Film  

I am sure that all of you know just a tad about this film even if you have never seen it or have even heard about it. We all know the opening lines of ‘if I were a rich man, da da deed dum, da da dee da daddle dum….” and have all heard the song “Sunrise Sunset” one place or the other. However, Fiddler On The Roof is so much more and is a very deep and moving film.

The film is set in the Ukraine in Zarist Russia in 1905. The film takes place in the small jewish village of Anatevka and follows Tevye, his wife Golde and their 5 daughters. Tevya is played by Topol (nominated for best Actor for his work in the film) who was in the same role in the play as it played in London, with Zero Mostel in that role in New York. Teyva is the central character in the play. He is a milkman in this very small and very poor village who is looking to marry off his oldest daughter to the rich and much older butcher in town. However, something intervenes in this plan, namely the 20th Century and the concept on romantic love.

It seems that Tevya’s oldest daughter wants to marry for love and does not want to accept the prior tradition of arranged marriages. In fact, the tensions between the old traditions and new ways of the 20th Century are what is at the heart of the film, from romantic love to the use of modern machinery to interfaith marriages, it is all covered here, all set against the backdrop of a small traditional and orthodox Jewish village. It is not just Tevya and his family that are caught up in the turmoil of change but the entire town too as the film is also set against the background of the Russian revolution. The end of traditions indeed.

What makes this film so special for me is that they were able to take the play off stage, keep most of the dialogue intact and place you in the town with the family, to give you a glimpse of what it must have been to live in the town at that time. The acting and writing is superb as are the songs and orchestrations by John Williams. The acting, direction, sets and music here are all top notch and well worth a look. if you haven’t seen this film, do yourself and favor and do so.

If you have already seen the film, see it again. A bit of warning, it is a long film and is broken into two acts. You may want to break up your viewing of the film into two nights. Check it out, you will be glad you did. This film is very highly recommended.

Video  

I was more than happy with the look of the film. The film has a very natural looking color palette. Where it falls a bit short, is in the level of detail and blacks levels. The film, like too many films of its vintage (in this case 1971) is a bit soft. As a result, fine facial detail and background details are lacking in all but the extreme closeups. Black levels are also a bit inconsistent and never deep and inky. At best, they are a dark gray. As a result, the image lacks a bit of depth. However, the film otherwise looks quite nice and pleasing to the eye. The print looks to be in excellent shape as well and has undergone an very nice restoration for this 40th Anniversary release of the film. The look of the film on Blu-ray should more than please fans of the film.

Audio  

The audio here is presented in a 7.1 DTS HD Master Audio mix. Given the age of the film and the overall original sound design of the film, I found this to be rather surprising. The film is very front heavy with sparse use of the surrounds. Given this fact, a 5.1 mix would have been more than adequate and a 7.1 mix, simply overkill, adding little to the overall audio presentation of the material.

The overall fidelity of the recorded sound is quite good, sounding full, rich and warm. Dynamics are good but no where near reference. The dialogue track is well recorded and placed in the mix although it did appear to me that there were small sync issues with the recording of the songs which did not always match up properly with the picture. This was rare and very very minor but noticeable enough for me to check my system to make sure it was functioning properly. In case you are wondering, it was. The orchestrations here by John Williams sound great with a wonderful warm and rich sound that I found to be very pleasing. If you are looking for a totally immersive sound experience with room rattling dynamics, Fiddler On The Roof is not the film for you. However, given the age of the film and its original sound design, I found the audio here to be more than presentable.

Special Features  

The extras here are fairly extensive, although it appears to me that most were ported over from the prior DVD release of the film.

• Audio commentaries by director Norman Jewison and Topol as well as a look at Norman Jewison as a film maker.
• Retrospective interview with Norman Jewison about the film entitled Norman Jewison Looks back which I might add I found rather informative.
• Interview with John Williams about the musical score entitled “John Williams: Creating a Musical Tradition” which I also found to be interesting. There is a look at the songs featured in the film entitled quite appropriately “Songs of Fiddler On The Roof”.
• One deleted song from the film “Any Day Now” which features the actual recording of the song with pictures of the actors singing given that the filmed sequence has been lost.
• A look at the three actresses who played Tevye’s three oldest daughters in the film including interviews with each.
• Set designs and locales for the film as well as a story board to film comparison.
• Teyve’s dream sequence with a comparison between the live color footage that was compared directly side by side on screen to the desaturated almost black and white footage that was actually included in the film.
• The remaining extras consist of trailers and TV sports for the film.

Fiddler On The Roof is a two disc combo pack and also contains a DVD copy of the film as well. If you are a fan of the film, there is quite a bit to go through here with most of it being quite interesting and informative and well worth your time.

Final Thoughts  

Fiddler On The Roof is a great film that has more than withstood the test of time. The film has never looked or sounded better in the home than it does on this release and is a worthy addition to the collection of any serious film fan and is very highly recommended.

More and more of us, myself included, know someone with Autism or one of the Autism spectrum disorders such as Asperger’s Syndrome. For me, this topic hits home as I have a son with just such a condition. I thought it would be very interesting to see if my views of Rain Man and its treatment of the topic of Autism would change in light of my personal experiences with the subject. I can report that is has only increased my respect and appreciation for the film as well as all those involved in its production.

Film  

Needless to say, I guess you can say that I am a bit biased in how I view Rain Man given my personal experience with Autism. I will say that I loved the film even before I had any personal experience with the condition or even knew anyone who had been diagnosed with it. Looking back on the film all these years later, my appreciation has only increased. I can relate to the character of Charlie Babbitt (played brilliantly by Tom Cruise) as he grows exasperated by his brother Raymond’s (Dustin Hoffman in an Oscar winning performance) preoccupation with his underwear. In fact, there are numerous instances in the film just like that which I can relate to, having experienced similar things myself, although not quite as extreme.

Rain Man is a brilliant film, brilliantly written, acted and directed. The fact that it won 4 Oscars for Best Picture, Actor, Director and Screenplay is no surprise looking back all these years later. That is not always the case with the Oscars, which sometimes leave you scratching your head with the selections in hindsight, much like the Grammy’s. The film itself is rather interesting in how it evolves.

The film opens with Charlie in a bit of a business bind, when the cars he is importing from Europe won’t clear customs in Los Angeles due to not being equipped with the proper emissions equipment. Not being able to deliver the cars and collect the fees will ruin his business. While dealing with this issue, he is advised that his father has died. While Charlie has not seen his father in years and had an estranged relationship with him, he returns to Cincinnati for the funeral, ostensibly to collect his inheritance, as money seems to be the only thing that Charlie can appreciate.

Much to his surprise, his father left the bulk of his estate in trust for someone else, leaving him with just an old car, a valuable one at that, but far from the $3 million he was expecting. He quickly finds out that the money was left in trust for the lifetime care of an autistic brother he didn’t even know that he had when he visits the institution where he resides. Charlie decides to essentially kidnap his brother Raymond and tale him back to Los Angeles as a way to break the trust and collect at least half of the inheritance that he feels is his. Along the way, in dealing with his brother, Charlie changes and becomes a much better man, learning to actually love his brother, even though he does use his brother’s unbelievable skills to make enough money in Las Vegas to rescue his business.

