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

Film

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

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

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

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

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

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

Video

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

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

Audio

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

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

Special Features

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

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

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

Final Thoughts

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

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

Film 

$5 A Day is a nice entertaining film about a a father and son trying to come to terms with their difficult past together. I seems that the father Nat (Christopher Walken), is a con man whose antics resulted in the imprisonment of his son Flynn (Allessandro Nivola) for fraud. Needless to say, that put a strain on their relationship to the point that Flynn never wanted to communicate with his father again. It seems that Flynn would bounce from job to job, never being able to put down roots.

At the same time Flynn lost his job, his father contacted him to tell him that he was terminally ill and asked that he come to Atlantic City to visit him. As Flynn had nothing better to do and given that his father paid his way, he went. When he arrived, he thought that his father was scamming him as he appeared fine. His father told him he needed Flynn to drive him to New Mexico for some cancer treatment as his illness effected his eyesight and his ability to drive. Nat told Flynn that the trip would be free as he had arranged a route that would result in free gas, free food and free lodging spending no more than $5 a day and off they went.

While on the trip, we are shown Nat’s gift for the con and how engaging a character he really was. On the trip, Nat opens up to Flynn as they discuss their past relationship and Flynn finds himself longing for a closer relationship with his father. Along the way they meet Flynn’s old baby sitter, Dolores ( a very engaging and alluring Sharon Stone), who it seems has picked up the gift of the con from Nat.

In the interviews that accompany the film, the director, Nigel Cole notes that he likes to make films that are funny but that can make you cry as well as laugh. He has such a film in $5 A Day. The film is very well acted and well paced and is funny, clever, poignant and moving. I enjoyed this film and think you will as well. Give it a look, at least on the basis of a rental.

Video 

I must say that I was very disappointed in the video quality at the beginning of the film. The opening part of the film has an image that can best be described as soft, fuzzy and drab, lacking much in the way of detail and mediocre blacks and warrants a score of 3.5 at best. About 10 minutes or so into the film, things change for the better and continue to improve to the point that the film’s video quality is fully deserving of a 4.5 star rating at the end, hence an average score of 4.

I am sure that there will be some that are put off by the fact that the film has heavy grain throughout. However, the grain is well preserved and I was not able to detect any obvious evidence of the application of digital noise reduction. This is not surprising given the level of film grain present. After the issues I had with the early part of the film as noted above, I was more than pleased with the remainder, which had a very natural (with the exception of a very tan Sharon Stone) if a bit muted color palette, good blacks and very nice levels of detail. The clarity and detail at the end of the film were excellent, with fine facial details clearly delineated. Overall, the video on the film is worthy of a solid 4 star rating, even considering the missteps at the beginning.

Audio 

The audio on this release is at times surprisingly punchy. The film is clearly dialogue driven and rather front heavy. Given the nature of the film as well as its small budget, I was not expecting a state of the art sound design and was therefore not disappointed in the sound. The sound that is present has very good fidelity. The dialogue track is well recorded and always intelligible. The surrounds are used occasionally but hardly aggressively. I noted earlier that the sound was surprisingly punchy. I use this phrase as the music and some of the effects have excellent bass and sound fantastic and much better than I would have expected. it is clear to me that whoever mixed this film cares about music and its reproduction. While not an immersive sound design, the audio here is more than acceptable and worthy of a 4 star rating, given its overall fidelity.

Special Features 

Given the low budge nature of the film I was not expecting much in the way of extras and hence was not disappointed by the extras included here. The only significant extra here is a set of interviews with director Nigel Cole and the cast, discussing the film, their roles in it and what is was like working with each other. While most of the cast is featured, it is surprising that an interview with the lead, Christopher Walken, was not included. After all, he is the star and is the one actor who was mentioned so often by the rest of the cast. I found this omission to be quite curious. Not surprisingly, the interviews are presented in standard definition only. Nevertheless, they are worth a look. The only other extras included are still galleries and a trailer for the film. The release does not contain a digital copy and is not BD-Live enabled

Final Thoughts 

$5 A Day is fine film and is one that deserves a look. It may be a bit too obscure a film for a blind buy for most but is definitely worth a look on the basis of a rental.

