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Blu-ray Deal of the Week: The Twilight Zone season sets

Brenden — Mon, 09 May 2011 14:05:16 +0000

After a slight bit of controversy which saw prices bopping up and down, Amazon.com has finally settled on their Blu-ray Deal of the Week. You have until this Saturday night to pick up the first three seasons of The Twilight Zone on Blu-ray for $46.49 each, a discount of 54%! While the price still seems a bit steep on the surface, consider that each set normally retails for around $100 and provides 5 discs (4 in the case of the Season 2 set) packed with brilliantly restored episodes available for the first time in HD along with a shit-ton of bonus content. This is the lowest price any of these boxed sets have seen as yet so grab them up while you still can!

The Twilight Zone: Season 1 - $46.49 (54% off)

The Twilight Zone: Season 2 - $46.49 (54% off)

The Twilight Zone: Season 3 - $46.49 (54% off)

Blu-ray Holiday Gift Guide 2010: TV on Blu

Brenden — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 23:36:48 +0000

Continuing with our look at what’s best to buy on Blu this year, here’s a fairly comprehensive guide to the years most extraordinary Blu-ray TV releases.

Tomorrow: Animation on Blu-ray

MORE GIFT IDEAS:

* GIFT & BOXED SETS
* ANIMATION
* CLASSICS
* THE BEST OF THE YEAR

I hope you’ve been working out because HBO’s 13-disc Deadwood: The Complete Series Blu-ray boxed set is a seriously weighty affair. This is one solid brick of high-def western goodness! The discs, which feature all 36-episodes from the series’ three seasons as well as gobs of special features, are housed within the pages of a gorgeous, solid hardcover book – much the same as last years’ Rome: The Complete Series set. The packaging is honestly a beautiful thing to behold, providing a slipcase for the book and all of the discs to rest in. Along with stunning video transfers, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks that border on perfection and all of the special features from the previously issued DVD sets (17 audio commentaries and over 6-hours of HD docs and featurettes), you’ll be hard pressed to find anything to dislike about this amazing Blu-ray boxed set. Unless, of course, you have an aversion to foul-mouthed (VERY foul) cowboys.

AMAZON: $124.99

Following their hit WW II miniseries Band of Brothers, HBO brings us a kind-of sequel in The Pacific – a 10-part look at the allies’ struggles against axis powers in the far east. Producers Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg do their best to live up to Brothers‘ epic, emotional narrative and, for the most part succeed. The Pacific isn’t quite as engaging but proves to be equally cinematic and equally as memorable. The Blu-ray disc set consists of 5 discs in digibook packaging, housed in a tin case (almost exactly matching the Band of Brothers Blu-ray set, but a touch thinnner.) The series looks and sounds spectacular and features a great selection of quality of extras – “Enhanced Viewing Experience” picture-in-picture and “Field Guide” on all episodes as well as over an hour of docs and featurettes.

AMAZON: $66.99

Ah, Lost. It’s been over half a year since the groundbreaking series came to an end and I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about it as a whole. I mean, it had it’s high points (see my review of the Season 5 Blu-ray boxed set) and it’s dreadfully low points (remember Season 2?) But no matter how you feel about the series, there’s no denying it was infectious and quite memorable. Another point you can take to the bank is that it looks and sounds like a million bucks on Blu. In fact, I’d argue that it’s very nearly a different experience in high-bandwidth high-def. You can start over from the beginning with Lost: The Complete Series Blu-ray boxed set, pictured above – a comprehensive puzzle box filled with all 6 seasons worth of episodes along with scads of extras, collectibles and hidden secrets.

AMAZON: $179.99

The CG Clone Wars series has been my guilty pleasure now for a couple of years. I record and save new episodes as they air, hoarding them for those perfect Saturday morning marathons. The Blu-ray collections of the series do one better than just slapping the show on disc. These beautiful high-def presentations allow the Clone Wars to be seen as it was meant to be – in its original aspect ratio, instead of the cropped-for-TV versions we see on The Cartoon Network. The newest collection, Star Wars: The Clone Wars – The Complete Season Two features all 22 episodes, “Jedi Temple Archives“, featurettes and a 64-page book.

