I can’t wait to get my hands on this. I was hoping to have a review of the Terminator Salvation Blu-ray up on the site for you before the disc hits shops tomorrow but my screener hasn’t yet been delivered. That’s ok. I can wait. For another day or two. I guess.

Sigh…

In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy this preview of the discs Maximum Movie Mode special feature. Much like Warner Home Video did with Zach Snyder on the Watchmen: Director’s Cut Blu-ray disc, they’ve talked director McG into putting himself in front of the camera and talking shop, using comparative screens of the film itself, stills, animatics and more to lay bare every facet of Terminator Salvation and how it was created. And much like Watchmen, I won’t be surprised if I end up enjoying the MMM more than the film itself!

Next up for Maximum Movie Mode: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Previously on The Blu-ray Blog: Terminator: Salvation comes to Blu-ray in December

FORREST GUMP (1994, Blu-ray released November 3, 2009 – MSRP $39.99)

Paramount‘s Sapphire Series line of Blu-ray discs lives up to its promise with the release of Best Picture Oscar winner Forrest Gump – a beautiful, well realized, perfectly film-like disc sporting a plethora of special features.

Let’s not waste time here debating the merits of the film. Like it or not, it’s now a classic. But its never really been my thing. I don’t dislike Forrest Gump at all. In fact, I think parts of it are quite moving. But its one of those movies where I’m constantly feeling the machinations of the film making process, particularly where the special effects are concerned – the floating, all-too-magical feather and the insertion of Gump into historical footage spring immediately to mind. The script, while quite strong, often makes me feel as if I’m being led about by the nose, from significant event to significant event in this man’s remarkable life, leaving the quieter character moments floundering to compete. But when they win out, they can be very powerful. In fact, if the film doesn’t lose you before hand, the ending of Forrest Gump will most likely bring you to tears.

A lot of that emotional resonance, however, comes from the strong performances in the film. Tom Hanks, long famous before Gump, reached new heights of stardom in the title role, portraying a man with IQ of 75 and a heart the size of a football field (gush…sob!) He’s great in the part. Also, I think that haircut went a long way to selling the audience on his character. Robin Wright Penn (still only Robin Wright in 1994) turns in a tremendously touching performance as the love of Gump’s life, a troubled, free-spirit who struggles with her own identity and perpetually keeps Forrest at a safe distance. The real breakout performance in the film, if you ask me, has got to be from Gary Sinise as Lt. Dan Taylor, Gump’s commanding officer during the Vietnam War and later, his best friend. Sinise is, at the same time surly and sensitive as “Lt. Dan” and provides a wonderful foil for Gump’s simple, always sunny character.

The Forrest Gump Blu-ray disc is stunning. Paramount has done a fantastic job with the transfer here, delivering a beautiful AVC encode that’s as true to the film source as one can get. The colours are accurate, the blacks deep and rich and there’s a lovely layer of grain throughout. The DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio track is without flaw to my ear, though the source material is front heavy and only opens up occasionally. But when it does, this disc sounds like a million bucks. Bravo Paramount!

The Sapphire Series of discs don’t skimp out on the special features. And the Gump 2-Disc set is no exception! There is no shortage of fantastic, insightful content here. But my absolute favourite has got to be the “An Evening with Forrest Gump” roundtable discussion with Hanks, Sinise, director Robert Zemeckis and screenwriter Eric Roth. This 55-minute chat was filmed at the University of Southern California before an audience of students who had just screened the film. Excellent stuff here. “The Art of Screenplay Adaptation“, a 27-minute featurette covering the process of bringing Winston Groom‘s novel to the screen, is also recommended viewing. I always enjoy hearing what an author has to say about his work when it’s adapted to other forms. The 2-Disc set is rounded out with a couple of nice commentary tracks (listen to the Zemeckis track if you only choose one), a ton of featurettes, screen tests, trailers, and the option to watch the film with pop-ups describing the music playing during a given scene and its relevance to the time period.