Therefore, I was quite intrigued to receive a copy of Batman: Under the Red Hood, as this would give me an excellent opportunity to review a full length movie from DC.  Batman has been one of my favourites since childhood, and I was very curious to see if DC is continuing with the gritty modern-day Batman, or has reverted (at least in animation) to the somewhat lighter 70’s version.

Film

Wow, was this a good film.  As a comic reader, I quit buying comics in the early 1990’s, as their price began to exceed what I could afford to pay.  However, I had finished the excellent four-part Batman Year 3 (Batman, iss. 436-439) before I quit purchasing. 

Although set in the present, this series discusses the third year of Batman’s crime fighting through vignettes, with a focus on the adoption of Dick Grayson as the first Robin.  Meanwhile in the present, an incredibly frayed Batman is forced to deal with the death of the second Robin (Jason Todd), and the release from prison of the man who killed Dick’s parents.

Ironically, this is almost exactly where Batman: Under the Red Hood starts – with the recent “death” of the second Robin, Jason Todd.  A still frayed Batman is left on his own to fight crime in Gotham, now under siege of a new drug kingpin, The Red Hood.

The original Robin (now Nightwing) makes an appearance, as does Ra’s al Ghul, and of course, the Joker, who was responsible for the death of Jason Todd.

It is difficult to discuss the film without giving away any spoilers.  Suffice it to say that for a direct-to-video cartoon, the story, script, and voice acting (including work by Neil Patrick Harris) are superb.  This Blu-ray unexpectedly and pleasantly exceeded my expectations.

Furthermore, the story was emotive, compelling, and engaging, enjoyable by not only this viewer, but by the official kids, the official wife, and the official sister-in-law as well.  All who paused in the home theater for even a moment were drawn into what ended up being a pretty good movie.

Video

Ponyo remains my benchmark for hand-drawn animation, and although this film was good, it did not meet the lofty standard set by Studio Ghibli.  The visuals were clean, uniformly colored, and smooth, with no hint of grain or texture.  Basically, the kind of quality animated print we expect.

This being stated, Blu-ray truly highlights any flaws in the style of animation used.  And in Batman: Under the Red Hood, the 1080p presentation highlights just how sparse this style of animation is.  Although stylistic, kinetic, and modern, this animation simply lacks the richness seen in other styles.  It looks good, but simply just not as good as some other forms.

Also, there was some noticeable artifacting and compression noise at a few points; although not a recurring theme in the presentation, it was enough to downgrade the video score by ½ a disc.

Audio

Animation gives the movie creators the luxury of fully designing a soundstage around the visuals, and in the case of Batman: Under the Red Hood, they have done a superb job crafting it.  Dialog is crisp and clear through the centre channel.  Surround and LFE channels are used appropriately as required by the material, yet remain well-balanced.  As DTS-MA presentations go, this is one of the better ones I’ve heard recently. 

The only niggle keeping this from perfection is the change in dynamic levels.  Some parts of the film are quiet, some parts are loud, and some parts are simply too loud.  Definitely use the night mode on your AVR if you have people trying to sleep in the house! 

Special Features

Compared to most direct-to-video releases, Batman: Under the Red Hood had some real nice goodies, best of which was a short Johan Hex featurette in glorious HD.  Although done in the same sparse animation style as the Batman film itself, it was bleached of color appropriately, looked like a retro version of the Batman film, and was full of an ironic world-weary humor.  Good job, DC!

Equally enjoyable were the two “Robin-centric” SD featurettes, one of each being dedicated to the two Robins (Dick Grayson and Jason Todd).  Both features were just over twenty minutes long, and both were great primers to those who came into this movie without an understanding of the Robin storylines.

Also included were four episodes from the various Batman TV animations (in SD, booo), a “first look” at an upcoming Superman/Batman animated movie, and a whole whack of trailers (also in SD, booo).

From a value for money perspective, this is a very good set of extras for a direct-to-video film, and compares very favorably with many of the extra feature sets I’ve seen recently. 

Final Thoughts

Usually the term “direct-to-video” makes me cringe, as I expect a lower-quality, poorly written presentation.  Batman: Under the Red Hood is now the exception that proves the rule.  Great story, excellent video, superb sound, and a decent set of extras makes this a keeper for any Batman fan.

