Blu-ray Review HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Rock (1 Viewer)

[Paul.S]

One other thing that I assume is lost is the nice 8-page foldout booklet from the Crit. Hardly essential, but it's a nice element, featuring a reprint of Ebert's positive review of the pic.

 

[Matt Hough]

Again, I think you're being just a bit unreasonable about the role of the reviewer. If the reviewer (in this case me) reviews everything that's on the disc, those with a previous edition can see what's missing from an edition that they might have. The key to the review primarily is to ascertain what's on the disc in question and to evaluate what's there. As all catalog Blu-ray titles are going to be new versions of previously released discs, I think it's unreasonable to assume that assigned reviewers are necessarily going to have previous editions that they can use for comparisons (great if they do, but not remotely possible in every instance) or can get discs to others who might have them in time to meet street date (something studios really desire.) These other reviewers have assignments of their own and have limited time and deadlines of their own. And we also have to take into consideration trips to the post office and delivery time figured into all of this. Who's paying?

As I said before, in a perfect world, I would agree with you down the line, but I think it's simply impossible to believe that it's feasible in these instances which, if HDM continues as we all hope, are only going to become more common as time passes.

 

[Paul.S]

We'll have to agree to disagree then, Matt, as I have reasonable qualms/issues with and responses to every sentence of your first paragraph above. I just have a different, more rigorous idea in mind for what reviews of prominent catalog titles should be (for instance, I think spending more paragraphs essentially reviewing/proferring one's opinions on the film itself as opposed to PQ, AQ and supps is at best misplaced and at worst presumptuous).

I certainly don't think it's unreasonable for someone reviewing The Rock on BD to have purchased the Criterion SD DVD at some point in the past six years that it has been available and use it for comparison purposes. If you're not enough of a fan to have purchased the Criterion, then perhaps you're not the right guy to be reviewing the film for other reasons?

Assuming that because something isn't proactively mentioned in the review means it's not on the disc is dicey. What if the reviewer just overlooked it in their haste?

And you can use USPS.com to both print postage and request pickup at your house or wherever.

 

[Matt Hough]

Yes, we will agree to disagree as I do with many of your statements as well.

 

[Paul.S]

For those interested, I've just gotten word from the same friend I mentioned earlier that even the menu design highlights supps that were on the earlier DVD versus what's new to BD. AFAIC, this underscores some of the points I've made about this issue of supps on HDM, a hot topic these days given that studio studies are supposedly showing an even consumer split on whether they're important in the purchase decision or not.

He's also confirmed that neither the stills nor the Ebert review are on the disc.

So for me, this title gets move lower on the buy list compared to other releases that bring over all the supps. That rebate is sweet though. I've done my share of grousing over Di$ney choices over the years, but that rebate gets a "thumbs up!" from me.

 

[TonyD]

if by MANY you mean, you then yes, otherwise, not as important.
i read the review to see what he thinks about what is on the disc.

i go to hidefdigest or other sites to see if anything is extra or missing.

why does one have to be "fan" of a movie to review it.

as Aaron has said HTF is a community, we have people here who can usually provide the info that is asked for by some, such as what's missing from the Rock blu-ray.


anyway in spite of the couple of missing things from the CC dvd i ordered this.

am i the only one who thinks Connery's character is a nod to his Bond days.

one more thing, "agree to disagree"??
does that mean, you disagree?

 

[Keith Paynter]

It doesn't specifically mention the purchase date of SD versions, but I'm willing to bet it covers the BD release date (1/08) to 12/31. A refund for the BV SD version seems more worthwhile than the Criterion SD version. That just deserves kicking yourself in the ass.

Funny how the coupon insert (as released in Canada) compares BR to SD, using a widescreen image from Cars to represent BR, and a cropped 4:3 fullscreen image to represent SD.

Robert Harris was correct in one other point - the full-rate PCM is amazing but dangerous. I don't use a subwoofer, and the excessive dynamics during several explosions caused clipping in my receiver from my player's analog direct multi-channel outputs.

 

[Paul.S]

Sounds like just what Jerry Bruckheimer ordered!

