Customer Reviews

Animal House [VHS]

5 star:		(237)
4 star:		(50)
3 star:		(25)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(62)

 

 

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

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!

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.

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.

I must have seen this movie 20 times as a kid.
Could not wait to watch the DVD:
- HEY! What's with all the commercials?
- WHERE did I leave the remote?
- WHY isn't remote control working? SMACK, SMACK, SLAM, SMACK!
- WAIT a minute, the remote is working. The DVD must be locked!
WOW! What jerk thought up this new torture?

It's one thing if you decide to watch the previews.
This is just cruel...

I wish I had read the other reviews before buying this DVD.
My excitement was dead by the time the movie started.
TWO THUMBS WAY DOWN ON THIS DVD...

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.

I'd give it 0 stars if that was an option. Universal thinks I should watch several "previews" - (translation - advertisements) prior to watching my new DVD (that I paid for).

The ads cannot be skipped, cannot be stopped, you can't hit "menu" to get to the main menu. A complete joke, and an insulting slap in the face to everyone who BOUGHT the DVD instead of downloading it.

I suggest you avoid this DVD. There is no point buying, it just encourages Universal to make more DVDs with more unskippable ads. The copy I bought will be returned to the place of purchase. If they won't give a refund, perhaps Universal will. If they refuse, maybe they'll see us in small claims court.

I just put this DVD in and haven't even watched it, but that will not stop me from giving this title a 1 - and that's only because they don't allow negative ratings! Mandatory COMMERCIALS that you cannot skip are completely and utterly unacceptable for any DVD I purchase. I'll wait in the future for reviews before I buy any DVDs...

I like the movie, and the transfer looks ok from the first few minutes, its too bad I had to pay to watch a commerical...

They call this a re-mastered soundtrack ?!?!
It's very hard to find what reason UNIVERSAL found in re-releasing this film on DVD. The video quality is the same as in the last edition and the same pretty much goes also for the audio. All that this proves is how easy it is to make a buck by giving a new edition a colorful name.
UNIVERSAL has let customers down with their "improved" versions of this (classic) movie as well as SCARFACE but they can be sure we will remmember their record when their future releases come out! And regarding their forced commercials, they can rest assured some of us will simply refuse to buy whatever they advertise in this manner just by principle !

Nothing makes me angrier than a DVD packed full of up-front previews that you can't skip or menu-out of. That is just abusive marketing on Universal's part, in my opinion, and it ruins the experience of an otherwise fine movie. I actually thought my remote control was broken. So it gets only 1 star and I will demand that the store take it back even though I opened it.