Film 

Watching this film, I kept asking myself why would an actor like Liam Neeson want to get involved in this project. It must have been quite a payday. The plot of Clash of the Titans is about as thin as it gets and is just an excuse for some battle sequences and some pretty nifty CGI.

The film’s premise is that Zues and the rest of the Greek gods, are upset that their people are no longer worshiping them and are in fact, in open rebellion against them. This infuriates Zues who created man for the sole purpose of worshiping him and the rest of the gods, thereby somehow increasing their power. In comes Zues’ brother Hades, who is naturally quite upset over Zues’ relegation of him to the underworld.

Playing on Zues’ sensitivity and anger, Hades concocts a plan to force man into dropping their rebellion and return to their worship of the gods. Unbeknownst to Zues, Hades was really using this opportunity to strike back at his brother and wrest control of Olympus from him. Into this family squabble comes Perseus, who is part god and part man, being the son of Zues after he essentially raped the wife of the king of the rebels. Perseus, discovering his true identity, wants no part of divine nature and wants to live his life as a man and wants to strike back at Hades for Hades’ killing of his foster family. Before Hades can complete his plan to crush man, Perseus joins a ban of warriors who journey into forbidden worlds, including the underworld itself, looking for the key to foil Hade’s plot.

While the plot sounds like a good idea, this film spends far too long on battle sequences and fails to delve into the feelings and true nature of both Perseus and the gods themselves. I would have liked to see more of a focus of the gods and their true role of Greek mythology in shaping Greek society and less on CGI. In short, a more thoughtful film. Far too often, CGI is used just for its own sake and as a substitute for a plot. Such is the case in this film. Is Clash of the Titans a terrible film? No, but is one that you will only want to see once and certainly not a film you would want to add to your collection. Therefore, if you must see this film, I would recommend that you do so on the basis of a rental only.

Video 

With the exception of a handful of dimly lit interior shots, the video quality on this release is excellent. The film has a nice natural looking color palettte with excellent skin tone rendition. The film’s locales vary from lush green locations to brown and tan deserts, and volcanic landscapes and are rendered beautifully here. Blacks are deep and stable and together with the high level of detail, produce an image of very nice depth. While this release is not 3D, it is clear where the hokey 3D effects were placed throughout the film and it is also clear why the theatrical 3D release was so poorly received.

While there is a bit of DNR and Edge enhancement visible in the image, they are minimal and not really noticeable on a screen size under 60 inches. Even with the application of some DNR, overall detail is excellent, including facial detail and skin texture, backgrounds, clothing and the like. The only real issue I had with the release were a few interior shots which looked very soft and a bit washed out and flat and having a very processed look. With these minor exceptions, I found this to be a very pleasing transfer. I wish the same could be said for the film.

Audio 

If you are looking for a film with a bombastic soundtrack, Clash of the Titans is the film for you. it will certainly give your subwoofer a workout. The film features excellent overall fidelity and dynamics. The fight sequences with the giant scorpions are true reference material for bass junkies. Not only will your entire room shake, but you may also shake the rest of the house and may have you scrambling for the remote if it feels like your house is about to crash on top of you.

The dialogue track is also well recorded and well placed in the mix, never getting drowned out or obscured by the cacophony of the battle sequences. The only real issue I had with the audio was the sound design itself which I would have preferred to be a little more immersive throughout the film and a little more refined. Don’t get me wrong, the film’s action sequences are certainly very immersive. It is just that I would have preferred the quieter interior sequences to have that same immersive feeling as well. This is a rather small complaint and one which did not impact my viewing experience to any significant degree.

Special Features 

The Blu-ray edition of Clash of the Titans is certainly packed with many extras. The release is a combo pack so it includes a second disc containing a DVD copy of the film as well as a digital copy.

The extras contained on the Blu-ray disc feature deleted scenes and an alternate ending of the film. Also included is a featurette on Sam Worthington entitled “Sam Worthington: An Action Hero for the Ages”.

The best and longest of the extras is what Warners calls maximum Movie Mode which runs concurrent;y with the film where Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes and director Louis Leterrier discuss various aspects of the making of the film. As it runs concurrently with the film, you really should watch the film first and then rewatch the film with the Maximum Movie Mode enabled. The only downside to this approach is that it will result in you having to watch the film twice.

The Maximum Movie Mode focuses on a number of areas including Sam Worthington is Perseus, Harnessing the Gods, Zeus: Father of Gods and Men, Enter the World of Hades, Calibos: Te Man Behind the Monster, Tenerife: A Continent on an island, Scorpioch, Actors and their Stunts, Wales: A Beautiful Scarred Landscape, Bringing Medusa to Life and Prepare for Kraken. All in all, the Maximum Movie Mode features more than 40 minutes of PIP commentary.

Final Thoughts 

If you like mindless action adventure film, Clash of the Titans just may be the film for you. For the rest of you, if you must, I would check out Clash of the Titans on the basis of a rental only. All I know is that once was more than enough for me.

After reading the books, I was excited to discover that an animated version of the book existed, and lobbied hard to get my buddies to rent it when we were having a movie night.  And after we all sat back and viewed the movie, we looked at each other with the same expression on our faces: “What in heck was that?”

So the question is, after 28 years of watching various forms of animation, have I gained a new appreciation for Ralph Bakshi’s labor of love?  Does being on Blu-ray make the movie any better?

Film

Thinking back on all the animation I’ve watched over the years, I have difficulty recalling any animated movie that is quite as intrinsically ugly as this one.  Being on Blu-ray actually exacerbates this problem.  Washed out and stylistic backgrounds, inking issues, and the horridly ugly rotoscoping (using live actors as the basis for animation) makes this a visually unappealing movie.

Moreso, I could also criticize the color palette used, the lack of quality control of the animation, the bad 1970’s era sound effects, and the poor visualization of the scenes and characters.  In glorious 1080p, all of these flaws are held up for the viewer to see, and they become so distracting that they affect one’s ability to watch and enjoy the movie.

What is most egregiously lost in this film is the beauty and emotiveness of Tolkien’s writing in the Lord of the Rings.  An attentive reader can feel tranquility, compassion, happiness, apprehension, awe, and fear through Tolkien’s beautiful narrative.  This emotional resonance is mysteriously absent from the movie; it feels rushed, grim, and unhappy.  Worst of all, this film takes characters that we love (or hate), and makes us feel apathy for them.  Then, in culmination of this, it only tells the first half of the Lord of the Rings story – this move was not successful enough for the studio to green light the second half.

