Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (Warning Screens)/North America
1st Warning (Late 1979-May 29, 2007)
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Warning: On a black background, we see a black square on the left with the standard FBI logo in white, and the generic "$250,000" warning text, in the Univers Condensed font, in a white box on the right with the red word "WARNING", in Helvetica Bold Condensed, on the top.
Trivia: Like Paramount Home Video, but unlike most other major and mini-major studios, Warner Home Video never used a Spanish version of this warning screen.
Variants:
- On some tapes, a "shadow" effect on the "WARNING" text has been spotted.
- In the warning's early years, it had the generic "Title 17, United States Code, Section 506" warning text.
- On early tapes from 1979-1981, the "FBI" text is thinner, kind of skinny, the text was in a different font, and the white rectangle has a rounded right side.
- On the original release of 10, the warning screen fades to the Orion Pictures logo.
- On tapes from 1981-1986, the whole thing was on a white background.
- There is another version in which the FBI seal was slightly larger and the right side of the white box was rounded. The first three DVD volumes of Charlie & Lola from 2006-2007 also use this version.
- There is a smoother version that faded in and out intact, apparently from a character generator, with a bolder "FBI" lettering and cleaner text, on some tapes.
- On Avalanche Express, the warning screen faded out.
- Another version appears to be digitally generated, with thin, spaced-out "FBI" text.
- There is another version similar to the 1982/1983 version, but the box is white and the WARNING text is bolder and redder. This can be seen on the 2006 BBC DVD Releases of Dombey and Son, David Copperfield, The Pickwick Papers, and some others.
- There is also a version where the whole thing is on a blue background.
- On the Risky Business and The Right Stuff LaserDisc releases from 1983 and 1984 respectively, "WARNING" is in a wider font, and everything is in black, but "FBI", the seal, "WARNING" and the warning text (Title 17, United States Code, Section 506 version) is in white.
- Shout! Factory DVD Releases also used this, except the FBI seal is colored.
- On BWE Video releases, "FBI" is spaced out.
- Chronicle Videocassettes has a taped version that shows "FBI" in a bolder font and the warning text ("$250,000" version) & header in a different font, and fades in and out.
- Pioneer, Allied Artists Classics (which peels up all sides into the logo) & MPI Home Video, and Reel to Reel Ministries (which lack the FBI seal) use versions that have slightly different text arrangements and a color FBI seal.
Technique: None, but this cuts right to the WHV (on 1981-1985 releases) or Embassy Home Entertainment (see below) logo.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Extremely common.
- Seen on all WCI/Warner Home Video releases from 1979-2004 and a few BBC releases after that, beginning with the first 20 releases from the 1979 batch, including Blazing Saddles. Also seen on some tapes released by Strand/VCI and the Video Collection, as well as certain Orion Home Video, Diamond Entertainment and even a few Magnum Entertainment releases (such as The Hills Have Eyes).
- The "shadow" version was exclusive to Rhino Home Video releases.
- The early version was seen on old WCI Home Video/Warner Home Video releases such as Dirty Harry and All the President's Men. One of its last appearances was on the 1981 release of Love at First Bite.
- The version with the white background can be found on Mean Streets, Superman II, The Enforcer, and Death Wish II, as well as other WHV titles on VHS and Beta from 1981-1986, a few from Embassy Home Entertainment (including the 1983 release of Carbon Copy), VCI Home Video (including Pinocchio with Sandy Duncan and Danny Kaye), and RKO Home Video. The white background variation can also be seen on some VHS re-releases such as the 1986 release of The Road Warrior. The white background variation made its debut on most releases from the September 1981 batch (including Tales of Terror). It also appeared on Todd Graham's culture jam classic Apocalypse Pooh.
- The rounded right side version was intact on certain Orion Home Video releases and several Warner Reprise Video/Warner Music Vision releases, as well as Shapiro Glickenhaus Home Video releases by Southgate Entertainment.
- The smoother version that faded in and out was sighted on Hemdale Home Video releases.