 

[Mike Frezon]

So you've got to cut the UPC codes off both the SD AND the BD?! Ugh. That is going to put a lot of people off the rebate.

Paul: Do you know if it's one rebate at a time...which might necessitate making three separate purchases of Con Air, The Rock and Crimson Tide (in order to get three separate receipts)? Or, can all three be done on one form?

 

[Bleddyn Williams]

No, I despise all of the Swish covers. Even when the key art is nice (like Apocalypto) the Swish turned it to crap.

Disney seem to have dropped the Swish on newer releases. I think the only reason The Rock still has one is that the package was released last July in the UK, and the artwork wasn't brought up to the current style.

 

[Tim Mauldin]

This is great! First The Rock, then Con Air. Where is Tombstone?

 

[Paul.S]

Mike:


Yeah and it's especially vexing on the Criterion. I never bothered with the poorly-reviewed, non-anamorphic Buena Vista Rock, one of their very first DVDs. So to get the 'bate for Rock, I'll have to cut the Crit, which has no proof of purchase tabs, only one UPC. (At least all the Disney BDs I have sport two POPs.)

My understanding is that the 'bate form says one per envelope, but photocopies of the receipt are allowed. So buying all three discs at once should not be a problem.

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

I think you are right on target, Matt. The time we put into reviewing as much as we do (especially if it is a season of a TV show or a multi-disc review - the 5 disc Blade Runner with 5 versions of the movie and 9 hours of extras springs to mind) - it would be near impossible to meet everyone's desire with regard to comparisons etc. I would suggest that the greatest majority of those reading reviews will want to know what they are getting with that release. I know for me, I want to know #1 - Is the movie any good (High Def crap is still crap), #2 How does it look and sound and #3 what comes extra.

BTW - I will be picking this movie up as a companion to my Criterion version.

Thanks for another great review! - When do you sleep

 

[Paul.S]

Box sets of TV shows and the uber Blade Runner are horses of different colors. TV box sets have been re-released far less than various movies and, when it does happen, they are often simply re-packagings with no new/different content (e.g., when all the Friends individual seasons were out, Warner put them all together in a complete whammy).

BR is a staggering, unprecedented project with a terrific DVD producer attached and requires its own separate category/analysis. Any fan of that movie with the coin is going to get that suitcase for content, packaging, posterity . . . and origami. It's not the same situation as a (less vaunted) catalog title's HD release when there's been a seminal SD DVD predecessor. In other words, cultish fans have been clamoring to see BR done right for years, whereas most DVD consumers were generally quite satisfied with the Crit Rock.

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

Blade Runner is awesome, isn't it. By far the best release of any kind in a long time...Just incredible!

 

[Mike Frezon]

Paul: Thanks. And, yes...vexing, indeed. And I also think many will find it bothersome to be cutting up the new BD right out of the box.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Bummers! Yeah, I hate the idea of having to cut up the cover. This was partly why I had to ask about it earlier. :frowning:

_Man_

 

[TonyD]

on the br disc, all you will e removing is one of the small boxes above the upc bar code.

it's not that much really to remove for $10.
now the upc from the CC disc is another thing.

 

[Paul.S]

I'm trying to think of an alternative to cutting UPCs/POP; a happy medium between, on the one hand, combatting fraud and, on the other, enabling consumers to retain their SD DVD. Anyone?

Even if I don't want to keep it long term I, obviously, like being able to retain the SD DVD, especially when it's a terrific release like the Crit Rock. (I sure wish Sony had done this for Black Hawk Down and Fox for, oh, a ton of their releases since those BDs don't include some good if not great supps.) I can now do a "double dip" recoupment and sell the SD DVD at some point if I want. (I'll be doing that for the non-anamorph Crimson Tide.)

Man, Mike et al., would you guys prefer the rebate be predicated upon sending your SD DVD back to the studio? Just curious.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

As Matt mentioned, getting reviews posted ASAP is extremely important both to this site and to the studios. Usually screeners don't arrive until just before, or even sometimes after, the release date. Sure, it's not that tough to send an email out asking who most wants to review a particular disc, but you can't just re-mail a screener while other sites are already posting reviews or the release date is imminent. And that's usually the case.