I’ve heard tell that Robert Rodriguez‘ Machete was best left as a trailer. I’m not so sure about that. But I can’t argue that the concept (and superstar killer-man, Danny Trejo) does indeed make for great clip-age. I didn’t get a chance to see the film in theatres but I’m pretty stoked to check it out on this upcoming Blu-ray from Fox. The press release the studio sent me was pretty lite on the details so I’m assuming we’ll learn more about the disc as we draw nearer to its release. Expect to see the usual Rodriguez supplements tacked onto the BD – commentary, 10-Minute film school – as well as a host of featurettes.

Special Features:

• Exclusive deleted scenes that reveal never-before-seen characters, twisting plot lines, and more bloody good action
• Digital Copy
• Pocket BLU
• MORE!

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1. FORBIDDEN PLANET

Ten years before Star Trek would revolutionize space-man storytelling on the boob-tube and more than twenty-years before George Lucas‘ swashbuckling laser-sword saga took movie-goers by storm, Fred McLeod Wilcox‘s Cinemascope epic, Forbidden Planet hit the big screen and changed the face of celluloid science-fiction forever.

A modern genre-bending re-telling of Shakespeare‘s The Tempest, Forbidden Planet is a unique film to have been released during the b-movie era of the 50s. It takes its premise quite seriously, presenting the story of the crew of the lost space craft, Bellerephon and the team who are sent to recover them. Leslie Nielsen, most well known for his comic roles, leads a cast that features heavyweights such as Anne Francis, the incredible Walter Pidgeon and, the most famous member of the cast, Robby the Robot!

The wonderful cinematography is well represented in this detailed and vibrant high-def presentation. It really looks much better than you’d expect a film of its age to, with a nice veneer of film grain and bold, quite accurate colours. And the DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack is slouch either. While not quite up to today’s bombastic standards, the audio presents a solid, pleasant sonic experience, highlighting Louis and Bebe Barron‘s classic electronic score, which has most likely never sounded better!

Special Features:

• Deleted scenes and lost footage
• 2 Robby the Robot guest appearances
  • The Invisible Boy feature film
  • The Thin Man TV series episode Robot Client
• The Watch the Skies! Science Fiction, the 1950s and Us TCM documentary
• 2 featurettes
  • Amazing! Exploring the Far Reaches of Forbidden Planet
  • Robby the Robot: Engineering a Sci-Fi Icon
• Excerpts from The MGM Parade TV series
• Theatrical trailers of Forbidden Planet and The Invisible Boy

Amazon: $17.49

2. STARDUST

I’m still bowled over by how much I truly loved Stardust. What a fantastic film on a really great Blu-ray disc. Do yourself a favour and grab yourself up a copy as soon as you can!

Read my full review here: Stardust Blu-ray Disc Review

Amazon: $19.99

3. THE PLAYER

I can’t wait to get my copy of Robert Altman‘s The Player. The famous director is certainly responsible for his fair share of classic films (M*A*S*H, Nashville and Gosford Park among them) but this is the film that really stands out for me. I love just about everything about it but I think, for me, it’s all about Tim Robbins‘ incredible performance as Hollywood producer Griffin Mill. I’ve never found it as easy to sympathize with a sleaze-bag murderer as I have with Mill. For all of his greasy, evil deeds I just want things to work out for the guy. I guess that’s Robbins’ charm getting to me, huh?

UPDATE: I’ve watched the Blu-ray and can report that it is a welcome upgrade from the previously available DVD but not by leaps and bounds. While colours are more accurate, the image is generally soft despite the increase in detail. The excellent special features have thankfully made the transition to this new Blu-ray edition.

Special Features:

• Commentary by director Robert Altman and writer Michael Tolkin
• Additional scenes
• Featurette: One-on-One with Robert Altman
• Theatrical trailer

Amazon: $18.99

4. IN COLD BLOOD

Forget about the real-life events this story is based upon. Forget about the famous Truman Capote book of the same name. Hell, you can even forget about the brilliant performances here by creepy Robert Blake and Scott Wilson as killers Perry Smith and “Dick” Hickock. All you need to know about Richard Brooks‘ 1967 adaptation of In Cold Blood is that this is some of cinematographer Conrad Hall‘s absolute best work and outside of seeing it projected on the big screen from a 35mm print, this Blu-ray disc is your best chance of appreciating it as it was meant to be seen.