Being upfront, I am not a huge fan of Ralph Bakshi’s work.  Although I do have a age-based fondness for his somewhat psychedelic Spider-Man TV series, I thought Fritz the Cat was exploitive rather than groundbreaking.

Mr. Bakshi stated that he was a fan of the books, motivating his desire to make this film.  However, there had to be some sort of external pressure (budget?  Release date?) that resulted in this movie being as poor as it was.

For someone who loves the books, this film is a bitter disappointment.  For one who has never read the books, the film is incomprehensible.

Video

This is, bar none, the worst looking Blu-ray I have seen to date.  Unfortunately, I believe this is not due to the transfer and encoding – it is mainly due to the poor quality of the masters.  Considering the limited appeal of this release, it is difficult to imagine a circumstance under which  Warner Brothers would put resources into a full restoration of this film.  And they didn’t disappoint, with the film looking like it came straight out of a 1970’s film canister.

As mentioned in the “Film” section, there are quality control issues with inking throughout the movie, there is noise and dust speckles in almost every dark area, animations lack a certain grace, and the backgrounds are washed of life and color.  Worst of all, the rotoscoping that looked horrible on VHS looks even more horrible in Blu-ray.

It has been suggested that the rotoscoping was done to save money, as it was a quicker and easier process than drawing frames from scratch.  To me, rotoscoping looks like someone solarized a real person, and inserted their image into the film; something that looks absolutely horrid, and out of sync with the rest of the movie around it.

Audio

The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio presentation of this movie was actually quite good considering the age of the material.  As can be expected, the dynamic range was very limited, missing that sharp clear top end and firm rolling bottom end.  A lot of the sounds happen in the midrange section of the audio spectrum, and a lot of them happen in the front speakers.

Generally not a bad presentation.  Although the voice acting is rather tepid, it goes well with the poor quality 70’s era sound effects.  Generally, I’m not quite sure how any Hobbit wearing the ring could stealthily disappear with a giant flash of light and a magic sound straight out of Hanna-Barbera’s Shazzan.

Special Features

Not much here for special features – just a half-hour SD documentary about Ralph Bakshi’s career, his impact on Hollywood, and his making of Lord of the Rings.  Generally this is an okay piece, but nothing special.  Even though my review copy also came with a Digital Copy, I’m not sure (considering the movie) that it adds much value.

Final Thoughts

Sometimes different films we view impact us differently depending on where we are in our lives.  Moves that I found funny as a teen I now find juvenile.  As a parent, teen movies give me the shudders, as I wouldn’t want my kids engaging in the behaviours I see on screen.  And movies that I didn’t appreciate as a younger person can often resonate with me now in a way they couldn’t when I was young.

Unfortunately, some movies that disappointed me when I was younger continue to disappoint me when I am older.  Ralph Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings is one of these.  Summed up in one sentence, this film is an ugly, gloomy, emotionally flat disservice to one of the best fantasy stories ever written.  Even a $0.99 7-day rental might be a bit overpriced for this film.

Although Star Wars IV was always my favourite, one day I found Escape from New York in my favourite Selectavision player.  I was suitably impressed (as most 14-year olds are) with the post apocalyptic artwork on the cover, so on went the player, and into my memory went one of my favourite movie memories of my preteen life.

It was therefore surprising that when the long-awaited sequel Escape From L.A. came out in 1996, I had no real interest in seeing it.  So was it worth the 14-year wait?

Film

In a nutshell, no, this movie was not worth the wait.  Cheesy artificial looking sets, bad primitive CGI, and every action-movie cliché available including my personal favourite: everything that is shot or crashes blows up.

In many ways, this movie is not much different than its predecessor.  Stick something in Snake Plissken that will kill him, give him a count down timer, make him retrieve something from a city which is now a penitentiary (L.A.), and have everyone try to kill him except for the odd helpful criminal.

However, instead of this movie being set during World War III, it is set 16 years later during a Pax Americana where the US is the unquestioned ruler of the world.  Run by a fundamentalist Christian “President for Life”, the US possesses technology orbiting Earth that can render all electronic or mechanical devices useless. 

However, this technology has been stolen by the President’s daughter who has fled into L.A. with it.  Snake is sent in against his will to retrieve the control system for this technology, and to kill the wayward daughter.

This is a very self-aware movie.  John Carpenter revels in the idiocy he puts on screen, including a society of plastic surgery victims, surfing in an aqueduct, hang gliding through L.A., and his gleeful destruction of many recogniseable Hollywood and L.A. landmarks.  In short, this movie does not take itself too seriously.  Overall, it is fun to watch, and provides decent entertainment.

Where it does not work is that self-aware movies can’t be self-aware all the time.  Case in point – Army of Darkness has to be one of the best self-aware movies I’ve ever seen, yet it does so with humor, action, and a reasonably good storyline – it does not always rub the viewer’s nose in its cleverness or outlandishness.

Also, there was a certain dystopian creepiness to Escape From New York that is sadly absent from Escape From L.A.  Possibly, part of it is the poor sets, part of it may be the superior villan Isaac Hayes was as the Duke of New York.  Possibly part of it is that something that was a unique concept in 1982 now feels rehashed.  Regardless, this movie is like a pale imitator of its superb predecessor.  

Video

The video in the movie is not bad, considering the original year of its filming.  Unfortunately, the Blu-ray treatment makes this movie look worse, as the increased sharpness over DVD highlights all of the poor special effects and amateurish sets used by John Carpenter.

Grain is noticeable, and does effectively soften the picture at points.  This is made even more challenging by the fact the majority of the movie is shot in low light.  However, macroblocking and black crush were pleasingly absent.

Overall, a decent presentation, but one that highlights the shortcomings of the film itself.

Audio

The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio presentation of this movie was fine, but sounded very “crushed” – the dynamic range was not what I would expect from an action movie.  Surround channels were used lightly, though dynamic levels were pretty good, and dialog was clear through the centre channel.

Generally, there was nothing remarkable about the audio on this disc, and was it was overall more resemblant of an average Dolby Digital track rather than a Dolby True HD one.

Special Features

Well this is pretty easy – the Blu-ray includes the original theatrical trailer.  Not much to review here.  It is what it is.

Final Thoughts

I’ve often thought that many of the things we like when we’re 14 lodge themselves in a special “fond” area of our memories, regardless of if it was even actually good or not.  Escape from New York is one of these pleasures for me, and I still found I enjoyed it when I recently saw it rerun on a movie channel.

