Lord of the Rings Blu-Ray Protest at Amazon Customer Reviews
I noticed an interesting phenom on Amazon.com today.
I went to check the Lord of the Rings Trilogy Blu-Ray, and was surprised to see that from the over 1200 customer reviews, over 1000 were 1-star reviews.I love all the whole trilogy, as a whole it's in my top 5 movies ever (and I love the books as well, so yes, I'm a Tolkien fan).
But the 1-star customer reviews for the LotR Blu-Ray weren't directed to the movie. In fact, many reviews stated that they love the movie, and if they would review the movie, they'd give 5-stars.
So why did they give it just 1 star?
Let's backtrack a bit to the time when these movies were coming out in theater and the the theatrical version(s) were first released on DVD.
People loved the movies, and the DVDs sold like crazy. But people knew that all three would eventually be published as one package, which made it feel like rip-off. But back then it was kinda OK, as you'd have to wait for couple of years before you could see even the first one.
But soon it was announced that there were extended editions coming soon. Again released one by one. And later as a complete package.
Some people didn't like this. They felt they were "cheated" into buying two versions of the movies.
I was one of them. I have the theatrical versions on DVD. And I have the extended versions on DVD as well. But I didn't mind it back then, I've watched all the versions more than once, even after I had them all. Heck, if a very special extended edition would be published, I'd probably buy them as well.
Because of this, I'm using my Amazon associates affiliate links for the LotR Blu-Ray on this post, just in case someone does go an buy it, as I'd be making a small commission for it. If you don't want to buy me coffee that way, you can always go to Amazon.com and search for the movie there.
But back to the original subject, the thousand 1-star reviews for the Lord of the Rings Blu-Ray THEATRICAL edition package.
A social movement started with this product. To see what's it about. Check this one review, copied directly from the product page:
Some confusion among other reviewers that somehow we're obligated to post a five star recommendation for the movie. This is an incorrect understanding of the review process. If I were reviewing the movie itself it would get a five. This review is for the product, as listed--in other words, I DO NOT RECOMMEND BUYING THIS PRODUCT/DVD. This product is being created FOR NO OTHER REASON than to dupe people into buying this movie twice...again. Those of us who were huge fans bought the original DVDs of the theatrical releases. THEN the studio FINALLY released the extended editions, even though they could have released both at the same time. Now that Blu Ray has won the High Def battle, the studios are salivating at screwing us all again the same way! Please do not let them get away with holding the extended edition hostage until everyone buys the theatrical versions. If you agree with my review, you can do your part to exert influence on the studio by doing the following:
- Create your own 1-star review, thus increasing the number of 1-star reviews.
- Please hit "HELPFUL" on this and all 1 star reviews so that the producers give up this total rip-off and release the extended editions NOW along with the theatrical versions. If we don't, they'll wait YEARS to release the extended editions until they think they've bled out the last drop of money they can get out of us.
- Don't just hit "HELPFUL" on this review, do it for ALL negative 1 star reviews.
- Click "NOT HELPFUL" to the studio PR spokesholes who've populated this page with five star positive reviews claiming to be reviewing the movie. This PRODUCT (not the movie) blows--don't buy it.
via "The Dude"
Personally, I'd still buy the Blu-Ray package, if I had a Blu-Ray player. And I'd buy the extended editions when they'd be released. But I see where these people are coming from.
The extended editions could've been published as well, but it was not. And this is why people are protesting against the The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy (Theatrical Editions) [Blu-ray]
I didn't join the "protest", but I think it's a very interesting event in the social media, where users and customers are creating additional content. You never know what will happen :)
What do you think? Leave a comment below!
Antti Kokkonen aka Zemalf
Follow Antti, 140 characters at a time via Twitter at http://twitter.com/ZemalfAntti's personal blog is dedicated to help people and their businesses to become more effective and more profitable online by focusing on all aspects of online media, including blogging, social media and online marketing. Visit the blog at http://zemalf.com
2 comments
Why not release both at the same time, with different pricing and different packaging. Other movies are released like that. 1disck, or 2disck special edition. That way you get the oportunity to choose.
