Film  

Like I said in the paragraph above, unlike the previous two sequels, this fourth film keeps the serious tone of the original one.  And interestingly enough, Rambo holds the record for the most kills out of the entire franchise with an astonishing 236.  Stallone has gone on record stating that the violence in the film is justified as to draw attention to what’s really happening in Burma.  I cannot disagree.  One viewing of this had me wanting to give up my freedom and take sides with the Karen rebels out there.  The way those innocent people are brutally slaughtered and mutilated is just sick.  It truly is hell on Earth there.  And this is where the movie completely tugged on my emotions and re-opened a lot of deep wounds.  I really wanted to make a difference in the world after watching this one.  And when you are left feeling like this after watching a movie, you know the director perfectly executed his job.  I give much respect and admiration to Sylvester Stallone for bringing about the awareness of this war torn region to moviegoers everywhere.  Now, if we can just all do something about it!  I can hear the film’s moving score in my head right now as I pen this review.  Brilliant!

Anyone already familiar with the 2008 film probably needs no refresher on the plot here.  It is what it is.  That is… Rambo returns to action, with the help of hired militia, to rescue U.S. missionaries who go missing from a village in Burma.  One of the missionaries in particular, Sarah Miller (Julie Benz), previously struck an emotional accord with John Rambo before leaving.  She made Rambo search his heart and he found out that he really does care about people and events going on around despite his previous beliefs and statements made.  John has put his war torn past aside for 20 years now only to find himself come full circle with who he really is… a killer… this time with a humanitarian interest.  Go Rambo!

The realism/believability part of the story comes into play where this time around, it’s not only Rambo making the difference, but it’s a cumulative team effort.  With the help of the hired militia (mercenaries) and Karen rebels, Rambo joins forces to temporarily overthrow the iron-fisted rule of the Tatmadaw led by Burmese military officer Major Pa Tee Tint.  At first I was kind of taken aback by Rambo not going all out on his own, but let’s face it, the dude is in his 60’s and he can use some help… finally!  Anyway, the mercenaries are hilarious and well developed in the screenplay.  They are a much-welcomed addition to the film and in hindsight; I would not want it done any other way.  It’s not like Rambo doesn’t save the day anyway in the end.  Right?

And as far as the action goes, well it doesn’t get any better than this folks.  Thanks to the brilliant score of Brian Taylor, the action is exemplified to the umpteenth degree.  I want to give kudos to Brian and Stallone for ingeniously arranging this.  From the heart pounding escape scene from the claymore to one of the most brutal Act III resolutions in modern film history, Rambo will not disappoint you in the action, brutality, believability and emotional categories.  You can take that to the bank and cash it.  Why did Stallone wait so long in life to develop this script and the Rocky one, I will never know?  But I do know this, both of those films are some of his best work, and despite the final like ending we have here in Rambo, I’m hoping for at least one more adventure.  Please Mr. Stallone.  Feed my hunger!

But I bet the real reason you are all here reading my review is because you want to know what differences you can expect from this 99-minute cut of the film compared to the original 91-minute one.  Right?  Well that’s easy, it’s 8 minutes of difference.  LOL.  No but seriously, I painstakingly put together this bullet point list below of all the MAJOR differences I found between the two.  I purposely left out some of the minor differences that I was just too lazy to write down.  Enjoy!

• The film is titled JOHN RAMBO, but nowhere on the box art or disc is this name associated.  Weird huh?
• There are a few more brutal real images at the beginning newsfeed.
• There’s more snake catching and more playing around with the snakes as Johnny bags them up.
• There’s more of Julie Benz bugging Rambo to take her group on a boat ride into Burma.  In fact, there’s a whole new scene of her begging him.  The law of 3!
• There’s a longer night scene in a village that’s being raided.
• They completely changed the “what is” speech on the boat that takes place in the rain between Julia’s character and Rambo.  John talks about politics and war and admits he wasted his life on war.  That’s a true statement I guess.
• There are longer conversations to be had between the missionaries and Rambo on the boat ride to Burma.
• There’s a slight change to the pirate shootout scene.
• There’s a longer goodbye scene between John and Sarah when drops them off in Burma.
• There are new flashback scenes when Rambo (I keep wanting to call him Rocky) is burning the pirate ship.
• The raid on the village where the missionaries are starts out quicker.  In my opinion, it feels too abrupt.
• There is a new scene where the missionaries are at the prison camp.  They talk about the treatment and torture of the prisoners.
• After the pastor told Rambo about the missing prisoners, the hammer scene is a bit different.  Instead of Rambo’s voiceover where he says, “war is in his blood and all…” you hear a voiceover from the pastor.  It kind of loses meaning now in my opinion.
• There are some slight variances in the rescue of the missionaries.  I did not mind this, as it is the thumping music that really fuels these scenes after all.
• After the rescue, Rambo now notices that Sarah hurt her foot.  He wraps it up for her.  What a nice guy.
• And last but not least, there is a longer goodbye scene between Rambo and Sarah at the conclusion of the brutal warfare resolution of Act III.

So there you have it.  Obviously, as I stated before, I did not list every little change above.  The above bullet points were the most notable changes I saw so I wanted to make sure they were captured on your computer screen for your reading pleasure.  All in all, if I had my way, I would prefer the theatrical presentation of the film any day.  I was excited to hear about this project when Cliff Stephenson announced it at Comic-Con two years ago (here), but ultimately I felt that these new and modified scenes did not lend themselves well to the flow and pacing of the story.  If I had not seen this, I would have lived life being completely satisfied with only my theatrical Blu-ray.  It’s still a must-see and probably a must-purchase for all the fans out there, but casual viewers may want to think twice about spending 99 minutes of their lives watching something they didn’t much care for in the first place.  However, the movie is still one of my favorite films from the new millennium so that’s the reason for the high score despite my sentiments toward the Extended Cut.  It would have been super if Lionsgate would have packaged this with a theatrical Blu-ray disc as well, but no such luck.  If you want to own the Extended Cut, then you are going to have to double dip.  Sadly, there’s no way around that!  But let’s move on and discuss the Blu-ray vitals of this new presentation, shall we?

Video  

The video presentation is where I always had problems with Rambo on Blu-ray.  I know a lot of critics will praise it, but to my eyes, it has always been a bag of mixed goods.  But enough of my jibber, let’s tackle the vitals first. Rambo: The Extended cut is presented in AVC MPEG-4 video with a 2.40:1 widescreen aspect ratio.  And now back to my jibber…LOL.  When the video is looking good it’s razor sharp and pristine, but when it’s looking drab it can be a little blurry and hazy at times.  The jungle truly comes to life in all its breathtaking glory on this disc, but the night scenes are riddled with distracting grain at times.  Thankfully, this is not always the case, but I do have to point out the fact that it’s there.  When the sun shines, so does this Blu-ray.  Every drop of sweat and blood is gorgeously captured on this razor sharp1080p transfer.  The thing that strikes me odd about this disc though is that sometimes the blacks are not deep enough like we have come to expect from recent Blu-ray transfers.  This of course is a very minimal complaint about an otherwise phenomenal film.  I cannot give the video a score of a 5, but I’m oh so close to a 4.5.  Take it for what it’s worth.

Audio  

If this disc has its bright spot, then it’s the bombastic 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio surround track.  It’s absolutely divine, but it’s not perfect.  Yep, you were probably waiting for me to be the narcissist and I didn’t disappoint.  There isn’t much that doesn’t get past me, but rest assured, my complaints here are very few and far between.  Like in the video, the jungle comes to life here.  In fact, I never heard a jungle sound so fantastic, not to mention the rainfall.  I’m general a tropical person by trait, but I hate being trapped inside by the rain.  However, let the rain fall down here!  In fact… all around me!  It is quite blissful hearing that rain pour from every which direction.  This surround track is simply killer.  But wait… it gets better!  There are loud explosions, bombastic bass and bullets zinging from every which direction.  And that score… I could go on forever about it, but I won’t.  It’s simply brilliant.  Dialog, for the most part, is spot on.  However, that is my one complaint.  One fear I have where scenes are added in to make an alternate cut of the film is how good are these extra scenes going to sound and look.  There were a few instances where the dialog level wasn’t up to snuff in the extra scenes.  I had a problem hearing one line of dialog in a particular scene.  Had it not been for this minimal distraction, this one would have easily scored a 5.

