This week is bonkers. I mean, we’ve had bigger weeks, more immense avalanches of Blu-ray product but there’s really a ton of great titles hitting shops today. In addition to the ones highlighted in my list, be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the page and check out the new Buster Keaton disc from Kino (Go West/Battling Butler), the excellent Mad Men-like BBC series The Hour and cult horror films Basket Case, Torso and Herschell Gordon Lewis‘ Blood Trilogy. Too much to watch! Somebody clone me and give me a million dollars so I have the time and money to enjoy all these wicked awesome Blu-ray discs!

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Blu-ray disc of the week: BEN-HUR: 50TH ANNIVERSARY ULTIMATE COLLECTOR’S EDITION

“High-definition Blu-ray hits greater heights with the arrival of the visual splendor, thundering action and towering drama of this record-setting winner of 11 Academy Awards®* including Best Picture. Charlton Heston brings a muscular physical and moral presence to his Best Actor Oscar®-winning role of Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish nobleman in Palestine whose heroic odyssey includes enslavement by the Romans, vengeance against his tormentors during a furious arena chariot race and fateful encounters with Jesus Christ. Best Director Oscar® winner William Wyler masterfully grips the reins of an enduring and spellbinding spectacular. “

I might have spoken too soon when I proclaimed Taxi Driver to be the Blu-ray release of the year (I’m sorry, Taxi Driver. You are a truly glorious disc and I love you to bits but this is a whole new kind of awesome.) I had no idea at that time that Warner would knock it out of the park with their world-class restoration of Ben-Hur. This transfer looks so much better than any film of its age has any right to. According to the studio, the film has, “undergone a $1 million restoration — frame by frame from an 8k scan of the original 65 mm camera negative,” and it shows. You can see every single dollar up there on the screen. Watching Ben-Hur now, in my living room, is like watching a pristine, newly struck print of the film, with all the detail, the spot-on, rock-solid Technicolor hues popping through the frame. This is exactly what the format is all about. This is why I’m a Blu-ray enthusiast. When guests doubt what Blu-ray can do for older films (and they often do, when we discuss the merits of the format) I’ll now only have to show them a few minutes of Ben-Hur to prove why it’s the only way to truly experience movies in the home.

Traditionally, I haven’t been the greatest proponent of all the junk that gets packaged into these giant gift-box-style sets but the Ben-Hur: Ultimate Collector’s Edition is damn near perfect in its included collectables. There aren’t any character cards or plastic chariots here. Only a gorgeous hardcover book packed with photos, production art and reproductions from the original press book and a shockingly handsome and detailed reproduction of Charlton Heston’s diary covering the years 1958-1960, from the time he got the role through to his Oscar win. These pack-ins might seem trite on the surface but there’s some substance here. The hardcover book that greets you when you open the box is such a nice introduction to the set but it’s the diary that cements the tone. It isn’t just Heston’s words which have made their way onto the pages of the book but reproductions of the actual pages themselves, often typed and covered in the actor’s sketches and notes. It’s a perfect companion to the new Laurent Bouzereau/Fraser Heston doc, “Charlton Heston: A Personal Journey” – the sole new extra on the 3-disc set (aside from the killer new transfer, that is.)

And that brings me to the supplements on the discs. This is all excellent stuff, from the Gene Hatcher/Heston commentary track, to the many documentaries, the screen tests, vintage footage and more. But we’ve seen it all before. And all the footage appears here again in SD. The only HD extra is also the only newly produced one. The Heston doc is good and, as I said, an obvious companion piece to the diary included in the set, but it is chiefly about the actor and his family. There’s a lot of neat home movies in the piece, shot around the time of the film’s production and on the set, but ultimately if it’s the film you love and not the actor himself, you won’t get much from this doc.

Fred Niblo‘s 1925 version of the film is included on the set and looks better than it ever has on home video, newly restored as well with a fresh transfer and score by Carl Davis. It’s just a shame that the studio didn’t go the distance here and give it the HD upgrade as well. That might be the only misstep in the whole set.