While Charlie takes quite an intellectual and personal journey during the film, Raymonds’ is just a physical one. Raymond remains utterly the same from the beginning of the film to the very end. It is just Charlie who has evolved and for the better. Rain Man is a great film that has withstood the test of time. While I may be a bit biased, if you haven’t seen this film, please do, if just to learn a little about the subject of autism. You will be glad you did. Rain Man is very highly recommended.

Video  

While I loved the film, I can’t say that I loved the visuals all that much. Rain Man is heavy on the grain which is fine by me. The issue I had with the visuals relates to the fact that the image is very soft with mediocre blacks at best. The color is also a bit undersaturated which along with the mediocre, leaves the picture looking a bit flat and very dated looking. If you are looking for an image that is sharp, vibrant and detailed, Rain Man is not the film for you, as is soft and flat. I do not know if this is how the film is supposed to look as I have not seen it in years in a theater. Whether the film is in the need of a major restoration I will leave to others. While Rain Man is not the best looking Blu-ray I have seen, it is such a great film that really deserves a look.

Audio  

For me, the real star on the audio front is the musical score which sounds fantastic. The music track is smooth and full with deep bass with excellent transparency and fidelity. The depth of the music is superb, as you are able to hear deep into the music, which is utterly three dimensional. Hans Zimmer’s original score sounds fantastic. The rest of the audio is good but not up to the level of the music.

The rest of the sound design is rather front heavy, with only occasional and subtle use of the surrounds. An immersive sound mix this is not. The overall fidelity is good although not quite up to that of the musical score, sounding a bit thinner and flatter than the music. The dialogue track is well recorded and well presented in the mix. Were it not for the quality of the music in this mix, it would rate no more than a 3.5 on a scale of 5. The fidelity of the music is so good to pull the overall score up to a solid 4.

Special Features 

The extras here are rather mundane in terms of originality. The extras include separate audio commentaries from director Barry Levinson, writer Barry Morrow and writer Ronald Bass. Also included is one deleted scene. There is the typical behind the scenes making of featurette entitled “The Journey of Rain Man”. For me, the best of the extras is the featurette “Lifting the Fog: A look at the Mysteries of Autism”, where experts in the field discuss autism, although not in the depth I would like. What is most interesting about this featurette is the interviews with two men with Autism, Joseph Sullivan and Peter Guthrie, who were the two men who formed the basis of Dustin Hoffman’s interpretation of Raymond. It is clear that Dustin Hoffman patterned his speech and mannerisms on Peter Guthrie. I also found the insights provided by Peter Guthrie’s brother into living with a brother with Autism. This is the one featurette which is well worth a look and is highly recommended.

Final Thoughts  

Rain Man is a great film featuring stellar performances by both Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman. While not the best looking film on Blu-ray, the film is so good that it is a worthy addition to the collection of any film fan and is very highly recommended.

Film 

There is little question that Thelma & Louise is a classic. There were certainly no films like it before and I can’t really think of one since its release. In this regard, it pretty much stands as unique in the history of cinema. Sure there were plenty of road movies before and since and plenty of Buddy films. However, this is the only “Buddy” or “Road” film that I can recall where the two leads were women and not men. The movie world was male dominated 20 years ago and still is. When Thelma & Louise was released, it caused quite a stir in the media, including a cover piece in Time.

How you viewed the film often times depended on your gender, with women loving it, viewing it as a film about the empowerment of women and men hating it anti male given the way Thelma & Louise treated most men in the film. I guess men were not used to seeing men shot and humiliated in films by women. Looking back on it with 20 years’ perspective, all the bluster about the film seems to be just that, bluster. It is simply a great film about two interesting and complex women and one that I am grateful to see make its debut on Blu-ray.

I am sure that most of you already know the plot line of the film. Thelma & Louise are played brilliantly by Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon. Thelma is a housewife trapped in a loveless marriage to a real boob and leading a life totally devoid of even a hint of excitement or passion. Louise is a long time friend who works as a waitress in a diner who has some hidden demons that manifest themselves early enough in the film.

They decide to have a little fun and meet to go fishing in the mountains. Along the way they stop at a truck stop for some drinks where Thelma is hit on by Harlan Puckett (Timothy Carhart), a married man who is well known at the restaurant/bar as a pick-up artist. Thelma has too much to drink and feels sick while dancing. She goes outside for some fresh air where Harlan tries to rape her after she rejects his affections. Louise comes upon the scene while trying to locate Thelma as Harlan is just starting ito manhandle Thelma over the hood of a car and breaks it up with a gun from Thelma’s handbag to the back of Harlan’s head.

While leaving, Harlan says something derogatory to Louise who turns around and shoots and kills him. Rather than call the police, the two flee the scene. When the murder is discovered, the police, led by Detective Hal Slocumb (Harvey Keitel) quickly zero in on Thelma & Louise as suspects and begin to pursue them as they attempt to escape to Mexico. As they cross several states as part of their escape, they engage in criminal activity to finance their efforts to avoid capture at the hands of just about every law enforcement agency in the Southwest United States.

*Spoiler Alert*

Along the way, they truly discover themselves and even enrich their friendships, to the point that they commit suicide together rather than get caught, as they drive their car over the edge of the Grand Canyon as the film ends with that unforgettable sight of their car suspended in the air over the canyon before they can begin the plunge to their deaths.

Despite the subject matter, the film is filled with humor and is a very entertaining 129 minutes. Thelma & Louise is an unforgettable film that is as good today as when it was released way back in 1991 and is highly recommended.

Video 

I have no recollection as to how this film looked in the theaters 20 years ago. I am not sure that anyone would have having only seen the film once 20 years before. That said, this is a fine looking encode. The film has a pleasing looking color palette which is a bit skewed to the color cyan, with colors having a light blue tinge to them. Black levels are good and stable and consistent throughout the film but far from reference. Color saturation, detail, shadow detail and clarity are all good, although the overall look of the film is a tad on the soft side.

I found film grain to be well preserved with the overall video presentation maintaining that film like appearance. Other than during the opening sequence of the film where slight banding was present, I noticed no significant encoding issues. The print used for the release looked clean and in excellent shape. Fans of the film should be more than pleased with the look of the film on its initial Blu-ray release.

Audio 

All in all I was quite pleased with the audio here. While the sound design is a bit front heavy, the overall fidelity of the recorded sound was excellent, sounding smooth, rich and open with not even the hint of hardness evident. Bass response was particularly strong and most noticeable during the film score and sound effects. The dialogue track was well recorded and always intelligible. All in all, the sound reproduction here is of top notch quality.

Special Features 

I found the extras presented here to be rather mundane. The extras include an audio commentary with director Ridley Scott as well as one featuring Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis and screenwriter Callie Khouri. We also get a featurette on the making of the film and the reaction to it entitled “Thelma & Louise: The Last Journey” which is presented in standard definition and appears to have been ported over from the prior DVD release of the film.

Also included is an extended ending to the film with commentary by Ridley Scott, where he explains why the extended ending was deleted from the film. The extras also include several extended and deleted screens, a mutli-angles storyboard of the final chase scene as well as the original trailer for the film and a “Part of You, Part of Me” music video by Glenn Frey.