Special Features  

Are you ready for this?  There’s trailers and one production diary to be found here.  That’s the special features section ladies and gentleman.  Thanks for stopping by.  No seriously, there’s not even a digital copy included like there was for the former release of the theatrical presentation.  How sad.  Well to make up for the lack of special features to discuss here I figured I would throw in a screenshot of the disc’s menu below and an image of what the Blu-ray disc’s icon looks like when popped into my favorite Blu-ray player… the Playstation 3.  Enjoy!

• “Rambo: To Hell & Back” Director’s Production Diary - This one is 1 hour and 23 minutes long and is definitely worth your time checking out.  It’s kind of a like a day-by-day production diary of the movie shoot.  It’s interesting seeing Stallone behind the camera and scoping things out.  There’s much to be learned here.
• Trailers – The Expendables, Terminator 2: Skynet Edition, and a Lionsgate commercial featuring their catalog Blu-rays that contain peeps from the upcoming Expendables.

Final Thoughts  

This final score would have been a bit higher had it not been for the lack of special features here.  Thanks to the special features department, or lack thereof, I had to round up to a 4.  It’s quite simple folks.  Do I think this is worth double dipping on?  Absolutely… if you are a fan of the franchise.  But if you were just a casual fan, then I would say a rental would be fine for now or wait until Wal-Mart has it in its $5 bin one day.  I’m going to go ahead and recommend this one as a purchase here, but buyer beware… I’m being biased here.  This movie is a favorite of mine, and I will go down swinging in opposition to anyone who bashes this film.  It is motivating, heart wrenching, action packed and completely brutal in its realism as it depicts the longest running civil war in the world and the genocide of innocent people.  And oh yeah… it’s Rambo!  “Let the bodies hit the floor!”

Pre-order  Rambo: Extended Cut on Blu-ray today!

Film  

Like I said in the paragraph above, unlike the previous two sequels, this fourth film keeps the serious tone of the original one.  And interestingly enough, Rambo holds the record for the most kills out of the entire franchise with an astonishing 236.  Stallone has gone on record stating that the violence in the film is justified as to draw attention to what’s really happening in Burma.  I cannot disagree.  One viewing of this had me wanting to give up my freedom and take sides with the Karen rebels out there.  The way those innocent people are brutally slaughtered and mutilated is just sick.  It truly is hell on Earth there.  And this is where the movie completely tugged on my emotions and re-opened a lot of deep wounds.  I really wanted to make a difference in the world after watching this one.  And when you are left feeling like this after watching a movie, you know the director perfectly executed his job.  I give much respect and admiration to Sylvester Stallone for bringing about the awareness of this war torn region to moviegoers everywhere.  Now, if we can just all do something about it!  I can hear the film’s moving score in my head right now as I pen this review.  Brilliant!

Anyone already familiar with the 2008 film probably needs no refresher on the plot here.  It is what it is.  That is… Rambo returns to action, with the help of hired militia, to rescue U.S. missionaries who go missing from a village in Burma.  One of the missionaries in particular, Sarah Miller (Julie Benz), previously struck an emotional accord with John Rambo before leaving.  She made Rambo search his heart and he found out that he really does care about people and events going on around despite his previous beliefs and statements made.  John has put his war torn past aside for 20 years now only to find himself come full circle with who he really is… a killer… this time with a humanitarian interest.  Go Rambo!

The realism/believability part of the story comes into play where this time around, it’s not only Rambo making the difference, but it’s a cumulative team effort.  With the help of the hired militia (mercenaries) and Karen rebels, Rambo joins forces to temporarily overthrow the iron-fisted rule of the Tatmadaw led by Burmese military officer Major Pa Tee Tint.  At first I was kind of taken aback by Rambo not going all out on his own, but let’s face it, the dude is in his 60’s and he can use some help… finally!  Anyway, the mercenaries are hilarious and well developed in the screenplay.  They are a much-welcomed addition to the film and in hindsight; I would not want it done any other way.  It’s not like Rambo doesn’t save the day anyway in the end.  Right?

And as far as the action goes, well it doesn’t get any better than this folks.  Thanks to the brilliant score of Brian Taylor, the action is exemplified to the umpteenth degree.  I want to give kudos to Brian and Stallone for ingeniously arranging this.  From the heart pounding escape scene from the claymore to one of the most brutal Act III resolutions in modern film history, Rambo will not disappoint you in the action, brutality, believability and emotional categories.  You can take that to the bank and cash it.  Why did Stallone wait so long in life to develop this script and the Rocky one, I will never know?  But I do know this, both of those films are some of his best work, and despite the final like ending we have here in Rambo, I’m hoping for at least one more adventure.  Please Mr. Stallone.  Feed my hunger!

But I bet the real reason you are all here reading my review is because you want to know what differences you can expect from this 99-minute cut of the film compared to the original 91-minute one.  Right?  Well that’s easy, it’s 8 minutes of difference.  LOL.  No but seriously, I painstakingly put together this bullet point list below of all the MAJOR differences I found between the two.  I purposely left out some of the minor differences that I was just too lazy to write down.  Enjoy!

• The film is titled JOHN RAMBO, but nowhere on the box art or disc is this name associated.  Weird huh?
• There are a few more brutal real images at the beginning newsfeed.
• There’s more snake catching and more playing around with the snakes as Johnny bags them up.
• There’s more of Julie Benz bugging Rambo to take her group on a boat ride into Burma.  In fact, there’s a whole new scene of her begging him.  The law of 3!
• There’s a longer night scene in a village that’s being raided.
• They completely changed the “what is” speech on the boat that takes place in the rain between Julia’s character and Rambo.  John talks about politics and war and admits he wasted his life on war.  That’s a true statement I guess.
• There are longer conversations to be had between the missionaries and Rambo on the boat ride to Burma.
• There’s a slight change to the pirate shootout scene.
• There’s a longer goodbye scene between John and Sarah when drops them off in Burma.
• There are new flashback scenes when Rambo (I keep wanting to call him Rocky) is burning the pirate ship.
• The raid on the village where the missionaries are starts out quicker.  In my opinion, it feels too abrupt.
• There is a new scene where the missionaries are at the prison camp.  They talk about the treatment and torture of the prisoners.
• After the pastor told Rambo about the missing prisoners, the hammer scene is a bit different.  Instead of Rambo’s voiceover where he says, “war is in his blood and all…” you hear a voiceover from the pastor.  It kind of loses meaning now in my opinion.
• There are some slight variances in the rescue of the missionaries.  I did not mind this, as it is the thumping music that really fuels these scenes after all.
• After the rescue, Rambo now notices that Sarah hurt her foot.  He wraps it up for her.  What a nice guy.
• And last but not least, there is a longer goodbye scene between Rambo and Sarah at the conclusion of the brutal warfare resolution of Act III.

So there you have it.  Obviously, as I stated before, I did not list every little change above.  The above bullet points were the most notable changes I saw so I wanted to make sure they were captured on your computer screen for your reading pleasure.  All in all, if I had my way, I would prefer the theatrical presentation of the film any day.  I was excited to hear about this project when Cliff Stephenson announced it at Comic-Con two years ago (here), but ultimately I felt that these new and modified scenes did not lend themselves well to the flow and pacing of the story.  If I had not seen this, I would have lived life being completely satisfied with only my theatrical Blu-ray.  It’s still a must-see and probably a must-purchase for all the fans out there, but casual viewers may want to think twice about spending 99 minutes of their lives watching something they didn’t much care for in the first place.  However, the movie is still one of my favorite films from the new millennium so that’s the reason for the high score despite my sentiments toward the Extended Cut.  It would have been super if Lionsgate would have packaged this with a theatrical Blu-ray disc as well, but no such luck.  If you want to own the Extended Cut, then you are going to have to double dip.  Sadly, there’s no way around that!  But let’s move on and discuss the Blu-ray vitals of this new presentation, shall we?

