Late Reviews

[Reduman]

It has come to my notice that over the last few months that the posting of disc reviews on High-Def Digest for blu-ray releases seems to be lagging far behind that of competing websites (blu-ray.com, dvdbeaver.com etc.)

High-Def Digest used to be my website of choice in helping me decide which blu-rays were worth purchasing, and those which are not. I guess most people use this and other sites primarily in helping them make quality purchase or rental decisions. This information on picture and audio quality is particularly important for blu-ray purchases, as most of us will often have a favourite movie on VHS/DVD already and we really need to know whether the upgrade is worth it, or not. Therefore, in order to help us make that all important decision, I need to have that information close to, or at least fairly soon after the date of availability. I notice that rival sites often tend to have this information prior to street availability. I do like to contrast and compare different reviews to get a broader picture. This is simply not possible for a lot of movies just now.

At the moment, I am still waiting for High-Def Digest on a whole slew of movies, some of which have been out for several months. One glaring example is the glorious new "restoration version" of Powell & Pressburger's 1948 [i]The Red Shoes[i], which appeared in the UK on blu-ray on 6th July 2009. Yes, I am aware that the Hi-def version is only available from HMV in the UK at the moment, but other sites have already reviewed the disc. The complete blu-ray version of Battlestar Galactica is another example of a landmark release unreviewed. Also missing are a lot of the British Film Institute's excellent blu-ray releases (with the notable recent exception of [i]Comrades[i]). The BFI is now seriously rivalling the North American Criterion label both in terms of the quality and quantity of its output on the blu-ray format. Please remember that a lot of European customers import their (North American) discs through special companies, and they also like to see reviews of World Cinema titles.

Is there a reason for these delays? If other sites are reviewing these discs then it would not seem to be a disc availability problem, or is there some other factor here I may have overseen? Too few reviewers? Other resources issues? Whatever it is, I would be delighted if in the future I could consult several websites on blu-ray software in order to help me continue to make quality purchasing decisions.

The (unfortunate) recent demise of the excellent UK magazine "HD Review" seems to point to a future where blu-ray reviews may only be available online, rather than in traditional print form. Your website has a bright future, as one of the original Hi-def review sites. It does need to play catch up to remain not only one of the most original, but one of the best websites of its kind.

[Badger3920]

Hi Reduman,

Congrats on the first post. If you take a second to thumb through this exact part of the forum (feedback), you'll notice several topics exactly like yours and the answer is always the same.

The reasons for late reviews are two fold:
1. HDD, in most cases, only reviews a disc after they have received a review copy. They have a backlog of titles they can pick from, so it makes sense that they only review films of which screeners have been sent. On occasion, if it's an exceptionally high profile release, one of the reviewers may choose to review the film by other means.

2. There are only so many reviewers and man hours available for review, so again, decisions must be made as to which discs get review first.


One way, in the past, which has been helpful in getting a review up, is if a member sends in their own disc for review (in the case that HDD has not received a screener).

Hope this helps.

[Josh Z]

Everything Badger says is correct. We rely on the studios to provide us with screener copies of the movies we review. If we don't receive a screener, that title is much less likely to be reviewed. We have enough work keeping up with the discs that do come in, and simply do not have the budget to purchase every title we don't get.

Some studios send us discs in advance of release date, but lately a lot of studios have been waiting until street date or after to send us copies (especially on catalog titles).

A couple of other points:

High-Def Digest is a U.S. based site. On some occasions, we will review imports. But those are special one-off articles, usually driven by the particular reviewer having a compelling desire to purchase and review the title outside of our normal schedule.

Alhtough I'm sure you've found other sites that review more titles than we do, or crank out their reviews more quickly, I think you'll find that our reviews are more in-depth. We will always favor quality over quantity.

[Reduman]

Thanks for the comprehensive replies, guys - I appreciate you all taking time out to reply personally.

The amount of information/threads already on a forum sometimes makes it hard for newbies like myself to find out whether answers to my questions have already been posted or not. Apologies, if you've had to repeat yourselves - it can happen.

