skip past the advertisements. You cannot skip to the DVD menu/title, nor can you jump to any chapters until the long previews have been completed. This is insane. Boycott this DVD.

Buy National Lampoon's Animal House (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy) (1978) Now

First off, I love Animal House. There is no reason for me to even explain the movie. Animal House and the Blues Brothers are the best Landis/Belushi movies of all time. There are some special features such as a "Where are they now" featurette featuring many of the original cast (except Belushi of course). But, even those features and this excellent movie cannot save this DVD from a one-star rating.

As others have stated, not being able to skip the adds at the beginning of the DVD is a poor marketing decision. They did the same with American Wedding, but at least, I can hit stop on my DVD player to stop the DVD, whereas with Animal House, I have to turn off my DVD player. Very poor.

I have already written to Universal Studios about my displeasure with their decision for both Animal House and American Wedding and have informed them that unless they change their tactics, I refuse to purchase another Universal DVD release and that hundreds of other purchasers feel the same, based on reviews at Amazon.com.

Stay away from this if you absolutely feel that not being able to skip the adds is wrong. Otherwise, be prepared to sit through 5+ minutes of commercials for other Universal movies. Your best bet is to go make some popcorn and come back. At that point, it should be done and then you can enjoy this excellent, funny parody of life in a frat house in the late 60s.

Toga! Toga! Toga!

Read Best Reviews of National Lampoon's Animal House (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy) (1978) Here

First of all I did not buy the Double Secret Probation Edition DVD of this film because #1 it had nothing more on it than my 1998 Collectors Edition had and #2 my 1998 version has the Original movie Soundtrack including the dont know much about history song when Bluto is having his Lunch, so i will keep my edition, if you are a purest and want the very best version (on dvd) then try to find the out of Production 1998 dvd, you will have to pay a higher price but it is worth it to get the original movie as it was meant to be, if you don't care about the originality of the music then buy the new version, it is cheap and easy to find.

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You absolutely must refuse to buy this edition because it is front-loaded with 10 minutes of unskippable commercials. And you must post horrible reviews here for that very reason, as well as complain in writing to Universal. Otherwise your apathy will allow Universal to continue putting this spam in front of all its releases, and the other studios will follow. (And while I'm on this subject, please don't be afraid to boo the product/service commercials they show at the beginnings of movies in theatres. Let management know that you're outraged.)

Animal House is definitely a classic, although I agree with those who've commented that it hasn't spawned anything particularly positive. Still, the movie on it's own terms is a riot, and I'd rate it about four and a half stars. So buy a used copy of the out-of-print original Collector's Edition (with the metallic blue cover) either here on Amazon or on eBay. But this particular version needs to be buried forever with the ground salted above it.

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