Blu-ray.com - Blu-ray Movie Reviews

The Shawshank Redemption (Blu-ray Review)

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:37:31 -0400

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things."

Few films broach the subject of true male friendship. We have buddy movies, sure, but these are often just action flicks that mine an odd-couple style pairing for comedic gold. Even war films, with their Band of Brothers, one man willing to lay down his life for another mentality, rarely tackle the subject in more than a cursory way. What Im talking about is a deep-seated, platonic, emotional bond between two menI believe bromance is the term used in the modern vernacul...

Video

The look of Shawshank certainly needs no redeeming, as I found the discs 1080p VC-1 transfer to be practically faultless. The early sequences of the filmlike the arrival of the new fishare toned in sober blues, with pulled back colors and an intentional dimness that immediately sets the atmosphere for a double life sentence. As the film progresses, the palette opens up appropriately, as Andys meager triumphslike scoring some ice cold brew for his rooftop workmates are rew...

Audio

The Shawshank Redemption is finally set free with a lossless, Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track thats light on immersion but otherwise wonderfully broad, dynamic, and clear. As a 140+ minute prison movie about friendship, youd be correct in assuming there arent many whiz-bang-pow, pan and cross sound effects in The Shawshank Redemption. And if there were, Id be worried. That said, there were times when I found myself craning toward my rear speakers, wondering if perhaps the wire...

Supplements

Hope Springs Eternal: A Look Back at The Shawshank Redemption (480p, 31:01)

Frank Darabont and members of the cast and crew initially talk about how the film's under-the- radar box office debut and confusing title (Scrimshaw Redaction? Shinkshank Reduction?) led the film to sneak up on people, ingraining itself in pop culture over the years through video rentals. The rest of the feature covers nearly all elements of The Shawshank Redemption's production and theme...

Final Words

After all that talk about memory, myth, and critical response, I never got around to mentioning how absolutely fantastic the film is from an acting/directing standpoint. Tim Robbins strolls through his scenes like a man in a park, at one with his surroundings but clearly engaged mentally with some deep secret. Morgan Freeman, over the course of his three parole hearings, goes convincingly from subservient to resigned. And director Frank Darabont wrings every bead of lifeblood from Kings......

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Dobermann (Blu-ray Review)

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:27:20 -0400

Yet to be officially released in the United States, Jan Kounens hyper-violent and once very controversial Dobermann (1997) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Universal-France. The disc contains a newly remastered high-definition transfer of the film personally supervised by the director. Amongst the extras on the disc are two audio commentaries, an exclusive interview with director Kounen, deleted scenes, trailers and more. Not English-friendly, Region-B locked....

Video

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jan Kounens arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Universal-France.

This newly remastered HD transfer has been personally supervised by director Kounen. As a result there are some notable improvements over what the black coffret offers (this is the SE DVD release of the film, which has been available in Gallic territories for quite some time now) contrast is muc...

Audio
There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. For the record, the disc contains only optional French HOH subtitles.

The French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is near flawless. It is incredibly potent, pleasingly active and well balanced. The bass, especially during the final thirty or so minutes of the film, will undoubtedly test your audio system. It is loud, deep and very strong. The surrounds are also used tremendously well. The first time the ...

Supplements
Making-Of this is the old Polygram International piece that has been available on previous French releases of the film. Director Kounen, cast and crew members talk about the film while we are given an opportunity to see how many of the most violent and controversial scenes from Dobermann were shot. (PAL, 21min)

Interview with Jan Kounen an exclusive, long and very informative interview with the director where he talks about what expired him to film...

Final Words
English speakers are once again out of luck! At least for now, it seems like Dobermann will remain exclusive to the Gallic markets. Considering who owns the rights to the film in the United States, as well as the fact that a local release wasn't even considered during DVD's most glorious days because of the film's politically incorrect tone, I think it is fair to say that all eyes are now on the United Kingdom (Australian release is highly unlikely). So, keep hoping!......

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The Warriors (Blu-ray Review)

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:44:03 -0400
"Can you dig it?"

I like to think Im a nice guy, so Id like to present, for your amusement, three steps to an enjoyable, laugh-filled evening: 1. Invite over three or four of your funniest friends. 2. Have a case of cold beer at the ready. 3. Pop in The Warriors and let loose with the MST3K-style remarks. There are certain films that I like to watch alone, certain films that close me off inside their hermetically sealed worlds, but The Warriors is not one of those films. Director Wa...

Video
The Warriors appear in all their sinewy glory thanks to a surprisingly sharp and clean 1080p, AVC-encoded transfer. Honestly, I wasnt expecting a film of this age and caliber to look so good. When you think 1970s New York cinema, a gritty level of grain instantly leaps to mind, but The Warriors has a very smooth image, even in dark scenes, and yet shows no signs of over-the-top DNR. The print itself has been cleaned up magnificently, as I dont think I noticed a single ...

Audio
Limping out of the city with a meager Dolby Digital 5.1 track, its clear that The Warriors could use some audio muscle. The sound isnt bad, but portions of the film have a hollow, anemic quality thats hard to ignore. Check out the big rally scene, for instance. With thousands of gang members present, all hustling and bustling, the sound is unfortunately thin and unconvincing. While the film has a fairly wide stereo pan across the front channels, the rears pine away from under...

Supplements
This Blu-ray edition of The Warriors is identical to the Ultimate Directors Cut DVD in terms of supplements. All features, except the theatrical trailer, are presented in standard definition.

First up is a brief, one minute introduction to the directors cut by director Walter Hill, in which he expresses how this version of The Warriors fits the intentions he had for the film while shooting. This intro is also permanently affixed to the front of the film,...

Final Words
Who wouldve thought The Warriors could look so good? This Blu-ray release stands bandana- wrapped head and brawny bare shoulders above its DVD counterpart, and I have no problems recommending it to anyone looking for some shallow but entertaining fun. So grab a few friends, pop a few bottle caps, and let the good times roll. ......

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Pink Panther 2 (Blu-ray Review)

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:59:59 -0400
Dumb meets predictable.

Now let me bring you up to speed. We know nothing. You are now up to speed.

Yikes. ...

Video
The Pink Panther 2 stumbles onto Blu-ray with a gorgeous 1080p, 1.85:1-framed transfer. Lousy movie or not, MGM far more often than not delivers quality Blu-ray discs, and this is no exception. Top-notch detail is visible throughout; the opening sequence featuring Clouseau working with an unruly motorist who refuses a parking ticket reveals striking details across the board, from the clothing to the pavement and the golden leaves that have fallen upon it. Several shots throug...

Audio
The Pink Panther 2 bumbles onto Blu-ray with a DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Though mostly dialogue-centric, this soundtrack delivers the goods when called upon to do so, and with a good deal of clarity to boot. The music at the open -- the Pink Panther theme -- plays to the effect that each instrument may be heard distinctly across the front, yet all meshing together for a lifelike presentation of a classic theme that sounds better than ever. Outside of dialogue ...

Supplements
The Pink Panther 2 arrives on Blu-ray as a three-disc set, but delivers only a few throwaway film-related extras. Disc one houses the film and the primary supplements which begin with a gag reel (480p, 3:34). Drama is Easy...Comedy is Dangerous (1080p, 7:43) looks at the hard work that goes into creating a physical Comedy and briefly looks at the making of several of the film's stunts. A Dream Team Like No Other (1080p, 13:56) examines the impressive cast assemb...

Final Words
The Pink Panther 2 is the sort of movie that befits a fidgety crowd. No matter how many restroom visits, excursions to the refrigerator, or naps in the easy chair, it's virtually impossible to become lost for lack of information, because chances are the few "important" moments in the film won't be lost to absences from the theater, but even if they are, it's not like one cannot figure out the villain's identity long before Clouseau and gang. Sadly, the film isn't even remotely f......

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The Unborn (Blu-ray Review)

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:02:52 -0400
Wake me when it's over...

I wish I could pinpoint the precise moment American Horror died. Purists will tell you that the recent rash of uninspired remakes and superficial revamps have crippled the genre. Cinephiles often blame Hollywood's seeming inability to generate fresh ideas, as well as its insistence on skimming concepts from other countries that have a firmer grasp on the macabre. Gorehounds tend to point to the influx of mass market, PG-13 releases and, ultimately, the dilution of the genre. Whatever the rea...

Video
The Unborn features a slick, oft-times striking 1080p/VC-1 transfer that renders Goyer's limp beasties with a technical proficiency befitting a more substantial release. Cinematographer James Hawkinson has intentionally stripped his palette of primary punch -- offering bleak, wintery hues in place of searing reds or vibrant blues -- but crisp contrast, bottomless blacks, and absorbing shadows combine forces to produce a strong and stable image. While a few scenes (chief among them a pos...

Audio
Despite having all the subtlety of a blaring boombox in a local haunted house, The Unborn's faithful DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track gets the job done, forcing the listener to peak around every sonic corner and peer into every aural shadow until an inevitable blast of sound sends them retreating into their seats. Dialogue -- whispered, muttered, or screamed -- remains clear and intelligible, low-end support is weighty and robust, and rear speaker activity is aggressive... at least...

Supplements
I didn't enjoy The Unborn, but I was still disappointed by Universal's decision to forgo a proper supplemental package. Aside from a small batch of deleted scenes (HD, 7 minutes), the Blu-ray edition doesn't offer anything more than a My Scenes bookmarking feature and BD-Live functionality. ...

Final Words
The Unborn could have been an unsettling standout packed with leering corpses and disturbing visions. Instead, it's yet another weaksauce attempt to scare a teenage audience; a plodding and predictable bore that doesn't rejuvenate, re-energize, or reinvent its genre. At least Universal has put together a solid Blu-ray disc. Ignoring the fact that its supplemental package is a piddly seven-minutes long, The Unborn arrives with an excellent video transfer and a relatively impressiv......

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Ted Nugent (Blu-ray Review)

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:01:38 -0400

Ted Nugent: Motor City Mayhem marks a very special moment from the legendary rockers career this was his 6,000th show. Recorded on July 4th, 2008, in front of more than 20,000 fans, the show was a celebration of Nugents legacy as well as an opportunity for those who have been following him during the years to once again experience some of his greatest hits.

At the age of 60, Nugent looks impressive. His energy is still at an incredibly high level, his singing impressive and...

Video
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080i live transfer, Ted Nugent: Motor City Mayhem arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment.

This is one of the least impressive Eagle Rock Entertainment releases that I have seen. Contrast is consistently weak, clarity average at best and detail rather questionable. The color-scheme is also flat. Additionally, there is quite a bit of digital noise that I spotted. The majority of the...

Audio
There are three audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and LPCM 2.0. I opted for the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track and later on did a few random comparisons with the other two tracks for the purpose of this review.

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is acceptable but far from being impressive. Again, I must assume that a lot of its deficiencies are related to the manner in which the show was recorded. Ted Nugents solos are mostly clear and his s...

Supplements
Unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found on this Blu-ray disc....

Final Words
It is difficult to recommend Ted Nugent: Motor City Mayhem to anyone other than those who have a special place in their hearts for the rock legend. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed is a not a disappointment but it is certainly not in the same league with what I have seen produced by Eagle Rock Entertainment thus far. My advise to you is to rent the disc, see if you like the presentation and then consider a purchase. RENT IT. ......

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12 Rounds (Blu-ray Review)

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:58:54 -0400
Blu-ray is up to the challenge of '12 Rounds.'

I wanted to see the face of a man who knows he can't win.

If there is one constant in the world of motion pictures, it's the Action film. No matter how repetitive, how derivative, how goofy, how loud, how violent, and in those rare cases, how novel, an Action movie may be, there's no doubt that big explosions, hulking stars, large-caliber weapons, nifty special effects, and heaps of adrenaline sell tickets. With its staying power comes deluge after deluge of atte...

Video
12 Rounds' 1080p, 2.35:1-framed transfer is a knockout on Blu-ray. Though not quite up to the same level as the very best to grace the format, 20th Century Fox's latest transfer yields consistently well-above-average results. Fine detail is superb throughout; whether overhead shots of New Orleans that showcase buildings near and far to fine visual effect, closer street-level views that reveal the intricacies of the streets and structures, the interior of a cramped and busy F...

Audio
12 Rounds explodes onto Blu-ray with an expectedly awesome DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. No surprise as a new release Action title from 20th Century Fox, this track entertains at worst and devastates the listening area at best with a practically nonstop barrage of violence come to glorious sonic life. The track may be loud but it never sacrifices clarity in the process. Several gunshots early in the film -- the film's biggest shootout -- delivers crisp shots with a pos...

Supplements
12 Rounds arrives on Blu-ray with two versions of the film, the 108-minute theatrical cut and the 110-minute "extreme cut." Also included are several extras features, the package headlined by a pair of commentary tracks, both available only on the "extreme cut." The first track with Director Renny Harlin is interesting enough. The director speaks on the shooting style that allowed the actors to move, look, and react freely without worrying about stringent markers and the us...

Final Words
12 Rounds offers the not-so-critical viewer one heck of a ride, and unless someone expects of the movie some life-changing, deeply philosophical, spiritually-in-tune sort of experience, there's no reason to be all that disappointed by what this one has to offer. It's got all the makings of a bad movie on the surface, and even follows the same loose structure as Cena's previous outing, The Marine, but 12 Rounds never backs off and delivers a full-throttle, ......

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Children of the Corn (Blu-ray Review)

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:40:48 -0400
This 80's Horror favorite slices onto Blu-ray with adequate results.

He who walks behind the rows seeth all.

Yet another film adaptation of a Stephen King horror yarn, Children of the Corn plays out with the intensity of a high school basketball game. A Horror picture but not one that is necessarily up to the standards that define the very best the genre has to offer, Children of the Corn never manages to put it all together and move up to the big time. All the right pieces are in place, including a good story, decent...

Video
Children of the Corn slices onto Blu-ray with a 1080p transfer framed inside a 1.85:1 window. For the most part, this is a fine looking catalogue title. The majority of the transfer takes on a clean, clear, sharp, nicely detailed, and naturally-colored appearance. Detail can impress throughout; the corn stalks reveal a wonderful texture, not to mention appearing as a natural and pleasant shade of green. Some of the run-down locales around Gatlin where weather-worn and rotted...

Audio
Children of the Corn premieres on Blu-ray with a lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack. Jonathan Elias' score plays nicely throughout, a front-heavy presentation but one that is clear and pleasing to the ear in every respect. Directional effects are present but not in abundance; a car driving from right to left is about the extent of speaker-to-speaker action in this one. In fact, most of the track never strays very far from the center channel, and the back speakers rarely del...

Supplements
This Blu-ray release of Children of the Corn features several bonus features. First is a feature-length commentary track with Director Fritz Kiersch, Producer Terrence Kirby, and Actors John Franklin and Courtney Gains. This track plays out as an average multi-participant piece with plenty of minor, major, and comical recollections from the set, discussions on the sets and locations, problems with the corn, the set-up of plot and thematic themes, the film's success, and more. ...

Final Words
Although Children of the Corn turns into a standard chase movie in its third act, it keeps up a good pace and delivers a suitable finale to an otherwise average Horror picture. From the mind of genre maestro Stephen King, Children of the Corn features a compelling story that translates to the silver screen with only ho-hum execution. Not a bad movie either within its genre or in the whole of cinema but certainly not an all-time classic, the film enjoys something of a cult......

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For All Mankind (Blu-ray Review)

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:58:52 -0400

Al Reinerts unforgettable For All Mankind (1989) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The disc contains a newly restored, supervised and approved by the director, high-definition transfer of the film created on a Spirit Datacine from a 35mm interpositive. The original Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack has been remastered at 24-bit from 35mm magnetic tracks. Amongst the supplemental features on the disc is an audio commentary with the director and Apollo 17 commander Eugene A. Cernan, An A...

Video
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Al Reinerts For All Mankind arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

I like what Criterion have done here. The transfer reveals solid detail, excellent color reproduction and strong clarity (when compared to the SDVD transfer). More importantly, when blown through a digital projector, For All Mankind remains pleasingly stable. Furthermore, the Blu-ray transfer has enha...

Audio
There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English HOH track for the main feature as well as optional intertitles identifying the voices of the men heard throughout the film.

As noted in the booklet offered with this release, the original Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack has been remastered at 24-bit from 35mm magnetic tracks. Clicks, thumps, hiss, and hum have been removed manually using Pro Tools...

Supplements
Audio Commentary a commentary by filmmaker Al Reinert and astronaut Eugene Cernan recorded exclusively for the Criterion Collection in 1999. A veteran of three missions, including Apollo 17, on which he served as commander, Cernan was the last to set foot on the lunar surface, in 1972.

An Accidental Gift director Al Reinert mined NASAs film repository at the Johnson Space Center to create For All Mankind. This program explores his commitment an...

Final Words
Simply put, Al Reinert's For All Mankind is one of the greatest documentaries ever made. Criterion's Blu-ray release contains a newly restored, supervised and approved by the director, transfer of the film. The disc also contains a good amount of supplemental features. Obviously, we Highly Recommend it.......

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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (Blu-ray Review)

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:24:12 -0400
When you have to shoot, shoot. Dont talk!

When John Wayne rode the plains, life was pretty simple for a gunslinger. Heroes wore white hats and treated their women kindly, while villains sauntered into town in ten-gallons worth of black, their upper lips hardened into permanent sneers. The Law of the West was a balancing act between freedom and justice. Good was good, bad was bad, and moral ambiguity just plain hadnt been invented yet. The reality of westward expansion, however, was a great deal less grounded in ethical certai...

Video
Theres a lot of good and very little bad or ugly in this 1080p, AVC-encoded transfer. For a moderately low-budgeted film from the mid-1960s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly looks stunning in the upgrade to HD. Its by no means a perfect transfer, but the careful restoration process, overseen by Paul Rutan Jr. in 2002, has left the film looking better than ever. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly rides off through the desert in dusty Technicolor hues, with the pale blue sky lo...

Audio
While the films visual presentation won me over at first glance, The Good, the Bad and the Uglys DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround track is somewhat trickier to judge. During the restoration process, audio technicians took the original mono mix and expanded it to 5.1 channels, a difficult process considering that the sound effects and music were all contained on one track and were effectively inseparable. The end result is a listenable experience that nonetheless shows the dated tech of ...

Supplements
Commentary Tracks

Two commentaries are included on the disc, the first by film historian Richard Schickel, which appeared on the DVD release, and the second by Christopher Frayling, writer of Spaghetti Westerns: Cowboys and Europeans from Karl May to Sergio Leone. Both men are veritable Leone experts, and each track is laden with insights, critical dissections, and anecdotes, with some expected overlap. Frayling's is the livelier track, but both commentaries will ...

Final Words
If youre even remotely a fan of westerns, theres no reason not to own The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The film looks stellar on Blu-ray, and while the audio wont blow you away or anything, youll be whistling Morricones coyote-inspired theme for days. Highly Recommended.......

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Sleepy Hollow (Blu-ray Review)

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:33:48 -0400
"Their heads weren't found severed. Their heads were not found at all."

As a young country, founded when industry and modern science were just taking hold, America is unsurprisingly light on homegrown fairy tales. Our mythology is seen not in a dark medieval past, but in the tall-tale feats of westward expansion, and heard in the steady drum of industrial progress. The closest genre we have to a European folk story aesthetic is the New England gothic tale, post-puritan fever dreams penned by the likes of Hawthorne, Irving, and Poe, combining haunted Old Wo...

Video
Sleepy Hollows 1080p MPEG-2 transfer finds the town immersed in a swirling layer of grain that covers every surface, and while this sometimes lends to the early horror film atmosphere, it does often detract from detail and overall sharpness. In one close-up of Christina Ricci, the grainperhaps coupled with digital noise; its honestly hard to tellmade it difficult to make out the borders of her lips. The plentiful tree limbs are also a good crispness test, and the film has i...

Audio
Fortunately for you readers, Sleepy Hollows Dolby Digital 5.1 track is neither sleepy nor hollow, and I dont feel the slightest need to resort to any unfunny puns. The mix is clean and clear, with an open, expressive mid-range and detailed highs. Gunshots, horse hooves, and thunder all have sufficient low-end thud, though a slight boost in bass prowess could give the track some added dimensionality. Danny Elfmans commanding score assaults from all sides, with be...

Supplements
Fans who own the DVD will be immediately familiar with the informative, if somewhat dated bonus features here.

Sleepy Hollow: Behind the Legend (SD, 30:03)

While Im no advocate of severing talking head, EPK featurettes from discs altogether, I propose we at least eviscerate the narrators who lend their over-enthusiastic voices to the supplements. Still, for most viewers in 1999, any bonus features were appreciated, and this behind-the-scenes look at the creati...

Final Words
Sleepy Hollow gets major points in my book simply for being an adaptation of American folklore. Where are the film versions of Young Goodman Brown or The Devil and Tom Walker? Theres a vast, untapped storytelling field in the American Gothic, and I would love to see Tim Burton, or any other director really, take a stab at some of the lesser-known stories. Sleepy Hollow is also one of the few period horror films, which makes it an instant addition to my annual, pre-Ha......

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Che (Blu-ray Review)

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:53:56 -0400

Yet to be released in North America, Steven Soderbergh's epic "Che" (2008) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment. Amongst the supplemental features on the disc is a standard featurette and an interview with the director. Region-B "locked". ...

Video
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Steven Soderberghs Che: The Argentine arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment.

Generally speaking, this is a fantastic transfer. Contrast is impressive, clarity good and detail often incredible. This being said, I would like to point out that light is of utmost importance in Che as it directly affects contrast, clarity and detai...

Audio
There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: Spanish (with portions of English) DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1.

The Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is solid. The bass is potent, the high frequencies not overdone and the rear channels quite active. Furthermore, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track impresses with terrific clarity the dialog is notably crisp and easy to follow. Also, balance is certainly not an issue. Alberto Iglesias music score is mixed very well with the dial...

Supplements
Che featurette Benicio Del Toro, Steven Soderbergh and Damian Bichir talk about Che, Castro and their legacy, as well as how difficult it is to fund and produce a film like Che. (PAL, 11 min).

Interview with Steven Soderbergh the director talks about how Che came to exist, Benicio Del Toros desire to see the film get made as well the controversy surrounding Ches legacy. (PAL, 13 min).

Teaser/Trailer - ...

Final Words
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, do not miss Che. See it and judge for yourself whether or not those who have dismissed it had a good reason to do so. Optimum Home Entertainment's Blu-ray release looks and sounds very good. If you could play Region-B discs, I urge you to add Che to your libraries. Very Highly Recommended. ......

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L.A. Confidential (Blu-ray Review)

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:58:47 -0400
Off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush...

While teenage girls began to weep when Titanic's Jack Dawson slid beneath the icy waves, I began to weep when it was declared Best Picture at the 70th Academy Awards, handily leaving four more satisfying films -- As Good As It Gets, The Full Monty, Good Will Hunting and, of course, director Curtis Hanson's pulpy tale of cops, corruption, and celebrity, L.A. Confidential -- gasping for air in its wake. Now I don't claim to understand what goes through an Academ...

Video
At first glance, L.A. Confidential features an underwhelming 1080p/VC-1 transfer that doesn't offer the sharpness or clarity of other notable catalog releases. However, upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that Warner's presentation pays a tremendous amount of respect to Hanson and Spinotti's intentions, relying on lifelike textures, savory shadows, and convincing depth to craft a decidedly satisfying experience. After a less-than-thrilling series of opening shots (that left my brow...

Audio
Warner's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround track is just as rewarding, injecting crystal clear dialogue, lively LFE support, and increasingly impressive dynamics into an already immersive soundfield to create a memorable sonic experience. Regardless of whether a scene is filled with Pearce's quippy banter, Crowe's rugged throatiness, or Spacey's brisk syllables, the studio's lossless mix perfectly prioritizes each one, even amidst the most chaotic shootouts. Gunfire is blessed with jarring savagery, s...

Supplements
The 2-disc Blu-ray edition of L.A. Confidential contains the same bountiful supplemental package that appears on Warner's concurrently released 3-disc SE DVD. I am a bit disappointed that the video content is presented in standard definition, but it's tough to complain where there are so many high-quality features on tap.

Cast and Crew Audio Commentary: Rather than producing an unwieldy group commentary, Warner has assembled a col...

Final Words
There's little more I can say about L.A. Confidential without slipping into superfluous praise. Suffice to say, it should have taken home the 1997 Best Picture statue. No contest. To my relief, Warner's Blu-ray edition is one of the better catalog discs I've reviewed. It sports an exceedingly faithful video transfer, a powerful TrueHD audio track, and a healthy collection of supplemental materials. If you've never seen L.A. Confidential, don't waste any more time... head for A......

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Rollerball (Blu-ray Review)

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:22:53 -0400
A complete mess from start to finish...

