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Sci-Fi DVD Review:
John Carpenter's The Thing
Review by Nix
Excerpt: beyondhollywood.com
There are essentially two types of Last Stand in a Haunted House movie, ones made for teens and ones made for adults.
Much of the conventions of a Last Stand in a Haunted House movie apply to both types (re: different characters in the same boat surrounded by something trying to kill them) with some minor differences (i.e. only certain things appeal to teens, and by the same token, only certain things appeal to adults).
Also, the Adult version of a Last Stand in a Haunted House movie is geared mostly toward a predominantly male audience. John Carpenter’s 1982’s The Thing, a remake of an old classic, is an Adult Last Stand in a Haunted House Movie.
The Thing stars familiar Carpenter muse Kurt Russell as Mac, a helicopter pilot who is part of an American research base in an isolated part of Antarctica. Trouble arises when a Norwegian gunman, chasing a dog through the snow, arrives at the station, shoots one of the American researchers by accident, and is killed in turn.
The Americans investigate the cause of the shooting by traveling to the Norwegian research base, where they find the base in ruins and what looks like mass bloodshed and chaos. Meanwhile, back at the American base, the dog is not what it seems, and in no time has morphed into a creature of extraterrestrial origins.
What’s worst, the alien creature can infect and literally “imitate” anyone it infects, which means the humans are now fair game…
The Thing is the kind of movie that made director John Carpenter famous in the first place. It’s an intense and highly inspired movie, filled with action and enough paranoia to make any fan of “The X-Files” happy.
When the alien creature begins infecting the Americans at the base, things start to get really interesting, and before long no one is sure who is who, or even if they’re still who they think they are. Once the dog mutates and begins its infection, no one is safe, not even Mac.
On more than one occasion, Carpenter and writer Bill Lancaster (adapting from a story by John Campbell Jr.) makes us question if Mac is still “one of us.” And throughout the film, the cloud of doubt hangs over everyone’s head, up to the very end.
The film moves at a very fast clip, and slows down only for a long, intense scene where Mac begins “testing” to see rather his fellow researchers have been infected. The scene is easily the movie’s best, and Carpenter films it with a great sense of paranoia and claustrophobia.
The rest of the movie is equally good, and the isolated Antarctica locale seems to fit Carpenter’s style perfectly.
The loneliness and isolation of these researchers as revealed by Carpenter through languid shots of the iced landscapes only adds to the desperation of the characters. They are trapped far from the rest of the world and facing extinction at the hands of a creature that can look like them.
Worst of all, if they don’t defeat the creature, there’s a chance it can threaten the rest of mankind. How’s that for pressure?
Kurt Russell once again proves why he was one of the few bankable actors in the ’80s. His Mac is clearly the alpha male and takes over when the chaos starts. Russell’s grizzled and bearded look fits his grumpy and slightly alcoholic helicopter pilot and gives him an Everyman quality.
The rest of the cast does very well, particularly in the intense scenes when no one is sure who is infected and who isn’t. Every single character, from the cool and calm Mac to the stoic Childs (Keith David) to the slightly deranged Blair (Wilford Brimley), all shows good range in what might have otherwise been a standard Last Stand in a Haunted House movie.
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BeyondHollywood - Everything about Hollywood, Indie, Asian, Foreign, Horror, and Genre Movie Reviews and News.
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Sci-Fi DVD Review: Star Trek: The Original Series
Season 1 (Blu-ray)
Review by Chris Neilson | Excerpt:
dvdtalk.com
April 2009 - With Star Trek: the Original Series - Season 1 now on Blu-ray, and seasons 2 and 3 sure to follow, the long wait for the definitive 1080p presentation of Star Trek: TOS is nearly over.
In sum, it has never looked or sounded better, and for the first time, viewers have the option of seamlessly branching between the original and enhanced visual effects. For the reasons detailed below, this release is an essential DVD Talk Collector's Series purchase for fans of classic sci-fi.
The USS Enterprise was captained by James Kirk, a brash, romantic, adventurer, modeled on C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower. The initial idea for the show was that Kirk's most important friendship would be with chief engineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, played by Irish-Canadian actor James Doohan.
