The Blu-ray Blog » Anchor Bay

Top New Blu-ray releases for the Week of January 17

Brenden — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 22:05:55 +0000

Another late entry. Sorry, dudes. I ended up out of town for the week on another project and have been playing catch-up since returning to town on Friday. Let’s not waste any more time chatting about things and get to the reviews of this week’s releases. There’s some amazing stuff out this week. Check it out!

As always, clicking the Blu-ray package art will zip you over to Amazon where every purchase you make through our links helps the site stay on its feet. We appreciate every single click and thank you again for continuing to read The Blu-ray Blog.

Blu-ray disc of the week: THE IDES OF MARCH

Ambition seduces and power corrupts in this nerve-wracking thriller from Academy Award nominated director George Clooney. Idealistic campaign worker Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling) has sworn to give all for Governor Mike Morris (Clooney), a wild card presidential candidate. However, during a brutal Ohio primary Stephen gets trapped in the down-and-dirty battle and finds himself caught up in a scandal where the only path to survival is to play both sides.

I think 2011 might have been the year that Ryan Gosling became the coolest man on Earth. The one-two punch of Drive and George Clooney’s The Ides of March, making its Blu-ray debut this week, have cemented the steeley, chiseled Canadian as one to watch through 2012. Can he remain cool for a further 365 days or were these two films a fluke? It remains to be seen. But let me tell you, if you feel his performance was too simple, direct or one-note in Drive, Gosling proves he’s got the chops to deliver in Ides of March. As dutiful Stephen Meyers working for Clooney’s Governor Mike Morris (yes, the multi-talented Clooney not only directs, produces and shares writing credit here but stars in the film as well) Gosling might play it cool but political and personal games that threaten his character’s hard-won career see the actor run the gamut of emotions. I think he’s the real thing. And, more importantly here, The Ides of March is really good. Actually, it’s really great. Fans of political thrillers like All The President’s Men will want to check this one out post haste!

In addition to being one of the better films of late 2011, The Ides of March is one of the best looking Blu-ray discs I’ve had the pleasure of screening in recent memory. This is great work from Sony (via Alliance on the Canadian disc I watched) with a natural, rich grain structure, a ton of detail and colour that’s spot on. A perfect transfer with a perfect encode. Beautiful! The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is, likewise, right on the money but features less of a ‘wow’ factor, as much of the soundtrack is center-channel-focused dialogue. Bonus goodies on the disc include an excellent, if not slightly dry commentary from Clooney and writer/producer Grant Heslov and almost half an hour of featurettes.

Highly recommended!

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Commentary with George Clooney and Grant Heslov
Developing the Campaign: The Origin of The Ides of March
Believe: George Clooney
On The Campaign: The Cast of The Ides Of March
What Does a Political Consultant Do?

AMAZON: CDN $27.99

Also available: THE IDES OF MARCH (US Edition)

AMAZON: $17.99

REDLINE

“Redline” is about the biggest and most deadly racing tournament in the universe. Only held once every five years, everyone wants to stake their claim to fame, including JP, a reckless dare-devil driver oblivious to speed limits with his ultra-customized car – all the while, organized crime and militaristic governments want to leverage the race to their own ends. Amongst the other elite rival drivers in the tournament, JP falls for the alluring Sonoshee – but will she prove his undoing, or can a high speed romance survive a mass destruction race.

Redline is, without question, one of the most hotly anticipated Blu-ray releases of the last year. Hell, it’s so good I damn near proclaimed it “Disc of the Week”. There’s only a couple of things that keep this exceptional Blu-ray release from that distinction, here on The Blu-ray Blog – the first is the fact that anime is still a niche genre of product that I can’t really recommend to everybody (there’s no way my sister would ever sit through this film) and the second is that, while this is a remarkable film on so many levels, the story and plot are pretty inane and somewhat incomprehensible. But honestly, for this sort of animated film, I don’t mind some weakness in narrative if there’s an overwhelming inventiveness elsewhere. And Redline is hella inventive! From the outlandish characterizations, automotive design and all-’round nutso animation, every aspect of this film simply screams originality. I challenge you to watch Redline and not enjoy the hell out of it. If you like anime, that is.

Anchor Bay‘s high-bandwidth encode rocks the Redline transfer, handling the grand swaths of black and fast action with aplomb. This is a fantastic, vivid, colourful Blu-ray presnetation from start to finish! Great looking stuff here. The Japanese Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack is also all kinds of awesome! I only sampled a touch of the English mix but it seemed to replicate the original in clarity, immersiveness and all around crazy-ass bombast.

Special features include a thorough, hour-long “Perfect Guide to Redline” with interviews, designs, storyboards and more. There’s also a documentary piece that’s half as long and half as interesting. This excellent Blu-ray release is topped off with the “2006″ trailer.

AMAZON: $19.99

FIRST SQUAD

Set during the opening days of World War II on the Eastern Front. Its main cast is a group of Soviet teenagers with extraordinary abilities; the teenagers have been drafted to form a special unit to fight the invading German army. They are opposed by a Schutzstaffel (SS) officer who is attempting to raise from the dead a supernatural army of crusaders from the 12th-century Order of the Sacred Cross and enlist them in the Nazi cause.

Sigh. I had such high hopes for First Squad: The Moment of Truth. On the surface, it’s a super-cool Russian/Japanese co-production, slickly designed and animated by the geniuses at Studio 4°C (Tekkon Kinkreet, Genius Party.) But, at its core, it’s a collection of genre cliches that hues too close to Zack Snider‘s Suckerpunch for comfort. The story is supposed to take place during the second world war but the filmmakers have made certain that the First Squad all sport clothing and makeup that ratchets up their “cool factor” without consideration for the period. Is there a reason that the protagonist has a katana with a mini beanie baby dangling from the hilt like a modern day cell phone charm other than someone in the production team thought it would be “cool”? That’s what most of the film feels like – a hodgepodge of stereotypical anime elements mashed-up with a touch of Russian history. I like girls with katanas slicing through zombie soldiers as much as the next nerd but for me, First Squad just doesn’t come together.

I will say, however, that Anchor Bay’s Blu-ray presentation of the film is gorgeous. Though colours are purposely desaturated, the image is radiant and clean, with tons of detail to spare. When animation is well handled on Blu-ray, it really makes the format shine. First Squad is very fine, well rendered high-def eye candy, to be sure. The Russian Dolby TrueHD 5.1 I selected for viewing was also quite strong, though I found the soundtrack/subtitle combinations to be dodgy until I settled on Russian audio with English subs (the default seems to offer mostly English language dialogue but neglects to sub the audio that remains in other languages. D’oh!) Aside from a shorter, hour-long cut of the film, which normally runs 73-minutes, there isn’t a special feature of which to speak of on the disc. It’s a shame, as I’d be keen to know how this co-production came together.

AMAZON: $19.99

BELLE DE JOUR

The porcelain perfection of Catherine Deneuve (Repulsion) hides a cracked interior in the actress’s most iconic role: Séverine, a chilly Paris housewife by night, a bordello prostitute by day. This surreal and erotic late-sixties daydream from provocateur for the ages Luis Buñuel (Viridiana) is an examination of desire and fetishistic pleasure (its characters’ and its viewers’), as well as a gently absurdist take on contemporary social mores and class divisions. Fantasy and reality commingle in this burst of cinematic transgression, which was one of Buñuel’s biggest hits.

This week’s premiere Criterion release, if you ask me, is the long awaited Blu-ray edition of Buñuel’s Belle de Jour, arguably the surrealist filmmaker’s most accessible and most commercially successful work. I generally prefer his style when he’s working the more eye-slicing, ants-emerging-from-wounds end of the spectrum but here, in this examination of a woman’s psychological struggle, he uses his skills juxtaposing disparate images to imply narrative in a more direct yet subtle fashion. The film follows Séverine down a path of experimentation with Buñuel cutting occasionally to images from her subconscious – moments from her past and her quite vivid imagination – to allow the viewer some insight into the motivating factors at play inside her. It’s not quite as jarring nor as uncanny as previous work but the more evocative and direct choices give the film a less playful and more earnest feel in line with the themes of the narrative and Deneuve’s stoic beauty.

The Blu-ray disc marks another fine, very film-like presentation from Criterion. There appear to be similarities in this and the print used for the Studio Canal Region B disc but colour timing is unique to both (warm scenes in one are often cold in the other and vice versa.) Both discs are very fine and quite detailed, leaving your selection of which to purchase down to personal preference or Region lock. The lossless mono audio track is also excellent, proving quite robust and dynamic, despite its limitation of age and channels. Music sounds full and expressive and the French language dialogue is clean and clear.