I remember sitting down to watch Rollerball when it was originally released to DVD back in 2002. Knowing it was directed by John McTiernan (Predator, Die Hard and The Hunt for Red October), I was willing to give the film a fair shake despite the ruthless critical reception it had received upon its theatrical release. Unfortunately, everything Id heard was 100% correct, and I came away hoping my path would never cross with Rollerball again. As you can see, m...

Video
Presented in 1080p utilizing the MPEG-2 codec (at a bitrate that wavers from 12Mbps to 28Mbps), Rollerball is a problematic transfer. As with my recent reviews of Road House and Out of Time, Rollerball demonstrates wild shifts in clarity, with some scenes appearing nice and distinct and others appearing hazy or blurred. Ive suspected the use of MPEG-2 as the main culprit behind problem, and this film tends to confirm my belief. After all, Rollerball is only...

Audio
The primary audio offering is a DTS-HD MA 5.1 track in the native language of English. Performing marginally better than the video transfer, the overall audio experience is still somewhat disappointing for a recent action film. The volume of the dialogue presented some issues along the way, as I found myself straining to make out what the characters were saying. The special effects demonstrated subtle use of the the rear surrounds, but it wasnt nearly as dynamic as I was expecting from a fil...

Supplements
Rollerball is one of several recent Blu-ray releases from MGM that contain a copy of the DVD release in addition to the Blu-ray. This appears to be a strategic move to provide special features without actually adding them to the Blu-ray disc itself. In general, I wouldnt consider this practice ideal (especially for anyone with an interest in directors commentaries) but it may partially account for the reasonable retail price of this Blu-ray release.

Having said that, Im review...

Final Words
If youve never seen Rollerball, you should have no trouble continuing to pass on the opportunity with this newly-released Blu-ray offering. Im willing to give director John McTiernan a break since everyone has a minor misstep every now and again, but Rollerball is simply a case of shoddy filmmaking at its finest. From a technical standpoint, the presentation is certainly a marginal improvement over the DVD counterpart, but never rises to the potential wed expect from a glossy ......

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maz manus (Blu-ray Review)

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 23:59:59 -0400

A beautifully lensed and superbly acted period drama, Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandbergs Max Manus: Man of War (2008) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Revolver Entertainment. Unfortunately, only the documentary from the Norwegian release is offered on this disc. The film is still without a US release date. With imposed English subtitles. Region-B locked....

Video
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080i/50 transfer, Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandbergs Max Manus: Man of War arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Revolver Entertainment.

Before I get to the technical analysis, I would like to quickly note that this disc has been encoded in 1080i/50, which is the reason why I have marked it as Region-B locked (most every US TV set cannot accept 1080/50 signal, and one nee...

Audio
There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: Norwegian Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and Norwegian Digital Stereo 2.0. I opted for the Norwegian Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and later on did a few random comparisons with the Norwegian Digital Stereo 2.0 track for the purpose of this review.

The Norwegian Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track is very impressive. The bass is powerful and deep, the high frequencies not overdone and the surround channels used very effectively. Whether during the attacks of the Nazi ships or d...

Supplements
Max Manus Film & Reality An exclusive documentary offering an abundance of information about the production history of the film, the shooting, the events the film recreates and the real Max Manus and its comrades. With imposed English subtitles. (MPEG-2, 46 min). ...

Final Words
If you can play Region-B discs, and enjoy intelligent period films, then you should certainly take a look at Norwegian directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandbergs Max Manus: Man of War. Revolver Entertainment's disc is encoded in 1080i/50 but looks and sounds great. Very Highly Recommended. ......

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Origin: Spirits of the Past (Blu-ray Review)

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 23:59:01 -0400
An interesting premise and fantastic production values aren't enough to offset the muddled plot.

One aspect of anime thats always fascinated me (and drawn me in as a fan over the years), is the incorporation of moral undertones in the plot of serious-themed productions. If youre familiar with Grave of the Fireflies, or the films of Hayao Miyazaki, youll easily understand what Im talking about. In recent years, weve seen an increased use of moral themes in animated productions from Pixar and other Hollywood studios, but you still have to give credit to anime for paving the way ...

Video
Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 27Mbps), Origin: Spirits of the Past is a film tailormade for high-definition viewing. During the initial half hour of the films runtime, I was entranced with the clarity of the visuals, and the precision in every aspect of the animation. Adding to the visuals, the color spectrum contained bold hues throughout every environment on display, with the highlight being the crystal blue water of the reservoir. Adding to th...

Audio
There are two audio offerings on the disc, with a primary Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix dubbed in English, and a secondary Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix in the native language of Japanese. Heres where things get a little dicey, since there was clearly more emphasis placed on the quality of the English dub. As Ive stated before, I prefer to watch any foreign films in their native language (with subtitles), so I immediately switched to the Japanese track as the film began. The opening song was playing at that ...

Supplements
The Making of Origin (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 51:38 min): This lengthy supplement consists mainly of interviews with the main players in the films completion. A wide range of topics are covered, from the films themes, production schedule, scope, and animation process. I may have found the supplement a little more interesting if Id enjoyed the film to a greater extent, but I can still appreciate the seven year effort that went into its completion. Of note, this supplement is presented in J...

Final Words
While I cant recommend Origin: Spirits of the Past as an anime masterpiece, it still has enough entertainment value to warrant one or two viewings. The animation quality is worth the price of admission alone, and aside from the disappointing lack of a proficient Japanese audio track, the overall technical presentation is impressive. If you have a completist outlook on your high-definition anime collection, you probably already know this will be an easy purchase. For anyone else, Id r......

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The Code (Blu-ray Review)

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 23:58:25 -0400
I'm still trying to figure out what the title even refers to...

The heist film genre is full of some tough acts to follow. Ever since Oceans Eleven broke onto the scene back in 2001, Hollywood studios have attempted to generate the same winning combination achieved by director Steven Soderbergh. The Italian Job remake came close, and Ive always enjoyed the underappreciated gem The Score, but I still feel Oceans Eleven is the film to beat for the genre trophy. With that in mind, you can imagine my reservations in reading the ...

Video
Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 19Mbps) The Code offers a pleasing visual experience throughout the majority of its runtime. Detail is rendered with above-average clarity in 95% of scenes, with only a handful appearing somewhat less distinct. There are a number of facial close-ups scattered throughout the film and every textured line on the faces of Freeman and Banderas can be seen with intricate precision. The color spectrum apparent in The Code...

Audio
The primary audio offering is a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix in the native language of English. It has to be difficult working as the sound engineer on a film starring Antonio Banderas, since the man struggles with enunciating English dialogue in a manner thats universally cohesive. There were far too many scenes where I had trouble making out his lines due to his strong accent (it almost became frustrating enough to warrant subtitles), and plenty of other scenes where Morgan Freemans soft-spoken vo...

Supplements
Cast Interviews (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 7:54 min): As the title implies, this extra consists of interviews with Morgan Freeman, Antonio Banderas, Radha Mitchell, Robert Forster and other members of the film crew. Everyone interviewed discusses the themes in the film, and the characters they portray. Personally, I found this featurette to be a waste of time, but you may feel differently.

Behind the Scenes (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 16:21 min): This featurette follows the crew through th...

Final Words
If you enjoy heist films with some interesting twists strewn throughout, The Code may be worth consideration as an addition to your collection. The acting is good and the production values are reasonable, but I was a little disappointed in the amateurish oversights of the plot. The big payoff in a film like this should be the heist, but I was left feeling extremely let-down with the plan and execution of the big score, which is completely forgettable next to other films of the genre. I......

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The Deep (Blu-ray Review)

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 23:25:14 -0400
'The Deep' surfaces out of the Blu with quality picture and sound.

If the Jamaican pirates don't get ya, it will be the cold embrace of the sea.

A moderately paced adventure that offers the discriminating viewer a sense of history, danger, and cinematic novelty while also delivering enough thrills to make for a slightly-above-average time waster to those not quite as interested in the complexities of the plot or the history of the vessels and their contents, The Deep takes audiences on a journey to a world not oft visited on f...

Video
The Deep swims onto Blu-ray with a pleasing 1080p, 2.40:1-framed transfer. The transfer reveals mostly strong details throughout; most impressive are the long-distance Bermuda shots that open the film. They feature strong, clean images of the green land masses and the houses that dot them, surrounded by shimmering blue waters. The primary action takes place underwater, and such scenes don't disappoint. They offer strong color reproduction, the many shades of clothing, mesh...

Audio
The Deep uncovers a fairly good Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The presentation manages to deliver suitable content throughout, beginning with a string-heavy opening title score that flows naturally and pleasantly into the listening area with strong, but not overbearing or awkward, rear-channel support. Listeners will hear the varied instruments placed all across the soundstage. During the first underwater expedition, there's not much of a sense of submersion created b...

Supplements
Unfortunately, The Deep seems to have missed the boat and surfaces onto Blu-ray with only a handful of supplements rather than the treasure trove fans might have been hoping for. The Making of 'The Deep' (1080i, 48:40) is a comprehensive vintage piece, narrated by star Robert Shaw, that looks at the "danger, challenge, excitement, and fear" of making an aquatic-based film. Topics include the number of dives required to make the film, shooting underwater and with...

Final Words
The Deep delivers a good, but not strong, story. It also features decent if not sometimes clumsy pacing, solid but not memorable acting, and just enough mystery and danger to keep things interesting. "Average" describes The Deep in a nutshell, it's very existence defined by a collection of mediocre-to-decent pieces that come together for a sometimes fun, almost always intriguing, and worthwhile movie experience. In the Hollywood of 1977, and particularly in light of to......

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Driven to Kill (Blu-ray Review)

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 17:50:21 -0400
Driven to sleep.

Those who did this to you will cry tears of blood, this I promise you.

The bad guys may not be the only ones crying at the end of this one. Driven to Kill marks yet another direct-to-video Action dud from former star Steven Seagal. This time, his daughter has been kidnapped, and Seagal wants her back. No wait, she's been assaulted, and Seagal wants revenge. Since the front and the back of the box offer conflicting information as to what exactly is going on in...

Video
Driven to Kill pulls up on Blu-ray with a none-too-impressive 1080p, 1.85:1-framed transfer. The image sports a terribly heavy layer of grain that is rendered quite well throughout, adding to the experience a gritty, grimy feel and a perfectly fine film-like texture. Unfortunately, the rest of the image disappoints considerably. There's plenty of soft imagery here, and not only in unimportant background objects. Full-frame close-ups of character often reveal soft lines and u...

Audio
Driven to Kill features a pedestrian DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack that, try as it may, can't outclass even the meager video presentation. Dialogue is never presented all that clearly; much of it sounds muffled and incoherent, and not only because of the thick, phony accents. Gunshots ring out with a whimper rather than a bang, for example a scene in chapter seven featuring Ruslan test-firing a .38 revolver in a basement. It sounds like more like a cap gun than a deadly w...

Supplements
Driven to Kill shows no drive here; no supplements are included....

Final Words
For the perfect example of an action movie gone terribly awry, look no further than Driven to Kill. Thankfully, it's not so bad that it's completely unwatchable. Quite the opposite, in fact. Purely for the comic value that results from minimal production values, terrible acting, bland sets, headache-inducing direction, and a goofy score, Driven to Kill passes as ten-cent entertainment that's good for a few laughs, some repetitive gunplay, and a gruesome finale that alm......

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Night Train (Blu-ray Review)

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 16:00:57 -0400
All a-bored!

There have been a number of great films set on trainsStrangers on a Train, Man on the Train, heck, even Throw Momma From the Trainbut Night Train, written and directed by M. Brian King, unfortunately belongs to a lesser league of cinematic track-jumpers, joining the derailed likes of Terror Train and The Midnight Meat Train. Im sure youre sensing a pattern here, and no, I cant fathom either why locomotive films feel the need to so blatantl...

Video
Night Trains AVC-encoded, 1080p* transfer suffers the fates shared by many films shot on HD videopoor contrast, digital noise, and a lack of depth. It certainly doesnt help that the films lighting is bland and flat, giving Night Train a cheap, unconvincing appearance. Color issues crop up here and there, especially in skin tones, and one close-up of Steve Zahn, in particular, his skin almost whitish and lips nearly magenta, made me wince audibly. Black levels are ac...

Audio
Night Trains DTS-HD MA 5.1 track also shows its low-budget pedigree, particularly on the vocal front. Male voices sound muffled, compressed, and occasionally lost in the helter-skelter mix of score and ambience. Directionality is inconsistent; sometimes we hear train wheels and other sounds rattling in the rear channels, sometimes we dont. If theres one plus to this track its Henning Lohners score, which, with its deep symphonic strings and tinkling xylophone, could easily ...

Supplements
Making Of Featurette (SD, 22:55)

Is there any reason why Making Of is in quotation marks? Is this ironically not a standard, poorly produced behind the scenes special? Unfortunately, this is exactly what it is, and you know youre in for a treat when a disclaimer before the supplement reads, The special features included on this DVD reflect the quality of the original source material. Making Of includes interviews with the director and the producers, one o...

Final Words
Steve Zahn was brilliant in Rescue Dawn, Leelee Sobieski was in Eyes Wide Shut, for goodness sake, and Danny Glover, well, hes Danny freaking Glover. Why are these people in Night Train? I dont mean to give the film a hard shakeit has some interesting ideas that fall unfortunately onto the tracksbut I cant recommend Night Train to anyone besides locomotive completists who need fill that gap on their media shelf between The Polar Express a......

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Battle in Seattle (Blu-ray Review)

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 15:14:03 -0400
Thanks WTO, it's been a riot!

My wife was living in Seattle back in 99, and she remembers going to see a matinee of Fight Clubappropriately enoughwhile WTO protestors marched in the streets outside the theater. After the mind-frying film, she stepped out into the dusk to a scene that eerily echoed Fight Clubs apocalyptic themes of civil disobedience. Black-clad anarchists had tossed a trashcan though a Starbucks storefront, windows were boarded up with graffiti-strewn plywood, and the latent, acri...

Video
Battle in Seattle was shot mostly with 16mm cameras, and while the smaller format has its benefitssize, portability, and cost, among themthe films 1080p, AVC-encoded transfer only amplifies the mediums flaws. Since 16mm is roughly half the size of 35mm film, the amount of noticeable grain is effectively doubled, and Battle in Seattle often suffers under a thick and oppressive patina of analog noise. In some senses, this works for the film. Its gritty, raw, and certa...

Audio
The Battle in Seattle rages with concussive clarity thanks to a well-designed DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround track. As many sections of the film are shot with a hand-held, documentary style, its important for the sound to be immersive and involving. Thankfully then, Battle in Seattle drops you in the middle of the action. Rubber bullets pop and whiz, tear gas canisters hiss menacingly, and the screams of billy-clubbed protestors emerge from all corners of the audio field. Rear s...

Supplements
Commentary with Director Stuart Townsend and Editor Fernando Villena

Stuart and Fernando offer up a subdued but informative track thats surprisingly light on social commentary, focusing instead on the practical aspects of creating the film, especially the tricks of the trade that often go unnoticed by audiences. Townsend does spend some time, however, discussing the real vs. fiction elements of the plot and characters. Its a quiet track, for sure, but I generally enj...

Final Words
As a former Seattleite, I thought Battle in Seattle captured well the distinctly Pacific northwest blend of political activism and rampant commerce. And while other Emerald City inhabitants may notice some laughable anachronismsQwest field shows up brieflythe film does feel ripped straight from the pages of time. I do have some hesitations though about whole- heartedly recommending the film. Those looking for an intense, character-driven drama will likely feel short-changed, an......

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Million Dollar Mutts (Blu-ray Review)

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 11:24:18 -0400
Does this Blu-ray bark or whimper?

This dog is not just going to roll over and take it lying down.

Dr. Dolittle: Million Dollar Mutts isn't the greatest movie ever made. Sorry to burst anyone's bubble. What it is though is perfectly acceptable for what it is and what it sets out to do, which is to entertain a younger audience with tales of talking pets and the human girl that can communicate with them. The film follows the standard formula for a movie like this one, featuring a plot that has th...

Video
Dr. Dolittle: Million Dollar Mutts struts onto Blu-ray with a 1080p, 1.78:1-framed transfer. Shot in HD video, this one takes on the look of a good high definition broadcast presentation rather than the crisp, film-like imagery that accompanies the best of Blu-ray. The transfer consistently delivers soft imagery in both the foreground and the background, dull colors, and average amounts of detail and depth. Although there are plenty of colors throughout the film -- particularly...

Audio
Dr. Dolittle: Million Dollar Mutts barks onto Blu-ray with a DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. In this completely front-heavy audio presentation, music impresses the most, with a crisp enough delivery of pop, rap, and instrumental music as it plays through the front speakers, some of which features a decent bass accompaniment. Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, there's not much going on outside of dialogue and music. A few scattered sound effects, for instance the rumbling...

Supplements
Dr. Dolittle: Million Dollar Mutts yaps up a miniscule amount of fluffy bonus features. Tiffany's Tricked Out Cell Phone (480p, 4:35) allows viewers to watch a few "camera phone" videos that take viewers behind-the-scenes of the film, looking at pet costumes, human costumes, and a few storyboard-to-final-film comparisons. No Business Like Show Business (480p, 7:56) features a glimpse into the massive amounts of work that go into making a film, particularly one th...

Final Words
It's never fun to point out the flaws in a movie like Dr. Dolittle: Million Dollar Mutts. These sorts of films are meant for an audience that either won't care or won't understand the problems inherent to the picture, and for those viewers, it's a perfectly fine experience. Populated by plenty of cute animals; a cast that won't walk away with any Oscars but have a good bit of fun with the material; and a decent life lesson on the importance of discipline and not cutting corners,......

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Predator 2 (Blu-ray Review)

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:01:30 -0400
Can't beat the real thing.

Hes on safari.

If ever there were a search to find the most generic, neither brilliant nor horrendous, watchable but not memorable, sequel of all time, Predator 2 should be considered as one of the primary candidates. The follow-up to one of the best pure Action/Sci-Fi movies of the past several decades, an icon of the 1980s, and arguably Arnold Schwarzenegger's best film, Predator introduce...

Video
Predator 2 arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p, 1.85:1-framed transfer. Quite the opposite of its predecessor's Blu-ray transfer, this one sports a mostly grain-free image that lends to the visuals a smooth, somewhat artificial, and mostly flat appearance. Most of the visible noise may be seen over the darkest corners of the picture. Speaking of blacks, they are not bad, never straying towards a shade of gray or appearing too bright, but certainly not quite purely inky and true, ei...

Audio
Predator 2 hunts on Blu-ray with an aggressive DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The film is marked by scenes of unrelenting violence, and those sound that accompany that imagery -- gunshots, screams, and explosions -- play loudly through every speaker in the 5.1 configuration. Though neither completely clear nor an undefined jumble of sound but certainly overwhelming the aural senses with barrage after barrage of sonic activity, this track makes for a satisfying experience f...

Supplements
Predator 2 features a rather standard collection of extras. Two commentary tracks serve as the main interest here, the first featuring Director Stephen Hopkins. Delivering a decent track, Hopkins speaks on the special effects shots, the make-up of the characters, the process of shooting various sequences, the strengths each actor brought to the film, and more. Writers Jim Thomas and John Thomas talk up the film in the second track, recalling their work on the original Pred...

Final Words
Far from a tragedy but certainly not on the same level as its classic predecessor, Predator 2 works in many areas but falls short in several others. It lives under quite a big shadow and cannot manage to emerge from it, though there is enough here that both recalls the first film (particularly Silvestri's fine score) and introduces new information into Predator lore to make it a worthwhile outing. Also featuring decent performances and plenty of violence, Action and Scien......

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Highlander (Blu-ray Review)

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:09:18 -0400

Russell Mulcahys classic adventure picture Highlander (1986) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment. Amongst the supplemental features on the disc is a long documentary, an interview with Christopher Lambert and a Feature commentary with Director Russel Mulcahy. The film and all of the supplemental features are perfectly playable on Region-A hardware. ...

Video
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with VC-1 and granted a 1080p transfer, Russell Mulcahys Highlander arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment.

I am very pleased with Optimums transfer. Contrast is very strong, clarity terrific and detail about as good as I hoped it would be. The color-scheme is also surprisingly strong reds, blues, greens, browns, blacks and whites are stable and natural-looking. Furthermore, ...

Audio
There are a number of different audio tracks on this Blu-ray release - English Surround DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, German DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Spanish Mono DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and Portuguese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. I opted for the English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track and later on did a few random comparisons with the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track for the purpose of this review.

Though many would probabl...

Supplements
Highlander Documentary divided in three chapters (A Legend is Born, The Visual Style, and A Strong Woman) this rather long documentary focuses on the production history of the film, its success and legacy. A number of cast and crew members share their thoughts and recollections. With optional German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Danish and Japanese subtitles (480/60i, 85 min).

Christopher Lambert Interview...

Final Words
I am very pleased with Optimum Home Entertainment's Blu-ray disc. After their terrific Hardware release, we now have a solid upgrade for Highlander. I sincerely hope that this is the beginning of a trend - as little noise reduction and as much natural grain for older films arriving on Blu-ray as possible. I cannot wait to see how their August/September catalog releases would look. Recommended. ......

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Enter the Dragon (Blu-ray Review)

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:43:24 -0400
A permanent genre fixture, a fitting tribute to an icon, a martial arts masterpiece...

Raise your hand if you fancy yourself a martial arts cinema fan. Good, good. Now keep your hand raised if you haven't watched Enter the Dragon. Look around... everyone with their hand raised is a walking contradiction; a deluded charlatan weened on watered down actioners and Rush Hour all-nighters; a misguided soul who hasn't sampled one of the most influential kung fu delicacies of all time. Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting everyone who partakes of its gritty goodness wi...

Video
I have to admit I didn't expect much from Enter the Dragon's 1080p/VC-1 transfer. However, it didn't take long for me to adjust my expectations and immerse myself in Warner's at-times gorgeous restoration of the famed classic. The first thing I scribbled in my notes was the word "skintones." Healthy, natural, and convincing, the actors' faces rarely suffer from overzealous saturation, and are never undernourished by underwhelming contrast. Lee's nighttime assault on Han's compound ...

Audio
Enter the Dragon's dated Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track (640kbps) makes it one of the early high definition discs in need of a re-release, this time with a blazing lossless audio mix worthy of Lee's hard-hitting punches and high-pitched war cries. That's not to say this standard offering is an outright disappointment. To the contrary, it pays fitting tribute to the film's source elements without resorting to the overindulgent antics of many ham-fisted remixes on the market. Dialogue i...

Supplements
Having released Enter the Dragon numerous times on DVD, the Blu-ray edition of the martial arts classic comes packed to the brim with hours of extensive supplements. Anyone still holding a candle for the late Bruce Lee will fawn over the high quality special features on tap -- a pair of absorbing full-length documentaries, three engaging featurettes, and an audio commentary among them -- and enjoy the supplemental package almost as much as the film itself. The only downside is that all ...

Final Words
In case my review hasn't helped you make up your mind, allow me to break it all down into a more digestible morsel. Whether you're a casual or diehard martial arts fan, you owe it to yourself to experience Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon at least once. Warner has even made it easy on the eyes and ears with a faithful restoration, an excellent video transfer, a solid audio track, and a wealth of supplements worth the price of admission alone. It's not only one of the best Blu-ray deals ......

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Mr. Troop Mom (Blu-ray Review)

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:59:03 -0400
George Lopez stars in this mundane, made-for-Nickelodeon bore...

October 26, 1986 may not mean anything to you, but it was a defining moment in my childhood. Not because first basemen Bill Buckner made a fielding error that would cost the Boston Red Sox the World Series, not because my parents took me to the theater to see Crocodile Dundee, and not because news reports of a UFO sighting in Iowa would give me recurring nightmares for years. No, dear readers... on October 26, 1986 Disney CEO Michael Eisner peered out from my TV screen and introduced me...

Video
As you might already expect, Mr. Troop Mom features a patchy 1080p/VC-1 transfer that runs an obstacle course all its own. Even though the film's palette is more satisfying on Blu-ray than on DVD, delineation is just as unforgiving, black levels are still inconsistent, and skintones remain erratic, bouncing between natural, pasty, flushed, bronzed, and chalky hues (oftentimes within the same scene). More distressingly, contrast is a continuous crapshoot, blessing some shots with convinc...

Audio
Mr. Troop Mom's banal Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround mix isn't much better. It thumps its chest and roars as loud as it can, but it lacks the prowess and precision of more delicately crafted lossless tracks. Case in point: while a blaring soundtrack tends to overwhelm the soundscape with lethargic bass beats and muddled guitar riffs, the rear speakers are surprisingly subdued. Distant crowds are seemingly comprised of mimes, the forest has apparently been evacuated, and the wind has little ...