Special Features:

DISCS 1 AND 2: MOVIE

• The 1959 Winner of a Record-Setting 11 Academy Awards®* – Including Best Picture, Actor (Charlton Heston) and Director (William Wyler) – Restored Frame by Frame from the Original 65MM Camera Negative and Remastered in Stunning 1080p High Definition for Maximum Picture and Audio Clarity
• Commentary by Film Historian T. Gene Hatcher with Charlton Heston
• Music-Only Track Showcasing Miklos Rozsa’s Award-Winning Score
• Theatrical Trailers

DISC 3: SPECIAL FEATURES

• NEW FEATURE-LENGTH DOCUMENTARY CHARLTON HESTON & BEN-HUR: A PERSONAL JOURNEY- Retrospective on the Ben-Hur Star Written and Directed by His Son Fraser C. Heston,Featuring Never-Before-Available Images and Footage from the Heston Family Archives
• THE 1925 SILENT VERSION – Thames Television – Restoration with Stereophonic Orchestral Score by Carl Davis
• Vintage Documentaries Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema and Ben-Hur: The Making of an Epic
• Ben-Hur: A Journey Through Pictures – Audiovisual Recreation Via Stills, Storyboards, Sketches, Music and Dialogue
• Screen Tests
• Highlights from the 1960 Academy Awards® Telecast
• Newsreels

MONUMENTAL COLLECTIBLES!

• CHARLTON HESTON: THE BEN-HUR DIARIES – Reproduction of Charlton Heston’s Personal and Insightful Diary from January 1958 to April 1960, Chronicling His Time Before Production Started Through the Academy Awards
• EXCLUSIVE BOOK WITH RARE PHOTOS, PRODUCTION ART AND REPRODUCTIONS FROM THE ORIGINAL THEATRICAL PRESSBOOK

AMAZON: $44.99

CARLOS and THE PHANTOM CARRIAGE

The Criterion Collection has two amazing new Blu-ray releases today, curiously, the oldest and the most recently released films in their catalogue!

Olivier Assayas‘ Carlos blew me away. If the Ben-Hur restoration weren’t also hitting shops today making Carlos the number one pick of the week would be a no-brainer. It’s an epic, awesome, five-and-a-half hour long bio of one of the most infamous terrorists the world has ever known. The 2-disc set lives up to the quality of the film, offering a beautiful transfer and tons of extras. I’ll have a full review up in a couple of days. This is a must-have disc. One of the best Blu-ray releases of the year.

Victor Sjöström‘s silent The Phantom Carriage is not only one of the most influential Swedish films ever made (it inspired Ingmar Bergman to make films!), it’s also a genuinely chilling and moving tale of redemption. The new Blu-ray edition of the 1921 film from The Criterion Collection is not without it’s weaknesses but sports some nice special features and the best transfer available on home video. My full review is linked to below.

READ MORE: The Criterion Collection: The Phantom Carriage Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $34.99 and $27.99

TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON

“The Autobots Bumblebee, Ratchet, Ironhide and Sideswipe led by Optimus Prime, are back in action, taking on the evil Decepticons, who are determined to avenge their defeat in 2009′s “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”. In this new movie, the Autobots and Decepticons become involved in a perilous space race between the U.S. and Russia, and once again human Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) has to come to the aid of his robot friends.“

Transformers: Dark of the Moon is, without question, the biggest mainstream release this week. And, for that reason and for the technical qualities of the Blu-ray disc, it most certainly deserves to be mentioned. It’s far from a great film – the characters, both human and robotic, are not respected and written as sideshow clowns, for the most part, and the story is, once again, a nearly incoherent jumble of pointless activity. But this second sequel in the franchise manages to outdo its predecessor by a long shot, making just enough logical sense from scene to scene to hold itself together and provide a fun-ish, if severly overlong summer thrill-ride. And thank the good Lord above that the new robot designs differentiate themselves from the old jumble of machine parts that acted as stars of the previous films. Coupled with a more static camera and a greater number of long shots, you can actually tell what’s happening through most of Dark of the Moon‘s action sequences. Hallelujah!

The bad news about this disc is that it’s bare-bones. You get the movie on a Blu-ray and on a DVD that also houses a digital-copy. Inside, you’ll also find a coupon for $10 off the Ultimate Edition of the film, which is set to include a 3D Blu-ray disc and tons of special features. According to the coupon, this upgrade is “Coming Soon” but who really knows when “Soon” is? Don’t expect to see it before the Holidays.

