Stamina

Since I am new with BD, where are the best sites or most reputable sites to get the most accurate reviews? With DVD, I would generally check 1 or 2 revews & make a decision. But with BD, I'm finding the reviews to be wildy different. For example, L.A. Confidential, a favorite. I go directly to Video Quality & Audio Quality parts. Some sites give it high marks & others say something to the affect of don't waste your money, it's not much of an upgrade over the DVD S.E. I went ahead & bought it on BD, but haven't watched it yet. I started checking around for other catalog titles & found the same thing. One says it's the best ever, another says "Mediocre". I do check DVDtalk first, but would like to know some other sites that are fairly accurate in thier reviews. Is Bluray.com legit in their reviews?

Sorry for asking something that has probably been posted a lot, but didn't know where else to ask.

Shannon Nutt

I don't think the mods will let me plug the site I write reviews for (most of you know already anyway), but I'll also point you to DVDTown and HiDefDigest. Quality reviews there.

BTW, I gave LA CONFIDENTIAL above-average marks on both Video and Audio, while also predicting that there would be a debate amongst reviewers on how good a transfer it actually was. If you're looking for "pop," then it's probably not going to appeal to you...however, if you're looking for an accurate transfer that conveys how the film originally looked (with solid black levels, light film grain, etc.), then you should be happy with what you see. In other words, Warners didn't DNR this title to death in an attempt to "wow" viewers.

scott182

Try AVSForum. They have an "in-house" reviewer who provides very detailed and reliable (if a bit overly critical) audio & video reviews, but since all the reviews are by one person, the list is somewhat short.

Pointyskull

I'd suggest DigitallyObsessed, but then again I write there.

I'd also recommend DVD-Basen as a nice searchable site for links to reviews for a given title.

Hammer99

Take any & all reviews with a grain of salt. Unless it's a universally-deplored catastrophe like Gangs of New York, if you really want something, just get it. Too many different opinions from people with too many different gear/set-ups.

Pointyskull

Yep.

Gizmo

I hit three sites.

First, DVDTalk. I've enjoyed Adam's reviews for a few years now for BD (and HD) and for the most part, we typically feel the same about a movie. My first stop.

Second, HighDefDiscNews.com. They are a great team and usually get reviews up very fast (sometimes the same day as the received it!). This is probably since they are a smal group and have less checks and balance that DVDTalk does (just a guess)

Thiird, HighDefDigest.com - only for Josh Z's (former DVDTalk Reviewer) reviews now that Ken has left.

Hammer99

I also think that Adam is the best out there, though I don't always 100% agree with him. Entertaining reviews, and I think he's the only one that has ever swayed me to get something that I wasn't otherwise planning to. Honorable mention to Gary Tooze at DVD Beaver, I disagree with him a lot more, but such a great site!

Drexl

I would suggest trying to find actual screenshots, such as on DVD Beaver and the AVS Forum. I think Adam Tyner includes some in his reviews here. Note that I am talking about 1920x1080 shots, not those that are any lower in resolution than that.

One of the problems is that there are subjective opinions WRT a title's quality. Different people have different expectations and opinions about things like grain and sharpness, and some are more sensitive to DNR and edge enhancement than others. For instance, I'm one of those who felt The Dark Knight had issues, but many people praised it, including Robert A. Harris, whom I respect a great deal for his work in restoring films throughout the years. Some claimed they couldn't see the EE.

Only by looking at the screenshots yourself can you really decide if you think it's a worthy purchase or not.

Adam Tyner

Thanks!

Our turnaround time is a little slower because everything routes to Internet Brands' offices in L.A., an editor decides who gets what, and then they're mailed off. That middle step can be pretty great -- it helps keep one writer from getting too overloaded, and it generally means whoever's reviewing a title probably wants it -- but it does mean we're usually not the first to review a higher profile title.

I think I'm the best out there too. I really do appreciate it.

Gizmo

You really are (IMO). Loved your take on Surfer Dude...what a POS movie. I should ask - since I've never been 100% certain - what is Supr's real name? I know he reviews titles here but I've never been sure which ones.

As for the delay...makes sense. I didn't know IB got the titles first and then they distribute them. I've often seen DVDTalk get reviews up before other sites (like HDD, DVDTown and myself) so I wasn't sure how each one got distributed.

Adam Tyner

Daniel Hirshleifer. He's still reviewing on the video game side of things but isn't writing DVD/BD reviews anymore.

Gizmo

Perfect, that's exactly who I thought he was.

Supermallet

At the moment I'm not even really reviewing video games anymore, either. Mostly just the rhythm games a la Rock band and Guitar Hero. I'm currently focusing on my own artistic projects. The BD gig was a hell of a lot of fun, though.

I also used to write for Digitally Obsessed back in high school, but the BD pickings were slim back in 2000.

And I always go with Adam's reviews before anyone else's. He's convinced me to buy more Blu-rays sight unseen than anyone else on the web or off it.

Mr. Cinema

I of course, will push blu-ray.com reviewers. They have a solid group. Particularly Martin Liebman, Ben Williams, and Dr. Svet Atanasov. Good to see Kenneth Brown added. I rarely check HD Digest.

jiggawhat

I don't have a favorite reviewer, but I will do is check out the various reviews for a movie that I might be interested in. It gives me a general sense of what to expect from the audio, video, special features, etc.

This site is great and use a lot: http://www.hddb.net/.

It lists all the reviews for a given title.

I do like AVSforum.com reviews because they tend to go in detail about the video and audio that not many reviewers tend to go into.