Supplements, as per Crierion’s usual, are plentiful and very well done. The commentary track by Princeton professor Michael Wood, author of the BFI Film Classic book Belle de Jour, is jam-packed with information about the film itself and its cast and crew but is often quite dryly delivered. Mister Wood sounds like a typical academic and would clearly benefit from having a lively companion in the sound booth. The highlight of the disc is a nearly 20-minute long doc newly produced by the studio. That Obscure Source of Desire features commentary on the themes of Belle de Jour by writer and sexual-politics activist Susie Bright and film scholar Linda Williams and is well worth watching. The 11-minute interview with screenwriter Jean-Claude Carriere is also worth a look (and, surprisingly, it’s in English!) There’s also an 8-minute long segment from a 1966 program called Cinema which features on-set interviews with Carriere and Deneuve. The disc is rounded out by several trailers and a booklet featuring an essay by critic Melissa Anderson and a 1970s interview with Buñuel.

Recommended!

AMAZON: $27.99

TRAFFIC

Traffic examines the question of drugs as politics, business, and lifestyle. With an innovative color-coded cinematic treatment to distinguish his interwoven stories, Steven Soderbergh embroils viewers in the lives of a newly appointed drug czar and his family, a West Coast kingpin’s wife, a key informant, and police officers on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. The film, which delivers a complex and nuanced take on an issue of international importance without sacrificing any energy or suspense, is a contemporary classic, and the winner of four Oscars, for best director, best screenplay, best editing, and best supporting actor for Benicio del Toro.

I didn’t receive a review copy of Criterion’s Traffic upgrade (their DVD version of the film was released back in 2002) but this Steven Soderbergh film is certainly worth a look for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet. The Blu-ray disc carries over the fantastic collection of special features from its SD counterpart, including multiple commentary tracks, tons of deleted scenes and several process demonstrations.

AMAZON: $27.99

DEAD POETS SOCIETY

Academy Award winner Robin Williams (Best Supporting Actor, “Good Will Hunting”, 1997) delivers one of his most memorable performances in “Dead Poets Society” – digitally restored and presented for the first time ever in breathtaking Blu-ray High Definition. For generations, Welton Academy students have been groomed to live lives of conformity and tradition – until new professor John Keating inspires them to think for themselves, live life to the fullest and “Carpe Diem.” This unconventional approach awakens the spirits of the students, but draws the wrath of a disapproving faculty when an unexpected tragedy strikes the school. With unforgettable characters and beautiful cinematography, “Dead Poets Society” will captivate and inspire you time and time again.

It had been years since I’d seen Peter Weir‘s Dead Poets Society and my recollections of it had faded, entering into a screening of the new Blu-ray disc edition of the film. Much of the film remains timeless and quite powerful – the stunning, pitch perfect photography of John Seale (The English Patient, Witness), the performances of the boys, their parents and the teachers (Kurtwood Smith will always be criminal Clarence Boddicker to me but here, playing an overbearing dad, I almost forget how he nearly killed Robocop) and the stuck-up-private-school-versus-free-thinking story itself. The two elements that occasionally pulled me out of the film, however, are also occasionally the things that give it its flavour.

Dead Poets Society is some of Robin Williams’ best work but every now and then he lets go and does his schtick. I think that might have worked back in the ’80s but it really feels out of place now. Likewise, composer Maurice Jarre delivers some truly inspired music throughout but his occasional overuse of dated synthesizers really drags the flavour of the film down. It’s too bad, because the compositions are excellent, it’s just the voices he’s using to play them that bring the cheese. But don’t allow these minor missteps to keep you from the film. It’s still a winner after all these years and definitely a mid-century prep-school drama worth a look.

Dead Poets Society has always been a fairly soft film and remains so in its Blu-ray debut. This 1080p, high-def presentation however, is in every way a faithful representation of how the film is meant to look and does it justice in just about every way. Colour is rich, blacks are deep and the whole affair maintains a nice film-like quality about it. You’re not going to convert anyone to Blu-ray with this disc but it’s got it where it counts. The largely front-heavy DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 also seems to be source-accurate, only lacking in areas where age and source material keep it from reaching the top of the class.

Special features have been carried over from the previously released DVD edition of the film and include and excellent commentary track from Weir, Seale and writer Tom Schulman, a nearly half-hour long retrospective doc (that, sadly, is all the worse for the lack of comment from Weir and Williams) and 8-minutes of ‘Raw Takes‘. There’s also a brief look and the life and career of late sound designer Alan Splet and a 15-minute long ‘Cinematography Master Class‘ with Seale. The disc is rounded out with a trailer.

AMAZON: $13.99

GOOD MORNING VIETNAM

For the first time in stunning Blu-ray High Definition, Academy Award winner Robin Williams (Best Supporting Actor, “Good Will Hunting”, 1997) delivers a tour-de-force performance in the 25th Anniversary Edition of the hit comedy “Good Morning, Vietnam“! Enjoy the unsurpassed digital sound quality of Blu-ray High Definition as Army deejay Adrian Cronauer (Williams) spins a red-hot soundtrack of ’60s hits. His sidesplitting comedy and rapid fire wit make him a hero to the troops, but quickly get him in hot water with his by-the-book superiors. Featuring a behind-the-scenes look at Williams’ hilarious radio monologues, “Good Morning, Vietnam” remains the quintessential Robin Williams comedy.

It must be Robin Williams week over at Disney, because the studio decided that simply releasing a single Blu-ray disc starring the famous funny man just wouldn’t do. I have to say, after screening both films, that Barry Levinson‘s Good Morning Vietnam holds up a lot better after all these years than Dead Poets does. Williams’ humour is on point here and, in fact, the focus of the narrative. It’s as if the story was crafted to take advantage of his particular skills. The supporting cast is all around brilliant, the photography often beautiful to behold and the music selections absolutely classic. It’s hard to find fault with Good Morning Vietnam. I guess if you happen to find Williams grating you won’t like the movie but in that case, I’d question why you even started watching it at all, given it’s clearly his showcase.

Good Morning Vietnam looks suspiciously clean in its Blu-ray debut. Closer inspection reveals some haloing and edge enhancement – telltale signs that the studio has been hard at work using their DNR and sharpening tools to “spruce” things up here. Don’t get me wrong, this is still far and away the best I’ve seen the film look since my initial viewing in the theatre but those in search of a perfect, pure transfer won’t find it here. At least the music in the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sounds like a million bucks! The track itself is far from perfect but the music in the mix doesn’t seem to suffer.

Like the Dead Poets Society Blu-ray release, special features have been carried over from the previously available DVD and include a pretty decent, 35-minute long ‘Production Diary‘ and 13-minutes of raw footage of Williams behind the radio station microphone, riffing and improvising on the material in the script. Great stuff!

AMAZON: $13.99

GANTZ II: PERFECT ANSWER

Determined to resurrect friends who have died in battle, Kei and other members trapped in the “in-between” world of Gantz are aiming to score the 100 points needed to break through. An emergence of a mysterious investigator, however, complicates the situation further. The battle continues on as the two dimensions start to merge together. Some fight for love, and others fight for justice. At the end, who will sacrifice the most.

What just happened there? Huh? Granted, it’s been a few months since Warner sent over the first part of the Gantz film series but I’ve got to admit, I’m still kind of lost. Gantz II: Perfect Answer opens with a recap of the previous film that had me nodding and saying “Uh huh” and “Oh yeah, that guy!” quite a bit but once things got rolling with the story I found myself stupefied. I did get up to speed in most aspects of the plot before things drew to a close but let me tell you, this film provides everything but the “Perfect Answer.”

SPOILER ALERT

Unless I missed something critical, there’s no perfect answer about where the black ball comes from and/or why it wants the aliens killed. It’s clear that the aliens have got a beef but man, after sitting through two-and-half hours of this business, you’d think we, the audience, deserve some kind of explanation.

SPOILER OVER

In any case, no matter my disappointment with the plot, I found this Gantz film to be nearly as much fun as the first, with a ton of amazing action and more stylish production design than you can shake a stick at. If you like super-fast martial arts, swordfights and gun battles without a clear plot than you’ll enjoy the hell out of these films.

Much like the Blu-ray disc of the first film, Gantz II: Perfect Answer looks great in 1080p. There’s plenty of detail, colours, though desaturated, appear spot on and the blacks are deep and rich. Video is encoded at a nice, high bandwidth allowing for an encode that can handle all the fast movement through the films multitude of dark environments. The Japanese language DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is even more impressive, providing a clear rendering of all environments, with clean dialogue from the center channel, a dynamic, full representation of the score and impressive low-end response that nearly took out one of our walls in the house. Most impressive! Note: Avoid the English dub track and just watch in the original Japanese with English subs. You won’t like the English dub. Trust me.

Bonus features on housed on a seperate DVD and feature a 22-minute interview with director Shinsuke Sato, trailers and cast profiles. There’s also a DVD copy of the film included in the package.

