Hi Guys.
I'm Adam, one of the Facebook scum. My New Year's resolution was to stop going on Arrow's page and giving them a hard time. I've broken my resolution already.
I'm not happy about being a Troll. I mean, I'm nearly 30 and generally pretty laid back. I get far more upset with Arrow than is rational and I'd like to explain why.
I'm a life long film fan, but I was in no hurry to make the jump to Blu-ray. I'd been enjoying grabbing dirt-cheap VHS ever since DVD caught on. I DID start collecting DVD's. Never noticed a major difference in picture/sound quality but of course, the extras were catnip to geeks. And then Anchor Bay came along.
Arrow was the company that made me finally make the jump to Blu. That made me consider spending a fortune on a giant telly and a home cinema set-up. That made me finally admit that there was a CLEAR difference in quality between Blu-ray and my beloved Videos.
Arrow reminded me of Anchor Bay in their heyday. Except it seemed they were willing to go even further. GREAT Horror and Cult titles were lined-up. High def and mostly uncut! The extras were comprehensive. There was love and care to the presentation and packaging. They included posters and even rescued legend Graham Humphreys from the streets (probably) and put him back to work. Cool cover art was back!
Maybe I'm a bad luck charm, cos as soon as I got involved, Arrow started to slip.
First it was that thing with The Beyond. Fair play, Arrow issued a replacement program.
They decided the slip covers, posters and multiple art panels had to go. Well, I was sad as this was a major part of their charm and brand identity. I have to admit I felt a little cheated, but came to realise that perhaps Arrow just COULDN'T afford to carry on this way. (This was arround the time they lost a lot of their stock in the riots, right?)
More recently, the releases have become less exciting as Arrow seem to be edging away from Horror. It happens. Anchor Bay made their money and rep with Horror, then moved into other areas.
God. Starting to bore myself here! (I'll skip some bits...)
Am I wrong though? For every Zombie Flesh Eaters you get THREE Italian soft-core films. (With more on the way. Yay!) After every 'Q' announcement fans voice their disappointment. Arrow say 'Chill out! We're just saving money for the next quarter line up which will rock!' Well remember how let down some of you were when the Troma titles were announced? Didn't those later-announced soft-core flicks make you think that maybe Troma from Arrow ISN'T so bad? They did me. They saddest thing is that the titles coming from other companies (companies CLEARLY INFLUENCED by Arrow) are staggering! Basket Case, Re-animator, From Beyond, Halloween 2 & 3. One of the most interesting titles in Arrow's last announcement was Dead End Drive-In - Which is being shunted straight onto Arrowdrome. What a waste.
Ok, Lets get to the point. 6 little seconds.
Many on here are defending Arrow. I want you to know I understand this. They generated a LOT of goodwill back at the start. So did Anchor Bay, but sadly its a FAR different label today.
ZFE is an AMAZING package (Transfer, extras, art and presentation all amazing) but with footage missing it can't be considered the DEFINITIVE package. The missing footage may be considered 'unimportant' or even boring but it IS missing footage. Reading comments on FB it seems that many fans aren't fussed by 6 little seconds and wouldn't bother to switch discs, which is fine and understandable.
I want my ZFE as Fulci intended, boring boat action and all. I may be geeky and anal, but hell! - I figured geeky and anal was Arrow's market once upon a time.
The disc replacement program for ZFE should be free. End of. None of us want to hurt Arrow. Its not personal (er... for some. lol) but this is THEIR mistake and lets be honest, its not their first.
If I send them a faulty disc in the post and they send me a corrected one back, where's the room for me to 'cheat them'?
P.S - Arrow have deleted many comments from their FB. And not just MY boring-ass, long-winded ones.