Reviewer Criteria and Comparing to DVD Editions

[KingLeerUK]

.

[Sir Terrence]

Originally Posted by KingLeerUK

Let me preface this thread by stating that I have no outright criticism of the reviewer bias here at blu-ray.com That said, I think that some of the review scores around the Supplements rating are more than a little generous. I use reviews (from this site and others) as part of my decision making criteria in the consideration of a Blu-ray purchase. As such, it would be ideal of the reviewer bias matched my own. But, realistically, this rarely happens.

As an avid home theatre fan and film collector, I've amassed a rather large collection (600+) of DVDs over the years. Since the inception, and my adoption, of the Blu-ray format, one of the more difficult decisions has been when (or if) to upgrade an existing catalogue DVD title in my collection to its Blu-ray counterpart.

I personally put a lot of importance on the supplements included with a film. I'm a rabid consumer of director commentaries and featurettes, especially those that dig into the technical details behind the making of a film. When existing Special/Collectors Edition DVD versions have such a plethora of materials available and a catalogue Blu-ray is released with nearly every feature excised it makes the upgrade question much more difficult to answer. If I am going to buy a Blu-ray of a title I already have the DVD for, I want it to be capable of replacing my current DVD and not feel compelled to hang on to the original edition just to have access to special features.

It just baffles me sometimes that a studio would go through all the effort to remaster the audio and video elements of a film for Blu-ray presentation and then omit the available supplements.

It's almost a given that any Blu-ray release is going to look (and sound) better than its standard definition DVD sibling, therefore when considering the upgrade of catalogue titles to Blu-ray, one of MY checklist items is the inclusion of supplements, specifically whether the Blu-ray version carries at least the same supplements as the previous DVD version.

Thus, I would like to request that reviewers begin providing either:

• a Supplements Comparison matrix between the original DVD version and the Blu-ray release

OR

• a bullet listing of the Blu-ray special features (in addition to any verbose description)

I know that there have been numerous threads here at the forums arguing the inclusion of special features/supplements to Blu-ray titles but that is not the purpose of this thread. I really do not want this thread to be derailed with such discussions. This thread is to discuss/request additional details to be included in the Blu-ray reviews of this site to aid in purchasing decisions.

The question might be raised, "which DVD edition to compare the Blu-ray version against?" and the answer would be whichever one is considered to be "definitive" within the same region as the Blu-ray release (R1 to Region A, R2 to Region B, etc.)

Reviewers can easily research nearly all existing DVD release features by using sites like www.dvdcompare.net

So, please continue to give us great reviews with all of the AQ/PQ details. But additionally, please give us some more details (and hopefully a side-by-side features comparisson) to existing DVD versions. This is especially important for catalogue titles!

I think this is pretty difficult to do given time constraints. I like getting my reviews up as soon as I can(and I know I share this with my fellow reviewers). Doing all of these comparison would extend the amount of time it takes to do a single review. Since we are all about bluray here, concentrating on DVD(aside from picture and audio comparison to DVD) is redundant, as there are plenty of other sites that do DVD reviews.

Maybe what you could do is a little research on your own. Compare the features of DVD on sites that do DVD reviews, to our own bluray reviews here.

[Gremal]

But isn't the description more informative, in terms of what the DVD has that is/isn't on the BD? For example, a quick glance at the revision you posted might mislead readers into thinking they're getting lots of new stuff, when in fact the DVD contained all of that and more. You happen to have the DVD, so the list works for you. Other folks may not, or they may not be as familiar with it. Thus, an explanation is in order.

That said, I'll take your request under advisement and try to provide a list. I do on some reviews.

Thanks for your comments!