AMAZON: $19.99

LICENSE TO DRIVE

For teenager Les Anderson (Corey Haim), the two most important things in life are getting his driver’s license and getting together with the hottest girl in high school (Heather Graham in one of her first film roles). But when Les fails the exam, he “borrows” the family’s prized ’73 Cadillac for his big date. An innocent girl. A harmless drive. What could possibly go wrong? Try a fearless best friend (Corey Feldman) with an insane plan, a high school hottie with too much to drink, angry drag racers, crazed militants, a police roadblock, a crash course in car theft, a very angry father (Richard Masur), a very, very pregnant mother (Carol Kane) and much more! Nina Siemaszko and Grant Goodeve co-star in the awesome ’80s comedy hit.

Here’s another one I haven’t seen since I was about fifteen years old. I can’t believe I’m saying this but my sister and I used to love License to Drive. It wasn’t a “Two Coreys” thing (although I’m sure she was probably keen on one of them to some degree back in the day) or a Heather Graham thing (she’s actually not very cute in this film) but rather just a love of fast, fun kid-hijinks movies. Watching this one again now kind of reminds me of the programs my niece and nephew watch on the Disney channel – there are teenage crushes, gross-outs aplenty, the foiling of nasty jocks, parents who “just don’t understand” and incorrigible siblings. All the ingredients are there for this to be an episode of the Hannah Montana or iCarly or the like. That’s not a bad thing, just good reason for why I feel totally out of touch with the film now, as a thirty-something old man. Folks my age will get a kick out of re-visiting License to Drive once but will want to pass this disc down to their kids as soon as they’re done with it.

Anchor Bay affords this little throwback with a surprisingly decent transfer. There’s nothing remarkable here – detail, colour and contrast are all fine but not breathtaking – but this presentation is far better than you’d expect an aging catalogue film like this warrant. Kudos to the folks at Anchor Bay for caring! The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track is nothing to write home about but is clear and clean and allows sufficient dynamic headroom for the awesome ’80s music to sound pretty good. Sadly, the only special features on the disc are a 7-miinute long vintage promotional featurette and the theatrical trailer. I guess that’s better than nothing, right?

AMAZON: $12.99

ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY THIS WEEK
Clicking an image will take you to Amazon.com where you can learn more about and purchase the Blu-ray disc:

4-Disc Battle Royale: The Complete Collection Blu-ray set available in March

Brenden — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 17:09:09 +0000

Anchor Bay looks to be on a roll with their Japanese imports early in this new year, following up this coming week’s awesome Redline release with a 4-disc Battle Royale: The Complete Collection Blu-ray set in March. The boxed set includes several flavours of the original along with the sequel and a ton of bonus goodies. For those only interested in Battle Royale sans sequel, it’ll be available on its own, uncluttered. If you want to get your hands on the sequel, though, you’re stuck with buying the whole shebang. I’m really looking forward to this set. I’ve yet to sit down with the sequel (which has been kicking around the house on DVD for some time) but count myself among the many fans of the original, bloody, student-massacring affair. And Takeshi Kitano (here, in his guise as actor “Beat” Takeshi) is god. March 20th can’t come too soon!

From the press release:

Battle Royale. A title that has shocked, thrilled and unnerved audiences. A film whose fiendishly simple premise has inspired many imitations,including the upcoming The Hunger Games motion picture. Based on the 1999 global best-seller by Koushun Takami, thefuturistic tale first came to the screen in 2000, directed by the legendary Kinju Fukasaku. Authors, filmmakers and film fans the world over consider the film and its 2003 sequel Battle Royale II: Requiem sacred cinematic classics. And now, fans can own them on high-definition Blu-ray™ and DVD!

On March 20th, Anchor Bay Entertainment proudly brings the Battle Royale: The Complete Collection to Blu-ray™ and DVD for the first time in North America. Featuring state-of-the-art HD transfers, hi-res audio and a wealth of bonusfeatures that delve deep into this truly international phenomenon – as the three disc Blu-ray™ plus bonus DVD and a four disc DVD. Battle Royale will also be released separately on Blu-ray™ and DVD, and will also be available digitally via select outlets including iTunes® and Xbox LIVE®.

42 students, Three days, One survivor – No Escape. Welcome to the world of Battle Royale!

Battle Royale

In the near future, the economy has collapsed, unemployment has soared and juvenile crime has exploded. Fearful of their nation’s youth, the Japanese government passes The BR Law: Each year, a 9th grade class is sent to a remote island where they will be locked into exploding neck collars, given a random weapon, and forced to hunt and kill each other until there is only one survivor left. Chiaki Kuriyama (Kill Bill) and screen legend Takeshi Kitano (Boiling Point, Brother) star in the movie that has been argued, acclaimed and banned around the world. More than a decade later, it remains one of the most savage, shocking and emotionally powerful films of all time. Now experience the complete Director’s Cut of Kinji Fukasaku’s uncompromising masterpiece – nominated for 10 Japanese Academy Awards® – available uncensored and unrated for the first time ever in America.

Battle Royale: The Complete Collection

In 2000, director Kinji Fukasaku unleashed Battle Royale, his violently poetic epic about an innocent group of Junior High students forced by the government to hunt and kill their classmates for sport. It was nominated for 10 Japanese Academy Awards®, launched a global phenomenon, and banned from screens by frightened civic groups and distributors across America. Three years later, the equally disturbing sequel – featuring a new class, new rules, and a brutal terrorist plot by the first film’s young survivors – triggered its own tragic firestorm around the world. Now for the first time ever, you can see it all: Experience the entire Battle Royale saga on 4 discs that forever blasts open one of the most potent, shocking and savagely influential sagas in motion picture history.

With impeccable direction by three-time ‘Director of the year’ Kinji Fukasaku, and featuring high-quality acting performances from every angle, Battle Royale: The Complete Collection is as cunning as it is ruthless, offering a unique and brutal depiction of what people are capable of when imminent death is everywhere you look.“

BATTLE ROYALE: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION
(March 20, 2012 – MSRP $49.99)
Video: 1.85:1 1080p
Audio: Dolby TrueHD 7.1

Battle Royale: The Complete Collection’s four disc set in collectible high-end packaging will include:

Battle Royale Director’s Cut with both Japanese and English language tracks and English subtitles
Battle Royale Theatrical Cut with both Japanese and English language tracks and English subtitles
Battle Royale II with Japanese language and English subtitles
Battle Royale Bonus Content with Japanese language and English subtitles

Special Features:

The Making Of BATTLE ROYALE
BATTLE ROYALE Press Conference
Instructional Video: Birthday Version
Audition & Rehearsal Footage
Special Effects Comparison Featurette
Tokyo International Film Festival 2000
Battle Royale Documentary
Basketball Scene Rehearsals
Behind-The-Scenes Featurette
Filming On-Set
Original Theatrical Trailer
Special Edition TV Spot
TV Spot: Tarantino Version

Also available:

BATTLE ROYALE
(March 20, 2012 – MSRP $29.99)
Video: 1.85:1 1080p
Audio: Dolby TrueHD 7.1

The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season – 3-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray Disc Review

Brenden — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 01:41:38 +0000

THE WALKING DEAD: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON – 3-DISC SPECIAL EDITION (2010, Blu-ray released October 4, 2011 – MSRP $49.99)

TV SERIES:	★★★½☆
VIDEO:	★★★★☆
AUDIO:	★★★★½
EXTRAS:	★★★★★
BLU-RAY:	★★★★½

Series review quoted from “The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Disc Review” – March 14, 2011

Much like the groaning, lurching undead creatures themselves, the zombie genre refuses to lie quietly in it’s grave. AMC‘s The Walking Dead series proves that there’s some life left in the old carcass, producing a thrilling, if flawed, six-episode season that looks and sounds great on Blu-ray, now available in a new-and-improved 3-Disc Special Edition!

After waking from a coma in an abandoned hospital, police officer Rick Grimes finds the world he knew gone – ravaged by a zombie epidemic of apocalyptic proportions. Nearby, on the outskirts of Atlanta, a small encampment struggles to survive as ‘the dead’ stalk them at every turn. Can Rick and the others hold onto their humanity as they fight to live in this terrifying new world? And, amidst dire conditions and personal rivalries, will they ultimately survive one another? AMC’s The Walking Dead is an epic, survival adventure series from the director of The Shawshank Redemption and the producer of The Terminator and Aliens.

The Walking Dead might borrow heavily from 28 Days Later for it’s setup but the series quickly and boldly heads off on its own direction, becoming a complex soap opera of a sort. The interpersonal drama that fuels the series’ engine is well balanced with zombie action that’s surprisingly (and I hate to say it, but refreshingly) gory and graphic for television, well realized in special effects work that rivals that of big budget motion pictures. But for every well crafted zombie attack there are just as many missteps in the writing – cliché action beats abound and characters act out of turn, seemingly to support flimsy plot devices, far too often. Gripes aside,The Walking Dead is a compelling viewing experience. It’s addictive. Once I started into the Blu-ray set I couldn’t stop watching.