Amazon: $14.99

5. POLTERGEIST

The first and best of the Poltergeist series of films is co-written by Steven Spielberg and directed by Texas Chainsaw Massacre auteur Tobe Hooper. It’s well worth a look for anyone who likes a good scare or a good, classic 80s film doing its best to serve up a good scare. I haven’t seen the Blu-ray yet but I’m crossing my fingers, hoping that WHV will deliver a solid, detailed transfer.

Amazon: $18.99

WARNER HOME VIDEO SCI-FI ON BLU-RAY: Mars Attacks!, Lost in Space, THX 1138 (The George Lucas Director’s Cut), A Scanner Darkly, Matrix Reloaded

All right, Warner…what’s the deal?! Counting this weeks number one pick, Forbidden Planet and the first-time-single release of Matrix Reloaded, WHV is busting my wallet with a whopping six catalogue sci-fi titles new to store shelves this week. And a lot of them are pretty great! I’m most excited to get my hands on the THX 1138 disc to see how Lucas’ restoration looks in high-def. Also, I’m a closet Mars Attacks! fan. Honestly, I think it’s one of the better Tim Burton films.

Amazon: $18.99, $15.99, $19.99, $15.99, $18.99

TV SEASONS ON BLU-RAY: Smallville: The Complete Ninth Season, Supernatural: The Complete Fifth Season, Chuck: The Complete Third Season, The Office: Season Six

Amazon: $46.99, $45.99, $45.99, $37.99

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:

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Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake, Kick-Ass) has crafted in Stardust a nearly perfect fairy tale film. I sat through the two-hour runtime beaming, a smile on my face from beginning to end. I honestly wasn’t expecting it to be this wonderful! Vaughn, the director, co-writer and man chiefly responsible for bringing the film to the big-screen, did not bestow an easy task upon himself, when he agreed to adapt Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess‘ illustrated novel to film. As is par for the course in Gaiman’s imaginative work, there are a myriad of scenes and characters in the original story that would inevitably prove far too complex, outlandish or expensive to film. And with a structure crafted to take advantage of prose, Vaughn had to almost re-imagine the film from the ground up to make it work on celluloid. These are generally not the hallmarks of a well devised production.

But for all the challenges of moving this tale of the world of fairy from the page to the screen, Stardust doesn’t seem to have suffered in the slightest. It’s a time-honoured tale of a boy on a quest to win the hand of the girl he loves, and in doing so, unwittingly undertaking the journey that will lead him to become a man. Sounds kind of pedestrian on the surface – like a run-of-the-mill fairy tale, or hero’s quest. But what makes this story and this film truly special is the combination of Gaiman’s unique voice – the way he’s able to take a familiar mythical pattern or archetype and breathe new, fresh life into them – with Vaughn’s elastic filmmaking style – a style that allows brilliant comic actors like Ricky Gervais, Rupert Everett and Robert DeNiro (no seriously, he’s hilarious in this!) to improvise and have fun onscreen. Along with wonderful performances from Michelle Pfeiffer as a nasty old witch, Peter O’Toole (!!!) as the dying King, the ever-lovely Claire Danes as a fallen star and Charlie Cox as the hero-to-be, Tristan Thorn, Stardust is a tour-de-force of incredible talent and fantastic, whimsical storytelling of a sort that modern Hollywood offers up far too rarely.

Stardust arrives on Blu-ray sporting a pleasant, filmic high-def image that’s not likely to blow you away. There are moments where the picture becomes a tad soft or too noisy for my liking, but overall there’s enough detail and colour fidelity to please. Blacks are solid, film grain is present and there doesn’t appear to be any overall defects in the print. The DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless audio track is less than impressive out of the gate but roars to life as the film kicks into high gear! The music is well represented (though, sadly, I didn’t care for the compositions themselves – the low-point of the film for this reviewer) and sound effects are lively and accurate through all channels. Without having having seen or heard previous incarnations of the film on home video, I think I can safely say that the Blu-ray edition of Stardust presents a vast improvement over its previously available HD-DVD counterpart, which sported a mere Dolby Digital 5.1 lossy audio track.