Final Thoughts 

It was great to see Thelma & Louise again after 20 years. its initial release on Blu-ray looks and sounds about as good as this film can and should please the many fans of this film and is highly recommended.

Film

The movie follows a same sex relationship between Julianne Moore and Annette Bening and their two children who were conceived through artificial insemination. Now that the kids are teenagers and have been dealing with pressure and confusion they look to seek out their biological father for guidance.

Their father played by Mark Ruffalo ends up not living up to their expectations with his very liberal values and laidback lifestyle and when the mothers find out about their children meeting the father, they decide to meet him as well… and the story goes from there.

The plot is edgy and deals with subject matter that isn’t mainstream yet so it’s great to give it respect for that and with the recent golden globe win for best comedy and best actress for Annette Bening the movie has critical praise. However I had a few issues with the story on a fundamental level, which may be considered picky, but it’s really just my opinion.

First of all Annette Benning is really great in her performance, whether or not she’s flat out making you mad at her character’s very unrealistic expectations to her character making you cringe when she does something embarrassing… the fact she can illicit an emotion from the audience that quickly is phenomenal, however Julianne Moore who I am usually a fan of, has some awkward moments where I felt her performance felt forced. She usually is able to play her roles very well and with a layer of subtlety that makes it that much more engaging but with her role of Jules, I felt I was just waiting for her character to stop speaking so I could appreciate the better actors in the movie.

Also the ending was a bit of a letdown with me, I’m usually one who comes down on length with movies and wishes that they took out minutes and minutes of useless scenes, however with The Kids are All Right I found that Mark Ruffalo character doesn’t get much closure, I still had questions that simply weren’t answered, I really wish they would’ve used some of the running time on elaborating on the actual meat of the story rather than wasting it on out-of-place sex scenes and some random slapstick humor that didn’t add anything to the story.

Albeit the film is a critical darling and has a lot going for it; some very fundamental issues with the story itself makes me think that the writers were more concerned with bring this kind of story to the screen and didn’t really spend the time to refine said story.

Video

The Kids are All Right’s video is displayed using the VC-1 codec and in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The video is a prime example of a Hollywood colour scheme, with very pleasing colour grading that makes use of complimentary tones between the highlights and shadows. The vibrant colours are a great basis for a good image… albeit a little stale in the realm of creative expression, the film isn’t exactly supposed to be groundbreaking on the technical level; it saves that for the content of the script which is perfectly fine.

The brightness and contrast levels area good level, the image pops and the contrast keeps the black levels in the deeper range. There’s no artefacting or distortion and the film is free of scratches or imperfections, which is to be expected for a new release and the transfer seems to keep up on all counts. The grain or noise isn’t an issue either, even during the night shots everything stays nice and clean.

Audio

The Kids are All Right’s audio comes at us using the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 codec. Obviously this is not the kind of movie that will take advantage of the low frequency or crazy surround panning, but great mixes don’t need to consist of those things in order to shine. The audio quality for The Kids are All Right is definitely a good example of a conservative mix done well.

Dialogue is clear and centered, there’s no hissing or noise and due to the fact the mix is front heavy the rest of the mix settles mostly amongst the front towers. The surrounds really get little to no use except to add emphasis to the score or some subtle reverberation within the mix.

The low frequencies aren’t roaring out of control… They get its use adding lower range to the score and other elements accordingly.

Special Features

The Kids are All Right doesn’t really have any worthwhile extras, with a commentary track and three featurettes all in HD, that doesn’t sound terrible, but considering the featurettes are barely ten minutes in running time combined the commentary track has to be pretty amazing if it’s the only extra with potential.

The featurettes are run of the mill and cover the casting and writing process all in the expected EPK format. However the commentary track isn’t as bland as I thought it’d be, it’s with director Lisa Cholodenko and is pretty in depth, which helps fill some of the gaps left from the lacking behind-the-scenes coverage. So although the track manages to be insightful, it doesn’t make up for the lack of extras especially when this could’ve been a platform to get some great information in relation to equality movements across to a wide audience of movie fans who want to see what the buzz is about.

Final Thoughts

The film is definitely a good watch and carries a message that is very important. With a very impressive audio and video presentation for a drama the Blu-ray would be a nice addition to those who want to a film that looks and sounds great but also has a strong story behind it. The general lack of extras makes the disc less valuable but it’s a great flick to rent and enjoy for a night in.

Film 

I am sure that all of you are well familiar with the film Alice in Wonderland. The film was released to theaters in 1951 and is based on the beloved children’s book, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll which is now well over a hundred years old. Alice in Wonderland was in production at Disney for 20 years as Walt Disney struggled with adapting the book to film, which turned out to be quite difficult. There were numerous renderings of the film performed and it was not until Disney artist Mary Blair’s renderings of the sections of the story in the second half of the 1940′s that Disney found the visual look that would make the film possible.

The film tells the story of Alice who is sitting in the English countryside while listening to her sister reading a history book to her. She dozes off and images that a white rabbit with a large pocket watch runs by. Alice follows him and falls down a rabbit hole, to a magical land below the Earth. While there, she encounters several fascinating characters, including the famous smiling Cheshire Cat, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, The Madhatter and the Queen of Hearts, who seemingly want to cut off everyone’s head. Alice finally awakens from her slumber and returns to reality but presumably, will always remember the adventures she experienced while dreaming.

Of all the early classic Disney films, Alice in Wonderland is probably the hardest to get one’s mind around due to the fact that it is really so surreal. However, it is one that I have always enjoyed since seeing in on TV as a child. Despite it’s age, the film holds up beautifully 60 years after its release and was a joy to experience in high def on the Blu-ray format, especially the unforgettable tea party scene with the Madhatter, voiced brilliantly by Ed Wynn. Disney’s Alice in Wonderland is highly recommended for film fans of all ages.

Video 

Alice in Wonderland is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1:33:1 with black bars on the side filling out the 16:9 aspect ratio of the high definition format. These bars can also be replaced with artwork as part of Disney View for those so inclined The picture is simply beautiful, with a bright and bold and beautifully saturated colors and deep and inky blacks. The film is awash in greens, blues, reds and yellows that simply pop off the screen. The layering of one set of images over another to create a particular scene is very evident, given the excellent black levels which creates an excellent sense of depth.

The image is also razor sharp and crystal clear. It would appear that film grain was removed in the re-mastering process which may be an issue for some purists out there. However, while I am one of those who would prefer that film grain be presented to the best extent possible, I have no issue with the work done here, given the beautiful results and the fact the original art work itself from which the film was made was grain free. While it appears that film grain was removed, the rest of the film is untouched. Note for example the misspelling of Lewis Carroll’s name during the opening title sequence. There is no question that Alice in Wonderland has never looked anywhere close in the home to how it looks on Blu-ray, and is another in a string of fabulous restorations from the folks at Disney. Very well done.

Audio 

I was not exactly looking to be bowled over by the audio here given the age of the film and was therefore not disappointed with the audio. I did most of my listening to the 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio track but also did a comparison to the Dolby Digital mix as well. For me, the clear winner was the DTS HD master Audio track which had a richness and smoothness of sound that the Dolby Digital track just could not match.

