Film

The film begins by following an assassin played by Bill Nighy who is lethally efficient at what he does but in contrast to his cold icy profession he still tries to please his overbearing mother. However when hired to kill a woman (Emily Blunt) who’s involved in a counterfeit Rembrandt painting sale, he decides to help her and turns the tables on his client.

The film definitely has a lot going on, trying to juggle character development amongst the many characters however it fails to really do so. Victor Maynard (Nighy) being the main character gets the best coverage and in the end the film really doesn’t seem to have too much thought put into it. The cliché momma’s boy jokes that are involved when Nighy visits his soul crushing mother a bit lame and honestly feel like they were simply added for cheap laughs.

The cast is definitely filled with talent such as the great Rupert Everet, but the film just isn’t memorable. The story straddles comedy and action quite well however the story’s lack of depth keeps it in the realm of fun popcorn film from being anything more. However popcorn films aren’t bad so give it a shot if you’re a fan of the actors involved.

Video

Wild Target’s video is displayed using the AVC codec. The video quality is pretty run of the mill, with little to no noise or artefacting. The film stock has a bit of grain during the interior scenes with lower amounts of light, but it’s not prominent enough to come across as a distraction.

The color palette is a bit dull with a lack of contrast that makes the black levels suffer, but the skin tones are natural and there really isn’t a need for a strong color grade. The sharpness of the transfer shine when we see the textures of the actor’s skin and the detail in the background elements such as the strokes of paint on the close-up shots of the Rembrandt painting at the beginning.

Audio

Wild Target’s audio comes at us using the 5.1 DTS-HD master audio codec. The film is a well-balanced audio mix that manages to handle the dialogue heavy scenes with the same grace as the shootouts. The dialogue is clean and centered while the surrounds get some good use of audio panning which give the mix a good atmospheric quality.

The subwoofer gets some nice LFE fodder with the shootouts and explosions that ensue, but the mix never really goes over-the-top which helps the audience stay leveled headed so the scenes with a lot of dialogue don’t feel so empty.

Special Features

There is only one special feature which is a 3 minutes EPK style interview with Emily Blunt called “On Target with Emily Blunt” which goes over her character and herself. The extra barely counts but at least it’s in HD.

Final Thoughts

The movie itself is decent but falls into the category of being a good popcorn flick that combines some slapstick action with dry black comedy. With some pretty solid technical presentation, the film makes up for the fact it only has one extra feature. However it may be a better rental than purchase unless you find it for a good price or you’re a big of fan of one of the many talented cast members.

Film

Jimmy Fallon took a break from smirking his way through SNL sketches to play an overeager cop who has zero skills behind the wheel of a car. Several expensive props destroyed later, he literally runs into a cab operated by an aspiring Nascar racer, played by a nauseatingly sassy Queen Latifah. The two become hap-hazard partners in a scheme to stop a band of (sigh) Brazilian models who have decided to rob banks.

The films kicks off with an immediate overdose of trying-to-be-cool scenarios, such as Queen Latifah performing completely improbable stunts on a messenger bike through the streets of New York. This is followed by her car transforming like the Gadget Mobile so she can place lives in danger on the road and shatter any and all traffic safety laws, all for the sake of lookin’ cool. Throughout the film, this “cool” attitude remains and makes for a complete disconnection with not only the audience, but with the city of New York. This film acts like it has an intimate understanding and love of NYC but does nothing to serve that feeling by having caricature heroes chasing cartoonishly absurd villains.

Yes, Gisele and the other models as the bank robbers, how could I get through this review without addressing their talents? Gisele’s acting skills are confined to her making the odd kissy face. Beyond that, she has to rip off her clothes and/or molest another woman in order to grab your attention and remind you that she is more than just a gun-toting mannequin in this film.

Taxi is simply a gigantic waste of stunt people and a sizable budget. All the gags fall flat (I mean, they even rip off a laughing gas gag from Lethal Weapon 4…the fourth Lethal Weapon sequel for crying out loud! And even then LW4 stole it from several others, up to and including the Simpsons), and the cast is devoid of charm.