The Sapphire Series edition of Forrest Gump is also available in a Chocolate Box gift-set (you know, because “Life is like a box of chocolates” and all that) that includes the 2-Disc Blu-ray set, a commemorative photo book and a feather bookmark. I should also mention that it’s chocolate scented. For real.

Previously on The Blu-ray Blog: Forrest Gump Blu-ray Details

[flv:terminatorcutscene.flv 640 268]

You know how Blu-ray discs show films in high-def, usually at a resolution of 1080p, with greater clarity and detail than we’ve ever seen before in home theatre? Well, apparently, this increase in resolution has brought with it a revelation of unknown celebrity nudity – hidden naughty bits only now revealed to our pervy eyes thanks to new Blu-ray technology. Or so says popular celebrity-flesh cataloguer, Mr. Skin in an expose just published by The New Yorker (subscription required to read article).

“Blu-ray quality is six times better than DVD,…If you watch a movie on Blu-ray, something you thought was just a shadow will suddenly be revealed as a breast or a butt…We’re going to keep looking at all these movies as technology makes them better and better. Who knows? We may even discover something in ‘The Sound of Music.’ That would be the holy grail for me, to find a nude scene in a G-rated movie.”

I’m not sure about you but I’m not so thrilled with the notion of discovering anything that would interest Mr. Skin in a film like The Sound of Music!

But I guess he’ll absolutely adore that clip above: a few moments from one of the cut-scenes included on this weeks Terminator Salvation Blu-ray, featuring Moon Bloodgood changing her clothes in the rain. Apparently she’s got her top off. I dunno. I can’t really tell. I guess we’ll have to wait for Mr. Skin to use his eagle eyes and his Blu-ray player to know for sure.

With his history, I wouldn’t be surprised if he found something in Diora Baird‘s deleted scene from Star Trek either!

Previously on The Blu-ray Blog: Terminator Salvation: Win a Ducati Motorcycle Sweepstakes!

Via: Gizmodo

LÉON THE PROFESSIONAL (1994, Blu-ray released November 17, 2009 – MSRP $24.95)

I remember 1994 being an important year for me. First year of University. First time living on my own. Music was trying to find itself. Mainstream comic books were becoming shitty. And The Professional was in cinemas. Featuring a killer performance by Jean Reno, the film debut of Natalie Portman, a fantastic soundtrack featuring artists like Bjork and a touching story about an assassin and a little girl, The Professional was necessary viewing for every 19 year old guy. Watching the new Blu-ray edition of the film brings back a lot of memories.

There are parts of Luc Besson‘s Léon, as the film is know everywhere else in the world, that feel dated. As much as I love Bjork and her music, as soon as her song Venus as a Boy started playing over a scene, I felt like I was back in the 90s. That and the fashion on display in every shot of the film, of course. Oh, and Natalie Portman is a little, 11-year old girl. Yeah. That was a long time ago. It struck me while watching the film again for the first time in ages that it must have been very influential for a lot of guys my age. I still see echos of Besson’s screenplay popping up in films and comics – that relationship between sympathetic killer and indigent innocent, the forbidden romance, the over-the-top melodramatic villain. All stuff that’s become commonplace in geek-media in the last decade and a bit. And the way the characters dress is still popular in nerd culture, despite the fashions in question being quite dated (round glasses, trench coats and chokers anyone?) Nevertheless, despite the film feeling of a specific time and place, it still plays. It’s still strong. And it’s such a fun ride!

Léon is somewhat of an extension of the popular “cleaner” character Reno played in Besson’s La Femme Nikita. Léon The Professional is not a direct sequel but it plays that way in spirit where Reno’s character is concerned. And he makes the most out of the starring role. It would be easy to say that Natalie Portman steals the show in this, her very first screen role. But while this is most-likely her finest performance, Reno out-classes her by a mile. His is a winning and subtle portrayal in every regard. I won’t even talk about Gary Oldman‘s over the top, villainous DEA Agent here. Oldman is, without question a genius. But I find everything he does here distracts from the film. It’s all too obvious. Too much “acting”. Reno’s Léon doesn’t need an antagonist to keep me interested. I could watch him take care of his plant, perform pig-puppetry and drink milk for hours. Genius.