- The digitally generated version is rare, and was only seen on DVDs released between October-December 2004, such as Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, A Home at the End of the World, A Cinderella Story, and the Volume 3 DVD set of Adult Swim's Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
- The blue background version can be found on MTM Home Video releases and a few Random House Home Video releases.
- The Shout! Factory version with a colored FBI Seal was on some Shout! Factory DVD releases. Some DVDs that used the “colored seal” warning include Sonic the Hedgehog: The Complete Series and The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3: The Complete Series.
- This warning is also seen on VideoTec releases, such as the 1992 screener VHS of Tugs: Munitions & Pirates.
- This also made a surprise appearance on the MGM/UA Home Video Laserdisc Sampler from 1990 and on the 1982 CBS/FOX Video CED release of Alien.
- Despite the fact that this warning screen was retired in late 2004 in favor of the 7th warning screen, some BBC DVD releases distributed by WHV still used this warning screen concurrently until May 29, 2007, such as Middie March, Dombey and Son, David Copperfield, The Pickwick Papers, and the first three DVD volumes of Charlie & Lola.
2nd Warning (1981-1983)
Warning: On a blue background, the following white text scrolls upward:
Variants: Sometimes, the warning scrolls faster than usual.
Technique: Unless you count the scrolling, none.
Music/Sounds: None, though the first half of the United Artists "Turning UA" theme can be heard over this warning on a copy of the Canadian Warner VHS of Casablanca.
Availability: Seen on early Canadian cassettes from Warner Home Video, including Casablanca.
3rd Warning (October 15, 1981)
Warning: On a blue background, we see the white word "WARNING". The following text in white scrolls upward:
This video cassette, the motion picture
recorded on it and its container are
the property of Warner Home Video
and are rented to the renter named
in the attached agreement only for
private home viewing and only for
the rental period specified herein.
The video cassette must be kept in
the container and returned as it was
received.
Failure to return the cassette to the
rental agent at the end of the rental
period, or use of it by anyone other
than the lawful renter, or rental of it
by anyone other than the lawful rental
agent is strictly prohibited.
Any duplication sale, rental, or public
exhibition (for a fee or free) is strictly
prohibited and violates the copyright
laws of the United States. Failure to
comply with these restrictions exposes
you to criminal and/or civil liability.
Technique: Unless you count the scrolling, none.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Pretty tough to come across. This was only used on the first batch or two of "For-Rental-Only" releases, such as Superman II, The Enforcer, Excalibur and Dirty Harry, and later "For-Rental-Only" releases, such as Looker, Rollover, and Chariots of Fire, did not have this at all.
4th Warning (1982-)
Warning: On a blue background, white text scrolls upward. The text is in English and then French.
Variant: An early version of this warning exists, in which text is in a different font, scrolls upward slower, and slightly spaced out. This version lasted until around 1984.
Technique: Unless you count the scrolling, none.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Current and extremely common.
- Seen at the end of all DVD releases from Warner Home Video from March 24th, 1997 up to the present day. Lots of these DVDs are still in print.
- This also appears on Canadian VHS releases from Warner Home Video (except at the beginning instead), and this includes all the titles in the Hollywood Gold series.
- The titles with the early variant of the warning include the 1983 release of THX-1138.
- This appeared on French Canadian Columbia TriStar VHS releases as well.
5th Warning (2000)
Warning: The bumper starts with a montage of scenes from Batman: The Animated Series, featuring Batman looking over Gotham City and springing into action. As Batman leaps down toward the viewer, his cape covers the screen and reveals a warning screen. On the left is a silhouette of Batman in front of a red moon (from the show's closing credits), while on the right is the warning text (with "FBI" in a Times font and the rest in an Arial font) situated between the open gates of Wayne Manor.
Technique: There are clouds moving left to right on the warning screen.
Music/Sounds: An excerpt of Shirley Walker's score for Batman: The Animated Series.
Availability: Seen on a few Warner Bros. Family Entertainment titles from 2000, including Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders and Scooby-Doo's Creepiest Capers, as well as reprints of The Goonies and Scooby-Doo's Greatest Mysteries.
