Where are the Anchorman reviews? (1 Viewer)

[Brent M]

I was really hoping there would be some reviews of this title before it was released. I know that there is a single-disc version and also a 2-disc version that contains a whole new film that was made from all the deleted scenes. I'm just wondering if anyone has seen it or heard anything about it yet. Thanks.

 

[Nick Sievers]

Brent, my guess is that Dreamworks either doesn't send out screeners for some titles until late or they don't send them at all. Bit of a silly practice if you ask me, piracy or not reviews aren't that much of a help to me after street date.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

I have heard that Dreamworks (among other studios) has severely cut down on the number of screeners that they're sending out, due to piracy concerns.

It's a real shame, but my understanding is that there is a direct correlation between the number of screeners that go out and the number of pirate downloads on the internet. Stupid pirates.

 

[Jason Adams]

It's really an issue of small stores breaking street date. I can go to a number of stores in the NYC area and get a copy of Anchorman. Maybe thats how the pirates get to them.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

That's not what makes the studios reluctant to send out review screeners, though.

It is probably a big contributor to piracy, though.

 

[Shane Martin]

Home Theater Hifi put up a review but didn't go into the PQ much or the SQ.

They hated the movie.

 

[Herb Kane]

That’s exactly right…! And that’s exactly where their (studios) concerns should lie.

Re: review sites and piracy issues. Call me naïve but I don’t buy it – not for one second. The vast majority of sites I visit, reviews I read, reviewers I’ve met and corresponded with, are movie (and HT) fans – passionate about what they do. And I believe their passion for film and this format, never mind risking the integrity of their site, far surpasses what would or could be gained from selling pirated copies. I’m sure there are unscrupulous individuals who would jeopardize their standings with the studios or the integrity of a site, but I’d be willing to wager these individuals are few and far between.

I believe studios (not all but some) have taken on this, “hey, these things are going to sell regardless, why bother with the extra expense”… mentality. It’ll be interesting to see if their concerns carry over when the promotion of the next format is necessary. Piracy is an issue, no doubt. But in this case, I believe it’s being used as a crutch to cut back on some of the extra expenses. And frankly, I find that a tad maddening.

BTW, the majority of studios are still very “PR” friendly and my comments are relevant to only a couple who seem to no longer need the coverage.

 

[JustinCleveland]

Like Aaron said. Dreamworks sent me a review copy of Shrek 2 3 weeks after it was out in stores, nothing for Collateral, Terminal, and likely nothing for Anchorman or Ghost in the Shell 2. We only want them to succeed by getting the word out about quality product at places like DVDTown.com DVDMG.com and the HTF. Furthermore, in situations like this where there are multiple copies, we can only help by clarifying the options available to consumers. Already I'm not sure what to buy because I don't want to spend 10 dollars for what might turn out to be nothing more than a bunch of lousy deleted scenes.

 

[Josh Sieg]

I will be FIRST IN LINE tomorrow to pick up Anchorman!!!

 

[Michael Elliott]

As others has stated, not as many screeners are getting out due to piracy. Dreamworks and New Line use to send me stuff a month ahead of the release date but now the times are all over the place. ELF and SHREK 2 were never sent. THE TERMINAL showed up on release date but COLLATERAL showed up a week late. This is due to the piracy but I think studios need to look somewhere else other than reviewers.

I never thought I'd say this but those breaking street dates aren't doing anyone any good. Even when I do get a screener on time, at least ten other people on this very board already have it. Dreamworks was highly upset about COLLATERAL menu shots being posted early. These shots didn't come from a reviewer but from someone who bought the disc early.

It's not easy to review this stuff and it can get in the way of your personal life. Most, if not all, reviewers are getting paid nothing nor are the sites being paid by the studio. The site or reviewers wouldn't waste their time unless they were serious about doing their "job" so the problem isn't with them.

 

[Ira Siegel]

As for the theatrical release, I agree with the review of Anchorman at the imdb website.

