I read Brian Orndorf's DVD review of Let The Right One In at http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=36563 and...have been looking forward to seeing this movie since I first heard about it last fall!! Sadly, it did not play in my area and so I have ordered a copy. This review only heightened my anticipation!

with 12 minutes of extras, this still gets a Collector Series?

guess it is mostly based on the movie itself bc with such limited extras this is def. a rent for me. nowadays, i cannot conceive of buying a DVD for $20 with almost no extras.

This seems to be happening a lot on DVD Talk these days (particularly with Blu-ray, although the review in question is the DVD version). Reviewers are so taken with the film that they give it a "Highly Recommended" or "Collector's Series" rating even though the title is lacking in extras, has some A/V issues, etc. They wind up rating the movie instead of the overall package.

The standard answer around here is "reviews are subjective," but I agree that unless a title is top notch in ALL areas: Film, Video, Audio, Extras, Replayability - it should not get the "Collector's" tag.

But that's just my subjective opinion.

i know, it almost makes me jones to get it, since i really do value DVD Talk reviews, not to mention the other stellar reviews for this one, but most are for the movie, not the DVD itself and with 12 min, it just makes it hard.

Kind of an odd question for people who have seen the film:

The way I read it:

There's more to it than I originally thought, though. It's from the original novel and is explained at http://fenglian.blogspot.com/2009/02...ht-one-in.html (and verified on a number of other sites/blogs), although there's nothing else in the movie itself to suggest this.

Interesting. That doesnt really change the plot much but I just might end up reading the book now that I know its out there.

I really enjoyed this movie for completely different reasons than I expected to.

And on top of that I just read that the US dvd has incorrect subtitles, check here.

A dvd that first of all gave little more (3.5 stars for the extras is laughable) than what you would have gotten from seeing it in theaters (but actually gives less with the subtitle issue) gets a "Collector's Series" when the dvd itself should be recalled. I'm thinking this review may have been written well before watching the dvd.

I'm glad I didn't jump on this purchase, but decided to wait for the price to drop. Looks like I'll be looking for an import now. This review reminds me of all the people on Amazon that give a 5-star review for a dvd months before it's release. They can't wait to let their feelings be known about the film, when the reviews section should be used for the actual product. I have been using the Collector's Series as a guideline when looking for some movies I may have passed up or just should own. Sadly, this review may change that.

I'm not saying that I have a problem with this particular review, but we've had discussions here before about needing to change the "DVDtalk Collector's Series" Rating.

The problem is that, by it's very name, it implies an overall site recommendation, or a "hall of fame" status. And yet the same DVD may have a "skip it" rating by a different DVDtalk reviewer.

My proposal has always been to let "highly recommended" by the highest individual rating allowed a reviewer, and change "dvdtalk collector's series" to something new. Maybe something only given out once or twice a year, and agreed upon by a committee of reviewers.

While I’m sure you must feel better after writing the paragraph above, let me assure you that you’ve severely jumped the gun.

The review will be amended. I didn’t have the tools to spot what were admittedly curious, but not troublesome (at the time) subtitles. I apologize that I couldn’t recall subtitling nuances on a film I first watched 8 months prior to a DVD viewing. The movie is still a beautiful creation.

As for the extras, why not 3.5 stars? Because they’re short in length? What about quality? I’ve sat through countless DVD extras during my time here, and when one actually makes the effort to express the feeling of production, the complexities of intent, and the realities of filming, that should be celebrated. I don’t care if it lasts for one minute or 100 minutes. Quality is the goal, not quantity.

Extremity is not welcome here. It confuses the comfortable masses. It took me a little while to sniff it out, but I get it now. I will label with caution from now on.

I'm not quite sure what you mean? Why would I feel better? My words are not the ones that are meant to be trusted and may lead to readers spending their money on a product, but yours are.

You say that I "severely jumped the gun", but this is exactly what you did with your review and recommendation. You were clearly set to give this recommendation 8 months ago when you originally saw the film. You cannot use the "8 months ago" argument if you are the one recommending this product to potential buyers. If you are going to use an excuse such as that, maybe you shouldn't have been reviewing this dvd in the first place. The author of the article I linked obviously had no problem seeing this issue as it appeared to him as soon as he began watching the dvd.

Hopefully this is a one time thing. But honestly I don't see you paying much attention to anyone's grievances here from what you've shown through your snide responses.

FYI the DUB track on the Blu Ray (I know--blasphemy!) does keep the original irony and humor that is mentioned in that linked review. All those subtleties are there, its not a bad dub track at all.

Nice review!

For what it's worth, I always find it comical how folks get so agitated over the use of a phrase to describe a DVD on this site. "Highly recommended" vs "DVDTalk Collector Series"

My opinion is that if the film is good, I don't care if there any extras at all - especially since most supplements are generic fluffery.

If you actually read the article, the author had the “tools” to make a judgment about the DVD that I or few others could possibly have: possession of a 2008 festival screener, a theatrical release in the area, and ample free time to revisit the film on numerous occasions. This is not something he popped into his player and noticed by magic. Bravo to him and those eagle eyes. Many reviews didn’t notice the careful changes to the subtitling. Hell, the disc has been out for two weeks and this is the first we’re hearing about it. What does that tell you?

Certainly not when you spend more time tossing around unsubstantiated accusations than asking direct questions. My e-mail is an open door for those concerned with my writing -- always.

Because you seem so welcome to criticism. Too funny.

What you've been dishing up in this thread is not criticism. Please recognize that.

Okay, I'm going to try to understand this paragraph.


Let's take it one sentence at a time.

Brian posted his review too early, because he didn't notice the subtle subtitle changes. Okay, therefore, if he had posted it a few days later he would have noticed them. Hmmm.... running into problems already.

He liked the film 8 months ago and therefore went into the DVD with a positive bias. Okay, that's probably true.

You can't forget anything about the theatrical release of a film if you are going to give it a good review. What? Why? If he was going to trash it, is it okay to forget minor differences?

Good point! Only people who have not seen a film in the theater can review the DVD release since they won't notice ... the subtitle changes.... which is Dino's main complaint... Nope. I'm confused again.

Sorry folks. I failed. I can't make heads or tails out of it.

How about some happy thoughts?

So far (I still need to see a couple highly rated 2008 releases) Let the Right One In is my favorite movie of 2008.

And Brian is my favorite reviewer here. While I occasionally vehemently disagree with his opinion of a movie, I find myself in total agreement with him more often than any of our other excellent review staff. This may be why I have few friends....