Presentation
Form follows function in the slim, no-nonsense Blu-ray case which is approximately equivalent in size to the ubiquitous 5-disc Blade Runner Blu-ray release, or to two standard DVD cases. The 7 Blu-ray discs are housed on hinged trays, with episode and extras text appearing on the inside of the case cover through the transparent blue plastic. A superfluous cardboard slipcover is also provided.
The Blu-ray menus are similarly functional with none of the lengthy and problematic menus that plagued prior Star Trek releases.
Video:
Remastered in their original aspect ratio of 1.33:1, the episodes shine. Colors are vibrant with accurate flesh tones and deep blacks. Focus, contrast, and detail are significantly improved over prior DVD releases, and are comparable with the visually stunning HD DVD release from 2007.
Audio:
Audio is presented in 7.1 DTS HD Master-Audio. The original English mono and French and Spanish mono dubs are also available. Like the picture, the audio for the series has been remastered and has never sounded better. Dialogue is crisp and distinct from score and effects. This mix trumps the 5.1 Dolby TrueHD mix offered on the HD DVD release from 2007 by utilizing the rear surrounds to convincingly handle ambient noise.
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Sci-Fi DVD Review: The Day the Earth Stood Still Blu-ray
Reviewed by Martin Liebman | Excerpt: blu-ray.com
The Day the Earth Stood Still arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p, 2.35:1-framed transfer that is easily of reference quality. The print is in absolutely pristine condition, no surprise given the big-budget, recent-release status of the film. Various nighttime, exterior shots of New York City feature startling levels of clarity, doubtful the cityscape could look better were the television a window rather than a display device replaying a film.
Fox delivers The Day the Earth Stood Still to Blu-ray with a remarkable DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. From the opening moments of the film, this soundtrack proves its mettle and establishes itself as one of the strongest, clearest, and most realistic tracks yet. A cold wind swirls about the soundstage, flowing precisely through each and every speaker, while music plays with precision across the front soundstage.
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The remainder of the film's reference-quality segments come from more traditional, action-oriented sequences. The many scenes featuring military hardware shine. Helicopter rotors spin around the listening area in several scenes, the sonic impact of the blades practically devastating to the senses. Bass kicks into overdrive throughout the film; the revelation of the spacecraft in chapter four features a practically nonstop rumbling that is deep and low, providing the subwoofer with a hefty workout. Every action sequence sounds marvelous, with the soundstage and subwoofer used to incredible effect, creating a truly immersive environment that places the listener directly into the movie.
The Day the Earth Stood Still lands on Blu-ray with plenty of bonus features. First is a feature-length commentary track with Writer David Scarpa that is available either from the main menu or via the green button on the remote control. Scarpa provides a rapid-fire commentary that proves fairly interesting throughout. He begins by jumping right in by discussing the original concept for the film's open and moving on to share his thoughts on the characters, real-world inspirations for certain segments of the film, updating the appearance and function of the alien technology, and more.
Scarpa offers a solid track that fans should enjoy. Pressing the blue button while playing the movie presents a picture-in-picture feature that showcases "pre-viz" sequences, special effects progression footage, conceptual art, and photos. Pressing the yellow button accesses hand-drawn storyboards.
Build Your Own Gort allows users to construct their own version of the robot by choosing from a collection of heads, torsos, arms, and legs. Re-Imagining 'The Day' (1080p, 30:06) looks at the challenge of living up to the legacy of the original film while lending a unique look, feel, and message to the 2008 remake.
Unleashing Gort (1080p, 13:52) looks at the challenging process of designing the film's most striking and imposing character. Watching the Skies: In Search of Extraterrestrial Life (1080p, 23:08) takes an interesting look at mankind's fascination with and technology utilized in the search for intelligent life beyond Earth. The Day the Earth Was 'Green' (1080p, 14:04) examines the environmentally-friendly theme of the film and Fox's commitment to turning green. Next up are a collection of three deleted scenes (1080p, 1:56), three still galleries (Concept Art, Storyboards, and Production Photos), and the film's theatrical trailer (1080p, 1:48). This disc is also D-Box ready.
