Universal snubs the on-line comminity: No reviews of E.T. and Back to the Future (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

Allow me to get on my soapboax for a moment...
It certainly was an eye-opener this week
when we all received word through our promotional
contacts that Universal is not making review
copies of E.T. (and possibly) Back To
The Future available to the on-line community.
In fact, over the past year, Universal has greatly
scaled back the product it has made available for
any of us to review.
If Universal doesn't want us reviewing two of
their biggest releases this year -- fine. You know
what? You saved me hours of work.
I do want to make a point, however, that this is
a very disturbing move. The studio readily forgets
that it was forums like ours that launched the
DVD format. It is forums like ours that provide
more DVD information than any magazine or print.
It is forums like ours that will lead the way into
the next realm of home entertainment -- Hi-Def DVD.
It's amazing that when the on-line community was
desperately needed for feedback and promotion of
the format, the studio was bending over backwards
to make sure we had promotional product. Now that
the format has gone mainstream, Universal has
conveniently forgotten who helped that format get
to where it is.
It's bad enough that most all the studios have
taken their advertising elsewhere leaving the
on-line community (the ones that helped launch
their format) struggling to stay afloat. Now,
Universal wants to head the pack in making review
copies unavailable to the Press.
This means that except for those of you who get
copies overseas or have friends in the industry,
there are going to be no early reviews for
either of these titles.

 

[Nigel McN]

That is pretty sad, is it possible that they might also think the online sites would be harder on them? I am thinking of ET specifically here.

 

[Dharmesh C]

Or, they feel that E.T. and BTTF don't need reviews as they are extremely popular titles?

 

[Dan Brecher]

Pathetic. My gift set is in stock and should ship today and be with me Monday or Tuesday and if the interest is there I will of course put my personal thoughts forward early next week.

Perhaps I'll do it in the form of a Q&A instead of a straight review as with this news of Universal shunning online communities by not sending out copies of what will be their biggest and most valued releases of the year, even when I do have it in my hands I think given this treatment they may not deserve the satisfaction of a full review.

I continue to think they have something to hide with the release of E.T, most notably the gift set. If all is not well with anything in the E.T gift set, you will be hearing about it from me early next week.

Or, they feel that E.T. and BTTF don't need reviews as they are extremely popular titles?

Given how many didn't care for E.T returning to cinemas, I'd say Universal need all the promotion they can get in order to make the average person who's seen E.T countless times of TV and VHS/LD even consider reason to buy it on DVD, especially in the form of a $70 gift set. Universal may be overestimating the DVD release just as they did the theatrical re-issue...

Dan

 

[David Lambert]

This means that except for those of you who get
copies overseas or have friends in the industry,
there are going to be no early reviews for
either of these titles.

I feared that this would come to pass on the big Universal titles, especially those two. But it's not limited to those two!
As I mentioned elsewhere, TVShowsOnDVD.com requested screener copies of both Baretta versions as well as the Law & Order box set. We were told no screener copies of those would be made available.
Additionally, Gord spoke to the owner of another DVD site - I'm not sure if it's kosher for me to name names, but most (if not all) of us know the site - who said that they too were denied Universal product review copies recently. The same story was told: "they aren't sending out any review copies".
Aside from 4 recently released titles, it sure seems like Universal does not have plans any longer to comp out review copies of their products to the online community.
We can merely speculate on the reasons: disregard for the online community in general, saving money, fear of negative press concerning new ways of delivering supplements (i.e., "Total Axess"), whatever.
What Universal will be left with is a handful of reviews by sites with people who bought the product with their own money. This tends to lead to reviews either biased in favor of the product ("I bought it because I really liked it, and just reviewed it anyway"), or really negative ("I can't believe I spent money on this crap!"). Either way, objectivity can be lost, except by those few individuals who can truly distance themselves from the money they spent (and none of these online sites are exactly rollin' in the dough, as demonstrated recently by HTF's "most important poll").
Also, there is the loss of a lot of attention drawn to these products. Attention that costs them the amount of a screener copy, rather than the advertising dollars they might otherwise spend. I suppose it's true that some of these titles don't need the publicity. Still...the dollars involved in comping the review sets should be a drop in the bucket compared to the number of extra heads turned in their direction, expecially on something expensive like Law & Order.
That's Universal's loss. But it's your loss, too. This is a sad day! :frowning:

 

[James Reader]

Well Ron, the whole E.T. release has been - quite bluntly - a farce. This has led to many (I hope, constructive) criticisms online, and even in this forum. But if this is how they react to criticism then they've only proved that such criticisms were spot on in the first place.

Looks like Universal US is lowering itself to the poor standards of the UK subsidiary.

 

[Dan Brecher]

One possible reason did spring to my mind just a moment ago. In Universal's defence here, it COULD be that the reason for lack of screeners from the studio in regards to some upcoming titles is possibly down to the fact that with the Christmas season looming disc replication facilities are as busy as they will get and this may have restricited the possibilities of further copies being pressed to go out in advance for review.

That said, E.T is done and all versions have been pressed for a while and there's really nothing to stop a studio pulling so many finished copies off of the producting line and sending them off to reviewers.

Dan

 

[JasenP]

If these were not catalog titles I would suspect Universal was trying to keep them from being pirated via P2P sites.

Because BTTF & E.T are multi-disc sets that are well above the normal price for a single disc title, I won't purchase them until I can get my hands on a review from a reputable source.