AMAZON: $41.99

The Pillars of the Earth is the perfect gift for that person in your life who loves their sword fights and royal intrigue laced with a hefty dose of melodrama. This is a quality production from producers Ridley and Tony Scott that both looks and sounds great on Blu-ray. You won’t find a lot of special features here but no matter. The play’s the thing.

AMAZON: $44.99

I admit to not keeping up with Futurama since its miraculous return but am excited to catch up when this new Blu-ray boxed set turns up on December 21st. The 2-disc set includes all 13 new episodes and features such as deleted and extended scenes, audio commentaries and featurettes.

AMAZON: $30.99

Season 13 of The Simpsons marked the beginning of the shows return to form, after several seasons of less than spectacular episodes. Fans will definitely want to add this Blu-ray set to their collections for the exceptional DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack as well as the substantial batch of extras (commentary tracks on every episode!!) Take note that the episodes were produced in SD so the video presentation is a high-def encoded up-convert and a pretty nice one at that.

AMAZON: $40.99

Warner has packaged the three individual releases of the Peanuts holiday specials together into one handy boxed set. That means, if you or your loved one don’t already own the Christmas, Halloween and Thanksgiving Blu-ray discs, you’re in luck because you can now get them all together at a lower price. The discs and special features are identical to the individual releases, each one presenting an additional animated special and a short featurette. This is not reference material high-def but a definite improvement over whats previously been available.

AMAZON: $38.99

I think I can safely say, after watching two entire seasons of Fringe, that it’s hands-down the best genre show currently airing on TV. I actually held off watching season 2 for the entirety of the last year in anticipation of burning through it on Blu-ray. And burn I did!! The X-Files vibe takes even more of a back seat this season, in favour of furthering the story of agent Olivia Dunham, the Bishops and the secret experiments that tie them together. The episodes, once again look amazing on Blu. But, as they continued to do, WHV only serves up a compressed Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track. Ah well. Such a small disappointment in an otherwise amazing set. Special features include commentary on four episodes, a gag reel, a host of featurettes and more!

AMAZON: $45.99

My girlfriend got me into The Human Target last year. I wasn’t interested for the longest time but finally gave in and boy am I ever glad I did. What a fantastic, fun series this has been. This collection of first season episodes are so spirited and packed with adventure and fun and danger and… well, everything you’d want from a TV show adapted from a comic book.

Christoper Chance is a bodyguard and security expert for hire. Along with his crack team of operatives, he integrates himself into his client’s lives in order to draw out the forces that threaten them. The Blu-ray transfers are nice, if not a bit compressed (12 episodes onto 2 discs!) with Warner’s typical DD 5.1 audio mix souring the milk slightly. Special features include commentary on the pilot, deleted scenes and a couple of featurettes.

AMAZON: $35.49

From my review of the boxed set:

“With a cast of great characters and compelling b-movie storylines, True Blood is just as silly, soap operatic and supernatural in its second season as it was in its first. Perhaps even more so! And that fun transfers in whole to this exceptional Complete Second Season Blu-ray set!”

This is another killer (pun intended!) Blu-ray boxed set from HBO. As is par for the course, all episodes look and sound fantastic. Outside of the excellent commentary tracks the supplemental material is fairly anemic. See what I did there? With the blood-thing? Urgh…

AMAZON: $47.49

And hey, speaking of vampires, here’s another great series about TV and film-goers’ favourite bloodsuckers! I didn’t expect to like The Vampire Diaries at all. AT ALL! And yet, after watching this first season on Blu-ray I’m hooked. It’s one of the shows I never miss on TV now, week to week. All 22 episodes are present and accounted for, all looking amazing in their high-def debut. Again WHV cheaps out on the audio, delivering only compressed DD 5.1 tracks. Not to worry though, they actually sound pretty good. Special features include a commentary track, tons of featurettes, a downloadable audio book and tons more!

AMAZON: $45.99

Entourage has been another guilty pleasure for me for years. And this season, the sixth season feels like a climax of sorts. Despite the fact that the show has continued on into a seventh year, this Blu-ray boxed set collection gives a real sense of closure for the Hollywood escapades of movie star Vinnie Chase, manager Eric Murphy and all their pals by the time it ends. All 12 episodes look and sound better than they deserve, thanks to the wizards at HBO. Special features include commentaries, featurettes and a short film directed by Matt Damon!

