New Movie Releases DVD

2 Comments:

• Miles from Home

  February 17th, 2012 at 12:50 am

  282 of 292 people found the following review helpful:

  
  DO NOT BUY THE DUMBED DOWN PBS VERSION!, February 1, 2011

  By 

  Miles from Home (New York City) –

  This review is from: Masterpiece Classic: Downton Abbey (DVD)

  EDIT: I am revising my post and giving this 5 Stars instead of one as PartlyCloudy has kindly pointed out that my review of the PBS version has ended up under the “UK version”. There is much confusion out there since the infamous Daily Mail article claimed that a full two hours of the original ITV series had been cut by PBS. Many claim the cuts are minor and unnoticeable. I’d venture to guess that about 35 minutes were edited out of the original, but more importantly, it was a hack job and many scenes do not play out as intended. Below is my slightly revised review of the PBS version which you should avoid at all costs:

  Do not buy the so-called “dumbed down” PBS version of the outstanding British ITV series Downton Abbey. We watched the entire series with great joy while in the UK last year, and after excitedly telling our American friends to watch Downton Abbey on PBS, my husband and I looked at each other in horror and confusion as we watched one butchered scene after another. Don’t be misled by those who recalculate the running time to account for the removal of commercials (from the ITV version) or the reformatting to shorten the series by increasing episode length (7 episodes in the UK, 4 longer episodes in the US). The fact is, SCENES WERE OMITTED AND OR TRUNCATED because as PBS Executive Producer Rebecca Eaton shamefully admitted, “American audiences demand a `different speed’ to their shows.” She also claimed that American audiences would have trouble understanding the complicated inheritance issues. Wow. This is an extraordinary admission from a PBS executive. Don’t people turn to PBS for an intelligent alternative to the idiocy of American commercial television? I submit it is Rebecca Eaton who is dumb, not the PBS viewership.

  There is apparently a Region 2 version of the unedited ITV series on Amazon (EDIT: and now we see there is an “unedited UK” version provided by PBS though I have not seen it and cannot attest that it’s the actual ITV version), so just check your tech specs before buying or search elsewhere. And for the much anticipated season two of Downton Abbey when it premieres later this year, get a UK VPN and stream it from the ITV Player. Each episode remains available for streaming for several weeks after it airs. Note: Many inadvertently refer to this as a BBC series. It is in fact an ITV production.

  Shame, shame, shame on Rebecca Eaton and PBS.

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• Songbird "Chirp"

  February 17th, 2012 at 12:18 am

  692 of 716 people found the following review helpful:

  
  Be Alert….varying editions.., January 24, 2011

  By 

  Songbird “Chirp” (Michigan) –

  Amazon Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

  This review is from: Masterpiece Classic: Downton Abbey (DVD)

  There appears to be two (2) editions of Downton Abbey….in watching the past 3 episodes as presented on my PBS station, I have become increasingly aware that the editing was very “jumpy”….short short sequences to a meaningful story line…..then, I discovered that there is an edition, UK edition, that is full length….meaning there are 7 episodes in total….the edition being shown on my local PBS station, is all of 4 episodes….and the shifty scenes that I am observing on the Sunday night presentation have been edited for USA viewers.
  To me, this is ruinous to a finely produced English landscape, pre-world war I.

  Just be more alert to this. I am not aware of any information from my PBS station to this effect, that I am indeed viewing a condensed version of Downton Abbey….

  I have just purchased DVD, UK edition of Downton Abbey to view in my home….this should be a more in-depth story, without the shifting of scenes that add up to being difficult to the entire story line.

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