Member advice on writing DVD (boxset) reviews

I'm a sci-fi nerd, I love watching the programmes on the TV, and I have a huge collection of different series boxsets, most of which I've reviewed. I don't claim to be the best reviewer of these boxsets, but I like to think that my efforts are helpful to anyone thinking about buying their own copies. But that's enough about me, what about the advice this review is supposed to be about, advice on writing DVD boxset reviews….

….well ...
...target audience, the kind of person who's likely to be checking out reviews in order to decide whether to buy a boxset rather than just record off the television.

And that's the point isn't it? DVD boxsets are a special case really, the majority of people who buy a boxset will have already watched the season (or series) on the television, or at least caught a couple of episodes. Many of us have DVD recorders, and with a little patience ... more

I'm a sci-fi nerd, I love watching the programmes on the TV, and I have a huge collection of different series boxsets, most of which I've reviewed. I don't claim to be the best reviewer of these boxsets, but I like to think that my efforts are helpful to anyone thinking about buying their own copies. But that's enough about me, what about the advice this review is supposed to be about, advice on writing DVD boxset reviews….

….well let's start at the very beginning and look at your target audience, the kind of person who's likely to be checking out reviews in order to decide whether to buy a boxset rather than just record off the television.

And that's the point isn't it? DVD boxsets are a special case really, the majority of people who buy a boxset will have already watched the season (or series) on the television, or at least caught a couple of episodes. Many of us have DVD recorders, and with a little patience can create our own DVDs of our favourite series, but we still buy the boxsets, why? Well in my own case it's because although I can create my own, I can't always manage to present them as well, my picture and audio quality are a little lacking and with the professionally made versions there are normally at least a few (and hopefully a lot more) special features.

So that's are target audience dealt with now let's look at how I write a boxset review…

Now the first point to make is that I don't write a review after watching the season for the first time, normally I will have watched all the seasons in a series at least once and then returned to them before I even think about writing the review. This allows me to compare the season I'm writing about with others in the series, sometimes a first season can be disappointing, but still very necessary in understanding those that follow. By watching them more than once, I'm also testing out whether they are value for money, if I can watch them again, and again then that's far better value than something I can only watch the once. Along with the actual programme I enjoy watching the special features, and unless I watch them, how can I tell you whether they are special or not?

Right so that's the obvious out of the way, as with any product you have to have actually had experience of it before reviewing it (and in this case it means watching it) so it's time to get down to the nitty gritty. While there are many different (and successful) methods to writing these DVD boxset reviews, I'm only going to share my formula. But this does NOT mean that I'm expecting anyone to copy it (the site would get boring if everyone wrote in exactly the same way), it's simply one example of how to get all the relevant information (and opinion) across. I've added parts of one of my previous reviews to highlight the points I'm making, but don't worry I won't be repeating the whole review word for word.

---Introduction---

It's a good idea to introduce the actual series (rather than season) you're reviewing and your reasons for buying the boxset. Did you buy the boxset on a whim, or because you'd watched and loved the series on the television? With out giving too much detail, what's the series about? Let's look at one of my introductions :

"The X Files, one of the defining science fiction programmes of my late teens, the series that nurtured my love of all things supernatural, is, on paper a strange mix. As we follow the lives and cases of two FBI agents as they delve into any case that can't be explained (or solved) by conventional means, we learn of a huge government conspiracy involving aliens, of all things. By using a minimum of special effects, and the maximum of creative filming, we are introduced to all manner of monsters some of which are actually human. The whole series is darkly atmospheric, often the only on-screen light comes from a pair of torches being flashed in a pitch black tunnel (silver foil is used so there is just enough reflective light to see our heroes' faces."

As you can see, I've explained why I like the series, and given a very basic idea of what the series is about, without any more than a glimmer of what the major plot-lines are…

---The Season---

When reviewing a series that spans several seasons, as well as giving a series overview, it's helpful to give your opinion on the particular season. Now for the first season in a series this can be quite easy and can be incorporated into your introduction, while with later seasons it becomes easier to give away plot lines from the earlier seasons. In both cases there is a fine line between giving enough information and giving too much. Over the last year my technique has evolved (and I hope improved) to the point where I hopefully give just the right amount of detail. Personally I find it best to give no more of the plot away than you would find on the back of the DVD case, and very often I'll start this section by simply stating where the characters stand at the very beginning of the first episode. For example :

"This, the second season, begins several months after the final episode of the first. Mulder and Scully have been split up, the X Files closed, and all is looking bleak as Mulder begins to loose that faith that had driven him to solve the unusual cases to which he had previously been assigned. Finding himself being "punished" with cases that he finds boring and irrelevant, will he find the proof he is looking for, and regain the determination to uncover the truth?"