Video  

The video presentation is where I always had problems with Rambo on Blu-ray.  I know a lot of critics will praise it, but to my eyes, it has always been a bag of mixed goods.  But enough of my jibber, let’s tackle the vitals first. Rambo: The Extended cut is presented in AVC MPEG-4 video with a 2.40:1 widescreen aspect ratio.  And now back to my jibber…LOL.  When the video is looking good it’s razor sharp and pristine, but when it’s looking drab it can be a little blurry and hazy at times.  The jungle truly comes to life in all its breathtaking glory on this disc, but the night scenes are riddled with distracting grain at times.  Thankfully, this is not always the case, but I do have to point out the fact that it’s there.  When the sun shines, so does this Blu-ray.  Every drop of sweat and blood is gorgeously captured on this razor sharp1080p transfer.  The thing that strikes me odd about this disc though is that sometimes the blacks are not deep enough like we have come to expect from recent Blu-ray transfers.  This of course is a very minimal complaint about an otherwise phenomenal film.  I cannot give the video a score of a 5, but I’m oh so close to a 4.5.  Take it for what it’s worth.

Audio  

If this disc has its bright spot, then it’s the bombastic 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio surround track.  It’s absolutely divine, but it’s not perfect.  Yep, you were probably waiting for me to be the narcissist and I didn’t disappoint.  There isn’t much that doesn’t get past me, but rest assured, my complaints here are very few and far between.  Like in the video, the jungle comes to life here.  In fact, I never heard a jungle sound so fantastic, not to mention the rainfall.  I’m general a tropical person by trait, but I hate being trapped inside by the rain.  However, let the rain fall down here!  In fact… all around me!  It is quite blissful hearing that rain pour from every which direction.  This surround track is simply killer.  But wait… it gets better!  There are loud explosions, bombastic bass and bullets zinging from every which direction.  And that score… I could go on forever about it, but I won’t.  It’s simply brilliant.  Dialog, for the most part, is spot on.  However, that is my one complaint.  One fear I have where scenes are added in to make an alternate cut of the film is how good are these extra scenes going to sound and look.  There were a few instances where the dialog level wasn’t up to snuff in the extra scenes.  I had a problem hearing one line of dialog in a particular scene.  Had it not been for this minimal distraction, this one would have easily scored a 5.

Special Features  

Are you ready for this?  There’s trailers and one production diary to be found here.  That’s the special features section ladies and gentleman.  Thanks for stopping by.  No seriously, there’s not even a digital copy included like there was for the former release of the theatrical presentation.  How sad.  Well to make up for the lack of special features to discuss here I figured I would throw in a screenshot of the disc’s menu below and an image of what the Blu-ray disc’s icon looks like when popped into my favorite Blu-ray player… the Playstation 3.  Enjoy!

• “Rambo: To Hell & Back” Director’s Production Diary - This one is 1 hour and 23 minutes long and is definitely worth your time checking out.  It’s kind of a like a day-by-day production diary of the movie shoot.  It’s interesting seeing Stallone behind the camera and scoping things out.  There’s much to be learned here.
• Trailers – The Expendables, Terminator 2: Skynet Edition, and a Lionsgate commercial featuring their catalog Blu-rays that contain peeps from the upcoming Expendables.

Final Thoughts  

This final score would have been a bit higher had it not been for the lack of special features here.  Thanks to the special features department, or lack thereof, I had to round up to a 4.  It’s quite simple folks.  Do I think this is worth double dipping on?  Absolutely… if you are a fan of the franchise.  But if you were just a casual fan, then I would say a rental would be fine for now or wait until Wal-Mart has it in its $5 bin one day.  I’m going to go ahead and recommend this one as a purchase here, but buyer beware… I’m being biased here.  This movie is a favorite of mine, and I will go down swinging in opposition to anyone who bashes this film.  It is motivating, heart wrenching, action packed and completely brutal in its realism as it depicts the longest running civil war in the world and the genocide of innocent people.  And oh yeah… it’s Rambo!  “Let the bodies hit the floor!”

Pre-order  Rambo: Extended Cut on Blu-ray today!

Film 

Showgirls was directed by Basic Instinct’s Paul Verhoeven, a man who is no stranger to creating controversial films.  As I mentioned before, the film stars former teen actress Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan and Gina Gershon.  Significant controversy sprang up before the film’s theatrical release over the amount of sex and nudity within the feature.  In the United States, the movie got slapped with an NC-17 rating and interestingly enough, it became the first NC-17 rated film to be given a wide release in mainstream theaters.  How’s that for a breakout role for Elizabeth Berkley?  If nothing else, then at least she will always be part of that record.  As you can expect, the film wasn’t met with that much success theatrically, but later on it took on a life of its own as it dominated the home video rental market and quickly became one of MGM’s top 20 all-time bestsellers.  There have been a few different cuts of the film including a 128-minute Rated-R cut and a VH1 safe for television rendition that’s nothing short of ridiculous, but today we are going to talk about the good old 131-minute NC-17 theatrical cut making its Blu-ray debut on June 15^th.

When the Blu-ray press release from MGM came across my desk months ago I could not be more excited to learn about Showgirl’s imminent High-Definition debut.  It was dubbed the 15^th Anniversary Sinsational Edition.  My God, has it been 15 years already?  Its amazing how fast time flies.  Anyway, so I immediately requested a Blu-ray review copy and began checking off the days on my calendar.  To say I wasn’t interested in revisiting this cult gem on Blu-ray would be like saying there’s no problem down in the Gulf of Mexico right now (my heart goes out to those poor animals covered in oil… find out how you can help by clicking here).

For those of you who do not know the premise of the movie it’s quite simple really.  Showgirls tells the story of a drifter (Berkley) who ventures into Sin City (Vegas) and goes from rags (stripper) to riches (showgirl).  Anyone who thinks their name belongs in bright lights and desperately seeks fame any chance they get ought to give this film a watch first.  As Peter Parker always alluded to in the Spider-Man films, “with great power comes great responsibilities.”  Some people are not cut out for life in the spot light and for some, the lucky few, they recognize the corruption and get out before the big lights and produces take their soul and everything else they believe in.  This is the story of Showgirls with a little bit of sex and gratuitous nudity thrown in, but I never heard any guy complain about that.

Before I move and talk about the Blu-ray disc’s vitals and whatnots I wanted to take a quick moment and talk about my trip down memory lane here.  There were two things that jumped out at me while watching Showgirls on Blu-ray this weekend.  But before I go there, this just jumped in my cranium now, could you imagine a 3-D release of Showgirls done right?  Wow!  That would be pure bliss.  Okay, well anyway, like I was saying.  I chuckled hard when I saw a Magnavox recordable cassette tape.  I remember those fondly.  They fueled my weekly mix tape soundtracks back in the 90’s before recordable CD’s came along.  And second, I forgot how big the original cell phones were.  I remember my Audiovox set back in the late 90’s, but wow were they ever big in the mid 90’s.  It looked like they were calling in for military support when they whipped one out on the movie set.  Okay, I’m done.  That’s enough humor for one day.

Video 

Much to my surprise, the video presentation here is spectacular and every bit as bright and eccentric as the movie itself is.  The 1080p AVC MPEG-4 video encode is presented in a 2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio.  The first thing that jumped out to me were the colors.  They were so vibrant that they effectively captured the heart, soul and bright lights of Las Vegas.  I felt like I was really there.  It was simply remarkable.  Even the brown eye/green eye oddity of Elizabeth Berkley was dominantly displayed throughout.  Every single sensual moment of the film was breathtakingly captured on this Blu-ray release.  The print was clean and free of debris.  The only thing hampering this 15-year old feature was the constant presence of cinematical grain, but it never once distracted me from my viewing pleasure.  It was simply enough grain that prevented a few scenes here and there from jumping out at you in the Blu-ray sharpness that we are all used to from most modern day releases.  But for a 15-year old film, this looked impeccable and gorgeous.  I couldn’t be happier.  This one is going in a sealed vault within my Blu-ray collection.