Even better is that although this is a more “mature” Batman, it is still viewable by the young and the aged, and appeals to those is a diverse demographic (as witnessed in my movie room).  Simply stated, this Blu-ray can be enjoyed by basically anyone (though a quick trip to the Robin featurettes may be advisable).

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.

Film 

James and the Giant Preach is the adaptation of the wildly successful childrens’ book by Ronald Dahl from the 1960′s. The film is a combination of stop action animation and live action. Parts of the film are wholly live action and other wholly stop action except for the very end of the film where both are combined together.

The film tells the tail of James, a young boy who loses is parents and comes under the care of two evil aunts, who treat him like Cinderella, making his life rather miserable and lonely. After rescuing a spider, James meets up with a strange man who gives his a bag of magical crocodile tongues and warns him to be careful how he handles them as they were truly magical. However, as luck would have it, he trips and falls in the garden and spills them.

The magical tongues enter the ground and a giant peach grows from a long thought dead tree. The aunts find the peach and turn it into a money making attraction. They send James out to pick up the trash and he decides to take a bit out of the each and enters the peach. It is then that he is transformed into a animated character and meets up with a group of insects living in the peach. The peach is knocked off the tree by one of the insects and rolls down the hill and into the ocean where they all make there way across the ocean to New York City where James’ parents had promised to take him before they died.

While out on the high seas, they have adventures with a shark, pirates and a trip to the Arctic all before making there way to New York. James and the Giant Peach is a wonderful book and an even better film. There is no doubt that the stop action animation looks dated today given the incredible advancements in CGI but the film is no less engaging as a result. James and the Giant Peach is surely a film that the whole family will enjoy but on the basis of a rental due to the issues with the video quality noted below.

Video 

I must say that I was very, very disappointed with the video quality on this release. I was expecting so much more, especially from Disney. The picture here can best be described as soft, soft and soft, with muted and at times rather unsaturated colors. Detail is well below par and what we have come to expect from Blu-ray. The whole image is soft, flat and rather lifeless with little or no depth at all. For long sections of the film, it appears as though you are viewing the film through a thin haze. I did not see this film in the theater so I don’t know if this was how the film is supposed to look. I basically looks like a DVD and not a terribly good one at that. Need I say more?

Audio 

I must say that the audio on this release is far superior to the audio, far, far superior. This is one great sounding film, with a smooth and open sound that is easy on the ears and deep, tight bass and top notch fidelity. The surrounds are used aggressively and to great effect, providing an excellent sense of immersion. Listen to the scene for example where the peach rolls down the hill, it sounds as though the peach is rolling through the room and comes to a thunderous halt.

Another example of the excellent sonics here its the scene with the mechanical shark which has an incredible sense of realism. This release is filled with some great demo material. The dialogue track is well recorded and well placed in the mix. The soundtrack, with some great tunes penned and sung by Randy Newman sound superb. James and the Giant Peach is a great sounding disc. I only wish that the video was a match for the audio.

Special Features 

To say that the extras were lackluster would be an understatement. The only significant extra is the inclusion of the DVD copy of the film. The only other extras include a old short featurette on the film that plays more like a commercial, a video of Randy Newman performing the song Good News, a still frame gallery as well as the original trailer for the film. The only really new extra is the Spike the Aunts Interactive game where you try to spike the evil aunts featured in the film as they spin around on a wheel with the horn of a rhino. Can’t say that that one interested me at all.

Final Thoughts 

While James and the Giant Peach is a fine film and features a wonderful audio track, the video is of such poor quality that I can’t give this film a buy recommendation. If you are unfamiliar with the film, please give it a look, but on the basis of a rental only.

Film 

Bull Durham is without question one of the finest sports themed films ever made and certainly the best involving baseball. It has appeared on nearly every critical list in the sports films category, more often than not, at the top. There is a simple reason for that. It is a great film. The film is excellent at offering a glimpse into the life of a baseball player in the low minor leagues as well as the women who follow them and attempt to latch onto a little bit of greatness while they can.

