Does MGM issue the worst DVDs?

Just watched Take the Money and Run (1969), yet another open-matte transfer tragedy.

I’ve noticed MGM has a neat little track record of sub-standard DVD releases, a great many of which are not anamorphically enhanced for 16:9 televisions (and I’ve heard rumor that their Blu-ray releases have similar bugaboos).

Anybody else have any grievances with their product?

I’ve really come to dislike the releases of Fox Lorber as of late, but MGM is up there, too.

Paramount has also carelessly thrown a lot of butt-ugly transfers out into the DVD market.

Makes sense really, MGM has been struggling financially for a long time:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003977264

, and the acquisition by Sony was aimed at ensuring MGM support for Blu-ray, so it’s not surprising that they’re more or less indifferent to the quality of the product.

Paramount soup to nuts is the worst of the big studios…not only in quality, but in the volume of films they’ve not even bothered to release. Also their packaging sucks. The covers are dismal…they even made the silly decision to repackage some of the covers that used original 1 sheets as artwork with bland and poorly (photoshopped?) covers…see Chinatown, Three Days of the Condor, Rosemary’s Baby…

I agree, Paramount does a crapy job.It’s so bad that it makes ya wonder if they’re even trying to sell DVDs.

MGM started a great principal with their World Films & Avante Garde series and then stopped…of course, they forgot to present them as they were theatrically, along with, bad transfers. I’m pretty much done with bareboned regular dvd releases actually, if they can’t find the original theatrical trailer or teaser to put alongside their incorrect OAR, then fugettaboutit. Between triple dipping, snapcases and flippers they haven’t learned. Although, I have noticed on newer pressings of most studio releases they don’t have the ridiculous tough love 3 panel side tape anymore and no magnetic black strips inside – times are rough I guess. Also, the 20th Century Fox Studio Classics there is a huge recycle symbol carved on the plastic, inside the case. I usually look for 7.1 before I actually purchase a Blu Ray.

I can’t gripe too much, they’re mostly pretty cheap.

I don’t know. Kino pisses me off sometimes. The last good thing they put out was the re-release of Battleship Potemkin and that looked amazing, but as for everything else…