HBO Home Entertainment/Warning Screens

1st Warning (November 1981-1982)


Warning: On a black background is the following text in white:

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare. Found on the earliest Thorn-EMI Video releases, preceded by the still Thorn-EMI logo.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Warning (1982-1985)
Warning: On a black background, two red lines appear near the top. On top of the first big line, "Arial Black", in white and in big letters, types itself in. Then, in the middle of the lines, "Arial", in white as well, types itself in. On the bottom of the second red line, "Arial", also white, types itself in. Finally, below that, the following text in white types itself in: Arial Variants:
 * As seen at the end of American prints of Duran Duran, the British version of the warning uses a different warning text. This variant was also seen on many tapes released by SVS.
 * A black and white variant exists on the 1983 VHS of The Captain's Paradise.

FX/SFX: The words being typed in.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on all Thorn-EMI Video releases of the era in the US and the UK, including Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings. This also appears on a variety of locally-pressed New Zealand tapes by various distributors (Thorn-EMI Video had left there in 1985), and also on UK tapes released by Cannon Video from 1986-1990.

Editor's Note: This warning, alongside much of the subsequent warnings, says that "editing" tapes is illegal, which shouldn't actually be if splicing VHS tapes to fix them counts as "editing". This part of the warning became the subject of a spoof in episode 23 of Oddity Archive, "Scary Logos (and Other Nostalgic Video Terrors)", in which the series' host (Ben Minnotte) mentions this, only to open his house door to discover cops sent by the FBI, who beat him up (off-screen) for doing so.

3rd Warning (1985-1988)


Warning: Same as the Aries Video warning.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on most Thorn-EMI/HBO and HBO/Cannon releases, as well as 1987-1988 HBO Video releases, early GoodTimes Home Video releases, and Aries Video Corporation releases. Does not appear on the first edition release of Amadeus, though the second edition release, from 1986, does have it.

Editor's Note: Same as the last warning.

4th Warning (1988-1993)
Warning: On a fuchsia/dodger blue gradient background, the words "Arial Black" appear on top with the same text from the previous warning below, all in white.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on HBO Video releases of the era, such as Mr. and Mrs. Bridge, Mom and Dad Save the World, and Ricochet.

Editor's Note: Same as the 2nd warning. The background colors are also a eyesore.

5th Warning (August 19, 1992)
Warning: On a gray backdrop of multiple copies of the HBO Video logo, we see the red words "Arial " with an underline and the warning text from the previous warnings below, all in white.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Used alternatively with the previous warning. Seen on

6th Warning (1993-2005)
Warning: Same as the previous warning, except the warning text is in a yellow Century Gothic font, and it stands against a shimmering red curtain with multiple copies of the HBO Home Video logo.

FX/SFX: The curtain shimmering.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on HBO Home Video releases of the era. It is unknown whether this ever appeared in Spanish or the Spanish-subtitled release of Last of the Dogmen used the standard version.

Editor's Note: None.

7th Warning (1997-2003)


Warning: Same as the 1997 PBS Home Video warning.

Variant: On ''Do You Believe in Miracles? The Story of the 1980 U.S. Hockey Team'', the warning appears squeezed.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on certain DVD releases from HBO, such as Flashpoint, Jeff Foxworthy: Totally Committed, Above Suspicion and Ellen DeGeneres: Here and Now. Also on PBS DVD releases, as well as the Trimark Home Video DVD release of Hercules in New York.

Editor's Note: None.

8th Warning (1998-January 14, 2020)
Same as the 1990-2005 MGM Home Entertainment warning screen at the time.

Variants: 
 * Starting in 2005, the warning is presented in widescreen.
 * On Blu-rays, such as Game of Thrones: The Complete Fourth Season, the warning text is rearranged.

Availability: Seen on certain DVD releases from HBO such as My Big Fat Greek Wedding and 61*, as well as shows like Everybody Loves Raymond, Entourage, and The Sopranos. Also used as a warning for MGM/UA Home Video and for New Line Home Entertainment.

Editor's Note: None.

9th Warning (January 6, 2020- )
Same as the Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Warning Screens at the time.

Availability: Seen on current American HBO releases distributed by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment since January 6, 2020.