The film centers around three main characters, a young pitcher with major league potential, Nuke LaLoosh (Tim Robbins), a career minor league catcher, Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) brought in the groom Nuke for a quick path to the Major Leagues or The Show as it is known among the players and the 30 something Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon) who treats baseball as a religion and decides to bed one new player a year on the local team, the Durham Bulls.

The film accurately depicts life in the low minors and the toll that life in the minors can take on the players. It also accurately depicts how women throw themselves at at the new players on the team hoping to hitch a ride on a star to a path of wealth and fame. You can go to the opening game in most small minor league towns in A or AA ball and see this playing out in front of your own eyes. I know I have. While Annie latches onto to Nuke, she soon learns that there is more to Crash than meets the eye and that her life, chasing after younger men, may not be how she ultimately wants to live the rest of her life. While Bull Durham is a comedy, it is chock full of some very poignant and introspective moments.

If you have not seen Bull Durham, do yourself a favor and give this film a look. You will be glad you did. Even with the video shortcomings as described below, Bull Durham is a film that belongs in the collection of all film fans. Recommended.

Video 

To say that I was disappointed in the video quality of this release would be an understatement, which, with a few exceptions, is barely above DVD quality. The film has a rather warm color palette with slightly de-saturated colors and mediocre blacks. The film was originally released to theaters in 1988 and has the look of many films in the 1980′s, namely overly soft with a rather murky and hazy looking image. Film grain is rather heavy here and well preserved.

I have an old DVD copy of the film and it looks as though the Blu-ray was mastered from the same print used for the older DVD and looks very similar in terms of color and overall image quality, with the Blu-ray showing better detail and overall clarity, but not by as much as one would have expected or hoped for. Given the softness and lack of deep blacks, the image here is flat and very two dimensional, lacking anything in the way of real depth. It has been way too long for me to recall how this film looked in the theaters but given the look of films in that era, the Blu-ray may just be a faithful depiction of the actual filmed image. Otherwise, Bull Durham is a film that could really benefit from a major restoration effort.

Audio 

The best aspect of the sound on this release is the accompanying music track which sounds wonderful and pulls the overall score up from a 3.5 to a 4 star rating. The music here sounds great with excellent imaging and transparency and rock solid bass. The opening vocal sequence sounds amazing.The rest of the film is deserving or no more than a 3.5 star rating, sounding a bit thin and flat. While the surrounds do spring to life occasionally, usually during the live action baseball sequences, the mix itself is rather front heavy. On the plus side, the dialogue track is well recorded and is always front and center in the mix.

Special Features 

Bull Durham is presented in a 2 disc combo pack with disc one the Blu-ray version of the film and disc two, a DVD edition. Other than the original trailer for the film, the Blu-ray disc contains no extras at all. All of the extras are located on the DVD edition which, with two exceptions, were ported over from the prior DVD release of the film. The extras ported over from the prior DVD release include an audio commentary from director Ron Shelton, an audio commentary with Kevin Costner and Tim Robbins, the featurette, “Between the Lines: The Making of Bull Durham”, a Kevin Costner Profile and a Sports Wrap. Two new featuretes are included on this release, a 20 year look back at the film featuring the cast and crew entitled “The Greatest Show on Dirt” and “Diamonds in the Rough” which takes a look at minor league baseball. of all the extras, the two newest and the ones most worth your time.

Final Thoughts 

While I was disappointed with the overall video and audio presentations on this release, Bull Durham is such a great film, even 22 years after its initial release, that it belongs in the collection of ay film buff. If you haven’t already, by all means add Bull Durham to your film library.

Film

The film follows a newly adopted dog who is introduced into a new neighbourhood where the dogs are in the midst of a battle that apparently goes all the way back to the times of Ancient Egypt. The dogs are clashing with felines who are always concocting evil plans to win the war against the dogs. The new dog, Lou who is voiced by Tobey Maguire becomes a conduit for the audience to learn all of the exposition of the story. The cats’ newest plan to win the war is to sabotage a scientist’s work to create a cure for dog allergies.