Audio 

The audio was another department on this Blu-ray disc that simply caught me off guard.  I was expecting a soundtrack more on par with the Basic Instinct soft drama-like track that we got a few years back on Blu-ray.  Never did I expect to hear something this good.  The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track delivers here with a rocking experience.  Dialog is never low or inaudible.  It’s not the greatest of dialog tracks of all-time, but it’s definitely doable.  What rocks here is the film’s incredible soundtrack.  The musical song and dance numbers are both impressive and strong.  They immerse you in the 5.1 surround environment.  I was ecstatic to hear my rear speakers nearly jumping off their respective stands.  Also, want to talk about some thunderous bass moments?  Well look no further than here.  Showgirls has that going for it too!

Special Features 

And here’s yet another surprise on this MGM Blu-ray release… the Special Features.  For a 15-year old film you would expect all the disc’s Special Features to be presented in Standard Definition, right?  Well not Showgirls!  The bulk of the material I’m showcasing below graces your screen in beautiful HD resolution.  You can’t ask for anything more, can you?

Here’s why I love the Playstation 3 as a Blu-ray player… I just get a kick out of seeing if the movie studio took the time to create a quick title art piece that’s viewable when the Blu-ray disc is inserted into your player and rest assured, MGM did here (see below).

On the disc’s main menu (see below), if you let it play twice all the way through, then you get a very quick changing Easter Egg video sequence.  This changes every time too.

Pole Dancing: Finding Your Inner Stripper (11:54 AVC HD) Teacher of S Factor talks about how she got involved in the sensual art of stripping, her students and displays basic dance and pole moves.  I never knew this one move was called the Firefly.  You’re interested huh?  Oh yeah, and there’s also the Swing Walk, the Climb, the Corkscrew, the Snake, the Pole Cat, the Helicopter and the Descending Angel.  I learned a lot today!

Lap Dance Tutorial Featuring the World-Famous Girls of Scores (4:56 MPEG-2 HD) Here’s another interesting special feature.  This Blu-ray is great, isn’t it?  The girls of Score teach women how to give a man a lap dance.  Just follow their simple 10-step process I documented for you all below.

• Step 1.  Warm up and stretch yourself
• Step 2.  Wear something that feels sexy
• Step 3.  Create a relaxing atmosphere
• Step 4.  Get aural with sexy music
• Step 5.  Tempt his other senses
• Step 6.  Tease, Pose and Spank
• Step 7.  You can touch
• Step 8.  Move in and show off
• Step 9.  Find and remember his zones
• Step 10. Leave him wanting more

The Greatest Movie Ever Made: Audio Commentary by David Schmader

Showgirls Fact-Up Trivia

A Showgirls Diary (MPEG-2 HD)

Theatrical Trailer (AVC HD) How’s this for a 15-year old film?  The film’s theatrical trailer is presented in glorious HD here!  Wow!  I’m in love with this MGM catalog release.

Disc 2 – DVD

The NC-17 presentation of Showgirls is also presented in Standard Definition on a second included DVD disc or a drink coaster to some.  There’s also a special behind-the-scenes featurette here, but I never visited it.  This is a Blu-ray review after all, is it not?

Final Thoughts 

Well there you have it folks.  I really can’t say enough good things about this MGM catalog Blu-ray release.  For a cult-favorite of mine and many others, it was a breath of fresh air to see that MGM delivered a Blu-ray release that we all can be proud of with exceptionally vivid video, a bombastic audio track and a special features package fans of the film and many men around the world can enjoy.  Fans of the film, don’t hesitate here at all.  Pull the trigger and pre-order Showgirls today!  All others, you owe it to yourself to at least partake in a rental of this historic movie many critics refer to as a must-see guilty pleasure of theirs.  I’m not sure if it will stay on my Top 10 list throughout the remainder of the calendar year, but for right now, this catalog release has earned a coveted spot in my ‘Top 10 Blu-ray Releases of 2010’ list.  And that says a lot!

Pre-order Showgirls on Blu-ray today!

Film 

Showgirls was directed by Basic Instinct’s Paul Verhoeven, a man who is no stranger to creating controversial films.  As I mentioned before, the film stars former teen actress Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan and Gina Gershon.  Significant controversy sprang up before the film’s theatrical release over the amount of sex and nudity within the feature.  In the United States, the movie got slapped with an NC-17 rating and interestingly enough, it became the first NC-17 rated film to be given a wide release in mainstream theaters.  How’s that for a breakout role for Elizabeth Berkley?  If nothing else, then at least she will always be part of that record.  As you can expect, the film wasn’t met with that much success theatrically, but later on it took on a life of its own as it dominated the home video rental market and quickly became one of MGM’s top 20 all-time bestsellers.  There have been a few different cuts of the film including a 128-minute Rated-R cut and a VH1 safe for television rendition that’s nothing short of ridiculous, but today we are going to talk about the good old 131-minute NC-17 theatrical cut making its Blu-ray debut on June 15^th.

When the Blu-ray press release from MGM came across my desk months ago I could not be more excited to learn about Showgirl’s imminent High-Definition debut.  It was dubbed the 15^th Anniversary Sinsational Edition.  My God, has it been 15 years already?  Its amazing how fast time flies.  Anyway, so I immediately requested a Blu-ray review copy and began checking off the days on my calendar.  To say I wasn’t interested in revisiting this cult gem on Blu-ray would be like saying there’s no problem down in the Gulf of Mexico right now (my heart goes out to those poor animals covered in oil… find out how you can help by clicking here).

For those of you who do not know the premise of the movie it’s quite simple really.  Showgirls tells the story of a drifter (Berkley) who ventures into Sin City (Vegas) and goes from rags (stripper) to riches (showgirl).  Anyone who thinks their name belongs in bright lights and desperately seeks fame any chance they get ought to give this film a watch first.  As Peter Parker always alluded to in the Spider-Man films, “with great power comes great responsibilities.”  Some people are not cut out for life in the spot light and for some, the lucky few, they recognize the corruption and get out before the big lights and produces take their soul and everything else they believe in.  This is the story of Showgirls with a little bit of sex and gratuitous nudity thrown in, but I never heard any guy complain about that.

Before I move and talk about the Blu-ray disc’s vitals and whatnots I wanted to take a quick moment and talk about my trip down memory lane here.  There were two things that jumped out at me while watching Showgirls on Blu-ray this weekend.  But before I go there, this just jumped in my cranium now, could you imagine a 3-D release of Showgirls done right?  Wow!  That would be pure bliss.  Okay, well anyway, like I was saying.  I chuckled hard when I saw a Magnavox recordable cassette tape.  I remember those fondly.  They fueled my weekly mix tape soundtracks back in the 90’s before recordable CD’s came along.  And second, I forgot how big the original cell phones were.  I remember my Audiovox set back in the late 90’s, but wow were they ever big in the mid 90’s.  It looked like they were calling in for military support when they whipped one out on the movie set.  Okay, I’m done.  That’s enough humor for one day.

Video 

Much to my surprise, the video presentation here is spectacular and every bit as bright and eccentric as the movie itself is.  The 1080p AVC MPEG-4 video encode is presented in a 2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio.  The first thing that jumped out to me were the colors.  They were so vibrant that they effectively captured the heart, soul and bright lights of Las Vegas.  I felt like I was really there.  It was simply remarkable.  Even the brown eye/green eye oddity of Elizabeth Berkley was dominantly displayed throughout.  Every single sensual moment of the film was breathtakingly captured on this Blu-ray release.  The print was clean and free of debris.  The only thing hampering this 15-year old feature was the constant presence of cinematical grain, but it never once distracted me from my viewing pleasure.  It was simply enough grain that prevented a few scenes here and there from jumping out at you in the Blu-ray sharpness that we are all used to from most modern day releases.  But for a 15-year old film, this looked impeccable and gorgeous.  I couldn’t be happier.  This one is going in a sealed vault within my Blu-ray collection.

Audio 

The audio was another department on this Blu-ray disc that simply caught me off guard.  I was expecting a soundtrack more on par with the Basic Instinct soft drama-like track that we got a few years back on Blu-ray.  Never did I expect to hear something this good.  The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track delivers here with a rocking experience.  Dialog is never low or inaudible.  It’s not the greatest of dialog tracks of all-time, but it’s definitely doable.  What rocks here is the film’s incredible soundtrack.  The musical song and dance numbers are both impressive and strong.  They immerse you in the 5.1 surround environment.  I was ecstatic to hear my rear speakers nearly jumping off their respective stands.  Also, want to talk about some thunderous bass moments?  Well look no further than here.  Showgirls has that going for it too!

