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I gotta admit to still having an uncomfortable fetish for bootlegs. Not just any boots mind you, but the more "professional" that aren't just some street corner peddler with cheapo, marker-labeled DVD-Rs with copy paper covers in slim jewel cases. My ideology is that while most everyone turns their noses up at these now; with time, eventually they just might become sought after relics by collectors. This has proven itself in recent years as tooth-and-nail auctions have erupted over more curious bootleg VHS in recent years.
So a few days ago I was searching around and spied this
Devil's Rejects cover on Google Images. The general layout actually points to this belonging to a series of snides from who, I'm assuming, was a specific bootlegger in the middle of the prior decade. The giveaway being the silver bars along the top, which I've seen on bootlegs of
The Grudge (2004),
Hostel (2005),
Land of the Dead (2005), and
The Ring Two (2005). I've seen other titles from around the same period as well, but they were of no interest to me (
dramas, rom-coms).
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| Look Ma, no title! |
These fakes are actually quite good, for fakes, with factory pressed dual layered discs copied directly from legitimate releases right down to the menus and extras. The ones I've seen have thick cardboard stock covers with a gaudy overlay of holographic pinwheels (
DR interestingly doesn't have this). Again, the ones I've seen have nice white frosted Amaray DVD cases, not those flimsy black toxic-smelling cases that often house these illegal plastic coasters. Otherwise, these are clearly bootlegs to damn near anyone (
notice the goofy "DVD-9 DTS" circle in the top right) and were probably intended to nick off the profit of the official DVDs since they're jacked straight from them and not some dude with an unfocused camera in his lap in at a noisy cineplex.
And before I get an email from some asshat saying I'm supporting bootlegging, of course I don't support the practice. I haven't seen this style of fake in years from my usual flea market suspects (
still in business, even after several raids!). The copies I've bought have been from your average Joe Schmo who's desperately trying to sell off his disc collection since Netflix came into his life. Has anyone seen other titles of note in this style? Is anyone else out there weird enough to also collect these? If so, you might get a kick of out
this Saw IV bootleg I found a few years back with an even higher level of "forged" care.
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2 comments:
I dont think any underground movie fan, especially one who was collecting in the 90s, can deny buying a bootleg or twenty.
I have some astounding Toy Story boots that a friend brought back from Asia just after the second film - their entertainment value comes from the English subtitles, especially the first film. The talk of Andy's party is referenced in terms of a political party!
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