AMAZON: $26.99

Thomas Jane stars in Hung as coach and “happiness consultant” (read: male hooker) Ray Drecker, doing what he does best with the gifts the good Lord has given him. Like, um…coaching sports and stuff. This half-hour drama is honestly a lot of fun but feels brief at a paltry 10-episodes. Collected in boxed set form, they just zoom by! The technical presentation isn’t quite up to HBO’s usual high standards but that doesn’t mean things look or sound grim here. The Blu-ray boxed set is, sadly a bit lite on the special features with a handful of commentary tracks being the most noteworthy.

AMAZON: $27.99

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

MORE GIFT IDEAS:

* GIFT & BOXED SETS
* ANIMATION
* CLASSICS
* THE BEST OF THE YEAR

Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of August 24

Brenden — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 04:47:57 +0000

This weeks best Blu-ray releases deliver us a healthy dose of TV shows, classic films and animation. But nothing can compete with the juggernaut of a series that is Lost! It’s an easy call for the number one slot this week.

1. LOST: THE COMPLETE SIXTH AND FINAL SEASON

Well, this is a no-brainer. If the final Blu-ray season collection of the Lost tv series isn’t on your radar this week you’re missing out. This is one of the strongest releases of the year, featuring one of the best shows ever to air on network television in a damn-near perfect video and audio presentation. Not to mention the incredible and robust set of special features included in the set. I’ll save my musings about this final season of the series for a full review of the season set where I can go on at length about the controversial decisions the production team made to bring the series to a close along with my thoughts on the story in general.

But!

If, by chance, you happen to be one of those rare people who hasn’t had a chance to watch any of the series yet, you’re in luck…

Amazon: $47.99

ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY TODAY -

LOST: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION

…because the entire series, all six-seasons are now available in one amazing and convenient boxed set! Owners of individual seasons may even want to trade up to this big, bad-boy as it offers an extra secret disc of bonus content as well as tons of collectibles and goo-gahs.

Amazon: $194.99

2. THE SIMPSONS: THE 13TH SEASON

Hardcore fans might look at this thirteenth season of the long-running animated show as something of a mixed bag as it marks the beginning of Al Jean‘s first season as Show Runner and the subtle (to some, drastic to others) shift in tone from The Simpsons of previous seasons to the style of stories we still see from Jean’s team today. Either way, collectors will be happy to add another season to their shelves and fans will praise the return of creator commentary tracks. Here’s hoping Fox gets us more Simpsons on Blu-ray soon!

Amazon: $39.99

3. SHOGUN ASSASSIN (30TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTOR’S EDITION)

I used to collect the Lone Wolf and Cub comic books back in the 80s, when they were first issued in English with those great Frank Miller and Bill Sienkewicz covers (yeah, I’ve still got ‘em!) Shogun Assassin is an American edit of the first two Japanese film adaptations of the series, smushed together into one slick package with a brand new rock soundtrack. It might not be as pure as the original versions but it’s still all kinds of fun. Read all about it in our previous post, here: Shogun Assassin coming to Blu-ray.

Amazon: $14.99

4. MACHINE GUN MCCAIN

Okay, this is a gangster film you’ve probably never seen. Why should you care about Machine Gun McCain? I’m going to throw some names at you here to see if I can can convince you – the film stars John Cassavetes, Peter Falk, Gena Rowlands and the always stunning Britt Ekland, with music by…get ready… the master, Ennio Morricone!!! The disc is produced by the Criterion of b-movies, Blue Underground so you’re guaranteed something nice to look at. I mean, aside from the lovely miss Ekland.

