Page 1 of What no Superman Returns review?

Am I just jumping the gun here a bit? I just thought that there would be a review here of this by now. I`m hoping the film gets a fairer and more even handed treatment here than it does on places like iMDb. The lunatics there send me into spasm, they really do. I reckon the fairest review I`ve read on the net so far is perhaps this one:

http://www.dvdreview.com/reviews/pages/2488.shtml

Watching the film again on DVD, I love it even more. I do agree with some of the concerns (a little bit more action wouldn`t have hurt), but I also feel many of the criticisms are totally unfounded. For me, Singer did a beautiful job. Without the emotional grounding in Superman, we couldn`t believe in it, but the elegance with which Supes is portrayed seriously floors me. Film of the year for me, even though it was utterly upstaged by those damn Pirates in the bloody Carribbean!

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"We gotta go to the crappy planet where I`M the hero"!

By and large, reviewers only review the discs that PR companies send out. Sometimes they send out big-budget films like `V for Vendetta`, `King Kong`, `The Break-Up`, `X-Men: The Last Stand` or `The Hills Have Eyes` but, in the main, the discs that are sent out to Reviewer Ltd to be reviewed tend to be films that would otherwise go under the radar.

Reviewers can review their own discs but if a DVD is going to be a big seller and is practically `critic proof` (such as POTC 2) then the PR department will see no reason to send out free review copies to an online review site

If you want to lend me your copy of Superman Returns, I`d be more than happy to review it!

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David Beckett
Site reviewer, DVD Reviewer

My Top 20 Horror Movies ---- My DVD Collection
Now you do not punish a girl, Dutch or otherwise, for having big boobs.

Nice try. ;)

Have you not bought it yourself yet? Amend this immediately young man! I reckon it`s well worth a punt. Still, I`m surprised to hear it`s not been sent to you. Superman Returns almost did slip under the radar didn`t it? I`d have thought they would want the exposure.

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"We gotta go to the crappy planet where I`M the hero"!

This item was edited on Saturday, 9th December 2006, 12:25

Thing is, there`s no real incentive for reviewers to put in hours of their own time reviewing titles from their own collection. That`s basically just giving the studios free publicity, and far too many of them are already guilty of wanting something for nothing (like reviewing a massive four-disc King Kong set then sending it back). They are all so paranoid about `piracy` that they hardly send any of the big titles out these days though.

There were no check discs for Sith, the Star Wars trilogy (all three releases), the Matrix films, or most of the big BV/Disney releases like Pirates. Universal are odd, as they do send out check discs for some of the big releases, bit it`s hit and miss as to whether they`re watermarked. Sony and Warner are the worst offenders though. The agreement that Warner want people to sign would bankrupt most small countries if they fell foul of it, let alone an online DVD magazine.

It may or may not come as a surprise to learn that the majority of discs sent to sites are from smaller, independent labels (HKL, Metrodome etc). They generally benefit from the exposure that a review brings, because they don`t have the marketing millions of the big companies. They`re a lot easier to deal with and actually listen to feedback.

There is the Reader Review option.

If you feel up to it, you can put together a few words and register your own opinion.

If the disc isn`t on the site, drop us an e-mail. I`m sure RJS would love the extra work :p

As an added treat, should your reviewing ability excel, you may get offered a position as reviewer, the next time one of those hotly contested vacancies opens up.. We do have that backlog of Charlotte Church DVDs...

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Jitendar Canth

Quote:
"I thought what I`d do was, I`d pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes."

My Top 20 movies at YMDB
Site Reviewer at DVD Reviewer

This item was edited on Saturday, 9th December 2006, 14:42

If I get the time, Jitendar, I`d certainly love to put a review in. What`s put me off in the past is that I`m just not so good at putting how I feel about a film into words. My missus frowns at my descriptions of films I`m trying to recommend we watch, and generally just gauges how good it is by how over-excited I am! I`ll give it a go though, and will certainly submit one for Returns. Just don`t expect too much. I don`t reckon I`m Reviewer material.

Of course I suspected that the studios would make life difficult for online reviews sites. It`s difficult enough for paper media to get the breaks with these ba**ards, let alone a "free" online DVD magazine. I`m amazed though, that you guys have to send check discs back to them in the past after review. "Tight" is not the word....

But overall, I value your opinions here, and would love to have seen your take on Kal-El`s comeback gig. Still, it`s Warners loss as much as it is your readers I suppose eh?

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"We gotta go to the crappy planet where I`M the hero"!

"Tight" definitely isn`t the word. "Paranoiac" would be better. I`ve even had to Special Delivery back (at my own expense) check discs which have had "Property Of Universal Studios Home Entertainment" watermarks on the picture throughout - and only a week or so before the street date, so Zod knows how screwy they are about piracy.

How does my opinion rate about Superman Returns, BTW?

J Mark Oates

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Years ago, my mother used to say to me --
she`d say, `In this world, Elwood, you
must be --` She always called me Elwood.
`In this world, Elwood, you must be oh,
so smart or oh, so pleasant.` Well, for
years I was smart. I recommend pleasant.
And you may quote me.

Guess it depends on the company supplying the discs. I`ve been reviewing for blogcritics.org for the last few months and have received several DVD`s and CD`s and haven`t had to return any. Warner`s are funny about sending anything pre-release though. I`ve had The Complete Exorcist set, Forbidden Planet and the recent Brando box set but all after they`ve hit the shelves.


Mine Was Taller

Forbidden Planet???

Who or what did you have to sleep with to get that? ;)

J Mark Oates

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Years ago, my mother used to say to me --
she`d say, `In this world, Elwood, you
must be --` She always called me Elwood.
`In this world, Elwood, you must be oh,
so smart or oh, so pleasant.` Well, for
years I was smart. I recommend pleasant.
And you may quote me.

Warner occasionally contact sites directly to offer stuff that they`re heavily promoting at the time. We`ve had a number of retail boxed sets, which they actually let us keep.