Supplements
Mr. Troop Mom sets up camp on Blu-ray with the same blink-and-you'll-miss-it supplemental package that graces its standard DVD counterpart. Still, it's not a total loss: Warner presents the bulk of the film's production featurettes in high definition.

Naomi's Journal (HD, 10 minutes): And the award for most unnecessarily cumbersome featurette goes to... "Naomi's Journal" on Mr. Troop Mom! After a brief 24-second intro, a sec...

Final Words
I never... never fall asleep while watching a movie, but Mr. Troop Mom knocked me out cold. As boring, predictable, and monotonous as they come, Lopez's family-oriented comedy is a tiresome mess. Even so, there are countless young girls out there who will love every second of it. It's just a shame their fledgling nostalgia will be sullied by the Blu-ray edition's inconsistent video transfer, uneventful TrueHD track, and shallow supplemental package. Ultimately, I suppose anyone......

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secret defense (Blu-ray Review)

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:01:03 -0400

A frantically paced spy thriller with a complex narrative, Gallic director Philippe Haïms Secret Defense (2008) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of UGC-PH. Amongst the supplemental features on the disc are a directors commentary and a making-of featurette. A North American release is yet to be announced. English-friendly, Region-B locked. ...

Video
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Philippe Haïms Secret Defense arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors UGC PH.

I dont have any major complains with the transfer. Contrast is consistently pleasing, clarity very good and detail pleasing. The color-scheme is quite interesting. The desert footage conveys incredible colors yellows, blues and black are notably rich while some of the indoor scenes ...

Audio
There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and French DTS 2.0. I opted for the French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track and later on did a few random comparisons with the French DTS 2.0 for the purpose of this review.

The French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is lovely. It is not of reference quality, but it gets just about everything right. The bass is rich, the high-frequencies not overdone and the surround channels used only when necessary. The dialo...

Supplements
Audio commentary with director Philippe Haïm - most unfortunately, it is not subtitled in English.

Isolated Music Score -

Making-Of - a standard featurette with footage from the production process and generic comments by the cast and crew. Not subtitled in English. (PAL, 30 min).

Scenes coupees - a collage of deleted scenes with optional commentary by director Haïm. Not subtitled in English. (PAL, 2 min)....

Final Words
Intelligent, provocative and superbly executed, Secret Defense is a terrific spy thriller. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed looks good and sounds great. If you you can play Region-B discs, consider this film for your libraries. Very Highly Recommended. ......

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The Siege (Blu-ray Review)

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:47:32 -0400
Edward Zwick: filmmaker, artisan... prophet?

If you didn't know The Siege had been released in 1998, you'd probably assume it was a thinly-veiled, heavy-handed commentary on the controversial policies authorized by the now-defunct Bush Administration in the seven years following 9/11. A vicious terrorist attack in New York City? Check. A panicked populous? Check. A hasty, problematic military response? Check. Widespread persecution based on race and religion? Check. The suspension of habeas corpus? Check. A debate about t...

Video
Ah, MPEG-2... how I've missed ya. That's right, dear videophiles, Fox has daringly dipped into the encoding vaults of yore to mint a 1080p transfer of The Siege with the same, outdated codec that's cursed many a misguided release to the high definition bargain bin. Thankfully, the Blu-ray edition of Zwick's prophetic thriller doesn't suffer from the instability issues that plague other MPEG-2 releases: rampant artifacting, distracting source noise, and wavering contrast, among other ...

Audio
The Siege features a decent DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track as well. Dialogue, while thin on occasion, is generally crisp and clear, rear speaker activity is aggressive enough to warrant some praise, and prioritization is satisfying (albeit a bit spotty during the film's most chaotic sequences). Moreover, smooth pans and precise directionality create an enveloping soundfield (particularly for a ten-year old production) that allowed me to immerse myself in the crowded, panicky ...

Supplements
While the 2007 DVD re-release of The Siege included a brisk and candid filmmakers' audio commentary (with director Edward Zwick and executive producer Peter Schindler), a trio of behind-the-scenes featurettes, and a pair of theatrical trailers, the 2009 Blu-ray edition offers a lone theatrical trailer. I cry foul....

Final Words
The Siege isn't a perfect film, but it is a remarkable one. Prescient, prophetic, and perceptive, it dealt with a series of volatile topics long before they became the hot-button issues of today's political arena. Unfortunately, its high definition debut is uneven and disappointing. Its video transfer is a bit problematic, its DTS-HD Master Audio track is slightly underwhelming, and its supplemental package is missing several key features that graced its 2007 Martial Law Edition DVD......

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Knowing (Blu-ray Review)

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:27:31 -0400
22125 208919 13152295 EE

Everything has a purpose, has an order to it, is determined.

The uncertainty of the universe may very well be its one defining attribute. It is in that singular uncertainty -- that seemingly random string of apparently uncorrelated events that, in some way, large or small, shape the fates a life, a planet, a universe -- that the one truism in all of existence may be found. The only certainty in the universe is that nothing is certain, not even the most likely or u...

Video
Knowing features a jaw-dropping 1080p, 2.40:1-framed transfer. Most every shot throughout the film dazzles with incredible depth, unmatched clarity, intricate details, and amazing colors. Particularly stunning are the film's bright outdoor shots that capture the beauty of a Northeastern fall marvelously. The orange and golden leaves leap off the screen; don't be surprised if the area in front of the display device requires raking after the movie. Also impressive are the hues...

Audio
Knowing features a predictably wonderful DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. One of the most aggressive and deafening soundtracks available, Knowing features plenty of hefty bass and loud yet crystal-clear sound effects. From the very opening of the film and onward, listers will become privy to the definition of the track and the seamless sense of space it creates. Whispering sounds flow out of the speakers from every corner of the soundstage with a chilling realism. S...

Supplements
Unfortunately, Knowing opens up on Blu-ray without much material inside. First among the extras is a commentary track with Director Alex Proyas taking prompts from a companion, the end result a piece that plays like an interview with questions based primarily on the action playing out on-screen. Proyas still manages to cover the basic array of information about the shoot and the story, but also manages to go further into detail about the themes, the contrasts between the t...

Final Words
An all-around wonderful experience, Alex Proyas' Knowing delivers a nearly perfect blend of popcorn-munching entertainment, terror, suspense, and drama. It's superbly paced, well-acted, fabulously directed, and delivers plenty of spine-tingling and thought-provoking moments. Summit Entertainment's Blu-ray release sparkles from a technical perspective. Offering a reference-quality soundtrack and a bold, clear, and sparkling transfer, Knowing makes for a visual and aural ......

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Push (Blu-ray Review)

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:27:30 -0400
A potentially decent movie is too cumbersome for its own good.

Didnt see that one coming, did you?

The rear-end numbing, groan-inducing, watch-checking, "when will this be over?" movie event of the year, Push is like the kid on the elevator in a 50-story building that, pardon the pun, pushes all the buttons on the ground floor when everyone else just wants to get to the top without any added drama and misery. Push delivers, eventually, but in between a few nifty ideas and interesting action sequences are plenty of u...

Video
Push features an impressive 1080p, 2.40:1-framed Blu-ray transfer. The image delivers strong details far and wide, both in close-up and distance shots. The small tiles that make up the wall in Nick's apartment as seen in the beginning of the movie, the many beaten and worn locations around Hong Kong, facial hairs and pores, clothing, and most every other object in the film takes on a lifelike appearance with palpable textures that make them seem to jump off the screen. The tr...

Audio
Push arrives on Blu-ray with a reference-quality DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Time and again throughout the movie the soundtrack impresses with an engaging and amazingly active and complete sound field. Music, dialogue, action sound effects, and environmental ambience all come through the entire soundstage to positively delightful effect. Music flows through the speakers and invades the listening area with lifelike precision, volume, and presence; whether a hard rock gu...

Supplements
Push shoves its way onto Blu-ray with but a few supplements. First up is a commentary track with Director Paul McGuigan and Actors Chris Evans and Dakota Fanning. Each participant's voice plays in a separate speaker, the director in the middle, Fanning in the right, and Evans in the left. The director admits up-front, but more in a joking manner, that the film is hard to explain, and he proceeds to do his best. He also speaks of the filmmaking techniques employed, set design, ...

Final Words
Partially clever, partially coherent, and partially entertaining, Push has a few things going for it but the film never comes even close to putting it all together. Too kinetic, too complicated, and too cumbersome, the negatives outweigh the positives throughout making Push an experience that isn't worth the effort, especially considering a runtime that pushes two hours. Even a top-notch Blu-ray experience cannot save the film. Summit Entertainment has released......

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The Italian Job (40 Anniversary SE) (Blu-ray Review)

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:23:17 -0400

Yet to be released in North America, Peter Collinsons classic "The Italian Job" (1969) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Paramount Pictures-UK. The disc herein reviewed contains a number of interesting supplemental features - two audio commentaries, an elaborate Making-Of, the only deleted scene, etc. All of these supplemental features are perfectly playable on Region-A hardware. The Blu-ray disc is Region-Free....

Video
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Peter Collinsons The Italian Job arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Paramount Pictures-UK.

The Italian Job has been thoroughly restored and it certainly shows there are absolutely no debris, scratches, dirt, or stains that I detected on this transfer. Additionally, contrast is excellent, clarity good and detail pleasing. This being said, certain people have already dism...

Audio
There are a number of different audio tracks on this Blu-ray release - English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, English Restored Dolby Digital Mono 2.0, German Dolby Digital Mono 2.0, French Dolby Digital Mono 2.0 and Italian Dolby Digital Mono 2.0. I opted for the English Restored Dolby Digital Mono 2.0 track and later on did a few random comparisons with the English Dolby TureHD 5.1 track for the purpose of this review.

Even without a top-notch audio system, you should be able to tell that plenty...

Supplements
Commentary with screenwriter Troy Kennedy Martin and Mathew Field, author of The Making of The Italian Job a great, very informative commentary. The two gentlemen discuss the history of the film, what it took to get it made, how it resonated with critics and audiences, etc. With optional German, English, Spanish, French and Italian subtitles.

Commentary by producer Michel Deeley and Matthew Field, author of The Making of The Italian Job- a new commen...

Final Words
It is very easy to recommend the 40th Anniversary Special Edition Blu-ray release of The Italian Job. A North American release has not even been rumored so, obviously, if you have a special place in your heart for the film, you should definitely consider adding it to your collections. Highly Recommended. ......

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Home (Blu-ray Review)

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:10:04 -0400
We have succeeded in disrupting the balance that is so essential to life on earth.

A few years ago, I woke up to the dawning realization that my carbon footprint was at least a size 14, maybe even bigger. I was basically wearing pollution snowshoes, traipsing willy-nilly around Gods green-for-now earth without a single thought of the Yeti-sized imprints I might be making. So, my goodly wife and Inot to pat ourselves on the back or anythingmade a conscious effort to do the little things: cut back on waste, bring our own bags to the grocery store, recycle anything r...

Video
Minerals and metals are even older than the earth. They are stardust. They provide the earth's colors. Red from iron, black from carbon, blue from copper, yellow from sulfur.

Colorful doesnt even begin to describe Homes AVC-encoded, 1080p transfer. Every color of the rainbowliterally, check out the screenshot aboveis represented with lush, saturated, eye-popping realism. Watch elephants as they wade through a verdant marsh. See the starry sky blues off the...

Audio
Our earth relies on a balance in which every being has a role to play and exists only through the existence of another being, a subtle, fragile harmony that is easily shattered.

As Home opens, a deep LFE-heavy rumble builds as the sun rises on a view of Earth from space, and the DTS-HD MA 5.1 track announces its intention to be every bit as impressive as the imagery on display. And for the most part, the track fulfills its promise. The first thing to be aware...

Supplements
Sadly, Home ships without a single supplement. Im sure it was quite a journey for director Yann Arthus-Bertand to film in so many countries, and a behind-the-scenes feature about location scouting and shot composition could have been fascinating. I wouldve also liked to see some background into the fact generating and verifying process. For a film so full of statistics, Home never really mentions the sources of its frequently terrifying data....

Final Words
Home is beautiful and sobering, an ode to our planet and a portent of what could befall it if we dont reverse our ways. You might not pop this one in as often as Planet Earththe amazing imagery is tinged by the sadness of its messagebut for documentary lovers or HD fans who just want another dose of eye candy, Home is worthy purchase. Highly recommended.......

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Bound (Blu-ray Review)

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:37:20 -0400

The Wachowskis' sexy directorial debut "Bound" (1996) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors M6. The disc contains the uncut version of the film as well as the terrific commentary the two directors recorded many years ago. It is Region-Free and without imposed French subtitles. ...

Video
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Bound arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors M6.

I still own the old Artisan DVD release of Bound (the censored one). I also own a Dutch import of this film. I have also seen the old French TF1 release, with the imposed French subtitles, which I believe is now out of print as well. With other words, I have a pretty good idea what type of treatment Bound<...

Audio
There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and French DTS 2.0. Obviously, I opted for the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track.

Before I get to the technical analysis, I would like to mention that there are a few typos on this disc on the back cover and the main menu, noting different aspect ratios, non-existing audio tracks, etc which you shouldn't take seriously. With other words, the Blu-ray disc is done right.

The English DTS-HD ...

Supplements
Audio commentary the French distributors have supplied an audio commentary with the Wachowski brothers, film editor Zach Staenberg and consultant Susie Bright. Simply put, this commentary alone is a good enough reason to recommend the Blu-ray disc. It is one of the first commentaries to be recorded (well before DVD was even on the market) and to this day remains one of the best ever done. It is incredibly informative and entertaining at the same time. With optional French subtit...

Final Words
If you like Bound as much as I do, you should consider adding this Blu-ray disc to your collection immediately. For whatever reason, the film rubs a lot of people in North America the wrong way, so I don't foresee a local release arriving any time soon. Fortunately enough, the French Blu-ray disc herein reviewed delivers everything a fan of the film could ask for. Very Highly Recommended. ......

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The Greatest Game Ever Played (Blu-ray Review)

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:59:24 -0400
Another great Inspirational Sports movie from Disney comes to Blu-ray.

Even in our darkest hour, we must always remember: never despair.

Eighteen holes. Three players. Two pros. One Championship. The true-life story of the 1913 U.S. Open is one of the greats in all of sports and a fitting legend worthy of dramatized portrayal through the magic of cinema. Leave it to Disney to produce another first-rate picture that captures the drama of sport and the uplifting tale of those who made history; The Greatest Game Ever Played marks ...

Video
The Greatest Game Ever Played drives onto Blu-ray with a pleasant 1080p, 1.85:1-framed transfer. Although flesh tones sometimes veer towards the red end of the spectrum and the occasional shot takes on a slightly blurry appearance, this transfer generally appears well-done and film-like throughout. Detail impresses, particularly in the old-style heavy clothing that reveals every thread and bit of texture in appropriately close-up shots. Also impressive are many f...

Audio
The Greatest Game Ever Played enters the clubhouse with a fine DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless surround sound mix. The track is primarily driven by dialogue, music, and the occasional sound effect, and each play nicely across the front. Most impressive is the film's score, every note heard distinctly and the entire range playing clearly, the experience recalling a live performance. The soundtrack also features a nice array of environmental effects that play across the front; whether c...

Supplements
The Greatest Game Ever Played chips onto Blu-ray with several bonus features, headlined by a pair of commentary tracks. Track number one features Director Bill Paxton speaking on a plethora of subjects, including his influences on particular shots, scenes, sequences, and themes throughout the film. He also speaks on the look of the film, the score, the actors, and more. Paxton offers a strong commentary, delivering intelligent comments and keeping up the pace as he reinfo...

Final Words
Featuring a fantastic story wrapped up in a fine cinematic technical achievement, The Greatest Game Ever Played makes for one of the best films of its kind, a truly moving and heroic picture that manages to retain plenty of drama and emotion despite the foreknowledge of the story's resolution. A rare picture that enjoys standout performances from every cast member and plenty of technical know-how behind the camera to take full advantage of the powerful story and fantastic act......

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Syriana (Blu-ray Review)

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:25:56 -0400
"Corruption is our protection. Corruption keeps us safe and warm."

Every summer, oil makes the price hike to new highs, making gas station signs seem like scoreboards for a seemingly one-sided game. Oil Companies: $2.70, American Consumers: 0. We complain, of course, and blame the president, blame Congress, blame the Middle East, blame anything and anyone remotely blamable, content to generalize and compartmentalize the dilemma to fit our us vs. them (or is it U.S. vs. them?) mentality. In the meantime, invisible deals are being struck, governm...

Video
Syriana is a film that utilizes tonality and stylization to set and heighten its moods, and this 1080p VC-1 transfer is capable, for the most part, of handling the films widely varying atmospheres. The segments set in the U.S. all seem to have a bluish cast that evokes a cold and lifeless bureaucracy, complete with somber offices and poorly-lit corporate boardrooms filled with faces grimacing through drawn and listless skin tones. The Middle East settings show more life, but th...

Audio
Syriana opens with an almost digitized, loudspeaker broadcast of the Islamic call to prayer before fading to a hush of wind and bringing in a somber, harp-laden theme that fills the sound field with a warm, organic reverb. There is a similar dichotomy present throughout the entirety of this Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track, as the score is rich and dynamically full, while certain ambient elements are thin and artificial. When the migrant boys go out to the desert to drink moonshin...

Supplements
A Conversation with George Clooney (SD, 9:11)

This chat with the always charming and well-spoken Mr. Clooney covers a lot of ground in a brief amount of time, from the challenges of shooting on location and learning Arabic pronunciation, to the things he learned from Robert Baer, the ex-CIA agent upon which the character of Bob Barnes is loosely based.

Weaving Reality into Drama: A Filmmakers Journey (SD, 26:08)

A Filmmakers Journey is no mer...

Final Words
Between Syriana, Blood Diamond, and a host of others, the Big Issue film is on a bit of a streak in Hollywood, and Syriana stands as a perfect example of how to do the genre with intelligence and style. This is a film to watch with a group, as discussion is an inevitable consequence of Syrianas tricky plot and divisive themes. Though this Blu-ray disc could be a bit more fleshed out in the AV department, and while I would really love a commentary track by d......

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HD Window: Hawaii (Blu-ray Review)

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:43:09 -0400
The only thing this assault on the senses is missing is a tropical scratch-n-sniff sticker.

I approached this review with a certain degree of reservation. I'll readily admit I'm not the most patient person, so the thought of watching random shots of nature set to soothing music didn't rank as my first choice in the way to spend an evening. I love the outdoors, and living in the Pacific Northwest provides the luxury of being located within miles of hiking trails, an hour from snow capped mountain ranges, and 2 hours from the beaches of the Pacific Ocean. I'm not beaming with pride, o...

Video
Presented in 1080i (not 1080p as the outer case suggests) utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 15Mbps), HD Window: Hawaii delivers on its promise to bring the beauty of the Hawaiian landscape into the heart of your home theater. Detail offers a reasonable level of clarity, though I have to admit I was hoping the entire production would be a tad sharper. Considering the whole purpose of the feature is centered on producing eye-candy for your high-definition display, there co...

Audio
You have an interesting set of options on this Blu-ray disc, with a choice between a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track consisting of musical numbers with natural sounds in the background, or a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track that consists solely of environmental sounds. I traded off back and forth several times during the feature, and decided I prefer the track that contains the musical offerings. The ambient sounds of nature can still be heard with excellent clarity alongside the music, and I felt the musical ar...

Supplements
The only extras on the disc are a collection of trailers for other HDScape Blu-ray releases (The Great Southwest, Visions of the Sea and Antarctica Dreaming) and a bonus track that shows clips from the main feature set to different musical arrangements (running just under ten minutes)....

Final Words
I have mixed reactions regarding a recommendation of this disc. I found the experience entertaining and soothing for about the first fifteen minutes, but eventually grew bored with the growing number of shots that focused on waves over beaches. It would be much easier to recommend this disc if the retail price was a little lower, but given the current cost, I can't bring myself to give it a recommendation unless your homesick for Hawaii or a compulsive Blu-ray completist.......

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HDNet World Report: Shuttle Discovery's Historic Mission (Blu-ray Review)

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:01:05 -0400
"You can't really claim a successful flight until the engines are shut off and the aircraft is tied down."

Profound tragedies in our American history have a unique affect on our lives. I can vividly remember where I was and what I was doing on the fateful day back in 1986 when Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart just 73 seconds after take-off. Everyone in the room around me let out a collective gasp as the unthinkable actually occurred and many Americans were left with their first real taste of the danger involved in space travel. Unfortunately, that also seemed to be the point when space travel ...

Video
Presented in 1080i utilizing the MPEG-2 codec (at an average bitrate of 33Mbps), Shuttle Discoverys Historic Mission contains a number of deficiencies that drag down the overall visual quality of the feature. Detail in most scenes is reasonably good (Im referring to the ones that are shot in high-definition and not the blurry full-frame shots from onboard the actual shuttle), with even the intricate tiles of the shuttles underside appearing clear and concise. Color use offers natural...

Audio
The primary audio offering on the disc is a DTS-HD MA 2.0 track in the native language of English. Considering this is a dialogue-heavy production with narrative voice-over providing the bulk of the audio experience, there isnt really much to comment on. The occasional presence of choral music helps elevate sequences of significance, and there are subtle environmental sounds that show up from time to time in the track (such as the rumble of the shuttle take-off), but all I can really comment ...

Supplements
The only supplements included alongside the main feature are three high-definition trailers (Bubble, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room and The War Within) and a film montage of ten HDNet productions....

Final Words
I can't honestly recommend a purchase of this film unless you have an profound interest in space flight and a healthy desire to educate yourself on the intricacies of the 2005 Space Shuttle Discovery Mission. The production demonstrates a tendency to lose focus on the Discovery mission from time to time, and though it never became boring, I still didn't find it all that entertaining. From a technical standpoint, the video and audio are slightly underwhelming compared with other Blu-ray release......

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Dark Blue (Blu-ray Review)

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:46:11 -0400
"Your job is not to think. It's to follow orders, to execute plans and to be a good soldier."

When you look back at the filmography of director Ron Shelton, he seems like a strange pick to helm a film like Dark Blue. His most successful films leading up to 2002 (Bull Durham, White Men Cant Jump and Tin Cup) were all built around a sports theme, so youd think he would choose to stay with the genre that worked well for him in the past. Instead, he decided to tackle a story written by James Ellroy (L.A. Confidential), with themes that reflect a vast de...

Video
Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 17Mbps), Dark Blue looks outstanding on Blu-ray. Whether in the foreground for the background, fine object detail is extremely crisp. From the aging features on Kurt Russells face, to the contrastingly smooth textures on the face of Scott Speedman, I was consistently impressed with clarity in nearly every frame of the film. Thankfully, the presence of light film grain throughout the majority of the feature, coupled w...

Audio
The primary audio offering on the disc is a DTS-HD MA 5.1 track in the native language of English. Given the gritty realism of the film itself, the audio track is forced to remain subtle in an effort to not glorify the action taking place. Dont get me wrong, theres still a high level of surround use, and a distinct pop when guns are fired, but the track rarely contains moments where you feel you're going to jump out of your seat. From a musical standpoint, I couldnt help but feel the choic...

Supplements
Dark Blue is one of several recent Blu-ray releases from MGM that contain a copy of the DVD release in addition to the Blu-ray. This appears to be a strategic move to provide special features without actually adding them to the Blu-ray disc itself. In general, I wouldnt consider this practice ideal (especially for anyone with an interest in directors commentaries) but it may partially account for the reasonable retail price of this Blu-ray release.

Having said that, Im reviewi...

Final Words
Taken as a whole, Id recommend this Blu-ray release to anyone with a moderate interest in this type of film genre. If the transfer wasnt exceptionally sharp, or the audio track was muffled, Id have to taper down my assessment of the release and focus more on the underwhelming merits of the film itself (which would likely result in a rental recommendation rather than purchase). As it stands, Dark Blue is far from masterpiece material, but sufficiently entertaining to earn a spot next ......

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Direct Contact (Blu-ray Review)

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:37:46 -0400
There goes an hour and a half I'll never get back...

Dolph Lundgrens acting career began back in 1985 when he played Captain Ivan Drago in Rocky IV. His streak as an action star continued through the early 90s, with cult films such as Masters of the Universe, The Punisher (not the one starring Thomas Jane) and Universal Soldier. As weve seen before, Hollywood is not kind to the aging action star; especially if they have questionnable acting skills in the first place. Just look at the recent filmography of Jean Cla...

Video
Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 26Mbps), Direct Contact offers a mediocre visual experience. Clarity is reasonably good during approximately 80 percent of the film, but wavers into non-distinct territory far too often to earn high marks. Some of the worst-looking scenes take place during vehicle chases, where motion-blurring rears its ugly head. Additionally, youll notice a number of random shots strewn throughout the production that appear out of ...