The Walking Dead was shot dirty and gritty on 16mm but looks incredible on Blu-ray, despite not having the benefit of the visual information of the larger film stocks used for feature films. Anchor Bay has done a bang-up job here, translating the grainy texture of the film to 1080p. Blacks are deep and inky, there’s detail aplenty and the ever-present sheen of film grain hearkens the series back to some of the finer b-movie zombie extravaganzas of the ’70s and early ’80s. Paired with an unflinching, dynamic Dolby TrueHD 5.1 that has the teeth to rip out your jugular, this is one of the finer technical presentations a television series has received on Blu-ray.

The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season was previously available in a 2-disc set that was released this past March. This new 3-disc Special Edition carries over all the special features and adds a ton more. In fact, it adds a whole disc more. And more! This is everything I had wanted from the original release – commentary tracks from the cast and filmmakers, more in-depth behind-the-scenes footage and a closer look at the zombie makeup and effects. This new Blu-ray set even goes so far as to include a black-and-white version of the pilot episode (sadly hobbled by a lowly, compressed Dolby Digital 5.1 track), much like the b&w option on director/producer Frank Darabont‘s The Mist Blu. For the record, whether it’s the loss of the deep red of all the blood and guts on screen or the overwhelming mid-tones of DOP David Tattersall‘s photography, I think this show works better in colour. Don’t get me wrong, though, it’s a kick to see how things look, all Night-of-the-Living-Dead-like. I wish more home video collections went this distance to give the fans what they’re clamouring for. With all these new extras on board and a killer transfer of all the episodes, this release is a complete home run!

The only thing muddying the waters here is that it’s a double-dip, coming only a few short months after the series’ initial Blu-ray release. I’m not sure what the studio is thinking but if you didn’t already grab yourself a copy of The Walking Dead, this new 3-Disc set is the one you want. If you already own the 2-disc set and you don’t really care about extras, don’t worry about it. Just never mind this whole release. But if you’re keen on learning more about the show, you might want to sell your old copy and trade up to the new.

The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season – 3-Disc Special Edition is also available in a Limited Edition Collector’s Box (which appears to be a Best Buy Exclusive) that includes a wearable zombie mask designed By Greg Nicotero and an exclusive Cryptozoic Walking Dead trading card.

That’s me wearing the Nicotero zombie mask in the dark, grainy pic below. Pretty decent, n’est-ce pas? A little small for my head but it looks gory and fairly convincing with the seams tucked under a hoodie! Needless to say, I’m no longer allowed to wear it around the house. This mask is not at all popular with my girlfriend, who reluctantly snapped this pic…

New Special Features

Pilot Episode: Black and White Version
Audio Commentaries on All 6 episodes with Writer/Director Frank Darabont, Executive Producer Gale Anne Hurd, Executive Producer/Writer Robert Kirkman, Producer Denise Huth, Actor Andrew Lincoln, Special Effects Make-Up Artist/Consulting Producer Greg Nicotero and more.
We Are The Walking Dead
Bring Out the Dead: KNB and the Art of Making Zombies
Digital Decay: The VFX of The Walking Dead
No More Room in Hell: The Walking Dead Phenomenon
Adapting The Dead
Killer Conversations: Frank Darabont & Greg Nicotero

Previously Released Special Features

The Making of The Walking Dead
Inside The Walking Dead: Episodes 1 – 6
A Sneak Peek with Robert Kirkman
Behind-the-Scenes Zombie Make-Up Tips
Convention Panel with the Producers
Extra Footage: Zombie School, Bicycle Girl, On Set with Robert Kirkman, Hanging with Steven Yeun, Inside Dale’s RV, On Set with Andrew Lincoln
The Walking Dead Trailer

Top 10 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of April 26

Brenden — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 17:04:11 +0000

Goddamn Criterion goddamn Amazon sale eating up my goddamn savings and sucking up all my available goddamn blog time!! I woke up yesterday morning and promptly emptied my wallet into the gaping maw that was my Amazon cart, buying for myself a crapload of on-sale Criterion discs that I don’t yet have in my collection. In spending all that time shopping and then blogging about the sale I ran out of time to get this new Blu-ray release post finished. I’m sorry it’s getting out there to you a whole day late but… well, I just can’t control myself when there’s a killer sale on. Can you?!

Anyway, it’s a great week for Blu-ray releases what with two new Criterion discs, a couple of classic Jodorowsky fliks making their hi-def debuts along with some anime and foreign classics.

1. HUMAN PLANET

Following in the footsteps of Planet Earth and Life, this epic eight-part blockbuster is a breathtaking celebration of the amazing, complex, profound and sometimes challenging relationship between humankind and nature. Humans are the ultimate animals – the most successful species on the planet. From the frozen Arctic to steamy rainforests, from tiny islands in vast oceans to parched deserts, people have found remarkable ways to adapt and survive. We’ve done this by harnessing our immense courage and ingenuity; learning to live with and utilize the other creatures with which we share these wild places. Human Planet weaves together eighty inspiring stories, many never told before, set to a globally-influenced soundtrack by award-winning composer Nitin Sawhney. Each episode focuses on a particular habitat and reveals how its people have created astonishing solutions in the face of extreme adversity. Finally we visit the urban jungle, where most of us now live, and discover why the connection between humanity and nature here is the most vital of all.

Well now, it seems like BBC is going to make these ‘natural history’ disc releases an annual “Earth Day” affair, doesn’t it? Released in conjunction with Warner Home Video, the British studio/channel has produced another impossibly beautiful series of programs with hours of the most stunning, breathtaking photography you’ve ever seen. This time around, instead of focusing their HD lenses on flora and fauna, BBC’s Natural History Unit have decided to train their cameras on humanity, showcasing us in all our unique glory. Who knew that we were so gosh-darn attractive?! (Trying to tone down my language here)

The image on the discs might technically fall short at only 1080i but you’ll never notice. This is an exceptional HD presentation that’ll prove to be a excellent showcase for your home theatre equipment for years to come. This is a trouble free transfer with only the rarest instances of artifacting and banding, exhibiting stunning detail and colour throughout. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track isn’t going to rattle your china, being heavy on the John Hurt narration and light on the Michael Bay-style, explosive sound design. Nitin Sawhney’s exceptional score sounds rich and dynamic throughout.

In addition to almost 90-minutes of additional documentary content on the disc, you’ll also find a BD-Live portal on disc-3 of the set. The bonus featurette, “Zanskar” is already available for viewing with the promise of a lot more content appearing in the very near future. Finally, a usage of the BD-Live format that makes it feel worthwhile!

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Behind the Lens – A set of 10 ten-minute “making of” featurettes, one at the end of each episode plus two bonus featurettes!
Special BD-Live added feature “Zanskar,” about the people of this remarkable land on the edge of the Himilayas

AMAZON: $32.99

2. BLOW OUT

In the enthralling Blow Out, brilliantly crafted by Brian De Palma, John Travolta gives one of his greatest performances, as a movie sound-effects man who believes he has accidentally recorded a political assassination. He enlists the help of a possible eyewitness to the crime (Nancy Allen), who may be in danger herself, to uncover the truth. With its jolting stylistic flourishes, intricate plot, profoundly felt characterizations, and gritty evocation of early-1980s Philadelphia, Blow Out is an American paranoia thriller unlike any other, as well as a devilish reflection on moviemaking.

I almost can’t believe that Brian De Palma’s Blow Out is available on Blu-ray. Nevermind that it’s been released in HD by Criterion. Add to that, the fact that this is a brand new, director-supervised transfer on a disc with an extraordinary collection of special features (including an entire additional early De Palma feature film) and you’ve got a Blu-ray disc not to be missed. Oh yeah, and it just happens to be on sale at Amazon right now for the ridiculously low price of $18.99. Grab it up now before the sale ends!

I’ve got a full review of the disc coming up on the blog shortly and will update this post with a link when it’s published.

AMAZON: $18.99

3. FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS

It is 1971, and journalist Raoul Duke barrels toward Las Vegas—accompanied by a trunkful of contraband and his unhinged Samoan attorney, Dr. Gonzo—to cover a motorcycle race. His cut-and-dried assignment quickly descends into a feverish psychedelic odyssey. Director Terry Gilliam (Time Bandits, Brazil) and an all-star cast headlined by Johnny Depp (Edward Scissorhands, Donnie Brasco) and Benicio Del Toro (The Usual Suspects, Che) show no mercy in adapting Hunter S. Thompson’s legendary dissection of the American way of life to the screen, creating a film both hilarious and savage.

