Paramount and Fox release DVDs

DVD fans have reason to celebrate now that Paramount and Fox, the last two major studio holdouts for the budding video format, have announced that they’ll offer DVD versions of their movies starting October 6. Despite this good news, however, those who cover the industry are scratching their heads over the films the two companies have chosen for their debuts. Among the combined 18 titles, few recent releases and box office smashes were included: Just three grossed more than $100 million at the box office and only three came out in 1998. For every winner announced (“Face/Off,” “In & Out,” “Kiss the Girls”) there was a stinker (“Odd Couple II,” “The Saint,” “Home Alone 3”).

And there were notable omissions. “I had hoped we’d see ‘Titanic,’ says a disappointed Steve Tannehill, author of The DVD Resource Page, one of the most widely-read websites dedicated to DVDs. “And I wanted ‘Braveheart’ and the ‘Godfather’ movies, not to mention recent releases such as ‘Alien Resurrection’ and ‘The Full Monty.'” Dorrit Ragosine, Paramount Home Video’s executive director of publicity, explains that the company’s lineup (which includes “Star Trek: First Contact” and “Top Gun”) reflects what the studio believes to be DVD’s core audience: “We wanted to enter the market with choices that would appeal to the current DVD user, which gears towards the action and sci-fi movie fan.”