The technical merits of this disc are beyond reproach. This is your new demo disc. Want to impress your neighbours? Throw in Transformers: Dark of the Moon on Blu-ray and watch their jaws drop at the explosion of vivid colours and the insane amount of well-rendered detail on screen. And keep your amp/receiver remote handy, because you might want to turn it down a notch so as not to rumble your home to it’s foundation. I mentioned an explosion of colour, well, it’s nothing compared to the explosion of, well…explosions in this incredibly robust and active 7.1 Dolby TrueHD track. Insane and inane.

NOTE: Transformers: Dark of the Moon will be released on Friday, September 30th.

AMAZON: $19.99

MIMIC: THE DIRECTOR’S CUT (Canadian Edition)

“From acclaimed director Guillermo Del Toro (Pan’s Labrynth, Hellboy) comes “a terrifying film of great elegance” (San Francisco Chronicle). Starring Academy Award© winner Mira Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite) and screen favorite Charles S. Dutton (A Time to Kill) and Josh Brolin (True Grit) this electrifying thriller brings the epic battle between man and nature to life when a team of scientists discover a glitch in their miracle cure. With the power to mimic and destroy its every predator and the threat of an entire city’s destruction, their creation has taken on a horrifying life of its own. With the weight of extinction on their shoulders the team is forced to take matters into their own hands in this stylish hit that delivers heartpounding thrills from beginning to end. “

I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to finally see Guillermo Del Toro’s Mimic. I’m such a fan of his work but, for some reason, I was put off seeing the film when it was initially released and have remained apprehensive these many years since. I’m pleased that when I finally had the opportunity to give it a chance, it was on Blu-ray, in this brand new Director’s Cut of the film.

Mimic is what it is, I suppose – a flawed studio film with a passionate auteur at the helm, attempting to keep the work true to itself and to his vision. Sadly, this creepy little gem got away from Del Toro, despite his best efforts. The creature isn’t based on the imagery he wanted. The story was made to focus on artificial scares instead of characters. The cut was jumpy and not at all what the director believed the story required. Del Toro wasn’t able to fix every problem with the film in this newest, longer cut, but overall, he’s much happier with the result.

Though I enjoyed the film well enough (it’s nearly as good as his debut feature, Cronos) it’s really the special features on the disc that are the highlight for me – having the opportunity to spend time with Del Toro through his new video intro to the film, his commentary track and the featurette on “Reclaiming Mimic“. This is a genuinely talented, visionary, yet humble and open man. He speaks candidly about his experiences with the film through all the new features, inviting you in to his process and the behind-the-scenes push-and-pull with the studio that yanked the film off track. This is great stuff and worth the price of the disc for any fan of the film or of Del Toro’s. The Blu-ray also features some previously available extras, such as short featurettes on making the film in general and making the creatures in particular, deleted scenes, storyboards, a gag reel and the theatrical trailer. The Canadian version from Alliance, which I was fortunate enough to review, also features a DVD copy of the theatrical cut of the film, where the US disc has a digital copy of the DC.

Mimic: The Director’s Cut seems to have received a faithful transfer onto Blu but suffers from its age and style. This is a dark, gritty flick, any way you slice it and though the transfer seems solid enough, it just can’t hold a candle to the look of shiny, modern Hollywood films. Nor should it. Detail is plentiful but appropriately and often crushed in the blacks. Colour is vivid and specific, heavily shadowed as it is, maintaining a particular pallette of teal/orange through a great deal of the film. The 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track is fantastic and creepy with clicking, crunching bug sounds coming at you from every which way. Dialogue is clean and clear through the centre channel and your sub will get a pretty good workout here.

Overall, a must have Blu-ray for fans of the film and fans of Del Toro. Recommended!

