RLJE Films

Background
Image Entertainment Inc. was founded in 1981 as a LaserDisc distributor and became a major act of the format. Once DVDs dominated the home media market and soon rivaled VHS in the late 1990's, Image re-focused its output distribution to DVDs. They have also released a wide variety of entertainment as a production company, including feature films, TV series, and music programs. In 2012, Image was acquired by RLJ Acquisition, Inc. and was merged with another purchase, Acorn Media. The name stopped being used on-screen in 2015. After that, it was an in-name only subsidiary of RLJ Entertainment until 2018. The RLJE Films name has been used since 2017. AMC Networks purchased RLJ Acquisition on November 1, 2018.

1st Logo (1983-1989)
Nicknames: "Discs in the City", "Flying Discs"

Logo: On a sunset background of a city, we see flying discs zooming in and spinning around, with the logo doing the same thing at the same time. The logo rests in place and the background fades to black, leaving the logo in place. The logo reads "image (in a sunset-colored gradient font and the g's tail stretched to the left) ENTERTAINMENT INC".

FX/SFX: The discs and the logo flying.

Music/Sounds: A short synthesized melody that loops 7 times.

Availability: Rare. Seen on releases of the time, mainly adult titles, which are very hard to find.

Legacy: This logo may get some with its cheesy effects and music.

2nd Logo (1989-1998)
Nicknames: "The Laser", "How a LaserDisc Works"

Logo: On a background, we see the inside layer of a LaserDisc/DVD. A white laser suddenly hits it creating a ray of light. The laser travels around the layer as it begins to spin and we zoom out to reveal two layers covering the layer, which form a LaserDisc/DVD with the Image logo on it. The logo flies out of the disk from the back and rests in the middle with the laser disappearing and the disc leaving the screen falling down. The words "ENTERTAINMENT INCTM" and the byline "The Finest in Laser Videodiscs" fade in.

Variants:
 * On some releases, the logo fades to a black screen. Depending on the release, "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman" or "THE MUSIC DISC" would appear.
 * In 1997, when Image began expanding to DVD, the byline was changed to read "The Finest in Home Entertainment". This appeared on both DVDs and some late-life LaserDiscs from 1997-1998 as Image Entertainment began to phase out LaserDiscs to focus more on DVD distribution.
 * On some releases, there is no byline.

FX/SFX: Impressive visual effects on the laser, the disc and the logo.

Music/Sounds: A dramatically ascending majestic fanfare accompanied by the laser's scrapping, followed by a more calming synth choir and some bell notes.

Availability: Common. It can be seen on LaserDiscs and DVD releases of the time, mainly direct-to-DVD and low-budget movies produced by various small studios and by Image sometimes. It also appears on many Orion Home Video LaserDisc and DVD releases from the mid-90s such as the first two Robocop movies.

Legacy: This logo has gained a lot of recognition for its synth orchestra and powerful advanced computer animation from the late '80s, which holds up even today. Despite putting some people off with the sudden sounds and fanfare, it's still a cool logo and is a favorite of many. However, most of the releases with this logo were not so popular.

3rd Logo (1998-July 21, 2009)
Nickname: "The Ring"

Logo: On a black background, a light red gradient ring zooms out, while the word "image" (in a gradient, different from the previous logos) appears turning counterclockwise one letter at a time. The word "ENTERTAINMENT" fades in zooming out. The company's web address, www.image-entertainment.com, fades in. The logo then fades out and the ring zooms out to the upper-right corner, disappearing in the background and leaving only the web address remaining.

Variants:
 * There is a trailer version coming up in color with no ring.
 * Another colored version without the ring appears on the trailer for My Name is Bruce.

FX/SFX: The ring zooming out, the letters turning, and the logo fading in and out.

Music/Sounds: A soft piece accompanied by a flute and a horn. On most releases, the logo is silent.

Availability: Common. Seen on their DVD releases of the time as well as the final LaserDiscs they released in 1999 - the former of which are more common in bargain bins than those with the previous logo.

Legacy: This logo suffers from basic animation in contrast to the previous logo, looking like it was made in a video editor like Sony Vegas Pro or After Effects. Also, the ring looks incredibly blurry compared to the letters and having it just flying away can annoy some people. The music is beautiful and soothing, however.

4th Logo (August 2009-September 29, 2015/2018)
Nickname: "Cubes"

Logo: A spectrum of small cubes suddenly zooms in quickly. A ball of cubes breaks up and a trial of small cubes travels around in a neutron-like way. The words "IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT" (in a different, all-uppercase font than before) appear and turn counterclockwise. The last trail of cubes turns and rests on the "I" with a cine of light, leaving one  cube above the "I".

Variant: On later releases, namely after the company was acquired by RLJ Entertainment, an abridged version is used.

FX/SFX: CGI animation for the entire logo.

Music/Sounds: The cubes whooshing accompanied by a peaceful melody, which is a remix of the previous logo's music. A small note is played when the cube rests. Sometimes, the logo is silent.

Availability: Common. Besides DVD and Blu-ray releases, it is also seen on 2009-2015/2018 theatrical releases and TV series (since Image has grown into a film production company along with distributing other companies' titles).

Legacy: Much better than the previous logo. The music is also more beautiful and soothing.

(2013-)
Nickname: "The Flash"

Logo: A brief flash unveils the 3D text with a silver texture "Times New Roman" as it is facing the left and sliding to the right. Shortly after, it zooms out and faces the screen with the lens flare shown between the letters "m" and "e" in "Entertainment". The light slightly turns on and off for the rest of the logo before expanding and covering the whole screen and then dipping to black.

Variant:
 * Starting Fall 2017, the logo has a different opening where it doesn't start with a flash and instead has the text "Times New Roman scrolling to the left and zooming out. When we reach "Films", a big light burst emerges and changes multiple colors
 * Sometimes, other logos may appear alongside this one.
 * On The Houses October Built, the Image Entertainment logo is shown to the right of the RLJ Entertainment logo and has a light burst behind it.
 * Additionally, there are variants where the Acorn Media and Urban Movie Channel logos appear alongside this logo.

FX/SFX: Simple CGI animation for the entire logo.

Music/Sounds:
 * First variant: A faint cymbal-like crash at the beginning and quiet ambience noise for the whole logo. A bass hit can be heard when the logo finishes zooming out as well at the end with a different cymbal-like crash when the light expands.
 * Second variant: None.

Availability: Current.
 * Seen on RLJE's theatrical releases since 2013.
 * The variant with its current name can be seen on Son, late 2010's printings to Naked City, Seance, VOD and home media releases of Shudder titles, among others.

Legacy: This is still a nice logo, but it may annoy those who like the previous logos better.