The film hosts a variety of fairly well-known actors as voice talents such as Alec Baldwin, Tobey Maguire and Michael Clarke Duncan,  but even with a fairly sturdy set of actors and actresses behind the film Cats and Dogs simply doesn’t tread any new waters… a cliché storyline with weak dialogue keep the film’s target audience limited to children.

I found myself waiting for the potentially warm and fuzzy moments, but found they were mostly replaced with immature jokes that were obviously aimed towards the 13 and under crowd. It’s not surprising for a film like this to be aimed at youngsters, but as I said before, Pixar has proven you can make a kid friendly film that is just as compelling to the adults watching as well.

Cats and Dogs falls short on my expectations, even with Jeff Goldblum with an actual human performance couldn’t save the film. After watching some of the trailers for the sequel it feels like more of the same child friendly nonsense, but adding all the gimmicks of 3D and over the top CGI, which doesn’t look any better over the original film which is already nine years old.

The director, Lawrence Guterman, who hasn’t really done much besides “Son of the Mask” and some additional direction on “Antz” does a fairly cut-and-paste job taking the helm on this project. I think most of the film’s negative points come from the script, but sometimes I found myself annoyed with how the film was laid out in a way that was very to boring watch. there’s little creativity used to make the film anything but an extended version of the sitcom experience.

For kids however, the movies comes out in spades and that’s what it’s meant to do, there’s really nothing out of left field here but if you’re looking for a flick to keep the kids entertained the movie provides some pretty silly characters and over-the-top scenarios. It’s hard to critique a film like this, because although it may not be great for the average person who would be looking online for blu-ray reviews, but if you have kids then simply think about this… ninja cats.

Video

Cats and Dogs’ video is displayed using the VC-1 codec with the 1.78:1 aspect ratio, which differs from its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The film definitely is a clean transfer with little to no artefacting, I was happy that the film is almost grain free, even in the low light shots, which is common for the over-produced kids films but looks great even on a 100” screen.

The detail is very sharp and the contrast is nicely balanced to allow deep black levels while keeping night shots clear. The colour is vivid with a complimentary palette and the skin tones are warm. The picture is definitely nice to look at, but unfortunately with the great transfer we begin to see the flaws.

The CGI isn’t too shabby in the flick, but a lot has changed in nine years and it becomes obvious when something’s fake. The clear resolution really makes the seams stand out, but this is still a good looking Blu-ray.

Audio

Cats and Dogs’ audio comes at us using the DTS-HD master 5.1 audio codec. The film is very front heavy and seems fairly flat compared to a lot of the other children’s flicks I’ve watched on Blu-ray. I was expecting some dynamic bass during the scenes with a lot of action, but instead the sound was a little underwhelming.

The dialogue is in the fore front and is clear, there’s no distortion or noise in the center channel. The mix balances out well in the front and I felt that the lack of surround presence wasn’t a huge disappointment; this film isn’t exactly aimed at audiophiles.

Special Features

The film has some special features to keep you busy; some of them are fairly kid friendly such as Mr. Tinkles audition tape or Mr. Tinkles’s speech however there are some fairly boring extras such as a commentary, which a kid would have zero interest in that has insight from the director, producer and production designer… It’s not worth having to watch the film again to go through it.

With a few behind-the-scenes featurettes and some storyboard comparison, there’s a decent amount of extras to add some value to the disc, but unless you love the movie there’s only a few kids would even consider spend time watching.

Final Thoughts

Cats and Dogs is a film crafted for kids and doesn’t try too hard to expand its target audience to adults, although the Blu-ray’s looks great and sounds good, the disc doesn’t have much else to offer besides a mediocre film with special features that kids simply wouldn’t enjoy and adults don’t care about. If you have a kid, rent it.

Film

The film is definitely one of the prime examples of a true Action-Horror genre mash-up, I remember watching the film when I was younger and romanticized the experience. Who wouldn’t love watching Arnold in his hay day taking on his most worthy opponent? An extraterrestrial game hunter with a massive arsenal of hi-tech weaponry and gadgets at his disposal; an active invisibility cloak, thermal imaging, a shoulder mounted laser gun vs. an Austrian body builder… Seems like a pretty fair match-up.