Unfortunately, I do not believe Escape from L.A. will lodge itself in the memories in the same way.  Being over-the-top, self deprecating, and clichéd will relegate this movie to the bottomless pile of movies labeled as “mindless entertainment”.  That the Blu-ray presentation was so average further relegates this film to an afterthought.   

Film 

I will go out on a limb here and speculate that I will be the only on line reviewer to rate this films as anything other than a 5 star film. After all, given the boffo box office receipts, it has to be a great film, doesn’t it. Well….. not exactly. Don’t get me wrong, the film has stunning visuals and reference audio as noted below. However, the story is another matter. I have seen this story before and have seen it done better. The best way I can think to describe the film is that it is Dances With Wolves meets Aliens meets Greenpeace.

I am sure that all of you know the plot. The film takes place on Pandora, a moon of the planet Polyphemus (think of a blue Jupiter) in the Alpha Centauri, which is a 6 year journey from Earth. Humans have arrived at Pandora to mine a mysterious mineral named Unobtanium (couldn’t Mr. Cameron have come up with another name?) which seems to have antigravity properties and is worth a boatload of cash. The only problem is that Pandora is inhabited by the Na’Vi, a race of blue tall and thin humanoids, who will not leave their home, a giant tree (and I mean a giant tree) which happens to sit on a massive deposit of Unobtanium.

In order to try to convince the Na’Vi to move and to gather intelligence on their society and defenses, the humans or Sky People as the Na’Vi call them, the humans create human-Na’Vi clones known as Avatars are created which humans can inhabit via some sort of wireless mind link while placed in a pod on their base. The Avatars are created using a combination of human and Na’Vi DNA and as such are tailored to a particular person. However, one of the men for whom an Avatar was created as murdered on Earth and was replaced with his brother, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a marine who lost the use of his legs in battle. However, his DNA is so similar to that of his brother that he was “inhabit” his brother’s Avatar.

As Jake enters the Na’Vi community, he earns their respect and love all the while collecting intelligence on their defenses which is relayed to the military on base. When it is clear that the Na”Vi will not move, the military goes in to move them out, with extreme force, which causes Jake to have to make a choice between his new found “family” and the Sky People.

While the film has its moments, it has a very heavy political message and contains a story that has been the subject of quite few movies. Even some of the contraptions and creatures in the film look very familiar to those in other films including Aliens and even The Incredibles (take a gander at those helicopters). The film is very predictable and way too long at 2 hours and 40 minutes.

Did I enjoy the film? Sure, but not to the extent to give it more than 3 stars out of 5. All the incredible CGI aside, the script itself is just not all that great. Despite my issues with the plot, I still have to give this release a must buy recommendation as the video and audio quality is so spectacular, that it belongs in the collection of every film fan and home theater geek. Avatar is a must buy.

Video 

I must say that I am hesitant to give the video a 5 stars rating as it deserves an even higher rating. In fact, the video on Avatar is in a league of its own, being the best looking film I have yet to experience at home. On scale of 5, it is fully worthy of a 6 star rating. It is simply spectacular and is reference from star to finish. The bright colors, the deep blacks and spectacular level of detail and clarity is amazing and must be seen to be believed. The level of depth and three dimensionality here is the best I have ever seen. One can clearly see the added depth that was included for 3D as it is clearly visible in 2D. The video on Avatar is perfect in every way. Yes, I said perfect. Need I really say more?

Audio 

The audio on Avatar is every bit as good as the video and is also of reference quality from the start of the film to the very end. The sound is smooth, full, detailed, effortless and natural sounding and transports you from your home to Pandora. I can’t think of a film that I have seen at home that sounds this good. The sound design on Avatar is as good as it gets. I just keep coming back to the word effortless. No matter how loud you crank up with volume the film sounds great. Unlike many films, the higher the volume, the better this film sounds.

Dynamics are off the charts with deep and natural sounding bass that doesn’t have even a hint of bloat. The highs are smooth and open with reference levels of transparency, imaging and detail, from the softest sound to the loudest, all clearly audible and all well placed in the sound field. The surrounds are active throughout the film creating a sense of total immersion. It is the sense of immersion that really caught me by surprise as the surrounds, while actively and aggressively deployed, never call attention to themselves, sounding as true to real life that I have ever heard at home. The audio here is reference in all respects and is, dare I say it again, perfect!

Special Features

This was an easy category to score as there are now extras whatsoever. The folks at Fox have advised that there are no extras because they maxed out the bit rate for the audio and video and there was no space available for extras. They could have included extras on a second Blu-ray disc but chose instead to include a second disc that is contains a DVD edition of the film. This is probably a good move as it will no doubt greatly increase the sales for the Blu-ray version of the disc, as you can get both formats for the price of a DVD. Still, for such an anticipated release, one would have expected many extras and all in HD. I will hazard to bet that the extras will be included on the 3D later in the year. The lack of any extras is the only flaw that I can point to regarding this release.

Final Thoughts 

Avatar is in a league of its own when it comes to its video and audio presentations, both of which are the best I have yet to experience at home. Avatar on Blu-ray is a must buy for all film fans and home theater geeks like me. If you want to show off your system to friends and family, Avatar is the only film that you will need. It is that good.

Film 

When I think of the film Cocoon, many different words come to mind: Witty, touching, original, poignant, sweet, beautiful and moving, just to name a few. I loved this film in the theater way back when in 1985 and subsequently in its other incarnations on home video, Blu-ray being just the latest. The film features a great cast of older actors who all turn in excellent performances.

The film centers upon three men at a retirement home in St. Peterburg, Florida, Ben, Arthur and Joe, played by Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley and Hume Cronyn,who find a new lease on life after they begin to swim in a pool located next to their retirement home filled with strange rocks. The rocks are placed there by four odd people who rent a boat and travel out to the ocean off the coast and dive down to the bottom to retrieve the rocks.

One night, while they are out on the boat retrieving more of the cocoons, the owner of the boat, played by Steve Guttenberg, discovers that the four individuals he is renting to boat to are actually aliens from the planet Antarea who have come to retrieve friends they were forced to abandon when their outpost on Earth, Atlantis, was destroyed 10,000 years ago. They are hear to retrieve them and they place them in the pool to re-energize their life force for the trip home.

The aliens eventually discover that the three men were swimming in their pool and allow them to do so, so long as they do not touch the cocoons. However, the rest of the retirement community begins to notice how spry the three and their wives have become and they find out their secret from Bernie (Jack Gilford) who spills the beans, which results in a tragedy for the aliens, forcing them to cut off their mission and return to Antarea, with an unexpected set of crew members.