Special Features 

And here’s yet another surprise on this MGM Blu-ray release… the Special Features.  For a 15-year old film you would expect all the disc’s Special Features to be presented in Standard Definition, right?  Well not Showgirls!  The bulk of the material I’m showcasing below graces your screen in beautiful HD resolution.  You can’t ask for anything more, can you?

Here’s why I love the Playstation 3 as a Blu-ray player… I just get a kick out of seeing if the movie studio took the time to create a quick title art piece that’s viewable when the Blu-ray disc is inserted into your player and rest assured, MGM did here (see below).

On the disc’s main menu (see below), if you let it play twice all the way through, then you get a very quick changing Easter Egg video sequence.  This changes every time too.

Pole Dancing: Finding Your Inner Stripper (11:54 AVC HD) Teacher of S Factor talks about how she got involved in the sensual art of stripping, her students and displays basic dance and pole moves.  I never knew this one move was called the Firefly.  You’re interested huh?  Oh yeah, and there’s also the Swing Walk, the Climb, the Corkscrew, the Snake, the Pole Cat, the Helicopter and the Descending Angel.  I learned a lot today!

Lap Dance Tutorial Featuring the World-Famous Girls of Scores (4:56 MPEG-2 HD) Here’s another interesting special feature.  This Blu-ray is great, isn’t it?  The girls of Score teach women how to give a man a lap dance.  Just follow their simple 10-step process I documented for you all below.

• Step 1.  Warm up and stretch yourself
• Step 2.  Wear something that feels sexy
• Step 3.  Create a relaxing atmosphere
• Step 4.  Get aural with sexy music
• Step 5.  Tempt his other senses
• Step 6.  Tease, Pose and Spank
• Step 7.  You can touch
• Step 8.  Move in and show off
• Step 9.  Find and remember his zones
• Step 10. Leave him wanting more

The Greatest Movie Ever Made: Audio Commentary by David Schmader

Showgirls Fact-Up Trivia

A Showgirls Diary (MPEG-2 HD)

Theatrical Trailer (AVC HD) How’s this for a 15-year old film?  The film’s theatrical trailer is presented in glorious HD here!  Wow!  I’m in love with this MGM catalog release.

Disc 2 – DVD

The NC-17 presentation of Showgirls is also presented in Standard Definition on a second included DVD disc or a drink coaster to some.  There’s also a special behind-the-scenes featurette here, but I never visited it.  This is a Blu-ray review after all, is it not?

Final Thoughts 

Well there you have it folks.  I really can’t say enough good things about this MGM catalog Blu-ray release.  For a cult-favorite of mine and many others, it was a breath of fresh air to see that MGM delivered a Blu-ray release that we all can be proud of with exceptionally vivid video, a bombastic audio track and a special features package fans of the film and many men around the world can enjoy.  Fans of the film, don’t hesitate here at all.  Pull the trigger and pre-order Showgirls today!  All others, you owe it to yourself to at least partake in a rental of this historic movie many critics refer to as a must-see guilty pleasure of theirs.  I’m not sure if it will stay on my Top 10 list throughout the remainder of the calendar year, but for right now, this catalog release has earned a coveted spot in my ‘Top 10 Blu-ray Releases of 2010’ list.  And that says a lot!

Pre-order Showgirls on Blu-ray today!

Film  

Elektra opened theatrically to mostly negative critical reviews on January 14, 2005.  The movie stars Jennifer Garner, Goran Visnjic (ER), Kristen Prout and Terence Stamp.  The Rob Bowman directed film barely churned a profit.  Astonishingly, it was released less than 3 months later on the DVD format.  I remember that fondly because I thought that was the quickest I ever recalled a feature film coming out on the home video format.

The film’s story continues right after the events that unfolded in 2003’s Daredevil.  Thank God for continuity.  In Daredevil, the Marvel comics character Elektra Natchios (Garner) was killed by Bullseye.  Thankfully, our Blu-ray film today explains how Elektra was given a second life and able to walk among the living again.  Thank God again for martial arts masters with secret reviving life powers.  Where would we be without them?  Well, I guess I should at least be thankful for the fact that at least Elektra does not do a Michael Myers and wake up all the sudden in the back of an ambulance after being fatally shot in the head point blank.

Before we move on, here’s an interesting point to consider.  Remember me telling you about Elektra’s lightning fast DVD release in 2005?  Well the film was also released again later that year in a 2-Disc Director’s Cut edition.  And guess what?  It contained a whopping 3 minutes of extra footage.  That brought the runtime to a whopping 99 minutes.  And now we sit here discussing the May 4^th 2010 Blu-ray release of Elektra and believe it or not, I was initially pounded with rumors that it would clock in at an alarming length of 139 minutes.  Sad to say, that’s not the case.  This Blu-ray release is the Director’s Cut of the film, just like it was on DVD.   So if there is any truth to this super extended cut rumor, then we might see another Blu-ray release of Elektra in the near future.  Depending upon how much you liked the previous 2 editions of the film, this could either be a good thing or a bad thing.  It worked for Daredevil on Blu-ray, so why not Elektra?  I guess if there is one thing I am disappointed in on this Blu-ray release, then it is the fact that this rumored Extended Cut did not see the light of day on Blu-ray.  Maybe it was just all that.  A rumor?  Only time will tell I guess.

As I mentioned 2 paragraphs ago, Elektra (Garner) was murdered in 2003’s Daredevil, but a blind martial arts master, Stick (Terrence Stamp), brought her back to life.  He trains her in the martial art of Kimagure, whose practitioners can control the flow of life and death and live only to destroy the evil organization known as The Hand.  After several years of intense training, she eventually leaves her clan and finds herself employed as a hired assassin who never fails.  However, I shouldn’t use the word “never.”  The moment she receives a contract for $2 million to kill Mark Miller (Goran) and his daughter Abby (Kristen Prout) things forever change in Elektra’s world.  She doesn’t really fail, but she doesn’t really complete her assignment either.  Elektra must make a difficult choice between good or evil in executing her deadly mission while battling her childhood demons and also, singlehandedly taking on the terrifying warriors of The Hand.  At the end of the day, will she win or lose?  That’s the question, isn’t it?  Now it’s up to you to find out the outcome.  Are you up to the challenge on Blu-ray?  You better do your pushups!

Video  

I have to admit; I was pleasantly surprised by the visual presentation of Elektra on Blu-ray.  Given the fact that so many filmgoers hate this film, I was really concerned with how good it would look on Blu-ray format, but more importantly how much effort the studio would put into cleaning this title up for a quality transfer.  I love to be wrong about things like this.  Elektra looks absolutely stunning on the Blu-ray format.  The only reason you are seeing a score of 4.5 and not a 5 is for the reference quality factor only.  The heavy CGI-laden effects coupled with the mostly dark scenery doesn’t make this the most visual reference disc to show off your collection with in comparison to the newest king of Blu-ray, Avatar.  However, Fox delivers a near home run with this 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 video encode.  The contrast heavy film is presented in a 2.39:1 framed aspect ratio.  Despite the many dark sequences, the level of detail here is outstanding, especially in the fabric of Elektra’s many outfits (the important parts here).  The colors vibrantly pop right off the screen during the forest battles.  From what I heard about the previous DVD transfers, it looks like we have a winner here folks.  Let’s check in with the audio department and see how Elektra ranks there.