Amazon: $17.49

5. HANDMADE FILMS COLLECTION – TIME BANDITS, MONA LISA, WITHNAIL AND I, THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY

Oh man, I was so so so excited for these four classic British movies produced by Handmade Films to make their way onto Blu-ray. But not like this. All four of these should be Criterion releases. Hell, they’ve all been Criterion titles at some point and I wish they would goddamn well get their asses back there, to a studio that will treat them with some respect. Image has just chucked them all unceremoniously onto single-layer discs, compressed to hell with very few extras. And the worst offense? Time Bandits is only presented in 1080i. That’s right. Interlacing on a disc of a movie shot on film, in this day and age. Despite my reservations about the quality of the discs, all of these films are wonderful and most have never looked as good as they do on these cheapo discs.

Amazon: $12.99 each

ANIME OF THE WEEK: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Part 2

If you picked up Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Part 1 back in May (it was one of our recommended Blu-ray discs for the week of May 25th!) you’ve no doubt been counting the days until you could get your hands on the follow-up thirteen episodes. Well, anime fans, the day has come and let me tell you, if you’re into this sort of thing, this second boxed set featuring the adventures of the Elric brothers is going to blow your mind!

While the first thirteen episodes were all about set-up, covering familiar ground and essentially condensing the first 30-or-so episodes of the original series into a small, more palatable chunk, the episodes found on the Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Part 2 Blu-ray discs find their way into new, unexpected and exciting territory. Al and Ed Elric are Alchemists – young magicians of a sort – who lost some significant body parts to their forbidden experiments. Their quest to find the mysterious Philosopher’s Stone which can make them whole again now takes a dark turn, leading them to lose dear friends and face painful secrets that could lead the boys to ruin. To speak more specifically about the story would spoil a host of surprises but rest assured, if anime is your thing, you won’t feel cheated by Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Part 2.

The Blu-ray discs look pretty good, for upconverted content and sound great in both Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 and English Dolby TrueHD 5.1. I only wish there were more substantial bonus materials in the Blu-ray set, beyond the two commentary tracks from the English language voice cast.

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:

HBO’s Deadwood: The Complete Series Blu-ray officially announced and detailed

Brenden — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 00:26:55 +0000

HBO has finally officially announced their November release of the hit series Deadwood on Blu-ray. Special feature details have yet to be nailed down but here’s a good idea of what you can expect when the boxed set is released:

DEADWOOD: THE COMPLETE SERIES
(November 23, 2010 – MSRP $209.98)
Video: 2.7:1 1080p
Audio: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio

Special Features:

Commentary tracks
“The Meaning of Endings” featurette with David Milch
“The Real Deadwood: Out of the Ashes” featurette
Q&A with the Cast and Creative Team from The Paley Center for Media
“Deadwood 360″ Tour
Al Swearengen Audition Reel as performed by Titus Welliver
And more!!

The Twilight Zone: Season Two Blu-ray announced

Brenden — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 03:20:04 +0000

What?! Huh?! Another season set of Twilight Zone episodes announced for release on Blu-ray already?! We only just found out about Image‘s upcoming season one boxed set a few weeks ago and now we have the full details of the follow up release. Much like the first batch, I think this set looks like the bomb but I have my reservations about it. I don’t want to work myself up into too much of a lather before seeing an example of these new high-def transfers. But if they manage to live up to my wild imaginings, I’ll be frothing at the mouth, desperate to get my grubby hands on Season 3!

THE TWILIGHT ZONE: SEASON TWO
(November 16, 2010 – MSRP $99.98)
Video: 1.33:1 1080p
Audio: LPCM Mono

Special Features:

Suspense: Nightmare At Ground Zero (TV episode)
George T. Clemens Audio Interview (1978) Part 2
William Tuttle Audio Interview

New, Blu-ray exclusive features:

Rarely-seen, unofficial Twilight Zone pilot, The Time Element, starring William Bendix and Martin Balsam. Written by Rod Serling and hosted by Desi Arnaz for Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse.
19 new commentaries, featuring The Twilight Zone Companion author Marc Scott Zicree, author and film historian Gary Gerani (Fantastic Television), author and music historian Steven C. Smith (A Heart at Fire’s Center: The Life and Music of Bernard Herrmann), music historians John Morgan and William T. Stromberg, writer/producer David Simkins (Lois and Clark, Dark Angel), writer Mark Fergus (Children of Men, Iron Man), actor William Reynolds and director Ted Post Interviews with actors Dana Dillaway, Suzanne Lloyd, Beverly Garland and Ron Masak
Tales of Tomorrow episode “What You Need”
Vintage audio interview with Director of Photography George T. Clemens
1977 syndication promos for A Stop at Willoughby and The After Hours
18 Radio Dramas
34 Isolated Music Scores