6th Warning (2000)
Warning: The bumper starts with a scene from Superman: The Animated Series, in which Superman flies above the city of Metropolis. After Superman flies into the camera, the scene cuts to a black screen with a red, fuzzy version of Superman's trademark "S"-shield slowly zooming in. Superimposed over the screen is the standard warning text in a digital-looking font, which appears as if a computer screen was being turned on.
Technique: The warning text appearing, and the "S"-shield zooming in.
Music/Sounds: A shortened version of Shirley Walker's theme from Superman: The Animated Series.
Availability: Only known to appear on My Dog Skip.
7th Warning (October 12, 2004-)
Warning: On a light blue/dark blue gradient background, we see the now-current FBI warning logo, in color with a white box in front of it, reading "FBI ANTI-PIRACY WARNING". Under it, the following text is seen:
of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal
copyright infringement, including infringement
without monetary gain, is investigated by the
FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in
federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
Technique: None.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Seen on all WHV releases from 2004 to 2012, as well as BBC releases from 2004 to present. Among the first releases to use this were Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie, Kangaroo Jack: G'Day, U.S.A.!, and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Also seen on releases by a few other companies (often unrelated), including later releases by Bandai Entertainment and Time Warner-owned New Line Home Entertainment. Despite normal releases retiring this warning screen in early 2010 for the 2007 Blu-ray warning screen, Cartoon Network releases still used this warning screen until 2012, and this is also still used on BBC releases today, despite the fact that the BBC now self-distributes its titles as of 2016 - and still appears on some UK releases today such as the 2021 UK UHD release of A Perfect Planet.
8th Warning (Late 2005-2016)
Warning: On a black background is a blue/black gradient box with rounded edges, which has whitish-blue lines inside it. In the box is the following: on top is the no symbol (a red circle with a diagonal line) which has "SUPPORT ANTI-PIRACY" in very small white letters on the circle. Inside it is "PIRACY" in white. Below that is "5 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON", in gold with a line below, and at the bottom, also in gold, is "FINES OF $250,000" with a line above it. Each is sandwiching a big red "WARNING". Over the word "WARNING" is the following text in white:
and other programs, including uploading and
downloading movies and other programs over the
Internet. If you do - whether for monetary gain or
not - you risk severe civil and criminal penalties.
(Title 17, US Code, Sections 501 and 506)
Technique: None.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Very common.
- It first appeared on UMD releases such as Constantine and Batman released in 2005, and later appeared on 2007-2013 Blu-rays and 2009-13 DVDs from Warner Home Video, such as 300 (the first release to use this logo, Blu-ray only), The Hangover (R-Rated Edition only; the Unrated Edition used the previous warning) and The Blind Side. This was used concurrently for a short period with the previous warning (Saints: Road to XLIV being one example) until mid-2010.
- This warning made a surprise appearance on the 2012 UK DVD of Pleasantville.
- Although it no longer appears on movie releases, it was still used on releases of television shows until 2016, such as Adventure Time, Supernatural, and Rick and Morty.
9th Warning (April 18, 2006- )
Warning: On a red background, white warning text fades in and out.
Variant: On earlier 4K Ultra HD Blu-rays from WBHE, the warning cuts in and out from black with the warning text already there.
Technique: Just a typical fade in and fade out.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Seen at the end of all WHV/WBHE HD DVDs and most of their Blu-rays, such as The Last Samurai, North by Northwest, A Christmas Story (1983), and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Strangely, no warning of any kind appears at the end of the Blu-rays of Inception, Due Date, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, New Year's Eve, and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. On DVD, it was seen on awards consideration discs of Argo and Her.
10th Warning (2012-2019)
Warning: Same as the 2012-present Sony Pictures Home Entertainment warning.
Variant: On a 2018 reissue of Secondhand Lions and Season 3 of Rick and Morty, both screens fade in and out.
Technique: None.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: No longer current, but is still very common.
- Seen on all WHV releases from 2012 until early 2019. It also appears on most 2012-2019 UK DVDs released by WHV/WBHE.
- As of early 2019, this warning screen is no longer used on WBHE DVDs/Blu-rays/UHDs, but reprints of titles from this era still contain it.