The Stardust Blu-ray is also a worthy upgrade for the inclusion of additional special features! Along with the deleted scenes, bloopers and trailer present on the HD-DVD, you’ll get a pleasant, informative but slightly slow-ish commentary from Vaughn and co-writer Jane Goldman and a collection of amazing featurettes that, together add up to one nearly-one-hour-long documentary on the film. My big gripe about the package is that these little slices of documentary are clearly chapters of a whole (there are credits that roll at the end of the last sequence which confirm as much) but the menu fails to provide a “Play All” option! It’s not the end of the world but it is aggravating to me, as I would prefer to sit back and watch the whole piece from beginning to end without having to ride the remote.

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I’ve been waiting for Stardust to be released on Blu-ray for what seems like an age. I was so upset to have missed out on seeing it in the cinema but dead set against picking it up on home video at the time it was initially released. You see, it was only released on DVD and HD-DVD. And, though I had yet to purchase my PS3, I knew it was in the cards for me. I was already a Blu-ray guy, way back then. So, it’s with great relief to me that Paramount has finally given in and announced the impending release of Matthew Vaughn‘s adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess‘ Stardust. It better live up to all my pent up expectations…or else!

Special Features:

• Commentary by Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman
• Crossing the Wall: The Making of Stardust (in HD)
• Nothing Is True…
• Deleted scenes
• Blooper reel
• Theatrical trailer (in HD)

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First, I guess I want to address the popular opinion that it’s a better film than its predecessor. It is not. It is inferior in many ways; the story is at times confusing and unnecessarily convoluted for the sake of adding ‘intrigue’; the characters behave insincerely, their actions often in service to the movement of the plot rather than their own hearts, and the ending is weak and unsatisfying.

At its best (and it’s very, very good), the film is a thoroughly engrossing look at the lives of a father and his son. Their journeys to manhood are paralleled through a series of flashbacks, each man defining himself, in his own way, through family. But times are changing, as Michael tells his mother, and the concept of family may no longer be what he thought it was.

The portrayal of Michael Corleone in The Godfather: Part II seems overly melodramatic to me, and that criticism is aimed not at Al Pacino‘s performance, which is every bit as good as it was in the first film, but at the script. I get the impression that the entire story was orchestrated to culminate in Michael’s deplorable act at the end of the movie (I’m trying not to spoil anything for new viewers), which would be fine if that act was driven by any sort of believable motive. I can only surmise that Michael has been driven insane by the series of tragedies that have befallen him in his past, because nothing in his character justifies his eventual actions. It’s such an inelegant leap in reasoning that it makes the whole movement of the plot feel forced and unnatural.

As for the ending, I consider it weak only relative to the first film’s gut-punch of a closing scene. In theory, Part II‘s ending makes sense: I want to see father and son on screen together after watching their stories unfold and play off of one another. But Marlon Brando‘s not in this movie, and no amount of trickery is going to make up for that fact. His presence is required to make that scene work and without him it feels cheap and empty. I get it – they couldn’t get Brando and they did the best they could. But it’s still weak.

Whew. That’s a lot of complaining about what is, for all its flaws, an amazing movie. Where Michael’s story flounders, Vito’s story is magnificent; the scenes in old New York are riveting and every scene that Robert DeNiro is in is memorable.

The Blu-ray presentation is as beautiful as it was on the Godfather: Part I disc – everything is rendered in crisp detail, but the rich, velvety textures and deep blacks maintain the softness of film. We couldn’t ask for a better viewing experience than what’s offered here.

