# Bootleg Movies Suck **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 5, 2004, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bootleg-movies-suck/278196 "2004-12-05T08:30:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![START](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@START](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/START)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bootleg-movies-suck/278196/1 "2004-12-05T08:30:48Z")
My friend had a bootlegged copy of “The Incredibles” and it is the most horrible quality DVD I have ever watched, it’s dark and at one point you could hear a guy in the theatre talking to someone. Then there is a part where the camera is pointed at the floor for about 5 seconds and also during most of the movie you can see some guys head at the bottom of the screen. Anyway I saw “The Incredibles” in the theatre and I’d say it’s way better to watch in the theatre the crappy bootlegged version didn’t even come close. My friend’s mom made him destroy the DVD but it’s not like that DVD was worth anything because it sucked. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bootleg-movies-suck/278196/2 "2004-12-05T08:47:16Z")
Whatever you think of the Hollywood money machine {and Pixar are welcome to my money} you do realise that this is theft and that you can hardly complain about the quality of stolen merchandise, don’t you? ---
**Author:** ![START](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@START](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/START)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bootleg-movies-suck/278196/3 "2004-12-05T08:59:30Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > Whatever you think of the Hollywood money machine {and Pixar are welcome to my money} you do realise that this is theft and that you can hardly complain about the quality of stolen merchandise, don’t you? I didn’t buy it, my friend did. After seeing that I never would buy a bootlegged movie. I want to tell all people to go to the movie theatre (it’s more fun anyway, IMHO) and stay away from the guys selling movies they video taped. If your going to go to jail, please don’t go over something as crappy as a bootlegged movie. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bootleg-movies-suck/278196/4 "2004-12-05T14:12:10Z")
I’m going to allow the discussion to continue, with the warning that Straight Dope Official Policy is in complete agreement with **Case Sensitive** ’s comments. Copyright material means that the owners of that material – which usually includes, in some form, the artists (and writers and musicians and etc) who created the material – have the right to be paid for their work. Any approach that disregards that copyright does NOT meet with our approval. The Chicago READER does not want their material stolen, and therefore we are extremely diligent (more so, perhaps, that a strict reading of the law) about the copyrights of others. So, if you want a discussion on the crummy quality of bootleg (read: illegal, stolen) copies of material, that’s OK, but as soon as the discussion becomes a question of how to obtain such, it’s closed. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bootleg-movies-suck/278196/5 "2004-12-05T14:28:54Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > Whatever you think of the Hollywood money machine {and Pixar are welcome to my money} you do realise that this is theft and that you can hardly complain about the quality of stolen merchandise, don’t you? I think what he’s saying is that you shouldn’t buy bootleg movies because they suck in terms of quality, all moral and legal considerations aside. The moral and legal considerations are still there, but even if they don’t matter to you, you’re still going to get a crappy product. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bootleg-movies-suck/278196/6 "2004-12-05T14:39:17Z")
Two years ago or so, my mother bought two bootlegs, one of _Bringing Down the House_ and the other of _X2_. Fearing my brain might implode if I tried to watch the former, I popped the latter in with great expectations (I had seen it in the theatre the month or two prior and loved it) but wound up turning it off after only about five minutes. The picture and sound quality were almost painful in their horridness. I’ve not watched any bootlegs since but if that is the norm, then they suck harder than … something really sucky. It’s 6:30 and I haven’t been to bed yet. My metaphor skills aren’t what they could be. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bootleg-movies-suck/278196/7 "2004-12-05T14:44:20Z")
My favorite is when people get up and you see their shadow move in front of the screen. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bootleg-movies-suck/278196/8 "2004-12-05T14:52:20Z")
I can’t imagine anyone would ever consider that a video tape shot of a movie screen would be worth watching. It must look and sound like total crap. What a perfect way to ruin a movie. ---
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bootleg-movies-suck/278196/9 "2004-12-05T19:04:22Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > So, if you want a discussion on the crummy quality of bootleg (read: illegal, stolen) copies of material, that’s OK, but as soon as the discussion becomes a question of how to obtain such, it’s closed. So, where do you get your’s from? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bootleg-movies-suck/278196/10 "2004-12-05T21:07:40Z")