I know, I know. There are a lot of you out there who couldn’t give a rat’s ass about Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas but seriously guys, this is a great film. I’m not even talking about it in terms of the manner in which it was brought to life (Gilliam hired last minute, re-writing the script in days and shooting from the hip) or the miracle that it exists at all. No, I mean, the fact that this is a brilliantly shot, wonderfully imaginative take on the material that fashions Gonzo journalism into cinema at its purest. And Criterion, as you’d expect, have knocked the Blu-ray out of the park.

This is an upgrade of the previously available DVD edition of the film that Criterion released a handful of years ago, sporting the same bevy of ridiculously awesome bonus content (including, amongst many other notable extras, 3 commentary tracks – one by Gilliam, one with stars Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro and one with the late, off the rails Hunter S. Thompson himself!) but upping the game with a knockout 1080p transfer of the film and couple of killer DTS-HD Master Audio tracks (English 5.1 and 2.0 versions of the audio).

A full review of the disc is coming up shortly. Keep your eyes peeled!

AMAZON: $27.99

4. HOLY MOUNTAIN

The scandal of the 1973 Cannes Film Festival, writer/director Alejandro Jodorowsky‘s flood of sacrilegious imagery and existential symbolism is a spiritual quest for enlightenment pitting illusion against truth. The Alchemist (Jodorowsky) assembles together a group of people from all walks of life to represent the planets in the solar system. The occult adept’s intention is to put his recruits through strange mystical rites and divest them of their wordly baggage before embarking on a trip to Lotus Island. There they ascend the Holy Mountain to displace the immortal gods who secretly rule the universe.

Anchor Bay is rocking your world this week with a couple of amazing, classic Jodorowsky films on Blu. I wouldn’t recommend The Holy Mountain to everybody but this is fantastic stuff. It’s a film without plot, with a narrative that feels like a meandering journey through a neverending stream of metaphor and symbolism. But there’s a point to Jodorowsky’s madness. What it lacks in apparent classic structure, The Holy Mountain makes up for in impact. It’s a muscular, rewarding journey for those willing enough to brave it.

The restoration of the film is remarkable but doesn’t turn out a perfect Blu-ray experience. Don’t get me wrong, the film looks great here, in it’s HD debut but it’s just a little too slick for my tastes. I understand that noise reduction had to be used to sort out a lot of the inherent weaknesses of the source material (there’s an excellent short featurette on the restoration process) but they didn’t leave a lot of film grain behind in the process. The good news is that there’s never an instance of image smearing or waxy complexions in the film. The presentation is overall a detailed one with brilliant colour and fairly even contrast. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is a pleasant one, extrapolated from the original mono and expanded to provide an effective atmosphere through surrounds. Extras include a director’s commentary track (in Spanish, subtitled in English), deleted scenes with commentary, a featurette on ‘The Tarot‘, some stills and a trailer.

AMAZON: $27.99

5. EL TOPO

It was the landmark cult film that began the whole Midnight Movie phenomena of the counterculture crazy 1970s. El Topo was the most talked about, most controversial quasi-Western head trip ever made, transforming the way risk-taking audiences, seeking mainstream Hollywood alternatives, watched edgy underground films. Classic Americana and avant-garde European cinema sensibilities meet Zen Buddhism and the Bible as master gunfighter and cosmic mystic El Topo (played by writer/director Alejandro Jodorowsky) must defeat his four sharp-shooting rivals on an ever-increasingly bizarre path to allegorical self-enlightenment and surreal resurrection.

Three years before he scaled The Holy Mountain, Jodorowsky unleashed his wandering western epic, El Topo on unsuspecting audiences. It’s like being inside the fever dream of Leone‘s Man with No Name – a surreal spaghetti-gunfighter flik that somehow morphs into uncanny religious allegory. It’s great stuff but not for everybody. Certainly not for anyone expecting something along the lines of an Eastwood western or Young Guns.

Much like Holy Mountain, El Topo has been restored and looks better here, on Blu-ray, than it has in years. Most likely, much better than it appeared in many of those art houses which screened it during the Midnight Movie phenomena. But again, grain structure is inconsistent, leaving the image looking, quite often too smooth for a film of it’s age. However, detail and colour are impressive and the overall impression is a positive one. The original Spanish language DTS-HD MA 5.1 track is thin but clear and fairly clean. Extras include a director’s commentary track (in Spanish, subtitled in English), an interview with the director, a photo gallery and a trailer.

AMAZON: $27.99

6. THE SCENT OF GREEN PAPAYA

In this Academy Award Nominated film (available for the first time in its original theatrial aspect ratio), little things mean a lot in the world of 10-year-old Mui, a girl who’s trained to be a house servant in 1950s Vietnam. As Mui grows up in pre-war Saigon, she finds quiet love with a family friend. Dialogue seems almost tertiary in this film that celebrates the senses, as the young girl discovers the world around her and marvels at every new sight, sound and scent she experiences while going about her workday life.

Kino has done a bang-up job of bringing The Scent of Green Papaya to Blu-ray, standing toe-to-toe with Human Planet for the most breathtaking Blu-ray presentation of the week. The photography here is gorgeous, the print used for the transfer seems flawless and the resulting Blu-ray disc image is stunning. Nevermind that the audio is an less-than-impressive LPCM 2.0 Vietnamese language track, with no surround information and a light low-end. The visuals, and the compelling narrative, are reason enough to pick this disc up. Extras include a 13-minute featurette, a gallery of stills and a trailer.

AMAZON: $24.99

7. THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME

Makoto Konno is having one of those days. After getting up late for school she’s hit with a pop quiz. She just started a fire while cooking in her home economics class and then she gets knocked down by some of the guys while they wrestle. How much worse can this day get? While performing an errand for her mother, Makoto loses the brakes on her bike and barrels headlong down the street into an oncoming train. This would have been the capper for a horrible day, but for some reason something strange has happened. Time has suddenly stopped and moved her backward. With her newly discovered ability to literally leap backwards in time Makoto finds that tests become a piece of cake, embarrassing situations are corrected and she can have her favorite food anytime she wants. Unfortunately her carefree time traveling has adverse effects on the people she cares for. With every successful leap Makoto somehow alters the fate of those around her. This wasn’t supposed to happen and as she races back in time to fix everything, she notices that her abilities are not limitless but with every successful jump she’s one step closer to discovering the most wonderful secret in her young adult life.

Overall, not the most impressive showing of anime on Blu-ray. The film is now a classic but the transfer here is far from perfect. It’s a step up from the horribly interlaced DVD presentation but fails to provide any sort of HD ‘wow-factor’. Audio comes in two flavours – both English and Japanese Dolby True-HD tracks. The Blu-ray disc has no features itself but the package includes a DVD with commentary tracks, a music video, a ‘behind the scenes’ featurette, footage from the premiere, a trailer and more.

Watch the trailer for The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Blu-ray here.

AMAZON: $34.99

8. EDEN OF THE EAST: THE KING OF EDEN

The intrigue goes international in The King of Eden, a feature-length conspiracy thriller that continues the action of the acclaimed Eden of the East. The deadly game that began in Japan now intensifies on the streets of New York City. The rules are the same: Do whatever it takes to win. Die if you lose. Takizawa prevented Japan’s destruction – and then he vanished. Six months later, clues lead Saki to the Big Apple in search of her missing friend. Meanwhile, the remaining Seleção are plotting their final move. Some of them would prefer Takizawa dead and out of the way. Some might even be willing to help him achieve his goals. Unfortunately, some are prepared to destroy everything if it means claiming checkmate in Mr.Outside’s puzzling game.

I haven’t see this new Eden of the East film but I’m recommending it based upon the high quality of the series it follows and the exceptional Blu-ray disc editions of the episodes from FUNimation (read my ravings about the series here). I expect the presentation to be at least equal to the impressive transfer given to the series, with a couple of quality Dolby TrueHD 5.1 tracks that also live up their predecessor’s. Along with some trailers, the disc appears to include a feature called ‘Air Communication‘ that seems to be an edited version of the TV series. I wish I could tell you more but having not seen the disc for myself I’m left to speculate. I’ll update you if/when I get my hands on it!

AMAZON: $19.99

9. BETTY BLUE

A French cult classic, Betty Blue (37°2 le matin) was an international smash when released in 1986. Directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix (Diva) and featuring an indelible screen debut by Béatrice Dalle, Betty Blue hypnotized audiences with its uninhibited sexuality and all-consuming vision of amour fou that defined youthful passion for an entire generation. An intimate portrayal of obsessive love, Betty Blue is the story of Zorg (Jean-Hugues Anglade), an aspiring novelist who gets by as a handyman and Betty (Dalle), a beautiful, unpredictable temptress who turns his life upside down. As Betty’s mental state turns dark, Zorg desperately attempts to comfort her. Even when ensconced in a dreamy rural town, Betty’s fantasy world encroaches on her reality as she slowly spirals out of control.