As with the previous disc, this one lacks almost all of the Special Features found in the Godfather Trilogy boxed set. All that remains is a director’s commentary track, which is a good listen, but if you’re a superfan and you want more behind-the-scenes stuff, you’ll have to go beyond these individual releases and buy the whole collection. In fact, even if you’re NOT a superfan but you just want to see the third movie you’ll have to spring for the boxed set because Paramount has no plans to release Part 3 on its own as they did for the first two. I guess I can’t fault their reasoning because, really, who goes out and ONLY buys Godfather: Part 3?

Nobody, that’s who.

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Goodfellas

You don’t need me to tell you the story of Martin Scorsese‘s Goodfellas, do you? I mean, in the twenty years since its release it’s managed to become the ultimate depiction of the mob, inspiring damn near every subsequent mafia film that’s emerged in its wake. Not to slight the Godfather films in the least, but Goodfellas seems to have eclipsed the famous Francis Ford Coppola trilogy in the minds of younger generations. And that fame and level of import are only a few of the reasons that this 20th Anniversary Blu-ray release is a bit of a let-down.

This is the same Blu-ray disc that was released in 2007. The same transfer, the same extras. Same, same, same. If you already count Goodfellas among your Blu-ray disc collection, you won’t find anything new here. And that’s a disappointment. The quality of the transfer isn’t awful. But it’s not great either. It didn’t win any awards back in 2007 and it only looks that much worse now, when our expectations for what a good transfer can be have been raised so high. But a lot of the problem here isn’t necessarily the fault of the disc. The film could really use a restoration (for instance, there’s a moment about an hour into the film when a very distracting line runs down the entire screen) despite its relative youth. I’m sure, given the cost of such a job, we won’t be seeing an improvement here anytime soon. With that in mind, you can feel confident that this version of Goodfellas is best this film will look on home video into the immediate future. But enough about the problems of the disc set, let’s talk about what’s great here.

Lots. First of all, Goodfellas comes packaged in a beautiful hardcover book. I really love these things. Warner should reissue as many films as they can in nice “digibook” editions. I think it’s the classiest way to display a Blu-ray collection. Inside the little book, you’ll find two discs – the Goodfellas BD and Public Enemies: The Golden Age of the Gangster Film on DVD, a feature length documentary about mob movies that, until now was an exclusive addition to the Warner Gangsters Collection Vol. 4.

While they may not be exactly new, the special features on the Goodfellas Blu-ray disc are quite nice. Anytime you can get a Scorsese commentary track you know you’re in for a treat. And his commentary here is shared with author/screenwriter Nicolas Pileggi, producers Irwin Winkler and Barbara De Fina, cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, editor Thelma Schoonmaker, and cast members Ray Liotta, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino and Frank Vincent. As excellent and informative as this cast and crew track is, you may prefer to listen to the Cop and Crook Commentary, featuring the real Henry Hill (the man whose real-life story is told in the film) and FBI agent Edward McDonald. An awesome and truly inspired inclusion!

Rounding out the extras on the disc are a handful of fairly good featurettes – a standard, half-hour “making-of”, a 14-minute piece examining the legacy of the film, an 8-minute look at real-life mobsters and a storyboard comparison. In addition, the second disc (the gangster doc DVD) includes half an hour of gangster related Looney Tunes and Merrie Melody cartoons. All bonus features are in standard definition.

Previously on The Blu-ray Blog: Goodfellas 20th Anniversary Blu-ray coming in February

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We’ve finally got some details on Warner Home Video‘s upcoming Goodfellas: 20th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray Disc set. Not only do I love this film but I love the idea that we’re getting a new edition of it packaged in a digibook along with a whole host of additional special features. I fear, however, that Disc-1 of the 2-disc set, the one with the feature on it, will just be a re-purposing of the previously available release. If that’s the case, we may have to wait until a possible 25th Anniversary Blu-ray edition of the film to get an audio upgrade from the 2007 lossy Dolby Digital to a lossless soundtrack.

