Welcome to moviemarbles!

We do things a little differently here than you may be used to, so here is a quick tutorial of how our Blu-ray scorecards work.

Most review sites use a 1-5 star scoring system when reviewing Blu-ray releases. Due to the amount of detail contained in a review scorecard, we had to re-think the way to display our review ratings. Gone is the standardized “star” rating structure, replaced with a simple + or -.

So how do these + and - relate to the old-school star ratings? In our world, a + would be the equivalent to a 4 or 5 rating while a - would equate to a 1, 2 or 3 rating. So if a disc gets a + rating in one of the categories, you know it is top quality.

These +’s and -’s are then weighted (35% film, 25% audio, 25% video, 15% extras) to create an overall verdict of the disc, back in the common five-star rating system... it is quite a science.

Here are the terms used in our Blu-ray scorecard so you can get a better understanding of what each of our ratings mean...

Film

• plot (story, flow)
• acting (dialogue/believability)
• sound (score/soundtrack/sound mixing)
• visuals (special effects/costumes/set design/vibrancy/cinematography)
• entertainment value (replay value, watchability)

Audio

• fidelity (degree of accuracy with which sound is recorded or reproduced)
• dynamic range (difference between the max level of distortion-free signal and the minimum limit)
• dialogue (clarity and placement of voice activity)
• bass (LFE) (low in pitch; of the lowest pitch or range)
• soundstage (surround activity, sound movement through the different channels)

Video

• transfer (lack of digital artifacts/noise/edge enhancements/compression artifacts)
• image depth (dimension, 3D feel)
• sharpness (lack of film grain, clarity of image, image detail)
• color levels (color accuracy, vibrancy)
• contrast (accurate deep black levels, range of brightness between the darkest/lightest elements)

Extras

We have taken a very simplified approach to the this section by informing which extras add value to a release and which are not worth your time. We have listed the most commonly valuable extras found on Blu-ray releases - featurettes, commentaries, deleted scenes (including outtakes and alternate endings), documentaries & digital extras (digital copy, bonus view, bd-live) - and if the extra is worth watching you will see a +, if the disc does not contain the extra or it is not worth watching you will see a -.

We are really changing the game here, so this new review format may take some getting used to... but I am sure you will come to realize that this new game is the way it should be played.

Barry Lyndon on BD is not as crisp as it should be, but far from dampened. Meanwhile, the Oscar winning score sounds quite full bodied.