This release of The Day the Earth Stood Still also includes two additional discs. The first is a Blu-ray release of the original version of the film from 1951. The only difference is the omission of the original release's extensive supplemental section, all-in-all, a fantastic bonus, despite the absence of the extras. 20th Century Fox's Blu-ray presentation of The Day the Earth Stood Still is, in a word, extraordinary. The picture and audio are of reference quality, among the best yet on Blu-ray, and the supplements are extensive, topped off by the inclusion of the original 1951 film on a separate Blu-ray disc.
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AMZ's Review of the Blu-Ray DVD
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
By T. F. Powell
October 2008 - Not that AMZ is going to get into the habit of reviewing films, but with the newly released JTTCOTE Blu-Ray 3D DVD, the temptation to share the viewing experience of the first Digital 3D DVD video for home theater is too irresistable.
However, this review is mainly an assessment on the digital 3D video experience and little or no review on the film itself. Plenty of online reviews are available for that and keeps me from being labeled a bad film critic.
According to RealD.com which states, "Right now, the RealD glasses only work in the movies. Here at RealD, we believe that all visual media will one day be seen in 3D. As the global leader in 3D, we'll continue to invent and innovate. Stay tuned."
When I first heard they were releasing this DVD in 3D, I was initially curious how they would transition RealD 3D to television.
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I have a 50" 1080P plasma and a Blu-ray player (dedicated unit, not the game machine), so the digital quality presents no problem, but do I need a 3D capable TV for the DVD to be compatible? Coming to my senses a moment later, I surmised as just about everyone had, they couldn't transition it and maintain the RealD 3D format. The technology is simply not there yet. They would go retro on us for sake of the gimmick hook.
Blu-ray.com currently states the following info, "The disc will feature both the 3D and 2D versions of the film, along with two sets of 3D glasses. Technical specs have not been announced at this time" (This statement pertains to the UK version to be released November 3rd). The package comes with four sets of glasses in the U.S. version.
Despite the fact that I already heard this would use the traditional 3D format, I bought the DVD anyway. The "technical specs", exterior packaging, or any fine print neglects to mention that this is old school anaglyph .
The glasses are similar to the old style red and cyan anaglyph glasses - the flimsy cardboard goggles that have been around for decades. The only difference is the lenses are green and magneta instead. I originally saw Journey at an IMAX 3D theater and this DVD version comes no where close to that experience. Not going to get into the entertainment value of Journey, but I will say it has no shortage of eye candy. On my plasma, the green/magneta filter does give a "3D effect" and the 1080P digital picture certainly makes it one step above the traditional 3D video presentations.
However when I say one step above, I'm talking a very small step of visual improvement. There are isolated scenes that were somewhat visually impressive, but those are few and far between. That combined with the green/magneta glasses skewing the natural color, the DVD cover's 3D lenticular image is actually a little more impressive than the 3D version of the video. At least the lenticular image maintains the original natural colors.
And when it came to scenes that has fast moving characters or creatures, you can forget about maintaining focus on the action. However, I don't ding the DVD on this aspect so much because even the IMAX theatrical version had that same problem to a certain degree. As a 3D nut or 3D collector, I would have added this DVD to my collection regardless. But for the casual film fan, the archaic 3D video technology is more of a distraction to the story and the 2D version will suffice just fine to kill an evening watching the visual wonders of the Earth's center.
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Sci-Fi DVD Review: Galaxy Quest (Deluxe Edition)
By Jeff Swindoll | Excerpt: monstersandcritics.com
By Grabthar’s Hammer, there’s a new edition of Galaxy Quest! Galaxy Quest has been off the air for seventeen years. The original cast has been typecast by their science fiction appearances and only seems to get work at the Galaxy Quest conventions.
The intrepid crew includes Dr. Lazarus of Tev’Meck played by Sir Alexander Dane (Alan Rickman), an actor who resents his role and catchphrase. Communications officer Lieutenant Tawny Madison is played by Gwen DeMarco (Sigourney Weaver).
Tech Sergeant Chen is played by Fred Kwan (Tony Shalhoub) and is pretty much laid back and nothing like the character he plays. Tommy Webber (Daryl Mitchell) played Lieutenant Laredo, who started off the show as a boy wonder (played by Corbin Bleu!) but is now much older.
Guy Fleegman’s (Sam Rockwell) claim to fame is that he once appeared on the show in a minor role and now tours the convention circuit cashing in on those five minutes of fortune.