My posting may have come across as somewhat unappreciative of the long hours you put into writing the reviews. That is certainly not the case. Please be assured that I fully appreciate you do all the work, whilst we (the readers) largely reap the benefit. If that did not come across clearly in my earlier posting, then a big 'thank you' to all involved now!!

I am currently based in central Europe. However, I source most of my blu-rays from the US or the UK - both price and content information are important factors in my purchasing decisions - so I do hope that you will continue to include some import reviews as a matter of course, which may very well be of interest to the US based reader, too! I am of course fully aware that current region coding practice as well as PAL content makes some UK/European discs inaccessible to a lot of US readers, but there are some workarounds for the region coding issue at least.

Once again, thank you for your prompt feedback.

[Badger3920]

Another way to get the information you seek is by doing exactly what you're doing here. We have a lot of groups on this site interested in imports, and readers which also live oversea. If you take the time to interact with them here on the boards, I think you'll get great heads-ups on the quality and worthwhile of some of the unreviewed or import content

[project-blu]

OP, your post did not sound unappreciative. you said many kind words about the site and the reviews, along with a criticism/concern, and we do appreciate it, and your continued viewing of the site!

[dbacksfan]

Let me second what project-blu said. We really appreciate the time it took for you to post your comments, the thoughtful way you worded your post, and your rational tone. We enjoy the dialogue with readers, and try to do our best to make the site meet everyone's needs while maintaining the high quality of reviews. Thanks again for writing, and we hope you'll continue to participate in the forums.

[GizmoDVD]

Sticky this thread.

[project-blu]

i think a review timing FAQ would be a better candidate to sticky. the thing is, though, if it got stickied, it'd get ignored and the threads would still ensue.

perhaps if it weren't stickied, and any threads in the same vein were merged in to a master thread, that'd work too. just would need a header post.

yes, you got the hamster wheel movin'.

[Josh Z]

I also address this topic in this week's HD Advisor column. You can always direct people to that:

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/3213

[project-blu]

very nice! hadn't had time to read it yet.

lolz @ it, as well. i saw the mention of the third man and was gonna go W.T.F., then saw your closing note.

josh is a trillion percent spot on here. also, in between my bigger reviews i'm trying to find time to cover some titles that did slip through those damned cracks.

it's always tough when someone would really, REALLY like to see a title reviewed, but the studio/reps didn't send it, and it seems not many people share the desire to see the review. We see this plenty as is, with the "why did x get a review, but not y" comments that spring up quite often. so really, it's impossible to please everyone.

[dbacksfan]

I also think it's important to note that when a studio sends screeners after the street date, those titles inevitably get pushed back a bit, so we can focus on the neverending flow of upcoming and current releases.

[Jwilly019]

I think the Reduman's questions have already been answered, but I would like to second (or third) one thing.

The constructive way he wrote his comment. Quite often in this kind of thread, the OP goes off on a rant about why a certain title hasn't been reviewed yet, but one of "lesser quality" did. Reduman on the other hand, made a very thoughtful post and was very civil throughout.

Well done!

[Reduman]

Just to chip in again briefly, before boring the pants off everyone! I had made some comments on another forum regarding the sychronisation of English language movies in a certain country and before I know it, I had really nasty innuendos, misquotes and a whole lot more besides heaped on me. All I wanted was a civil discussion!
My point is, one can put one's point across in a civilised (even pointed) manner, but one must be ready to accept that not all will, or can agree with you. One big no, no is being insulting, rascist or demeaning in any way. I notice this forum seems well moderated and I am sure such behaviour is quickly slapped down. I will be sure to offer my opinion more on various Hidef topics over the coming months, because I see my comments have met with reasonable - and by all accounts positive, feedback.

[GizmoDVD]

Originally Posted by dbacksfan

I also think it's important to note that when a studio sends screeners after the street date, those titles inevitably get pushed back a bit, so we can focus on the neverending flow of upcoming and current releases.

Yep...and I know the studio that does that all the time. They arrived days after release