Audio
The primary audio offering on the disc is a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix in the native language of English. Id typically be pleased with the inclusion of a lossless audio track, but this is a perfect example of little to no benefit in making the upgrade. The sound effects are cheesy, the musical score is laughable, and the delivery of dialogue can be downright atrocious. I wasnt entirely sure if I was having trouble making out the lines spoken by several characters because they had awful accents, o...

Supplements
The only extra provided on the disc is a collection of five trailers for other films from First Look Studio (all presented in standard definition)....

Final Words
Id imagine its no secret by now that I despise this film. If I werent reviewing the title, I likely would have shut it off within the first 10 to 20 minutes. Im always one for giving a film a fair shake by sticking it out through the end, but Direct Contact easily earned a spot on my list of films that dont deserve an ounce of respect. With bad acting, a lazy plot and dismal production values, this is one action film that should be avoided at all costs. For any avid Dolph Lundgre......

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Best of Europe: Italy (Blu-ray Review)

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:23:08 -0400
Join Rudy Maxa for a visit to the greatest landmarks Italy has to offer.

Its difficult not to be envious of the rich history Europe enjoys. As an American I have plenty to be proud of, but theres something awe-inspiring about walking down a road once travelled by Julius Caesar, or standing within Romes vast Pantheon. I often wonder what it would be like to actually live in a place like Italy, surrounded by so many monumental structures and perhaps working in a building that sits on top of thousands of years of human history. Do you think its possible not to ev...

Video
Presented in 1080i utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 28Mbps), Best of Europe: Italy offers a reasonably proficient visual experience thats downgraded by the presence of some digital artifacting. Taken as a whole, the level of detail in the scenic vistas of Italy appear wonderfully crisp with natural colors, deep blacks, and excellent contrast. Unfortunately, the video also suffers from the presence of easily noticeable moire effects that lead to some nasty artifacting. ...

Audio
The only audio offering on the disc is a Dolby Digital 2.0 track in the native language of English. Even though this isnt a surround sound experience, the audio crew recording the original source material did a nice job capturing the ambiance of the city streets, bringing out every nuance of the hustle and bustle around Maxa as he does his best to blend in. Moving on to the music, the selections in each episode are standard fair for a television documentary, with a mixture of choral and orche...

Supplements
There are no extras included on the disc....

Final Words
Whether your planning a trip to Italy, or searching for a way to relive your prior experience, Best of Europe: Italy is an enticing high-definition offering for the world traveler in all of us. The production values arent the greatest, but seem entirely appropriate for a travel television show. The only thing holding me back from a wholehearted recommendation is the presence of video artifacting in the transfer, and I hope something is done about the problem on future Blu-ray offerings......

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Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter (Blu-ray Review)

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:06:09 -0400
"If I'm not back in five minutes, call the Pope!"

Formulating my thoughts on this film proved to be a little difficult until I realized Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter brought on the same feelings I had when I initially left the midnight showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show at my local dive theater. I know theres a market for films like this, and some people go absolutely nuts for the random absurdity of it (if you dont believe me, check out the folks that dedicate a good portion of their lives to memorizing and acting out ...

Video
Presented in 1080p utilizing the VC-1 codec (at an average bitrate of 14Mbps), Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter is an atrocious visual experience. Im still trying to comprehend why this was even released in high-definition, considering the source material is in such awful shape. Detail appears subpar even for an upconverted DVD and theres a heavy layer of noise (16mm has a tendency to produce heavy grain) over the entire screen that runs through the full runtime. Witnessing prin...

Audio
The only audio offering on the disc is a Dolby Digital 2.0 track in the native language of English. Matching the quality of the video, the audio track is a horrible example of low-budget recording. Within the first few minutes of the film youll realize the voicework was added after the filming, so the dialogue has a tendency to not line up with the lip movements in the feature. Regarding the dialogue itself, theres a fair amount of clipping as the recording equipment seems unable to...

Supplements
Remembering Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 14:31 min): Shot at the McArthur Bowling Lanes in Ottawa Canada, this supplement features the lead actors, writer and director from the film. Theyre asked various questions about their experiences, but the bulk of the interviews focus on everyones favorite memories from the completion of the film (this feature is filmed nine years after the film production was started).

The only other supplements are a s...

Final Words
If youre a fan of quirky indie movies with dismal productions values, Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter may be worth a rental. I couldnt muster any level of enjoyment from the film, and Id imagine the vast majority of the public would feel the same way, but there have to be some individuals out there that are into this sort of production. From a technical standpoint, I cant justify a recommendation to anyone (no matter how much you like the film). I doubt this looks much better......

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Walking Tall (Blu-ray Review)

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:47:45 -0400
Big, dumb fun... with a four-by-four, of course!

Meat. Potatoes. Football. Nascar. Overstuffed recliners. HEMIs. Apple Pie. Guns & Ammo. ESPN. Mmm... it's good to be a man. Sunday afternoon naps, rights to the remote, and a love of cheesy '80s and '90s Schwarzenegger movies only make it that much sweeter. Or so I've been told by guys who've declared themselves gruffer and tougher than I'll ever be. No gentlemen, I'm not a traditionalist when it comes to gender: I don't lounge in a chair while someone else cooks and cleans, I don't l...

Video
At first glance, Walking Tall's 1080p/MPEG-2 transfer delivers a fairly promising high definition image: cinematographer Glen MacPherson's subdued palette is somber but authentic, skintones are restrained but natural, and blacks are thoroughly absorbing. More importantly, object definition and dimensionality is impressive, often injecting a fitting sense of depth into what could have been a lifeless presentation. However, upon closer inspection, a stifling assortment of technical issues...

Audio
Walking Tall's Blu-ray debut may be burdened with a haphazard video transfer, but it lightens the load with a brisk and proficient DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track. Once you get past the earsplitting metal riffs of the film's lumbering soundtrack, you'll actually find a lot to love about the disc's sonics. Dialogue is bright and intelligible, low-end extension is refined and unflinching, and the rear speakers enhance an already immersive soundfield with a solid sampling of ambient...

Supplements
Like most MGM releases of late, the Blu-ray edition of Walking Tall includes a 1080p presentation of the film on a BD-25 disc, and a copy of its 2004 standard DVD counterpart. Normally, I would applaud the versatility this offers consumers. Don't have a Blu-ray player in your bedroom? No problem, the studio has included a DVD as well. However, in this case, all of the special features have been left on the DVD, meaning anyone who wants to listen to Walking Tall's commentaries w...

Final Words
Walking Tall isn't for everyone -- certainly not the highbrow intellectuals among you who've made it this far into my review -- but it is the sort of big-dumb-fun actioner I sometimes find myself drawn to. Unfortunately, its Blu baptism is a thoroughly hit-or-miss affair. While MGM's noteworthy DTS-HD Master Audio track adds substantial value to the release, a horribly dated video transfer, a slim set of supplements, and a cumbersome bonus DVD relegates Walking Tall to the ever-m......

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Kickboxer (Blu-ray Review)

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:09:37 -0400
What happened?

Revenge is a dangerous motive.

Ah, the 1980s. Greasy hair, bad clothes, and cheesy music were found in many of the seemingly innumerable "never give up!" Marital Arts movies that populated the local Cinema III and Mom and Pop video store shelves. Among the most popular, but certainly not the best, was Jean-Claude Van Damme's Kickboxer, a corny crowd pleaser that tried its best to build an emotional core around a cocky wheelchair-bound ex-champion kick b...

Video
Kickboxer arrives on Blu-ray with a highly disappointing 1080p, 1.85:1-framed transfer. The most prominent feature of the transfer is the plethora of print anomalies that are seen in just about every shot. Black, white, and blue spots; scratches; splotches; dirt; horizontal and vertical lines; it's all here, in abundance, and while not completely distracting, these problems appear as plain as day and aren't attractive in the least. On top of that, the transfer features minor ...

Audio
Kickboxer comes to Blu-ray with a lackluster DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Like the video presentation, the audio is hit-or-miss, with more misses than hits along the way. The audio presentation in the first act of the film sets a worrisome tone. Sound effects and environmental ambience often sound forced, exaggerated, and too loud in relation to the rest of the film, such instances creating a phony, artificial-sounding environment. As the film moves along, however, the ...

Supplements
This Blu-ray release of Kickboxer contains no film-related supplements; only 1080p trailers for Bangkok Dangerous, Crank, Transporter 3, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day are included here....

Final Words
Purely 80s, goofy, clichéd, and most importantly, fun, Kickboxer is certainly not cinema at its best, but it is cinema at its most basic, retelling a story of revenge wrapped around an unwavering spirit for justice and love of family. Nothing to write home about yet nothing to lambast, Kickboxer is one of the great Saturday afternoon gems and perhaps Jean-Claude Van Damme's most memorable picture, this and Bloodsport the two for which the actor will be remembered.......

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Notorious (Blu-ray Review)

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 23:59:54 -0400

Already released on Blu-ray in North America, George Tillman Jr.'s Notorious (2009) arrives in the United Kingdom courtesy of 20th Century Fox-UK. The disc contains the theatrical and extended versions of the film. All of the the supplemental features from the US release have been ported to the UK release. Region-B "locked". ...

Video
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Notorious arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox-UK.

This is a good transfer that does the film justice. Contrast is consistently strong, detail pleasing and clarity excellent. The color-scheme is also solid blues, yellows, browns, reds, blacks and whites are lush and well saturated. This being said, I noticed a bit of edge-enhancement popping up here and there, pa...

Audio
There is only one track on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. For the record, 20th Century Fox have provided optional English HOH, French and Spanish subtitles. Please note that when turned on, the subtitles appear inside the image frame.

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is solid. The bass is full-bodied and rich, the high-frequencies not overdone and the surround channels intelligently used. A lot of the supporting tracks mainly those from the club scenes sound...

Supplements
Commentary with director George Tillman Jr, co-screenwriter Reggie Rock Bythewood, co-screenwriter Cheo Hodari Coker and editor Dirk Westervelt.

Commentary with producer/Biggies Mom Violetta Wallace, producer/Biggies co-manager Wayne Barrow and producer/Biggies co-manager Mark Pitts.

Life After Death: Making Notorious a 1.1 Profile feature, playable only on Bonusview players, that gives one access to footage from the shooting of th...

Final Words
Notorious is an ambitious but, ultimately, very controversial film. It appears that a lot from the mystery surrounding the killings of Notorious B.I.G and Tupac Shakur has been intentionally left unaddressed by the creators of the film. This said, the UK-produced disc herein reviewed looks and sounds very good. It is also loaded with supplemental features. If you enjoyed Notorious, you will certainly appreciate what 20th Century Fox-UK have done with this Blu-ray disc. ......

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The People's Republic of Capitalism (Blu-ray Review)

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 21:20:17 -0400
"It has clearly bought into capitalism as an economic theory, but China's acceptance of a free market is completely unrelated to political freedom."

In some ways, 2008 was Chinas fancy, debutante ball. Amid the tittering gossip of 24-hour news, and with the overwhelmingly skeptical eyes of the world turned toward the Beijing Olympics, the Peoples Republic stood up and gave one hell of an introduction, effectively announcing her eligibility as the clear candidate for the worlds next superpower. Chinas no timid bachelorette, however, and in reality shes been playing the economic field for some time now. Like it or not, her current...

Video
This AVC 1080i 1.78:1 transfer of The Peoples Republic of Capitalism is right on the money. Filmed on high definition video, it features incredibly sharp and untouched detail, both in interview close-ups, and in the sweeping cityscape scenery. Theres nothing filmic or artificial here, only the real world as it actually appears. Colors are bold when theyre supposed to be bold, and realistically washed out when smog settles over the industrial city of Chongqing. I found nothing ...

Audio
I was also surprised by the level of immersion offered by the Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track that graces The Peoples Republic of Capitalism. It seems like there was an omni-directional microphone present for nearly every shot, which goes a long way in helping you to feel surrounded by the cramped quarters of Chongqing. Traffic, voices, and other ambient city noises constantly fill the sound field, and the rear channels never lack for work. Of course, the narration is of key i...

Supplements
Interview with Ted Koppel (1080i, 32:00)

Koppel seems like an incredibly good-natured guy, and over the course of this bonus interview, I couldnt help but envy some of the things hes seen and experienced throughout his long and respected career. The interview was conducted in Koppels Potomac, Maryland home and he spends the first half reflecting on what China means to him, both personally (some of his children were born there) and professionally. The man is full of ...

Final Words
Ted Koppel was the Hong Kong bureau chief for ABC News in the late 60s and early 70s, and its clear that he has great personal and professional interest in the relationship between China and America. Throughout The Peoples Republic of Capitalism, Koppel is his usual droll and charming self, and his lugubrious eyes hold more than a twinkle when he pushes a few of his interview subjects into admitting the contradictions at play within Chinas government. Still, I feel the docu......

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Rocky (Blu-ray Review)

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 21:05:56 -0400
"All I wanna do is go the distance."

When we were kids, my cousins and I were fortunate enough to have access to a trampoline and two sets of boxing gloves. You can see where Im going with this. We didnt know any real boxers, besides Mohammed Ali, so our bouts were always re-enactments of the climatic, David versus Goliath battles from the Rocky series. Since I was oldest, I got to play Rocky, dodging and weaving and taunting my tiny opponents with a piss-poor, pre-pubescent Stallone imitation. My grandparents tr...

Video
Foxs Blu-ray division winds ups, swings, and missesby just a hairwith this lackluster 1080p, MPEG-2 transfer. Dont get me wrong, Rocky looks better than ever, but this is one film that calls out for restoration, and a cleaner, more vivid print would go a long way in getting Rocky back in fighting form. Dull is a good way to describe the transfer, as colors seem weak (except for reds), textures are frequently soft, and black levels sometimes obscure detail. This is a h...

Audio
Rocky steps into the HD home theater ring wearing a newly minted DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 track that, like its video quality, lacks polish and shine. While sounding obviously fuller than the original mono track (which is also included), the 5.1 mix lacks bottom end density and comes off hollow and thin. It does give the film some added directionalityparticularly with trains passing on the tracks overhead and street kids singing around barrel firesbut if its a choice between im...

Supplements
Sadly, this Blu-ray release contains none of the features from the 2007 2-disc Collectors Edition DVD, and its apparent that well see a studio double-dip in the near future. This disc contains only an assortment of theatrical trailers in 1080p....

Final Words
A friend of mine told me the other day that hed never actually seen Rocky, and he wasnt sure how hed feel about viewing it for the first time after thirty odd years of similarly inspirational sports stories cluttering up the genre. I felt no qualms about recommending it though, as it still makes me want to go to the backyard and trade blows with my cousins. More than that, its a powerful character-driven story thats built around a backbone of authentic moments and details, a ......

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3 Mo' Divas (Blu-ray Review)

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 20:49:24 -0400
"To sound like one well-oiled machine, working together. There's brilliance in that.

From Maria Callas and her sublime operatic arias, to Brittney Spears over-inflated bubblegum pop, the term diva has proved one of musical cultures most enduring and malleable tropes. It can be a highbrow compliment, a low-blow accusation, or for those women who apply the word to themselves, a snobbish assertion of self-worth. While it was once a designation for female opera singers who showcased unique vocal ability, its been broadened to encompass talents frequent and obnox...

Video
Theres not much going on visually during 3 Mo Divas, but this 1080i, AVC-encoded transfer presents a faithfuland sharprepresentation of the concert. The areas surrounding the stage are dark, so its fortunate that black levels are as deep as they are, or else the screen would be constantly covered with a grayish haze. Colors too are strong and well saturated, from the divas cherry-red dresses to the purple lighting that backs the band. My only complaint is that, when the au...

Audio
3 Mo Divas sports a good-but-not-great Dolby Digital 5.1 mix that lacks a true sense of balance because of the way it spreads the music out equally across the channels. I tried sitting close to my left rear speaker, then the front right, and the response was basically the same. While this isnt a huge issueit would have been far worse and gimmicky to spread the vocals across the channelsI would have actually preferred a more front-heavy vocal mix that left the rear channels t...

Supplements
8 Mo Songs (1080i, 28:37)

It seems that PBS cut these songs, which were performed on tour, to fit the programs one-hour running time.

1.Del mio dolce ardor
2. Lo son l'umile ancella
3. Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
4. Moody's Mood for Love
5. Solitude
6. Strange Fruit/Lament
7. Downhearted Blue
8. Mon coeur s'ouvre a tà voix

The disc also includes a text-only, Meet the Divas biography section. ...

Final Words
While the songs arent my style, I have to give 3 Mo Divas some credit for putting on an impressive show filled with all manner of vocal gymnastics, and fans of blues, jazz, and opera will likely flip for this release. For a one-hour program, however, it seems to me that the $29.99 SRP is a little high. Even the three women seem to acknowledge this when they sing,You better bring a big bank roll, cause baby mo' divas in town.......

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Frozen River (Blu-ray Review)

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 20:45:54 -0400
"There's no border here. This is free trade between nations."

In a letter to a friend, Czech writer Franz Kafka once wrote I think we ought to read only books that bite and sting usWhat we need are books that hit us like a most painful misfortune, like the death of someone we loved more than we love ourselves, that make us feel as though wed been banished to the woods, far from any human presence, like a suicide. A book must be the ax for the frozen sea within us. If you substitute the word film for book in Kafkas confident, if...

Video
Frozen River was filmed on video in 720p and makes the transition to this 1080p AVC MPEG-4 transfer relatively unscathed. While Im not often fond of video, the medium suits the subject matter here, giving Frozen River a gritty documentary vibe. As such, many of the issues I have with the film visually are by-products of the source material and not necessarily of the transfer. Video is generally poor at handling dynamic levels of contrast, and it shows in the overblown w...

Audio
This Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track certainly gets the job done, but I couldn't help but feel it was dynamically flat. Imagine the deep, bone splitting crack of ice as it groans apart, feet crunching through the snow at a hurried pace, the wind whipping violently overhead. Can you hear that? I can too, and I really wish it was represented more fully in Frozen Rivers audio offering. Still, I understand that sound effects are not always the chief concern during a lower-budget shoot, and ...

Supplements
Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Courtney Hunt and Producer Heather Rae

This track, while not uninformative, is a bit of a disappointment. As two women in a largely male- dominated field, and with a film that deals with such broad (not in that way) issues, I was hoping that Hunt and Rae might speak more to the challenges and expectations faced by female filmmakers, or opine about poverty and race issues in North America. What we get, instead, are dry, day-by-day co...

Final Words
The titular frozen river, as a symbol, aptly describes the economic and emotional thin ice that Ray perilously skates. One small crack could send her into a deadly undercurrent of debt and familial disintegration. Small, first-time productions such as Frozen River also tread on perilous terrainbudgets get cut, schedules are tight, and the critical/financial response is a great, icy unknown. Its good to see, then, that Frozen River weathered the proverbial storms and cam......

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Big (Blu-ray Review)

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 14:49:46 -0400
'Big' is better than ever on Blu-ray

I wish I were big.

It is the kid at heart inside everyone that represents the audience that will most appreciate Tom Hanks' wonderful Big, the story of a boy instantly transformed into a man and his struggles with all of the responsibilities and emotions that mark that stage in life. Big tells the story of an individual seen through the eyes of others as a grown man but who watches the world go by with the understanding of a young boy. His wonder a...

Video
Big matures to Blu-ray with a nice looking 1080p, 1.85:1-framed transfer. The most noticeable trait the transfer has to offer is its above-average color reproduction; the film features a broad spectrum of colors and never do they disappoint. Whether Josh's red Dukes baseball jacket or the green dinosaur in his loft, each hue -- bold and bland alike -- are rendered nicely on this release. Detail, too, suffices throughout. In addition to a rather good sense of depth to the image...

Audio
Big graduates to Blu-ray and features a lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack. This offering features plenty of room-filling activity from each speaker in the system, the entire soundstage filled with the dynamic sounds of the carnival early in the film, for instance. Neither terribly clear nor completely undefined, most every sequence features plenty of fascinating and distinct sounds spread all around the soundstage. Other sound effects -- screams and a gunshot outside Joshs s...

Supplements
Big grows up on Blu-ray with several supplements, including two editions of the film, a 104-minute theatrical cut and a 130-minute extended cut. As to the bonus features, the package is headlined by 'Big Brainstorming' -- An Audio Documentary by Gary Ross and Anne Spielberg. Joined by Pete Ventrella, the piece begins as a standard commentary track but quickly moves to a collection of audio recordings featuring the writers brainstorming the idea for Big prior to ...

Final Words
Much like Josh Baskin, Big may age in years but certainly not in spirit, the film as charismatic, thought-provoking, and touching today as it was the day it was released. A timeless tale of the meaninglessness of the passage of time and the importance of youthful exuberance, a gentle approach to life's most challenging problems and situations, and a healthy amount of fun along the way, Big represents cinema at its most magical. The film recalls the easier, more innocent......

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Tell No One (Blu-ray Review)

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 23:56:16 -0400

Guillaume Canets fantastic thriller Ne le dis à personne a.k.a Tell No One (2006) arrives on Blu-ray in the United Kingdom courtesy of Revolver Entertainment. In addition to two exclussive interviews, the disc contains the same supplemental features found on the French release. ...

Video
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080i/50 transfer, Guillaume Canets Tell No One arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Revolver Entertainment.

Before I get to the technical analysis, I would like to quickly note that this disc has been encoded in 1080i/50, which is the reason why I have marked it as Region-B locked (most every US TV set cannot accept 1080/50 signal, and one needs to have a player capable o...

Audio
There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: French Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and French LPCM 2.0. I opted for the French Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track and later on did a few random comparisons with the French LPCM 2.0 track.

The French disc we reviewed for the site contains a French PCM 5.1 track. This being said, the French Dolby TrueHD 5.1 is practically identical to it. A lot of the subtle special effects noticeable in the surrounds on the French PCM 5.1 track sound identical to me on the Fr...

Supplements
Making Of this is exactly the same featurette that is found on the French disc (even the imposed French subtitles are ported), Harlen Coben, the author of Tell No One, talks about the film adaptation and how actor-director Guillaume Canet approached it. Later on, the director also shares his thoughts on the film while we see plenty of raw footage from the shooting process. Also, there is footage from Studio Labo M2 where the film's soundtrack was recorded. Finally, there a...

Final Words
I am not impressed with this Blu-ray release. Its encoding has created all sorts of issues that should have been avoided. On the other hand, it is great to have all of the supplemental features from the French release with English subtitles. Revolver Entertainment have even added up two short but nice exclusive interviews with Guillaume Canet and Kristin Scott Thomas. Still, if looking to add Tell No One to your collections - even if you are based in the United Kingdom - I strongly recomm......

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The Jonas Brothers: 3-D Concert Experience (Blu-ray Review)

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 23:30:33 -0400
The baby-faced pop sensations storm Blu-ray with a high-quality release...

With a spiral notebook in hand, heavy lines chiseled across my brow, glasses sliding down the bridge of my nose, and The Jonas Brothers: 3-D Concert Experience spinning in my Blu-ray player, it occurred to me that my old-man metamorphosis is nearly complete. Perhaps it was the disdain I felt for the parents who allowed their daughters to fawn and fall over a trio of scruffy-haired, guitar-wielding cherubs; perhaps it was the young girls attending the live performance, acting as if Christ...

Video
Like a wad of watermelon bubblegum caked on the bottom of your shoe, Disney's dazzling 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer will leave a lasting mark on your retinas. From blazing blues to simmering magentas, the Jonas Brothers and their screaming fans are continually bathed in vivid stage lights and striking spots. Artifacting and crush hinder the image from time to time, but more often than not, the picture remains clean and stable regardless of what the boys throw its way. Whites are crisp, blacks a...

Audio
The Jonas Brothers: 3-D Concert Experience arrives on Blu-ray with a commanding DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround track hampered only by the erratic sonics that inevitably accompany the concert's multi-sourced backstage footage. Anytime the cameras focuses on the stage show, the boys' lyrics, guitar riffs, pulsing drum beats, and piano melodies sound absolutely fantastic. Fidelity is pitch-perfect, LFE support is powerful and resonant, and aggressive rear speaker activity inserts the ...

Supplements
The 3-disc Blu-ray edition of The Jonas Brothers: 3-D Concert Experience offers both 2D and 3D versions of the performance, four pairs of 3D glasses, an extended 89-minute cut of the movie itself (with two additional songs: "Can't Have You" and "A Little Bit Longer"), two bonus songs from the cutting room floor (HD, 8 minutes), and Up Close and Personal (HD, 15 minutes), a semi-decent behind-the-scenes featurette that gives the Jonas boys a chance to reflect on their tour, careers,...