Audio  

Like the visuals, the Blu-ray’s audio presentation is near flawless.  There are little things here or there I can nitpick about, but for the most part, Fox did a bang up job on the bombastic DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround mix.  Yes I used the word “bombastic.”  And for good reason too!  The fight scenes, the chases and the zany martial arts action all utilize deep thumping bass dynamics.  Me like!  While I was tempted a couple of times to actually turn my sound down, I didn’t for one simple reason.  A couple of times I found the dialog to be just a tad low.  It wasn’t that it wasn’t audible or a deal breaker, but it felt oddly low in just a couple of spots.  If not for that, then we may be talking about a possible 5-star rating.  But let’s be honest.  Not many people were expecting much from this Blu-ray release so we should be thrilled that it actually turned out this good.  While much of the movie is passive in dialog, the action sequences come to life thanks to the DTS-HD track that delivers non-stop zany action all around you.  I mean, who doesn’t like a good throwing star zinging by your ear every now and then?

Special Features  

Elektra makes its Blu-ray debut with a heaping helping of extras.  It may not look like much on paper, but believe me; you’ll definitely be taking a few bathroom breaks trying to squeeze all the features into one gigantic viewing marathon.  Unfortunately, it’s a mix bag of goodies.  What I mean by that is the fact that the extras are not all in High-Definition (insert a sad face).  However, the two main ones we care about here are (at least in pseudo Hi-Def).  Let’s cut to the chase and get into the good stuff.  You wanted extras, then you got your extras!  Elektra’s supplemental materials are as follows.

• Commentary by Director Rob Bowman and Film Editor Kevin Stitt – Just your standard every day commentary track.  If you’re interested in this film, then you already know you should check this out.
• Relentless: The Making of Elektra Part 1: Production (HD) – This was a long one.  Almost a whole hour and a half long.  Wow!  I never expected to learn so much about this film.  It was interesting to learn about Jennifer Garner’s hesitation towards this project.  She was very concerned this movie was going to suck and ruin her career.  Rob Bowman assured her he wouldn’t let that happen.  What do you think?  Also, interesting to note, is the discussion over the low budget and number of shooting days they had to work with.  This was another concern of Jennifer’s and rightfully so.  And finally, I was really perplexed to find out that they were not allowed to make this a love story at all.  They had their instructions.  Hmm.  That goes against everything I learned these past 5 months in film class.  You always have that B-love story.  In my opinion, I think Rob did a good job with what he had to work with.
• Relentless: The Making of Elektra Part 2: Post-Production (HD) – Here’s another long one clocking in just over 53 minutes.  If you like editing, special effects and sound mixing, then this is the place for you to be.
• Deleted Scenes (SD) – There’s a total of 3 scenes with optional commentary by Rob Bowman and Kevin Stitt.
• Alternate/Extended Scenes (SD) – There are 7 scenes here with optional commentary by Rob Bowman and Kevin Stitt.
• Elektra: Incarnations (HD) – This is really cool.  This 52-minute documentary takes a look at the history of Elektra in the comics.  It explores Frank Miller’s early work to the present.  This was very interesting because after watching this, I really don’t believe that Jennifer Garner’s passive character was the right choice for this film and Daredevil, to be fair.  After all, she seems like she was a cold-blooded killing machine in the comics.  Unless I am wrong, her character is not conveyed in the film like this?
• The Mythology (HD) – Dr. Katerina Zacharia, of Loyola Marymount University, discusses iterations of the Elektra story in Greek Mythology for a casual 15 minutes of runtime.
• Theatrical and Teaser Trailers (SD) – It is what it is.  Here you have the various Elektra trailers in glorious High-Definition.  Not!  Sadly, they are only presented in Standard Definition.  Boo!

Final Thoughts  

Well there you have it folks.  Elektra is one of those films you either like or you despise.   With me, the film is a guilty pleasure of mine so I stand by resolute in my feelings towards it.  It’s not the most exciting film ever made, but it’s also not the worst.  It’s my Blu-ray review so ultimately I have the right to feel the way I do about it.  I’m going to give it the green light and recommend a purchase for all the fans of the film that want to own it on the Hi-Def format of choice because of the stunning Blu-ray transfer in both the audio and video worlds, as well as the special features package, which is enough to keep you busy for hours on end.  All others should proceed with caution and maybe try a rental first.  So for all my Elektra fans out there, make sure to check out Jennifer Garner as she kicks some ninja clan a$$ in HD and at the same time looks good doing so (that’s always a plus in my opinion).

Bring home Elektra today on Blu-ray!

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 

Replacing Terry O’Quinn, the original stepfather, is Dylan Walsh, whom some people will know from the television show Nip/Tuck, but I will always remember as Dr. Peter Elliot, the scientist who sang California Dreamin’ to a talking monkey in Congo. He had big shoes to fill, but he does a fairly decent job with it. Unfortunately, he’s the best part of an otherwise boring slasher film apparently aimed for a pre-teen audience.  The “Unrated Director’s Cut” included in this Blu-ray seems identical to the version I watched in the theater.

Admittedly, the movie is a mild improvement over the Prom Night remake. It has a great deal more character development than Prom Night which comes with the territory, since the original story was a character study and an examination of the presumed sanctity of the family. Still, the movie makes too many bad choices. None more obvious than the changing of the heroine played by Jill Schoelen, my favorite 80’s scream queen, to a male character. It was far more suspenseful and scary imagining this psychopath at the head of a table full of woman.  The new movie features  Penn Badgley as the other “man of the house` and he honestly looks like he could handle himself leading up to the movie`s shockingly anti -climatic ending.

There have been far worst remakes like the previously mentioned Prom Night or the atrocious The Fog., but there have been much better too. Look no further than this year`s incredible The Last House on the Left, to see how you can take a popular horror favorite and make it relevant today and even better than it`s predecessor. This movie is an afternoon time waster at best and would probably only appeal to the younger set looking for scares who can`t get into the more commonly rated 18A horror movies

Video

The Stepfather’s video comes at us in its original aspect ratio of 2.40:1 and uses MPEG-4 AVC 1080p codec. The picture quality is quite clean and bright. There’s good detail in the transfer and image is sharp as well.

I found myself thinking the film looked quite polished with little visible grain and warm colors. However this is a horror film… I don’t necessarily want to see picture perfect images throughout. A grungy color palette and some low light shots would fit perfectly, but instead we get something that looks like an episode of CSI: Miami at times.

I can’t complain about the transfer though I think that overall it’s very well done with no artifacts or distractions, however the cinematography choices of the film (which I attribute to the Picture Quality) are very inconsistent to the subject matter of the film.

Audio 

The Stepfather ‘s audio comes at us in DTS-HD 5.1 surround, which is my favourite codec due to the versatility of the sounds it can produce. Whether it’s an action packed thrill ride with explosions and robots or a horror film where every eccentricity of the score is authentically produced in a manner to efficiently raise the hairs on your neck.

The Stepfather’s mix is underwhelming, which seems to be the running theme with this release. The dialogue doesn’t come through the mix that well and it feels like the foley and score are all overbearing, not to mention front heavy with little to no surround. To top it off sometimes the sounds overlap poorly causing some distractingly noticeable seams in the mix.

Although most of my complaints with the technical qualities are a bit nit-picky, I feel that for a film that’s this disappointing, then it better have great A/V specs to make up for a rental. I will go out on a limb and watch a sub-par film if the viewing experience is going to be enjoyable… Transformers comes to mind.

Special Features 

The special features included in the release are basic and considering my overall feelings towards the film, there should’ve been more interesting features to keep my interest. A commentary track that feels like even the director and stars (Nelson McCormick, Dylan Walsh, & Penn Badgley) realize no one will listen to is very boring and forces you to watch the film again… yikes. There’s also two behind-the-scenes featurettes about the making of the film and the stunts involved in the film as well as a “gag” reel that fails to live up to its name.

Besides some trailers and movieIQ the special features are underwhelming, much like the film itself.

Final Thoughts 

The film is pretty lame, the audio/video presentation is decent and the amount of special features doesn’t make up for the aforementioned. If you’re a fan of the original or just a horror buff who’s looking for a new film to watch, instead of renting this film I would suggest just going out and watching the original again. One good thing to come out of this remake is the welcome arrival of the original cult classic on DVD and Blu-ray for the first time ever.

Film 

It does not occur all that often that a sequel improves on the original. Most seem to be take the money and run affairs. Fortunately, Toy Story 2 is one of the exceptions to that rule and is a better film, both in terms of story line and in terms of technical prowess, than the original. I am sure that most if not all of you are familiar with the film, so I will be brief here.

