Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (Warning Screens)

USA/Canadian Warnings

1st Warning (1978-1981)

WCI FBI Warning

Warning: On a black background, we see a black square on the left, with the FBI logo in white with "FBI" in a somewhat different font, kind of skinny. On the right, we see a white box (with a rounded right side) with "WARNING" in red and generic warning text below "WARNING".

Variant: On 10, the warning screen faded to the Orion Pictures logo.

FX/SFX: None, except on 1980-1981 releases when this cuts right to the WCI/WHV logo.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: On all WCI/Warner Home Video releases from 1978-1981, such as Dirty Harry and All the President's Men.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Warning (1981-2004)

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" text in a white box on the right with the red word "WARNING" on the top.

Trivia: 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.
• On some tapes from 1981-1986, the whole thing was on a white background (Title 17, United Stats Code, Section 506 version)
• There is another version in which the FBI seal was slightly larger and the right side of the white box was rounded.
• 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.
• Another version appears to be digitally generated, with thin, space-out "FBI" text.
• There is also a version where the whole thing is on a blue background.
• On the 1983 laserdisc of Risky Business, "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.

FX/SFX: None, but this cuts right to the WHV (on 1981-1985 releases) or Embassy Home Entertainment (see below) logo.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: On all Warner Home Video releases from 1981-2004. Also seen on some tapes released by Strand/VCI and the Video Collection, as well as certain Orion Home Video, Diamond Entertainment and later Magnum Entertainment releases. The "shadow" version was exclusive to Rhino Home Video releases. 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 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 November-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 DVDs such as Sonic the Hedgehog: The Complete Series DVD and The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3: The Complete Series DVD. This warning is also seen on VideoTec releases, such as the 1992 screener VHS 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.

Editor's Note:

3rd Warning (1981-1983)

Warning: On a blue background, the following white text scrolls upward:

ANY DISTRIBUTION, SALE, RENTAL OR

EXHIBITION OR PERFORMANCE IN PUBLIC

(FOR A FEE OR FREE) IS STRICTLY

PROHIBITED AND VIOLATES THE COPY

RIGHT LAWS OF CANADA. FAILURE TO

COMPLY WITH THESE RESTRICTIONS

EXPOSES YOU TO LIABILITY BY WAY

OF FINE, DAMAGES, CONFISCATION OF

INFRINGING COPIES, AND IN THE CASE

OF A REPEATED OFFENSE,

IMPRISONMENT.

Variants: Sometimes, the warning scrolls faster than usual.

FX/SFX: The scrolling.

Music/Sounds: None, though the first half of the "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.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Warning (1981)

Warning: On a blue background, we see the white word "WARNING". White rental warning text scrolls upward.

FX/SFX: The scrolling of the warning text.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Pretty tough to come across. This was only used for a year on "For-Rental-Only" prints, such as Superman II, The Enforcer, Excalibur and Dirty Harry, and later "For-Rental-Only" releases, such as Chariots of Fire, did not have this at all.

Editor's Note: None.

5th 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.

FX/SFX: The text scrolling.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: At the end of all DVD releases from Warner Home Video, up to the present day. This also appears on Canadian VHS releases from Warner Home Video, 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.

Editor's Note: None.

6th Warning (2000)

Warning: The bumper starts with a montage of scenes from Batman: The Animated Series, featuring which 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 black-colored illustration 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.

FX/SFX: 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.

Editor's Note: This is an entertaining and creative warning screen.

7th 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.

FX/SFX: The warning text appearing, and the "S"-shield zooming in.

Music/Sounds: A shortened version of Shirley Walker's theme for Superman: The Animated Series.

Availability: Only known to appear on My Dog Skip.

Editor's Note: Like the previous warning, this one is very entertaining.

8th Warning (2004-2013)

Warning: On a light blue/{{Font color|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, a one-paragraph generic text is seen.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on all WHV releases from 2004 to 2013. 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 TimeWarner-owned New Line Home Entertainment.

Editor's Note: None.

9th Warning (2008-)

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 some warning text in white.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Appears on pre-2013 releases from Warner Home Video, such as The Hangover (R-Rated Edition only; the Unrated Edition used the previous warning) and The Blind Side. However, some releases, such as Saints: Road to XLIV used the 8th warning. Although it no longer appears on movie releases, it is still used on releases of television shows such as Adventure Time.

Editor's Note: None.

International Warnings

General

(1999-)

Warning: On a black background, we see a white warning text in Arial or Helvetica (with WARNING in red above it), which changes to a different language (with the name of the country above it or in place of the word "WARNING") multiple times after a while.

Language Variants:

• English (separate variants for North America, the UK/Ireland, India and South Africa)
• Spanish (separate variants for Spain and Latin America)
• Portuguese (separate variants for Portugal and Brazil)
• German (separate variants for Germany/Austria/Luxembourg and Switzerland)
• French (separate variants for France/Belgium/Luxembourg and Switzerland)
• Italian (separate variants for Italy and Switzerland)
• Dutch
• Swedish
• Norwegian
• Danish
• Finnish
• Korean
• Polish
• Russian
• Chinese
• Czech
• Arabic
• Hungarian
• Turkish
• Romanian
• Hebrew
• Croatian
• Bulgarian
• Thai
• Hindi
• Indonesian
• Greek
• Icelandic
• Bosnian
• Slovenian
• Albanian
• Macedonian
• Estonian
• Latvian
• Lithuanian

Trivia: This warning screen later became a basis for international warning screens of other companies like 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and Buena Vista Home Entertainment (by replacing all instances of the "Warner Home Video" name with their respective names).

FX/SFX: None, unless you count the transitions.

Music/Sounds: None, but some DVDs use an applause sound effect with each transition.

Availability: Appears at the end of international DVD releases by the company.

Editor's Note: This ID can be considered annoying, due to the many language screens, the lack of the ability to skip, and the duration. Others, however, may like this ID due to the many language variants.