"Slumdog Millionaire" and "The Wrestler" Get Raped on DVD

By: Adam Quigley Posted: March 12, 2009 Filed under: DVD News

It's no mystery that DVD cover art often tends to butcher everything it is about movies that we hold dear, despite there being perfectly acceptable poster artwork available for use. The latest case of this inhumanity to non-blind moviegoers can unfortunately be seen with the revealed DVD cover art of two of the best films of last year, Slumdog Millionaire and The Wrestler.

Saving the bigger eyesore for last, I'll start with The Wrestler.

Here we have a classic example of somebody looking at the original poster art and saying, "You know what would make this better? A superfluous action shot!"

Because that's just how studios operate. Sure, the original art has "artistic integrity", but this art has a guy flying through the air. And it is called The Wrestler after all, so we certainly wouldn't want to lose a rental to all the meathead WWE fans who might be put off by some pansy cry-baby moping in a corner. (Remember guys, that stuff is totally gay.)

Oh, and also, there's this...

Apparently in this version of The Wrestler, Mickey Rourke plays a fucking demon.

You may want to put on some sunglasses for the next DVD cover art, because it may just burn your retinas.

Now that you're done cleaning up the vomit I'm assuming you just involuntarily heaved all over your computer screen, I have good news for American readers: This is not the US cover art. Fortunately for us, we'll be getting something much more in line with the original poster art.

The above art, I'm sad to say, is the UK cover art. As in, the cover art of the director's home country. Can you imagine being Danny Boyle and having to see that being used as the primary visual representation of your movie?

Personally, I'd be fighting the urge to sue the designer for false advertising. Because quite frankly, I don't have any recollection of Slumdog Millionaire being about a mentally challenged Indian boy celebrating his homosexuality, and that's really the only story I can see being interpreted from that appallingly garish artwork.