Maybe the "unrated" version on DVD will be fun.

 

[Chad A Wright]

I think the studios make a big mistake by not sending out screeners ahead of time. If I've seen the movie and absolutely love it, I'll buy it, even without a review. If it's a film that I like but doesn't just knock my socks off (which I would say is a majority of my collection) I will wait on reviews before I buy it. By then, it is usually available used for about $10. I buy it like that and the studio gets no money for my purchase. If I had seen a review ahead of time telling me how great the release was, I would have probably bought it on release day, paying full price.

On the other hand, if I read a negative review of the disc, I will probably wait until I can find it used. But honestly, how often do we get a bad treatment of a really good film. Sometimes mediocre, but rarely just flat-out bad these days.

 

[Jason Adams]

Let's be real about this here. When a studio decides not to send out screeners they are not really hurting anyone besides DVD reviewing websites and the people who read them. A title of a popular movie alone gets usually 1 million+ DVD sales on the first day. The 50,000+ members on the HTF and many more readers are piddling compared to the potential DVD sales. I mean they could send out screeners, but they don't have to. Upon the coming years ladies and gentlemen, the option of having a DVD reviewed before street date will be few and far between.

That said...I am gagging for the Anchorman gift set with the extra movie.

 

[Elijah Sullivan]

I watched the Anchorman: Unrated Extended Edition this weekend and the picture wasn't so hot. Sound was alright, but the image was soft and the colors were a tad leaky. There was little to no detail in the image whatsoever; either a cruddy transfer or way overprocessed, dunno which.

Hilarious movie, by the way -- although the extended scenes aren't anything special at all. I didn't find it any funnier than the version I saw in the theater, which was already pretty freaking funny. Just more of the same, with some R-rated gags thrown in there. "I would never f*cking say "f*ck"! I'd never f*cking say that!"
being an example.

Haven't seen the Wake Up, Ron Burgundy film, yet, as it wasn't the version that my store picked up. :frowning:

 

[Josh Sieg]

I read somewhere that the unrated cut was 15 minutes longer.

 

[BrandonJF]

I wonder if the Best Buy bonus disc just includes excerpts from "Wake Up, Ron Burgundy" or if the stuff on there is exclusive to that disc. I hate it when there is a separate, premium version of a DVD and Best Buy only packages the bonus disc with the lesser version....

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Maybe they figure that if there are no reviews available ahead of time, then they can sell more copies of a shoddy product.

On a more positive note, Sony overnighted me a copy of Resident Evil: Apocalypse, and it arrived this morning. I'll have a partial review up tonight (the extras will have to wait until tomorrow -- there are 3 commentaries and a second disc full of featurettes, and I ain't stayin' up all night! ).

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Is that common? I remember that the premium edition of Master & Commander included the bonus disc.

 

[Matt Thompson]

I haven't watched the unrated version of the main film yet - it's 98 minutes compared to the theatrical cut's 94.

"Wake Up, Ron Burgundy" isn't anything special. As a huge fan of the first film, I can understand why most of these gags were cut - they just aren't funny, though the reasoning for Brick's insanity is priceless. Also, as a "sequel," it's shoddy. We see bits and pieces of cut footage from scenes in the original film. And Veronica is said to be "away receiving an award" in the first few minutes, and yet once again she's given a spot on the news team. Burgundy is also fired for a second time, though for a much less funny reason.

 

[BrandonJF]

It happens sometimes - I was wrong in this case, though. They did have the bonus disc packaged with "The Ultimate Ron Burgundy 2-Pack", although I do think the bonus disc is just repeating some of the content on the "Wake Up, Ron Burgundy" disc. I haven't checked to confirm, yet, but that's how it's reading.

When Best Buy offerred bonus discs with Van Helsing and Spider-Man, I didn't see the bonus discs offerred with the collector's edition versions of either of those. I ended up getting the bonus disc for those two from someone else who didn't care about it.