Here’s another two-week release and review roundup for you, folks. This gets us all caught up now, with the holiday and post-holiday Blu-ray releases. It’s been a slow few weeks in the shops but things are about to heat up. I’m really looking forward to the discs coming out over the next few weeks. More reviews coming shortly!

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JANUARY 3

Blu-ray disc of the week: THE GUARD

“The Guard is a comedic fish-out-of-water tale of murder, blackmail, drug trafficking and rural police corruption. Two policemen must join forces to take on an international drug- smuggling gang – one, an unorthodox Irish policeman and the other, a straitlaced FBI agent. Sergeant Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleeson) is an eccentric small-town cop with a confrontational and crass personality and a subversive sense of humour. A longtime policeman in County Galway, Boyle is a maverick with his own moral code. He has seen enough of the world to know there isn’t much to it and has had plenty of time to think about it. When a fellow police officer disappears and Boyle’s small town becomes key to a large drug trafficking investigation, he is forced to at least feign interest when dealing with the humourless FBI agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle) assigned to the case. “

I know we’re only a few days into 2012 but The Guard is one of the nicest surprises of the new year, thus far. The unassuming package art of the Blu-ray release from Alliance (identical to the Lionsgate disc in the US) doesn’t inspire much enthusiasm but, surprisingly, isn’t too far off accurately depicting the film. It might be quiet, small and unassuming, yes, but what really sets the film apart from other stories about small town crime is its dry, unflinching sense of humour. There’s no doubt about it, Gleeson simply steals the film in what is no doubt his most hilarious and original role in years. I’d go far as to say that a series of films starring his Sergeant Boyle would make a lot of fans, myself included, quite happy. Not much of a crime thriller or mystery but an entertaining character piece with lots of laughs.

The Guard comes to Blu-ray in a fairly dull looking presentation. If I was a betting man, I’d put money on this film being a low budget affair and this transfer being spot-on accurate to the source but as it is, there’s very little visual-wow on display here. There are some deep blacks and some vivid colours every now and then but the overall soft nature of the image will leave you wanting. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is clean and clear and dialogue heavy. Be warned, those of you who have difficulty with accents, the Irish brogue can run a bit thick at times and, though easily heard, is often tough to understand.

There’s an impressive collection of bonus goodies on this Blu-ray, considering its modest pedigree. The audio commentary with director John Michael McDonagh and actors Cheadle and Gleeson is fun and full of anecdotes and definitely worth a listen. Supplement that with the 20-minute ‘making-of’ doc and you’ll have a pretty good idea of how this film was put together. Outtakes, deleted scenes and ‘Extended & Alternate’ scenes are split into three section but total nearly a half-hour in length. The disc also includes ‘The Second Death‘, the short film that inspired The Guard, as well as a 20-minute long Q&A with the director and stars and the theatrical trailer.

Recommended!

AMAZON: CDN$ 31.99

Also available: THE GUARD (US version)

AMAZON: $23.99

CONTAGION

“An international traveler reaches into the snack bowl at an airport bar before passing her credit card to a waiter. A business meeting begins with a round of handshakes. A man coughs on a crowded bus… One contact. One instant. And a lethal virus is transmitted. When Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) returns to Minneapolis from business in Hong Kong, what she thought was jet lag takes a virulent turn. Two days later, she’s dead in the ER and the doctors tell her shocked and grieving husband (Matt Damon) they have no idea why. Soon, others exhibit the same mysterious symptoms: hacking coughs and fever, followed by seizure, brain hemorrhage… and ultimately death. In Minneapolis, Chicago, London, Paris, Tokyo, and Hong Kong, the numbers quickly multiply as the contagion sweeps across all borders, fueled by the countless human interactions that make up the course of an average day. A global pandemic explodes. At the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers mobilize to break the code of a unique biological pathogen as it continues to mutate. Deputy Director Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) tries to allay the growing panic despite his own personal concerns, and must send a brave young doctor (Kate Winslet) into harm’s way. At the same time, amid a rising tide of suspicion over a potential vaccine, – and who gets it first – Dr. Leonora Orantes (Marion Cotillard) of the World Health Organization works through the network of connections that could lead back to the source of what they’re dealing with. As the death toll escalates and people struggle to protect themselves and their loved ones in a society breaking down, one activist blogger (Jude Law) claims the public isn’t getting the truth about what’s really going on, and sets off an epidemic of paranoia and fear as infectious as the virus itself.“