As you can see, I've not given the finale of the previous season away and I've not explained why Mulder and Scully have been split up, simply that they have and this is virtually all the plot that needs to be given. It's then time to give my opinion on the season and to compare it to the first, and whether this could be watched without having viewed the season. So looking at a couple of extracts :

"While the first season of the X Files introduced the main characters and laid the groundwork, it is in this the second season that the conspiracy theories really come alive."

"The mythology in this season is only just starting to mature, and is therefore accessible to both the seasoned and new viewer, nothing is too complex and there is still plenty of character development. And the final episode is a brilliant cliff-hanger, which left me determined to watch the next season immediately after finishing this."

From just these two extracts there's enough information (and opinion) for the prospective purchaser to know that they don't need to have watched the first season to enjoy this, and that I felt the season arc was far more in depth than the that in the first. Now I used to give character information here, but just lately I've started to feel that we should allow the viewer to discover these characters for themselves. Yes we want to know if the actors do a good job, but if we give full descriptions of the actual characters, aren't we somehow ruining things for the prospective viewer (even if it's only a little bit)?

So we've given our opinion on the actual series and season so what else does the prospective buyer need to know? Well remember I said that we can always record these programmes off the television and the reasons why I (and many other people) still buy the boxsets, now it's time to give our opinion on these factors. This can be split into two sections : the physical presentation and the special features.

---The Presentation---

In an age when printable DVDs are becoming more and more the norm, the actual presentation of commercial boxsets is becoming more and more of an issue. I like to display my boxsets altogether on a shelf, so I do want to know about how sturdy the case is, how easy it is to get to the discs and whether it actually looks good or not. For this reason I include my opinion on how the season is presented and whether the discs are nicely printed (believe me I own a couple of boxsets where I could have done a better job of printing the discs). Along with the physical presentation I like to know about the quality of the video on the discs, and whether it is better than anything I could produce myself. For example, is the picture grainy in darker scenes or is it crisp and sharp throughout, perhaps the audio is a little on the quiet side. As the following extract says, is it as good as or better than anything I could record off the TV.

"All in all the physical presentation is far superior to anything I could produce by recording off the television."

---The Special Features---

The final part of the package is the special features, and what is helpful here is not when you simply list them, but when you actually give your opinion on them. As this extract states :

"As this programme has been shown on the television many, many times, it takes a little more than fancy presentation to persuade me to buy. I like special features on my boxsets, and the more the better, as long as they're of good quality and add something to the overall package."

And this is what you are letting us know, whether the special features are special or just a waste of space. If there are any commentaries, are they worth listening to, or are they deadly boring with no incite into the programme whatsoever? The same goes for any featurettes there may be on the discs, did you learn anything new about the thinking behind the programme and more importantly did you enjoy watching them? Were any deleted scenes worth looking at, or were they simply a waste of disc space? These are the sorts of thing I want to know rather than a simple list. It can be nice to finish this section off with a sentence stating whether you thought the features were genuinely special, such as this..

"All in all the special features strike just about the right balance between information and entertainment and definitely add to the value of the boxset, although I would say that it's not advisable to view them before you've watched the complete season."

---Tech Stuff---

I like to add a little section giving the technical information, such as rating and which languages and subtitles there are along with the price. Although it isn't strictly necessary it does give those for whom English isn't their first language an idea whether they'll be able to enjoy watching it or not.

---Conclusion---

It's nice to finish off the review with a conclusion where you can tie all the different sections together and give a final recommendation. I also find this is the best place to state who I think the boxset would be suitable for and to comment on whether I think the guidance rating is justified or not.

So that's it, the sandemp formula for writing a half-decent DVD boxset review, I hope that someone has found it helpful and that there's something in here that you can adapt to use in your own reviews. As I've said I don't expect anyone else to write in exactly the same way as I do, but hopefully I've covered all the different aspects that I personally look for when I'm thinking of buying a new boxset to add to the collection.  

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