Embassy Home Entertainment

Background
Embassy Pictures formed their own home video unit as Embassy Home Entertainment as early as 1982 after Embassy Communications acquired Andre Blay Corporation (also known as "Blay Video"). Prior to this, Avco Embassy films were licensed/distributed by Magnetic/20th Century-Fox Video and on the short-lived SelectaVision VideoDisc format by RCA Corporation. Embassy also released some genre films under the Charter Entertainment brand. Embassy Home Entertainment was purchased by Nelson Holdings International from Coca-Cola in 1986 and was renamed to "Nelson Entertainment" on August 15, 1987 and Nelson was bought out by New Line Cinema on December 9, 1991. Some Embassy/Charter videos were still in print by the early 1990s with a New Line Home Video logo on the tape label.

1st Logo (Mid-1982-1983)


Nicknames: "Chyron", "Chyron Text"

Logo: Just a black screen with the following words "EMBASSY HOME ENTERTAINMENT" in a simple white script-like text with a trailing "shadow" effect, stacked word upon word.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Rare. Can be seen at the beginning of the Raccoons on Ice/The Christmas Raccoons video along with the very first VHS releases of Summer Lovers, Humongous, An Eye for An Eye, Swamp Thing, Escape from New York, and Zapped. The logo can also be retained on re-prints of Embassy's 1982-1983 video catalog. Strangely, this logo remained intact on the 1983 VHS of The Soldier after the next logo.

Legacy: A clear placeholder for the next logo.

2nd Logo (December 1982-1987)
Nicknames: "☆E", "Rotating ☆E" (USA), "Still (Rotating) ☆E" (Worldwide)

Logo: Same as the Embassy Television logo, but "EMBASSY HOME ENTERTAINMENT" appears underneath the "☆E" instead of "EMBASSY TELEVISION".

Variants:
 * Sometimes, the background is purple or dark blue.
 * Starting in 1984, the Registered trademark symbol "®" fades in. The logo also originally appears to be filmed, and cuts in and out; the "®" version fades in and out smoothly and is videotaped.
 * A still version of this was used for international videos in 1985. The logo appears to have a lighter (or darker) blue background, "EMBASSY" is in a much larger Futura MD BT font, and "Home Entertainment" is written below in a Futura LT BT font. One version has the word "Home Entertainment" in the Helvetica font. This variant was only seen at the end of European and Australian releases (the next logo below would be at the beginning on Aussie tapes).
 * A promo variant has the logo without any text zooming out, and when the announcer finishes, it zooms back in. This plays a extended version of the 3rd logo's music while Brian Cummings says "Ladies and gentlemen, Embassy Home Entertainment welcomes you to experience the best in high-quality film entertainment."
 * A strange variant on Mussolini And I has the "☆E" in blue with white boxes zooming out on a grey gradient background, with "EMBASSY" fading in below. After a few seconds, it fades out and the logo flips over to the Nelson Entertainment logo, and after that holds on for a few seconds, the logo zooms out and the background fades to black. The tape also has the logos rotating around on a black background as well. A synth note with a choir plays here, with an announcer saying "Embassy Home Entertainment, a division of Nelson Entertainment", with the shorter variant having a abridged version with a flute playing and no announcer.

FX/SFX: Again, same as the Television logo. The international version is still.

Music/Sounds: Same as the Embassy Television logo, but the fifth note is a higher note than usual and after the sixth note in the theme, we instead hear a 10-note synth-flute section. This was composed by Ray Colcord, who also composed the main Embassy Television logo. Silent for worldwide releases, except a jazzy '80s-like synth tune for German releases.

Availability: Rare. It can be found on various Nelson and Embassy Home Entertainment releases like The Emerald Forest and The Graduate. Could be in worldwide releases. Surprisingly, this logo appeared on TV airings of A Chorus Line (the MGM DVD & Blu-ray releases of said film show its print logo on the back cover, but not on the DVD or Blu-ray) and the TCM airings of Bittersweet Love and The Man Who Had Power Over Women. It's also surprisingly preserved on the Nelson VHS release of The Red Balloon, despite Embassy being mentioned nowhere on the packaging. The still version appears on the UK pre-cert release of The Howling. It also made a strange appearance on a September 1987 Movie Channel broadcast of Kiss of the Spider Woman. The logo was retained on MGM's 1998 VHS of Sid and Nancy and a 1992 reprint of Blade Runner from New Line Home Video.

Legacy: Same as the 2nd Embassy Communications logo.

3rd Logo (Australia only) (1983-1986)


Nicknames: "☆E II", "Neon ☆E Sign", "The Big E in Video", "Flashing ☆E"

Logo: On a black background, a yellow neon star zooms out, which starts off red in its trails, and flashes, revealing the Embassy "E" in dark blue. A neon "E" zooms out much like the star, and the logo flashes, gaining a white outline and filling the star with red. "THE BIG" and "IN VIDEO" in a red Microgramma font zoom out one by one, flashing each time, as well as the star, and gaining a orange glow and drop-shadow. As they all stop, the logo's outline shines over and over with choppy cuts.

Variant: Sometimes the logo would get sucked into the star in the X-like shape, complete with the motion blur.

FX/SFX: The zooming and flashing. It's '80s computer animation and early CGI effects.

Music/Sounds: A four-note synthesizer tune, followed by two drumbeats, and then another set of five synth notes. This is an alternate ending to the stock track "Tomorrow's World"

Availability: Extremely rare. The best place to find it is on old PBV tapes in Australia.

4th Logo (1986-1988, 1998)


Nicknames: "☆E III", "Golden ☆E", "CGI ☆E"

Logo: On a black background with a dark blue graident stripe in the middle, a three-dimensional, gold version of the starred "E" logo comes in from the left of the screen turned diagonally. As it turns face forward, a similarly colored star outline floats as if coming down an invisible slope and comes through the star-shaped hole in the "E" and becomes its border. Below the "E" appear, also in gold, the words "EMBASSY HOME ENTERTAINMENT®" appear. "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" just cuts in while "EMBASSY" fades in sync with the music.

Variant: The logo where the "E" is far out plays and dissolves over the 1982 logo; then a star trailing CGI dust showing the Nelson logo within spins around until it's in the center; then it fades into the Nelson logo and it proceeds from there. This appeared on a later German prints of some of their releases from Taurus Video.

FX/SFX: The moving "E", and the words appearing in sync with the music. Much better than the previous logos.

Music/Sounds: A fast paced, dramatic synth tune, which sounds almost like Japanese strings, with a rising synth note when the star comes flying in. The variant has a calmer synth fanfare that continues through the Nelson logo.

Availability: Rare. Seen on video releases of The Producers, Defense of the Realm, The Stepfather, The Video Dead, and River's Edge, among (presumably) others. Oddly, MGM Home Entertainment preserved this logo when they released Eddie and the Cruisers in 1998.

Legacy: A great logo that puts the others to shame.

5th Logo (1984?-1988?)
Logo: A sky blue background eases out revealing a large "E" like the previous three logos. As in zooms out, a white, tilted star zooms into the big space of the "E". When it runs out of room, the animation stops for a full second, showing the Embassy logo as of 1982. Next, the "E" zooms in and the star zooms out, basically the beginning in reverse. Then the following fades in:

EMBASSY Home Entertainment

Finally, when the text fades out, "Presents" fades in.

FX/SFX: The zooming of the "E" and the star.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare. It was probably seen on Spanish prints of their tapes, as it appeared on a 1987 tape of A Chorus Line from Spain.