Video

Widescreen 2.35:1. There are a lot of cars in this film, and they all looked freshly washed under the HD treatment. As good as the HD is for this release, it causes some problems as some dated CG and green screen graphics become more apparent when placed amongst ultra-clean footage of real people and places. A hazard of clarity.

AVC runs at an acceptable 22 MBPS.

Audio

This disc is absolutely loaded with audio options. Dolby Digital 5.1 in English, French (both Quebec and Parisian), Spanish (Stereo only, Castellano is 5.1)), German, Italian, Czech and Turkish. Subtitles are also offered for the same languages just mentioned, plus additional texts for Korea, Netherlands and possibly others, I was losing track of them all after a while. Also included are dubbed director commentary tracks in Spanish, French and German. Never mind the huge budget depressing me, now I’m imaging how many countries are being distributed this schlock.

My subjective criticisms of the film’s quality aside, this is a well treated soundtrack. The music is booming when it wants to be obvious and the dialogue is clear enough so that not a single failed joke is missed (sorry, obviously I cannot just let it go).

Special Features

Director Commentary: Tim Story uses the word “fun” to describe his reasoning (or his excuse) for everything, be it the irrational stunts, the casting of models whose acting talents resemble Oak, the overblown set pieces and all the other junk that he tries to justify. On top of this, he his bland speaking voice has no presence. I cannot fathom him having any sort of authority on a major movie set. I am baffled.

The Meter’s Runnin’ Making Of Featurette: This mostly consists of Jimmy Fallon mugging for the camera. Another waste of time.

Lights, Camera, Blue Screen: A remedial explanation of how Blue Screen effects work that would be better left as a feature on a Star Wars DVD, or at least hosted by someone with more than one facial expression.

Tour Guide: Jimmy Fallon: Fallon’s mugging of the camera obviously worked as he leads a boring tour through the studio set. If you watch it in fast forward, it hurts less.

Comedy Central’s Reel Comedy: Taxi: Two of the stars of Reno 911 do a profile/sketch about the film in what is the ONLY funny thing on this disc. These two know how to improvise and manage to spark a little something from Latifah too. But even this gets old fast when you realize what film they are talking about.

Beautiful Criminals: A musical montage compiling nothing but footage of the models. As boring as it is, it could easily replace the film in my books…and I don’t mean that in a misogynist, hound dog sort of way…I just think it has a better plot.

Deleted Scenes: I could not sit through this even though it lasts less than 5 minutes (I think). Each is worse than anything left in the film…and that is a VERY harsh insult.

Final Thoughts

There must be some sort of irony in how the main character is trying so desperately to win back his credibility on the police force while Jimmy Fallon explodes any remaining credibility he had while portraying him. Bleh. Steer clear of this one (see that embarassing pun I just made? THAT was wittering than anything this film provided).

Film 

In Twilight fashion the story revolves around Becca Crane who just moved to Sporks in order to live with her father (Diedrich Bader) after her mother recently started an affair with Tiger Woods. There is a sudden burst of mysterious murders in Sporks and Becca begins a love relationship with a vampire. Of course a werewolf also vies for her affections. There isn’t really much to the story, just like its basis Twilight. I won’t hold that against this movie as no one watches these kind of movies for the story.

Like I mentioned before Vampires Suck pretty well spoofs just the Twilight franchises, so if you’re not familiar with those films you won’t get much out of this movie. Actually even if you know those movies you still won’t get much out of Vampires Suck. I can honestly say that I am getting tired of these spoof movies; the attempts at laughter are horrible. People walk into parked objects, there’s fist fights in the background involving cripples, and plenty of gag humour. You have to wonder if the people who make these films are children. But I guess there’s some people who still enjoy this kind of stuff and for those of you this one is pretty much par for the course so you can expect the same quality as you’re used to (whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing).