Don Ameche won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Ben and it was richly deserved. However, the rest of the cast turned in excellent performances as well, including Maureen Stapelton, Jessica Tandy and Brian Dennehy, in addition to the aforementioned Wilford Brimley and Hume Cronyn. If you have not seen this film or like me, have not seen it in ages, by all means do yourself a favor and check it out on Blu-ray. You will be glad you did.

Video 

Cocoon was made in the mid 1980′s and looks it as it has the look of many of the films of that time period. In other words, it is soft, very soft. The film also has a very muted color palette. If you are looking for a film with bright, bold and richly saturated colors and a razor sharp image, you will be totally disappointed with the video presentation of this release. The softness does not appear to be the result of any digital noise reduction, although I did detect the application of some edge enhancement which I surmise, was applied to sharpen up the picture a bit.

In addition to muted colors, black levels are mediocre as well, resulting in an image that can best be described as murky and soft. However, as best I can recall, this is how the film looked in the theater. While I am sure that the film could benefit from a restoration, I am quite sure that it would still look soft and muted as that is how the film was shot. It would appear that the film looks just as it should on this Blu-ray release sand is a victim of the film-making style of the period. Nevertheless, the video presentation here is still much better looking than any of its prior video releases.

Audio 

I was not expecting a bombastic and immersive sound experience with this release and was not disappointed. There is really nothing wrong with the overall sound, which has very good fidelity. In particular, the music, especially the big band music featured in the film, sounds fantastic, with a smooth and open sound with nice bass and dynamics that is easy on the ears. The dialogue track is well recorded and well placed in the mix. It is the mix itself which is the issue in that it is very front heavy.

For most of the film, the surround speakers are just an afterthought, coming to life very infrequently. When they do come to life, as they do at the end of the film, they are employed very well. Given the age of the film, I expected just as much. However, given the increased fidelity that lossless audio affords us on Blu-ray, the audio here is still a significant upgrade over the audio available on any of the other prior home video releases of the film.

Special Features  

As best I can tell, the extras appear to be ported over from the prior DVD release of the film and are of very poor video quality as they were shot on standard def video and are noisy and blurry. Just what you would expect from poor quality SD video from the mid 1980′s. The extras include an audio commentary from director Ron Howard as well as several trailers and TV spots for the film, including a very brief teaser trailer for the sequel, Cocoon: The Return.

The extras also include 5 featurettes dealing with various aspects of the film, including a behind the scenes look at the making of the film, the cast, filming the underwater sequences an the creation of the aliens. I would not call any of the extras must see and frankly, parts of the featurettes are duplicates, as several of the interview segments are repeated in several of the featurettes. Frankly, if you just watch the making of featurette, which is the longest of the 5, you will have seen all you need to see. The release is not BD-Live enabled and does not include a digital copy.

Final Thoughts 

While Cocoon does not exactly feature reference audio or video presentations, it does hold up beautifully as a film and is well worth a visit or re-visit on Blu-ray and is recommended.

Film 

Where the Wild Things Are is based on the wildly popular illustrated children’s book of the same name by Maurice Sendak. Mr. Sendak is very proud of his book as he should be and has rebuffed many efforts over the years to bring his book to the silver screen, waiting for the right director with the right vision. Well, he has found the right man for the job in Spike Jonze, who has turned his book into a wonderfully moving, poignant and thought provoking film.

The film stars a total newcomer, Max Records, as Max, a young boy who has issues with anger management, who when agitated, becomes wildly angry, lashing out against members of his family. After a particularly nasty encounter with his mother, he runs away from home and finds a small sailboat on the bank of a small river. He imagines sailing away on that boat and landing on a strange island inhabited by a strange looking group of big furry creatures that can talk. They are quite a wild bunch but take a liking to Max, making him their king.

Max grows close to one of the creatures in particular, a burly and aggressive creature named Carol who is wonderfully voiced by James Gandolfini. Carol and Max are kindred spirits as they share an inability to control their anger. It is through watching Carol interact with his fellow creatures as well as himself, that Max learns how to deal with and control his anger and better interact and relate to his family and peers.

In addition to James Gandolfini, the film also features the voices of Forrest Whitaker and Catherine O’Hara. Where the Wild Things Are is a fine film and is well worth your time and is highly recommended.

Video 

Simply put, the cinematography on this film is excellent and looks great on this Blu-ray release. The film features a very natural looking color palette with spot on skin tones, especially during the early scenes in the film at Max’s home. The scenes that occur on the island with the creatures offer varying shades of browns and grays but look just as impressive nonetheless.

The film also features deep and inky blacks and excellent levels of detail and clarity. While I was very impressed with the overall loom of the film, there are a number of instances, mostly dimly lit interior scenes that are a bit soft, lacking the clarity, depth and detail of the rest of the film. Otherwise, this is a great looking encode and is one that should thrill fans of the film.

Audio  

Quite frankly, I was not really prepared for the quality of the audio on this release. The fidelity is simply astounding. The transparency and imaging is among the best I have ever heard in the home, with a sense of depth and three dimensionality that is wonderful. The surrounds are used often and aggressively, creating a totally immersive sound field. Dynamics are excellent as well. Just listen to the bass during the scene on the stormy sea and the landing on the beach in rough surf. This is true reference material. The same is true of the action sequences with the creatures on the island.

I can’t imagine how the sound on this release could be any better. Even better is the fidelity of the dialogue track, with the various actors sounding as though they are right in the room with you, which is high praise indeed. The audio presentation of this release is darn near perfect and fully worthy of a full 5 star rating.

Special Features 

The extras on this release are fairly plentiful. The main extra is a short live action animation film entitled Higglety Pigglety Pop! Or There Must Be More to Life, featuring the voices of Meryl Streep and Forrest Whitaker. This film is an adaptation of another of Maurice Sendak’s book by the National Film Board of Canada and is another interesting film that is well worth a look.

The rest of the extras involve the making of featurette, which contains sections of footage that is also featured in the more fleshed out sections that follow. These sections show detailed interactions with Spike Jonze and Maurice Sendak where they discuss why Maurice agreed to do the film with Spike, a section where the hunt and eventual selection of Max Records for the lead role of Max is discussed with the Spike and the Records’ family, and a more detailed look at the Records family.