In comparison the Dolby track sounded thin, shrill and shallow. The lossless DTS HD Master Audio track is the only way to go. While the original film elements were remixed to the 5.1 format, the sound field is rather front heavy with only very occasional aggressive use of the surrounds speakers. I was not expecting a dynamic sound experience and didn’t receive one. However, the dialogue, music and effects were all recorded very well and presented here about as well as they could have been.

I really can’t image the film sounding any better than it does on the lossless track featured on this release given the age of the film. I did not one anomaly with the audio and that is that the Dolby Digital track and not the DTS HD Master Audio track was the default audio track. Therefore, make sure that you select the lossless track at the start of the film. Switching back and forth between the lossless and lossy tracks during the opening title sequences of the film, the superiority of the former is readily apparent.

Special Features 

Alice In Wonderland is presented in a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack. The release therefore contains two discs, one containing the Blu-ray release and all the extras and a DVD release. Surprisingly, the release does not also contain a digital copy of the film.

The Blu-ray copy contains a few new extras that were not contained on the previous DVD release of the film. The first is entitled “Through the Keyhole: A Companion’s Guide to Wonderland” which runs concurrent with the film. The film itself appears in windows moved around the 16 x 9 frame with artwork, text as well as interviews with various film and Disney historians, discussing Lewis Carroll’s life and the book itself, as well as the 20 year effort on the part of Walt Disney to adapt the book into a film. This extra is presented in HD.

Also included is a Painting the Roses Red game which I didn’t find all that interesting. Also included is a short into, in color by the way, of Walt Disney’s introduction of the film when it was shown on TV for the first time in 1959 at Christmas. While I am old, I am not old enough to remember that showing as I was just a baby!

We also get two very short featurettes where the voice of Alice, Kathryn Beaumont, introduces a newly discovered pencil test of the Alice Shrinks sequence as well as the live footage of her talking to the doorknob in the beginning of the film, which the animators used as the basis of their animation.

The remaining extras are those ported over from the prior DVD release of the film and include the following:

• I’m Odd: A Newly Discovered Cheshire Cat song with an intro by Kathryn Beaumont
• Thru the Mirror Mickey Mouse Short (presented now in HD)
• Art gallery
• “Reflections of Alice” featurette where film and Disney historians discuss the making of the film
• “Operation Wonderland” which is a visit to the studio during the making of the filmOne hour Christmas TV special from the early 1950′s where ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his two “sidekicks”, Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd are invited to a Christmas party at the studio where Walt Disney shows the quests the magic mirror featured in Sleeping Beauty which shows scenes from classic Disney films including Snow White and Song of the South to the quests and TV audience.
• 1930′s era silent short “An Alice Comedy: Alice’s Wonderland”, based loosely on Lewis Carroll’s work, where a young girl visits Walt Disney and the studio and falls into the world of cartoon animation, much like Alice falls down the rabbit hole in the film
• Original 1951 and 1974 theatrical trailers for the film
• Walt Disney TV introduction from 1954 and 1964
• An excerpt from The Fred Waring TV show
• Deleted materials including the deleted scene “Pig and Pepper”, “From Wonderland to Neverland: The Evolution of a Song” which recalls how a song originally intended for the film ended up in Peter Pan, a deleted storyboard concept: Alice Daydreams in the Park and original song demos “Beware The Jabberwock”, “Everything Has a Useness”, “So They Say”, “Beautiful Soup”, “Dream Caravan”and “If You Believe in Me”.

All in all, I found the history behind the making of the film quite interesting and well worth your time.

Final Thoughts 

In Alice in Wonderland, another Disney classic has made its way to Blu-ray and has never looked or sounded any better in the home and is highly recommended for film fans of all ages.

Film

A loose adaptation of Ian Fleming’s novel, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, follows an interesting inventor, played by Dick Van Dyke) who is the recently widowed father of two children who do a bit of misbehaving when they decide to  skip school and lollygag…  Unfortunately they are caught by Truly Scrumptious, which is a name suited for a different novel by Ian Fleming, and they are delivered back to their father.

The father and Truly come from very opposite classes, but as the story progresses we see some interest being formed as she spends time together. Eventually we get to the point where the car comes into play which is where my first criticism comes in… I realize older films like to be epic and have this general pace of a smooth sweeping epic motion but when it comes down to a super car, just get to the bloody car.

The car is a dilapidated race car that the boys take interest in and the father decides to fix it up for his next project and in doing so creates a super car that can trek water. And eventually we’re introduced to the antagonist of the story who is a villain who wants to steal Chitty Chitty Bang Bang from its creator.

As my aforementioned complaint, which is my primary one, the film is slow and has a lot of padding that could be cut out. From unnecessary songs to the fact that it takes a very long time to get the car to the point where it becomes special, the film is just slow, which doesn’t help the fact that today’s audience really has become accustomed to faster paced material.

Video

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’s video is displayed using the MPEG-4 AVC codec in its original aspect ratio of 2.20:1. The film looks pretty astonishing considering its age; the negative used is free of scratches or dust and retains all the detail and clarity that is expected from a well handled release.

The film has been refined nicely and the colors are surprisingly vivid while skin tones remain authentic. There’s also a good amount of contrast which helps keep the black levels at  a nice level while avoiding that grey overcast look that is common with older catalogue releases that aren’t as respected.

There’s a bit of grain that’s noticeable, but that’s not a big deal nor is it reasonable to expect differently considering the context. Although the film has been cleaned nicely, there’s a bit of noticeable noise during lower lit scenes. However the film is a good example of a film that wasn’t just slapped together.

Audio

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’s audio comes at us using the English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 codec, and as always, I’m excited to see more 7.1 mixed Blu-ray’s getting released. With Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, it’s impeccable that the audio quality be the best that it can be considering the music is what makes this film a classic. Luckily we’re given a very authentic recreation of what was heard back in the sixties.

The dialogue is clear, noise-free and centered while the rest of the mix manages to stay fairly balanced and spread amongst the rest of the speakers. The sound effects and foley showcase the ambience of the mix while the music displays the dynamic range.

The music in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was written by Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman, Richard whom may be familiar to those who’ve seen Iron Man 2; he wrote the old Stark Expo theme that plays during the archive footage presentation. It’s funny how even today the golden age composers still carry that distinguished sound with them.

Special Features

Although the film is a cherished classic, the special features section isn’t given as much love as the fans may hope for. There’s a retrospective featurette with Dick Van Dyke and a demo of a Sherman Brother’s song. But besides that it’s mostly gimmicky extras like a sing-a-long version and photo galleries. I would’ve liked to have seen a commentary with Dick Van Dyke or even a film historian. For a catalog release we’re lucky to get some decent features, but it’s a little light for my taste.

Final Thoughts

The film is a Disney classic, but in a world of Pixar the dated effects and weak plot will have a hard time capturing the attention of the film’s original demographic, however with a decent amount of special features and currently the best A/V presentation, this is a release aimed directly to the fans but is at least worth a rental.