The one thing I was actually surprised with was the acting which wasn’t really all that bad. While they aren’t really given much room to flex their wings I really enjoyed seeing Ken Jeong and Diedrich Bader;  I actually would have enjoyed seeing more of them. But seriously nothing could save this movie from being as horrible as it was, the quality just isn’t there.

Ultimately I was really disappointed with this movie, but I don’t know why I had absolutely no expectations going into it. It’s the same trash that we’re used to from these spoof movies, but yet they seem to be getting worse and worse. Don’t waste your time with this film unless your obsessed with everything Twilight and you really want anything more that’s related to it. Perhaps you will get more of the references than I did, but I doubt that could make it any better.

Video 

Presented in 1080p 1.85:1 aspect ratio and encoded in MPEG-4 Vampire Sucks comes to Blu-ray with a disappointing video transfer.  Right from the start of the movie you can tell things aren’t going to look very good.  Detail is extremely weak, with most subtle washed away with some extreme softness.  Color   presentation is also disappointing, with hues looking washed out and bland.

There is the occasional shot that looks great, but overall this is one very disappointing looking presentation.

Audio 

Fox has included a 5.1 DTS HD track one that does a good job presenting the given material.  There a quite a few instances where all channels are being utilized.  And although this was nice, the quality of the sound wasn’t top tier.  There were many instances of sound balancing, where sound effects and soundtrack would mute dialogue. Still there a more instances where the quality of the track outweighs the bad and that is what kept me listening.

Saying the audio is the highlight of the disc isn’t saying much about this package.  Nevertheless for people who actually like this movie, you will enjoy this audio presentation.

Special Features 

Lackluster in both quantity and quality, Fox disappoints in this category as well.

• Deleted Scenes
• Gag Reel
• Trailers

Final Thoughts 

I don’t know how I keep getting disappointed with these movies; at this point we should all just expect them to be crap. But somehow I always give the movie the benefit of the doubt and go in with eager eyes. But ultimately this movie fell way, way short of its already low expectations. The would be laughs are cheap and so far between that I don’t know who would consider this a comedy. The disc itself isn’t the worst thing ever but there is definitely room for improvement, more specifically in the video department. The special features are really weak as well, so unless you really love this movie don’t even bother renting it.

http://moviemarbles.com/blurays.php?brid=118

Film

Knight and Day sold itself as a fun summer movie and the chance to see Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz who last starred together in the underrated Vanilla Sky was probably the most appealing thing to me. The film is a bit one dimensional, with a very formulaic script, but the stars are really on board and give us a pretty interesting performance. Tom Cruise tries especially hard, tapping into the same wackiness that he displayed to hilarious perfection in Tropic Thunder. The problem is that the story is already old and there aren’t any fresh twists.

Cameron Diaz’s character June bumps into a stranger at the airport, played by Cruise, whom turns out to be an incredibly skilled agent. Suddenly, she finds herself being chased by men in black that think she may be involved with Cruise’s character. Luckily, he arrives in time to save the day and in the process treks across the world with many interesting backdrops to shoot action in front of including France, the Bahamas and Mexico for the running of the bulls.

Despite the efforts of the stars, especially Tom Cruise, the script leaves the viewer wanting more. It’s never quite as funny as you want it to be and the action scenes, albeit humorous and exciting and are the only really memorable scenes, are unfortunately few and far between. The film doesn’t break any ground but it is a fun and mindless action comedy that would provide a nice night in’s worth of enjoyment even if you’re not a Tom Cruise fan. His performance is pretty unique in this one; he often channels his suave performance for the softer moments but at times he lets the crazy come out especially in the beginning of the film when he is trying to rescue Cameron Diaz during a car chase. All in all it’s fun.

Video

Knight and Day’s video is displayed using AVC codec and in its original aspect ratio of 2.40:1. The video looks great at times, but suffers from some noise issues during the scenes at night. The contrast is at a good level and although the image isn’t as vivid as it could be, the deeper black levels help hide and grain in the shadows of the image.

