Background: Miramax Home Entertainment was the home entertainment division of Miramax Films, formed in early 1992 as Miramax Home Video after years of having their films released by several home video distributors including HBO Video, Media Home Entertainment (through Fox Video) and LIVE Entertainment. The same year, Miramax struck a deal with Paramount Home Video to have them release their films on VHS (Paramount still owns the video rights to some of these films). After Disney bought out the company in 1993, Miramax's video releases were distributed briefly by Touchstone Home Video through Buena Vista Home Video. Miramax ended up releasing videos under its own label in the mid-1990s, with Buena Vista distributing. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment distributed Miramax products from 2007-2010 (after the company's founders and CEOs, the Weinstein brothers, left two years earlier). In December 2010, Miramax was sold by Disney to Filmyard Holdings, LLC, a division of Colony Capital. In February 2011, they entered a home video agreement with Lionsgate Home Entertainment and StudioCanal to distribute more than 550 titles from the renowned Miramax film library on DVD, and later that month, they made a deal with Echo Bridge Home Entertainment for domestic DVD and Blu-ray distribution of the studio's additional 251 titles. In March 2014 though, Echo Bridge lost the distribution rights to those titles allowing Lionsgate to obtain complete access to the Miramax catalog. A five-year distribution deal with Paramount was signed later in the decade.
1st Logo
(August 23, 1994-August 30, 2005)[]
Nicknames: "The M", "Big M", "Flashing M", "Miramax M"
Logo: Same as the 1987 Miramax Films logo, although the logo is now on videotape and runs at 60fps, and the text "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" replaces "FILMS".
Variant: On the Criterion Collection DVD of Chasing Amy, the logo is stretched into 16:9 widescreen.
FX/SFX: Same as the movie logo.
Music/Sounds: Same as the movie logo, but in muffled mono.
Music/Sounds Variants:
- On some Live Entertainment and Miramax Special Edition DVDs, there is a 5.1 surround version of the theme.
- On rare occasions it is silent, like on the Criterion Collection DVD of Chasing Amy.
Availability: Rare. It premiered on Like Water for Chocolate and Blue, and is seen on other Miramax VHS and DVD releases of the era, such as Four Rooms, the demo tape of Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead, Good Will Hunting, and Pulp Fiction. However, it isn't included on most Image Entertainment Laserdisc releases, like The Thief and the Cobbler (a.k.a. Arabian Knight). The last U.S. releases to use this logo include Monument Avenue, Velvet Goldmine, the demo tape of The Mighty, and the DVDs of Clerks and Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead, although it made surprise appearances on the DVD of Playing by Heart (the VHS uses the next logo), the demo tapes of Life is Beautiful and Cinema Paradiso: The New Version, and the VHS of Little City. In the UK, this logo was used until 2005, as seen on VHS copies of My Scene Goes Hollywood: The Movie and Finding Neverland. Also found on a Spanish VHS of Scary Movie 3, and some promotional VHS releases of Miramax/Dimension properties such as Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Strangely, some copies of The Others have this logo. Early U.S. prints of Princess Monoke are rumored to have it.
2nd Logo (July 13, 1999-October 23, 2007)[]
Chicago variant
Movies to Remember variant
Nicknames: "The Buildings", "Lights in the Big City", "Manhattan Skyline", "The City", "Miramax Skyline"
Logo: Same as the 1998 movie logo, except it's videotaped and runs at a faster frame rate, and again, "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" replaces "FILMS."
Trivia: See the Miramax Films page, and scroll down to the 4th logo.
Variants:
- There are videotaped and filmed versions. The former appears on most earlier releases, while the latter appears on the 1999 demo VHS of Rogue Trader at the start of the film, and later DVDs from 2005-07 (except Tsotsi), such as the 2005 Collector's Series reissues of Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood and The Yards.
- On some releases, the logo is shown in 16:9 widescreen.
- On the DVD of the 1996 Japanese film Shari Wi Dansu? (Shall We Dance?), the 4:3 version of the logo is stretched out to 16:9 rather than being cropped to those dimensions.
- A cheaper-looking version appears at the front of a "Miramax Movies to Remember" promo, which appears on the original DVD release of Bridget Jones' Diary.
- On a home video trailer for Chicago, a scene from the movie crossfades into the finished logo, which is now black with a glowing red outline. The first "A" resembles the "A" in the movie's title, and after a couple seconds it ripples out into another scene from the movie. This particular trailer can be seen on the 2003 DVDs of Gangs of New York and Bringing Down the House.
- On early Blu-rays, the filmed version has the "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" text in a different font.
- On the first three Bionicle movies and at the end of In Search of Santa, the filmed version of the logo has a shaky appearance.
- On Bionicle 2: Legends of Meta Nui, the variant plays as usual, but instead of fading out, it freezes and the background fades into the opening shot in which the logo slowly slides down to the water to become the reflection. Once the reflection ripples all the way out, the camera zooms faster to start the prologue.
FX/SFX: Same as the 1998 logo.
Music/Sounds: Usually silent, as per the 1998 logo.
Music/Sounds Variants:
- On some DVD releases and the VHS of Clerks: Uncensored, it uses the music from the previous logo.
- The Bionicle version has the opening theme starting over it.
- The In Search of Santa version has the closing theme ending partway over it.
Availability: Common. It can be found on Miramax video releases from the era, beginning with Little Voice, The Mighty, and She's All That. Oddly, it appears at the beginning of the 2004-05 VHS releases of In Search of Santa and My Scene Goes Hollywood: The Movie, but the DVD counterparts have the Miramax Family logo at the beginning. It was also seen on the 2005 VHS and DVD releases of Steal, a Dimension Films production, and on the 2006 DVD of Scary Movie 4 alongside the Dimension Home Entertainment logo, likely because both companies' film logos appear on the film itself. This was last seen on the 2007 Blu-ray of Scary Movie.
Final Note: Starting later on in 2007, Miramax DVD and Blu-ray releases just used the standard 1998 or 2008 logos.
Other[]
- For other related logos and images see: Miramax Home Entertainment/Other