Film  

Again the folks at the various film studios have provided us with yet another all time classic film on Blu-ray this year, this time, one of the most beloved musicals of all time, The Sound of Music. Released in 1965, the film won several Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Sound.

The film stars Julie Andrews as Maria, a vibrant and engaging woman who thinks she wants to become a nun. She doesn’t quite fit in with the other sisters at the convent in Salzburg, Austria, and when a position opens up with a local war hero’s family (the von Trapps) for a governess, the Mother Superior at the convent volunteers Maria for the job, in part to see if she can work out whether she really wants to become a nun. Maria arrives for the job with no experience with children and find the father of the 7 children, Captain Georg von Trapp (Christopher Plummer) a bit too strict and regimented. While music was a part of the family at one time, Georg no longer had any interest in music after the death of his wife, the mother of the seven children.

When Georg travels to visit a countess and his possible future wife in Vienna, Maria charms the children with her lively personality and music talents and quickly becomes a part of the family. When Georg returns with his future bride in tow, he quickly becomes infatuated with Maria. While Georg is having issues to deal with in his love life, he is also experiencing political issues of his own, as he has no interest in being part of the Nazi’ party as the Nazi’s are taking over control of the country in a bloodless coup known as the Anschluss.

After he finally admits his feelings to Maria and Maria and Georg wed, Georg and Maria return early from their honeymoon in Paris and find that the Anschluss has been completed. Georg’s refusal to become a member of the Nazi party and his continuing Austrian nationalism has put his own life and the lives of the rest of his family at risk.

The film is based on the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical that made its Broadway debut in 1959 which in turn is absd on the real life von Trappe family, who fled Austria after the Anschluss, eventually immigrating to the US in the 1930′s. The film is filled with several spectacular songs and memorable performances by Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. While a bit on the sweet side in terms of the characterizations and musical style, the film still holds up quite well and is one of the greatest musicals of all time, along with my all time favorite Singin’ In The Rain.

Just about everything about this film is spectacular, from the cinematography, acting, score and direction, to the incredible scenery, this film is a real keeper. The Sound of Music is an all time classic and a must own for any film fan and receives my highest recommendation.

Video  

The Sound of Music has undergone a major restoration for this release, with an original camera negative undergoing a 8k frame by frame transfer. All dirt, scratches and defects were removed digitally and the film color corrected. The transfer of the film to Blu-ray was based on a 4k transfer made from the original 8k copy of the film. The result of all this work is a spectacular looking film, with a level of detail, black level, shadow detail and color purity that is a sight to behold.

The quality of the video is noticeable immediately upon the opening with Julie Andrews singing the theme on the top of a mountain overlooking Salzburg. From the beautiful blue sky, the lush green grass and the gray granite lf the mountains, this film looks spectacular. I really can’t imagine the film looking better. The image is razor sharp for the most part with exceptional levels of detail. Blacks are nearly perfect without any black crush and having excellent shadow detail. Yes, there are a few scenes that are rather soft, in particular, the scenes at night near the gazebo, but they are clearly intentionally softened by the cinematographer.

If there was any digital noise reduction applied to this transfer, it is hard to tell from the level of detail present in the image. In addition, fine film grain is clearly visible, with the transfer having a film like appearance that will no doubt thrill the film purists out there. This is a great film and an example of film restoration at its very best. Kudos to the crew responsible for this restoration and for the folks at Fox for such a stellar looking release.

Audio  

While a 7.1 mix, I would not exactly call this the most immersive sound experience I have ever heard at home. However, the sonics and overall fidelity are of such high quality that I can’t justify giving this release anything short of a perfect score. The original film’s sound elements were in what was described as 6 channel stereo with five front channels and one mono rear channel. The sound was mixed to a 7.1 mix with three front channels, 2 side channels and 2 rear stereo channels.

The film is rather front heavy with the side surrounds used for the orchestral pieces only with the surrounds room ambience and discreet effects. The overall fidelity of the sound is spectacular, especially the vocal musical tracks, with each voice sounding so pure and distinctive as to sound as though the actresses were in the room. All of the voices are presented perfectly in the sound mix, exactly in the same position as they are one screen. Transparency and imaging are spectacular. Just listen to the opening scene at the von Trappe mansion when the butler answers the front door. Listen as Maria enters the room and the butler asks her to stay there as he leaves the room to the right. You can clearly hear the butler’s steps as he exits the room and more importantly, your room, far to the right, well past the boundary of your room. The sense of aural depth, both front to back and side to side is outstanding.

This is a great sounding film and release. Clearly, the same degree of care that went into a restoration of the film’s visuals, went into the reproduction of the audio track. The sound is smooth, open and dare I say it rich, with excellent bass and dynamics. This is a top notch audio track and fully deserving of a full 5 star rating.

Special Features  

The Sound of Music is presented in a three disc combo pack, with disc one containing the Blu-ray version of the film, disc two the new extra package and disc three, a DVD and digital copy version of the film.

Disc two contains all new high def extras and covers just about as many topics as one could imagine, from the restoration of the film and soundtrack, the real von Trappe family on which the film is based, a back lot tour, looks at the music, the score, the sets, the locals featured in the film, looks at the various stage versions of the play, looks at Rodgers and Hammerstein, screen tests, interviews and photo galleries.

While disc one contains audio commentaries featuring Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer and director Robert Wise, I felt that there was on glaring omission from the extras, namely interviews with Ms. Andrews and Mr. Plummer. Other than this one omission, the extras here provide the viewer with about as much information into the film’s history as one would ever want. I had a great time clicking through all the extras and learned a lot about the making of the film, the prior and subsequent stage adaptations, Rodgers and Hammerstein as well as the real life von Trappe family. With the one omission as noted above, the extras here are great and well worth a gander.

Final Thoughts  

The Sound of Music is an all time classic film and one that has undergone a top notch restoration that is a feast for the eyes as well as the ears. The Sound of Music is a film that should take its place in the collection of every serious film fan and is very highly recommended.

Films

Back to the Future  

Back to the Future Part II  

Back to the Future Part III  

I will be completely honest and upfront about the fact that I love Back to the Future, at least the original film, which is far and way the jewel in this release. It is a great film. The two sequels are more of a mixed bag and rather unsatisfying, especially Part III. They seem to be mere attempts to cash out on the success of the first film. While most of the same team responsible for the first film are back for Parts II and III, I am not sure that they had a clear vision of just where to take these characters, resulting in more of the same techniques used in the first film. If it were up to me and it sure wasn’t, I would have focused more on the future and would have skipped the trip into the old west entirely.

I am sure that most of you are well aware of the plots of the three films. In Part I, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) befriends an old eccentric scientist, Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) who just happens to invent a time machine using a DeLorean car. When Doc Brown and Marty are testing the DeLorean at a local mall, they are attacked by a group of Libyan terrorists driving a VW van who are upset with Doc Brown for building them a bogus nuclear bomb. They shoot Doc Brown and Marty jumps into the DeLorean and tries to escape. However, in speeding away, he hits the magic 88 mph mark and is transported back to November 1955.