They also include a discussion of the scoring of the film with composer Carter Burwell and short segments of fun on the set, including a vampire attack sequence with Spike Jonze and Max Records, an on set prank involving a scooter, kids on set and the difficulty involved in trying to film a dog barking while running. I would watch the main behind the scenes feature and should you be interested in more detail about one aspect of the featurette, check out the individual segments that follow.

The release is a two-disc set, with the second disc consisting of a DVD copy of the film along with a digital copy compatible with Macs and PCs.

Final Thoughts 

Where the Wild Things Are is a very original film which is engaging and through provoking and is well worth a look. The fact that is features excellent video and reference audio is an added bonus. Highly recommended.

As a general rule of thumb, movies based on video games tend to well, lets say, not quite meet expectations. Although there are exceptions to the rule (like Pokémon, or Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within), for each good movie there is three or four bad ones (like Street Fighter or Super Mario Brothers).

This being said, a quick read of the cover jacket piqued my interest, as this Blu-ray was a compilation of seven stories told through eight anime shorts. As a lover of anime, I find that the art form (when done well) has both emotional and aesthetic resonance that stays with the viewer days afterward.

Therefore, I optimistically sat down to view this Blu-ray with an eager air of anticipation – even though it was based on a video game, I knew there was an opportunity to enjoy the work of at least seven different anime directors.

Film 

There is always some difficulty in reviewing anime, as I do find the animation art form we are raised with in North America affecting our frame of reference. As we are conditioned to enjoy Chuck Jones-style slapstick or Scooby-Doo stupidity, I have often felt there are many levels to anime films that the North American viewer fails to appreciate.

As a Halo neophyte, I found the order of the shorts and the information provided to be more than adequate to understand the stories. However, I should caution that this is from the perspective of an experienced anime viewer – I am used to not having everything explained in detail to me. For someone who has not watched anime, or is unfamiliar with Halo, they may find some of the shorts challenging to enjoy, as they’re too distracted trying to understand what they are about. For this segment of the population, an advance visit to the Special Features before watching the shorts is advised.

I can thankfully report that this Blu-ray covers the anime waterfront – from linear and traditional (Origins, Part I and II), to incredibly stylistic and emotionally powerful (The Duel), to heavy and self-reflective (Homecoming), to mecha (Prototype), to action (The Babysitter), and to humor (Odd One Out). Even the viewer who is inexperienced with anime should find something to like here. The only short that seemed really out of place on the Blu-ray was the CGI-rendered “The Package”, which was more like Star Wars I through III, and less like traditional anime.

A very powerful theme that runs through the best anime is that of redemption – that a flawed character is eventually redeemed through making amends, self-sacrifice, a redemptive act, self-awareness, or choosing not to engage in an act. Of the eight shorts, redemption was at the fore in four, and was considered in two others. This gave the Blu-ray a credibility and weight far superior to what it should have from the source material.

Overall, this disc was very well done. If asked to pick favourites, “Odd One Out” appeared at a great time on the disc, adding a needed levity after some heavier segments. “The Babysitter”, “Homecoming”, and “Prototype” were also equally well done, and fit very well into a traditional anime mold. However, special praise is reserved for “The Duel”, a short that is stylistically unlike anything I’ve seen previously.

In “The Duel”, each scene looked like a shifting watercolor painted by a master like Renoir: sharp enough to suggest the scene, diffuse enough to allow your mind to add the details, yet having one fine detail at all times (like eyes) that jars and focuses the viewer. It has to be seen to be understood; my words do not do it justice. On top of this visceral beauty, the story dealt with strong concepts such as honor, power, loyalty, belief, murder, and revenge, very impressive in a short this length.

All in all, this was a very entertaining disc. Although the Spartans (of which Master Chief is one) and their war are what tie this movie together, the variety of settings, character perspectives, and anime styles are what make the disc such a treat.

Video 

As can be expected from any animated picture, the transfer was incredibly clean and sharp. Colors popped off the screen, yet tones were not lost, especially important when the color itself was being used to convey emotion. This is especially noted at the beginning of “Prototype” (when tones are used to set a somber mood) and when the Spartan returns home in the middle of “Homecoming” (the bright clear sky and fountain convey joy in a way words cannot).

It is difficult to nit-pick this Blu-ray, as the video is superb and smooth, with no artifacting, black crush, or noise to be seen. The only challenge is that with such different art styles and directorial visions, there would have been some compromise in color balancing the disk. This shows up in a few of the paler shorts, mainly “Origins I” and “The Babysitter”.

Although this is not a reference disk (like Wall-E), it is very, very close, and looks superb.

Audio 

As mentioned in the Video section, there can be a challenge when bringing together eight different shorts, yet getting them sonically balanced. The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack of this Blu-ray did a surprisingly admirable job of doing so.

Dynamic levels were exceptionally good (considering the variety of anime presented), and dialog came through crisp and clear. Combat scenes had thump and power, shell casings landed all around the viewer, and surround channels were used regularly and appropriately. For DD 5.1, it was one of the best I’ve heard, and better than some True HD mixes.

My only complaint is the presence and mixing of the score. Much of the music is beautifully composed, and adds to the mood and atmosphere of the disc. However, there is too much of a good thing at times – the score can occasionally be invasive through the rear channels in some segments, and there is simply too much of it.

One of the things I appreciate about anime is that there does not always need to be a constant cacophony of dialog, music, and action noises. Some of the best scenes in may favourite anime are where there is silent and contemplative reflection (anathema to the Hollywood studio). Think of the trolley scene in Spirited Away or the train station scene with Shinji and Misato near the end of episode four of Neon Genesis Evangelion – there is a beauty to these scenes that North American studios would mangle.

Special Features 

It is a special disk which contains shorts that are so memorable, you’d rather watch them a few times more before reviewing the special features. But, the features must be reviewed. Such is my duty as your humble reviewer.

As a non-Halo fan, I did not find the commentaries really that interesting, and I’m confident enthusiasts will get more out of these than I did. Although discussions of the styles of the different directors were good, it was simply not enough to keep me interested.

For the same reasons, I did not find the “Gaming Evolved” featurette all that interesting either. Presented in 1080i, at least its presentation and run time was good, and would be a walk down memory lane for the itchy-fingered masses.

“The Story so Far” was an interesting featurette, and would be a good starting place for the Halo uninitiated to start. It explains a lot of the back stories (again in 1080i), and would be perfect for the person who needs to know everything about what they are watching. Again, I do not have issues with the partial-plot nature of anime, and found I enjoyed the shorts better by knowing less. However, this was a very good offering, and I could see how it would be appreciated by others.

