Dear DVD Talk

I understand everybody has differnt tastes...that is what makes us unique and interesting. Yet I just read the "review" of THE LONE RANGER.

The Reviewer gave it two stars, and says in his review:

In general, I hate westerns (save for the “Young Guns” movies). I hated “Back to the Future Part III” because it was a western. Despite my obvious bias, it is my job to report the facts, so you can make an informed decision as whether to purchase this DVD set or not. With that all out of the way, it’s time for a little biography on “The Lone Ranger.”

You have this guy review an important DVD release with this view???

That's like having someone who hates black and white movies review CITIZEN KANE. I'm not taking anything away from the reviewer, we all have different tastes. But...couldn't DVD Savant or somebody else have reviewed this?

Yo, dude, Citizen Kane is crrraaaappppp!

We do our best to match the reviewers with the movies they like, but it's not 100% fool proof. And ultimately it's not a requirement for someone to LOVE a genre to do a solid review of it.

I would think there should be mild interest in the subject, at least. If I were to review Bowling for Columbine, I doubt that I would score even the technical parts honestly (albeit subconciously.)

Are reviewers allowed to turn down a disc to review and request a different one?

With the amount of DVDs that DVDTalk gets (trust me, I know...I used to be a reviewer), it is impossible to perfectly match discs up with people unless the reviewer has a certain niche genre he or she is big into. This is just my take on it though.

If there's one thing DVDTalk is that other DVD review sites aren't is that DVDTalk covers pretty much every disc out there, not just the major mainstream ones that many sites do. It's DVDTalk's greatest strength, but many may see it as a weakness.

Huh. I don't see how DVDTalk's breadth of coverage could possibly be considered a weakness. If it covered *only* lesser known titles, sure, but how could anyone fault it for covering lots of titles *in addition to* the big-name ones? Do people walk into Barnes & Noble and say "Geeze, what a lame bookstore! They have whole shelves full of stuff other than Stephen King and Harry Potter!" I consider the amazing breadth and depth of review coverage here to be a huge plus for DVDTalk, and it's a major reason why I'm so happy to be a reviewer here.

In terms of matching reviews to reviewers, the system is really close to ideal. The top titles get shared out according to a "wish list" system, and the rest are mostly chosen by the reviewers themselves from a big "pool". (Yes, I actually volunteered to review films like Project VIPER. It's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it...) We have free choice on that regard... but there's no backing out after choosing one, either!

Geoff usually adds one or two on top of that - but he is VERY good at matching review and reviewer, or at least in my experience he is. I have never been assigned anything in a genre that I dislike (no anime, for instance) and most of the time I end up liking the assigned DVD just as much as (or more than) the ones I chose myself.

I'll sometimes take on a review of something that's not quite my usual cup of tea. For one thing, I don't want to get stuck in a rut, and sometimes being experimental can lead to great discoveries. For another thing, I might be trying to help clear up a large number of pending DVDs, and even a not-ideal matchup is better than just not getting reviewed at all. If I find that I really don't like the movie, I often try to give some perspective on my opinion - do I normally like movies in this genre, or not? It's helpful for the reader to know that.

So that might give some insight into the Lone Ranger review, though of course I don't know the actual thought processes of the reviewer. In his credit I will note that he states his point of view right up front, and even gives an example of a western he *does* like. If I were a fan of westerns it would probably irk me (just like it would irk me to no end if someone who doesn't like science fiction were to review Star Trek or Bablyon 5!) but it's a lot better than it not getting any review coverage - even if you dismiss the "movie" part of the review, the evaluation of image, sound, and extras still stands.

Holly,

Thanks for your eloquent (as always) description of the process. There's so much work that goes on behind the scenes to bring such a wide breadth of reviews, sometimes I think it goes unrecognized.

<BLOCKQUOTE> • Quoth gkleinman •<HR SIZE=1>There's so much work that goes on behind the scenes to bring such a wide breadth of reviews, sometimes I think it goes unrecognized. <HR SIZE=1></BLOCKQUOTE>

As with all things, those who are happy with something are rarely as vocal as those who are not, but so you and the other reviewers know, I for one read just about every review on this site and consider it one of the major reasons for returning daily. Sure, I love getting into a good semantic argument over the most trivial nonsense in the forums as much as the next guy, but I find the reviews to be an invaluable resource here. In some cases -- Aaron Beierle, please stand up -- I take the review more seriously than anything any of the "mainstream" critics have said.

I'm sure it must be an assload of work to manage all the reviews from a logistics perspective and is not always the most fun job for the reviewers themselves, so I very much appreciate all the hard work. It does go recognized, even if we're not always vocal about it. Hell, if I thought you'd entertain the notion, I'd offer to help myself.

Anyway, to any reviewer who may be peeking in on this thread, thanks for the effort. It's quite appreciated.

das

I am the person who reviewed "The Lone Ranger."

I try to keep an open mind when writing my reviews, as it isn't as easy a job as many people think it is. Although not originally requesting to review "The Lone Ranger", I'm actually happy I ended up with it. To say it wasn't my cup of tea is an understatement. I gave it a chance, and if you read my "Final Thoughts", you'll see even see that my bias didn't influence my recommendation...

This DVD set is for fans of the television show and westerns only. Rhino did a good job with this set, even presenting it in a nifty foldout cardboard case, so I can’t fault them for that. Good video and good audio makes me bump this to “Rent It.”

That being said, as a reviewer it's impossible to LOVE everything you're asked to watch and comment on. Ultimately, as a consumer, you should not fully base a purchase on whether someone liked it or not.

-r

Jackepstein

I in no way intended any disrepsect to you, your reviewing skills, or your tastes. If you read my inital post, you will see I mentioned this. I'm sure you like many titles and genes I have no interest in.

And I do return to DVDTALK because of it's diverse reviews. I just punched up X The Unknown,...and sure enough it was there! DVDT does a great job.

My....fustration came with the fact I've been waiting for this disc for awhile, and when I read your tastes and your thoughts on Westerns, I was quite taken back.

Keep up the good work DVDTalk.

I just wanted to thank Das for his very kind words in this thread. I very greatly appreciate the compliment.

Aaron Beierle