Don’t go there, DD2. …and yeah, I’ve never understood the mentality behind “prefer to pay large amounts of money for a bootleg DVD as opposed to paying a small amount of money to go see the thing in a theatre.” And that’s assuming the DVD is of decent quality. Americans will buy any damn thing. ---
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bootleg-movies-suck/278196/11 "2004-12-05T21:09:53Z")
> [@Master Wang-Ka](#): > > Don’t go there, DD2. Roger that, M-KA. ---
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bootleg-movies-suck/278196/12 "2004-12-05T21:10:55Z")
Rather, M W-K. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bootleg-movies-suck/278196/13 "2004-12-05T21:20:45Z")
> [@Master Wang-Ka](#): > > Don’t go there, DD2. > > …and yeah, I’ve never understood the mentality behind “prefer to pay large amounts of money for a bootleg DVD as opposed to paying a small amount of money to go see the thing in a theatre.” > > And that’s assuming the DVD is of decent quality. > > Americans will buy any damn thing. I think the fact that they’re obviously illegal is most of the appeal though I doubt I could explain why. Same reason some folks still buy supposedly “hot” watches and jewelry from shady strangers on the street, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![RealTronic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9dc877/32.png) [@RealTronic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealTronic)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bootleg-movies-suck/278196/14 "2004-12-06T06:55:41Z")
Well, there are _bootlegs_ and then there are **bootlegs.** I mean, not all bootlegs are created equally. (I won’t go further in THAT discussion, so that I don’t risk this thread being shut down…) It’s all a question of supply and demand, I guess. Some people want to see a movie as quickly as possible, no matter what the means (or cost) thus there is a market for early bootlegs, i.e. videorecordings from theater-showings (or even pre-release screenings, not at all unusual). But someone in an earlier reply questioned why anyone would pay large amounts of money for a bootleg DVD as opposed to small amounts of money to see it in the theater. This I can’t understand though; usually the home-made crap bootleg DVDs are dirt-cheap, aren’t they? I mean they get sold in part just because they are so much _cheaper_ than going to the movie theater! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bootleg-movies-suck/278196/15 "2004-12-06T07:09:05Z")
I saw a bootleg copy of _The Incredibles_ for sale at a flea market yesterday. The quality was so bad even the cover on the box was blurry. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bootleg-movies-suck/278196/16 "2004-12-06T10:25:48Z")
Cam bootlegs are horrible. However, not all bootlegs are made by bringing cameras into the theatre. Some are made directly from a print of the film itself. A friend of mine has hundreds of DVD-quality bootleg movies. Some of those movies have yet to be released on DVD. (No, I don’t approve of this, nor do I know specifically how he gets them.) I think that in general, the reason people buy crappy cam bootlegs are because they are very cheap compared to buying a real DVD or going to the theatre. I’ve heard of people buying a cheap bootleg just to see if the film is worth seeing in a theatre. Also, there are some places where it’s difficult to get to a theatre or a legitimate DVD store. For example, my brother is stationed in Afghanistan and he says that bootleg DVDs sell for a couple dollars each and can easily be found for sale. He says that they’re damn near everywhere among the troops there. He watches them in his free time on his laptop. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bootleg-movies-suck/278196/17 "2004-12-06T10:36:13Z")
Meh, I could have bought a movie that the studio doesn’t offer [here](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/offer-listing/B00004UEEU/ref=dp_pb_a//002-7293909-3068051?condition=all), or I could get it online for $15. Guess where I sent my money. Recording a movie in a theater, though? Was your “friend” allowed out of 5th grade science class? I keep thinking of the _Seinfeld_ episode where Kramer was bullied into videotaping a movie. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bootleg-movies-suck/278196/18 "2004-12-06T10:52:12Z")
I saw _The Ring_ at a friends house the day it came out. It was a downloaded DVD. Horrible. For about 30 minutes, the top half of the screen image was on the bottom and the bottom half on top. And there was no image and only bad sound for about 10 minutes. I went and saw it at the theatre the next day. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bootleg-movies-suck/278196/19 "2004-12-06T11:08:24Z")
> [@spooje](#): > > I saw _The Ring_ at a friends house the day it came out. It was a downloaded DVD. > > Horrible. For about 30 minutes, the top half of the screen image was on the bottom and the bottom half on top. And there was no image and only bad sound for about 10 minutes. > > I went and saw it at the theatre the next day. Well, you were supposed to watch it on videotape. Jeez, take all the fun out of your imminent demise. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bootleg-movies-suck/278196/20 "2004-12-06T12:11:16Z")
I hope that, at least occasionally, somebody goes to jail for this stuff. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bootleg-movies-suck/278196.md?page=2)