AMAZON: CDN$ 18.19

Also available: MIMIC: THE DIRECTOR’S CUT (US Edition)

AMAZON: $9.99

HUNG: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON

“HBO presents the Season Two premiere of “Hung“, the hit comedy series from Colette Burson and Dmitry Lipkin (“The Riches”), and starring Thomas Jane, Jane Adams and Anne Heche. Set in the (still) recession-plagued suburbs of Detroit, “Hung” continues to revolve around the unorthodox efforts of divorced teacher/coach Ray Drecker (Jane) to generate extra cash – by selling his “winning tool” to desperate women.“

Can I just tell you, I can’t wait for season three of Hung to get going? Thankfully, we won’t have to wait much longer as the new season debuts this Sunday on HBO. Season Two has just ramped up the action and I’m dying to watch the next ten-episodes to see how things play out.

Season One was all about set up. Getting Ray (Thomas Jane) comfortable in his new role as gigolo and Tanya (Jane Adams) comfortable in her new role as pimp. It’s safe to say that one worked out a little better than the other as Ray has …ahem… risen to the occasion while his business partner can barely …ahem… keep her end up. Season Two sees all relationships becoming as strained as possible to the extent that I often wanted to reach right into the TV set and strangle some of the characters (read: Tanya.) The fact that this show is getting me wound up at all is evidence that the creators are doing something right here. I don’t want to give any plot details away but there are big changes afoot by the time the season wraps up, with most characters exploring a new status quo. I don’t pretend to feel as if Season Three will bring any resolution but I can’t wait to see where the series goes from here.

As always, HBO delivers a solid Blu-ray release in Hung: The Complete Second Season. It’s far from the most attractive looking show on the air but the Blu-ray does it justice in just about every way, appearing source-accurate from beginning to end. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks are more muscular than the image on the image on the disc, delivering concert-quality music reproduction, clean, clear dialogue and plenty of ambient sound. Extras on the disc include a “Hung: Inside the Series” featurette, deleted scenes and five audio commentaries with the creators, producers and writers of the show.

AMAZON: $28.99

FOOTLOOSE

““Footloose” jumps with spirit, dazzling dance numbers and an electrifying musical score. It portrays the timeless struggle between innocent pleasure and rigid morality, when city-boy Ren McCormick (Kevin Bacon) finds himself in an uptight Midwestern town where dancing has been banned. Ren revolts with best friend Willard (Chris Penn) and the minister’s daughter (Lori Singer).“

Footloose is being released on Blu-ray just in time to promote the October release of the remake. Word on the street is that the remake is pretty fun and worth seeing but damn, if the original isn’t a good time. I’m not quite sure how the 2011 version can one-up the original with it’s powerhouse, all-star cast and killer, iconic soundtrack. It’s kind of like trying to remake The Sound of Music. Kind of.

The original Footloose holds up pretty well as an enjoyable product of its time. The Bacon-versus-the-Goliath-of-a-stuck-up-Midwestern-town tale is timeless and clearly worthy of revisiting in its original form or as a remake. John Lithgow is on point here, as usual, chewing scenery as the heavy and is almost worth the price of admission alone. And though there’s little actual chemistry between leads Bacon and Singer, Chris Penn more than makes up for it in his genuinely felt bond to his buddies and to Sarah Jessica Parker, who’s also excellent here. And there’s lots of dancing. Not really my thing but you know, the movie is kind of about it. So, there’s that.

Holy crap, I totally forgot how many singles were spawned from this film’s soundtrack (Kenny Loggins “Footloose”, Shalamar “Dancing In The Sheets”, Deniece Williams “Let’s Hear It For The Boy”, Bonnie Tyler “Holding Out for A Hero”, and the “Footloose” love theme – “Almost Paradise” to name a few.) Watching Footloose is like listening to an album of number-one hit songs played in succession. And they sound better than ever on the DTS-HD Master Audio 6.1 track on Paramount‘s new Blu-ray release of the film. Sadly, the image presentation doesn’t live up to the excellent audio. This is not a great looking disc. It looks like Paramount dragged out their old DVD transfer and tried their best to gussy it up for HD. What they end up with might please the casual viewer, with its bump in contrast, colour and detail (all nice things but…) but we Blu-ray fanatics can spot DNR at a mile and it’s in no short supply here. Smeary images, static grain and edge enhancement plague the presentation. Like I said, the casual viewer will most likely like what they see. I don’t really care for it.

