...empireonline.co.uk. The Empire website is a lot like the magazine - it's written in the same humourous and informative style, and by the same people. Also, the reviews you'll find in the magazine are replicated on the website, although in slightly abridged form. The "feel" of the magazine is ... Read review
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Advantages: Up to date, funny, informative Disadvantages: Occasionally plagued by ******* pop-ups
For all those Superpricee fans out there (erm, all one of you - Hi Kirsty babes, love you!), and others who may have read a lot of my ops, you'll know that I'm a fan of films. I've written more film ops than on any other subject (yes, even football), and I consider myself to be a little bit of a movie buff. Kirsty and I are regulars at our local multiplex, and probably go to the cinema at least three or four times a month. Therefore I like to keep ... ...about films in development, who's attached to the latest projects, release dates, reviews and so on. And the best place to do so on the web is, in my opinion, Empireonline.
A BIT OF INFO:
Empire is Britain's top selling movie magazine. Published monthly by emap magazines (the people behind FHM, and yes, it IS meant to start with a lower case letter), it also has a website, to be found at www.empireonline.co.uk. The Empire website ... more
For all those Superpricee fans out there (erm, all one of you - Hi Kirsty babes, love you!), and others who may have read a lot of my ops, you'll know that I'm a fan of films. I've written more film ops than on any other subject (yes, even football), and I consider myself to be a little bit of a movie buff. Kirsty and I are regulars at our local multiplex, and probably go to the cinema at least three or four times a month. Therefore I like to keep track of what's new in movieland - you know, news about films in development, who's attached to the latest projects, release dates, reviews and so on. And the best place to do so on the web is, in my opinion, Empireonline.
A BIT OF INFO: Empire is Britain's top selling movie magazine. Published monthly by emap magazines (the people behind FHM, and yes, it IS meant to start with a lower case letter), it also has a website, to be found at www.empireonline.co.uk. The Empire website is a lot like the magazine - it's written in the same humourous and informative style, and by the same people. Also, the reviews you'll find in the magazine are replicated on the website, although in slightly abridged form. The "feel" of the magazine is exactly duplicated on the website, and as such makes it a fun and informative surfing experience.
THE SITE: The site normally loads up quite quickly, although it can slow up a bit during busy periods, and very occasionally you might get one of those annoying "not found" messages (although that may just be the fault of my piece of s***e computer). On the homepage you are greeted with the usual array of menus, banner adverts, links and movie-related competitions and special offers. The site initially looks a little bit cluttered, but if you actually let your eyes rove around the screen, you find that everything you want to find is readily accessable, and no extensive scrolling or clicking is required. Although the background to the page is white, the screen can appear to be rather dark, as most of the banners and captions around the edge of the screen are in dark colours, which tend to give the main area a slightly claustrophobic feel.
At the top of the page, beneath the first banner ad, is the main menu - this allows you to go to the main areas of the site, including competitions, info on future films, reviews, features and so on. I'm not about to list all the options and what you will find there (or I'll be here all day), but it is an extensive list, and it's readily apparent just where you need to go to find what you want.
In the middle of the homepage are the latest news stories, with the newest at the top of the list. Clicking on any of the headlines will take you to the full text of the story, and at the side of the article is a fuller list of headlines, going slightly further back in time. All news stories have relevant links at the bottom, and these could perhaps take you to another film site with a more detailed article, a movie's official site, a site with a new trailer or poster, and so on. All articles are written in the same witty form as the magazine, and can sometimes contain mild sweary-type words, so you have been warned.
OTHER STUFF Other things you'll find on the site are the usual mix of forums and polls, a movie store, and more on the magazne itself, with an e-form to fill in if you want to subscribe to the magazine. There are also special features on various aspects of the movies - currently there is a hilarious feature on gratuitous nudity in current Hollywood movies. Major film releases (such as Lord Of The Rings or Attack Of The Clones) have their own Empire mini-sites, which are always informative and easy to navigate. There are also Empire Guides - little sections looking at different movie genres, and discussing the "essential" movies in each field, which are well worth a look, even if it's just to see whether you agree with the author or not. There is also a search facility to search the site for any info on any film title that you type in - reviews, news, articles etc, and it really is very good and very useful.
REVIEWS As I stated earlier, the reviews section prints the reviews of the movies from the magazine, in slightly abridged form. But it's not just the films that get reviewed - videos to buy, videos to rent, books, DVDs, soundtracks - you name it, if it's movie related, it's reviewed. Each item/film is rated out of five stars, and you are invited to give it an "out of five" rating yourself if you've seen/used it, and more often than not user ratings differ slightly from the reviewer's rating, so you are given both the critics' and the consumers' verdicts.
GOOD STUFF I think I've pretty much covered all the good stuff. Some of the writing on the site really is side-splittingly funny, and the features in particular can be absolutely hysterical.