To me, the cherry on the sundae was the almost hour-long “Making of” featurette which actually dissects each one of the shorts. This is one of those great “behind the scenes” features that allow you to understand the craft better. Recorded in 1080i, this is fully worth the time invested.

I was glad to see that Warner Brothers went the quality route with their featurettes on this Blu-ray. Although not all were to my tastes, my score for these reflects more the overall value that others (especially the neophyte) will likely get from this package.

Final Thoughts

Although apprehensive before viewing the movie, I was actually rewarded with a nicely crafted “variety pack” of anime. Through emotive storytelling and beautiful video/audio presentation, this disc surprised me with the depth, comprehensibility, and emotion of its stories. Even though the material was a bit uneven, there was much more good than bad on this disc. And when it was good, it was really good.

I would fully recommend this movie to those who appreciate anime, and to those who appreciate animation as an art form. Even those who aren’t anime or Halo fans are presented with quality special features that would allow them to fully enjoy the shorts.

In my experience, it is rare to be able to sample such a great variety of anime on one disk, especially one with such a high quality presentation. Highly recommended.

Series 

It’s hard to call “The Clone Wars” a series, mostly due to the fact that the story arcs don’t last more than a few episodes and it’s really a stab in the dark to tell when each storyline is taking place. Remember, I know as much about Star Wars as I do about quantum mechanics. However, even though these tangent storylines are short, they’re the perfect length to tell a quick story within the Star Wars universe without having to worry about infringing on canon set forth by the films.  Lucas knows how to please his fans in a way that is both exciting and completely null considering we know Anakin isn’t going to suddenly die in a storyline that takes place before the Darth Vader days… I may know a little about star wars.

When I started watching the first episode I was frightened when opposed to having your regular scrolling text like they do in the films, they decided to put in a narrator to recap the storyline. A bad thing? Not at all, time is tight on a 23 minute tv show… However when the voice of the narrator is that of a 50′s car salesman, perhaps your casting director should be fired. You get used to the voice over time though.

Throughout the different storylines we’re presented with a mixture of different elements. There’s great action scenes that contain amazing visual effects and very intense battles and then there’s these odd Saturday morning cartoon moments that really show you the seams of the production, this is a television show that needs to acceptable due to the fact it’s for kids. If you’re fearing that nothing tastes more bitter than a sugar-coated version of something you cherish like the Star Wars films, don’t worry. For the most part the droids are the main element that caters to younger audiences, from their silly dialogue to their slapstick antics… Did I laugh when a group of droids accidentally jumped to their death and the only droid who made the landing was subsequently hit by a train? Perhaps.

For the most part the series is a great watch mostly for the visuals, but the storyline isn’t as campy and cheesy as I feared. It’s definitely the perfect helping for a quick dose of some sci-fi adventure. The distribution of television series is probably my favorite aspect of being an avid movie watcher, because when you only have an hour to kill and can’t finish a full length feature, sometimes it’s nice to kick back and watch something short and sweet. Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 1 is definitely short and sweet!

Video 

The Clone Wars comes at us in 1080p/VC-1 and surprisingly uses 2.35:1 aspect ratio for a television series. I was originally going to critique the animation at times throughout the series. I was going to say when you compare it to the amazingly fluid animation from other Lucas arts or ILM projects that the Clone Wars series seems a bit lesser in quality… but then I remembered THIS IS A WEEKLY TELEVISION SERIES! Considering they have to pump out 2 hours (roughly a Pixar movie’s length) worth of animation within a month is insane.

The animation is great, the backdrops are detailed and well designed, and the character models have this unique and almost anime look to them that really fits the style of series.

The graphics look phenomenal being projected onto a 100″ screen and I was blown away by the colors and lighting throughout. The details are crisp and clear and everything moves smoothly and fluidly. The visual effects look amazing as well, it seems Lucas Arts spends just as much detail on the compositing on the show as they do in their bigger projects.

This is definitely showroom quality!

Audio

I had high expectations, being a bit of an audiophile, and my expectations weren’t met. Considering this is a Lucas Arts project and it was mixed at Skywalker Ranch (one of the top audio studios in the world), it better have some amazing sound!

I immediately expected to see a THX codec used or at the very least DTS-HD, but instead we’re given a subpar Dolby digital 5.1 mix that wasn’t mixed incredibly well. Sounds bled into one another in the multi-layered scenes such as a battle sequence that involves dozens of audio tracks on top of each other.

That being said the film doesn’t have a bad mix, just not a great one. The dialogue comes through nicely, the score sounded great and everything can clearly be heard when a million things are happening at once, but when the complex mixing is pushed to the limits the codec shows its weakness.

Special Features

The Blu-ray offers only two special features, minus trailers. They’re labeled Jedi Temple Archive and the Enhanced Jedi Temple Archives Mode. Although that doesn’t seem like much, both are actually quite insightful and allow the fans to see every facet of the development of the show from early concept art to pre-vis 3D tests.

The enhanced version of the archives plays while you’re watching the series and when a nugget of info is available for the scene you’re watching you have the option to learn more. The regular archive is more of a mini behind-the-scenes documentary that you don’t need to watch in the middle of each episode.

Even though there’s truly only two special features, they provide for information, back-story and insight into the development and production of the series then I’ve seen on a lot of other Blu-ray’s that have a giant list or separate discs full of features.

The only thing that may have been missing was a commentary track.

Final Thoughts 

Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Season 1 is definitely a well-made series on a technical level and although the show does have a lot of sugar-coated elements for kids, the action is intense and the storylines aren’t as 2 dimensional as they seem. With showroom quality video and great special features; newcomers, such as myself, are going to enjoy this release just as much as the fans. Even though I still have no idea how the Star Wars chronology goes, this series is a great watch!

Film 

Clash of the Titans is a 1981 fantasy adventure film based on the Greek mythology of Perseus.  It was released in the theaters in June of 1981 and it did considerably well at the U.S. box office grossing $41 million.  The Ray Harryhausen produced film starred Laurence Oliver, Harry Hamlin, Judi Bowker, Maggie Smith, Burgess Meredith, Neil McCarthy and more.  The stop animation special effects employed throughout the film are also credited to Ray Harryhausen. 

