Ruminating on Reviews: Buy, Rent, or Pass?

Introduction, or Why I Hate Numbers

An experienced viewer of Hong Kong movies may shake her head at my ignorance. A newer fan may gasp in amazement at my knowledge. DVD enthusiasts may question my sanity. Yet the number one question that keeps arising (from myself, since no one has ever actually inquired) is: how do you rate movies without using numbers?

Siskel and Ebert, famed U.S. film critics, popularized the extremely simple "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" method of judgment. Although widely derided as a simplistic means of describing a film's merits, the system makes sense when you think about a visit to the local cinema — at the most basic level, you have to decide "Am I going to see this movie or not?" The next question is "Where?" Will you rush out on opening night and pay full fare, or go to a reduced-price matinee showing? Will you wait a few weeks and see it in a second-run theater? Or will you wait weeks (in the case of Hong Kong films) or months (as is usual for Hollywood productions) to see it on videocassette, VCD, or DVD in your home?

Addressing the issue of Hong Kong DVDs, folks who live in other locales face additional questions: purchase from a Hong Kong retailer or local (North American or European)? Some have the option of renting movies from a local brick-and-mortar video or on-line.

Happily there are many Internet resources available nowadays to help fans make decisions. Here are my criteria for rating DVDs, from top to bottom.

Buy.

An excellent film that rewards multiple viewings because of its artistic and/or entertainment value; worth a purchase.

Rent. Highly recommended.

An excellent film well worth seeking out; essential viewing. Due to its subject matter, however, it may not be one you'll want to watch more than once. So if you can find it at a rental shop (neighborhood or on-line), all the better; if not, you may wish to buy it though a DVD retailer.

Rent.

A film to which I had a mixed reaction -- some good points, but also some flaws that cannot be ignored. Recommended viewing; worth watching at least once. Again, if you can't find it at a rental shop, it may be worth a purchase.

Rent. Low priority.

A film in which the negatives tend to outweigh the positives. It may be worth a look if you enjoy the stars and/or director. For those situations when you've seen everything else available in the rental shop, or, if it's really cheap at a DVD retailer.

Pass.

No compelling reason to spend the time or money to watch. To be fair, though, hard-core fans of the actors or the director may want to take a chance.

As noted, a wide variety of people are writing reviews for the Internet. And many fine books have been published. It's extremely rare that one reviewer will exactly mirror your own tastes and interests, so try to read as much as possible. Or, you can do what I do, which is buy almost everything and worry about the creditors later ("Hey -- that's my car!")

Remember that reviews often say more about the reviewer than the movie. This is especially true about the Internet. Many wonderful sites were started by people who loved the movies and wanted to share their passion (often at great personal expense), or just try to put down on paper why Hong Kong and other Asian films have such great appeal, especially in comparison to Hollywood product of recent years. That includes me — not that I'm saying my site is wonderful, just that it was created so I could share my enthusiasm and provide an additional source of news and information that may be helpful to some people.

If you like what you read, drop a line to the webmaster of a site you've found helpful. If you don't like it, or think the webmaster is an idiot, keep it to yourself (yes, that's right, bottle up that anger). Or, better yet, start your own site, so everybody can feel free to criticize you, and see how you like it!

— Peter / webmaster and reviewer

(Posted January 14, 2002)