The color palette of the film is pretty natural and the shadows have a bit a blue tone to them at times while midtones are a bit orange, but it’s a choice of the color grader to create an appealing color scheme and it’s a pretty run of the mill choice but for a reason… it looks good.

The detail of the video is nice and sharp, while some of the shots with shallower depth of field have nice soft bokeh. The video is free of artefacting or any glitches and because of the nice clean video it’s easier to pick up on the lesser quality of the compositing and CGI effects that stick out at times.

Audio

Knight and Day’s audio comes at us using the 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. The audio is a definite step-up from the video quality and to those who like a great high octane mix, Knight and Day won’t disappoint. The dialogue is clean and centered while the rest of the mix surrounds us. The mix uses the surrounds for an atmospheric quality that helps bring us into the film.

The mix is very powerful with a load of loud sound effects ranging from ricocheting bullet hits to cars flipping over. The sound effects are layered and detailed and come through clearly even when they’re amidst hundreds of others.

And as far as the low frequency range is concerned the subwoofer gets a lot of work during the action scenes adding that oomph to the crashes and explosions. So it’s obvious when I say the mix is a lot of fun, if not a little over-the-top, but for audio guys who want to flex the muscles of their sound systems Knight and Day gives them a chance to do just that.

Special Features

Knight and Day’s extras are a bit light; however they all are in high definition which is a bit of a bonus. With a few straight forward behind-the-scenes featurettes and some random internet videos the extras really don’t cover much more than electronic press kits. The one interesting extra was a video of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes going to see The Black Eyed Peas, for one of their songs appears at the end credits.

With a lack of entertaining extras, any fans of the actors or film will be disappointed and with just a few run of the mill items like the featurettes, it feels like the extras were just some filler added to make the disc seem more valuable.

Final Thoughts

The movie may not be the best action comedy mash-up when compared to others, but it’s wacky comedy is definitely enjoyable. With decent video quality and a dynamic sound mix that is worth the rental alone, I would recommend this to anyone looking for a fun night in. Unfortunately the lack of quality extras makes the disc’s value go down slightly so fans may want to stick to the rental as well.

Film

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

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

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

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

Video

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

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

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

Audio

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

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

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

Special Features

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

Final Thoughts

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

Film  

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

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

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

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

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

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

Video  

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

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

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

Audio  

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

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

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

Special Features  

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

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

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

Final Thoughts  

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

Films

Alien 

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

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

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

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

Aliens 

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

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

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

Aliens 3 

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

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

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

Alien Resurrection 

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

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

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

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

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

Video

Alien 

Aliens 

Alien 3 

Alien Resurrection 

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

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

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

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

Audio

Alien 

Aliens 

Alien 3 

Alien Resurrection 

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

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

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

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

Special Features  

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

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

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

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

Final Thoughts 

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

Clearly, some of the issues raised in a show like Everyone Loves Raymond couldn’t be raised on TV in the 1950′s, where the terms toilet and pregnant were not able to be spoken, replaced with more “family friendly” terms such as “with Child” and water closet. After the end of the run of Everyone LOves Raymond, I was wondering what sitcom would rise up to take its place as the best family sitcom on TV. In this writer’s opinion is the subject of today’s review, Modern Family, which is a more than worthy successor to the crown.

Show 

If you have not yet had the opportunity to see Modern Family, by all means, check out this release. Season long compilations of TV shows are great in that they allow you to view the entire season at your convenience, devoid of the annoying commercials and pop up ads that make live television viewing such a hassle, especially pre DVR days, before you could zap away commercials.

Modern Family focuses on adventures of one extended family, a older man with his younger buxom Columbian trophy wife and her young son, his daughter and her husband and three children and his gay son and his lover, who have just happened to have adopted a baby girl from Vietnam.

The show’s pilot episode left me in stitches and it has gotten better every week, as the show explores some of the really funny things that can and do happen in all families and the disputes and tensions that exist in each and every family, especially those with young children. While the three family units that comprise the show are very different in their makeups, the problems that they (and all of us) face in everyday life are the same and show us through humor, that we all are more alike than we think we are.