So how was it?  I guess that’s the question I really need to answer here isn’t it?  Well, as what is the case most of the time for me, Clash of the Titans was simply not as good as I remember it.  Sure it’s a grand epic adventure, but modern day technology and effects spoil me.  I had a similar discussion with a man at work the other day.  I made a comment about the first Star Wars film and how the little things such as the blocks around the tie fighters and Obi Wan’s lightsaber bothered me.  He immediately cried blasphemy and asked me not to place so much emphasis on the special effects, but rather upon the captivating quality of the story and its hold on audiences.  Of course he is right, but for me, it always comes back to special effects and that inevitable believability factor.  For as much as I enjoyed the Titans storyline, I could not force the suspension of my disbelief for the entire two hours of runtime.  The technology, or lack thereof, simply broke the film for me.  Oh well.  I am sure you had enough of my special effects banter.  Underneath its imperfections, there’s still a good film here that deserves proper homage.

What it all boils down to really is a gripping love story.  A gripping love story alone can carry a movie.  Look how effective Cameron was with Titanic and Avatar.  Without that central love story would we have even cared?  The same thing holds true, in my opinion, for Clash of the Titans.  The film’s 2-hour journey is a grand epic tale of how Zeus’(Laurence Oliver) son, Perseus (Harry Hamlin), risks it all to save the woman he loves, Princess Andromeda (Judi Bowker).  Isn’t that sweet?  The only difference here is instead of a sinking ship or a bunch of greedy war bent humans, Perseus must foil the Gods’ evil plans, fight a monstrous Calibos (Neil McCarthy), slay a woman/serpent who will turn you to stone just by looking into her eyes and take down one of the biggest onscreen monsters ever, the Kraken, years before Luke single-handedly brought down the Rancor in Jabba’s Palace.  So yes, you essentially have your love story here with is the bread and butter of the story.  Without it, I’m not sure what you would be left with here.

It’s kind of funny.  What’s that you ask?  Before I move on and start talking about the Blu-ray’s vitals, I do feel obligated to mention the following golden nugget.  I have been studying modern day screenwriting as of late and one of the most useful books I have been referencing has been Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat.  Not only does Act II begin right on time where our hero is introduced and thrusted into his new world, but the filmmakers also decided to strategically place cats in that scene as well.  Whether the intention of the cats were planned or not, they made a favorable impression upon me.  All right.  That’s enough small talk.  Let’s talk some Blu-ray smack! 

Video 

As I alluded to before in my opening paragraph, the Blu-ray’s detachable rear cover art reads, “This film has been remastered utilizing state-of-the-art digital technology, while maintaining the visual appearance of the original theatrical release.”  In other words, better get used to that grain kid.  From the moment the picture began to roll I was instantaneously transported into a world of film grain unlike anything I have ever known before.  The film’s presentation retains its original 1.85:1 theatrical aspect ratio, but despite the remastering efforts, the 1080p VC-1 encode is inconsistent throughout.  The print appears to be littered with debris during the first 10 minutes of its runtime, but it quickly cleans up and maintains a warm/neutral palette for the remainder of the feature.  In reality, this is a hard one to grade.  There’s no doubt that this is the finest Clash of the Titans has ever looked, but as I mentioned before, it’s the inconsistency that is devastating here.  Some moments the visual representation looks beautiful and I have absolutely no qualms and then it’s like I walked into a screen door’s mesh with a light shining behind it and 1,000 mosquitoes swarming in the background.  Don’t even get me started on the visual appearance of the special effects.  LOL.  I once thought the visible wires in the Face/Off Blu-ray were bad.  I’m going to remain neutral, take into consideration the average quality of the presentation and agree to disagree with a score of 3 here.

Audio 

Here’s where I am baffled.  Warner Bros. spent all this time and money remastering the video, but why is the audio track still only 2.0?  This is the Blu-ray format right?  I did not put a VHS-ported DVD into my player by accident did I?  The DTS-HD Master Audio sounds all right, but never better than that.  If Rocky can have a 5.1 surround track, then why can’t Titans?  Was this title simply rushed onto the Blu-ray format to coincide with the 2010 remake?  I have an inkling that it was.  However, I do know one thing for sure.  I am not happy with only a 2.0 stereo track.  The track just sounded flat throughout.  I never strained to hear the words, but nevertheless I was disappointed when there were so many moments and occasions during the film where a simple rear speaker sound effect would have made a world of difference.  Instead, I never felt like I was a part of this movie.  It did little to encompass me and therefore, I never felt truly engaged in this Blu-ray feature.  It’s suppose to be a grand epic adventure right?  So where’s the thumping bass, the roar of the Kraken and the arrows flying by my head?  They are non-existent here and that’s a shame.

Special Features 

Clash of the Titans arrives on Blu-ray specially packaged in a Warner digi-book case with a stylized embossed front cover and a stuck-on paper sleeve on the back (see all the photos below).  Inside the digi-book case are pages of production stills, character bios and 10 pages of images from the new Clash of Titans remake.  Speaking of the remake, $7.50 worth of movie cash can also be found inside.  It can be used to see the 2010 remake during the calendar dates 4/9/10 – 5/2/10.  Does it smell fishy in here?  It makes me wonder if not for this new remake would we even be seeing this film right now on the Blu-ray format?  It all reeks of in-your-face advertising to me and it’s rather quite brilliant!

In addition to the non-disc features I listed above, the Blu-ray only has two extras, unless you count the 5-minute 2010 Clash of the Titans HD trailer and behind the scenes footage that starts playing immediately upon the disc’s insertion into your player.  The first extra is titled A Conversation with Ray Harryhausen and for the next 12 minutes we get to hear about his film career and how he became involved with the Titans project.  The second extra is appropriately called the Myths and Monsters Gallery and is presented as 7 quick featurettes where Ray talks specifically about the creatures in the film. 

If it not for the HD bonus footage of the 2010 remake and the movie, then this section would have obviously received a much lower score.  For this reason alone, I settled on a score of 2.  I think it’s justified.  Don’t you?

Final Thoughts 

Well it’s always a tough call when a childhood favorite doesn’t seem to cut it any more 30 years later.  What do you do?  How do you rate it?  I tried my best to be fair with all my comments above.  Despite my love for the film’s story, I felt it only fair to discuss the Blu-ray’s many shortcomings.  So let’s be honest here if we can.  If you are a huge fan of the movie and are able to dismiss the film’s less than stellar 1981 special effects and the 2.0 sound, then by all means make this a day 1 purchase for yourself and dispense the misery of not owning it anymore on the Hi-Def format of choice.  However, if you are like me and not all right with any of the Blu-ray’s shortcomings as mentioned above, then I strongly recommend a rental before plunging in headfirst on a blind buy.  Either way, enjoy yourself and indulge the Greek Gods in glorious High-Definition.  You can always look on the bright side too.  There’s a new film coming in April that looks like it may conquer all the Blu-ray woes discussed here.  Here’s raising my glass to that!