While there, he interferes with the meeting between his mother and father where they fell in love. In fact his mother Lorraine (Lea Thompson) falls for Marty rather than his father. Marty seeks out the only man capable of helping him fix the time line and return to the future, the 1955 version of Doc Brown. This Doc Brown helps Marty fix the timeline thereby saving Marty from being erased from time and concocts a plan to produce the necessary energy to transport the DeLorean back to 1985. Along the way, Marty invents rock and roll and the skate board and puts his parents together.

When he returns to 1985, he finds it and his parents to be very different, in a good way, from the parents he left as a result of his interference in the time line. This film remans as fresh today as it was when I saw it back in 1985. It is beautifully written and cast and is very funny, with two very engaging performances by Michel J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd. This is one comedy that has truly stands the test of time and is not to be missed.

As good as part I is, Parts II and III just are a few cuts below. Part II picks up where Part I ended up, although with a different actress playing Marty’s girlfriend Jennifer. It finds Doc Brown returning to 1985 from the future with bad news about Marty and Jennifer’s future children. They travel to 2015 and change the events that would have led to Marty’s son going to jail. However, Marty’s father’s old nemesis Biff, unbeknownst to them, steals the DeLorean and returns to 1955 with an almanac containing all of the results from sporting events from 1950 to 2000 which the young Biff uses to gamble and amass a great fortune.

When Doc Brown, Marty and Jennifer return to 1985 from 2015, they find a very different 1985 from the one they left, with Biff in total control of the town, Marty’s father dead and his mother married to Biff in what can only be described as an abusive relationship. Doc and Marty figure out what happened and they must return back to November 1955 and retrieve the almanac and destroy it, to return 1985 back to where is was at the end of the first film. In doing so, Marty is place back into the same territory covered in the first film, namely the night at the school dance where his parents fell in love and we are given glimpses of the events of the first film from a totally different angle. I found this to be too clever by a half and is the film’s biggest failing. I would have preferred a fresh slate and fresh adventures for Doc and Marty rather than rehash the same old gags.

The film ends as Marty and Doc are attempting to return to 1985. However, while Doc tries to land the time machine, the vehicle is struck by lightning and Doc is transported back to 1885. In Part III, Marty re-enlists the 1955 Doc to help him get back to 1885 and return him and Doc to 1985. However, his efforts are complicated by the fact that Doc has fallen in love with an new school teacher Clara (Mary Steenburgen), at the fact that the DeLorean’s fuel line has been broken so that the car lacks the gas necessary to get up to the 88 mph speed necessary to initiate time travel.

All-in-all, the first film in this set is so good that I have no trouble recommending the purchase of the entire set as it is the only way, at least for now, to get a Blu-ray copy of the film at this time. While Ihave some reservations about the video quality of all three fims, it is not enough of a concern for me not to recommend the set for all film buffs. Recommended.

Video  

I will deal with the video presentations of all three films together as they are basically the same, which is not surprising given that most of the same crew was used to make all three films and that Parts II and III were shot together and released 6 months apart. I must say that I have agonized a bit about what score to give the video quality of these releases because I can state without equivocation that these films have never looked better in the home environment than they do here.

The problem is that they could have and should have looked even better. Why? Because of the excessive application of digital noise reduction and edge enhancement. As a result, the films’ fine grain structure has been stripped away and along with it, fine detail, such as fine facial details. Edge enhancements and halos are visible throughout the film, around the actors’ faces and around the edge of their bodies. Unless your screen is larger than 58 inches, you may not even notice these issues and if so, you will be thrilled with the video quality of all three films.

I was also disappointed to learn that all three films were mastered from 2k rather than 4k masters. While Aliens also had digital noise reduction applied to remove film grain, it was also used more judiciously, preserving all of the fine facial detail that was lost here. Perhaps that is due to the fact that Aliens was mastered form a 4k master which preserved more fine detail that made its way all the way to the final Blu-ray image. In any event, those of you with truly large screens and those of you who are more picky about these things, will more than likely be upset about the presence of DNR and EE on this release. I thought you should be forewarned.

Other that that, all three of the films have a nice natural color palette which does vary just a tad depending on which time period is involved. The 1985 and 2015 sequences have a very natural color palette while those in the past tend a bit to the warm side. This was intentional on the part of the filmmakers and is caused by the use of a yellow membrane applied over the set lighting. It is a subtle effect but one that is there nonetheless. The film also have deep blacks that at times, can be a bit crushed but not all that noticeably especially if your screen is not calibrated.

All-in-all, without the application of DNR and EE, these films would fully merit 4.5 star rankings. However, in light of the application of both, I can rate the films no better than 3.5.

Audio  

While I have some issues with the video, I have none with the audio which is better than I expected. The overall fidelity of the recorded sound is very good, with an openness and transparency that is quite impressive. I found the overall dynamics to be quite good although not exactly reference quality. The dialogue track is well recorded and well placed in the mix.

The sound effects are excellent as well, especially when the time machine moves forward and backwards in time. The train sound effect are also quite nice as well and very realistic sounding. When the time machine train at the end of Part III booms off into whatever time it is entering, it feels and sounds just like it it going over your head. Panning effects are well done and the surrounds, while not used aggressively throughout the film, are used rather effectively when they are so employed. All in all , all three films sound very nice, especially when you consider the time period in which the films were made.

Special Features  

As one would expect, there are a ton of extras included here which are contained on each of the three films are tied to each of the three films individually. The main extra on each disc are newly created featurettes entitled Tales From the Future, which consist of interviews with the films writers Bob Gale and Bob Zemeckis, the latter of which also directed each film, along with Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, producers Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall.

Deleted scenes are also included, some of which are in pretty bad shape. Disc II features a featurette with Dr. Micho Kaku, a theoretical physicist who is often on the Science Channel, who discusses the scientific validity of time travel as it is portrayed in the three films. Also featured is a Michel J. Fox Q & A, archival featurettes from the prior home video releases of the films, behind the scenes looks at the making of the films, music videos by Huey Lewis and the News and ZZ Top, Q & A Commentaries about the most frequently asked questions about the film and feature commentaries with Bob Gale and Neil Canton.

The trilogy is presented in a 6 disc set, with the three films on Blu-ray discs and digital copies on the other three discs. I would be remiss if I also didn’t comment on the packaging of this release which is by far the worst I have ever encountered. Rather than having the discs snap in place with the traditional center spiral, the digital copy and Blu-ray discs side over each other in a way that makes it nearly impossible to get the discs out of the trays. I was afraid that I would crack the discs in doing so, they are wedged in so tightly. Whoever designed this packaging should be fired. I hope to never see the likes of it again.

Final Thoughts  

Even without the issues I had with the video presentations here, these films have never looked better at home than they do here. Back to the Future is such a great film and belongs in the collection any any film fan. As I doubt that there will be any new editions of these films any time soon, I can recommend this set to any fans of the films, despite my reservations.

Films

Alien 

I am sure that most of you are familiar with the basic plots of these films. The first finds a crew of an ore mining ship the Nostromo, while under stasis, being awakened by the ship’s computer to check out a homing beacon to see if it is some sort of distress call. When they arrive at the planet which is the source of the distress call they come upon a derelict space ship.