I tend to run hot and cold on Soderbergh‘s work so I always enter into a viewing of one of his films with some trepidation. Thankfully, Contagion is one of the ‘hot’ ones. This is a scary good little film. I guess I say ‘little’ because for all of its world hopping and political drama, this is really a character piece, and the filmmakers always keep things intimate. Though the tale deals with a pandemic threatening to wipe out a large fraction of humanity, Soderbergh rarely allows the camera to sway from Damon, Cotillard, Fishburne and crew. And I think it’s that camera work, stylish and colourful as it is, along with tight performances and a killer score by Cliff Martinez (the ex-Chili Pepper and frequent Soderbergh-collaborator whose recent score for Drive should be nominated for some kind of award this statue-season) that make me love Contagion so much. If the story weren’t so predictable and tired this would be one of my top films of the last year.

There’s crazy detail in this Blu-ray transfer but some smeary images and occasionally less-than-inky blacks keep it from being reference quality. I’m certain those deficiencies are in the HD source but that’s no excuse, right? This is a really great looking disc, though, and fans of the film will no doubt be pleased with the presentation. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is also right on the money. While not the most immersive or dynamic track I’ve ever laid ears on, it’s clean and clear and seemingly accurate.

The real failing of the Contagion Blu-ray disc is the limited selection of special features. There’s an 11-minute long look at the reality of the film, a 5-minute long featurette on the experts who consulted on the film and a 2-minute long, rather jovial look at the life of a virus. The disc also has BD-Live functionality. And that’s it!

AMAZON: $24.99

MILDRED PIERCE

“She gave her daughter everything. But everything was not enough. Don’t miss the premiere of the latest renowned HBO miniseries “Mildred Pierce“, which brings to life the memorable characters introduced in James M. Cain’s classic 1941 novel of pride and privilege in the middle class. Starring Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet, and co-written and directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Todd Haynes, this five-part drama is an intimate portrait of a uniquely independent woman who finds herself newly divorced during the Depression years, as she struggles to carve out a new life for herself and her family. The story explores Mildred’s unreasonable devotion to her insatiable daughter Veda (Evan Rachel Wood), as well as the complex relationship she shares with the indolent men in her life, including her polo-playing lover Monty Beragon (Guy Pearce) and ex-husband Bert Pierce (Brian F. O’Byrne).“

I haven’t had a chance to watch this mini-series through to its conclusion yet but from what I’ve seen, Mildred Pierce fits with Haynes’ distinctive brand of cinematic storytelling – somewhat cold and removed but intellectually stimulating and nice to look at. There’s no denying that the man is a gifted filmmaker with a great eye, and that Winslet and Pearce knock it out of the park (I guess Wood is also doing a great job but her character is not an easy one to like) but it’s tough to fall in love with this 5-part HBO show. Fans of Boardwalk Empire might be interested to take a look though, as the narrative falls within the same era as that series but sports production design that puts it to shame. Say what you might about Mildred Pierce but it looks gorgeous!

As wonderful as the production design is, the series is shot rough and doesn’t make for a shiny, crisp looking Blu-ray. It’s shot on 16mm and exhibits all the grain and limited detail the format brings to the table. That said, the Blu-ray is well encoded, with stable colours and deep blacks. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is modest and dialogue heavy but warm, dynamic and all-around pleasing. Extras include two commentaries with Haynes, co-writer Jon Raymond and production designer Mark Friedberg, ‘Inside the Episodes‘ featurette for each episode and a half-hour long ‘making of’ doc.

