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

[Paul Arnette]

This is unfortunate, though, for some reason, I am not surprised by Universal's actions. As another poster noted, both Artisan and Universal have got to be the two worst studios for DVDs these days. Albeit for different reasons.
I, for one, will not be purchasing E.T. until I read a review of the original theatrical release, and then only if I can find the box set at a reasonable price.
As far as Back to the Future is concerned, I could either take it or leave it. Perhaps I will put it on my Chirstmas list.
I'm just really sorry I just forked over a $120.00 to Universal for their Universal Classic Monsters box set yesterday. :frowning:

 

[Eric Peterson]

If I weren't for the fact that I order the Collector's from Suncoast when they had the wrong price listed, I would be cancelling my order. I will definitely wait for reviews before opening the set though. If the Original Cut isn't truly the Original Cut it will be going on Ebay shortly there after.

 

[Jay Mitchosky]

The studio readily forgets
that it was forums like ours that launched the
DVD format.

But they'll conveniently remember when it comes time to flog the next HD format. :rolleyes
For those who are considering boycotting to prove your point: Don't waste your time. You will prove nothing, and ultimately will help reduce the sales numbers for widescreen which is the last thing we want. If you think such efforts will actually have an impact you are mistaken. All that happens is you miss out on a title you would otherwise enjoy. We are now the minority.
I love the nose cutting/face spiting comment above.

 

[Chad A Wright]

I have never been a fan of ET, or BTTF anwyay, so it's no I wasn't planning on picking them up anyway. Now it's just another reason not to give them my money.

Dave: I agree that reviewers having to purchase discs leads to extremely positive or negative reviews. I review DVDs for the paper I work for. Some studios send some screeners, but most I have to buy on my own. The ones the studios send me, I call reviews. The ones I buy are just recommendations.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

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

Share some details with us I know it's R2 they're looking at but it might have a lot to say about the image and sound we are to expect on the R1 as well.

 

[Jon_Are]

...this is a very disturbing move.

Is it fine? Or is it very disturbing?

Jon
who thinks it's fine.

 

[Patrick McNeal]

I don't blame them for holding back on the screeners for review. Most reviewers on-line will rip them to shreds just because it's "hip" to be negative these days, and I'm sure someone will bitch and moan over the fact that there is a compression artifact in frame 87,432, or that the OAR was actually 2.3683256598:1 and not 2.35:1, and therefore won't be giving Univer$al their money.
For cryin' out loud. It's E.T. and Back to the Future! Who needs a review? If you don't like the movie, don't buy it. Let's try to remember these are not historical documents, they are works of fiction, designed strictly for entertainment.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

There are plenty of postive reviews out there too.

IMO, most of the negativity in reviews stems from problems in a DVD presentation that could have been avoided with a little care/planning on the part of the studio.

In any case, yes, I'm sure many of us will buy this disc and enjoy it regardles of the image or sound fidelity.

 

[Ted Todorov]

What nobody has mentioned is that Vivendi (aka Universal) fired its boss, Jean-Marie Messier recently, and the bean counters now in charge are running, very, very scared.
My guess is as follows: Any saved pennies be it from screeners not sent out or from cuts in the QA budget, which allows mistakes like the non-anamorphic Monsoon Wedding out the door look good to the bean counters. The fact that they may lose a lot more than just a few pennies as a result doesn't cross their "minds".
Ted

 

[BrettB]

"You're killing him!"
Holy crap! More bad news attached to the release of my beloved E.T.. What a shock. I can't wait to get this in my hands (or more accurately into my player) so I can forget about all the bad stuff, if only for a couple of hours.
Edit to add: Mr. Brecher, I am very interested and would very much appreciate your comments next week.

 

[Chuck L]

OR...you could simply copy another un-named studio this past year and make up reviews! :b

 

[Matt Goddard]

I decided against ET long ago because I'm afraid of the shoddy treatment the "real movie" is getting. The only thing that could make me change my mind is a glowing review beforehand from someone who actually watched it and not some studio hack who writes press releases for a living. If Universal isn't providing screeners, then there goes their last chance to get my business on this one.

I really don't understand the dollars and sense on this. Sure, the number of people who rely on a review is probably pretty small, although I will wait for reviews on some titles. On the other hand, how many screeners do they actually send out? Because of all the preexisting concern over ET, I'm confident that Universal will lose more sales over this move than they would have saved discs. In other words, they may save 40 or 50 screener discs, but I'm sure they'll lose at least 41 or 51 customers.

As for BTTF, I've already preordered it, but I was waiting for reviews before I decided whether or not to pick up additional copies for Christmas gifts. Hopefully, I will have my Xmas shopping done by December 17, so I guess that means they just lost any extra sales to me. I hope Universal wasn't planning on me buying the copy that would have otherwise gone to Ron, because I'm not picking up anymore.

 

[Dave H]

I am tempted to cancel my pre-order of the E.T. box set (which I ordered for $24.00). I guess I can always sell it on E-Bay if I am not happy with it. I agree that this whole thing is shaddy.

 

[Jan Strnad]

I think Ted has it nailed. They're cost-cutting at Universal. When I was on staff at Disney, we got a memo urging us to conserve paper clips...the same year that Michael Eisner got a $220 million salary/bonus. That's the big studios for you.

It's disheartening to find that you're not as important to some people as you used to be when they needed you, but DVD has entered the mainstream and, well, there you are. We have our role as a vocal minority, but we are still...a minority.

Jan

 

[TonyD]

does this --no reveiw copies only apply to the internet or does it also apply to all print type media

such as newspapers and magazines?

 

[Doug_R]

I don't really see the problem here. What's the difference between having a review before a disc is released and a review that's done the week it's released? Just wait until Friday or so. I'm sure there will be the same amount of reviews up so you can decide whether or not to pick it up that weekend when sales are still going. Why all the Univeral bashing?

 

[Rain]

I continue to think they have something to hide with the release of E.T...

I suspect the same.
But like I said before, if it doesn't contain the Original Theatrical Version and I do mean every single line of dialgoue included back it will go and a refund I shall have.
There are more than enough uncensored movies on DVD to keep me busy for a very long time.

 

[Declan]

I agree with Ron and many of the comments made by the members here regarding Universals actions. So there is really nothing that I can say here that has'nt been said in the past 2 pages other than Universal's "been counters" better watch out as this will certainly come back to bite them. As Universal over here in the UK is shoddy as anuthing when it comes to releases of new and old films. New ones are given a rental window for a few months (when anybody who did want to own that particular film imported the r1 version months before hand) and for old titles the best we can hope for is a trailer, 5.1 sound and 16:9 releases of older films are rare on Universal UK label. Mallrats had only a trailer on it compared with the R1, plus it came out only around 6 months ago, pathetic. I'll miss those laserdisc days of the great Signature Collections that Universal were proud to make. As for now....
Do Universal give a shit..........NO.
Do they care............No

Well as a film lover and Home Thatre fanatic, they should take a look at Fox (as should a few other companies). They may have started out on the wrong foot, but Jesus they have more than made up for it over the past few years.

Will I be buying ET and BTTF discs, of course. Because I love those films. At least I have the original of ET on laser I can just get the regular edition.



Universal get you Fu*king act together.

 

[Rob T]

That's too bad. :frowning:
oh well. I'm not interested in buying ET or BTTF anyways.

 

[Tom Ryan]

I can't say this bothers me too much. I highly doubt Universal's going to fumble with these releases, and I don't think people are going to be buying them based on reviews (well, maybe a few people around here might). It's a little annoying that we don't get an early peek, but I would've bought E.T. and BTTF either way.