When they investigate the inside of the ship, a creature pops out of what can only be described as an egg and attaches itself to a crew member’s face. He is transported back to the ship where the crew is unable to remove the creature. After awhile, the creature falls off the crewman’s face and dies and all seems well. However one day at dinner, this crewman seems to fall ill with stomach pains. However, it turns out that a creature has been gestating inside the crewman having been implanted in him by the initial creature attached to his face. Well it is time for that baby to be born and it suddently and without any warning pops out of the chest of the crewman and scurries across the floor and out of sight. As the creature is small, the crew thinks it will be easy to catch and kill. Little do they know that the creature grows incredibly fast and while hiding in the bowels of the ship, begins to pick off each member of the crew one by one. This is no ordinary alien.

It is immerse and very, very hostile with snapping metallic jaws, a steel whiplike tail and concentrated acid for blood. The crew finally come to learn that there employer sent them out to capture one of the aliens and bring it back to Earth to somehow be weaponized. Needless to say, this is not possible. The Alien kills each member of the crew with the exception of Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) who manages to kill the creature as it attempts to stow away with her on a ship bound for Earth.

Alien is simply the scariest film I have ever seen. The film is set in very close quarters on the ship and you just know that death lurks just around every corner. The film’s audio track really accentuates the sense of pure suspense and really makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. This is a great film and one not to be missed.

Aliens 

As I noted before, Aliens, rather than being suspense film is a pure action film. It opens with Ripley’s ship being found over 50 years later and she is returned to earth. She tells her story and it appears that no one believes her. She freaks when she learns that her employer has sent a crew to the plant to terraform it. She is not exactly shocked to learn that her employer loses contact with the crew, which is made up of men and woman and their families.

A crew of top notch Marines is put together with Ripley as their advisor, and heads to the planet to determine what has happened to the crew. When they arrive, they soon find that the crew’s facility has been overrun by the aliens who are multiplying at an alarming rate with the help of their queen. Naturally, it is Ripley who destroys the aliens and who has a climatic battle scene back on the mother ship with the queen who has tagged along for the ride. Her work done, Ripley prepares to return to Earth with Newt, a young and lone survivor of the crew that was sent to terraform the planet as well an injured and sole surviving member of the crew of marines that were dispatched to the planet.

While very different, Aliens if a great film in its own right and is probably they best film sequel ever made. It takes the whole concept of the aliens to another level and fleshes out Ripley’s character into a truly memorable one. Aliens is a truly worthy successor to the first film.

Aliens 3 

The same can’t be said of Aliens 3 which was nothing but a pure money grab by the studio. When I saw this film in the theater, it was roundly booed by the audience. As is evident by the supplementary materials, this is a film that should never have been made. They went through several rewrites and directors and just should have scrapped the project entirely.

The film is disjointed and ruins the ending of the second film, as we soon learn that they was another alien who arrived back on the crew’s ship along with the queen, an alien that was never visible during Aliens, who kills Newt and implants an alien embryo into Ripley. The ship then proceeds to crash onto a planet that is a prison colony. After Ripley arrives, prisons begin to disappear as the alien who was hiding on Ripley’s ship, enters the prison and begins to do his dirty work, all the while trying to protect Ripley and the queen she is secretly carrying. When Ripley learns what is carrying inside her body, sets out to kill herself and the future queen.

As you can no doubt already tell, I just hated Alien 3 and wish that it had never been made.

Alien Resurrection 

Even worse yet is Alien Resurrection. The studio clearly realized that they made a huge mistake with Alien 3 and tried to reboot the franchise. Rather than start anew with new characters and a new premise, they decide to bring back Ripley who, after all, dies in the third film.

They do the impossible by by way of cloning Ripley. One problem though… there was a bit of the alien DNA included with Ripley’s. The whole point of cloning Ripley was not to bring her back, but to clone the queen as well. Ripley is not fully human and is much more aggressive than she was before with incredible strength and blood which while still red, is acidic too. The queen has been changed as well. She no longer lays eggs but is pregnant with a human/alien hybrid who is born and who tries to lay waste to everything. It kills the queen and mistakes Ripley for its mother which leads to some really weird scenes of motherly and son affection between Ripley and her “son”. Believe me, as bad as this sounds, the film is worse.

Disc One includes both the 1979 theatrical release of Alien along with the 2003 Director’s cut. Disc Two contains both the 1986 theatrical release of Aliens along with the 1991 Special Edition. Disc Three included the 1992 theatrical release of Alien 3 along with a restored workprint 2003 Special Edition of the film. Disc Four included the 1997 theatrical release of Alien Resurrection and a 2003 Special Edition.

I would be remiss to report that they have been many reports of playback issues with the first two films as well as the two discs containing the supplementary material with the Oppo 83 as well as some other Blu-ray players. As a result, in order to get the discs to play, you may have to remove the disc from the machine and try again. I have the Oppo 83 and the first two films, including each version of the film played fine, although I did have some issues plying discs 5 and 6 which contain the supplementary materials. Please be forewarned.

While I hate the last two films, the first two are so good, that I can highly recommend this set, despite its cost. Who knows, maybe you will have a better reaction to the last two films than I did.

Video

Alien 

Aliens 

Alien 3 

Alien Resurrection 

I can say without hesitation that these 4 films have never looked better at home. The real winners here are the first two films which underwent all new 4k transfers for this release. I have Alien on the old D-Theater format and Alien on Blu-ray is marginally better than the D-VHS release which was excellent in its own right.

Both Alien and Aliens look fantastic. Of the two, Aliens does look the best but I have score them the same as I found the black level on Aliens to be mediocre. I also though that Aliens looked a tad smoother or cleaner than I remembered it. It appeared to me that a bit of digital noise reduction was applied to the film to remove a bit of the film grain. I must say that is digital noise reduction was applied as I think it was done very tastefully as the film is filled with tons of fine detail. It is just that the film has a good bit less grain than I remembered. I checked out my old laserdisc copy of the film but that has so much digital noise in it that it is hard to really tell. Alien has excellent levels of detail and clarity, even during the dimly lit interiors of the ship, with excellent clarity even though some of the more dimly lit portions of the film due soften up a bit. Color reproduction is excellent as are black levels. Even during the many dark scenes in the film, digital noise if kept to a bare minimum. All in all, Alien looks fantastic and will no doubt thrill fans of the film.

The same is true for Aliens. If not for the mediocre blacks and a touch of digital noise reduction, this transfer would rate a 5 out of 5, it is that good. The level of detail is simply amazing. I don’t recall the blacks being this gray at the theater but it is really the only thing that keeps this transfer from earning a full 5 stars rating.

The last two films look to be older HD transfers for the DVD releases of the film. Clearly the same care wasn’t taken in the preparation of the last two film as was done for the first. Don’t get me wrong, the films look fine,. It is just that they lack the fine detail and clarity of the first two films, looking a bit overly processed and soft in comparison. Color reproduction and black levels are very good. It is just the level of detail and overall clarity that I found to be wanting just a bit, especially in comparison to the first two films.