Final Words
Will The Jonas Brothers: 3-D Concert Experience appeal to you? It depends... are you a teenage girl? Does your daughter have posters of squinty-eyed musicians hanging on her walls? Do any of the above screenshots make you swoon? If you answered yes to any of these questions, chances are this release is already on your radar. But regardless of your affinity (or lack thereof) for the Jo-Bros (nope, I didn't make that one up), purchase with confidence: the 3-disc Blu-ray edition feat......

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Diary of Anne Frank (Blu-ray Review)

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:03:33 -0400
Fox once again delivers a classic film to Blu-ray with superb results.

You dont know whats going to happen tomorrow.

The Diary of Anne Frank is the cinematic retelling of one of the greatest yet also most tragic stories to come out of World War II, chronicling the lives of two Jewish families in hiding from Nazi occupiers in Amsterdam. The wondrous true story of survival, hardship, coming-of-age, romance, and fear through the most crucial years of the War is conveyed splendidly in this motion picture classic, the film th...

Video
The Diary of Anne Frank debuts on Blu-ray with a faithful 1080p, 2.35:1-framed transfer. The film begins with several scenes that serve up a plethora of pops and white speckles jumping all over the screen, accompanied by plenty of grain. The pops and speckles appear intermittently throughout the film, but the transfer generally appears blemish-free in most scenes. Detail, generally speaking, never stands out as above-average, and the image doesn't offer all that much in the w...

Audio
The Diary of Anne Frank arrives on Blu-ray with a DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Despite the 5.1 master, the track features virtually no rear-channel presence. Nevertheless, and most importantly, the lossless treatment allows for a clear and concise delivery of the film's limited but all-important sound design where silence is often just as important as dialogue, music, or sound effects. Music, particularly that heard during the prelude, plays clearly and strongly, focused ...

Supplements
The Diary of Anne Frank makes its Blu-ray debut with plenty of bonus materials. First among them is a commentary track with George Stevens, Jr., son of the film's director, and Actress Millie Perkins. The track is rather informative, the participants speaking on the real-life events, shooting locations that varied between real historical locations and the sets on the 20th Century Fox sound stage, the authentic feel of the props seen throughout the film and the realism they l...

Final Words
The Diary of Anne Frank is truly one of classic cinema's great treasures, not necessarily for any technical or acting achievement but instead for the power and unforgettable nature of the story it tells. A film that cannot be watched but only experienced, The Diary of Anne Frank stands apart from its peers as one of the most powerful and moving pictures in memory, its story one of the greats that reflect on the human condition and the unwavering power of the spirit to ov......

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Burn Notice: Season Two (Blu-ray Review)

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 23:51:05 -0400
A smart, sharp, side-splitting series is hindered by a mediocre AV presentation...

Let me tell you about a man... a man who used a piece of chocolate to stop an acid leak. A man who cracked an egg to fix a car. A man who transformed a fire extinguisher into a weapon of suitably refined destruction. A mastermind of science and invention who single-handedly inspired an entire generation of wide-eyed children to try and cobble together a flamethrower using a pack of cheap matches and a Shop-vac. His name? Angus MacGyver. Regardless of the situation or looming threat, MacGyv...

Video
The trick to responsibly evaluating Burn Notice: Season Two's unsightly 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer is figuring out which aspects of the image are a product of intention and which should be attributed to Fox's lackluster presentation. First, the grain. Much like the studio's recent release of 24: Season Seven, every frame of Burn Notice is assaulted by an aggressive sea of persistent salt-and-pepper gr...

Audio
Unfortunately, Burn Notice: Season Two's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track doesn't improve matters much. For a show seeped in explosions and gunfire, I expected a hearty succession of full-throttle thooms and earthy booms. Instead, I found a dull, sometimes cumbersome series of pulses that struggled to inject weight or menace into the on-screen chaos. Moreover, the rear speakers are surprisingly uninvolving, burdening the front channels with the majority of the work....

Supplements
Burn Notice: Season Two offers a small but manageable set of special features, all of which appear on the standard DVD. Granted, a trio of audio commentaries and a single behind-the-scenes featurette seems a bit light (particularly in lieu of heftier supplemental packages on the market), but the cast and crew nevertheless provide a fairly engaging account of the show's production.

Audio Commentaries: "Bad Blood" includes a rapidfir...

Final Words
I desperately wanted to shout Burn Notice's praises from the rooftops in the hopes of convincing more people to sample the series. Sadly, a poor AV presentation makes that difficult to do. If you can overlook an at-times troublesome video transfer (that at least offers an upgrade over the standard DVD), plow through an underwhelming DTS-HD Master Audio track, and forgive a modest collection of special features, you'll probably enjoy the show as much as its rabid fanbase. So give it ......

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Road House (Blu-ray Review)

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:43:59 -0400
"I want you to be nice until it's time to not be nice."

I find it somewhat ironic that Road House was directed by a man named Rowdy Harrington. If I had to pick one word to describe the film, Rowdy would probably fit the bill nicely. Im not sure what it was about the 1980s, but Id say that was the decade of the guy movie, with countless action films specifically released for the adrenaline-junkies in all of us. From Steven Seagal to Chuck Norris, or Arnold Swarzeneggar to Sylvester Stallone, the 80s invited the meteoric rise of the mindless ...

Video
Presented in 1080p utilizing the MPEG-2 codec (at an average bitrate of 18Mbps), Road House doesnt offer the revelatory visual experience I was hoping for. Considering the film is celebrating its twentieth anniversary this year, I wasnt anticipating a knockout transfer, but I did expect a higher level of consistency throughout the production. Detail wavers the most, with some shots looking spectacular and others appearing hazy or soft. The highly detailed scenes make the ugly ones st...

Audio
The primary audio offering on the disc is an English DTS-HD MA 5.1 track, that offers a substantial improvement over any prior release of the film. Above all, I was impressed with the dynamic use of surrounds to create spatial separation in the effects. You still cant improve the cheesy sound of the effects themselves (like turning hamburger into steak), but its still nice to experience 80s action with a modern upgrade. Some of the highlights in the audio track include bar-clearing brawls,...

Supplements
Road House is one of several recent Blu-ray releases from MGM that contain a copy of the DVD release in addition to the Blu-ray. This appears to be a strategic move to provide special features without actually adding them to the Blu-ray disc itself. In general, I wouldnt consider this practice ideal (especially for anyone with an interest in directors commentaries) but it may partially account for the reasonable retail price of this Blu-ray release.

Having said that, Im review...

Final Words
Road House deserves more credit than it has received over the years. Taken as a whole, its a thoroughly entertaining experience that allows the viewer to escape into a simpler time when a good action film contained clearly defined heroes or villains, and didnt require the constant use of choppy editing or wires to create a good fight. I wish the technical presentation had done the film justice, since it would be easier to offer a wholehearted recommendation of the entire package. As ......

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Primitive London (Blu-ray Review)

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:54:25 -0400

The follow-up to Arnold L. Miller's exploitation-style documentary "London in the Raw" (1964), "Primitive London" (1965) arrives on Blu-ray as part of BFI's newly introduced Flipside series. The documentary has been transferred in High-Definition from a 35mm mute color interpos. The English language audio was transferred from a 35mm sound negative. The French language audio was transferred from a 35mm re-recorded sound negative. The pictures has been restored with HD-DVNR and MTI restoration ...

Video
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Arnold L. Millers documentary Primitive London arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of UK-based distributors BFI (British Film Institute).

Primitive London looks as impressive as London in the Raw. Contrast is fantastic, clarity excellent and detail exceptionally strong. The color-scheme is also pleasingly natural, with blues, reds, greens, blacks and whites being very...

Audio
There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: an English LPCM 2.0 and French LPCM 2.0 (the French track being an official one). For the record, BFI have provided optional English HOH subtitles for the main feature.

I could not hear anything on the English LPCM 2.0 track to criticize in this review. The dialog is crisp, clear and very easy to follow. There are absolutely no balance issues between John A. Coleman and Basil Kirchins soundtrack and the dialog either. Additionally, ...

Supplements
Booklet a 38-page booklet containing Lain Sinclairs essay Primal Screen (the author has been writing on the history and psychogeography of London since the late 1960s), Vic Pratts Welcome to Primitive London! (the author is a curator at the BFI National Archive), William Fowlers Primitive London: another London, another country (the author is a Curator of Artists Moving Image at the BFI National Archive), Primitive London Review (from Monthly Film Bulletin, May 1965),...

Final Words
Arnold L. Miller's Primitive London is a fascinating addition to the Flipside, BFI's newly introduced line of bizarre British films. I cannot wait for their second batch of titles! This being said, the Blu-ray disc herein reviewed looks and sounds great. There are some excellent supplemental features on it as well. Very Highly Recommended. ......

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Spaceballs (Blu-ray Review)

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:41:16 -0400
Comb the desert, if you must, to find a copy of 'Spaceballs' on Blu-ray.

If you can read this, you dont need glasses.

Where have you gone, Mel Brooks? A Comedy-starved nation turns its lonely eyes to you. In an age where Comedy has taken a giant step in the wrong direction, where the greats like Candy, Murray, and Belushi, and films like Animal House, Ghostbusters, and Spaceballs seems as dead as a laptop dropped to the floor (ahem), movie fans can t...

Video
Spaceballs lands on Blu-ray with a marvelous 1080p, 1.85:1-framed transfer. Though appearing just the slightest bit dim, the transfer nevertheless dazzles in most every area. Colors appear rather strong throughout, particularly the brighter hues as witnessed in the scenes taking place on Druidia. Even in the other primary locales, all of which feature their own unique colors schemes -- brown and tan dominate the interior of the Winnebago; steely grays are found predominantl...

Audio
Boasting a DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack, this Blu-ray release of Spaceballs betters its home video predecessors considerably. No matter what the soundtrack has to offer, the lossless mix handles it expertly. The upbeat track that accompanies the opening scrolling text dazzles across the entire range, playing clearly and cleanly as it engulfs the soundstage, and is equalled in presence by the menacing, Jaws-like track that plays over the opening shot of a rumbling <...

Supplements
Spaceballs arrives on Blu-ray with a good selection of bonus features, headlined by a commentary track with Writer/Director/Actor Mel Brooks. Brooks delivers a suitable yet somewhat dry track. He recounts plenty of basic tidbits about the making of the film, covering the casting, the score, the process of writing the film, and more. He points out many of the jokes in the picture that more often than not speak for themselves, but discusses some of the more nuanced parts of...

Final Words
Saying that Spaceballs represents Mel Brooks at his best would be a disservice to the director's other works, but the film is definitely his most accessible to audiences thanks to its structure built around Star Wars. A parody of that franchise but certainly a film that is both funny and unique in its own right and capable of standing on its own without the Star Wars crutch, Spaceballs nails the parody concept and certainly surpasses any such endeavor of a ......

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UFC: Best of 2008 (Blu-ray Review)

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:58:31 -0400
Mixed martial arts never looked this good...

The increasing popularity of UFC has had a profound impact on the sport of mixed martial arts. I began watching UFC back when it was a tournament that brought together some of the greatest fighters from various schools of martial arts, and had them battle through one opponent after another within the same night. It made for grueling entertainment, as the no-rules bouts often led to bloodied opponents and the occasional broken bone. Above all, it was spectacular to watch men beat fighters twic...

Video
Presented in 1080i utilizing the VC-1 codec (at an average bitrate of 35Mbps) UFC: Best of 2008 looks surprisingly good on Blu-ray. Simply put, nothing elevates the enjoyment of a sporting exhibition like high-defintion. Having suffered through years of watching old UFC tournaments on VHS, followed by years of buying UFC events on highly compressed pay-per-view, this is finally the way MMA was meant to be viewed. Every drop of sweat or blood is clearly visible on the face of the fighte...

Audio
The only audio offering on the disc is a measly English Dolby Digital 2.0 track. I keep hoping UFC will eventually catch up with other sports with the use of audio equipment that puts you square in the middle of the action. Football has implemented this in recent years, and I doubt it would take much to place some decent audio equipment over or around the octagon. As it stands, you can make out some faint sounds from within the octagon that are picked up in the background of the announcers m...

Supplements
Top Five Knockouts (1080i, Dolby Digital 2.0, 3:37 min): There are three knockouts presented in this supplement that arent included in the main feature, making this an inclusion thats well worth your time.

Top Five Submissions (1080i, Dolby Digital 2.0, 4:26 min): Considering the lack of submission finishes in the main feature, I was excited to see three finishes not included as best-of fights, but still given the credit they deserve as extras on the disc.

Behind The Scenes (10...

Final Words
If youre a UFC fan, dont hesitate in picking up this disc. Id seen the majority of the fights included on the discs, but found a great deal of entertainment value in watching the fights for a second time (especially in high-definition). Nothing can replace the adrenaline-fueled experience of watching a given fight for the first time, but a second viewing allows you to appreciate the fight on different level, by focusing on the strategy and mistakes of each fighter. Considering the quality ......

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Confessions of a Shopaholic (Blu-ray Review)

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:50:45 -0400
A trite and irritating romantic comedy that squanders its promising young star...

If Muriel's Wedding director P.J. Hogan's Confessions of a Shopaholic were a bleak and biting satire about materialism and consumerism in America, I might have been more enamored with its bright-eyed heroine. If it were a compelling exploration of credit addiction and insolvency in a world teeming with Chanel billboards and Gucci bags, I might have been more forgiving of its inane love story. Sadly, the film doesn't embrace any of these lofty ambitions, instead carving out an all...

Video
Confessions of a Shopaholic features a chic 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer that handles Jo Willems' blazing palette and acrid contrast with ease. Primaries are powerful, granting summery handbags and chic jackets the same startling intensity. Saturation is overwhelming at times (a scene with John Goodman looks as if it were shot in a bowl of Orange Crush), but each instance seems to be the result of creative intention rather than faulty encoding. Likewise, shadows are purposefully overcook...

Audio
The Blu-ray edition of Confessions of a Shopaholic may boast a fairly proficient DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, but the film's sound design is as uninspiring and uninvolving as you'd expect from a formulaic romantic comedy. Dialogue is bright and clear, prioritization leaves no line behind, and pans are silky smooth, but rear speaker activity is so maddeningly reserved that the mix fails to recreate the hustle and bustle of New York's busy streets. LFE support is competent, but...

Supplements
A quick glance at Confessions of a Shopaholic's back cover might lead you to believe Disney's BD-50 disc is brimming with special features. However, you can plow through the entire supplemental package (exclusives and all) in half an hour. Ah well, at least the video content is presented in high definition.

Behind-the-Scenes Featurettes (HD, 14 minutes): Six flashy EPK shorts -- three standard, three exclusive -- that briefly touc...

Final Words
I won't rehash my distaste for Confessions of a Shopaholic. Suffice to say, it didn't entertain me at all. Regardless, Disney has at least cobbled together a decent Blu-ray release. It doesn't offer much in the way of supplemental material, but its attractive video transfer and passable DTS-HD Master Audio track should satisfy genre regulars looking for a solid AV presentation. While I would still give the film itself a rent before considering a purchase, fans will be fairly pleased w......

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La femme nikita (Blu-ray Review)

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:05:58 -0400

Already released on Blu-ray in North America, Luc Bessons hugely successful action thriller La femme Nikita (1990) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors Gaumont. Unfortunately, even though the French release is also English-friendly and Region-Free, it is inferior to the North American release. The only supplemental features on this disc are a theatrical trailer and archival footage from the 1991 Cesar Awards where Anne Parillaud was granted the Best Actress Award. ...

Video
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Luc Bessons La femme Nikita arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors Gaumont.

In the United States, SONY already delivered a fantastic looking transfer of this classic French film. Now, La femme Nikita is available on Blu-ray in France as well. Most unfortunately, however, Gaumonts presentation is not as impressive as SONYs. Even though the basics for thei...

Audio
There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.0. For the record, Gaumont have provided optional English and French HOH subtitles.

For the US release of La femme Nikita, SONY provided two audio tracks: French Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and English Dolby TrueHD 5.1. For the French release, Gaumont have provided a French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.0 track. Last night, I compared the French Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track with the French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.0 track. I...

Supplements
Original theatrical trailer (PAL, 3 min)

Remise du Cesar de la meilleure actrice a Anne Parillaud archival footage from the 1991 Cesar ceremony when Anne Parillaud won the Best Actress award for her performance in Luc Bessons film (PAL, 5 min). ...

Final Words
If you are looking to get the best Blu-ray release of Luc Besson's classic action thriller La femme Nikita, I strongly recommend that you opt for the North American disc produced by SONY. The French release herein reviewed, courtesy of Gaumont, looks and sounds deceivingly strong, yet there are a number of issues with it. Obviously, we do not recommend that you buy it. ......

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Shallow Grave (Blu-ray Review)

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:59:00 -0400

Danny Boyles first feature film Shallow Grave (1994) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of UK-based distributors Film Four. Amongst the extras on the disc are a director's commentary, a featurette and a short excerpt from Ewan McGregors Career Retrospective broadcast on FilmFour in 2002, all perfectly playable on North American TV sets. At present, a US release has not been announced. The disc herein reviewed is Region-B "locked". ...

Video
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Danny Boyles Shallow Grave arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Film Four.

This is a film that truly needed a solid treatment of some sort. For whatever reason, Shallow Grave never received a deserving DVD release, neither in North America nor in Europe. Fortunately enough, Film Four have put together a nice presentation that will finally please fans of the film....

Audio
There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: English LPCM 2.0. For the record, Film Four have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

Before anyone incorrectly concludes that the audio presentation could have been a lot better because Film Four have supplied only an LPCM 2.0 track allow me to remind you that Shallow Grave conveys plenty of limitations due to the manner in which the film was shot. Therefore, the English LPCM 2.0 track is more than adeq...

Supplements
Note: All of the supplemental features on this Blu-ray disc are perfectly playable on North American TV sets.

Audio commentary by Danny Boyle Director Boyle provides a terrific analysis of Shallow Grave in this very informative commentary. In particular, he explains how the film was made possible, what were the challenges the cast and crew faced, how some of the more bizarre scenes were shot, etc. If you are a fan of Shallow Grave, I strongly recom...

Final Words
There are a few minor issues with the transfer for Shallow Grave that could have been addressed by Film Four, but I certainly do not have a problem recommending their Blu-ray disc to fans of the film. This being said, I have a feeling that this Region-B locked release will remain exclusive to the United Kingdom for a very long time. Hopefully, I am wrong. Recommended. ......

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Time Warp: Season One (Blu-ray Review)

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:46:59 -0400
John Woo would be proud...

A sputtering chainsaw falls past a grown man's face. A nail gun fires into a slab of raw meat. An unprotected hand inches dangerously close to a spinning tablesaw. Shattered glass rains down to the floor. Before long, arrows fly, hatchets land, electricity surges, fire erupts, swords swing, power tools roar, bone splinters, muscle tears, and blood flows. No, I'm not trudging through director Marcus Nispel's divisive reboot of the ...

Video
The 2-disc Blu-ray edition of Time Warp: Season One arrives from Image Entertainment with a somewhat aggravating 1080i/AVC-encoded transfer that, were it not for the series' limited production values and use of various video sources, would probably draw more ire from fans and videophiles like myself. As low budget television shows go, Time Warp features a fairly decent, even passable high definition presentation that offers backyard-scientists strong colors, vibrant contrast, and ...

Audio
I have to admit I was surprised Image Entertainment took the time to mint a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track for Time Warp's Blu-ray debut. Not only do smaller studios generally reserve high-dollar treatments for their most profitable releases, the series' original sound design is too simplistic to take advantage of such an able-bodied lossless mix. Dialogue is consistent, clean, and well-prioritized, but lends itself to a front-heavy experience. LFE support injects a welcome amo...

Supplements
Aside from the series' Pilot Episode, the 2-disc Blu-ray edition of Time Warp: Season One doesn't include any special features....

Final Words
Far from the repetitive gimmick I initially thought it would be, Time Warp is actually a fun, fascinating, family-friendly glimpse into the unseen. While its Blu-ray debut struggles with a few troublesome video issues, a slightly underwhelming DTS-HD Master Audio track, and a lack of proper supplemental material, the series itself is still strong enough to warrant some consideration. Give it a shot and see what you think. ......

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Sleuth (Blu-ray Review)

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:45:37 -0400
"You know what the word adapted means, I take it?"

Like it or not, our recent cinematic age has been defined by the remake, the re-imagining, and the reboot. Horror was the first to be hit by the torrent of re-churned titles, and the flood has slowly risen, overtaking a progression of more reputable genres. Superhero and sci-fi flicks came next, and now were seeing thrillers and even strait-up dramas being overwhelmed by the rising tide of re-hash. There are myriad reasons for this trendstudio cowardice, artistic bankruptcy, and heap...

Video
Setting is perhaps the most striking departure for this incarnation of Sleuth. Whereas the first film was set in an old English country house overrun with knick-knacks, Andrews home in the new version is more like a permanent art installation or a catalog for German industrial design. The minimalist aesthetic on display spills into the stage-like cinematography, which is well represented by this clean, 1080p AVC MPEG-4 transfer in the films original 2.35:1 aspect ratio. Sleut...

Audio
Sleuths excellent Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track is an exercise in fitting restraint. While theres not much going on sonically in Andrew Wykes tomb-like mansion, what we can hear is rendered with immaculate faithfulness. Dialogue reverberates throughout the mostly concrete chamber of Andrews living room, and carries a clear and intimate presence. Its easy to feel like youre eavesdropping on Milo and Andrews conversation, and the film is quite subtle in its quiet and immersive use...

Supplements
A Game of Cat and Mouse: Behind the Scenes of Sleuth (SD, 15:00)

Jude Law, Michael Caine, Kenneth Branagh, and Harold Pinter all show up here, and basically take turns giving high compliments to one another. Its not the most interesting or enlightening behind-the-scenes feature, but I did enjoy hearing Michael Cain talk about how he approached the character of Andrew Wyke differently than Sir Lawrence Olivier. Sir Larry played him as a dangerous eccentric, he...

Final Words
The remake is a tricky beast to tame. Play it with shot-to-shot sameness, like Gus Van Sants Psycho, and the whole affair seems pointless. Deviate too far from the established story, however, and the director risks the ire of rabid fans. The Sleuth remake rests on the laurels of its well-respected creators, but the end result doesnt really justify the films existence. Its unfortunate, because the first half of the film is genuinely gripping. Still, the new Sleuth......

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Sweeny Todd (Blu-ray Review)

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 10:43:24 -0400
"It's Todd now, Sweeney Todd, and he will have his revenge."

After Planet of the Apes I was worried that I might never like Tim Burton again. Then came Big Fish, his tall-tale ode to storytelling, and I was hooked once more, happy with his bright, mythic, but still undeniably Burton-esque new direction. His last two films, Corpse Bride and now Sweeney Todd are a return his pre-Planet of the Apes form, and while detractors may view the two as more of the same, Sweeney Todd in particular shows the direct...

Video
Tim Burtons Fleet Street is a gloomy, horror-show take on Victorian London, and this 1080p VC- 1 1.85:1 transfer is blacker than the plague itself, and I mean that in the most complimentary way possible. While Sweeney Todd is, by no means, a reference disc for accurate color representation, it is reference-level quality for everything that Tim Burton sets out to do here. This is a deep, dark, inky film, and what would be called a lack of shadow delineation in other movies is use...

Audio
A booming church organ opens Sweeney Todds 5.1 Dolby TrueHD track, and from then on the music rarely relents. Thankfully, this mix of Stephen Sondheims memorable tunes is full, dynamic and sonically palatable. The orchestra swells and pierces with multi-channel prowess. Listen to the deep, untroubled lows, the strong, crystalline highs, and a clear middle that keeps the track grounded in clarity. The sense of immersion is strong, especially as Londons crowds swarm and gather ...

Supplements
Burton + Depp + Carter = Sweeney Todd (1080i, 26:08)

Much of this feature is spent talking about how the various actors are not professional singers and had to spend a lot of time working on their voices. Depp seems particularly anxious about his singing ability, but I dont know if I buy it. He is fun to listen to, though, and bedecked in a floppy hat, tortoiseshell glasses, and a battered leather coat, its hard not to love his shabby bohemianism. Lovebirds Helena Bonh...

Final Words
Musicals arent for everyone, and when DreamWorks neglected to mention in promoting Sweeney Todd that most of the dialogue was sung, not spoken, there were more than a few disgruntled theatergoers on opening night. For those that can suspend their disbelief and let the songs tell the story, however, Sweeney Todd is a fun, well-made, if somewhat forgettable watch. Blu-ray aficionados will also find much to love with this disc, as it boasts some incredible visuals, a bois......

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Bullitt (Blu-ray Review)

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 10:08:22 -0400
"You believe what you want. You work your side of the street, and I'll work mine."