Toy Story 2 opens at an undetermined period of time after the first film ends. Andy is still a young boy but appears maybe to be a year or two older. He is on his way to Cowboy camp with Woody when he tears Woody’s right arm at the shoulder while playing with him and leaves him at home, on the shelf. This throws Woody into a funk which he only comes out of when he tries to rescue another toy from the families’ yard sale. While he is able to rescue the toy, Squeeker, he falls off the family’s dog, and is picked up by a young girl who asks her mother to buy him. It is at this point that Woody is discovered by an older man who is obviously a toy collector, who sees Woody for what he is, a prized antique from the 1950′s and quickly tries to purchase him. When his efforts are rebuffed, he resorts to stealing him.

The rest of the toys observe all of this and they quickly discover the thief to be Al from Al’s Toy Barn they see advertised on TV. They develop a plan to rescue Woody and Buzz, Mr., Potato Head, Ham, Rex and the Slinky Dog set out to rescue Woody. In the meantime, Al takes Woody home where he is reunited with the rest of the characters from his 1950′s TV show, Jessie, Stinky Pete and Bullseye.

In a very touching scene set to the wonderful song When Somebody Loved Me by penned Randy Newman and sung by Sarah McLachllin, Woody learns of Jessie’s sorrowful past as a toy and decides that, rather than try to escape, he will accompany the group to a toy museum in Japan. It is at this moment that the gang comes to rescue Woody. Woody, valuing his longstanding friendships, invites Jessie, Bullseye and Stinky Pete to join them. However, Stinky Pete has other ideas and interferes and the gang must travel to the Tri-County Airport to rescue Woody, Jessie and Bullseye, from the flight to Japan.

Toy Story 2 expounds on the themes that were first put forward in Toy Story and adds some very interesting characters as well. The story, while a continuation of the first, provides us a further glimpse into each of the characters, fleshing them out a bit more, if you will. It is hard to improve on seeming perfection but that is just what Pixar did with Toy Story 2. In short, Toy Story 2 is another must own.

Video 

As good as the video was on Toy Story, the video on Toy Story 2 may even be better. Both offer incredible picture quality. Both share the same bright and bold color palette, deep and inky blacks, exceptional and stunning clarity and detail, having an image that has exceptional clarity and depth and three dimensionality. One can clearly see how the characters are laid over the backgrounds on both releases.

While the Pixar animators left the main toy characters alone, one can clearly see how they have advanced the ball forward in terms of their animation skills. This is seen in the more lifelike human characters of Andy, his Mom and Al as well as well as their improved use of light, especially their rendition of sunlight. There are some amazing visuals here with incredible levels of detail. The tile floors in Al’s Toy Barn look very real. The level of detail on the opening sequence of Buzz entering Zurg’s lair are amazing, especially the scene where the ground opens up. Each grain of soil and pebbles are rendered so well that you feel that you can count each and every one.

Blacks are also sensational, with the screen turning a deep and totally inky shade of black during Woody’s dream sequence early in the film. It was though my set had been turned off the blacks are so deep during this sequence. If you want to see what your screen’s black level capability is, this is the scene to test it out. In short, the picture quality on Toy Story 2 is reference in every way imaginable and was a real thrill to experience on Blu-ray. As was the case with Toy Story, it is truly like seeing the film again for the first time. Amazing stuff.

Audio 

While I had two small issues with the audio on the Toy Story release, I have none at all with Toy Story 2, which is reference is all respects. The issue of some excessive brightness to the sound is totally gone in this release. The sound design here is amazing and totally immersive, with an aggressive use of the surrounds and fantastic dynamics. There are really several demo sequences in this film. One of my favorites is the scene where the gang is crossing the street to get to Al’s Toy Barn under a set of road cones. Naturally, they cause a near calamity with cars and a tractor trailer trying to swerve out of the way. Listen in particular as the tractor trailer fish tales completely around the room.

Another is the sequence at the end where Woody and Jessie are exiting the plane via the well well. The sense of a jet taking off and landing right over your head is almost palpable. One can almost feel the wind rushing over your head. The other issue I had with the original was the fidelity of the music which is exceptional on this release. When Somebody Loves you sounds sweet and intimate with the final big band sendoff of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” featuring vocals by the late Robert Goulet almost jumping out of the speakers. Nit pick as I might, the audio on this release is darn near perfect in all respects, as is the video.

Special Features 

The extras on this release mirror those on Toy Story in a away. As was the case with Toy Story, the release of Toy Story 2 is a combo pack, with disc one containing the film in HD and the extras and disc 2 a DVD and digital copy of the film. As was the case with the first film, all of the extras that were featured on the original DVD release of the film are included here along with several new extras.

Included is a look at some of the new characters featured in the upcoming Toy Story 3 as well as a director’s commentary. The Buzz Lightyear Mission log featured in the extras on Toy Story is continued here, with a further look at Buzz in space on the International Space Station. The Path to Pixar: Technical Artists interviews are repeated here but with new personnel.

Also included are three new Studio Stories presented consisting of some anecdotal animated shorts about life at Pixar, including the “Toy Story 2 Sleep Deprivation Labs”, which gives the viewer a peek into the time pressure that went in to making the film, “Pinocchio”, showing an impromptu competition where Pixar animators threw toys into their soft ceiling and “The Movie Vanishes” which details how a technical glitch erased the film from the main Pixar computer and how the film was saved only due the fact that one of the animators had a copy of the film on her computer at home as she was caring for her infant child.

We also get a brief featurette entitled “Oixar’s Zoetrope” which provides a look at the creation of the live-action zoetrope that Pixar created the capture the principles of animation in a live sculpture. The final feature is a tribute the late Pixar animator Joe Ranft and is entitled “Celebrating our Friend Joe Ranft”. All of the new extras with the exception of the Joe Ranft tribute are presented in HD.

Final Thoughts 

As was the case with Toy Story, the addition of Toy Story 2 to one’s film collection on Blu-ray is a no-brainer. It is a wonderful film that features reference audio and video presentations. Toy Story 2 is yet another must buy from the folks at Pixar.

Film 

What more can you really say about Toy Story? I am sure that you are all well aware of the film which introduced us to characters such as Woody and Buss Lightyear and added the phrase, “To Infinity and Beyond” into the American Lexicon. Toy Story is the film that really started Pixar’s string of incredibly successfully full length animated films and ushered in the amazing potential of computer animated films to the big screen. Toy Story looked incredible in 1995 and the folks at Pixar seem to raise the bar as far as what is possible with computer animation with each successive release. The sky, it seems, is truly limitless, at least insofar as computer animation is concerned.

In Toy Story, we are introduced to Andy’s toys, which come to life in the absence of the presence of humans. Woody is Andy’s favorites and rules the roost, until the introduction of Buzz Lightyear as a gift at Andy’s birthday party. When Buzz is introduced to the gang, Woody is a bit jealous. Woody knocks Buzz out of Andy’s window and the rest of the toys turn on Woody. Both Buzz and Woody come into the possession of Andy’s demented neighbor Sid, a particularly vicious child, and Woody and Buzz set out to rescue each other and bring both of them back to Andy’s room before he and his family move to a new house across town. In doing so, they both come to learn the value of friendship.

Toy Story features the voices of Tom Hanks as Woody and Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear. Toy Story was an instant classic upon its release and remains so today 15 years after its initial release. It is truly a film for all ages and is very highly recommended and for me, another must buy.

Video 

I must have seen Toy Story on DVD a hundred times. However, seeing the film on Blu-ray was like seeing the film for the first time, the improvement in picture quality was that substantial. The folks at Disney/Pixar have really pulled out all the stops on this release which looks phenomenal. Given the impressive video quality on the prior Pixar releases, I shouldn’t have been surprised.

Toy Story features a bright and bold color palette and just about every color you can imagine. Blacks are as inky as they come and the level of detail is simply off the charts. The level of detail in the texture of each character is amazing. Just take a look at the wood grain on the floors, the nicks on the doors and door jams, the texture of the paint on the doors and woodwork, where the texture of the paint bristles is clearly visible. The sheen on the various toys is amazing as well and in particular, the bright white glaze on Little Boo Peep.

