What is it about DVDs?

I bought a DVD/VCR combination player near the end of last summer so that I wouldn't have to repurchase the videocassette movies I've collected over the years.

At first I was reluctant to the whole DVD phenomenon. I thought, "They're so much more expensive than videos; I don't care about the special features and higher picture quality."

I didn't even own any DVDs until I received some as gifts at Christmas.

Since then, they've been hard to resist.

Almost every time I'm in a store, I look at them. Most times, I resist buying them. But after so many trips past the DVD aisle, I cave and buy one without planning to.

It's not an obsession or anything. I own only eight or so and half of them I've received as gifts. One of my friends buys DVDs as soon as they come out. I've been to friends' houses where they're stacked as high as the entertainment center.

So I'm not that bad. But their collections just demonstrate the allure of the product.

I was at a store Sunday glancing over the rows upon shiny rows of DVD covers and decided I needed one. It didn't help that my boyfriend was deciding between three of them. Even complete strangers were putting the pressure on.

"It's so funny," said a young woman while looking at the DVD rack around the corner.

The young man with her said, "Well, buy it."

Then she picked a copy off the shelf and went about her shopping.

I stood at the store Sunday looking at the titles and then glancing at the same ones on videocassette. The videos were much cheaper, same movie, same everything.

"Why do I buy DVDs?" I asked myself. Then a sticker on one of them held that answer: "special features."

Special features usually include a wide-screen version, foreign languages, director and/or actors' commentary, a behind-the scenes look at the making of the film and -- most promoted and often most disappointing -- deleted scenes and alternate endings.

This "feature" of DVDs annoys me the most. If you're buying it, you already think the movie is pretty good. The deleted scenes usually add little to the plot or are not as funny as the rest of the movie.

The scenes were deleted for a reason.

Viewing deleted scenes ruins the flow of the movie. Most times I think, "Thank God they didn't end it that way."

I respect a DVD that doesn't include them.

Alas, I bought a DVD Sunday and I would have bought two more if they would have been in stock. I spent Monday morning watching the movie, behind-the scenes commentary and, yes, even the deleted scenes.

I think the whole appeal, besides the slick storage cases and glossy cover, is that it makes movie-watching a little more exciting.

Sometimes when you're done watching a movie, you want more, especially if you bought it.

I may have watched the movies I buy and all the special features, but next time I can watch it in Spanish or in Spanish with English subtitles or in English with French subtitles or French with Spanish subtitles …

Cari Quam can be reached at 434-2235 or by e-mail at :mailto:cari.quam@austindailyherald.com