Im going to make a bold prediction here. In one hundred years, when the earth has exhausted its petroleum resources and were all driving hydrogen-powered flying cars, oil-punk will replace steampunk as the sci-fi genre that most glorifies our industrial past. When this happens, mark my words, Bullitt will be viewed as a cult fetish in the same way that steam aficionados adore Jules Verne, and Steve McQueen will be the movements mythologized Captain Nemo, forever perched behin...

Video
For some reason, I never warmed to Bullitts 1.85:1 1080p VC-1 transfer. While its certainly serviceable, and likely the best that the film will ever look, the first act gave me a minor headache. Black levels are overwhelming at times, and I found myself squinting in vain to make out details that simply arent present in the prevalent shadows. Contrast, especially in the earlier outdoor scenes, is much too hotthe sky comes across as a blinding white while the actors faces are ...

Audio
For a film that should throttle and growl with a thick automotive rumble, Bullitts Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo track whines as its audio engine tries desperately to turn over and engage. Its a listenable mix, sure, and there are no major aural disasters, but the track has a compressed, lifeless feel that is nothing more than dull. The opening score is a good indication of the brittle highs and unsubstantial bass. Voices lack crispness, sound hollow, and its often obvious which one...

Supplements
Bullitt: Steve McQueens Commitment to Reality (480i, 10:14)

This vintage promo paints Bullitt as the most unflinchingly real Hollywood production ever. The claim is a little laughable now, but this short featurette does deliver some cool behind- the-scenes footage, and a few guarded insights into the filming of the chase sequence.

Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool (480i, 1:27:03)

A doozy of a documentary, this is the gleaming hood ornamen...

Final Words
Oil is on its way out, and with the recent restructuring of GM, the auto industry may never relive another halcyon era like the one that produced Bullitts sleek Ford Mustang. So get started on your oil-punk graphic novel masterpiece before someone else beats you to it, and loop Bullitts chase scene in the background for appropriate atmosphere. Its not the tightest thriller of its decade, and it wont ever be featured in Masterplots, but just as Blow- Up, M......

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Blazing Saddles (Blu-ray Review)

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:42:10 -0400
"Hello handsome, is that a ten gallon hat or are you just enjoying the show?"

I was about twelve the first time I caught a highly content-edited version of Blazing Saddles on television. A lot of the jokes obviously went whizzing through the then-blank space between my ears, but I remember laughing uproariously at Mongo sucker-punching the horse, the infamous campfire fart scene, and at the general Loony Toons level of insanity on displaycomplete with quicksand, fast-forward fight scenes, and an Acme-inspired exploding candy-gram. It wasnt until I was ...

Video
This 2.4:1 1080p VC-1 transfer is a Technicolor dream, even for a Blu-ray disc released in 2006. Colors are strong and well-saturated throughout (check out the curtains during Lilis anti-burlesque show), black levels are deep and un-crushed (see Hedleys suits), and while not razor sharp by todays standards, Blazing Saddles shows an extraordinary amount of clarity for its age. The print has a handful of specks and flecks, and I noticed some extremely heavy grain in the wagon train se...

Audio
Blazing Saddles original monaural track has been expanded here into a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix that occasionally falls off its horse while galloping across the sound field. The many musical numbers are warm and dynamic; instruments are spread across channels pleasingly and ring true, at least to my ears. That said, the track generally lacks bottom end heft and comes across tinny at times. Voices are occasionally muddled by the surrounding sound effects, which, while not exactly im...

Supplements
Any owners of the 30th Anniversary Edition DVD of Blazing Saddles will be immediately familiar with the special features offered here. All features are in standard definition.

Back in the Saddle (28:21)

I found this short retrospective enlightening, especially regarding the genesis of the story and the writing process with Richard Pryor. Mel Brooks, writer Andrew Bergman, producer Michael Hertzberg, and several cast members provide plenty of insight into the auda...

Final Words
Comedy is the most fickle and subjective of genres, where one mans ho-hum trash is anothers hilarious treasure. If youve seen Blazing Saddles, youre sure to have an opinion of it, one way or another. Either way, Blazing Saddles has stood times test and been vetted as a verifiable American classic. For the uninitiated (Im sure there are one or two of you left), get out and rent it. But for fans, this Blu-ray release is a no-brainer, as I cant imagine Blazing Sadd......

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Out of Time (Blu-ray Review)

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:52:42 -0400
Even Denzel Washington can't save this film from drowning in mediocrity.

As I sat through Out of Time, I couldnt help but feel I was watching something that's been done before. Combining elements of The Fugitive, Wild Things, and every other double-cross themed film that came before it, Out of Time borrows far too heavily from its predecessors and rarely finds an identity we can appreciate. Perhaps its the unsteady direction of actor-turned-director Carl Franklin, or the contrived script by Dave Collard (his only other writing credits ...

Video
Presented in 1080p utilizing the MPEG-2 codec (at an average bitrate of 17Mbps), Out of Time exhibits far too many inconsistencies to earn an above-average rating. Detail wavers from shot to shot, with a wide range of proficiency within the same scene. I almost have the impression the transfer would have been more effective if it displayed a constant level of softness, since the variance in consistency makes it difficult to stomach the lack of visual pop. Similar to the level of detail...

Audio
The primary audio offering on the disc is a DTS-HD MA track in the native language of English. While I cant say I was disappointed in the audio track, I felt it could have been better considering the amount of action in the film. This is meant to be an intense experience from start to finish, but I felt the track didnt do enough to heighten the tension as Whitlock runs around trying to ensure all the pieces fall into place. Youll still notice the occasional use of the rear surrounds from t...

Supplements
Out of Time is one of several recent Blu-ray releases from MGM that contain a copy of the DVD release in addition to the Blu-ray. This appears to be a strategic move to provide special features without actually adding them to the Blu-ray disc itself. In general, I wouldnt consider this practice ideal (especially for anyone with an interest in directors commentaries) but it may partially account for the reasonable retail price of this Blu-ray release.

Having said that, Im revie...

Final Words
Out of Time is a popcorn flick with little to no redeeming value. It doesnt succeed as a thriller and the overabundance of convenient twists becomes downright tiresome by the halfway point of the film. The technical qualities seem to match my opinion of the film itself, with a marginal presentation that appears far outmatched by the growing number of stellar Blu-ray releases. If you have any interest in the film, Id recommend you consider a rental rather than a purchase, since I doub......

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Lions for Lambs (Blu-ray Review)

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:31:44 -0400
"Nowhere else have I seen such lions led by such lambs."

Creating a film that attacks the policies of a domestic government can be a dangerous business when trying to attract a movie-going audience. For most of us, films are a way to escape the harsh truths of reality and escape into a world or setting that our brain cant readily identify with. Im not saying all politically-charged films lack entertainment value, but they certainly wont appeal to as wide of an audience as a blockbuster action film.

Lions for Lambs suffered a dismal ...

Video
Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 33Mbps), Lions for Lambs has a reasonably proficient transfer of occasionally difficult source material. Fine object detail rarely approaches the precision of the best Blu-ray has to offer, but considering this was filmed with a Panavision 35 mm camera, Id imagine it was cinematographer Philipe Rousselots intention to give the interior, dialogue-driven sequences a smooth film-like appearance. Color holds up well in t...

Audio
The primary audio offering on the disc is a DTS-HD MA 5.1 track in the native language of English. For some reason, I dont recall the audio standing out this much on my initial viewing of the film back when it was released on DVD. I recall the dialogue-heavy aspects of the production, but the action sequences certainly didnt leave me with the same impression I had after listening to this on Blu-ray. From the crisp pop of gunfire, to the twirling blades of a helicopter passing overhead, I wa...

Supplements
The Making of Lions for Lambs (1080i, Dolby Digital 2.0, 20:53 min): Delving behind the scenes, this intriguing featurette focuses more on the themes from the film, rather than the production itself. Even when Redford discusses the casting choices, he still references the attributes in each character that play heavily into the emotional impact of the film (thereby bringing the discussion back to a focus on the overall themes).

Script to Screen (1080i, Dolby Digital 2.0, 8:28 min): Contin...

Final Words
Lions for Lambs is a striking analysis of human apathy during a time of political crisis. I wish thered been less preaching from time to time (the film tends to hit you over the head with some of the prevailing themes), but Redford demonstrates a steady hand in reigning in his political beliefs and asking the viewer to take responsibility for their actions. Unfortunately, the film is also a product of bad timing, arriving at a time when the American public preferred not to think about ......

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Leon (Blu-ray Review)

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:23:35 -0400

A shy contract-killer meets a feisty young girl in Gallic director Luc Bessons classic "Léon" (1994). The two form an unusual bond and go on to teach each other invaluable lessons about real life. The film arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors Gaumont. The disc herein reviewed contains the theatrical (100 min) and international (133 min) versions of the film. There are no imposed French subtitles when the English audio track is selected. Region-Free....

Video
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Luc Bessons Léon arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors Gaumont.

I dont see any drastic differences between the German Blu-ray release of Léon, courtesy of Kinowelt, and this new French release. While viewing the film, I noticed the same minor specs and dots that I saw popping up on the German release, which we reviewed awhile ago. In fact, as far as I am conce...

Audio
There are three audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD HR 5.1 (Original version), English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.0 (International version) and French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.0 (original version). For the record, Gaumont have supplied optional French and French HOH subtitles for the main feature.

While the German Blu-ray release of Léon offered an English DTS-HD HR 7.1 track (as well as a German DTS-HD HR 7.1 dub), the French release offers only an English DTS-HD HR 5.0...

Supplements
The German release of Léon had the following supplemental features - an isolated music score, a theatrical trailer, a photo gallery and three featurettes - Jean Reno The Road to Leon, Natalie Portman Starting Young and "Leon A Ten Year Retrospective. Strangely enough, these are not included on the French disc. Gaumont have only provided two trailers for the main feature (both in PAL)....

Final Words
For whatever reason, Luc Besson's Léon has not yet received a Blu-ray treatment on this side of the Atlantic. I suspect that at some point in the future we will see a domestic release. Until then, however, the French Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of Gaumont, remains the only option for those English speaking fans of the film who are not yet Region-Free. Recommended. ......

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Friday the 13th (Blu-ray Review)

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:49:20 -0400
Jason Voorhees returns to his roots in Marcus Nispel's updated vision of a Horror classic.

Kill for mother.

With remakes all the rage in Hollywood these past years, it seemed only inevitable that the granddaddy of the modern slasher killer, Jason Voorhees, would wind up returning to the silver screen not in yet another sequel or even a follow-up "versus" film, but rather as the centerpiece of a whole new beginning of lakeside terror. Chosen to helm the project was Marcus Nispel, the same ...

Video
Friday the 13th slices into Blu-ray with a 1080p, 2.40:1-framed transfer. Overall, this represents an adequate high definition transfer in most every area, though it is not without its drawbacks. Perhaps the most readily identifiable aspect of the transfer are the many scenes that seem unusually soft and blurred, several severely so. Such shots are not contained to a single scene or sequence but appear with some regularity throughout the entirety of the picture. Otherwise,...

Audio
Friday the 13th screams onto Blu-ray with a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Like the video quality, this Blu-ray soundtrack may be best described as "adequate yet underwhelming." This one relies primarily on the front soundstage with the back channels only chiming in here and there in support of music and minor atmospherics, such as the chorus of crickets in chapter eight. The film's action-oriented scenes deliver a strong presence across the entire range, from the crisp, ...

Supplements
Friday the 13th arrives on Blu-ray with a few bonus features. First up is a Picture-in-Picture trivia track that features cast and crew discussing the themes of the picture, filming various sequences, the make-up effects, assembling the script, and more. Also included are plenty of text-based trivia facts about the universe surrounding the Friday the 13th franchise. The Rebirth of Jason Voorhees (1080p, 11:24) is a piece featuring cast and crew ...

Final Words
Perhaps, it may be argued, comparing the Friday the 13th remake to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake as much as its own predecessors isn't quite fair, but with the success of Massacre comes only heightened anticipation for Friday the 13th, and while the film delivers Jason in what is probably his best movie yet in terms of production values, atmosphere, violence, and character development, the experience ultimately disappoints not necessarily in context but......

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Lohengrin (Blu-ray Review)

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 23:59:45 -0400

ACT I

At Brabant. Heinrich der Vogler, King of Germany (Hans-Peter Konig) has gathered his government. Friedrich von Telramund, Count of Telramund (Tom Fox), accuses Elsa von Brabant (Solveig Kringelborn), daughter of the ruler of Brabant, of murdering her own brother, Duke Gottfried (Thore Vogt). Ortrud (Waltraud Meier), a pagan sorceress and wife of Friedrich, tells everyone that she saw Elsa drowning her brother (no one knows, however, that he has been transformed into a swa...

Video
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080i live transfer, Richard Wagners Lohengrin arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Opus Arte.

Once again, Opus Arte have put together a terrific package for an excellent production of one of Wagners most frequently performed operas. Contrast is near flawless, clarity outstanding and depth and detail remarkable. The simple but elegant stage decors look fantastic. Furthermore, motion-judder is practical...

Audio
There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: German LPCM 5.1 and German LPCM 2.0. I opted for the German LPCM 5.1 track and later on did a few random comparisons with the German LPCM 2.0 track for the purpose of this review.

I dont think that there is anything that I did not like about the German LPCM 5.1 track. It is incredibly rich, well balanced and crisp. The voices of the singers project very well and so does the choir. The balance between the orchestra and the singers is al...

Supplements
Booklet Opus Arte have provided a 32-page booklet containing Nikolaus Lehnhoffs essay Searching for tracks amid utopia, artistic trauma and psychodrama and Reiner E. Moritzs essay Never shalt thou ask of me. The two essays are available in English, French and German.

Synopsis an illustrated synopsis for Lohengrin. (1080i).

Never shalt thou ask of me a documentary film by Reiner E. Moritz focusing on the history ...

Final Words
Elegantly staged and notably thought-provoking, the production of Wagner's Lohengrin - courtesy of the EuropaChorAkademie Mainz, the Chorus of the Opera National de Lyon and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin - found on this Blu-ray disc looks and sounds great. Once again, Opus Arte do not disappoint! Highly Recommended. ......

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Les Deux Mondes (Blu-ray Review)

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 23:48:01 -0400

Yet to be released in North America, Gallic director Daniel Cohens ambitious comedy "Les deux mondes" a.k.a "Two Worlds" (2007) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors Gaumont. The disc is English-friendly and Region-Free....

Video
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Daniel Cohen s Two Worlds arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors Gaumont.

The quality of the transfer is quite strong. Contrast is consistently pleasing, clarity very good and detail certainly satisfactory. The color-scheme is a bit unusual, particularly when the action switches to the other world - there are plenty of color manipulations that you would n...

Audio
There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: French DTS-HD HR 5.1. For the record, Gaumont have provided optional English and French HOH subtitles for the main feature.

Even though I would have preferred to see a loseless track on this Blu-ray disc, I am fairly satisfied with how the French DTS-HD HR 5.1 track sounds. The surround channels are quite active, the bass full-bodied and potent, and the high frequencies not overdone (there are no subtle audio distortions that I detec...

Supplements
Commentary with director Daniel Cohen not subtitled in English.

LEnvers des Deux Mondes behind the scenes footage and tests with Daniel Cohen and Benoit Poelvoorde. Not subtitled in English (1080i/50, 41 min).

Le Tournage en Afrique du Sud a featurette focusing on the creation of Begameni. Not subtitled in English (1080i/50, 18 min).

Scenes coupees a gallery of deleted scenes with optional commentary by...

Final Words
A few years ago, I had a ball watching Belgian actor Benoît Poelvoorde in Atomik Circus - The Return of James Battle. I thought that he was beyond entertaining. He is just as good in Two Words, though, admittedly, this is a very different film. Still, if you have the courage to experiment with strange films, give this one a try. You might be pleasantly surprised, just as I was. Recommended. ......

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Neil Young : Archives Volume One Blu-ray (Blu-ray Review)

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 23:42:53 -0400
The long-awaited archives of Neil Young's classic 1963-72 period is available in 24-bit 192-kHz digital audio...finally!

Neil Young Archives: Volume 1 was more than a decade coming--a release in search of a medium. The ideal vehicle for the set proves to be Blu-ray, and Young himself has an entire page on his website explaining why. "The sound and picture quality is unparalleled. It is the highest definition available and allows you to get more detail in the listening and viewing experience." Couldn't have said it better myself. As good as the audio and video are, the box goes beyond music and concert foota...

Video
Archives Volume 1 is first and foremost a music project, meant to serve up Young's early output in high-definition audio. The idea of analyzing the video seems a bit beside the point. It is only meant as a companion to the music, and is mostly cobbled together from old film footage of concerts and road trips presented in 1080p. Newer camcorder footage from 1997 is also included to provide interviews. But due to the scope of the archive, imagery does play a big role. Most notable on the vi...

Audio
Overall, the sound of Neil Young Archives: Volume 1 is detailed, refined, open, extended, warm, airy, forward and generally fantastic. This set marks the first Blu-ray content I have encountered--and one of the few examples of digital audio anywhere--that made me feel like I was listening to audiophile-caliber, heavy vinyl. The remastered material has a holistic or organic quality that is almost always lacking in digital audio. This commitment to quality and detail benefits the entire spe...

Supplements
In a collection as unique and extensive as Archives Volume 1, it's difficult to define where the main features end and the bonus content begins. Strictly speaking, anything that isn't music can be considered supplementary. But the very nature of offering a box set implies that goodies will be included that you don't get by buying the individual albums. It takes a long time to wade through all this material. For example, the Topanga 1 disc includes an impromptu interview with Young and arc...

Final Words
The first volume of Neil Young's archives is a groundbreaking release on many levels. Not only does it sound like pristine vinyl, with impeccable production values, it also includes gobs of footage, rare tracks and other goodies that require a great deal of time to wade through, with many gems and moments that make it worth your while. Young deserves top honors for this ambitious set because it is seriously innovative and raises the benchmark for all artists who want to deliver quality remasters......

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Miracle (Blu-ray Review)

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 02:55:07 -0400
A first-rate sports film receives a fitting Blu-ray release...

In a lazier day, when sleep surpassed eight hours and movies didn't consume my late nights, I was unabashedly enamored with hockey. My friends, like many shortsighted American sports fans, seemed to enjoy banishing hockey to the same perennial cultural wasteland as tennis and soccer, but I couldn't get enough. Alas, the years have dwindled on and I've had to make some tough choices about how to spend what precious little TV time I'm alloted. One of the first victims of my twenty-four hour ...

Video
Miracle arrives on Blu-ray with a rough but rewarding 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer that proficiently captures O'Connor's every gritty intention. Colors are muted but stable, skintones reserved but natural, shadows aggressive but elemental, and contrast stark but comfortable. Likewise, detail waxes and wanes with every camera move, but the varying softness and coarseness of each scene actually suits the documentary-like atmosphere of the film, enhancing the director's on-the-fly, handhe...

Audio
Disney's sinewy DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is even more arresting. Whether sending a clattering puck skittering across the soundfield or filling your home theater with the deafening roar of an impassioned Olympic crowd, the mix carefully utilizing every speaker to create an immersive experience worthy of high praise. Ambience is a regular player in each scene, interior acoustics are accurate and astute, and reliable LFE support infuses every voice and effect with weight and dime...

Supplements
Miracle skates onto Blu-ray with the same extensive supplemental package that graces the 2004 Special Edition DVD. While the video content is presented in standard definition, the behind-the-scenes tour is a thorough one that offers far more material than most genre releases on the market.

Filmmakers Commentary: Director Gavin O'Connor, editor John Gilroy, and cinematographer Dan Stoloff discuss casting, rehearsals, aesthetic choices...

Final Words
It's a shame Miracle is often overlooked by those unwilling to give hockey a chance: love or hate the sport all you want, it doesn't change the fact that Gavin O'Connor has delivered a spectacular film sure to stand the test of time. Disney's Blu-ray edition is admirable as well. Its striking video transfer, potent DTS-HD Master Audio track, and generous collection of special features will finally give fans an excuse to chuck out their well-worn DVD copies of the film. Some exclusiv......

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Tokyo Sonata (Blu-ray Review)

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:26:30 -0400

Winner of the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008, Kiyoshi Kurosawas terrific "Tokyo Sonata" (2008) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of UK-based distributors Eureka Entertainment. This is a Region-Free release whose supplemental features are perfectly playable on North American TV sets....

Video
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Kiyoshi Kurosawas Tokyo Sonata arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of UK-based distributors Eureka Entertainment.

I liked this transfer a lot. Contrast is very good, clarity adequate and detail pleasing. The color-scheme is convincing as well blues, greens, grays, blacks and whites are well saturated and natural. Furthermore, neither edge-enhancement nor macroblocking are a seriou...

Audio
There are three audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 and Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0. I opted for the Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track and later on did a few random comparisons with the other two tracks for the purpose of this review.

As mentioned by director Kurosawa in one of the supplemental features on the disc, Tokyo Sonata has a very delicate audio structure. Generally speaking, the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 tra...

Supplements
Making Of documentary a rather long and very informative featurette where director Kurosawa and cast members share their thoughts on the film. Raw footage from key scenes is supplied as well. With optional English subtitles. (480/60i, 61 min).

Q&A, Tokyo, September 2008 director Kurosawa and cast members talk about the film, its reception at the Cannes Film Festival, its message, etc, before its Tokyo screening. With optional English subtitles (480/60i,...

Final Words
An unforgettable film! Eureka Entertainment have put together a solid package that should appeal to just about everyone, regardless of one's geographical location. Obviously, their Blu-ray disc comes Very Highly Recommended. ......

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Friday the 13th Part 2 (Blu-ray Review)

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:47:36 -0400
Jason in the hood.

Jason's out there...watching.

Answer quickly: a hugely successful Horror picture made on a budget that makes a jar full of pennies look like Scrooge McDuck's vault prompts the studio to call for a sequel. What's the fastest way to get another movie onto the big screen in under a year? Easy. Remake the original. Taking that approach, Friday the 13th Part 2 came together faster than a flock of Blu-ray.com readers lining up for a buy-one-get-five-free sale at Be...

Video
Friday the 13th Part 2 slices into Blu-ray with a rather strong 1080p, 1.78:1-framed transfer. Plenty of grain may be seen over the image early on, appearing so heavy over a few very dark shots that it seems to mask the image almost entirely. The grain field practically appears much less substantial during the brighter outdoor sequences. A fair level of visible detail is to be seen throughout, whether in the interior shots that see Alice's murder or in the bright, vibrant exte...

Audio
Friday the 13th Part 2's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack impresses only to the extent that it gets the job done. The track features a few good, realistic environmental sound effects that fool the listener into believing they are real, for instance a dog barking far in the distance. The score plays adequately, the front-heavy delivery not terribly impressive but simply satisfactory considering the limited source. It spreads out across the front well enough, punctuated by go...

Supplements
Friday the 13th Part 2 on Blu-ray offers up only a few bonus features. Inside Crystal Lake Memories (1080p, 11:15) features author Peter Bracke discussing several aspects of his book and some details pertaining to Part 2. Friday's Legacy: Horror Conventions (1080p, 6:50) takes viewers into the world of horror conventions. Jason Forever (480p, 29:27) features four of the actors to portray Jason: Ari Lehman, Warrington Gillette, C.J. Graham, and Kane...

Final Words
A copycat of its predecessor, Friday the 13th Part 2 is likely to lull viewers to sleep with an agonizingly long and familiar set-up before the film starts to take off. Even then, the kills are well-staged but rather meaningless outside the actual act of murder, because this film tosses in a bunch of expendable, one-dimensional nobodies into the mix that do nothing but run around half-dressed in tight-fitting clothes waiting to be killed. Introducing Jason, but not as audien......

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Friday the 13th Part 3 (Blu-ray Review)

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:47:35 -0400
Who says the characters in this franchise are flat?

I have warned thee.

Though presented in nicely-done 3-D and introducing the famous hockey mask, Friday the 13th Part 3 is about as derivative and repetitive as its predecessors. Amped-up gore, various objects that seem to poke straight out of the screen, and a hip new soundtrack that bookends the film can't save the picture from its primary problem, its sale of an almost identical bill of goods as the ...

Video
Friday the 13th Part 3 debuts on Blu-ray with a good all-around 1080p, 2.40:1-framed transfer, the first of the series to be presented in a scope widescreen format. Available on the disc are both the 3-D and 2-D versions of the film. The primary video source, the 3-D image, features the expected ghosting issues, appearing as extraordinarily heavy in some scenes but far lighter in many others. Colors aren't incredibly vibrant, but the basic hues stand out well enough. The i...

Audio
Friday the 13th Part 3 hacks up Blu-ray with a dull Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. A rather basic soundtrack, this one delivers a front-heavy yet adequately clear experience. Highlighted by the newfangled early 1980s disco-style music with hints of a Science Fiction feel, the odd presentation sounds good enough as it plays across the front during the opening credits. The more traditional Friday music, too, suffices in delivery, and the trademark chanting flows t...