In short, this is great TV and should not be missed. If you have given up on the quality of primetime TV, come back and give Modern Family a chance. You will be hooked by the first episode, just as I was. Very highly recommended.

Video 

While I wouldn’t say that the video quality on this release is fantastic, it is more than acceptable and is much better than the picture quality on the ABC broadcasts. The video on this release lacks the noise and blocking that is visible on the TV broadcasts which are more than likely due to the fact that ABC broadcasts in 720p using Mpeg-2 and further dilutes the quality of their broadcasts with subchannels, which robs their primary signal of the bit rate necessary to deliver a pristine HD broadcast.

The video on this release is delivered in 1080p and is encoded with Mpeg-4 at 24 MPBS and it really shows, as the image presents a level of clarity, smoothness and detail that is simply not present during the network broadcasts, whether presented over the air on via cable or DBS. While the image is cleaner and sharper, it does share many of the same attributes of the broadcasts, namely the slightly desaturated color and just average black level and detail. While the show looks great on Blu-ray, it still lacks the levels of clarity, depth, vibrant color and detail of other TV shows I have seen released on Blu-ray, such as the 9th Season of CSI and the first 4 seasons of Dexter, and looks flat and bland in comparison. Don’t get me wrong, Modern Family looks great on Blu-ray, it is just that it falls a bit short of the best looking TV I have seen on the Blu-ray format.

As an aside, I should note that I had a difficult time loading this disc into my Oppo 83 Blu-ray player. The disc takes forever to load compared to every other disc I own, Disc one would not load at all in my older Panasonic player. Word to the wise, make sure that you have the latest firmware loaded into your player before playing the disc.

Audio 

As I was very familiar with the audio on the TV series, I was not expecting much and hence was not too disappointed. The audio design on the show is very front heavy, with most of the audio coming from the three front speakers. The surrounds are used very sporadically. Where I was a bit disappointed in the sound was in the overall fidelity which is a tad on the thin side without much in the way of depth, transparency or imaging. As a result, the audio is rather flat and can get a little on the shrill side and lacking much in the way of dynamics with the bass response being rather weak in particular. As such, the audio here falls a good bit short of the audio on shows such as Dexter, CSI and Stargate SG-U and hence a score of 3.5.

Special Features 

Season One of Modern Family is a three disc set. There are extras included on all three discs, but it is the extras on disc three that really shine. The extras on the first two discs are deleted and extended scenes and character interviews. Those are rather mundane and frankly not all that interesting.

On the other hand, the extras on disc three provide interesting interviews with the cast members, producers, directors and writers and give you a behind the scenes at the making of the show and how some of the funniest moments in the series were based on actual events in the lives of the producers and writers. One of the most interesting involve Eric Stonestreet who plays Mitchell’s lover Cameron. It turns out he is a bit of a clown aficionado and used to dress and act as a clown named Fizbo as a teenager. When the producers learned of this, they asked him for some pictures and they wrote an episode incorporating Fizbo the clown into one of the episodes.

Another interesting extra is the featurette “Before Modern Family” where the actors discuss their careers before having the good fortune to be cast in Modern Family and a look at the making of one of the series best episodes, “Family Portrait”. If you are fan of the series, the extras on disc three are the best and well worth your time.

Final Thoughts 

Modern Family is simply TV at its very best and should be a welcome addition to the collection of any fan of sitcom TV and is very highly recommended.

Next up was Robin Hood: Men in Tights, chronologically the last of the films included in the collection.  I had seen this shortly after its release on VHS (yes, you read that correctly), but had little remembrance of it.  I did remember that Cary Elwes’ referred to Kevin Costner losing his English accent shortly into his Robin Hood epic, but that was about it.  Was this a forgotten gem?

