Cinema Club

Background

Cinema Club was, initially, a label formed in 1989 by Video Collection International for re-releasing feature films (mainly from Sony Pictures Entertainment) at low prices.

In 1995, Cinema Club became a fully-fledged division operated under a joint-venture between Columbia TriStar Home Video and VCI. In 2002, Columbia TriStar exited out of the venture and formed a new partnership with Universal Pictures Video for the creation of the Universal Columbia Alliance. Cinema Club was reorganized by VCI as a general low-cost distributor that released both television shows and movies (mainly ones from StudioCanal), and had expanded to DVD releases as well.

After VCI was renamed to 2 Entertain Video in September 2004, a new Cinema Club logo was created and the label was retained by 2 Entertain until they discarded it in 2007. Five labels were used; Cinema Club for feature films and some television releases, Classic TV for classic BBC shows, Classic Comedy for BBC comedy shows, Classic Sport for fitness and sports products, and Classic Drama for BBC drama shows.

1st Logo (1995-2004)

Visuals: After the warning screen, the area inside of the golden filmstrip fades out, and the text "CINEMA CLUB", in a modified Gill Sans font, slides in from the top and bottom of the screen respectively, meeting in the centre. The logo remains still for the remainder of the time before it cuts to black.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: None.

Availability: Cinema Club VHS releases are very easy to find and are always guaranteed to have this logo. It can be seen after the warning screens.

• It is most commonly found on budget VHS releases of the Columbia TriStar catalogue, such as Jumanji, Labyrinth, various Muppets releases, the Ghostbusters 1 and 2 single tape set, among others.
• It also shows up on several Carry On releases, and budget releases of Buena Vista Home Entertainment films, such as Dick Tracy.
• While DVD releases had the print logo, it doesn't appear on-screen - only VCI's logo does.
• This logo also does not appear on the 1999 UK VHS reissue of Men in Black (1997), which uses the Columbia TriStar Home Video logo instead, due to it reusing the 1998 VHS master.
• The logo continued to be used on VHS releases until at least 2004, as seen on the UK VHS release of Santa Claus: The Movie (1985).

2nd Logo (2004-2007)

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Visuals: On a black background, a CGI rendition of the "CINEMA CLUB" text from before fades in, facing backwards as it zooms and rotates into the camera. The camera then suddenly flips as the text are shown facing the right way, and a lens flare appears as a modified version of the bright gold filmstrip frame from before fades in, and the text zooms into it. The camera also rotates upright during this. The lens flare then fades away as the gold turns into a more saturated shade.

Variant: On fullscreen DVD releases, the logo is letter-boxed to 4:3.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A deep drumroll is heard first, followed by the sounds of whooshing and a film camera rolling. A deep synth drone then plays throughout the rest of the logo.

Availability: Seen on UK DVD releases from the time period until 2007. However, the label was not used for VHS releases.

• This logo can be found on a few DVD releases from the company, such as the 2004 UK DVD releases of Batfink: The Complete Series, and Santa Claus: The Movie (1985) and the 2005 UK DVD release of Joe Pasquale Live and Squeaky, among others with their logo following the 1995 VCI logo.
• It is also preserved on 2 Entertain distributed DVD releases after VCI was renamed to 2 Entertain in September 2005, with their logo following the 2 Entertain logo. Examples include the 2005 UK DVD release of A Christmas Carol: The Musical, and the 2006 UK DVD release of The Road to Guantánamo, among others.
• This logo, along with the 2 Entertain logo do not appear on the 2005 UK DVD release of The Wash, despite both logos appearing on the packaging. The Metrodome Distribution logo appears as the Cinema Club version of this DVD is a re-release that was originally released by Metrodome in 2003.
• It can also be found on a few Classic TV and Classic Comedy releases that have 2 Entertain's print logo on the packaging, such as the 2005 UK DVD releases of Terry and June Series 1 and On The Up Series 1, with their logo following the 1997 BBC Video logo.
  • When 2 Entertain's on-screen logo was launched in September 2005, it replaced the Cinema Club logo on Classic TV/Comedy releases, with 2 Entertain's logo preceding the BBC Video logo.