Supplements
Friday the 13th Part 3 scares up but a few extras for this Blu-ray release. Fresh Cuts: 3-D Terror (1080p, 12:52) features Crystal Lake Memories author Peter Bracke discussing the background of the film, followed by 3-D supervisor Martin Jay Sadoff discussing the 3-D process. Also included are interview clips with cast and crew discussing the process of bringing the film to life in a whole new dimension, sharing memories from the set, alternate endings, and the ...

Final Words
Friday the 13th accomplishes its task of recreating the previous two films in 3-D, but as far as any sort of novelty outside the actual presentation, forget about it. Part 3 features the same old tired -- but nevertheless still somewhat effective and, most importantly, fun -- formula, and for all the film sets out to do, in this case feature Jason killing a bunch of people in 3-D, it works well enough. Though parts of the film are laughably yet unintentionally goofy, part......

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Inkheart (Blu-ray Review)

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:32:06 -0400
A yawn-inducing dud limps onto Blu-ray...

The revival of any genre can bring with it an exhilarating explosion of ideas and creative talent; its unshackled filmmakers capable of rejuvenating its tired bones and ensuring it never goes extinct again. But after showing initial promise and power, a genre revival is all too often reduced to a profitable venture; the sort of ticket-yielding cashcow that attracts industry vultures and produces watered-down drivel that doesn't live up to its potential. Such is the curse of Fantasy, a genre...

Video
Inkheart's uneven 1080p/VC-1 transfer offers two distinct experiences: one is a sumptuous presentation simmering with rich colors, refined detailing, and exquisite shadows; the other is a soft, over-processed mess that suffers from occasional smearing, aliasing, and ringing. The image you encounter depends on the scene at hand. Closeups and interior scenes are generally strong, delivering crisp definition, revealing textures, and impressive delineation. Scenes in Capricorn's castle ...

Audio
When I first started watching Inkheart, I forgot to hop into the menu and manually engage the disc's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround track (Warner titles often default to standard Dolby Digital audio). Wow, what a difference. The standard mix simply pales in comparison to the thunderous power and crystal clear fidelity of its lossless counterpart. But I digress. Warner's TrueHD track is easily the highpoint of its Blu-ray release, serving up impeccable prioritization, dialogue clarity, L...

Supplements
Alas, the BD-Live enabled Blu-ray edition of Inkheart returns to form with a limited supplemental package. A Story with the Cast & Crew (HD, 7 minutes) finds the actors and filmmakers (including the dog that plays Toto... sigh) inserting a line of their own creation into a charming pass-it-on fairytale; From Imagination to the Page (HD, 11 minutes) is an all-too-short featurette that explores the work and philosophies of author Cornelia Funke; Eliza Reads to Us (H...

Final Words
Inkheart isn't the adventurous fantasy classic it could have been, but rather an insipid distraction that's sure to be forgotten the moment The Half-Blood Prince hits theaters. Its Blu-ray release isn't very memorable either: aside from a rousing TrueHD audio track, the disc falters with an uneven video transfer and an unfulfilling batch of supplements. I'm sad to say it about a film that had such potential, but Inkheart is, at best, a rental. ......

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Standard Operating Procedure (Blu-ray Review)

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 23:57:43 -0400
The line between right and wrong is obscured on this Blu-ray release.

Watching a documentary is a lot like reading a non-fiction book. The subject matter is firmly grounded in reality, but you have to take the creators personal bias into account and appreciate the need to sensationalize subject matter that may otherwise represent a fairly dry topic. Over the years Ive grown to appreciate documentaries to a greater extent (as well as non-fiction literature), but I still feel a degree of reservation when sitting down to watch a documentary focused on the harsh r...

Video
Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 30Mbps), Standard Operating Procedure has a pleasing visual quality with some minor missteps along the way. Detail is crisply rendered throughout the majority of the production, but I felt the interview footage could have been a little sharper. Fine facial textures were absent, which might reflect a visual style chosen by Morris, but considering the size of the facial shots I expected to witness every crease or hair on...

Audio
There are three audio options on the disc, all presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1. Considering I dont speak French or Portuguese, I chose the English track for my primary listening experience. Going into the film, I expected a front-heavy documentary track consisting mainly of interview dialogue. What I found instead, was a surprisingly robust track that matches the sensationalized effects incorporated into the film. Whether were watching a reenactment of guard dogs terrorizing prisoners, or a ...

Supplements
Premiere Q&A with Errol Morris (1080p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 10:52 min): The majority of the questions asked during this brief segment address the difficulties Morris ran into while completing the film.

Press Conference (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 31:36 min): This Q&A session includes Morris and producer Julie Ahlberg, as they discuss themes from the film, how it was initially developed, and their opinion on the Abu Ghraib scandal.

Diplomacy in the Age of Terror (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0...

Final Words
Ultimately, Standard Operating Procedure is a fascinating documentary that dares to ask questions most of us would rather not have answered. Regardless of your opinion on what took place in the prison, this is a story that needed to be told and I commend Morris on his ability to offer such an even-handed approach to the subject matter. He does let his opinion bleed through at times, but I appreciated his effort to let the viewer arrive at their own conclusions. I cant imagine anyone e......

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Last Year at Marienbad (Blu-ray Review)

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:23:03 -0400

Alain Resnais hugely controversial Last Year at Marienbad (1961) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The transfer for this release has been personally supervised and approved by the French director. As requested by him, in addition to the newly restored uncompressed monaural track, Criterion have also provided the original unrestored track. Amongst the supplemental features on the disc are a new audio interview with director Resnais, recorded exclusively for this release, as well as ...

Video
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Alain Resnais Last Year at Marienbad arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

As noted in the booklet provided with this package, the transfer for the Blu-ray release has been personally supervised and approved by Alain Resnais. Additionally, "the new high-definition transfer was created on a Spirit Datacine from a 35mm fine-grain master positive. Thousands of instances of ...

Audio
As requested by Alain Resnais, Criterion have supplied two audio tracks a newly restored French uncompressed monaural track and the original, unrestored, French mono track (please take a moment to read the tiny note provided at the very end of the booklet supplied by Criterion, which explains why the French director made the request).

I chose to watch Last Year at Marienbad with the newly restored French track (however, I will likely revisit the film soon using the unrestored...

Supplements
Alain Resnais Audio Interview Filmmaker Francois Thomas, author of Latelier dAlain Resnais, conducted this rare in-depth audio interview with the French director exclusively for the Criterion Collection in 2008. Here, Alain Resnais talks about his encounter with Alain Robbe-Grillet, their instant attraction to each other, how Last Year at Marienbad was initially envisioned, etc. With optional English subtitles. (1080p, 33 min).

Unravelin...

Final Words
It is difficult for me not to be overly excited about Criterions June releases. After their spectacular treatment of Ingmar Bergmans The Seventh Seal, I was very much looking forward to see what they have done with Alain Resnais Last Year at Marienbad. Once again, I am utterly impressed. Folks, this is exactly what we want to see on Blu-ray fantastic films with fantastic transfers. Very Highly Recommended. ......

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B.B. King: Live At Montreux 1993 (Blu-ray Review)

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:44:55 -0400

The latest addition to Eagle Rock Entertainments fantastic catalog of Blu-ray releases is B.B. King: Live at Montreux, a terrific concert that was recorded in the summer of 1993. In front of an enthusiastic crowd, the legendary bluesman performed some of his greatest hits The Thrill Is Gone, Why I Sing The Blues, Since I Met You Baby, and Please Accept My Love amongst others.

B. B. Kings fantastic band opened up the show. Leon Warren (Guitar), James Boogaloo Bolden (Trum...

Video
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080i live transfer, B.B. King: Live at Montreux arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment.

Absolutely nothing will surprise those of you who are already familiar with Eagle Rock Entertainments catalog - B.B. King: Live at Montreux is yet another solid Blu-ray release. Clarity and detail are strong, contrast good and edge-enhancement not a serious issue of concern. I did not s...

Audio
There are three different tracks on this Blu-ray disc: Music DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Music Dolby Digital 5.1 and Music LPCM 2.0. I opted for the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track and later did a few random comparisons with the other two tracks for the purpose of this review.

Generally speaking, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is very strong. B.B. Kings intoxicating solos sound terrific and so does his band. The drums, the bass, the saxes, the electric piano, the trumpet and guitars ...

Supplements
Unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found on this Blu-ray disc. ...

Final Words
The fantastic Eagle Rock Entertainment deliver yet another excellent release. Fans of B.B. King should definitely try to get this Blu-ray disc - it looks great, it sounds great and it is very attractively priced. Obviously, we Highly Recommend it. ......

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Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood: Live from Madison Square Garden (Blu-ray Review)

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:37:23 -0400
A sensational reunion earns a remarkable Blu-ray release...

When the members of Cream -- the indelible '60s hard rock trio whose bluesy psychedelics would influence the music industry for decades to come -- parted ways in 1968 due to the irreconcilable egos of bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker, guitarist Eric Clapton joined forces with Traffic frontman Steve Winwood (on sabbatical from his own volatile musicians) to create Blind Faith, a short-lived experimental endeavor born out of jam sessions in Clapton's basement. Sadly, their 1969 coll...

Video
If you strip a live performance of glaring, overwhelming flood lights, the over-the-top fire-n-fog shenanigans of decades past, and the sort of elaborate set design that tends to distract from the musicians and their work... what sort of Blu-ray presentation are you left with? Apparently, an absolutely stunning 1080p/AVC-encoded beauty that soars by way of its utter simplicity, sails by with impeccable skintones and absorbing shadows, and satisfies more and more with every passing shot. A f...

Audio
Despite its magnificent video transfer, I do have one gripe with Warner Music's AV presentation: its lack of a lossless 5.1 surround option. Sure, the standard DTS 5.1 mix available on the disc is admittedly strong (1.5 Mbps strong in fact), but it has trouble matching the power, proficiency, and fidelity of its uncompressed PCM stereo counterpart. Since I imagine a proper DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track would have been a best-of-both-worlds masterstroke, I'm not the exuberant Madiso...

Supplements
While Warner Music's BD-50 disc isn't brimming with special features, the material on hand -- a compelling documentary, three bonus performances, and a soundcheck short, all presented in high definition -- actually adds quite a bit of value to the overall release. If nothing else, fans will appreciate the refreshingly modest, low-key nature of it all.

The Road to Madison Square Garden (HD, 37 minutes): Both Clapton and Winwood sit down for ...

Final Words
Easily one of the breeziest, most infectious live performances I've ever had the pleasure to review, Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood: Live from Madison Square Garden is a nostalgic treat from beginning to end. While Warner Music comes up a bit short in the audio department (no lossless surround option?), the studio's uncompressed PCM stereo track nevertheless injects tremendous quality and value into the release. Paired with a stunning video transfer and a small but refined trio of sp......

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Do the Right Thing (Blu-ray Review)

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:45:51 -0400
Yo! Hold up! Time out! Time out! Ya'll take a chill.

In the year of our Lord, 2009, as Spike Lee would say, things are different. For one, theres an African-American president in the White House. A huge percentage of voters rallied behind Barack Obama last November in ways that, forty, thirty, or even twenty years ago would have seemed like a pipe dream, a naïve and overly optimistic hope for racial equality. America, stalwart Lady that she is, seems primed for changelast years buzzwordbut this in no way means that racism has been ...

Video
For a twenty-year old catalog title, Do the Right Things AVC 1080p 1.85:1 transfer pops and sizzles like an egg frying on the hood of a Cadillac. As a film about the hottest day of a New York summer, cinematographer Ernest Dickerson was charged with finding a way to convincingly portray heat on the screen. His solution? Color psychology. The film is awash in big, bold, sun- drenched hues that make other films warm tones seem flat out cold. Morning light streams through windows ...

Audio
Public Enemys Fight the Power plays something like fifteen times during the course of Do the Right Thing and this DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless track handles each appearance (and the whole film) with a capable, if somewhat ironically under-powered aplomb. For a film that takes place smack in the center of a busy city block, I was hoping for a bit more immersion from the rear channels. Granted, I dont want or need to hear every car whiz by cleverly or feel the Doppler effect of sirens...

Supplements
This 20th anniversary edition of Do the Right Thing arrives with a comprehensive and quite literally exhaustive supply of supplements. While most of the features are recycled from the prior Criterion Collection DVD release, there are some notable additions, including a retrospective, a new commentary by Spike Lee, and deleted scenes available in high definition for the first time.

Do the Right Thing: 20 Years Later (1080i, 35:47)

Image Nation held...

Final Words
Prefiguring the Rodney King beating and LA race riots that would come later, Do the Right Thing, as a cultural document, is both foreseeing and astute in its brash indictment of racism in America. As a film, its entertaining and pointed, a sweltering fever-pitched melting pot that boils over a long, slow burn. And as a package, this Blu-ray disc delivers the cinematic goods, with excellent picture, clear sound, and a set of supplementary features that puts other films to shame. ......

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Sisterhood (Blu-ray Review)

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:29:04 -0400
I was really hoping this was going to be about a nun who lives in the projects.

Im a sucker for the underdog. Give me the Mets over the Yankees, the slave over the centurion, the grassroots buzz over the slick marketing blitz. Call me sentimental, but Ive got a soft spot for the little guy. Im always disappointed, then, when starving, independent filmmakers pool their resources, pull some purse strings, toil long hours through an unforgiving shooting schedule and emerge, after all the sweat and tears, with a finished product as flat and tasteless as a day-old cup...

Video
While observing Sisterhoods AVC-encoded, 1080p 16x9 transfer, I ticked just about all of the boxes on my horrible video traits checklist. Im usually willing to extend some leeway to low-budget titles, but this film wilts under some outright poor production choices. For one, the film alternates distractingly between segments shot on over-sharpened, horribly color-toned video, and ridiculously lifeless and grainy film stock. Skin tones, especially on video, are ruddy, splotchy...

Audio
Sisterhoods DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround track suffices, but its so unmemorable that Im having difficulty thinking of anything to say about it. Vocal prioritization is generally okay, but during a few instances I noticed characters sounding unusually muffled. The rear channels are largely silent, and the one or two big uses of sound panning are heavy-handed and stand out unnaturally from the rest of the film. The soundtrack too is largely forgettable, with the exception of some jau...

Supplements
Interview with Directer Richard Wellings-Thomas, Writer/Actress Emily Corcoran, and Producers Tim Hart and Abi Sirokh (480p, 9:29)

This standard EPK featurette consists of the key figures in the film's production talking about the shoestring budget and making the film into a commercially viable product. There's some pretty strong audio buzz that overshadows the conversations at times.

Interviews with New Zealand Cast and Crew (480p, 11:15)

Is t...

Final Words
At one point, the high-society sibling says, If this is sisterhood, then Im not interested, and thats a pretty decent summation of how I feel about the film. The jokes were stale, the characters trite, and the video quality just about made my eyes bleed. So, perhaps I shouldnt feel so bad about ripping apart the underdogs; they are, after all, getting a Blu-ray release and American distribution.......

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Trainspotting (Blu-ray Review)

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:59:41 -0400

British distributors Film Four enter the Blu-ray market with Danny Boyle's fantastic "Trainspotting" (1996). The film is yet to be released on Blu-ray in North America. The disc herein reviewed is Region-B "locked". ...

Video
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 (slightly cropped from its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1), encoded with MPEG-AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Danny Boyles Trainspotting arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Film Four.

The basics for this Blu-ray transfer appear to be mostly intact, but there are a few issues with it that should have been addressed. For example, contrast is adequate, with a lot of the daylight scenes looking very strong. Clarity is also ...

Audio
There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS 5.1 and English Dolby Digital 5.1. I opted for the English DTS 5.1 track and later on did a few random comparisons with the Dolby Digital 5.1 track for the purpose of this review.

Yes, it is a bit disappointing that the British distributors have not provided a loseless track of some sort on this disc. This being said, the English DTS 5.1 track is actually quite strong. First, the dialog is crisp, clear and exceptionally easy...

Supplements
Memories of Trainspotting an extremely informative featurette where director Danny Boyle, producer Andrew Macdonald, screenplay writer John Hodge, Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Kelly Macdonald and Robert Carlyle recall how the film was adapted from Irvine Welshs book, the type of challenges the cast and crew faced, how the film was received, etc. Subtitled in English. (AVC, 45 min).

Deleted Scenes a selection of deleted scenes previously available on d...

Final Words
It is fantastic to have yet another British distributor, with a terrific catalog of films, release on Blu-ray. Trainspotting, the first Blu-ray courtesy of Film Four to reach my desk, is certainly an upgrade over existing DVD versions of the film. It looks and sounds good, but I am convinced that it could have looked and sounded even better. Nonetheless, if you reside in Region-B territories, take a look at this disc. ......

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Dr. Strangelove (Blu-ray Review)

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:58:29 -0400
Kubrick's hilarious 1964 masterwork finally arrives on Blu-ray...

Every time I have the chance to revisit a film from the late Stanley Kubrick's fascinating canon, I find myself wondering what the monolithic director would think of the 21st century had he lived to see it. Would his brow furrow at the realization that man and machine are developing the same precarious bond as Dave and Hal shared in 2001: A Space Odyssey? Would realistic depictions of modern conflict like Gene...

Video
Much to my relief, Sony's 4K restoration pays proper homage to Kubrick's intentions with a faithful 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer that renders each scene with meticulous care and revitalizes the director's forty-five-year old production. A filmic veneer of heavy grain peppers every frame, giving Dr. Strangelove a wonderful cinematic texture befitting its era. Clarity is rarely affected and, more often than not, reveals far more detail than those who own the film on DVD are accustomed to...

Audio
Sony serves up two audio options: a retooled Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround remix for modern filmfans, and a high-quality presentation of the film's original mono track for purists. Both mixes deliver their respective goods in subtle style. The dynamic remix stands out with subdued (but effective) rear speaker activity and a welcome dose of low-frequency support, while the crystal clear mono track is surprisingly spry considering it's been minted from a forty-five-year old source. Likewise, the...

Supplements
Collectors and completists rejoice! Sony's attractive 32-page Digibook release of Dr. Strangelove boasts a strong collection of supplemental materials befitting a classic film of its stature. Better still, it includes all of the significant special features that appear on the 2001 SE DVD and the 2004 40th Anniversary Edition DVD, and even tacks on an exclusive Picture-in-Picture Trivia Track for good measure.

The Cold War: ...

Final Words
There are only two excuses for breezing past Dr. Strangelove: ignorance or bad taste. If you fall into the former camp, let me assure you that Kubrick's 1964 satirical comedy is sharper, edgier, and funnier than 99% of the junk being dumped in theaters today. If you fall into the latter... well, I suppose some people are just beyond salvation. Luckily, both fans and newcomers will find that Sony has given the film an outstanding Digibook release that features an excellent video tran......

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The Graduate Completes Standard Definition and Moves on to Blu-Ray (Blu-ray Review)

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:29:54 -0400
Getting the HD treatment, Dustin Hoffman's flagship coming-of-age classic has never looked or sounded better.

And here's to you, Dustin Hoffman. In a role that achieves popular culture iconoclasm, Hoffman plays Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate. The coming-of-age comedy and social satire keeps audiences coming back for more--not just because of Hoffman's performance but Anne Bancroft's tour-de-force portrayal of Mrs. Robinson and the score featuring some of Simon and Garfunkle's most endearing songs. The Graduate epitomizes the freedoms and frailties of society in the sixties. Some watch i...

Video
Shot with anamorphic lenses that allow much of the screen to go soft, The Graduate would never rank as the most stunning or defined 1080p transfer on Blu-ray. But overall, it presents the Technicolor source in good form. The cinematography by Robert Surtees is a joy to watch on Blu-ray. All the tricks he uses, including unique masking and the use of reflections and slow fades pay off as never before. Colors are rich and vibrant, resolution is an order of magnitude better than the most rec...

Audio
MGM's 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track is a revelation on Blu-ray, with a clarity and crispness I did not anticipate. Like the video performance of The Graduate, the audio appears over-digitized and a bit squashed dynamically. Though you will not hear the strongest imaging or reference quality openness common to the best Blu-ray discs, you will get as close as possible to the original four-track Westrex stereo recording. In the process of mixing it for 5.1, MGM did a good job dusting off the...

Supplements
All the bonus content can be found not on the Blu-ray, but on the 40th Anniversary edition DVD included by MGM. Two documentaries--The Graduate at 25 and One on One with Dustin Hoffman are from Criterion's 25th anniversary two-disc laserdisc release. Both featurettes were then included on MGM's subsequent "special edition" DVD, but were spiffed up on the 40th Anniversary release, which has a number of newer interviews and commentaries that are similar.

The 40th Anniversa...

Final Words
Like most films from the '60s, The Graduate is slow by today's standards. Extended sequences of unconventional footage serve as interludes to show the passage of time, plot devices and to convey Ben's emotional world. Perhaps the most successful of these is the way Nichols shoots Ben's walk to the pool in his SCUBA gear. The only sound is the heavy, slow inhale and exhale through the tank's regulator. The picture is framed as an oval, as if we are seeing the world through Ben's diving mas......

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The Bed Sitting Room (Blu-ray Review)

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 23:59:59 -0400

Based on the play by Spike Mulligan and John Antrobus, Richard Lesters imaginative The Bed Sitting Room (1969) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of UK-based distributors BFI (British Film Institute). The film has been transferred to High-Definition by MGM and supplied for this release via Hollywood Classics. The picture has been restored by the BFI using HD-DVNR and MTI restoration systems, removing dirt, scratches, warps, torn or missing frames and stability issues. Region-B locked. ...

Video
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Richard Lesters The Bed Sitting Room arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of BFI.

I feel very comfortable stating that the film has never looked better. This is not to say that the transfer BFI have provided for this Blu-ray release is perfect, but it is most definitely very pleasing. As noted in the booklet supplied by BFI, The Bed Sitting Room has been transferred in High-De...

Audio
There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: English LPCM 2.0 (48 kHz). BFI has also supplied optional HOH track for the main feature.

It is fairly easy to tell that LPCM 2.0 has been given plenty of attention. The dialog is very well balanced, crisp, clear and easy to follow. There are no disturbing pops, cracks, hissings, or dropouts that I could detect either. This being said, there are two minor audio fluctuations that I spotted, both during the second half of the film, but ...

Supplements
Original Trailer (AVC-encoded, 3 min).

Richard Lester Interview (1967) the British director talks about a number of issues, from politics to film directing. (AVC-encoded, 18 min).

Spike Milligan Interview (1967) the actor (Mate) talks about Englands past, present and future, as well as the obstacles modern democracies are facing. Subtitled in English. (AVC-encoded, 42 min).

Peter Cook Interview (1967) ...

Final Words
Richard Lesters The Bed Sitting Room arrives on Blu-ray as part of BFI's newly introduced Flipside collection. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed looks good, and there are some very provocative interviews on it with Richard Lester, Peter Cook and Spike Milligan that I urge you to see. Most unfortunately for film aficionados residing in Region-A, the Blu-ray disc is Region-B "locked". ......

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Lost: The Complete Second Season (Blu-ray Review)

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 23:59:59 -0400
Once more down the rabbit hole...

If Lost's first season was a well-calculated opening volley in a six-season television assault, its sophomore outing was a massive forward attack on the senses. Not only did its twenty-four episodes take fans by surprise with increasingly shocking twists and turns, lead writers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, and producer-extraordinaire J.J. Abrams continued to develop the heart and soul of the series: its wonderfully-flawed, ever-intriguing characters. More importantly, the series'...

Video
Before the next paragraph devolves into superfluous gushing, allow me to sum up my feelings for Lost: The Complete Second Season's astonishing 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer in two simple words: absolutely gorgeous. With the concurrently-released Blu-ray edition of the series' First Season delivering a less-than-perfect video presentation, I was a bit worried as to how good my favorite castaways would look this time around. However, my fears were quenched within seconds. Colors a...

Audio
Wishing you could unload more enraptured praise on a single release? Look no further than Disney's jaw-dropping DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, quite simply one of the best television mixes I've ever reviewed. Dialogue unfolds with the intensity and raw emotion of its actors' performances: crisp, clean, and perfectly prioritized, it never gets buried beneath action sequences or overwhelmed by the island's at-times noisy locales. Acoustics and environmental ambience (actually rear s...

Supplements
The 7-disc Blu-ray edition of Lost: The Complete Second Season lands with all of the 2006 DVD's extensive special features. Granted, I was left jonsing for more audio commentaries and I was disappointed that the video content was presented in standard definition, but Losties and newcomers alike will be thrilled with the number of high-quality supplements Disney loaded on this release.