Special Features:

• Commentary with cast and crew
• Commentary with Henry Hill and Former FBI Agent Edward McDonald
• 3 featurettes (“Getting Made”, “Made Men: The GoodFelllas Legacy”, “The Workaday Gangster”)
• Storyboard-to-Screen Comparisons
• “Public Enemies: The Golden Age of the Gangster Film” documentary
• Classic Gangster Themed Cartoons (“I Like Mountain Music”, “She Was an Acrobat’s Daughter”, “Racketeer Rabbit”, “Bugs and Thugs”)
• Theatrical trailer

  Previously on The Blu-ray Blog: Goodfellas 20th Anniversary Blu-ray coming in February

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You might remember that I picked Goodfellas as one of my Top 8 Blu-ray Discs to get Dad for Father’s Day this year. I had to. It’s one of those films that my father will watch over and over and over again. Clearly it plays well to the over-50-with-adult-children set. Hell, it plays well to damn-near everybody! What a perfect film. And now it’s getting a new edition to celebrate its 20th Anniversary.

Home Media Magazine is reporting that Warner will ship a Blu-ray Book Edition version of the film on February 16. In addition to the standard hardcover 34 page book packaging, the Blu-ray will include a TCM feature-length documentary called Public Enemies: The Golden Age of the Gangster Film (available on DVD from Amazon here), four Warner Bros. mob-themed cartoons and the rest of the bonus content from the previously available Blu-ray disc.

We’ll update you when we find out more about this release!

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For as long as I can remember I’ve been in love with the old James Whale 1931 film, Frankenstein. In fact, the Universal Monsters are a bit of an obsession of mine. So whenever a new interpretation of one of my beloved characters hits the big screen I’m always interested to discover how they’re being handled. As far as I’m concerned, Branagh didn’t stand a chance in besting Whale in his adaptation of the famous novel. And Robert De Niro would never be able to measure up to Boris Karloff in the monsters shoes. But then again, they should be very different. Apples and oranges, you might say. For where the Branagh/De Niro version is attempting to realize Mary Shelley‘s vision, Whale was adapting an already greatly-altered stage play that bore only a passing resemblance to the novel. Whale had new characters, new locations and situations and a mute monster, more beast than man. Branagh, while making some alterations of his own, remained true to the novel. And that may have been the films downfall.

There’s a reason that Boris Karloff’s version of the monster is iconic. The filmmakers must have done something right. They almost single-handedly ushered in a whole host of horror icons, from the lab of the mad scientist, full of buzzing machines to the hunchback assistant to the look of the monster, all heavy boots and flat head. This sensationalist cinema works when handled correctly. Branagh shoots his version, however like a hammy Shakespearian romp through pre-industrial Austria. There’s melodrama and over-acting, like the 1931 version but it’s meted out in a way that’s so self-conscious it’s difficult to enjoy it. Branagh runs around his lab, his house-coat open revealing a glistening rack of ripped abdominal muscles, throwing switches like an athlete, bounding from sparking machine to whirring device, pounding his fists down upon them and screaming, “Live, Live, LIIIIVE!!!” … It’s just too much. It never feels threatening or real. That said, this time around I actually found myself going along for the ride, almost laughing as I went.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein might make for fantastic, almost light late night viewing. It’s hard to take it seriously. But it’s kind of a fun ride to follow De Niro from the mute, pathetic imbecile of a beast that Karloff plays, through his education and finally to his verbose, thoughtful and emotive fate.

The Blu-ray disc looks so much better than I was expecting! I’m sure you’re not expecting it to look like Iron Man and you’re not going to find anywhere near that clarity here. But what you will find is a beautiful, film-like, high bit-rate transfer (as Sony tends to deliver) that, while quite dark and full of grain, has not been over processed and is quite pleasing to the eye. The DTS-HD Master 5.1 audio track delivers enough punch and has a pleasant feel but is overall front-heavy and won’t give your system too much of a workout.

The biggest letdown of this disc for me is the lack of bonus features. Yeah, I’m not in love with this movie but I am obsessed with Frankenstein and would have loved to learn more about this production of the story. The ideal extra would have been a lengthy documentary but I would have settled for a couple featurettes or even a commentary track. Ah well, I guess I should just be thankful that the disc offers such a great presentation of the film at a reasonable price.

The Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Blu-ray disc from Sony is one of our Top 10 New Blu-ray Discs for Halloween 2009.

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