PolyGram Video and USA Home Entertainment Warning Screens

1st Warning (1982-1990)
Warning: On a black background, we see a blue bar with "WARNING" (with a black drop shadow) in white and italics. There is white warning text below the bar.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on PolyGram Video releases of the era. On PolyGram Music Video releases, it appears at the end rather than the beginning.

2nd Warning (1990-1997)
Warning: On a black background, there is a red rectangle with the standard white FBI letters and logo. At the right of the screen is white text with a red "WARNING" at the top.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Rare. Mostly appeared on releases with the "VHS Assembly" logo. One release with this warning is NFL CrunchCourse. Also appeared on the first tapes with the 1993 logo. Canadian copies of PolyGram releases from this time have this too, and a good example is the 1992 VHS of Essential Opera. It still appeared on some tapes with the "Red Line of Doom" logo, mostly NFL releases and early Mighty Morphin Power Rangers releases, used in tandem with the 4th warning.

3rd Warning (Canada, 1992-2003)
Warning: On a blue background, we see the warning text scrolling up. The word "WARNING" is above a red line. It is then followed by its French translation with the word "ATTENTION" above a red line.

Variant: Most releases use only the English or French version of this warning, depending on the language. On some VHS tapes it uses both languages. From 1992 to 1993, the warning was spaced.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on all Canadian PolyGram Video releases from 1992-1999, such as Mr. Bean, and on English VHS releases by Malofilm from 1992-1997. Can also be found on some Périodica Vidéo releases, on a Koch International VHS of Backlash: Oblivion 2, and on certain Seville Pictures DVD and VHS releases from 1997-2003. It's also seen on the Canadian VHS of Air Bud and TVA International videos.

4th Warning (1994-2002)
Warning: On a black background, we see the words "FBI WARNING" in Futura Bold. The "G" is slightly lowered compared to the rest of the phrase. Below is the white warning text in Helvetica. This is almost the same as the enhanced variant of Universal Pictures warning.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on all USA Home Entertainment releases, as well as PolyGram Video releases from 1994 to 1999. Also seen on several Sterling Home Entertainment releases and some WarnerVision/KidVision releases. It is unknown whether this was translated into Spanish for their Spanish-dubbed tape of The Borrowers. Tapes from their subsidiary Manga Entertainment, at least in the United States, had their own warning screens, detailed below, though this does appear on their initial DVD of Ghost in the Shell, which PolyGram released directly.

5th Warning (February 28, 1995-2005)
Warning: On a black background, we see a red bar with the silver words "FBI WARNING". Below is the standard warning text.

Variant: Starting in 1997, the warning is 100% 2D and here are the changes.
 * "FBI WARNING" in particular is now white with a black border.
 * The bar at the top is now a solid red without a border.
 * The warning text is also in a different font and arranged differently.
 * "FBI WARNING" is also smaller.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on most Manga tapes distributed by PolyGram Video in the United States, including Black Magic M-66, the Patlabor movies, and Psychic Wars. It was also seen on all tapes distributed by Palm Pictures, including X, The Castle of Cagliostro, and Rayearth.

6th Warning (June 20, 1995)
Warning: On a grey background, video-generated light blue Spanish warning text in a Handel Gothic font scrolls up.

Technique: Just the text scrolling.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extinct, due to Spanish-language offerings from Manga's American division being next to impossible to find, even compared to its English-subtitled offerings. Confirmed to appear on their Spanish-dubbed release of Ninja Scroll.

7th Warning (1995-1997)
Warning: On a white background, we see a black rectangle with the standard FBI letters and logo. To its left is the word "WARNING" in red, and below that, the standard warning text.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on many PolyGram-era tapes from Manga Entertainment, including Macross II, Ghost in the Shell, and Dangaioh.

1st Warning (1981-1986)
Warning: On a black background, this text is shown in white: Arial

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare. Seen at the end of the first PolyGram Video releases in the UK, such as Rankin/Bass' The Flight of Dragons and The Wind in the Willows. Also appears on many PolyGram rental releases of Spectrum Video material, including Endless Love, An American Werewolf in London, King of the Mountain, McVicar and Quadrophenia.

2nd Warning (1983-1992)
Warning: On a black background, we see the word "Arial" in. Below it is the following text in white: After a few seconds, it fades out.