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Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen) is the egomaniacal actor who played Commander Peter Quincy Taggart and is the only member of the cast who relishes his convention appearances, who wouldn’t if you’re the captain of the good ship Protector and not just a supporting player. Nesmith is approached by some odd fans led by Mathesar (Enrico Colantoni). He thinks that they’re just some weirdo fans but they turn out to be real aliens, called Thermians, who think that Galaxy Quest is reality and not a television show. The Thermians are threatened by a reptilian warlord called Sarris (Robin Sachs) and they want the Commander to negotiate with him. This does not go well as Nesmith is suffering from a hangover and thinks that it’s all a fan concoction.
It’s not till he’s shot back to Earth that he realizes that Sarris and the Thermians are real aliens and that he’s caused the naďve Thermians a world of hurt since Sarris is now going to destroy them. He enlists the remainder of his “crew” to beam aboard the Protector that’s been built by the Thermians and to take on Sarris so that the peaceful aliens can once again live in peace. Wouldn’t it have been a hoot if they did the same movie with the Star Trek cast? I guess that would be dreaming or too cost prohibitive, but Galaxy Quest is certainly spoofing on Trek. It’s no surprise to see Quest getting a redo about the time that the Trek reboot is hitting theaters.
Robin Sachs is heavily made up on Stan Winston’s superb makeup, but he’s a fitting villain to go up against our crew. Galaxy Quest is presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include the 18 minute “Historical Documents: The story of Galaxy Quest” that has interviews with Allen, Rickman, Weaver, Shaloub, Rockwell, Mitchell, Colantoni, Long, Missi Pyle, director Dean Parisot, producer Mark Johnson, and writers David Howard and Bob Gordon.
That so much of the cast and crew sat down to talk about the film only shows the love that they had for the film. The 23 minute “Never Give Up. Never Surrender: The Intrepid Crew of the NSEA Protector” has the cast talking about their characters. The 7 minute “By Grabthar’s Hammer” is about the special effects that brought the film to life. The 5 minute “Alien School” is about how the Thermians were developed and how the actors were trained to act like them.
The 6 minute “Actors in Space” are about actors in general. The 2 minute “Sigourney Weaver Raps” is a music video that Weaver did for her agent’s birthday from set. Next are 13 minutes of deleted scenes, some with new introductions. There’s also a Thermian audio track, which can grate after a while. Finally you get the 2 minute trailer and previews of other Dreamworks DVDs. Galaxy Quest is just a great film. It’s only made greater if you’re a fan of Star Trek.
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Sci-Fi DVD Review: Paycheck – Blu-ray
By Nathaniel Jonet | Excerpt: bloggernews.net
This movie is based off of a short story by none other than Philip K. Dick. He is one of the best science fiction and speculative fiction to ever live and he is only now beginning to get some of the credit he has long deserved.
Available on Blu-ray Disc from DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Studios Home Entertainment comes the story of an engineer in the future whose forgotten past is destroying his future and the time left to remember is running out.
Michael Jennings is a reverse engineer, someone who works for a company and looks at their competitors projects, then remakes them as better than the others. After every job he takes, he has his memory wiped to keep their projects safe and he is paid very well for this job.
But after he wakes up without a memory from a three year job he took at his friend’s company, things start to get really strange. He has no money and the FBI is after him.
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Now his old boss is trying to kill him and he’s running out of explanations why. Will he be able to remember his past before it’s too late to save himself? This movie stars Ben Affleck, Aaron Eckhart, Uma Thurman, Paul Giamatti, Colm Feore, Joe Morton and Michael C. Hall and was directed by John Woo.
The special features included in this Blu-ray Disc are an optional audio commentary from director John Woo, an optional audio commentary from screenwriter Dean Georgaris, a look at how they designed the future of this movie, a featurette about the different stunts in the film and a selection of deleted and/or extended scenes from the movie.
I’m not a big fan of John Woo and his directing style, but it was sufficiently toned down in this movie. As with all Philip K. Dick stories, there are deep implications to the way humanity lives their lives and why things are the way they are. Much of the deeper aspects of this story are left underutilized. It is a special treat to see Michael C. Hall in a movie, especially because this is one of the few performances he has taped that were not on the small screen. Bring this movie home today and enjoy some great high-definition action. This is one Paycheck you’ll want to cash over and over.
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