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Originally Posted by BAKA  I don't know, is it? One would certainly hope it is a little harder. I mean if all it takes to get Arrow to send someone review discs is to repeatedly troll the company, construct a blog full of inaccurate poorly researched venomous nonsense, I'm going to set one up now. You'd have to be a complete numpty to provide a hyperbolic troll, who reviews your products with 1 star before they're even out, a review disc surely?
Even if that was the case, it doesn't really address the full point. I didn't say he bought it, merely that he sought it out. He may well have borrowed it from a friend. But from someone who is so vocally lacking in faith for the company, and has wished the company harm, would you really go to the effort? If I don't like something I take no notice. I simply don't have the time to waste on things that don't interest me, or disappoint me. Perhaps he felt he owed it to his fans to review it? Perhaps he felt he owed it to his 'fans' to review it.  |
I write for a friend's website as a hobby that has certain perks (occasional press screenings, screener copies of DVDs etc), and every now and then I used to be forwarded some Arrow stuff. I think they've actually stopped sending out as much as they used to now that they're more established and have suffered through the problems already noted.
I'd wager many of the reviewers covering their products have already purchased them themselves these days. This is the case when I review their stuff now, in fact the only time it wasn't in the past was when I wouldn't have bought the disc for myself (
Savage Streets (1984) Movie Review from Eye for Film would be an example).
Even when I come across something I don't like that much such as Savage Streets or Combat Shock (
Combat Shock (1984) Movie Review from Eye for Film) I try to praise Arrow for the lengths they've went to in order to please these films' fans. I try not to go overboard either way with the hyperbole, but sometimes I do think that could influence companies when it comes to sending out screeners in advance - it's a sad fact that some reviewers will blindly praise them just to keep them on-board.
Also, as for the ZFE balls-up - I've been watching that film pretty regularly since I was a child, and never noticed the boat transition on my review viewing (
Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979) Movie Review from Eye for Film - it's pretty similar to other abrupt cuts later in the film that have always been there), but I'm glad it's been highlighted as it's inexcusable. Reviewers are fallible too and when you consider the amount of features they're expected to cover as well, it's understandable that hardly anyone noticed it. The sepia mess-up for The Beyond, of course, is a different matter!