Variant: On Hoyts-PolyGram Video releases, the background is white and the warning text is black.

Technique: A fade-out.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare. It's usually seen on Hoyts-Polygram Video VHS releases in Australia. Strangely, it appears on the 1995 US Video Treasures VHS of Raw Deal, as this appears after the 1987-1998 Video Treasures logo and before the Hoyts-PolyGram Video logo, even though it's sourced from an Australian master.

3rd Warning (1984-1998)
Warning A: On a black background, we see the word "Arial" in orange, and below is the following text in orange: Arial

Warning B: After the above text fades out, we see the following text fade in, in exactly the same font as the first warning: Arial

Variant: Sometimes, the duplication notice is absent. This can be seen on British 4 Front Video and Channel 5 Video VHS releases.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability:
 * Seen on all British PolyGram Video releases from 1984 to 1998.
 * It can also be found on releases from UK companies PolyGram acquired, such as Vision Video and Channel 5 Video releases.
 * Starting in November 1990, coinciding with the PolyGram Video "VHS Assembly" logo's debut, the warning appeared at the start and end of later PolyGram Video releases from 1990-1992.

4th Warning (1990-1999)
Warning:: On a black background is the following text scrolling up, and in capitals: Arial Arial

Variant I:: On later years, different font, similar to Helvetica, was used.

Variant II:: On later releases with the certain tapes, the text is replaced by the following: Arial Arial

Technique:: The text scrolling up.

Music/Sounds:: None.

Availability:: Seen on PolyGram releases in Australia, such as It's Fun to Learn with Spot Colors and Shapes, Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, Out of Africa (Universal) and Hard Target (Universal).

5th Warning (1992-1997)
Warning: On a black background, we see the word "Arial" in the same font as the 1992 PolyGram logo in white, and below is the following text (also in white): Arial

Technique: The fading of the text.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on British PolyGram Video releases from 1993-1997, as well as some American releases. Sometimes, at the end of UK VHS tapes, the warning screen is shown after the PolyGram Video logo.

6th Warning (1997-1999)
Warning: On a black background, we see the word "Arial" in white, and below is the white warning text from the previous warning, and after 20 seconds it fades out, sometimes slower.

Technique: The fading of the text.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on British PolyGram Video releases from 1997-1999. Sometimes, at the end of UK VHS tapes, the warning screen is shown after the PolyGram Video logo.

7th Warning (1998-1999)
Warning: On a black background, we see the following text: Times New Roman

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on British PolyGram Video DVD releases, such as The Game.

(1993?-1999)
Warning: On a black background, the 1993 PolyGram Video logo animates as normal, however, once it's done, the following text in begins scrolling up as the logo fades out:

Arial

Following the scroll, publish info scrolls up and settles on the center of the screen.

Translation: Arial

Variant: Some releases have the text in a more plain blue color and in a slightly different font. The publishing info also varies depending on the release.

Technique: The logo animating, the text scrolling.

Music/Sounds: For the first few seconds, just the sounds of the logo. Afterwards, it's silent.

Availability: Seen on German PolyGram releases including Barney's Insel der Fantasien (Barney's Imagination Island).

Legacy On the regular variant, where is the year of publishing, and why are "PolyGram GmbH" and the publish symbol spaced so far apart?

(1993-Late 1990's)
Warning:: On a black background is the following text, all scrolling up:

Translation: Times New Roman

Technique: The scrolling up.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on Spanish PolyGram Video releases such as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers TV series.

1st Warning (Mid 1980's-1997?)
Warning: On a black background, we see the following text flipping in: Arial

Translation: Arial

Variant: The pre-1993 tapes had the warning text in uppercase. On post-1991 tapes, the background is. It also fades in and out.

Technique: The flipping of the text for the standard variant. The fading of the text for the pre-1993 variant.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on French PolyGram Video releases such as Cabaret and Rai.

2nd Warning (1997-1999)
Warning: On the same background as the 1997 PolyGram Filmed Entertainment logo (and other PolyGram logos at the time), we see same warning text in white from the previous warning. After 15 seconds, the warning text fades out, and the word "Arial" fades in.

Technique: The warning text fades out after 15 seconds, and the word "Arial" fades in.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on later European French PolyGram releases.