The overall clarity of the image on this release is sensational, with an amazing sense of depth and three dimensionality that is very, very impressive. Given that the images were created without film, there is no film grain present. What you are left with is a picture of exceptional clarity, depth and detail. Hopefully, Toy Story 2 will be just as sensational.

Audio 

The improvement in the DTS HD Master Audio track on this release over the lossy track on the DVD release is just as impressive as the improvement in the video. I have never heard Toy Story sound this good before. Not even close. This is a very immersive sound design with an aggressive use of the surrounds during the entire film. In addition to the overall sense of immersion, the overall dynamics of the sound design are excellent as well, with deep and tight bass. The sound design places you right in the middle of the action, with balls bouncing around you and rockets blasting off to cars speeding across the room and over your head.

The dialogue track is well recorded and front and center in the mix. If I had to quibble with one aspect of the sound, it is that it does get a tad on the bright side at real high volume. However, at more normal listening levels, this brightness is not as noticeable. In addition to the overall brightness, I was a bit disappointed with the fidelity of the music, which lacked the smoothness and transparency of prior Pixar releases and on the spectacular new release of The Princess and the Frog. Other than these two rather minor quibbles, this is a great sounding release and is one that should thrill fans of the film.

Special Features 

Not surprisingly, the Blu-ray release of Toy Story comes loaded with extras. I was provided with a copy of the combo pack which included a DVD copy of the film as well as a digital copy. Disc one is the Blu-ray copy of the film which includes the extras. All of the extras that were included with the prior DVD release of the film are presented here as well in standard definition. However, there were several new extras prepared for this release, all of which are presented in HD.

These new extras include a sneak peek at the upcoming Toy Story 3 due for theatrical release in June as well as Buzz Lightyear Mission Logs Episode One in which Buzz Lightyear reports back on his trip to the International Space Station via the Space Shuttle. Yes, a Buzz Lightyear toy did make its way the the Space Station. Also included is a featurette “Paths to Pixar” Artists” which features interviews with several of the Pixar animators, where they discuss their career paths, offering advice to aspiring filmmakers and animators.

We also get several animated shorts about life at Pixar, including John’s Car where the old beat up jalopy that John Lassiter once owned and drove to work every day is discussed. It was so bad that Steve Jobs bought him a black Volvo after the success of Toy Story. Another of the shorts is “Baby AJ” where one of the animators discusses how he dressed up like the oversized baby from the short Tin Toy to win the prize at a Pixar Halloween party as well as “Scooter Races” which describes the scooter races which were a regular occurrence at Pixar’s old locale.

Also included is the featurette “Buzz Takes Manhattan” which documents Buzz’ first appearance as a balloon at Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York, with John Lassiter holding one of the many tether wires during the parade. BY far, the most interesting of the the extras is “Black Friday: The Toy Story You Never Saw” in which John Lassiter and others discuss how bad the first rough cut of the film was and how it was nixed by Disney. A short clip of the film, which featured an totally unlikable Woody is included. After the rough cut was nixed by Disney, the folks at Pixar went back to the drawing board for 2 weeks, making the film they wanted to make without studio interference. The rest, as they say, is history.

Final Thoughts 

If you are a fan of Toy Story, you owe it to yourself to check it out again on Blu-ray. It is like seeing the film again for the first time. Very highly recommended and a must own for sure.

Film

Michael Corleone’s rise to power and plunge into darkness is on the verge of completion within the sequel to Mario Puzo’s The Godfather. We see the Corleone family as their empire expands to Nevada and begins to thrive off of the casinos they own.

The film also takes us back prior to the first film and shows us the rise to power of the young Vito Corleone (played by Robert De Niro), which was part of the storyline cut out of the first Godfather script. Both tales are weaved together to form the continuation of the Corleone saga.

The sequel is often considered to be more of an extension of the first film, whereas The Godfather III is considered to be an epilogue. The film is sometimes edited with the timelines of Godfather I & II in chronological order, showing the strong relationship these films have.

The Sapphire Series version of The Godfather II, however is the original theatrical cut and does not contain some of the deleted scenes that appeared on previous releases of the film. We get to enjoy the film as the original audiences enjoyed it. If you’re disappointed by the fact that there are missing scenes of the film, please note that sometimes the edited down version of Francis Ford Coppola is the better version… Case-in-point: Apocalypse Now Redux!

The Godfather II is one of the few sequels that is as beloved as the original film and considering the fact that The Godfather is one of the most beloved films of all time… That says a lot! The film’s dark and noir tones really suit the content and with Paino giving a great performance once again as Michael Corleone, we get to truly see how the rise to power has so many consequences.

De Niro’s performance as the young Vito Corleone is definitely my favourite part as he captures the spirit that filled Marlon Brando’s iconic performance and gives us some backstory about what it takes to become the Don.

The film contains just as many thrills as the first and has just as many, if not more, emotional moments that make you both loathe and somewhat respect the characters you watch. Without giving anything away to those who may not have had the opportunity to see this great film, it’s an essential watch.

Video

Godfather II ‘s video is in 1080p and uses the AVC MPEG-4 codec to display the 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The film overall is very clean considering the age and the concern surrounding whether or not the original prints would last. There are a few shots that are subject to noise and grain overloads, but they’re few and far between… The transfer is definitely well done.

The film’s dark and moody lighting definitely give the film a signature look; from the chiaroscuro style lighting that was a marquee of noir filmmaking and German expressionism within art, to the candlelit scenes where our characters spend more time dwelling on their thoughts than expressing them through dialogue. It definitely says a lot about a movie when characters spend a lot of time in silence and yet the way the actor is displayed speaks louder than words could… A scene that comes to mind is the great two-face moment where Al Pacino’s face is lit from one side leaving the other side of his face in darkness, representing that great battle of duality within. It brought back to memory a similar shot from Citizen Kane.

It was definitely a treat watching this film with my projector and it definitely stood up to being projected to 100” so it will look even more remarkable on an HDTV!

Audio 

The Godfather II’s sound comes at us in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and Dolby Digital Mono in English only, there are also English and Portuguese subtitles.

It never comes as a shock to me that when I’m faced with a great transfer of an older film, that the time was really spent cranking out a stunning image while the audio is lower on the priorities. The sound lacks dynamic fidelity and really doesn’t take advantage of the surround presence that makes TrueHD one of my favourite audio codecs. I’d imagine that a new mix wouldn’t be too hard to get a go ahead for considering the importance of these films, but nonetheless we are presented with a less than great audio source to go along with The Godfather II. The sound definitely isn’t bad, it carries over that great seventies tone that came with the equipment and although the overall mix is a little quieter it definitely stpood up to being cranked through my speakers.

The dialogue is handled very well and comes through crisp and clear while maintaining the warmth in the vocals. The foley was done quite well, some of the gunshots and fireworks (Vito timeline scene) were mixed a little louder, making me want to reach for the remote after turning up the volume to hear the dialogue, but it wasn’t that bad at all.

The epic and famous score comes at us beautifully, giving you goosebumps when you first hear it as it recalls all the memories from the first Godfather.
Although I wasn’t as impressed with the sound as much as the video, it’s definitely not a deal breaker.

Special Features

To hear that there is only one special feature within Paramount’s Sapphire Series, which Paramount considers their version of the Criterion Collection, is a bit of a disappointment. However the commentary by Francis Ford Coppola is definitely one of the best I’ve heard and considering the length of the film, is an achievement in itself… Can you imagine going on about a film for three and half hours while trying to be insightful and keeping the audience interested? Considering this is Francid ford Coppola, let’s just say he did it.

Final Thoughts 

The film is a classic and I believe the whole trilogy is a must-have… yes, even the third one. These films are some of the most important pieces of cinematic history and having them on Blu-ray is simply allowing you the ability to watch them in the best possible way. Although the Sapphire Series version of The Godfather II is practically barebones, whereas the Coppola Restoration Trilogy set has an entire disc dedicated to special features, most of the features are regarding the first Godfather film.

To lovers of the original saga, The Sapphire Series release of the first two Godfather films is probably the most essential Blu-ray purchase out there.