Below is a timeline for all the events pertaining to the companies who distributed movies to the home market. It should be noted that this website uses the term, “Home Video,” in two different ways. Firstly, it uses it as an umbrella term for the viewing of movies in the home, physical or otherwise. Secondly, its also the label given to the era in time where movies are being released on physical video formats.
June 1st, 1982 (Variety, 1982/06/16, p. 37)
20th Century Fox Video Releases “Star Wars” on Videocassette
Star Wars is first released to videocassette. Within days of its release, it generates over $1 million in revenue. It is released in both a “rental only” version with a serial number, and a standard sale version later that fall. Sale price is $79.98.
June, 1982 (Billboard, 1982/06/12, p. 30)
Blay Video Releases Their First 22 Titles
After parting ways with 20th Century Fox, Blay creates his own video label. The company’s first (and only) 22 releases are made available for the first time at the Summer CES show. These titles include Magic (1978) and The Night Porter (1974).
August, 1982 (Billboard, 1982/09/11, p. 1)
Paramount Home Video Prices “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn” at $39.95
Paramount announces a major price cut of half ($39.95) for their latest hit title, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn (1982), on videocassette. This is big news in the industry and is the first major push towards the sell-through market by a major studio.
December, 1984
The Criterion Collection Releases Their First 2 Titles
The Criterion Collection releases their first two titles, Citizen Kane (1941) and King Kong (1933), to laserdisc. Citizen Kane is priced at $89.95, while King Kong is priced at $74.95. Criterion promises the editions offer “the best picture quality ever seen.”
December, 1984 (Video Review, 1985/01)
The Very First Audio Commentary Track Is Released
The Criterion Collection’s laserdisc release of King Kong (1933) offers the very first audio commentary track for a feature film. It’s recorded by film historian and preservationist, Ronald Haver.
January, 1985 (Billboard, 1985/01/19, p. 3)
Paramount Home Video Starts a Price War
Paramount Home Video begins a year long campaign to drop the retail prices of their videocassettes in order to meet specific sales goals. The plan begins with Star Trek III (1984) at $29.99 and ten episodes of the original series at $14.99 each. This kicks off a “price war” amongst the studios, and is the industry’s third push towards a sell-through market..
February, 1985 (Variety, 1985/02/13, p. 51)
MGM/UA Junks 30,000 Copies of “Gone With the Wind”
MGM/UA learns that approximately 30,000 copies of the Gone With the Wind (1939) has 45 seconds of the wrong music. According to the studio, because the copies used music from the international version of the film, they have to discard them.. The mistake costs the studio $100,000. This release is also the very first special collector’s edition on videocassette.
March, 1985
“Blood Cult” Is Marketed As the First Horror Film Made for Video
United Home Entertainment markets their in-house film, Blood Cult (1985), as the first horror film made directly for the home video market. Although it’s not the first horror film to skip theatrical, it is believed to be the first made with the sole purpose of distribution on the home market.
April 24th, 1985 (Billboard, 1985/05/04, p. 1)
“The Cotton Club” Is the First Title to Utilize Macrovision
Embassy Entertainment’s release of “The Cotton Club” is the first home video released with the new copy-protection system from Macrovision. All the major studios follow suit.
May, 1985 (Variety, 1985/04/24, p. 63)
The First Colorized Films are Released on Video
The first colorized black-and-white films are released on home video by Hal Roach Studios. The first is for the 1937 Cary Grant film, Topper. The concept of film colorization caused quite a controversy at the time, with many believing that the process impeded upon the intentions of the original filmmakers.
June, 1986 (Billboard, 1986/03/29, p. 53)
RCA Discontinues Manufacturing CED Discs
RCA begins the process of shutting down their only CED manufacturing plant on Rockville Road in Indianapolis, Indiana. Their final disc is an “experimental” souvenir disc for all plant employees called, Memories of Videodisc (1986).
June, 1986 (Billboard, 1986/04/19, p. 1)
Paramount Releases the First Major Titles on Video8 (8 mm)
Two years since the launch of the camcorder format by Kodak, Paramount becomes the first major studio to distribute titles on the Video8 / 8 mm format. Other studios would follow suit, including Embassy, RCA/Columbia and MGM/UA. By the February 1987, there are reportedly 800 titles on the format. The very first title was Tina Turner: Private Dancer, released the previous year by Sony Video Software. Prerecords continued to be released up through the mid-90s.
March 11th, 1987 (Billboard, 1987/03/11, p. 1)
The First Commercial Is Placed on a Major Home Video Release
Top Gun (1986) becomes the very first videocassette of a major film with a product commercial. In collaboration with Paramount Home Video, Pepsi places a 60-second ad before the start of the film. Because of the commercial, Paramount reduces the price of the videocassette $3 less than what it would’ve cost without it. Its listed at $26.95.
February, 1988 (Billboard, 1988/02/13, p. 4)
Super Source Video Releases the First 2 S-VHS Titles
Super Source Video releases the first two prerecorded S-Video releases. They are for the special interest titles, Impact Zone ($54.95) and River Song ($44.94). Up until 1991, they would release up to 38 titles on the format from various studios, including Paramount, New Line Cinema and Hemdale Home Video. Among these included Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1990), Top Gun (1986) and The Terminator (1984).
1989 (Derran 1989 Catalog)
Derran Films Releases a Feature-Length Super 8 Release of “Star Wars”
Derran films in the U.K. releases a full-length print of Star Wars (1977) on Super 8. This is the only time that the the film is ever released in full to the public on film. It is on 4 600ft reels and is presented in scope. It sells for £289 (for the stereo version).
June 2nd, 1993 (Billboard, 1993/06/19, p. 13)
Paramount Announces 50 Titles For CD-i (DV) Format
Paramount becomes the first studio to make their films available on Philip’s CD-i format, a system that had launched two years prior. But specifically for movies, Philips had developed a “Green Book” standard version of their disc, which they refer to as CD-i DV (digital video) or Full Motion Video (FMV). Movies are released on the format that November, and require a digital video expansion cartridge (approximately $200) which will allow the system to play the discs.