Thankfully, what the disc lacks in image quality, it makes up for in extras. The Blu-ray disc carries over a great deal of the extras from the previously available DVD including two excellent commentary tracks – one from Bacon and the other with producer Craig Zadan and writer Dean Pitchford. There’s also the old SD “Making of” doc, which runs around a half hour and is split into two parts, and a 14-minute featurette called “Footloose: Songs That Tell a Story” about the music in the film. The new stuff on the disc, all presented in HD, is well done and heart felt. Bacon and Parker each get interview segments that feel genuine and are packed with anecdotes about their time making the film. They both chime in on the 6-minute “Remembering Willard” segment which is an ode to the late, great Chris Penn. Bacon’s screen test is pure gold for fans and, I hate to say it, looks way more film-like here than the feature itself. It’s nearly 5-minutes of the young actor busting moves on the dance floor and on super-hottie Haviland Morris of Sixteen Candles fame, who he plays opposite to in the test. For those who just can’t get enough, there’s also a couple of minutes worth of costume tests, with Bacon strutting his stuff in various outfits before the 35 mm lens. Once again, it’s kind of depressing that this footage looks better than the feature does.

AMAZON: $17.99

EXCLUSIVE TO BEST BUY (US) and FUTURE SHOP (Canada):

Not satisfied with busting out one of the best looking and sounding Blu-ray discs of the year, as well as Footloose (ohhhhh, snap!), Paramount is bringing three comedy classics to the format this week, all of which are retail exclusives for the time being. Here in Canada, you’ll be able find the discs at Future Shop in special lenticular packaging. They’re all at Best Buy in the US but I’m not sure if the package is the same.

It’s a strange selection of films, these three. Airplane and Naked Gun go hand-in-hand, produced, written and directed by the same team of comedy stylists. But Planes, Trains and Automobiles has more in common with Footloose than the others. Though an out-and-out dark comedy for adults, the film is written and directed by the late, great John Hughes, whose tendency was traditionally to make films for young people, cast with the type of actors you see in Footloose. In fact, Kevin Bacon has a role in Planes! Unlike Footloose, however, all three of these comedies feel more timeless, particularly the Hughes film, which doesn’t rely on the occasional “current event” humour. I wouldn’t really claim to love any of the three of these films – the Abrahams/Zucker comedies too slapstick and broad for my tastes and the Hughes a bit too dark and unsettling – but I did enjoy watching them all again after all these years.

All three films are new to Blu-ray but, sadly, none appear to have made the jump to high-def with any great care taken in their respective presentations. Planes, Trains and Automobiles in particular looks glossy and the furthest thing from film, much like the Footloose transfer – too much DNR, contrast boosting and edge enhancement. Both Airplane and Naked Gun appear more film-like with plenty of grain and natural detail apparent. They’re not pretty but at least they’re closer to what you’d see in the cinema. All three are an improvement from previously available DVD editions of the films. The discs feature soundtracks in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and, to speak generally here, are all respectful upgrades with little punched-up surround or bass activity. These sound like older films, thinner and with less ambient sound than a modern movie. But there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

There aren’t too many extras on the Abrahams/Zucker films – Naked Gun gets a commentary track from the writer/directors that’s just about as funny as the film itself, as does Airplane, but that disc also adds a “Long Haul Version” version of the film that pops you out of the movie and in to interview chunks and deleted scenes every few minutes. I’d way rather see that content in a picture-in-picture track but this appears to be a direct lift from the old DVD.

The Planes, Trains and Automobiles disc features way more content, including a couple of newly produced featurettes on the life and work of the late John Hughes, both presented in HD! “Getting there is half the fun” runs 16-minutes and “John Hughes: Life moves pretty fast” around 27-minutes but they both seem as if they’re a part of the same piece. I think this is great stuff, rounding up a ton of archival Hughes interview footage and a ton of modern interviews with his colleagues and friends. The rest of the extras are interviews, featurettes and a deleted scene carried over from the DVD. If you’re a fan of the film or the work of the director, you’re going to love this.

BEST BUY: US $14.99 each
FUTURE SHOP: CDN $19.99 each

ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY THIS WEEK
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