 Pre-order Clash of the Titans on Blu-ray today!

So, it could certainly be said that I went in to reviewing this Blu-ray with no preconceptions, nor any frame of reference on which to compare SG-U: 1.0. And I did honestly find this a bit intimidating, as with no knowledge of the series, would I even be able to comprehend what was happening?

In short, my fears were unfounded. These two discs contained a comprehensible and well-produced series, chock full of psychological tension, drama, and better-than-usual character development. This was one of the better television sci-fi series that I have seen, and held my attention though all ten episodes.

Series 

Firstly, the viewer should note that this Blu-ray contains only the first ten episodes of season one, including the mid-season finale. Scheduled for twenty episodes, the full first season will not be available on Blu-ray until July of 2010.

Initially, I was very pleased to see that the first episode included a seamlessly hidden narrative on what Stargates are, where they came from, and how they work. This helps bring the new viewer (like me) very comfortably into the Stargate universe, and allows them to enjoy this series for what it is.

The plot setup is also quite simple. The US military has constructed the “Icarus Base” on an alien planet that contains a special Stargate. Apparently this Stargate is unique in that it can dial an address using nine chevrons versus the normal eight, though the project has been unsuccessful in doing so.

In a quest to determine what ninth chevron to enter, Dr. Rush (the ever-superb Robert Carlyle) invents an online video game with code to help solve the riddle (shades of The Last Starfighter). A young slacker, Eli Wallace (well-played by David Blue) solves the game, and is recruited to help assist the project.

Shortly into the show, the Icarus Base is attacked for still-mysterious reasons, and a number of base inhabitants must escape through the Stargate. Although the Stargate was to have been dialed to Earth, Dr. Rush instead successfully determines what the ninth chevron should be (with the help of Eli), and the survivors are forced to flee through the gate, regardless of its destination.

Good news – the gate was not set up for the surface of a sun, or into the void of space. Bad news – the nine-chevron address shipped them to the Destiny, a million-year old ship that is now located billions of light years from Earth. Worse news – the life support systems on this very aged ship are failing. Even worse news – the planet that contained the Icarus Base blew up, meaning that the technology needed to get to the Destiny is now potentially lost forever.

This setup truly sets the tone for the series. As viewers, we are treated to a claustrophobic-feeling psycho-drama, where we have approximately 80 survivors trapped in a decrepit spaceship which is taking them farther and farther from home. In viewing the series, I was reminded of Alien, Battlestar Galactica (original series) and Star Trek, not a bad pedigree of shows to be associated with.

The characters themselves are also very good, and do not fit typical sci-fi archetypes. Each appears human and flawed, and although we get some hints of their motivations, there is always the feeling that there is more there to be explored in later episodes. Robert Carlyle is fantastic (like he was in Trainspotting, The Full Monty, and Hitler: The Rise of Evil), and makes us ask a question of the show’s most pivotal character: is he good, or is he bad? We’re shown just enough to have no idea.

The supporting cast is also strong, with excellent performances being given by Jamil Walker Smith (Sgt. Greer), Elyse Levesque (Chloe Armstrong), and Brian J. Smith (Lt. Scott).

And ultimately, this is the strength of the series. Although the first ten episodes contain action and drama, this is not where the appeal lies. Instead, the way the characters act, how they respond to different situations, and wanting to understand them better is what holds the viewer’s attention.

Video 

Many television shows look better on Blu-ray, as they do not suffer as badly from the macroblocking, artifacting, and black crush created during signal compression. Although I had not seen this show previously, the general darkness of the Destiny and space scenes suggest that broadcasts of this show would suffer from some of these degradations.

However, I am pleased to report that this was one of the best looking TV series I had ever seen on Blu-ray. The shots had a natural film grain, dark areas were not crushed, and hue, tone, and light were appropriate for each scene. The video in this show is actually better than what I have seen on a number of movies I’ve recently reviewed.

Blu-ray can highlight flaws in most effects in a show, including CGI. I am also pleased to report this show did have some of the best TV CGI I’ve seen, though some interior sets in the Destiny looked artificially “aged”.

For a Blu-ray, this series had a very good video presentation. For a Blu-ray TV series transfer, it is one of the best I’ve seen. And although I had not seen this show via broadcast, I would have difficulty imagining SG-U: 1.0 looking any better than it did on Blu-ray.

Audio 

I simply cannot understand how a lossless audio track from a TV show seems to have less dynamic information than a lossless track from a movie. But like most of its TV counterparts, SG-U: 1.0 suffers from the typical TV show-based lack of LFE. Although better than most TV shows, the LFE levels still miss that rumble and thump I get from cinema-based content.

On the positive side, this show was much less front-loaded than most TV presentations I have seen, and the surround channels were used appropriately. Dynamic levels were well balanced, and dialog was mostly level and clear through the centre (though lost in the mix at times). Most impressive were the ambient noises while on the Destiny – they truly helped create a creepy and claustrophobic feel.

Special Features 

There appeared to be a pretty good selection of special features, though only some had value – much of it was fairly pedestrian. That it was all in SD (except for the extended pilot) did not enhance its value.

A random sampling of commentaries suggested that there is little insight to be gained by listening to them. There is a lot of self-congratulatory praise and inside jokes between cast members – briefly funny but rarely revealing. Also, none of the commentaries appeared to have Robert Carlyle in them; disappointing as his acerbic Scottish wit may have added a bit of flint to the fluff.

The featurettes are also fairly pedestrian, including a tediously long one about the KINO cameras (a floating camera ball discovered on the Destiny). However, the Stargate 101 featurette is a pretty good watch for a neophyte (like me) – mind you these same neophytes will also likely fill knowledge holes with Google or Wikipedia (also like me).

Overall, the value in this package is in the show itself, and the extended pilot.

Final Thoughts

As a music lover, one of my favourite experiences is “discovering” a new artist, then finding out that not only is the artist not new, but that they also have a great back catalog of music available. The first ten episodes of SG-U: 01 were exactly like this for me – the show was so well thought out and presented, what else exists in the Stargate back catalog that I have overlooked?

Regardless, as this 2-disc set delivers over seven hours of a well-written, well-acted, and well-presented sci-fi show (plus extras) for under $45, it represents a hard-to-beat value. Overall, I give this a highly recommended “buy”, especially for any science fiction fan.