1981-1982
Nickname: "The USA Flag"
Warning: On a background that's split in 2 sections, a blue stripe on the left, and the rest is white, we see a green "FBI" with the FBI seal below in the blue area surrounded by 21 gold stars, and in the white area we see "FBI WARNING" in red at the top and below is the "$250,000" warning. The result looks a little bit like an American flag.
Variant: The word "FBI" is white.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Ultra rare, it's only known to be seen on early prints of Deadly Games and Spacekeeters. However, a split second appears at the beginning of this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVY0lI_5BTQ)
Scare Factor: None, but it gets really bad with the next warning...
1982-1990
Nicknames: "Blinking FBI", "The FBI of Doom", "FBI Warning of Doom", "The Warning That Gives People Nightmares", "Ominous FBI", "The Headlight"
Warning: We see a white outline box, with a white filled box with "FBI" in black. Below it is a black box, with the word "WARNING" in red, which blinks on and off, and below it is the Warning text in white.
Variations:
- On some releases, the warning fading in from black rather than cutting from black.
- Early tapes with this logo had slightly different warning text that was capped off with the copyright year and was in all caps. It's also more compressed to make room for "CABALLERO CONTROL CORPORATION" at the bottom of the black box. Also, "WARNING" blinked at a faster rate and by the time the screen fades to black it had blinked 23 times.
- On U.S.A. Home Video releases, the warning screen splits into quarters, which exit to all four sides of the screen. It then segues into the U.S.A. Home Video logo.
- Later Monterey tapes with this warning screen had this split in half at the end and the two halves move toward the left and right edges of the screen to make room for the Monterey Home Video logo.
- On some prints of I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, the red "WARNING" text is strangely deleted.
- A still version of this was spotted on Monster Madness Volume 1.
- A variant exists where the red "WARNING" text isn't blinking, the text is all set in Times New Roman font and fades in and out smoothly. This variant appeared on Palm Beach Entertainment releases.
- On Camp Video releases, the background is grey with white bar (a la the Castle Hendring, New World Pictures and Orion Pictures logos), the warning text is black, the word "WARNING" changes colors and the word "FBI" is red.
- On Celebrity Home Entertainment releases, the words "FBI WARNING" is red and in drop shadow, mentioned above and all in capitals.
FX/SFX: The word "WARNING" blinking.
Music/Sounds: None.
Music/Sounds Variants:
- On the U.S.A. Home Video variant, after 7 seconds of silence we hear a loud synthesizer blare that segues into the U.S.A. Home Video logo theme.
- On Magnum Entertainment releases, the first second of the logo theme begins at this warning's final second.
Availability: This warning screen was first seen on most FHE/USA/IVE releases from 1983-1988. It has also appeared on various other companies' tapes too, some of them not affiliated with IVE, FHE, or USA (i.e: Tenth Avenue Video, Magnum Entertainment, V.E.C., VCA Pictures, and Classic Family Entertainment). The warning remained on FHE releases until 1990 and can also be seen on early King Bee tapes. It is also seen on tapes from Caballero, especially the earlier variant, which can also be seen on the Monterey Home Video release of Deadly Games, among possible others. However, later prints have the normal version instead. The variant with the Times New Roman font appeared on Palm Beach Entertainment releases from the mid '90s.
Scare Factor: Medium to nightmare, because of the word "WARNING" blinking on and off, including the jarring cut to scary logos. Raised even higher for the U.S.A. Home Video variant; the suddenness of the logo splitting as well as the loud synth blare can really make an unsuspecting viewer jump. Low for those who are used to seeing the regular version and the Monterey Home Video variant. None for the Monster Madness Volume 1 variant, and minimal for the I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings variant.
1984-1987
.jpg "Vidmark Entertainment (Warning 1).jpg (59 KB)")
Warning: Same as the 1982-2004 Sony Pictures Home Entertainment warning.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Can be found on certain early Vidmark Entertainment releases.
Scare Factor: Low.
1987-1989
Warning: Almost the same as the Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Warning Screen from 1982-2004, except the FBI seal is taken out, the word "FBI WARNING" in purple and below is the warning text in italics.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Can be found on certain Vidmark Entertainment releases.
Scare Factor: None.
October 6, 1988-2013
.JPG "Artisan-FHE-Lionsgate (Warning 2).JPG (3.44 MB)")
Warning: We see the word "WARNING" in red, and in 3D. Below it is the warning text in white, and in italics.