Sony‘s new Léon The Professional Blu-ray disc looks and sounds phenomenal! Can this studio do anything wrong with their Blu-ray releases? Every catalogue title they issue, while perhaps not lighting the home video world on fire, is handled with so much respect and regard for the film and its presentation, they might deserve a reward for their efforts. The source material in this case is not the stuff of demo disc material. But this Blu-ray presentation is the best Léon has ever looked, filled with detail and an accurate representation of colour. The contrast has been bumped a little but I think the results are overall quite pleasing. The DTS-HD Master Audio is immersive and quite dynamic for a 15-year old film.

The Blu-ray may not feature as many supplemental materials as you’d hope, but what we’re given is quite good. Chief amongst them is the ability to watch either the American theatrical or “uncut” versions of the film, through seamless branching. Believe me when I tell you, the extra 24 minutes of footage in the longer cut makes all the difference. The longer cut also features an exclusive “Fact Track” that’s far more engaging than I was expecting. It plays along the bottom of the screen, like subtitles as you watch the film. There’s are also a handful of featurettes which are all quite good. Most of them were created in 2004 and show the cast and crew looking back on their experiences 10 years on.

How can Blu-ray news be so amazing yet so damned tragic all at the same time? I’ll tell you how – when a bunch of films you love get announced for Blu-ray but not in the editions you were hoping and praying for. Case in point – the Studio Canal Collection distributed in North America by Lionsgate.

On the surface this is an amazing idea. A collection of films already popular in France and the UK now making their way over to this side of the Atlantic for we cinephiles to gobble up! Sounds great. Here’s my issue – a bunch of these titles were, until recently controlled by The Criterion Collection. A label which produces not only the best supplemental material for home video but also gives the films the absolute, no-questions-asked, best-of-the-best restorations, transfers and encodes in the business. Now, that’s not to say that the Studio Canal versions won’t be good. They seem amazing. I’m just a little disappointed that the version of Akira Kurasawa‘s Ran that will be on my shelf won’t be Criterion’s. Especially after Criterion had their Blu-ray edition of the film ready to hit the market until this deal pulled the carpet out from under them.

Let’s hope for the best!

All the images below are from the UK editions of the Studio Canal Collection.

RAN
(February 16, 2010 – MSRP $TBA)
Video: 1080p AVC video
Audio: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
20-page collectible book

Special Features:

• “A.K.” – the acclaimed feature-length documentary on the making of the film
• “Akira Kurosawa: The Epic and the Intimate” – documentary on the director
• A Portrait of Akira Kurosawa by Japanese cinema expert and interpreter Catherine Cadou
• “The Samurai” – documentary on Samurai art
• “Art of the Samurai” – an interview with a Japanese art of war expert
• BD-Live

THE LADYKILLERS
(February 16, 2010 – MSRP $TBA)
Video: 1080p AVC video
Audio: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
20-page collectible book

Special Features:

• introduction by filmmaker Terry Gilliam
• “Forever Ealing” – a documentary on the famed British studio
• Audio commentary with film historian Philip Kemp
• Interviews with British filmmakers Allan Scott and Terence Davies and writer Ronald Harwood on the film
• BD-Live (including a bonus interview with British filmmaker James Mangold)

CONTEMPT (LE MÉPRIS)
(February 16, 2010 – MSRP $TBA)
Video: 1080p AVC video
Audio: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
20-page collectible book

Special Features:

• Introduction by British film producer and Godard expert Colin MacCabe
• A “making-of” documentary “One Upon a Time There Was…Contempt”
• A documentary on Godard’s legacy in film “Contempt…Tenderly”
• A discussion between Godard and director Fritz Lang “The Dinosaur and the Baby”
• Theatrical trailer
• BD-Live

Previously on The Blu-ray Blog: Criterion Brings Kurosawa’s Ran to Blu-ray in May