BAD STUFF As I said earlier, the site can initially seem a bit cluttered, even though it's not, so it can be a bit of a mental effort to take a good look around on your first few visits, until you know exactly where everything is. The main problem with the site is a necessary evil - pop-ups. and not just ordinary pop-ups that you can click on and kill. Oh no. Some of these have NO CLOSE BUTTON, and particularly the Macromedia Flash pop-ups can be extremely irritating, as you have to sit through 30 seconds or so of animation until the thing lets you close it. Thankfully these don't come along too often, but the website needs advertisers to survive, and therefore you will definitely have to put up with them from tme to time.
OVERALL I've been a big fan of Empireonline since I first started using the internet a few years ago, and I stll find it to be the funniest, most informative movie website on the go. It is totally comprehensive in it's coverage of all genres, and, as with it's big brother magazine, is definitely the market leader at the moment. Go check it out.
Advantages: It's Great and easy to use Disadvantages: None
...find myself going straight to empireonline.co.uk subconciously when I dial up. If you think the site stops at simply news stories, you're mistaken. There are many link-ups with the magazine on the site. For instance, there is a section in the mag every month known as 'Public Access', in which you can send in your questions to a well-known celebrity (actually well-known, past stars have been Mark Hamill and William H Macy). The policy goes, the more ... ...printed. Also available on the site are many extended interviews with big celebrities. Just this week a huge feature on Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone has been added, including interviews with Daniel Radcliffe, Richard Harris and Robbie Coltrane. They also had one of the first reviews of the film available online, proving their dedication to speed and quality (It was one of their longest reviews yet). However possibly the most innovative ...
sngroover 11.11.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of empireonline.co.uk
Advantages: Interesting articles Disadvantages: Site can look a bit busy
empireonline.co.uk is the website of Empire magazine, which is one of best selling film magazines in the country. As it is the internet, this is a lot more in-depth than the magazine as you can update whenever you want and pick and choose what you want on the site.
Going to the front page you can immediately see that there is so many different things to look at. They have interviews with all your favourite stars, and a daily quiz. Empire do actually ... ...answer ones, it seems like they actually put some thought into them and so are always fun to solve.
Of course, being a film website they also have the release dates of new films and reviews. I don't take much notice of reviews, they wouldn't put me off going to see a film, but empire always seem to do good reviews, even though they have got it wrong before. Empire review every release so even if you want to know what a obscure arthouse film is like, ...
Walter_Kovacs 08.01.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of empireonline.co.uk
Advantages: A must for any film fan Disadvantages: I suppose if you're not into your movies you might find it a bit dull!
I'm a great fan if the online version of Empire magazine. It's much more than just an advert for the magazine boasting a great range of galleries, features, news and reviews.
The news section is very regularly updated and written with real wit and flair. I laughed today when in a news item Orlando Bloom was described as a 'one-man boy-band'.
It has a section on future films which is again regularly updated and full of production stills and gossip ... ...Arthur and Indy 4. Empire has some of the best film critics in the country on it's staff and the reviews on the website certainly reflect this. The reviews are put online as the films come out so this week we get Matrix Revolutions. Alan Morrison sums it up with this statement ;
"What once represented the future of science fiction cinema has become little more than a solid genre offering. But, hey, it wasn't supposed to be the Second Coming, was ...
Zoe 07.11.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of empireonline.co.uk
Advantages: Free screening days Disadvantages: Lack of News
Having read the magazine for a while now, I saw the advert for the site and was amazed. I was shocked to see that there was actually a magazine out there that had a running website that was updated in real time as soon as they had the news. I have had less success in the past with certain magazines that advertise their sites and when you get their they only serve for subscriptions. First of all, i dont think there is any need for becoming a member ... ...available to all users with note to the news and reviews section. Their witty reviews and sarcastic news segments live up to the magazines legend. Your first view of a site is the most important section of any website and empire doesnt dissapoint with enough graphics to grab your attention and a news section for quick reference.
I dont think that the website is updated enough as the news is always limited to around five pieces a day. There are many ...
Tony_Hughes 21.07.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of empireonline.co.uk
Advantages: Layout Disadvantages: Not as comprehensive as IMDB
This is the film site from the people who write the magazine 'Empire'. This is a very useful site with up to ate info on all the big blockbuster's coming out over the coming months. The site also has weekly reviews of films hitting your cinema that week. However these reviews have come from the magazine so if you already own the magazine it is not that useful. There is also a good weekly newsletter offering competetions to enter and news about films. ... ...offer as comprehensive guide as that of IMDB which lists thousands of film reviews. This however is nicely layed put and a well organised site overall. It may not be the place for movie info but it keeps you up to date with all the movie news and is easy to use. ...
nickkelly 31.03.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of empireonline.co.uk