 

[oscar_merkx]

here in the UK the magazine DVD Monthly has a review of ET and it comes with the usual coverage.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

. In Universal's defence here, it COULD be that the reason for lack of screeners from the studio in regards to some upcoming titles is possibly down to the fact that with the Christmas season looming disc replication facilities are as busy as they will get and this may have restricited the possibilities of further copies being pressed to go out in advance for review.

I think that's a real stretch. If that's the case, none of us should have received Attack of the Clones this week. If that's the case, there should be no Spider-Man DVDs rolling out soon. If that's the case, it'd affect EVERYBODY, not just Universal. And I can't imagine the small amount of screeners would have much of an impact on their pressing capabilities. I don't know the numbers, but even if Universal services 200 online outlets - which is probably WAY too high, given the number of sites popular enough to attract their attention - that's an incredibly small amount of DVDs, given they'll move MILLIONS of the things.

Put bluntly, Universal has always been tough on screeners. When I first tried to round up screeners for our site back in 2000, some studios sent easily, while others were a little tougher. Universal was always the hardest nut for me to crack - it took more than a year of badgering before I finally got on their list. They maintained EXTREMELY high requirements for hit counts.

All went well for a while, but last spring, they changed their method of screener distribution. That left sites out of the loop for a period. This wasn't as noticeable because a) they didn't send out a blanket "no screeners coming" letter, and b) it didn't involve such high-profile titles. They were re-examining their policy then, and apparently they're doing it again now.

That's their right, of course, but it'd be nice if they maintained a consistent course. Other studios do it - why can't Universal? I know that it costs them money to send out screeners, but frankly, it must be a tiny drop in the bucket, and I firmly believe it's the cheapest PR they can get. For the price of one DVD and shipping, they get ads all over the Internet. Even when the reviews are bad, I feel that each one will inspire enough purchases to more than make up for the cost of the screener and shipping.

Universal's not the only studio that's been this way. Disney did this a couple of years ago, and they've shifted strategies from time to time. However, they never failed to send out huge titles like ET and BTTF. I don't know what's happening with Universal, but I hope they figure it out before long...

 

[Brent Hutto]

Speaking purely as a consumer with no insight into the review process...

It looks to me like a pretty predictable development. When the key to making money with DVD was the early adopter population, reviewer web sites were obviously the best, fastest, most direct way to reach buyers. And frankly, people were so pleased to see programming released on DVD in those early days the studios could expect most releases (if the quality was at least half-way decent) to get plenty of favorable reviews--at least favorable enough to get those early adopters to buy.

We're getting to the point now that those early adopters can be treated as an insignificant portion of the market. Since on-line criticism tends to be pickier and more demanding than mass-market media "reviewers" the studios could easily see it as a losing proposition to have 50 on-line reviews (possibly including some proportion of negative or partly-negative ones) out there the day after the screeners are shipped out. The mass-market reviews, which I would expect on balance to be less discerning (read "picky"), will tend to take several additional days to reach consumers.

If, as I suspect, the studio marketing departments think that there's even a slight tendency for on-line reviewers to point out problems that mass-market reviewers do not then it would be to their advantage to give the mass-market guys a head start. That's what I think will happen over time and it may have entered into Universal's new policy.

 

[James L White]

well anotther dumbass move by Universal, as far as ET goes I'm not gving them my moeny anyway, I like that movie but UHV doesn't deserve money from the sales of ET.:frowning:

 

[Brian Kidd]

You know, I got kind of reamed by an admin in another thread when I said that we had been the patsys of the studios and now that we had outlived our usefulness, they were going to ignore us. I guess it all comes out in the wash. I hope that when HD-DVD comes out that we're a little more careful. Big Business will always be Big Business. They're only concerned with the bottom line. Universal is only going to be the first of many studios to ditch us, I'm afraid. Oh well, it's not like we shouldn't have seen it coming.

 

[Jay E]

Since I decided not to purchase E.T. due to the rip-off price by Universal, this decision on their part only adds fuel to the fire. Universal has been one of the worst studios when it comes to DVD and it doesn't look like they'll ever change. Universal and Artisan should become golf buddies.

 

[AndrewA]

With all the things this forum and other on-line dvd sites have done for this format, you'd think Ron, et. al. have earned the respect of this industry...

 

[Jussi Tarvainen]

oscar_merkx: what did the review say? Are all of the deleted scenes really only available in that stupid Total Axxess (or whatever the hell it is) form?

 

[Jordan_E]

I have the LD of ET and feel no need to get the DVD, but BACK TO THE FUTURE is a must have and Universal's sttitude is troubling, as sites like this often help me decide on purchasing a release if I'm on the fence (transfer quality, sound, etc). At least Ron got to give us a killer CLONES review! All the positive reviews of that DVD is making it THE must-buy of the upcoming holiday season. You listening, Universal? No, I didn't think so.

 

[Dan Brecher]

Jussi,

Deleted scenes actually form part of the 50 minute documentary I believe (a recent R4 review of the two disc 2002 edition seemed to indicate this). The doc sounds like a 2002 version of the excellent hour long laserdisc documentary with new interviews replacing old but much of the same subject matter being covered.

Dan

 

[Jon_Are]

I honestly don't see what all the fuss is about. To refuse to make a purchase (that you were previously planning to make) based solely on the fact that the studio has not supplied screeners to reviewers seems, to me, like a nose-cutting/face spiting situation.

Wait until the product is released. Read some reviews. Make a purchase decision based on these reviews balanced against your feelings about the films. To do otherwise seems irrational.

It's not personal. It's business.

Jon

 

[Barry_B_B]

Sad. As much as I'd like to build my collection, I won't purchase either of these movies. Will also bend the ears of my movie-viewing friends as well