Jean-Jacques Beineix’s 37°2 le matin, known as Betty Blue on these shores, arrives on Blu-ray in a less-than-impressive 1080i transfer from Cinema Libre. I definitely recommend this disc as a rental for the quality of the film alone but the presentation here leaves a lot to be desired, exhibiting an unusually filtered, interlaced image with a lossy French Dolby Digital audio track. The good news is that the sole extra, an almost hour-long interview with the director, is informative and well worth your time.

AMAZON: $22.49

10. INFERNO

One of the great, unfinished works in film history, Inferno, by Henri-Georges Clouzot was an audaciously experimental film with a virtually unlimited budget that was stopped only three weeks into production. Working closely with Clouzot’s widow, Inès, Serge Bromberg and Ruxandra Medrea reconstructs Clouzot’s original vision, filling and explaining the gaps with new interviews, re-enactments and Clouzot’s own notes and storyboards, delivering an in-depth look at the masterpiece that might have been.

Hey, didn’t I just review Inferno a few days ago?!

Far from the work of Dario Argento‘s horror of the same name, Clouzot’s Inferno is one of the great unfinished films of the last century, arriving on Blu-ray this week courtesy of Flicker Alley. I didn’t get a chance to see the film in theatres and have no idea what the Blu-ray edition will be like but I recommend checking it out based on reviews of the film from it’s festival rounds last year and on the basis of Clouzot’s outstanding body of work.

AMAZON: $35.99

ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY THIS WEEK
Clicking an image will take you to Amazon.com where you can learn more about and purchase the Blu-ray disc:

Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of April 19

Brenden — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 22:08:10 +0000

I’m late with the Top 5 column this week. Sorry about that. So instead of chatting your ear off (reading your eyes out?) about this new crop of Blu-ray discs let’s just get to it!

Oh wait, I should mention that the godawful Mortal Kombat films are out on Blu today and that our own Howard has posted his review of the original 1995 film, starring the Highlander, Christopher Lambert and directed by the hack-tastic Paul W.S. Anderson of Resident Evil and marrying supermodel Milla Jovovich fame. Read the Blu-ray disc review here.

As always, clicking the Blu-ray package art will zip you over to Amazon where every purchase you make through our links helps the site stay on its feet. We appreciate every single click and thank you again for continuing to read The Blu-ray Blog.

1. THE KING’S SPEECH

After the death of his father King George V (Michael Gambon) and the scandalous abdication of King Edward VIII (Guy Pearce), Bertie (Colin Firth) who has suffered from a debilitating speech impediment all his life, is suddenly crowned King George VI of England. With his country on the brink of war and in desperate need of a leader, his wife, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter), the future Queen Mother, arranges for her husband to see an eccentric speech therapist, Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). After a rough start, the two delve into an unorthodox course of treatment and eventually form an unbreakable bond. With the support of Logue, his family, his government and Winston Churchill (Timothy Spall), the King will overcome his stammer and deliver a radio-address that inspires his people and unites them in battle. Based on the true story of King George VI, THE KING’S SPEECH follows the Royal Monarch’s quest to find his voice.

The one-ton, Oscar-winning gorilla in the video shop today, The King’s Speech throws its weight around on Blu-ray. This isn’t the best new title available this week, if you ask me. And it’s certainly not the best looking transfer of these new discs nor does it sport the most impressive lossless audio track or collection of special features. What it does have going for it though, and the reason I’m sticking it up in the number one slot today, is its renown. As winner of the Best Picture academy award, The King’s Speech is the disc most people will be snatching up today. It’s a great film and worthy of all the praise it’s received. It’s just maybe not the best thing out on Blu today, in my opinion.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Audio Commentary
Making Of Featurette
Deleted Scenes

AMAZON: $19.99

2. KES and SWEETIE

Now, if you want to talk about awesome looking, stacked Blu-ray releases, you need look no further than the two newest releases from The Criterion Collection. Both Kes and Sweetie are classics of English-speaking world cinema that are rarely seen on these shores (in fact, this is the first time Kes has been on home video in North America). The former, Ken Loach‘s touching, nuanced portrait of a young boy’s struggle to find an escape from the torment of working-class Northern England and the latter, Jane Campion‘s quirky, colourful examination of a long-afflicted family, and the two sisters whose differences stand to tear it apart.

I’ve had a chance to screen both discs are believe me when I tell you, they’re stunners! I have a full review of Kes already posted and will be posting the Sweetie review shortly.

AMAZON: $27.99 each

3. RABBIT HOLE

This is the extraordinary story of Becca (Nicole Kidman) and Howie (Aaron Eckhart). Eight months ago, they had a picture-perfect life with their young son. Now, they are posing as normal in the wake of an enormous loss; blindly looking for footing in a sea of new emotions. This is the remarkably moving journey of a couple finding their way back to love.

Rabbit Hole is one of the most powerful films of 2010 and makes its Blu-ray debut sporting a nice, rich 1080p transfer. Special features include an audio Commentary with the director John Cameron Mitchell, writer David Lindsay-Abaire , and director of photography Frank G. DeMarco, deleted scenes and a trailer.

AMAZON: $19.99

4. THE WAY BACK

Four-time Oscar nominee, Ed Harris (Apollo 13), Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe) and Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan (Atonement) and Colin Farrell (In Bruges) star in this epic saga of survival from six-time Oscar-nominee Peter Weir (Witness, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World). Inspired by an incredible true story, The Way Back begins in 1940 when seven prisoners attempt the impossible: escape from a brutal Siberian gulag. Thus begins a treacherous 4,500-mile trek to freedom across the world’s most merciless landscapes. They have little food and few supplies. They don’t know or trust each other. But together, they must withstand nature at its most extreme. Their humanity is further tested when they meet a teenage runaway who begs to join them on their quest. A compelling testament to the human spirit, this gripping wilderness adventure is “Peter Weir at his hypnotic best” (Telluride Film Festival).

The latest opus from the cinematic genius of Peter Weir (Picnic at Hanging Rock, Witness ), The Way Back finds its way to Blu with a very fine high-def transfer and a powerful, ass kicking DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. Supplements, however, are quite slim here featuring only a half-hour long making-of doc called “The Journey of the Journey“. It’s quite good but one hopes for a more thorough package of bonus material for such an exceptional film. Oh yeah, there’s also a trailer.

AMAZON: $15.99

5. IP MAN 2

International superstar Donnie Yen reprises his iconic role as the real-life kung fu Grandmaster Ip Man, widely known as the man who brought Wing Chun to the world with the help of his star pupil, Bruce Lee. Master Ip, a new arrival in British-occupied Hong Kong, wants to open a martial arts academy to teach his unique Wing Chun style. A corrupt group of martial arts masters, led by Master Hung (Sammo Hung) refuses to allow him to teach in peace until he proves himself as a kung fu master. Ip s troubles continues when he is forced to enter a brutal King of the Ring boxing match against Twister, a Western-style boxer who insults the Chinese locals, in a East versus West knock-down, drag-out fight to the finish.

Donnie Yen is back, kicking ass and taking names in Ip Man 2. The Blu-ray disc features a transfer that won’t quite knock your eyeballs out but is fairly decent all the same, sporting a more colourful pallete than its predecessor, nice black levels and a lot of detail. There are three DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks on the disc – one each in the original Cantonese, Mandarin and an English dub. Special features on the 2-disc Collector’s Set are plentiful and include a nearly-20-minute “making of”, a series of interview ranging from 3 to 15-minutes, deleted scenes, “Behind the Sets”, a shooting diary and trailers galore.

AMAZON: $18.99

ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY THIS WEEK
Clicking an image will take you to Amazon.com where you can learn more about and purchase the Blu-ray disc:

The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Disc Review

Brenden — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 14:52:54 +0000

THE WALKING DEAD: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (2010, Blu-ray released March 8, 2011 – MSRP $49.99)

TV SERIES:	★★★½☆
VIDEO:	★★★★☆
AUDIO:	★★★★½
EXTRAS:	★★★☆☆
BLU-RAY:	★★★★☆

The Walking Dead might borrow heavily from 28 Days Later for it’s setup but the series quickly and boldly heads off on its own direction, becoming a complex soap opera of a sort. The interpersonal drama that fuels the series’ engine is well balanced with zombie action that’s surprisingly (and I hate to say it, but refreshingly) gory and graphic for television, well realized in special effects work that rivals that of big budget motion pictures. But for every well crafted zombie attack there are just as many missteps in the writing – cliché action beats abound and characters act out of turn, seemingly to support flimsy plot devices, far too often. Gripes aside, The Walking Dead is a compelling viewing experience. It’s addictive. Once I started into the two-disc set I couldn’t stop watching.

