'Gods and Generals' - High-Def Digest review

[jed]

Kenneth's review of 'Gods and Generals' is up. He says the film itself is problematic, and unfortunately this HD DVD follows suit, with a soft transfer and a bland set of supplemental features that drag the entire release down.

Full review here:
http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/1002/...dgenerals.html

[Giantfoot08]

I rented this movie, couldn't get through the first hour (1/4 of the almost 4 hour runtime). I agree with the review, nothing special with the PQ and the movie was not very good.

[bigshynepo]

I believe this is a first. Although it's not officially an HD DVD/DVD combo release, this HD DVD edition of 'Gods and Generals' makes use of the same technology, putting the majority of the disc's supplements on a standard-def flipside of the disc, presumably to give the three-plus hour feature all the breathing room it needs on the 30GB HD DVD side of the disc.

*Sigh*.........

[Ice2Dragon]

Once again, can we get reviews for movies that are COMING out that ARE worth reviewing? This movie was terrible.. why review this when theres 20 other movies out that WE want a review on..

1 1/2 stars for movie quality is a grace.. it wouldn't have gotten a star if it was me.. boring

[Ken Brown]

Originally Posted by Ice2Dragon

Once again, can we get reviews for movies that are COMING out that ARE worth reviewing? This movie was terrible.. why review this when theres 20 other movies out that WE want a review on..

Keep in mind that we're often at the behest of studio screeners and other assorted delays (shipping times, ease of finding copies on shelves if we don't receive screeners, etc) -- all of which are beyond our control. We always try to prioritize reviews by what people want. Sometimes things work in our favor and other times... well, you get a review of 'Gods and Generals' when you want something else.

Sorry for the frustration. Just know we're aware of the issue and constantly working to keep things bustling along. Thanks as always for posting.

[Ice2Dragon]

Originally Posted by Ken Brown

Keep in mind that we're often at the behest of studio screeners and other assorted delays (shipping times, ease of finding copies on shelves if we don't receive screeners, etc) -- all of which are beyond our control. We always try to prioritize reviews by what people want. Sometimes things work in our favor and other times... well, you get a review of 'Gods and Generals' when you want something else.

Sorry for the frustration. Just know we're aware of the issue and constantly working to keep things bustling along. Thanks as always for posting.

And I completely understand that, we all have lives. But to have ONLY two reviewers when theres 12+ dvd's coming out every week, theres barely one review published a day! Im in college, I write for the paper, and still have a social life but I still get everything done.

Maybe hire a third writer? But seriously, Dawn, Day, and many others have been out for a week and STILL no review. I understand the whole screening process and all, I worked in the movie business for quite sometime. But these movies are AVAILABLE TO BUY ALREADY. The reviews were great a week before hand, but now its out of control, 1 movie released this week has a review, and that was released early as it was.. (reign over me).

I love the site, and Im sure many others do, but some of us like to read reviews on movies BEFORE we blind buy, picture wise, audio wise, etc. Ive been a fan of this site since I was directed to it.. but this is getting out of control! There should be a minimum of one review published a day.. with all the movies coming out..

[Ken Brown]

Originally Posted by Ice2Dragon

And I completely understand that, we all have lives. But to have ONLY two reviewers when theres 12+ dvd's coming out every week, theres barely one review published a day! Im in college, I write for the paper, and still have a social life but I still get everything done.

Maybe hire a third writer? But seriously, Dawn, Day, and many others have been out for a week and STILL no review. I understand the whole screening process and all, I worked in the movie business for quite sometime. But these movies are AVAILABLE TO BUY ALREADY. The reviews were great a week before hand, but now its out of control, 1 movie released this week has a review, and that was released early as it was.. (reign over me).

I love the site, and Im sure many others do, but some of us like to read reviews on movies BEFORE we blind buy, picture wise, audio wise, etc. Ive been a fan of this site since I was directed to it.. but this is getting out of control! There should be a minimum of one review published a day.. with all the movies coming out..

The schedule is set at two reviews per day (one flick posts around 1am EST and one posts around 1pm EST) -- sometimes more if we have the material. As for more writers, we're always looking, but none of us are swamped or backed up with items to review so it wouldn't make an overly noticeable impact at this point on the posting turn around.

We buy a lot of titles that we don't initially receive screeners for, but I know I'd need far more disposable income to cover the amount of titles we don't get before street! HD screeners show up much later than SD screeners.

Anyway, just keep patient. We're always improving the site and are on the lookout for more staff members -- these upgrades just can't happen overnight. Thanks as always for your suggestions and input.

[ben1080p]

Judging by the discussion here...will skip the rental. deleted it from my queue.

[Monty HD]

Originally Posted by Ken Brown

Keep in mind that we're often at the behest of studio screeners and other assorted delays (shipping times, ease of finding copies on shelves if we don't receive screeners, etc) -- all of which are beyond our control. We always try to prioritize reviews by what people want. Sometimes things work in our favor and other times... well, you get a review of 'Gods and Generals' when you want something else.

Sorry for the frustration. Just know we're aware of the issue and constantly working to keep things bustling along. Thanks as always for posting.

Ken, it appears you drew the short straw on this one. How many cans of Red Bull did you have to drink to get through this one? I feel for you.

[posters5]

ice2dragon,

i used to be the managing editor at dvdtown.com, and the worst aspect of the job was dealing with surly applicants who wanted reviewing gigs when all they wrote was, "THIS MOVIE ROCKS!!!" i'm sure that HDD has the same problem. the other major snag is that everyone thinks that they only have to review movies that they like without taking one for the team from time to time. these writers stop contributing after two or three reviews. it's not easy to maintain a writing staff.

eddie

[Josh Z]

Back on topic, are the beards the actors wear as fake-looking in this one as they were in Gettysburg?

I think that would be a serious detriment to watching Gettysburg in High Definition, being able to see the strings and the glue holding the nylon bears in place.

[Cochise]

Well, to bring this thread back from the dead . . . . .

I remembered Gods and Generals got a pretty poor review when it was released and skipped it. I included a copy in my recent order for Bonnie & Clyde with Inetvideo, and was pleasantly surprised by it. I made it through about half of it last night (yes, it is a bit long) and I think it's a terrific looking HD DVD. A little slow in pacing, but some pretty interesting background material on the civil war. I was surprised that the disc appeared to be a combo disc; I didn't think it was a combo. Isn't this one of the very few HD DVDs to use the DVD side for the extra features?

I'm happy with my 10 buck splurge on this.

[Centauri]

It couldn't be worse than Gettysburg. Impossible.

[Cochise]

Originally Posted by Centauri

It couldn't be worse than Gettysburg. Impossible.

Actually, the review called it a 'prequel' to Gettysburg, made afterword to capitalize on the success of Gettysburg, and faulted Gods and Generals for that. I've never seen Gettysburg, so I have no idea; might have to slap the DVD into my Blockbuster Online Q and find out one of these days . . .

[Simón Bolívar]

this is the best WbtS movie of all time

having said that, unless you are a WbtS buff, the is only marginally better than the standard DVD; BUT, it IS better; better picture and better sound...sorry they couldn't do a Director's cut, with deleted scenes, some of which were available on a BONUS DVD that came with the SOUNDTRACK CD;

one of the deleted scenes, that of the Battle of Sharpsburg, was available briefly, on-line...

unfortunately, the release was the same;

maybe Gettysburg will be a Director's Cut??? but, it's a little hard to get by the effeminate General Lee (Martin Sheen)