HBO's Deadwood: The Complete Series Blu-ray available for pre-order

Brenden — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 12:04:40 +0000

Well now, this is a welcome sight to wake up to this morning! It seems that the fan’s cries have finally worn down HBO and forced them to release Deadwood: The Complete Series on Blu-ray at long last! Now, we don’t have a formal announcement from Warner and HBO or any sort of details yet, but the preorder has gone live on Amazon.com, providing us with this package art – a sure sign that we’ll see this boxed set before the holiday season. Deadwood: The Complete Series carries a steep suggested retail price of $209.98 but is available at Amazon for only $146.99.

The Twilight Zone: Season One comes to Blu-ray

Brenden — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 15:32:17 +0000

I started this post days ago, just before all this hack garbage shut The Blu-ray Blog down for a while. I’m so happy to get back to it and tell you all about this new Blu-ray edition of The Twilight Zone: Season One boxed set. Those of you who own the DVDs might feel a little pissed off about this set, as you were led to believe that you purchased the “The Definitive Collection” of the episodes on home video, suggesting that the elements would never look or sound any better on disc. Well, Image is going the extra mile here to prove that this new high-def package is worth the upgrade!

In addition to a new HD remaster of the episodes, billed by the studio as “a huge step up even from The Definitive Collection, mastered from new 1080p film transfers using the original camera negatives and magnetic soundtracks“, this set contains all new exclusive bonus material including 19 new commentary tracks, isolated music scores by composers like Jerry Goldsmith and Bernard Herrmann and “The Time Element” – an unofficial, never before released Twilight Zone pilot written by Rod Serling and hosted by Desi Arnaz.

Sold. Sounds brilliant to me. If the A/V remaster even approaches the quality of the Star Trek Blu-ray releases, this upgrade should be a no-brainer for fans.

THE TWILIGHT ZONE: SEASON ONE
(September 14, 2010 – MSRP $99.98)
Video: 1.33:1 1080p
Audio: LPCM Mono

Special Features:

Audio Commentaries by actors Earl Holliman, Martin Landau, Rod Taylor, Martin Milner, Kevin McCarthy, and CBS executive William Self.
Vintage Audio Recollections with actors Burgess Meredith and Anne Francis, directors Douglas Heyes and Richard L. Bare, producer Buck Houghton and writer Richard Matheson.
Rod Serling Audio Lectures from Sherwood Oaks College.
Rod Serling Promos for “Next Week’s” Show.
Original Unaired Pilot Version of “Where is Everybody?” with Rod Serling’s Network Pitch.
Footage of the Emmy Award wins for the series.

EXCLUSIVE NEW BONUS FEATURES:

Extremely rare, never-before-released unofficial Twilight Zone pilot, “The Time Element,” written by Rod Serling and hosted by Desi Arnaz – presented in glorious high definition!
19 New Audio Commentaries, featuring The Twilight Zone Companion author Marc Scott Zicree, author and film historian Gary Gerani (Fantastic Television), author and music historian Steven C. Smith (A Heart at Fire’s Center: The Life and Music of Bernard Herrmann), music historians John Morgan and William T. Stromberg, writer/producer David Simkins (Lois & Clark, Dark Angel), writer Mark Fergus (Children of Men, Iron Man), actor William Reynolds and director Ted Post.
Interviews with actors Dana Dillaway, Suzanne Lloyd, Beverly Garland and Ron Masak.
Tales of Tomorrow episode “What You Need.”
Vintage audio interview with Director of Photography George T. Clemens.
1977 syndication promos for “A Stop at Willoughby” and “The After Hours.”
18 Radio Dramas
34 Isolated Music Scores featuring the legendary Bernard Herrmann, Jerry Goldsmith and others!