As we’re introduced to a team of guerilla soldiers in Central America who are apparently on a mission to lay waste to rebel forces by destroying as many huts and watch towers as they possibly can, we’re led to believe that this is your average action film set-up. However in this film the real antagonist emerges and the team gets targeted by a hunter from a place far, far away.

The film then becomes a game of survival as the team gets picked off one by one. The film is able to juggle the thrills of a horror film and still have enough bullets being shot off to keep the spirit of action genre alive, albeit some of the action is a bit silly. In an interview with the storyboard artist, Paul Power, apparently the creative team was running out of ideas on what should happen during the final act and Paul, who recently was watching Wile E Coyote cartoons, was inspired by the elaborate traps the coyote would set to try and kill Roadrunner. He suggested some ideas which ended up being used and afterwards he mentioned to everybody where he got the ideas from and apparently Mctiernan didn’t wasn’t amused that he just filmed a live action reenactment of a Roadrunner episode.

Mctiernan who’s responsible for some great action films, such as Die Hard, may not like the fact the ending of his sci-fi slasher flick was inspired by the road runner, but regardless he still knows how to make a film that’s fun and exciting. The aforementioned tongue-in-cheek opening is a good example of that because if you were someone who never heard of Predator and came across it on TV one day, you might be just as surprised as the team of soldiers thrown into the chaos. This film, in my opinion, is a classic and I think everyone should at least see it once. I still remember watching this film when I was younger and having the living crap scared out of me, of course watching an ‘edited for tv’ version of the film sort of has a weird effect on a movie, for example when I first saw the theatrical version on VHS all those years later and I heard the first few swears I was immediately caught off guard.

Although the film feels a bit dated it is definitely still one of the better action/sci-fi mash-ups and one of Arnold’s best performances. Unfortunately in comparison to the classics in the action/horror genre, such as Aliens, this film does lose its thunder.. Perhaps this is why the Predator is so mad at the Aliens in AVP… perhaps.

Video

Predator’s video is displayed using the AVC MPEG-4 codec in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. It is probably the clearest version of the film I’ve seen, from owning the VHS and the DVD I was definitely happy to see that the Blu-ray did look a lot sharper, however when dealing with higher resolution and a sharper image we obviously have to deal with the fact that grain issues are a lot clearer. With Predator the grain issues are pretty apparent, especially in the night shots, but the jungle environment comes through really well, as we see lots of detail in the mud and foliage so the pros definitely outweigh the cons.

The colours of the film are less muted than previous releases, they’re not insanely vivid to the point where it looks like an LSD trip, but the film’s muted colour pallet is lightened up a bit. I found that the black levels remain fairly deep and that the contrast is in a good spot, which allows details to come through nicely. Skin tones are also pretty natural, there were a few times where I thought they looked a bit orange and at other times they looks washed out, but those were few and far between.

Audio

Predator’s audio comes at us using the DTS-HD codec and is a bit lacking overall. This Blu-ray isn’t the cause of the issues, but rather the original mix of the film itself. There’s little to no surround presence, which I’d expect in a film that takes place in the jungle, with a simple addition of some atmospheric background noise, the mix would’ve sounded a lot more authentic.

The low frequencies of the mix fall short as well, especially in the scenes where there are a lot of explosions, however instead we’re given some fairly canned sound effects which cut off before we can the resonance out of them. The mix isn’t dynamic and I found myself critiquing more so than getting lost within it, but like I mentioned before, it’s the source not this specific release. This may be the best representation of the original movie without having to make a new mix.

Special Features

The great thing about this Blu-ray is the amount of special features to chew on, unfortunately if you have the special edition DVD, then you’re only getting a few new extras. The commentary track is a little dry with Mctiernan, there’s some moments where little is said and overall nothing ground-breaking or overly entertaining comes from it. However if you ever wanted to know something about the Predator films then the featurette section is for you such as a half hour retrospective on the making of the film.

There’s also a few minutes worth of deleted scenes, trailers for both Predator movies and some Blu-ray exclusive features such as a sneak peek at Predators and a featurette from the point of view of Robert Rodriguez and Nimród Antal, which is mostly hype for the new film, but also covers a bit about the original.

