The form of digital media known as the DVD that so many of us have embraced over the past 10 or 12 years is not terribly healthy right now. I know some or perhaps most are in denial about this, but the truth remains that the DVD has become a second class citizen among the home entertainment formats. Studios like Warner Bros. and Fox which had been releasing catalog titles at a solid rate have slowed things down to a wounded snail’s pace. Paramount can’t decide what it wants to do with its fairly large collection of unreleased older movies, having licensed several to Legend Films and a few other prime entries to the Criterion Collection, but almost never putting other unavailables out under the studio banner. Even the recent output of classic titles from Paramount, re-issues labeled in a spine-numbered “Centennial Collection,” seem to have hit a wall with no new announcements on the present horizon. Thus far in 2009, only Sony, yes that otherwise hardheaded entity more concerned with creating the Blu-ray format than mining its back catalog for the last few years, has shown any promise in releasing films that ideally should’ve been made available years ago (The Crimson Kimono, Drive, He Said, Theodora Goes Wild, The Lineup, and Murder by Contract all immediately come to mind and have been confirmed for release later this year).

The shock at Sony’s reemergence could hardly be more pronounced, but it’s an equally slackjawed reaction that greets the absolute collapse of the rest of the R1 DVD market. There’s the inane policy which seems to be gaining popularity where studios are intentionally removing bonus material from DVD editions contained in concurrent (and higher priced) Blu-ray varieties. This is not only bad business, prone to alienating consumers with no intention of upgrading to high definition, but it also makes little practical sense. Those who care so devoutly about special features are the very people likely to adopt into a new format in its early stages. Withholding supplements which could safely fit onto DVDs is little more than a middle finger to a devoted section of the home entertainment community. It’s saying you can have the film, but you’ll have to spend more and support the new, limited life format if you want the very same thing you’d have gotten a couple of years ago on DVD proper. And don’t give me that Digital Copy BS. If I wanted to watch movies on my iPod, I’d find a way to do so without paying extra for a glorified frisbee. Any self-respecting film enthusiast isn’t viewing a movie they care enough about to buy a copy of on such a tiny screen anyway.

Most distressingly, the previously reliable and consistently impressive titans of classic film product at Warner Bros. have all but abandoned the loyalists who sucked up underwhelming Signature Collection sets devoted to middling films featuring James Cagney, Barbara Stanwyck, and Burt Lancaster. Months have gone by with hardly any announced titles from the WB. Instead we’re left with an inequitable substitute option of purchasing often unrestored films with no extras and burned onto a DVD-R for $20 each at the Warner Archive site. The most fervent believers have undoubtedly welcomed such an initiative with open arms, but more bargain-minded customers (and those who live outside the United States) remain unimpressed with the idea of paying much more than previously demanded for what amounts to an inferior product. Turner Classic Movies never looked so good than when it’s showing movies not on DVD but owned by Warner Bros. which now seem destined for the Warner Archive treatment.

The disappointment is hardly limited to just catalog titles by major studios or supplements on new releases. As output has dwindled or stopped entirely for the studios, the smaller labels have struggled to pick up the slack at times. While Eureka’s Masters of Cinema label and the BFI are both doing courageous work and the occasional Second Run release remains eventful, art house grandaddy the Criterion Collection seems to be in a state of total confusion, spread too thin and lacking its usual cohesion in the marketplace. Instead of releasing a handful of new, cinematically important spine numbers, Criterion has just as often as not been devoting its name to questionable films (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button?) and bare re-releases of some of its more popular titles in the Essential Art House series. The brilliant Eclipse idea of extras-free films packaged under a common thread of director or some other logical grouping has seen only three releases all year. Meanwhile, Criterion’s Blu-ray offerings lean almost exclusively in the direction of safe, canonical fare with little regard for its loyal base who’ve most likely already purchased such popular, seemingly definitive editions of films like Playtime, The Wages of Fear, Kagemusha, and Pierrot le fou. The perils of a new format, I suppose.

Speaking of that, it must feel slightly annoying for the DVD loyalists who’ve been quite pleased with their viewing choice for years to often get the feeling that something better is being shoved down their throats at every turn. I’ll go along with Blu-ray being superior technically without any hesitation, but it’s disheartening at times to witness such an emphasis on format over film quality. There’s a real push to entice consumers into purchasing what looks good instead of what’s actually worth watching and owning. Witness both the titles studios keep releasing on Blu-ray, a middling lot at best, and the coverage they receive at various websites. When a film looks real nice, but nonetheless couldn’t legitimately withstand any degree of critical analysis, why is it being shoved into the marketplace again? And why are you buying it?

Regardless of this little assessment of worthiness, the pre-1980 catalog titles from the major studios have been incredibly thin on both DVD and Blu-ray formats. There’s just no way around that at the moment. Optimum has scheduled a number of extremely interesting titles on Blu-ray for the coming months and continues its budget-minded, no-frills DVD editions in R2. Call it a product of the uncertain economic situation or simply a transitional growing pain between formats, but there’s scarcely been a worse time in recent memory to be an eager buyer of DVDs. When Sony in R1 seems to be the last best hope, you know there’s something strange going on, one of those signs of the apocalypse that people like to joke about.