Film

Gah, no this was most certainly not a forgotten gem.  In actuality, the film represents a sea change in the career of a writer/director.  Instead of his witty tributes to others (such as Hitchcock in High Anxiety), Mr. Brooks’ has descended fully into the world of farce, something he already hinted at in Spaceballs.  Little thought is given to making a new or a “Brooksian” retelling of the Robin Hood tale – instead it denigrates into mainly mocking Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves with the same subtlety and grace that abound in films such as Scary Movie. 

It should be noted that there are some very good performances in this film.  Richard Harris is excellent in his namby-pambyness as Prince Richard.  Cary Elwes is funny, expressive, and ironic as Robin Hood.  The somewhat attractive Amy Yasbeck played Maid Marian appropriately, and Tracy Ullman is a scene stealer as the hideous Latrine.  However, the most impressive performance is by Roger Rees as the Sheriff of Rottingham, a dyslexic, bumbling, and yet somehow likeable character.

The story really takes no deviations from dozens of other tellings of the Robin Hood legend.  Robin returns from the Crusades.  Robin finds his ancestral property has been unfairly claimed by Prince John and his minions.  Robin puts together a band of merry men, fights Prince John, wins Maid Marian’s heart, escapes the hangman, and lives happily ever after, with all restored to him by King Richard.

Along the way, we are treated to some good jokes (jackhammer on chastity belt, castle repossession), bad jokes (medieval rappers, fat woman on horse), and some of the worst musical numbers to grace a Mel Brooks film.  Even the supporting cast (including a woefully underused Dave Chapelle) tries to work with what they’re given, but are simply unable to make the most out of such uneven material.

Mr. Brooks’ earlier work showed a true love for the films that he lampooned.  Young Frankenstein was a humorous love letter to classic Universal horror films.  High Anxiety was also a humorous yet affectionate take on the films of Hitchcock.  Unfortunately, Robin Hood: Men in Tights shows none of this care or affection towards its subject matter; the film seems to exist simply to mock.      

Video

Being the newest of the films in the collection, my hope was that Robin Hood: Men in Tights would have the best video of all the films viewed so far, especially considering the care put into the transfer of the older films.  Unfortunately, no, it actually had the worst transfer so far, with the exception of the low budget The Twelve Chairs.

Overly grainy, grayish blacks, poor low-light resolution, and an overall softness (even in sunlit shots) gives this film a pedestrian appearance at best.  Even color was somewhat washed out of the film, missing the kind of “pop” we expect to see in a film that uses luxurious medieval costumes.

Personally, I’ve watched upscaled DVDs that has a better video appearance than this film.

Audio

Although limited by the source material, the audio presentation of this film was one of the better ones in the collection.  Actual use of the surrounds and the LFE!  Dynamic range including good highs and lows!  Clear and precise dialog from the centre!  Very good considering the presentations elsewhere in the set.

By all means, this simply cannot be a perfect presentation due to the age and limitations on the original recorded sound.  But in terms of transferring a 2 channel stereo to a 5.1 channel DTS-MA track, the job was well-done.

Special Features

Considering it was slated for a solo release, the special feature set of Robin Hood: Men in Tights was adequate, though not overwhelming.

Firstly, we are treated to a rare commentary track, originally recorded for the laserdisc release of the film.  Mr. Brooks is quite funny, though I had difficulty in keeping interest in the film for another viewing.

Also included are the ubiquitous Isolated Score Track, the trailer, and additional Mel Brooks trailers.

Two featurettes were also included, including a short look at the comedians who worked on the film (just over 13 minutes, in HD), and an old HBO special (in SD), likely dating back to the release of the movie.

Although the special features are fairly pedestrian, the presence of the commentary allows this set to score higher than it would otherwise deserve. 

Final Thoughts

Although this film has a good audio presentation, the video is simply not up to what should be expected from a Blu-ray.  Combined with the poor quality of the material, and the underuse (or pure abuse) of a very talented cast, I have a hard time even recommending a rental on this one.

Series 

I first checked out Stargate Universe upon its premiere on Syfy and was immediately drawn into the narrative. For want of a better phrase, I was hooked.