This Complete Season One two-disc Blu-ray set goes the distance in the special features department, offering up a nice half-hour long making of doc, along with shorter episode-specific featurettes and a ton of interviews and behind-the-scenes videos. It’s unfortunate that there aren’t any commentary tracks to accompany the episodes but the included features do manage to cover a lot of ground.

Recommended!

Special Features:

The Making of The Walking Dead
Inside The Walking Dead: Episode 1-6
A Sneak Peek with Robert Kirkman
Behind the Scenes Zombie Make-Up Tips
Convention panel with producers
Extra Footage:

Zombie School
Bicycle Girl
On Set with Robert Kirkman
Hanging with Steven Yeun
Inside Dale’s RV
On Set with Andrew Lincoln

Trailer

Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of March 8

Brenden — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 16:30:35 +0000

There aren’t a many new Blu-ray discs on the shelves this week but you’re really going to enjoy the few that are. In fact, I think I could’ve almost managed a Top 10 list this week, what with strong contenders like Four Lions, The Man From Nowhere and The Next Three Days hitting shelves today as well as those titles I’ve selected to spotlight. Oh yeah, there’s also a Jackass film out on Blu today. Hmm.

1. NAUSICAÄ OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND

After a global war, the seaside kingdom known as the Valley of the Wind remains one of the last strongholds on Earth, untouched by a poisonous jungle and the powerful insects that guard it. Led by the courageous Princess Nausicaa, the people of the Valley engage in an epic struggle to restore the bond between humanity and Earth.

It’s no secret that the films of Hayao Miyazaki run as close to perfection as possible in my eyes. And Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind was my first exposure to the brilliant filmmaker’s work. So, as you can imagine, this film holds a pretty special place in my cinephile-heart.

This new Blu-ray edition of the film is quite a sight to behold. Simply stunning. Those of you who’re familiar with the film will look on the transfer as something of a revelation, revealing bold colours and details on the linework not apparent until now. This hi-def presentation is true to the film, still exhibiting grain, soft-shots as well as the occasional flaw, dirt and jumped animation cel but it’s absolutely beautiful. Both the original Japanese soundtrack as well as the excellent English dub are available here in faithful, full DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 tracks.

Supplements are par for the course where Disney‘s Studio Ghibli releases are concerned. They’re fine, well-produced, short, digestible featurettes that seem to perpetually suffer from the notion that the viewer is completely ignorant of Ghibli, Miyazaki and quite often, the film included on the disc. Sigh… As much as I appreciate the interview clips with Miyazaki himself in these supplements, I’d kill for the subtitled commentary track and 44-minute producer interview included on the UK and Australian releases of the film.

At the end of the day, though, I’m just thrilled that Nausicaä is available here on Blu, looking and sounding fantastic. This is, without question, the release of the week. I hope you all rush out and grab yourself up a copy and support the domestic release of Ghibli’s films. There are a lot more where this one came from!

Highly Recommended!!

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The World of Ghibli: Visit Nausicaa’s world in this enchanted interactive experience
Behind the Studio: Discover the film’s fantastic origins in this fascinating documentary, including an interview with Hayao Miyazaki
Creating Nausicaa
Enter the Lands: Explore the many worlds of Studio Ghibl
Studio Ghibli Trivia Challenge: Test your Knowledge
Original Japanese storyboards
DVD of the film including:
- Behind the Microphone: with A-list voice talent
- The Birth Story of Studio Ghibli
- Original TV trailers

AMAZON: $24.99

ALSO AVAILABLE THIS WEEK FROM STUDIO GHIBLI (ON DVD ONLY) : TALES FROM EARTHSEA

“Based on the classic Earthsea fantasy book series by Ursula Le Guin, Tales from Earthsea is set in a mythical world filled with magic and bewitchment. Journey with Lord Archmage Sparrowhawk, a master wizard and Arren, a troubled young prince on a tale of redemption and self discovery as they search for the force behind a mysterious imbalance in the land of Earthsea; crops are dwindling, dragons have reappeared, and humanity is giving way to chaos. ”

Goro Miyazaki is the son of the Master and this is his first film. It’s far from perfect but he’s tackling a well-loved, complex novel here and does an admirable job, in my eyes. It’s unfortunate that the film isn’t being released on Blu-ray yet but this DVD edition could use your support nonetheless. It’s a beautiful, if flawed film from an animator destined for greatness.

AMAZON: $17.99

2. THE WALKING DEAD: SEASON ONE

“After waking from a coma in an abandoned hospital, police officer Rick Grimes finds the world he knew gone – ravaged by a zombie epidemic of apocalyptic proportions. Nearby, on the outskirts of Atlanta, a small encampment struggles to survive as ‘the dead’ stalk them at every turn. Can Rick and the others hold onto their humanity as they fight to live in this terrifying new world? And, amidst dire conditions and personal rivalries, will they ultimately survive one another? AMC’s The Walking Dead is an epic, survival adventure series from the director of The Shawshank Redemption and the producer of The Terminator and Aliens. ”

I’ve been avoiding watching The Walking Dead, in anticipation of this Blu-ray release. The comic book from which it’s adapted is probably the best-selling indie title out there at the moment, closing in on it’s hundredth popular issue. The show, the brainchild of filmmaker Frank Darabont, is quite well done, and will debut it’s second season in the coming months. The Blu-ray disc set features fantastic, episode accurate transfers and ton of special features. I’m working my way through it now and will hopefully have a full review later this week!

AMAZON: $22.99

3. EXCALIBUR

“The legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table receives its most impressive screen treatment in Excalibur, from visionary director John Boorman (Deliverance, Hope and Glory). All the elements of Sir Thomas Malory’s classic Le Morte Darthur are here: Arthur (Nigel Terry) removing the sword Excalibur from the stone; the Round Table’s noble birth and tragic decline; the heroic attempts to recover the Holy Grail; and the shifting balance of power between wily wizard Merlin (Nicol Williamson) and evil sorceress Morgana (Helen Mirren). With Patrick Stewart, Gabriel Byrne and Liam Neeson in notable early screen roles. ”

I’ve been watching Excalibur since I was way too young to be watching Excalibur. There’s a lot of bloody, limb-rending violence and graphic, filthy sex in John Boorman’s epic re-telling of Le Morte d’Arthur. Thank goodness for my liberal upbringing! The film is a classic and is well represented on Blu-ray, looking better than it ever has. It’s still dark and grainy, but exhibits far more detail and truer colours than I’ve ever seen. The director’s commentary track is ported over from the previously available DVD and is excellent, as always but could really benefit from being supplemented by a documentary, some deleted scenes or any additional video content, for that matter on this, the 30th Anniversary of the film’s release.

AMAZON: $13.99

4. MORNING GLORY

“For Becky (Rachel McAdams, “The Notebook”), running a TV show in New York City was the big break she dreamed of…until star co-anchors Mike (Harrison Ford, Indiana Jones) and Colleen (Diane Keaton, “Something’s Gotta Give”) declare an all-out, on-air war. Making the show work with its cast of eccentric characters and outrageous story angles will take a major miracle, but Becky is ready to rise and outshine. ”

I really enjoyed Morning Glory. It’s like Broadcast News-lite, played as a modern Hollywood fare. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. Rachel McAdams is lovely and sweet throughout, providing the film a solid, likable base from which to pile on it’s comedy. A good deal of said comedy is provided by a very grumpy, cantankerous Harrison Ford, in what is likely his finest performance in years. I can see this leading to a lot more “get off my lawn” roles for the former galactic scoundrel. The Blu-ray disc looks and sounds better than you’d expect a modern comedy to, with a dazzling, vivid transfer and dynamic, playful DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack. Extras are slim here, with only a single deleted scene and a commentary track with director Roger Michell and writer Aline Brosh McKenna.

AMAZON: $22.99

5. INSIDE JOB and EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP

Inside Job may have scooped the Best Documentary Oscar from Exit Through the Gift Shop but both films have to share the same release date for their Blu-ray discs! They’re both fantastic films but don’t go looking for pristine, demo quality presentations on their Blu-ray disc releases. While both discs are faithful to their source material, the films use a lot of footage that isn’t very pretty to begin with, resulting in a fair amount of aliasing, compression artifacts and banding, Gift Shop being the least attractive of the two. But don’t be put off. See them for their content, not the image quality of the footage they use to tell the stories. Both discs are recommended!

