This question came to me when I checked out the review of Deep Blue Sea before picking it up in the WalMart $4.88 bin.

The reviews of that movie rave about its video quality, even though it's an older release. It got me to wondering - with discs like that, is it still considered that good, or was it just good for its time? How is one to know?

What happens when reviews become "outdated"? Would that disc's video still get as high a review if it was being reviewed today?

I remember when the original DVD for True Romance came out. I was certainly impressed with the quality, as it blew away the VHS. Now it looks pretty bad, compared with newer transfers.

Same goes for video games. We used to fawn all over PS1 games because of their amazing new polygon graphics. Anyone tried to play a PS1 game lately?

So, to answer your question, I doubt it would get the same high marks today.

The ratings for "extras" seem to change over time too. Back when it was first released New Line's "Austin Powers" DVD probably would have gotten a near perfect score for extras, while today those amount of bonus features would rank as about average for a release.

There's just not enough hours in the day to go back and edit old reviews with updated info, but it's very true that standards change over time. Not only does the bar for good video quality get raised each year as mastering quality improves, but as we reviewers upgrade to better equipment we start to see things we didn't notice before.

I know that there are some old titles whose picture quality I raved about when I was watching on a 27" TV (like Suspiria) that I now see for the edge-enhanced, poorly compressed disasters that they are.

I realize with all the new DVDs coming out, it must be hard just to keep up with reviewing the new releases, to say nothing of revisiting and revising/updating older reviews. But when you're new to DVD like I am (within the past two years), I'm out there just buying stuff others bought long ago, and I sometimes rely on info from a review in making purchase decisions.

Some stuff I grab at any price, some when the price is right. On a good number I'm waiting for new releases which may or may never come.

As for Deep Blue Sea, I guess for $4.88, I can't go wrong. But when I see a review of its age calling its video "reference quality," I wonder if it would still be called that today. I guess it might not.

Interesting thread. Are reviewers able to go back and edit old reviews if they want to? Some might be interested if they had the time and could correct mistakes/make updates.

This may not be the case at all sites, but at DVD Talk, reviewers can alter their reviews at any time.

There's always the law of diminishing returns to consider. I know some of my associates will sit for hours, worrying over grammar or if they've covered a movie in enough detail while others knock out a respectable review fairly quickly. Aside from major problems with a review, there doesn't appear to be much interest in going back to one that hardly gets any attention (like a two year old review) as most of us like to move forward.

I've been re-releasing some older reviews recently, attempting to update them a little bit without changing my initial impressions, and it's more difficult than doing a fresh, new review by far. If you change too much, you lose the flavor of the impression pretty quickly but at the same time, folks expect more of a review (even a porn review) than they did not too long ago (some websites had lots of single and two paragraph reviews; most of which don't address common issues nowadays).

It's been my observation that the reviewers on most websites don't have easy access to their older reviews without going through an editor of some sort. Some of the time, it's to keep companies from influencing the reviewers, and other times it's more to keep people from dwelling on what they wrote initially.

Wow, that's interesting to hear Josh. I remember dying to see that on my new projector a couple years ago after seeing a number of reviews raving about the PQ. When I saw it I was underwhelmed, certainly considering the reviews.

That's a good question the OP posed and your answer is very interesting.