Final Thoughts

If you haven’t seen the film then I’d suggest a blind rental, fans of the movie may be let down from the lack of new special features over the special edition DVD and the underwhelming audio and video presentation, but considering the improvement over the first blu-ray release of the film then this may be a worthwhile double dip to fans who may not have gotten the special edition DVD. Check it out and see Arnold fight an alien… what else can you ask for in a movie?

Before watching the collection, this film fully defined what I thought a Mel Brooks film was.  A musical number, genital-oriented humor, and an overall irrelevance for its subject matter would be what I thought of when I heard the words “Mel Brooks”.  However, after watching such treats as To Be Or Not to Be, Silent Movie, and even High Anxiety, I was curious to see if I remembered the movie correctly, and if it was truly as good as I thought it was.

Film

Make no mistake, this is a funny movie.  And in many places, there are great lines, and excellent visual jokes that still make me laugh out loud.

For the uninitiated, the movie is not a long coherent story; instead it is the telling of “the history of the world” through a number of mini-movies, all of which focus on a specific period in human history.  Highlighted are the cavemen, the Old Testament, the Roman Empire, the Spanish Inquisition, the French Revolution, and a teaser trailer for the never made (and never to be made) History of the World – Part II. 

Segment-wise, the caveman segment is a real treat for those who love physical humor; it had the official kids of this reviewer laughing out loud (though they missed a few jokes, which was good).  The shorter Old Testament segment has one of the funniest jokes I’ve ever seen in a movie.  And the great Hollywood-style musical segment for the Inquisition is entertaining, and humorous in an old fashioned and corny way.

However, the Roman Empire segment is quite long, and does tend to drag a fair bit.  This piece could have easily been edited down, and some of the sexual, racial, and drug humor was a bit too much.  Although there are funny bits (including Mr. Brooks playing a waiter), the segment was one of the longest, and the most uneven.

The French revolution segment was also a mixed bag, with some really, really funny bits, like using peasants as skeet, and the pee-boy.  But much like the Roman Empire segment, the humor was a bit too leering and a bit too obvious. 

As an 11 year-old, this type of humor perfectly suited my fancy.  And even as an adult, I still find some of the jokes to be extremely funny.  However, whatever charming subtlety Mr. Brooks used in his earlier films seems to have been replaced with a vaudevillian obviousness.  As a viewer, you are not allowed the joy of discovering jokes but are instead pounded over the head with them.         

Video

The overall video in this collection has been very good, and History of the World – Part I was no exception to this.  The color palette used, the variety of locations, and even Mr. Brooks’ excellent mimicry of other styles (such as those used in Kubrick’s 2001, and DeMille’s The Ten Commandments) were spot on.  Considering its era, the film did have grain present, and blacks were sometimes not as dark as desired.  However, the lower light shots in the Inquisition truly showed how well this was originally filmed and restored.

Possibly I would have been more pleased with the visuals in this film if there had not been such an excellent job done on earlier films such as Silent Movie.  However, it is difficult to punish History of the World – Part I as it has a very good presentation on its own merits. 

Audio

The audio was also nothing special, with rather sparse use of the surround and LFE channels.  Although this is realistic for a movie of this vintage, it was also exacerbated by a very narrow soundstage through the front channels.

On the positive side, audio through the centre channel was clear and concise, something that could have been a challenge with the wide variety of sets that were used for filming.

Special Features

Strangely enough, History of the World, Part I received a solo Blu-ray release, yet did not enjoy a great special feature set.  Included on the disc are the ubiquitous isolated score, trailers, and trivia track.  Also included are two short featurettes in HD, one about the musical Inquisition, and the other about the film overall.

Unfortunately, this is a very slim set for fans of the film, who likely would have preferred to hear why Gregory Hines had to step in for Richard Pryor (oh, this is in the trivia track).

Final Thoughts

Oddly enough, the official kids of this reviewer are approximately the same age as this reviewer was when I first saw this movie.  And I must say, although they thankfully missed a lot of the adult-themed jokes (like I did at their age), they seemed to find a lot more humor in the film than I did.

Possibly the best way to describe the film is: a nice looking, decent sounding film that will truly appeal to those with an 11 year-old’s refined sense of humor.