Variations:
- On some tapes, the top text was referred to as "FBI WARNING".
- Some IVE and Live Home Video releases, as well as Vidmark Entertainment releases, have a gap between two sentences, as well as smoother text.
- On Lionsgate releases from 2001 to 2013, the word "WARNING" is in white and in the same size as the warning text, which is now smaller.
FX/SFX: None.
Music: None.
Availability: This warning screen is currently present on all late IVE, Live, Artisan, Vidmark, FHE, and Lionsgate releases. Also appears on later Vestron Video releases after Live Entertainment acquired Vestron. Also seen on Pioneer Entertainment and Vidmark Entertainment releases as well. The warning appeared later on Vidmark releases in 1989, on FHE releases in 1990, on Vestron releases in 1991, on Pioneer releases in 1993 and on Baby Einstein VHS tapes from 2000 to 2002. Until 2013, it was still seen on some recent DVD releases such as the 2006 DVDs of Employee of the Month and The Invincible Iron Man, and the 2009 DVD release of My Bloody Valentine. Don't look for a French version of this warning on French-language Lionsgate releases, because they use the Astral Video warning screen instead. Starting in 2013, they used the new FBI Anti Piracy warning screens.
Scare Factor: None. Much better than the previous warning.
May 11, 1989-July 20, 1989
Warning: Against a blue background, we see a white box outlined in black. The left half contains a black box with "FBI" and, to the right, warning text.
FX/SFX: None.
Music: None.
Availability: Exclusive to IVE releases under the King Bee Video label.
Scare Factor: None, though it may surprise those expecting one of the other two warnings.
1997-2006
.jpg "Trimark Home Video-Lionsgate Home Entertainment (Warning 1).jpg (66 KB)")
Warning: Same as the enhanced variant of 1980-2005, 2006 Universal Studios Home Entertainment warning.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Seen on certain Trimark Home Video and Lions Gate Home Entertainment releases, such as Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, Akeelah and the Bee, Saw, and Sometimes They Come Back for More, and also seen on MCA, MCA/Universal and Universal VHS tapes from 1991 to 2005, on laserdiscs from 1988 to 2000, and DVDs from 1997 to 2005.
Scare Factor: None.
1997-1999
.png "Trimark Home Video-Lionsgate Home Entertainment (Warning 2).png (723 KB)")
Warning: Almost the same as the Columbia Music Video Warning Screen from 1993-2006, but the word "WARNING" is very bolder.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Seen on the DVD of The Shadow Riders.
Scare Factor: None.
1997-2005
.jpg "Trimark Home Video-Lionsgate Home Entertainment (Warning 3).jpg (79 KB)")
Warning: Almost the same as the enhanced variant of Universal Studios Home Entertainment Warning Screen from 1980-2005, 2006, but the white warning text is in the center and the word "WARNING" is different.
Variants:
- On some releases, the word "WARNING" is slightly different.
- Starting in 2003, the word "FBI WARNING" replaces "WARNING".
FX/SFX: None.
Cheesy Factor: "FBI WARNING" is extremely cheap-looking
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Seen on a DVD release of Latana and SNL: The Best of Will Ferrel. It was also seen on Anchor Bay and Starz releases from the late 2000s to the early 2010s.
Scare Factor: None; this is simple and boring.
1999-2001
Warning: On a black background, we see the red circle with the word "WARNING" and below is the white warning text. A few seconds later, "ATTENTION" replaces it.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Seen on the DVD of All of Me.
Scare Factor: None.
1999-2000
Warning: On a black background, we see the text "INTERPOL WARNING" and the standard warning text below.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Seen on reprints of Stickin' Around tapes (the ones that use the Lions Gate Home Entertainment logo with music from the Avalanche Home Entertainment logo in place of the Cinepix logo).
Scare Factor: None.
2005-present
Warning: On a black background with Lionsgate logos (a la the 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, Anchor Bay Entertainment and MPI Home Video warnings), we see the strange word "WARNING" and the white warning text.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Seen on Lionsgate Home Entertainment releases. On most releases, it doesn't appear. Nowadays, it is no longer used at the beginning of Lionsgate DVDs post-2013, being swapped in favor of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment's new warning, but however, it is still used at the end of the releases.
Scare Factor: None.
2013-present
Warning: Same as the 2011-present Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment warning.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Brand new. Seen on newer Lionsgate DVDs and Blu-Ray Discs.
Scare Factor: None.