Audio Commentaries: Like its Complete First ...

Final Words
Lost hits its stride with its second season, tossing out more intriguing characters, developing old favorites, delivering richer storylines, and presenting deeper, more satisfying mysteries. Its twists and turns are masterful without ever feeling formulaic or predictable. Thankfully, the Blu-ray edition of The Complete Second Season is just as impressive. It features a staggering video transfer, an invigorating DTS-HD Master Audio track, and a healthy dose of supplemental goo......

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Lost: The Complete First Season (Blu-ray Review)

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 23:59:58 -0400
Welcome to a series that goes for the jugular...

With a tight closeup of a dilating eye, the soft rustle of a canopy of trees, and the distant wheen of a downed airplane engine, Lost emerged from ABC's shadows, redefining network dramas and single-handedly influencing the next five years of television programming. Conceived in the sharp, overactive minds of wunderkind, super-producer J.J. Abrams and writer Damon Lindelof, and greenlit by Sopranos producer and ABC chairman Lloyd Braun, the series debuted with a fracture...

Video
Chalk it up to uneven production values or an ever-evolving network budget, but Lost: The Complete First Season features a somewhat weaker 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer than its series' Blu-ray brethren. While colors remain decidedly strong and stable, blacks remain deep and inky, and detail has been dramatically improved in the move to high definition, the picture often exhibits a slight artificiality that, in light of the best television transfers on the market, can be a tad distractin...

Audio
Disney's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is more true to form than its video transfer, living up to the output and prowess of later season releases, and leaving a mark all its own. Dialogue, ever the priority in Lost, is crisp, intelligible, and neatly prioritized amongst the jungle's dangerous beasties and mysterious onlookers. Branches and leaves crunch and mash underfoot, trees rustle under the assault of ocean winds, and distant waves brush the shores with increasing subtl...

Supplements
The 7-disc Blu-ray edition of Lost: The Complete First Season splashes down with the same special features that originally appeared on its 2005 DVD counterpart. The video content is still presented in standard definition and I would have liked to find more than five commentaries, but the overall package is extensive and involving enough to keep fans entertained for days.

Audio Commentaries: First up are five commentary tracks that of...

Final Words
Lost's first outing may be surprisingly simplistic in lieu of later seasons in the series, but it's still a captivating introduction to a slew of intriguing characters, the roots of an enthralling mythology, and the surreal adventure of a lifetime. More importantly, its Blu-ray debut is a striking one that outclasses its DVD counterpart in every conceivable way. Delivering an excellent video transfer, a stunning DTS-HD Master Audio track, and hours of supplemental materials, Lost:......

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Waltz With Bashir (Blu-ray Review)

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:50:32 -0400
An animated documentary on the horrors of war enthralls on Blu-ray.

Our memories will take us only as far as we are capable of going.

A one-of-a-kind cinematic experience, Waltz With Bashir tells the story of an Israeli Defense Force (IDF) veteran in search of lost memories, memories that have long since faded following his experiences in the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Told through an animated documentary-style with visually-based flashbacks to the war that reinforce the monologues recounting the experiences of several veterans...

Video
Waltz With Bashir graces Blu-ray with a strong and well-defined 1080p, 1.78:1-framed image. Featuring sharp lines and strong edges, the animation -- though a bit rough as it may be -- is presented here gloriously, this Blu-ray transfer capturing every nuance to perfection. Though it doesn't feature an array of eye-catching colors and smooth and slick details, the film's reserved color palette and natural appearance are rendered wonderfully. Whether cold, steely blues and grays ...

Audio
Waltz With Bashir arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Sony with the expected Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack in both Hebrew and English variations. The track features good, hard-hitting lows as part of the score and via many of the sound effects, evidenced straight away during the music accompanying the opening title sequence. Ambience impresses, too; exterior sequence featuring rain nicely envelop the listening area, and likewise the sounds of barking dogs in the first few mi...

Supplements
Waltz With Bashir arrives on Blu-ray with a fine selection of bonus materials. Headlining the package is a commentary track with Director Ari Folman. Presented in English, the director speaks of his multiple roles, including directing, producing, writing, and serving as the primary protagonist in the film. He also discusses his decision to make the film, the unique animation style, the sound, his approach to the material and reasons for creating it in the realm of animation, ...

Final Words
With a plot driven by the verbally-recalled and visually-reinforced stories of war, the visions of combat serve not as the central structure of the film but rather as building blocks upon which the foundation of the story is laid. Created not to entertain but rather to allow its audience to critically analyze the horrors of war and, most importantly, allow its primary character to come to terms with whatever his role in the conflict may have entailed, Waltz With Bashir makes fo......

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Australia: Land Beyond Time (Blu-ray Review)

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:32:46 -0400
In this land beyond time, life has learned to ride out the hard times, and flourish in the good times.

Growing up in Oregon, I remember glowing with delight every time I was given the opportunity to visit the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI). Featuring rotating exhibits of headliners such as Star Wars, Dinosaurs, or LEGOs, the experience always felt fresh regardless of how many times I visited the museum. As I grew older, OMSI added our only local IMAX screen to their list of wonders and provided a new visual experience for the following generations. I cant say my initial experie...

Video
Presented in 1080p utilizing the MPEG-2 codec (at an average bitrate of 40Mbps), Australia: Land Beyond Time offers an impressive visual experience. Theres nothing worse than watching a nature documentary that doesnt accurately reflect the beauty of the great outdoors, but this transfer does a wonderful job conveying every last detail in the landscape. There are still several scenes that dont fair quite as well as the rest of the feature, but those rare instances appear to be related...

Audio
The English Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is surprisingly good for a lossy audio track. From the atmospheric tones of water trickling down a stream, to the rushing torrent as it cascades over a 200 foot high waterfall, the mix is efficient in accurately recreating a wide range of sounds. Surround use isnt extensive, but theres still sufficient use of the rear sound field to elevate this track above the typical front-heavy nature documentary. On the downside, I was left with the impression the audio...

Supplements
Although all three special features are encoded in 1080p, they are clearly taken from a (4:3) standard definition source, and dont begin to resemble a high-definition picture.

B-Roll (2:25 min): Im assuming this collection of footage never made it into the final product, though there were several scenes that looked similar to shots from the film. If this were in high definition, Id consider it a worthy addition.

Directors Commentary (2:27 min): This is a strange inclusion on t...

Final Words
If youd consider yourself a fan of nature documentaries and you have any interest in the Australian Outback, this Blu-ray edition is a worthy investment. As with most IMAX films, the greatest detriment is its brief runtime, but if you can overlook that one flaw, youll have a film that holds up well in multiple viewings, and provides a nice balance between entertainment and education. ......

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Catch and Release (Blu-ray Review)

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:47:22 -0400
Take the hook out of this Blu-ray and toss it back in the ocean.

Its difficult to pinpoint the exact movie that killed the romantic comedy genre for me, but at some point I developed a general dislike for the majority of films that fall into that classification. There are surely exceptions that demonstrate Hollywood hasnt lost the ability to generate a date-worthy experience (Shakespeare In Love, Love Actually and When Harry Met Sally to name a few), but it seems weve been bombarded with one Mathew McConaughey vehicle after another ...

Video
Presented in 1080p utilizing the MPEG-2 codec (at an average bitrate of 23Mbps), Catch and Release offers a satisfying visual experience, but never achieves the level of quality found on a reference release. Considering this was an early Blu-ray offering, detail is surprisingly well-defined, with a pleasing level of depth in most scenes. Unfortunately, thats where the strengths end, and the weaknesses begin. Color saturation wavers between overly bright or dreadfully dull, with skin t...

Audio
The default audio track on the disc is a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, which doesnt come close to matching the audio proficiency of the Linear PCM 5.1 track. Once you deal with the minor hassle of switching tracks, you can sit back and soak up the increased clarity of the lossless sound mix. One of the highlights of the film as a whole is the indie-folk soundtrack that effectively sets the mood during the many emotional sequences. The musical numbers are well-balanced throughout the entire soundfie...

Supplements
From Concept to Completion (1080i, Dolby Digital 2.0, 20:29 min): Director Susannah Grant offers an in-depth discussion of the themes and ideas she brought to the story, as well as a brief history of the production from start to beginning. Other key players in the film are also interviewed to a lesser extent, but I preferred Ms. Grants first-person perspective on what she was going for in writing and directing the film.

Deleted Scenes (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 3:33 min): Two deleted sce...

Final Words
Catch and Release is a perfect example of an interesting concept hampered by poor execution. The film could have been a memorable experience if it were written as a drama about 4 individuals dealing with the loss of someone special, but the addition of flat comedy and out-of-place romance sucks the potential completely away. Theres a chance my feelings are related to mistaken impressions going into the film (its difficult to consider this a romantic comedy), but I can safely say I hav......

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Sword of the Stranger (Blu-ray Review)

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:30:54 -0400
Superb animation and an engaging blood-soaked plot make this a must-have Blu-ray.

For some reason, Sword of the Stranger never crossed my radar during its Japanese theatrical run back in 2007. In fact, up until the announcement of this Blu-ray release, I hadnt even heard of the title. I know that wont mean much to most readers, but the reason Im mentioning this is because Sword of the Stranger is a film that should not be overlooked. Considering the lack of anime on Blu-ray thus far (which Im hoping will change in the near future), this is the type of fi...

Video
Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate that hovers around 30Mbps), Sword of the Stranger looks absolutely amazing on Blu-ray. Some anime productions only demonstrate a marginal improvement in making the move to 1080p, but Id consider it a huge disservice to the animation if your watching the film on any other format besides Blu-ray. Detail is immaculate throughout 99% of the film, with only a small number of scenes exhibiting slight softness (which likely has...

Audio
There are two audio tracks presented on the disc. One is a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix in the native language of Japanese and the other is a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English dubbed mix. Whenever possible, I prefer the native language, so I chose the Japanese track for my primary listening experience. Similar to the quality of the video transfer, the audio experience presents difficulty in finding anything to complain about. Surround use is wonderfully dynamic with excellent spatial separation during the fi...

Supplements
Cast Interview (1080i, Dolby Digital 2.0, 17:26 min): Tomoya Nagase (No Name) and Yuri Chinen (Kotaro) are interviewed in different settings regarding the voicework they completed for the film. They also delve into a discussion of the characters they portrayed and the themes in the film.

Production Report (1080i, Dolby Digital 2.0, 49:15 min): Masahiro Ando (director) and Masahiko Minami (producer) provide extensive background on the production of the film from concept to completion. Al...

Final Words
Heres the bottom line. If you have a Blu-ray player (which is why youre reading this), and you consider yourself even a modest fan of anime, add this to your collection without hesitation. The film itself is an engaging story of one mans struggle for redemption set against the backdrop of fuedal Japan and the writing is virtually flawless. The animation is meticulously crafted and the transfer is an immaculate recreation of the artistry on display. As a long-time lover of anime with a ser......

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Eastern Promises (Blu-ray Review)

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:40:00 -0400
In Russian prisons, your life is written on your bodyin tattoos.

A tattoo can be many thingsa reminder, a history, a physical representation of pain and permanenceand director David Cronenberg, celebrated auteur of visceral films like Shivers, The Fly, and Videodrome, knows full well that the mutability of our bodies is just as much a source of archetypal horror as things that go bump in the night. While in recent years hes moved on to more psychological fare, Cronenbergs latter-day works still demonstrate a keen fascination...

Video
Like blood from a severed artery, Eastern Promises spills onto the screen with a vibrant and lifelike urgency, thanks to an excellent 1.85:1 1080p VC-1 transfer that clearly values its source image. Cronenbergs vision of Londons seamy underbelly is bleak in narrative tone but thoroughly lush in bold, cinematic color. The interior of the Trans-Siberian restaurant is particularly vivid, with deep greens, rich crushed-velvet reds, and dark woods, all belonging to that warm, movie-l...

Audio
The audio portion of this AV package introduces itself with a crisp thunderclap and a broad pattering of omni-directional rainfall, announcing from the outset its intention to create and sustain a foreboding tone. While most of the action of the DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 track is piped from the front speakers, the rear channels do get several opportunities to build a convincing soundscape, especially during the hoopla of hooligans outside the soccer match. Voices are well-placed in the m...

Supplements
Secrets and Stories (1080i, 10:32)

Director David Cronenber, writer Steve Knight (Dirty Pretty Things), and key cast members give a brief but informative look into the world of the Russian mafia, discuss some of the central themes of the film, and provide some colorful context regarding the extensive research and preparation that preceded its filming. Cronenberg has always been drawn to enclosed, hermetically sealed cultures and this one is no different. Its a ...

Final Words
Deftly directed and featuring some impressive, transformational performances by its key actors, Eastern Promises is quite an experience to behold. It somehow manages to be shocking without being gratuitous and take an almost philosophical view of violence without falling into a black and white morality scheme. With great sound, and an almost reference-level picture, this Blu- ray disc belongs in the collections of all but the most squeamish of viewers.......

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Baby On Board (Blu-ray Review)

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:34:58 -0400
Baby, I'm bored.

Who needs a nation-wide release? Who needs press and critical acclaim? Why bother with the red carpet? Baby on Board cuts out the cinematic middle man, comes straight to a Blu-ray player near you and, after a painful 97-minute labor, a duration that begins to seem infinitely longer than 9 months, delivers a steaming, lifeless turd right into your living room. The pregnancy metaphors to describe the film are endless. Was it stillborn? Sadly, yes. Did director Brian Herzlinger mis...

Video
For being such an utter mess in nearly every other way, its somewhat surprising that Baby On Boards 1080p 1.78:1 transfer is as clean and presentable as it is. Its low on wow factor and definitely wont sway anyones opinion of the film, but it is a solid transfer that yields sharp detail, especially in clothing textures and close-ups. Check out the shot of Angelas fork as it slices neatly through her dessert. Each air pocket in the cake pops in crisp relief and the raspberry ...

Audio
The DTS HD 5.1 MA track is a lackluster affair that, while serving the needs of the film adequately, is unremarkable and wholly forgettable. Voice prioritization is key in a movie of this ilk, and in that the audio package delivers. Punch-lines and farts are broadcast in equal clarity, though, to be honest, even the least discerning audiences will inevitably prefer the mute button. The track is largely front heavy, and the only time I felt any sense of immersion was when heavy musical cu...

Supplements
If you actually watch the entire film, youll have little patience for any reminders of its unfortunate existence. Thankfully, Baby on Board arrives with only a commentary track by director Brian Herzlinger, the theatrical trailer (1080p, though noticeably poorer in quality than the film itself), and a photo gallery that was very clearly arranged in iPhoto, complete with the ubiquitous Ken Burns effect....

Final Words
Not one laugh escaped my lips. At best, the film induced a few half-hearted smirks and a weak chortle or two. In my view, Baby on Board can be recommended only as an exercise in cinematic endurance, or as a gift for that special person you love to hate. Big surprises sometimes come in small packages, reads the films tagline, and this one belongs in the diaper pail.......

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Elsewhere (Blu-ray Review)

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:15:56 -0400
Have you ever had a secret that you couldn't live with keeping?

Joining the glut of techno-centric teen chillers like Pulse and One Missed Call, Elsewhere casts a brooding eye on the corrupting and depersonalizing effects of online social networking. Far from horror, however, the film is planted firmly in the thriller camp, and is paced more like a police procedural than a brisk romp through the macabre. Considering writer and director Nathan Hopes backg...

Video
Director Nathan Hope has ample experience behind the camera, and considering the films paltry $500,000 budget, Elsewhere doesnt look as bad you might expect. However, inconsistent may be the best word to describe the quality of this 1.77:1 1080p AVC transfer. Colors are generally bold and saturated, but as a whole, the picture lacks depth and does little to beckon you into the screen. Some scenes are sharp, like an early sequence of the girls applying make-up, with suff...

Audio
Elsewheres DTS 5.1 HD-MA track is similarly inconsistent. Dialogue is crisp and adequately presented, but the rear channels languish from lack of use. Aside from mild ambience, soundtrack cues, and the occasional piercing stab, they remain quiet, leaving the sound field thin and occasionally barren. LFE, however, is well incorporated and gives the few action heavy scenes appropriate heft and throb. Its a matter of preference, of course, but I was a bit underwhelmed by the scor...

Supplements
In an age of broadband, this collection of special features harkens back to dial-up. Elsewhere includes a mildly interesting commentary with director Nathan Hope and producer Vincent Palomino, six throw-away deleted scenes, a photo gallery, theatrical trailer, and a short, run-of-the-mill featurette entitled The Road to Elsewhere, in which the director discusses the origins of the script and cast members ruminate on what it all means. All special features are presented in...

Final Words
While I admire director Nathan Hopes attempt to make a film that implies its horror, rather than brutally and gratuitously exploit it, I cant help but wonder who the target audience is for Elsewhere. ADHD teens will likely be bored by the flicks slow pace, while more mature audiences will roll glassy eyes at its generalities and hum-drum moralizing. Ultimately, if the film somehow presented itself to me in the form of a Facebook friend request, I would most likely, and with v......

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The Last Word (Blu-ray Review)

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 01:00:42 -0400
Rage, rage against the dying of the light!

From films that seek to understand it, like The Sea Inside or The Virgin Suicides, to movies that use it as a comic device, like Harold and Maude, suicide has always had an acknowledged but unhallowed history on the silver screen. As a dramatic or comedic subject, it requires finesse in both scope and tone. The inherent tension of an individual on the verge of self- annihilation is easily exploited, hyperbolized, or otherwise fudged by a dull cinematic blade. On the ...

Video
Before The Last Word, director Geoffrey Haley served as camera operator on numerous film and television productions, and his expertise is well exemplified here. Sporting a full 1080p, AVC/MPEG-4 2.35:1 transfer (disregard the box reading 1080i), the film has an inviting cinematic look that exceeds the limitations of its budget. The warm palette, an unusual but effective choice for a film largely about death, revels in bold oranges, reds, and yellows. Textures prove crisp and clean...

Audio
What this DTS-HD MA 5.1 track lacks in immersion, it makes up in stalwart clarity. Voices glide through the mix with a round, full-bodied timbre, and no signs of distortion or clipping. The aching orchestral score stretches and lifts convincingly. Piano keys strike with somber precision. Though used sparsely, the rear channels do provide some ambiencethe clinking of glasses, traffic sounds, vocal pansand the LFE channel gets a few chances to chug and thwomp during a particularly rauc...

Supplements
I was, however, a bit disappointed by The Last Words lack of extra features. At the very least I was hoping for a commentary track by Geoffrey Haley. I wouldve liked to hear about the genesis of the story, mostly to confirm my theory that the idea struck while he was working as a cameraman on Six Feet Under. This package, however, is the definition of barebones, and arrives with only a theatrical trailer (480p), a smattering of deleted scenes (480p), and a brief product...

Final Words
The Last Word is an assured debut from writer/director Geoffrey Halley, and I definitely look forward to whatever project he has in the pipeline next. While it flew mostly under the radar this year, the film is funny and moving without going over-the-top in either respect. I enjoyed it, but Id advise prospective buyers to rent the title first, as the subject matter wont appeal to all viewers.......

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Fired Up (Blu-ray Review)

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 22:20:22 -0400
This generic teen comedy fizzles far more often than it sizzles.

We. Are crashing. We. We. Are crashing!

From the same people who designed the logo for American Pie comes Fired Up!, a new Comedy about two guys who are totally fired up! In the tradition of most every other lame-brained hormonal Comedy of the last 10 years, Fired Up! tells the story about best friends who are fired up! over girls, girls, girls, girls, and that one blonde girl, because she's fired up! Fired Up! is Pre. Dictable. ...

Video
Fired Up! graces Blu-ray with a well-above-average 1080p, 2.40:1-framed transfer. As is the case with the many of the better -- and particularly newer -- transfers on the market, Fired Up! delivers a natural, film-like appearance that features strong color reproduction across the entire palette. Whether the orange Tigers football and cheer uniforms or the green foliage seen throughout the movie, colors are uniformly vibrant and crystal-clear. However, a few scenes appear...

Audio
As expected, Sony brings Fired Up! to Blu-ray with a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The movie is packed with catchy popular beats and plenty of 90s music that play clearly and with a nice, natural presence throughout the entire front end of the soundstage, each note across the entire dynamic range crystal clear and pleasing to the ear. Ambient noise and sound effects scatter all across the front, but the rear channels feature little in the way of support. Bass kicks in ...

Supplements
This Blu-ray release of Fired Up! contains both the theatrical and unrated cuts of the film. When playing the unrated version, a star icon will sporadically appear on-screen to indicate footage not seen in the theatrical cut. As to the standard supplemental features, the package is headlined by a commentary track with Director Will Gluck and Actors Nicholas D'Agosto and Eric Christian Olsen. A completely off-the-wall track, this one proves funnier than the movie and c...

Final Words
Save for audiences that crave stale material, mostly unfunny characters, and a barrage of mediocre-to-bad jokes, Fired Up! is a monumental Waste. Of time. Waste. Waste. Of time! Though it does feature a couple of good performances and one or two decent characters, the throwaway story and predictable nature of the picture don't really do anything to make it worth watching. It's certainly up to the task when the evening calls for the ultimate in "leave your brain at the doo......

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North Face (Blu-ray Review)

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 16:26:11 -0400

A terrific film about the power of human spirit, Philipp Stölzl's "North Face" (2008) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Metrodome Video. The film is yet to be released theatrically in North America and a Blu-ray release is not currently announced. Fortunately, the Blu-ray disc herein reviewed is Region-Free....

Video
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1, encoded with MPEG-4 and granted a 1080p transfer, Philipp Stölzls North Face arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Metrodome Video.

This fairly recent German film has received a lovely Blu-ray treatment. Contrast is near perfect, clarity very strong and detail outstanding. The color-scheme is also notably pleasing blues, greens, browns, grays, blacks and whites are lush and well saturated. A lot of the panoramic...

Audio
There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray release: German DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. For the record, the English subtitles Metrodome Video have supplied for the main feature are imposed (they cannot be turned off). They also appear inside the image frame.

Though there isnt an overwhelming amount of activity in the rear channels, the German DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track impresses with excellent balance, terrific clarity and potency. For example, there are a few scenes during the se...

Supplements
Please note that the majority of the supplemental features listed below are in standard-def PAL. Therefore, you need to have a Blu-ray player that converts PAL-NTSC, or a multi-system TV set, in order to access them.

Making North Face a standard featurette where the director of the film, Philipp Stölzl, and cast members talk about Kurz & Hintersoisser and their unbelievable story. (With imposed English subtitles, PAL, 18 min).

Visual Effects of North F...

Final Words
Expertly lensed and terrifically acted, Philipp Stölzl's North Face is very easy to recommend. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of British distributors Metrodome Video, looks and sounds great. Fortunately for film aficionados residing outside of Region-B territories, it is also Region-Free. Highly Recommended. ......

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The International (Blu-ray Review)

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 15:58:28 -0400
Sony delivers a reference-quality transfer for 'The International.'

I'm more comfortable tense.

Though the poster art may lead one to believe otherwise, The International is not a shoot-em-up but rather a cerebral Mystery with Action elements. A globetrotting affair, the film takes audiences from Berlin to Milan, from New York to Istanbul, the plot revolving around an international arms deal with one of the world's largest banks curiously at the center of the transaction. Mixing the subtle and thought-provoking detective wor...

Video
The International traverses Blu-ray with a stunning 1080p, 2.40:1-framed transfer. This image offers incredible levels of detail across the board, seen in faces, clothing, buildings, pavement, and most every other on-screen object, either seen in the foreground or in the distant background. Backgrounds remain not only detailed but consistently sharp. The opening exterior Berlin sequence sets the tone for the remainder of the transfer wonderfully; the wet pavement and the spar...

Audio
The International bursts onto Blu-ray with a strong Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The film begins with an exterior shot in the midst of a pouring rainstorm, and from that moment on, listeners will find themselves completely immersed in the soundtrack. In this particular scene, rain not only pours but slams into the ground and car windshields with a noticeable presence, the entire soundstage playing the sounds of the downpour to realistic effect. Most every other eff...

Supplements
The International arrives on Blu-ray with a good selection of bonus materials. Leading things off is a commentary track with Director Tom Tykwer and Writer Eric Singer. This pair deliver a suitably interesting track and cover the expected gamut of information, including the film's style, writing techniques, the origins of the picture and assembly of cast and crew, the story's roots in reality, the character's backgrounds, dissecting the shootout sequence, and plenty more. ...

Final Words
Smart, somewhat original, and beautifully filmed, The International makes for a strong two hours worth of entertainment that both challenges audiences to remain focused on the film and entertains in its many chase sequences and singular extended shootout. Offering up a timely plot and a realistic ending that eschews typical movie convention, The international delivers a surprisingly good experience and represents one of the better international thrillers of the past seve......

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