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A friendly reminder that movie critics are generally pretty useless

Published Jul 29th, 2016 9:45AM EDT
Batman V Superman Blu-ray
Image: Twitter

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Movie critics have a difficult job. Remaining objective and viewing a film through the target audience’s eyes is no easy task, because we all inherently have biases when it comes to matters of opinion. In the case of big-budget blockbuster Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, critics by and large seem to have failed pretty miserably. The movie was panned by pros, earning it an abysmal 27% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. While their terrible reviews may very well have impacted audience sentiment, they did precious little to actually dissuade anyone from seeing the movie — it racked up nearly $873 million globally at the box office, making it the 46th highest grossing film in history.

And speaking of history… history is now repeating itself and giving us another gentle reminder that movie critics are pretty much useless.

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Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was just released on Blu-ray, DVD and digital download. Following the continued onslaught of critical panning long after the movie’s theatrical debut, the film’s new release on disc must have been impacted, right? Well, according to sales charts assembled by industry monitor NPD VideoScan First Alert, Batman v Superman sailed to the top of the disc charts in its first week of availability last week.

The market research firm said that 70% of BvS disc sales were the pricier Blu-ray as opposed to DVD, which makes sense considering the special three-hour extended cut of the movie is only available on disc in the “Ultimate Edition” Blu-ray for the time being (though it’s also available as a digital download).

Here’s NPD’s top-20 for last week:

1. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (New)
2. Allegiant
3. Miracles From Heaven
4. Zootopia
5. Kung Fu Panda 3
6. Deadpool
7. Ghostbusters
8. Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens
9. The Perfect Match (New)
10. Kill Zone 2 (New)
11. The Bourne Classified Collection
12. 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
13. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2
14. London Has Fallen
15. Gods of Egypt
16. Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League — Gotham City Breakout
17. Now You See Me
18. Ghostbusters 2
19. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
20. The Goonies

The Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition Blu-ray is being sold on Amazon for $25, but the three-hour extended cut can also be purchased as a digital HD download for $19.99.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.