The Simpsons: The Complete Twentieth Season Blu-ray Disc Review

Brenden — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 00:39:18 +0000

THE SIMPSONS: THE COMPLETE TWENTIETH SEASON (2008-2009, Blu-ray released January 12, 2010 – MSRP $59.99)

While never being a rabid fan of The Simpsons, I’ve always enjoyed the show and try my best to catch new episodes when I can. More often than not I’m stuck with the syndicated reruns which seem to play non-stop on some channel, somewhere along the digital dial. I was delighted to get my hands on this Simpsons: The Complete Twentieth Season Blu-ray set, as I had only managed to see around half the episodes last year. What a treat!

It was so nice to have a chance to catch up on all the episodes I missed. The series holds up surprisingly well after a couple of decades. It might not have the bite or social relevance it once had but it delivers more than it has any business delivering after so long on the air. There’s a part of me that would like to see the series grow beyond it’s initial set-up, allowing characters to age, come together or move away from one another – send Bart to college, let Maggie walk and speak, bring a new child into the Simpson house. But at the same time, that growth quite often sounds the death knell of a series and the jumping of the proverbial shark. In that light, I’m glad to see that the Simpsons has stayed the course and remains one of the consistently quality comedies on the air!

The twenty-one episodes of the season are all complete and present, spread over two Blu-ray discs and looking and sounding pretty good. The first disc contains the nine holdover episodes from Season 19 that ran in 2008, produced in standard def and at the old 4:3 aspect ratio. Don’t be surprised by the black bars on either side of your screen when you watch those bad boys. They are no doubt up-converted from their native 480i for the Blu-ray 1080p presentation and as such look the part. There’s a lot of banding and aliasing of the sort you’re used to seeing in upconverted material. In this case, considering the source material, the presentation is completely acceptable.

The second disc is where all the real treats lie! The final twelve episodes of the season, the brand new ones were created and broadcast in high-def and feature a vast improvement in image quality. The 4:3 aspect ratio is gone, replaced by a beautiful wide 16:9, most of the banding and aliasing issues have been taken care of and there’s a whole lot more detail present on the screen. And hey, the studio even re-animated the opening in high-def, representing the more modern, tighter designs of the characters for the first time! All in all, the Blu-ray set looks as you would expect when dealing with lower-budget television animation and doesn’t disappoint.

What is disappointing, however is the severe lack of special features on The Simpsons: The Complete Twentieth Season Blu-ray disc set. Where previously issued DVD sets were jam packed full of commentary tracks, deleted scenes, featurettes and galleries, The Simpsons first appearance on Blu (aside from their feature film) is devoid of any extras, save a very brief 4-minute trailer for Morgan Spurlock‘s 20th Anniversary Simpsons special. (Oh, and the menus are hand-drawn by Simpsons creator Matt Groening. Kind of neat.) With these anemic offerings, I can’t help but feel that there will be a bigger, better, more robust boxed set on the horizon.

Casual fans will be pleased by this set, finding the entire season on only two discs which means it takes up very little shelf space. Hardcore fans will cry out for the extras they’re used to getting on the DVD season sets.

Kevin Smith 3-Movie Collection (Clerks | Chasing Amy | Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back) Blu-ray Disc Review

Stone — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 23:51:31 +0000

KEVIN SMITH 3-MOVIE COLLECTION (Clerks | Chasing Amy | Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back) (Blu-ray released November 17, 2009 – MSRP $89.99)

I’m not even supposed to be here today.

I have been salivating over this disc set and dreaming about its review for awhile. I really like Kevin Smith movies and here’s why; he knows exactly what he has to offer. And he gives it all to us. Yes, there is crass humor that sometimes borders on stupidity, but have you looked around lately? There’s more than a grain of truth in what Smith offers in his movies. I’ve always enjoyed his pacing and his simple sense of visual storytelling – clear and concise without reliance on complicated tricks. He’s there to tell a story, whichever one that might be, and isn’t worried about impressing us with how pretty he can make it.

But being put on Blu-ray has somewhat taken care of the lack of visual pizzaz we’ve been used to in our old DVD versions of the films! These 1080p transfers of the films bring out the best of the source material. And while it would have been nice to see this collector’s set include EVERYTHING worth collecting (add in Clerks II, Mallrats, Jersey Girl and Dogma and you have a complete SET!) this big box of Blu-ray does just about everything you can ask for from these three titles, with one notable exception. I’ll get to that in a moment.

