Thursday, 15 March 2012

Mad at some Blu Ray Product Reviews

Frustration
I decided to write this post out of frustration with some aspects of the user review process that some websites offer their customers, specifically DVD/Blu Ray online retailers.

While I do prefer to shop online where there are reviews visible I often find myself feeling angry at some people who make comments on the product in question. Why? Because some comments are so contrasting that I have to wonder what motivates some people to write reviews in the first place.   I realise that everyone is different and has a unique perspective but how can the same product get simultaneous 5 star and 1 star reviews?  In some cases I have bought a Blu Ray movie and then come to the conclusion that half the reviewers were either mad or full of shit.

Some of the things I wonder about when reading reviews
Are they writing to promote themselves, their own business, Blog or have another agenda?
Are they just writing maliciously for the fun of it or just to be controversial?
Do they own a proper BD Player and a HD capable TV with 5.1 Surround Sound system attached?
Do they have good taste or would they have trouble distinguishing between 'Shit and Shinola"?
Are they actually nuts?

Simple facts in life 
Some people like to bitch and some people are never happy, so how do I identify these people without having to leave the webpage I'm on? The few that write honestly and intelligently are lost in the crowd and are sometimes impossible to distinguish from the rest of the reviewers. To add to the confusion some websites bring in DVD release comments automatically to start off the commenting process on their Blu Ray upgrades and this is sometimes misleading. These are never removed afterwards so it is quite common to be reading about the wrong product.

What was I looking for that prompted this Post? 
I was looking for a particular Blu Ray movie (Platoon) and I found the title on 2 of the biggest DVD sites, one site had 5 reviews which were all positive and the other had 46 which were mixed.

My only concerns when buying Blu Ray is that the picture and sound must be superior in almost every way to the original DVD releases and this is the rule of thumb that I use while shopping.  More than likely I will have previously seen the movie on DVD so I don't need to know the synopsis and I don't want to read everyone's opinions of the plot.

My Suggestion
I long for the big websites to set up or add a quick 5 star review to measure improvements between DVD and Blu Ray versions that would run alongside the normal 5 star review given to the movie.  I wouldn't then be forced to trawl through all the conflicting comments left by people and decide to take it or leave it on the spot.

Rant over
I do believe that improvements can be made in the way reviews are structured but I also realise that complications can arise at the website coding level. A small idea to the unknowing can be a major coding nightmare for a development team.  Maybe someone more important and connected than me will decide to add my suggestion above. Until then, I will continue being quietly annoyed.

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