AMAZON: $34.99

DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK

“Producers Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, The Orphanage) and Mark Johnson (Chronicles of Narnia) join forces to deliver DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK, a tale of hair raising, spine-chilling horror. Sally Hurst (Bailee Madison), a lonely, withdrawn child, has just arrived in Rhode Island to live with her father Alex (Guy Pearce) and his new girlfriend (Katie Holmes) at the 19th-century mansion they are restoring. While exploring the sprawling estate, the young girl discovers a hidden basement, undistrubed since the strange disappearance of the mansion’s builder a century ago. When Sally unwittingly lets loose a race of ancient, dark-dwelling creature who conspire to drag her down into the mysterious house’s bottomless depths, she must convince Alex and Kim that it’s not a fantasy – before the evil lurking in the dark consumes them all. “

I heard a lot of smack-talk and read a lot of negative reviews about Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, so you can imagine how little enthusiasm I had for screening this Blu-ray disc from Alliance (again, identical to the US release.) Boy, was I mistaken about this film! I enjoyed the hell out of it. Sure, it’s far from perfect, but I felt it hit all the right notes for the kind of creepy throwback fright-fest it aims to be. In fact, I found myself wincing at the genuinely frightening prologue sequence, shocked but thankful that this adaptation of a decades-old made-for-tv kids movie would go to these gruesome lengths! The script by producer Guillermo Del Toro is tight and right on the money, while the film, directed by newcomer Troy Nixey, exhibits all the visual fingerprints of the Pan’s Labyrinth director. In fact, it looks like it belongs right alongside Del Toro’s own films in that series (Labyrinth, The Devil’s Backbone and Cronos.) I can’t believe how much I enjoyed Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark and easily recommend it to fans of those films.

I’m also happy to report that the film looks like a million bucks on Blu! It’s actually a miracle that this encode looks this great, given the overall darkness of the film. There’s an incredible amount of detail in this presentation, even in the darkest scenes. Well done, all around. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is no slouch either, with creepy-crawlies scritching around from one speaker to another in one of the most immersive tracks I’ve listened to in a while. The only failing of this otherwise extraordinary disc is in its dearth of bonus features. There’s only a 20-minute long ‘making of’ doc (three very short featurettes combined) and an art gallery. Nice little extras both, but nowhere near what this disc deserves.

AMAZON: CDN$ 27.99

Also available: DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (US edition)

AMAZON: $19.99

SHARK NIGHT

“Arriving by boat at her family’s Louisiana lake island cabin, Sara (Sara Paxton) and her friends quickly strip down to their swimsuits for a weekend of fun in the sun. But when star football player Malik (Sinqua Walls) stumbles from the salt-water lake with his arm torn off, the party mood quickly evaporates. Assuming the injury was caused by a freak wake-boarding accident, the group realizes they have to get Malik to a hospital on the other side of the lake, and fast. But as they set out in a tiny speedboat, the college friends discover the lake has been stocked with hundreds of massive, flesh-eating sharks! As they face one grisly death after another, Sara and the others struggle desperately to fend off the sharks, get help and stay alive long enough to reach the safety of dry land. ”

I’m going to be completely honest with you here, a few minutes into Shark Night I picked up my laptop and continued on with that evening’s work. That’s right, I didn’t afford it my full attention. And I don’t feel guilty about it. Shark Night is the kind of fast, fun, trashy feature that’s built for multitasking. It’s a party movie. It’s at it’s best when you’re flirting with your girlfriend or chugging beers with your buds. If you were to actually focus on the film, you’d find yourself mighty disappointed with the ridiculous plot, paper-thin characters, and lightweight performances. Also, there’s no nudity. Yes, I found that shocking as well. There are some gory thrills, as is to be expected from a movie of this variety, but that’s about all the excitement Shark Night manages to trap in its net.

This film was clearly created for 3D. Sharks, exploded debris and eviscerated kid parts fly at the camera rather often. But this 2D edition of the film fails to take advantage of the carnage. Perhaps a 3D transfer of Shark Night would make the film ‘pop’ a little more but as it is, the Blu-ray is surprisingly flat and often soft. There are moments where it shines but, honestly, there’s nothing to get excited about here. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track offers plenty of thunderous power but it sometimes gets in the way of the dialogue. The mix is far from perfect but at least it packs a punch. Extras are on the light side of things, sporting a mere three 5-minute long featurettes about the film and sharks in general, a montage reel of the movie’s shark attacks and the theatrical trailer.