AMAZON: $17.99 and $29.99

ANIME OF THE WEEK: DRAGONBALL Z KAI: PART FOUR

“After learning that Frieza murdered his father and destroyed his home planet, Goku takes aim at the putrid purple monster in the greatest grudge match the galaxy has ever seen! The bruises multiply at a furious rate as the two warriors trade blows in a battle that literally destroys planet Namek. As the slugfest approaches a standstill, Frieza forever silences Goku’s closest friend – sending Earth’s hero into a Super Saiyan rage that threatens to obliterate them both! ”

It feels a bit odd to include the ‘Anime of the Week’ section here, when my top pick of the week is anime. But I’ve been following this Dragonball Z Kai Blu-ray series since its inception and would be remiss if I allowed this newest edition to pass you by. This is the first set that I haven’t laid eyes on, so I can’t speak to the quality of its presentation or content directly, but I’ve little doubt that it matches up to the previous three releases in every regard.

AMAZON: $29.99

ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY THIS WEEK
Clicking an image will take you to Amazon.com where you can learn more about and purchase the Blu-ray disc:

[VIDEO] The Walking Dead: Season One Blu-ray Trailer

Brenden — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 20:55:41 +0000

I haven’t seen the show or read the comic books but I understand that The Walking Dead is some of the best Zombie stories the genre has yet produced. And this trailer for AMC‘s upcoming Blu-ray set of the series’ first season appears to bear that out. Can’t wake to take a bite (sorry!) out of this bad boy when it rises from the grave this March 8th!

THE WALKING DEAD: SEASON ONE
(March 8, 2011 – MSRP $49.99)
Video: 1.78:1 1080p
Audio: TBA

Special Features:

The Making of The Walking Dead
Inside The Walking Dead: Episode 1-6
A Sneak Peek with Robert Kirkman
Behind the Scenes Zombie Make-Up Tips
Convention panel with producers
Extra Footage:

Zombie School
Bicycle Girl
On Set with Robert Kirkman
Hanging with Steven Yeun
Inside Dale’s RV
On Set with Andrew Lincoln

Trailer

Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of August 31

Brenden — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 17:05:56 +0000

Well, it’s not really the strongest week of new Blu-ray releases but given that it’s the end of summer and nobody wants to launch a film at the lowest sales-point of the year, I’m not terribly surprised. That said, we’re beginning to see boxed sets of last years TV seasons crop up in anticipation of their upcoming 2010 network debuts which will lead us into the veritable explosion of titles through September and October.

As always, we appreciate any purchases you make on Amazon through our links. Your clicks help keep The Blu-ray Blog alive! Happy Tuesday!

1. THE VAMPIRE DIARIES: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON

I never in a million years thought I would put a show called The Vampire Diaries in the number one slot. Not being a Twilight fan (I’m more of a Bela Lugosi/Christopher Lee kind of vampire lover!) I kept my distance from the CW series this past year, avoiding what I perceived to be another network television dud. I couldn’t have been more wrong!

This is one hell of a show! I only got my review copy in a few days ago and have been trying to burn through the episodes as quickly as possible but sadly wasn’t able to make it to the end before having to talk about it. But let me tell you, I’m past the halfway point and I’m having a blast with the series! It starts off with a thud – another CW-tween clunker from the mind of Kevin Williamson, the creator of Dawson’s Creek. Those first few episodes are really clunkers, playing more like a rancid mixture of the worst parts of Gossip Girl and Twilight than quality horror/drama. Thankfully, the series takes a quick 180, and busts out an intriguing plot-line with enough gory twists and turns to satisfy even the most discriminating soap-operatic TV viewer. With it’s central human-girl and vampire-boy love story, coupled with more supernatural supporting characters and sub-plots than you can shake a stick at, the first season of The Vampire Diaries ends up playing more like a satisfying True Blood-lite than Twilight knock-off.

The image on the Blu-ray is pretty but also pretty inconsistent, with detail waxing and waning, colours running hot then cold and black crushing the crap out of everything. Not technically the picture of a reference release but very appropriate for the style of the series. As such, I’ve got to believe that the show was shot this way and not a product of a bad transfer. Audio is sadly only offered in a compressed Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mix, WHV standard for TV releases.

Despite a weaker-than-expected A/V polish for the Blu-ray release of The Vampire Diaries, the special features on the discs really shine. Along with a pretty compelling collection of featurettes and a commentary track from the series creators, the discs feature a downloadable audiobook of the first novel in the L.J. Smith series that the TV show is based on. Check out the full list of extras below.

Special Features:

Pilot commentary
Into Mystic Falls: bringing vampire lore and the high school experience from page to screen
When Vampires Don’t Suck!: the popularity of vampires and the fans who love them
The Vampire Diaries: A New Breed of Vampires — Casting the Series
The Vampire Diaries: Vampires 101 – The Rules of the Vampire
Unaired scenes
The Vampire Diaries: A Darker Truth webisodes
Second Bite: gag reel
Downloadable audiobook of the bestselling novel The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening by L.J. Smith

Amazon: $44.99

2. THE EVIL DEAD

Completing the famous tongue-in-cheek horror trilogy in high-def, the original Evil Dead is now on Blu-ray and from what I’ve seen the transfer is out of this world! Sam Raimi fans shouldn’t hesitate to pick up this first-ever 1080p presentation of the film, as it appears to be the absolute best the film will ever look. Most of the extras are relegated to an unfortunate SD presentation, stuck on the bonus DVD in the package but the Blu-ray itself features a brand-spanking-new commentary track from the director and star Bruce Campbell. Highly recommended!

Amazon: $17.49

3. RED RIDING

I’m pretty bummed out that IFC crammed all three films of the Red Riding trilogy onto one disc. Based on David Peace‘s books about serial murder and police corruption in Britain over a period of time between the 70s and 80s, these made-for-TV efforts are so well done that they actually saw a limited theatrical release here in North America! After such critical acclaim, I’m really surprised they weren’t afforded more pomp and circumstance in their Blu-ray release.

Amazon: $24.99

4. SONS OF ANARCHY: SEASON TWO

I know very little about this show aside from the fact that it’s about guys on bikes. And that people love the crap out of it! Reviews have been fairly positive and seeing as how there isn’t a whole heck of a lot out on BD this week, I thought it was probably the most deserving of the number four slot this week. Am I wrong? Should I run out and grab this second season set when I’m through with my Vampire stories?

Amazon: $41.99

5. HARRY BROWN

Michael Caine packing heat, out for revenge in Get Carter mode, cracking the skulls of those who have wronged him — That’s all you need to know about Harry Brown. I haven’t seen it yet, though I’ve heard that it doesn’t quite live up to it’s Gran-Torino-UK premise. But negative reviews aside, this is exactly the sort of film that I’m a sucker for.

Amazon: $21.49

ANIME OF THE WEEK: Black Blood Brothers: The Complete Series

We must be inching closer to Halloween because all the vampire fliks are crawling out of the crypt! This weeks big anime release from our pals at FUNimation is the complete Black Blood Brothers series on Blu-ray and, while it’s a much different beast from its fanged high-def companion, it’s equally as entertaining.

The story is a deeply textured affair, following an ancient, powerful vampire named Jiro who is traveling with his young brother to the secret “Special Zone” where humans and vampires live together in peace. Caught up in the struggle to stop bloodthirsty creatures from the Kowloon Bloodline, Jiro uncovers a conspiracy to resurrect their dead king and infect both vampires and humans in the Zone.

The plotline sounds like adolescent trash but plays out to a fairly satisfying conclusion. Combined with a reasonable up-ressed transfer, booming Dolby TrueHD 2.0 English and Japanese audio and a lengthy collection of special features, this Blu-ray set is bound to be a hit with anyone who enjoys anime, battling vampires or battling anime vampires.

Special Features:

Episodes 1 – 8 Commentary
Episodes 9 – 12 Commentary
Original TV Spots (1.33:1, 480i/60; 0:02.27)
Original Commercials (1.78:1; 480i/60; 0:04.29)
Sneak Peeks (1.33:1; 480i/60; 0:05.16)
Textless Opening Song — Ashita no Kioku
Textless Closing Song — Shinkirou
Trailers:
- Corpse Princess/Shikabane Hime
- Dragon Ball Z Kai
- Nabari no Ou
- My Bride is a Mermaid
- Full Metal Panic!

Amazon: $33.99

ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY THIS WEEK
Clicking an image will take you to Amazon.com where you can learn more about and purchase the Blu-ray disc:

[VIDEO] Ghost in the Shell 2.0 Blu-ray Trailer

Brenden — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 01:32:53 +0000

Just like the video says, we’re going to be seeing Ghost in the Shell 2.0 on Blu-ray and in stores October 26th. Unless the video is wrong and Amazon is correct. In which case, we’ll be seeing it on November 24th. Pay close attention to the newly created CGI footage that director Mamoru Oshii has cut into the film. I’m not sure if it blends. If it works. But it looks pretty slick!

Previously on The Blu-ray Blog: Ghost in the Shell, Blood: The Last Vampire on Blu-ray in November

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