The other thing I really love about Kevin Smith is how much he seems to have to say, be it in the movies or in the commentary, interviews, conventions and documentaries that enhance them on the discs. And this set gives it all up. These Blu-ray discs are packed to overflowing with content, and lots of it is new!

What’s new you ask? Check it out!

On the Clerks disc:

An introduction By Kevin Smith
“Oh, What a Lovely Tea Party: The Making of Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back”

Plus:

Theatrical Version of the Film
Classic Commentary (1995)
Enhanced Playback Track – synchronized trivia and cast & crew quotes
“The First Cut” Version
Kevin Smith Intro (2004)
“The First Cut” Audio Commentary (with New Authoring / 3 viewing modes)
Clerks: The Lost Scene – Animated Short
“The Flying Car”
Clerks Restoration
Original Auditions
“Snowball Effect: The Story of Clerks”
Outtakes From “Snowball Effect”
“Mae Day: The Crumbling Of A Documentary” With Intro By Kevin Smith And Scott Mosier
10th Anniversary Q & A
MTV Spots With Jay & Silent Bob
Soul Asylum “Can’t Even Tell” Music Video
Theatrical Trailer

And on the Chasing Amy Disc;

“Tracing Amy: The Chasing Amy Doc”
“Was It Something I Said?” – A Conversation With Kevin & Joey
10 Years Later Q & A – With Kevin Smith And The Cast
Audio Commentary with Writer/Director/Actor Kevin Smith and Producer Scott Mosier

Plus:

Deleted Scenes
Outtakes
Trailer

The Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back disc has sadly not been upgraded at all. It’s simply the same plain vanilla Blu-ray release as before, but really, there is so much extra content on the other discs in this set it’s hard to complain. But it would have been nice to have seen the inclusion of all the bonus content from the previously available 2-Disc DVD set.

I’m not going to dwell on the technical merits of the Blu-ray presentation of these films. The fact is that Smith’s movies are shot raw, and while the transfers are accurate to the source material, they simply can’t compare to the best looking discs on the market. Don’t get me wrong, this is as good as these movies have looked, but remember that Clerks was shot long ago on 16mm for not much money. These are not movies that are meant to showcase the super powers of Blu-ray.

The real deal with this set is the comprehensive collection of bonus material on the Clerks and Chasing Amy discs. All sorts of really good stuff has been collected into one set, a very thorough set with hours and hours of extras about the movies that you love. Some call them modern classics, some people call them modern fluff. I call them one man’s love letters to film, comic books and his home town of New Jersey. Love letters that he invited his friends and family to help him write.

Over the years Smith has grown. Some might rebut that comment heavily. But if you’re a fan (and you probably are if you are reading this review and thinking about picking up this set) you probably agree. For over a decade of movie making he has worked tirelessly to populate a world with characters who we have watched change and move forward through their lives. Even as they are making fart jokes 10 years later. He gave us Death Star politics, confused lesbians, The Time, corpse sex, gay black pride, beating up your internet critics one by one, and more fast paced, quick wittedly offensive dialogue than you can shake a porch monkey at.

He’s given us memorable movies, memorable characters and memorable moments. These are things all film makers try to achieve. And in this Blu-ray boxed set he gives you a closer look at how he did it, through discussions and behind the scenes featurettes and an openness that allows you to see who he and his friends and crew truly are. There’s an honesty there. Whether he’s “speaking” the truth as he sees it or “speaking” from the pants, Smith’s movies have as big a heart as “Fat boy” Silent Bob.

And as an added bonus, this shit is really funny.

The reasons you should grab a copy of this set are twofold. First, you’ve probably forgotten half of the awesomeness that is in these movies. You owe it to yourself to revisit the films. They still work after all this time. The second reason is the ridiculously bountiful supply of bonus features. They provide a candid look at how one guy put everything he had into making a movie, that managed to spawn more movies that have afforded him the opportunity to interact with hundreds, if not thousands of fans in a personal way. That may not be every artist’s desire, but it’s sure as hell what I consider being a good film maker.

Snooch To The Nooch!!!

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