Go look at the picture. Then we'll talk.
OK, this kinda bugs me, because, as you may know, "1776" is one of my favorite movies and plays. Barnes & Noble today sent me an email with sale DVDs which included this.
Now, I'm very excited about getting "76" on DVD, especially in a "restored" edition and a "director's cut." Fine. The extras sound cool. I'm just totally thrown by this awesomely awful cover. (Click on the picture of the DVD for the larger version.)
How in the name of George Washington's gonads is this a reasonable representation of the movie? The bottom section is the guys in a row for the "Cool Considerate Men" number - which was cut from the film. I'm assuming it was re-inserted for this restored director's cut, so maybe this is a not-bad way of letting people know that ... it's a little weird, but I'm not that peeved about that. In fact, I saw that, and thought, "oh, OK, I guess that's back in, cool."
But what's going on with the rest of the box? Who ARE these people? The movie STARS William Daniels - look, it says so right next to the box (though not actually on the box itself, anywhere), and yet, where is he? He's in EVERY SCENE. And as if it isn't bad enough you don't use John Adams to promote the story and setting of 1776, ... THERE'S NO BEN FRANKLIN?! Hello! The dude is iconic! No matter who's playing him, he LOOKS LIKE BEN FRANKLIN, don't you put him on the cover? What better way to give an idea of what the show's about?
No, instead, what we get is Richard Henry Lee on the right, who's in the movie maybe 10 minutes, and this center clinch between the Jeffersons - and sure, Thomas Jefferson is important, but he's not as important in the movie as several other people. And Thomas Jefferson, sure, is historically important to the Declaration of Independence - but you can't TELL that's supposed to be TJ, can you? No, he's in center position because this is the one moment in the whole movie when a MAN TOUCHES A WOMAN, so we have to try to pass it off as the "sweeping tale of two people in love against the background of a world gone mad" or some bullshit like that. I mean, I got nothing against Martha Jefferson, she's lovely, and she's got a very nice song and dance, but she's in the movie about as much as Richard Henry Lee.
And then on the left - who is that? Oh, it's RICHARD HENRY LEE. AGAIN.
In fact, I had to look pretty closely to decide, because for a while, I thought it was Jefferson again. But he's on a horse, so it's Lee again. In-fact-in-fact, for a while, I thought they were all three the same guy, Jefferson 3 times, that's how interchangeable they look. Does that seem like good marketing?
First off, decide who you're marketing to, the people who know this movie well, or those who don't know 1776 from 1492. Second - hell, either way, you show some of the good stuff. Just pick one scene, blow it up. Adams and Dickinson whacking each other with walking sticks as the rest of the Continental Congress jumps up to try to stop them. I've seen it, it's a great still, and it shows what most of the movie is about, who it's about, and where it's set. Says a lot in one photo. Or you have Adams, Franklin, & Jefferson sitting on the steps in a row, when they're singing about "The Egg." But this? It's CRAP.
I mean, DOUBLE-YEW. TEE. EFF.
PS I just clicked to flip the box art around - if you're looking at the blow-up of the cover, click "Back." The back of the box has all the pictures they should be showing on the front. Franklin, Adams, Lee. Franklin & Martha. Adams and Jefferson. And "The Egg." YES. NOW PUT THEM ON THE FRONT.
Morons.
Now, I'm very excited about getting "76" on DVD, especially in a "restored" edition and a "director's cut." Fine. The extras sound cool. I'm just totally thrown by this awesomely awful cover. (Click on the picture of the DVD for the larger version.)
How in the name of George Washington's gonads is this a reasonable representation of the movie? The bottom section is the guys in a row for the "Cool Considerate Men" number - which was cut from the film. I'm assuming it was re-inserted for this restored director's cut, so maybe this is a not-bad way of letting people know that ... it's a little weird, but I'm not that peeved about that. In fact, I saw that, and thought, "oh, OK, I guess that's back in, cool."
But what's going on with the rest of the box? Who ARE these people? The movie STARS William Daniels - look, it says so right next to the box (though not actually on the box itself, anywhere), and yet, where is he? He's in EVERY SCENE. And as if it isn't bad enough you don't use John Adams to promote the story and setting of 1776, ... THERE'S NO BEN FRANKLIN?! Hello! The dude is iconic! No matter who's playing him, he LOOKS LIKE BEN FRANKLIN, don't you put him on the cover? What better way to give an idea of what the show's about?
No, instead, what we get is Richard Henry Lee on the right, who's in the movie maybe 10 minutes, and this center clinch between the Jeffersons - and sure, Thomas Jefferson is important, but he's not as important in the movie as several other people. And Thomas Jefferson, sure, is historically important to the Declaration of Independence - but you can't TELL that's supposed to be TJ, can you? No, he's in center position because this is the one moment in the whole movie when a MAN TOUCHES A WOMAN, so we have to try to pass it off as the "sweeping tale of two people in love against the background of a world gone mad" or some bullshit like that. I mean, I got nothing against Martha Jefferson, she's lovely, and she's got a very nice song and dance, but she's in the movie about as much as Richard Henry Lee.
And then on the left - who is that? Oh, it's RICHARD HENRY LEE. AGAIN.
In fact, I had to look pretty closely to decide, because for a while, I thought it was Jefferson again. But he's on a horse, so it's Lee again. In-fact-in-fact, for a while, I thought they were all three the same guy, Jefferson 3 times, that's how interchangeable they look. Does that seem like good marketing?
First off, decide who you're marketing to, the people who know this movie well, or those who don't know 1776 from 1492. Second - hell, either way, you show some of the good stuff. Just pick one scene, blow it up. Adams and Dickinson whacking each other with walking sticks as the rest of the Continental Congress jumps up to try to stop them. I've seen it, it's a great still, and it shows what most of the movie is about, who it's about, and where it's set. Says a lot in one photo. Or you have Adams, Franklin, & Jefferson sitting on the steps in a row, when they're singing about "The Egg." But this? It's CRAP.
I mean, DOUBLE-YEW. TEE. EFF.
PS I just clicked to flip the box art around - if you're looking at the blow-up of the cover, click "Back." The back of the box has all the pictures they should be showing on the front. Franklin, Adams, Lee. Franklin & Martha. Adams and Jefferson. And "The Egg." YES. NOW PUT THEM ON THE FRONT.
Morons.