Audio

Alien 

Aliens 

Alien 3 

Alien Resurrection 

Of all four film, the real winner sonically is Aliens which sounds simply fantastic. Dynamics is simply off the charts with deep bass that rocks the room. The surrounds are used very aggressively as well to create a sense of total immersion. The dialogue track is also well recorded and more importantly, well placed within the mix and was always audible even during the action sequences. Weapons fire has the appropriate sense of weight and heft that makes it all very convincing. If I had one issue with the audio on Aliens it is that it is just a smidge on the bright side, but not enough for me to dick the overall score any points. The audio on Aliens will no doubt thrill fans of the film.

The same can be said for Alien. which given that it was made in 1979, still sounds fantastic. Alien is not an action film and is based more on suspense. It is here that the film’s sound design really shines. The surrounds are used just aggressively enough to provide a heightened sense of the interior spaces inside the ship to create a sense of tension and suspense that is palpable. The overall audio is very good in all respects. However, it is its ability to amplify the sense of suspense that is in the script which makes the audio on this release so special.

I also thought that Aliens 3 sounded fantastic as well, with excellent dynamics, deep bass and an immersive sound field. The reproduction of the dialogue track is excellent as well. I just wish that the same was true of the film

Of all four films, I was least impressed with the audio on Alien Resurrection. It was a similar to the audio in Alien 3 except for the dynamics and in particular the bass response, which was mediocre in comparison with the other films, especially Aliens and Aliens 3. While Alien Resurrection can sure get loud, it simply lacks the deep bass of films 2 and three.

Special Features  

Imply put, this release contains just about every extra you could possible image. The extras are contained on discs five and six.

Disc five contains a multitude of featurettes for each film that really pull no punches. The level of honesty from the principles in regards to the issues of making films 3 and 4 is amazing and worth a look. The extras include audio commentaries galore as well as looks behind the making of just about every element of the film that you can image.

Disc Six focuses on all aspects of pre-production, production and post-production including the scripts, storyboards, image galleries, deleted scenes, trailers and TV spots. It will simply take you hours and hours to get through this stuff, which features the interactive system dubbed MU-TH-UR Mode, which provides an interactive system to access and control the enhancement pods which were created exclusively for this release. The enhancement pods include behind the scenes footage, raw dailies and interview outtakes from all four films. These can be accessed during the running of each film or separately.

There are simply too many extras featured in the set to mention here. To do so would take page after page after page. Trust me, this release contains a treasure trove of extras that will keep fans of the franchise very busy and very happy.

Final Thoughts 

While I don’t like the last two films of the Alien franchise, the first two films are so good and of such importance to the history of the filmmaking business that this set is a must have and is very highly recommended.

When viewing the film previously, I had been struck by its obvious wink to Star Wars, emphasized through characters such as Barf, Dot, Yogurt, Pizza the Hutt, and Dark Helmet.  As a long-term lover of science fiction films, Spaceballs was treading dangerous ground.  My question was, was this film sublime satire, or pure farce.

Film

Although many of the other films in the Mel Brooks Collection had me laughing out loud, none did so with the frequency and consistency of Spaceballs.  From front to back, this film was funny, charming, smart, and avoided much of the juvenile pee-pee poo-poo humor that afflicted Mr. Brooks’ later works.  Yes, there are phallus jokes and innuendo.  Yes, there are bits that may be considered a bit juvenile.  However, this film delivered consistently funny material, and was a pitch-perfect send-up of sci-fi movies.

The plot is fairly straightforward.  The planet Spaceball used up its air, and wants the air of the planet Druidia.  Princess Vespa of Druidia (played by the lovely Daphne Zuniga), flees a loveless wedding to the narcoleptic Prince Valium (Jim Bullock in a poor cameo), and becomes a kidnap target of the evil Spaceball, Dark Helmet (played fantastically by the underrated Rick Moranis).  Meanwhile, Captain Lone Starr (played straight yet funny by the also underrated Bill Pullman) and his sidekick Barf (an underused John Candy) is hired by King Roland (the always enjoyable Dick Van Patten) to bring his daughter back.  As Lone Starr owes Pizza the Hutt (Dom DeLuise in a great role) lots of spacebucks, he has no choice but to accept the offer.  Even Mr. Brooks himself plays two characters in the film – President Skroob of Spaceball, and Yogurt, who teaches Lone Starr about “The Schwartz”.     

If you like science fiction, you will like this movie.  References abound to Star Wars, Plant of the Apes, Alien (one of the funniest in the film, including a nod to Looney Tunes), Star Trek, and even 2001: A Space Odyssey.  Furthermore, the enjoyment of sci-fi entails a certain suspension of disbelief – Mr. Brooks recognizes this, and plays it to full effect. 

The cast is also excellent, with the aforementioned Rick Moranis playing his best role, one that is at a level equivalent to his work in Ghostbusters and Little Shop of Horrors.  Bill Pullman is superb, and even John Candy does well with his usual mugging as Barf.  And believe it or not, by using Joan Rivers as the voice of Dot Matrix, Mr. Brooks has managed to find a voice more annoying than that of C3P0 in Star Wars.

On the down side, there was a little too much Jewish humor, be it “The Schwartz” or the jokes made at the expense of the “Druidish Princess”.  These types of jokes propagate stereotypes, will appeal only to certain segments of the viewing audience, and are the only weakness in the film’s humor.

However, these are small niggles, and overall the film avoids much of the cornball that marred both Robin Hood: Men in Tights and History of the World: Part 1.  Generally the jokes are quick, witty, and smart, and very enjoyable by all audiences (not just 10 year-old boys).

Video

Space scenes are always a challenge, and Spaceballs on blu-ray highlighted this.  Blue screens of space were very gray and washed, and any flaws in the effects were evident in 1080p.

This being stated, a very nice clean up was done on this transfer, and the overall picture was appropriately grainy, with little evidence of black crush or macroblocking.  Overall, this was a very good transfer, and should not be penalized due to the weakness of the source material.

Audio

As a newer film, Spaceballs had a much better soundtrack than other films in the collection.  Dialog through the centre channel was clear.  LFE and surround channels were also used appropriately and judiciously. 

It is a bit much to expect a film from 1987 to have a superb audio presentation.  This being stated, the restore and conversion of the master to DTS-HD was obviously done with care, and is a standout audio performer in this boxed set.

Special Features

Lots of goodies, though a disappointing few are in HD.  Besides the commentary (mildly amusing, but nothing more), we get just over one hour of SD documentaries, including a conversation between the two writers (Mr. Brooks and Thomas Meehan), a tribute to the late John Candy, and a documentary on the film itself.

We’re also treated to the film at “Ludicrous Speed” (a 30 second brain-bender), a trailer for the film, and a short feature showing film “flubs” (a few of which I was pleased to have spotted in my original viewing).  There was also a storyboard to film comparison, as well as a still gallery.

Overall, there is a bit of meat on the bone, and the three SD documentaries are enjoyable for fans of the film.  This being said, overall this is not an exceptional set of features.

Final Thoughts

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this film.  In fact, it reminded me much more of Mr. Brooks’ earlier work in movies such as High Anxiety, where his jokes tended more towards the witty, and less towards juvenilia.

In fact, this has been one of the most enjoyable films in the collection so far, and fully deserves a “Buy It” rating.  Although not perfect, I am comfortable in stating this is the last great Mel Brooks movie.