20th Century Home Entertainment (Warning Screens)

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Warning descriptions by codyfinke6, Logophile and wisp2007
Warning captures by Logophile, gshowguy, wisp2007 and wolfie14
Editions by wisp2007, Logophile, Jonathan Hendricks, McDonald's1, and DaBigLogoCollector

USA/Canadian Warning Screens

1st Warning (June 1978-1984, 1987, 1992)

Warning: On a bright red background, we see the words "FBI WARNING" (with "FBI" in large, tall letters and in Folio) with the FBI logo next to it. Under it is the FBI Warning text ("The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigates allegations of criminal copyright infringement" version) in News Gothic.

Trivia: This warning is shown in the Video Pirates segment of the 1987 Universal anthology comedy Amazon Women on the Moon. In the segment, a group of pirates who like to illegally bootleg VHS tapes (the leader is played by William Marshall) find a treasure trove of VHS tapes and laserdiscs. One of them puts one into a VCR, and it displays this warning (strangely, it's the "video discs" variant of the warning; the image is also not in color, though that may have been from the in-scene monitor). He then sarcastically says "Ooooh, I'm so scared!", and he and his crew break into laughter.

Variants:

  • A black and white version is seen on classic films and shorts in black & white.
  • On Hanna-Barbera Home Video releases, the red background is much brighter.
  • On 1990s Worldvision Home Video releases the drop shadow for the text is omitted, the font is different, and the background is somewhat brownish looking.
  • There was also a variant with a black background spotted on the 1984 Embassy release of The Howling and the 1983 Embassy release of Blade Runner.
  • Early Magnetic/20th Century-Fox/CBS-Fox Videodiscs between 1981 and 1984 use a variant of this logo that removes "video tapes" and replaces it with "video discs" in a crude, mismatched fashion, using a font similar to the 1984-99 version of the warning.
  • On Magnetic/20th Century-Fox Video releases of Avco Embassy tapes, the warning screen would be preceded by a digital copyright notice with white chyroned text over a light background, which would then cut to this screen.
  • The 1982 20th Century Fox Video Betamax/1995 US VHS releases of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope have this play after the credits fade out with the film's closing theme fading out.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on Magnetic Video, 20th Century-Fox Video, and CBS/Fox Video releases from the era, in most cases after the program material. The 1979 release of The Making of Star Wars and many other pre-1981 tapes, as well as a few United Artists tapes from 1981 (including The Jazz Singer, The Barefoot Contessa, and Let It Be) have the warning precede the Magnetic Video logo. Some early Magnetic videos, such as Beneath the Planet of the Apes and M*A*S*H (1978 print), have no warning; this premiered on reprints of bestsellers from summer 1978, including Hello, Dolly!. This was also seen on some 1982-1983 Embassy Home Entertainment releases, including Escape from New York, Warlords of the Twenty First Century, and Deadly Blessing. The videodisc variant can be seen on various 1981-83 Magnetic Video/20th Century-Fox Video/CBS-Fox Video releases. This makes a surprise appearance on the 1992 Rhino Home Video release of Shindig! Presents: British Invasion Vol. 1.

Editor's Note: None.


2nd Warning (Canada, 1980-2003)

Warning: On the same red background as before, the INTERPOL warning text scrolls up twice, once in English, and once in French.

FX/SFX: The warning text scrolling up.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on Magnetic Video, 20th Century-Fox Video, CBS/Fox Video, FoxVideo and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment releases from the era in Canada, where it appears after the program material in most cases. It also appeared on VHS and DVD releases from Telegenic Entertainment and Kaboom! Entertainment between 1997 and 2003. In 1999, the 4th warning replaced this on Fox tapes.

Editor's Note: None.


3rd Warning (1984-1999)

Warning: Same as the first warning, but the background is normal red and the text is the "$250,000 fine" version instead of the "Title 17" version.

Variants:

  • A black and white version is seen on classic films and shorts in black & white.
  • On the original release of Blackadder's Christmas Carol, the red background is brighter.
  • On late 1988-mid 1990 prints, from just before CBS/Fox Video started printing their tapes at Rank Video Services America, during this screen, a still version of the 1984 CBS/Fox Video logo appears a couple of times, staying on the screen for about five seconds before cutting back to the warning. Usually, it goes warning, logo still, warning, logo still, warning, logo still; however, the full version, as seen on pressings of Broadcast News and Carousel, goes logo still, warning, logo still, warning, logo still, warning, logo still, warning, logo still.
  • Some copies of the 1988 VHS release of Wee Willie Winkle feature this on a blue background instead of the black and white version.
  • On certain Video Treasures releases, the background is composed of the gray Video Treasures logo wallpaper shown in the second Video Treasures logo. More can be found on that company's respective warning screen page.
  • On the 1995 VHS of The Pagemaster, the warning appears onscreen for six seconds before cutting to black.

FX/SFX: None, unless you want to count the CBS/FOX logo being cut to a couple of times.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen at the end of all CBS/Fox Video, Fox Video, BBC Video and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment releases from the era in the United States. The black and white version is seen on the 1989 CBS/FOX Video release of House on Haunted Hill. This makes a surprise appearance at the end of the Ace Video release of Subway, sourced from the 1986 Key Video release. The version that cuts to the CBS/Fox logo appears at the start rather than the end, and can be seen on late 1988-mid 1990 prints of CBS/Fox Video releases, such as License to Kill, Iron Eagle, Die Hard, Magic Memories on Ice, The Sound of Music, A Fish Called Wanda and In Like Flint; the full sequence appears on some prints of Broadcast News and makes a surprise appearance on the VHS of Carousel, one of the first new CBS/Fox releases following the move to RVSA.

Editor's Note: None.

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