Stargate Universe is a best described as a cross between Stargate and Star Trek Voyager. A group of military personnel and civilians are caught on a planet as it it attacked by a group of rebels. The planet is beginning to crumble and the only escape route is through a stargate which transports them all to a seemingly abandoned and deserted starship dubbed “Destiny” that happens to be located not in a different part of the Milky Way galaxy but a different galaxy altogether, that is shall we say, far, far away.

The group must immediately figure out where they are, how to operate the ship and how to locate food and supplies. In addition, they must all learn how to co-exist, with a natural tension developing between the military and civilian populations. I have enjoyed this series much better than the other two as the series deals with topics a bit more sophisticated than your typical humans meet alien type encounters. Here, the group must learn how to operate a ship that is millions of years old and created by what are described as The Ancients which is essentially on autopilot. It deals with issues of the complexities of human interaction and human nature as well as the issues raised with military vs. civilian control of the government which the US Constitution deals with so brilliantly, unlike the crew of Destiny, all while trying to return home.

This release is dubbed SG-U 1.5 as it is comprised of the second half of season one of the series. The first half of the series was released on Blu-ray as SG-U 1.0. I have now seen the entire series on Blu and have enjoyed the series immensely. You don’t have to be a fan of the prior Stargate film or the 2 other TV series to enjoy this series. Just pop in disc one from SG-U 1.10 and go from there. This is a fine sci-fi series and is well worth your time and is highly recommended.

Video 

While Stargate Universe looked pretty good on the Syfy Channel, both of the releases on Blu-ray look much better, with a sharpness that the cable showings can’t match. The main difference is the lack of video noise and video artifacts that are evident on the cable version, which can also vary depending on your cable or DBS provider. If you enjoyed the look of the series on Syfy, you will love to look of the show on Blu-ray.

The series features a nice, natural and well saturated color palette with deep blacks and abundant detail. Shadow detail is excellent, which is important given that most of the show takes place in the rather dimly lit interior of the ship. Despite the dimly lit interiors and shadows, the image retains its overall sharpness and never turns into a flat and two dimensional and noisy mess. Detail, clarity and depth of image are all excellent and much better than one would otherwise have a right to expect from a TV series. Black level is excellent with the exterior space shots looking particularly impressive. I have had the opportunity to view the two SG-U releases and a couple of other direct to video SG-1 releases on Blu-ray and they all have excellent video quality. fans of the show will be more than pleased with the video quality on this release.

Audio 

The lossless audio on SG-U 1.5 is very impressive. The audio features a very immersive mix with the rears engaged fully throughout the series, filling your room with the ambiance and acoustical environment present on Destiny. The sound field makes you feel as though you are on the ship with the crew. The total sense of immersion is not the only area in which the sound design excels. The overall fidelity of the recorded sound is excellent as well, sounding smooth and open with excellent imaging and transparency.

Dynamics are excellent with deep bass that provides a solid foundation for the overall sound design The dialogue track is well recorded and well placed in the mix and has a sense of naturalness that I found to be very appealing. As was the case with the video, the audio on this release is much better than one would expect from a TV series and has the sophistication and overall quality that one would expect from a major motion picture.

Special Features 

As impressed as I was with the series as well as the video and audio quality on this release, I can’t really say the same for the extras. Te extras include chatting with the cast featurette which I found these to be a total waste of time. The same is true of the audio commentaries which accompany each of the episodes which sound more like school kids chatting behind their backs about their friends more than anything else. Also included are Kino video diaries which feature either monologues or interviews which different members of the crew in character on the ship. The extras also include a design space aliens featurette and a SG-U Survival Instinct game. I will admit that I found the game to be a tedious exercise, but feel the same way about all video games. While I found the extras to be lacking, the series is so good that I can overlook that rather minor shortcoming.

Final Thoughts 

Stargate Universe is one of those intelligent sci-fi series that are few and far between and proves that space series don’t have to take place with the realm of the United Federation of Planets to be worthwhile. Please, if you haven’t checked out Stargate Universe, do so. You will be glad you did.