AMAZON: $19.99

JANUARY 10

Blu-ray disc of the week: BOARDWALK EMPIRE: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON

“From Terence Winter, Emmy Award(R)-winning writer of “The Sopranos”, and Academy Award(R)-winning director Martin Scorsese, “Boardwalk Empire” is a lavish period drama set in Atlantic City, following the life and times of Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi) – the undisputed political and criminal mastermind whose grip on power and control of the city’s liquor supply is under constant threat.“

HBO has finally seen fit to release the first season of their hit Boardwalk Empire on Blu-ray!! Fans have been waiting, and waiting impatiently at that, for this boxed set to hit, as the second season of the program debuted last fall and just as quickly drew to a close. Though there’s no Blu-ray release on the horizon for those most recent episodes, we fans now have the pleasure of revisiting the initial run of the show. If you haven’t yet been indoctrinated into the world of the ’20s Atlantic City boardwalk scene, the crime, the bootlegging, the scores of women who, strangely, want to hook up with Buscemi week after week, now is the perfect opportunity to dive right in. I’ll be straight with you and let you know the first few episodes are a bit of a tough slog (props to Scorsese, though, who directed a very stylish pilot for the series) with a messy narrative of far too many characters and no solid base. But this is one of those rich HBO series that sorts itself out after a time and will reward your perseverance. Give it a shot and stick with it!

This 5-disc set from HBO and Warner looks, as is typical of the hi-def product born of this holy union of studios, absolutely brilliant! If you watched the show on cable, the look of it on disc is going to knock your socks off. Detail, colour and contrast are all beyond reproach. Likewise, the DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio is a winner – clean and clear, with plenty of dynamic headroom to present resonant highs and booming lows. The Blu-ray set also sports a crap-ton of fantastic special features, most exciting of which is the Enhanced Viewing Mode picture-in-picture track, available on each episode. Don’t be satisfied with merely listening to the six audio commentary tracks on the DVD set (also here on Blu) when you can check out the Blu-ray exclusive EVM which features interviews with cast, crew and a host of historians, production details and more. If that’s not enough for you, the various featurettes in the set have a total runtime of nearly an hour-and-a-half, which, all together, gives you a feature-length making-of doc!

Recommended!

Special Features:

• Blu-ray includes Enhanced Viewing on all 12 Episodes
• Evolving Character
• Dossier
• Making Boardwalk Empire
• Speakeasy Tour
• Six Audio Commentaries with Cast and Crew
• And Much More!

AMAZON: $34.99

MONEYBALL

“Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) challenges the system and defies conventional wisdom when his is forced to rebuild his small-market team on a limited budget. Despite opposition from the old guard, the media, fans and their own field manager (Philip Seymour Hoffman), Beane – with the help of a young, number-crunching, Yale-educated economist (Jonah Hill) – develops a roster of misfits…and along the way, forever changes the way the game is played. “

Not only have I not laid eyes on this Blu-ray but I’ve yet to see the film itself as well. I’m listing it here amongst the top releases of the week because of the critical acclaim the film has received. That and the fact that this is a Sony Blu-ray release which is damn near a guarantee of technical quality. I can’t recall a recent Sony disc that has let me down. The disc contains four featurettes and a blooper reel.

AMAZON: $19.99

CITIZEN KANE (70TH ANNIVERSARY BLU-RAY BOOK)

“Orson Welles‘ masterwork (#1 in the American Film Institute’s list of Best American Movies) dazzles anew in a superb 70th-anniversary digital transfer. It’s grand entertainment, sharply acted (starring many of Welles’ Mercury Players on the road to thriving film careers) and directed with inspired visual flair. Chronicling the stormy life of an influential publishing tycoon, this Best Original Screenplay Academy Award(R) winner (1941) is rooted in themes of power, corruption, vanity – the American Dream lost in the mystery of a dying man’s last word: “Rosebud”.“

Those of you who love Citizen Kane but were loath to purchase the bloated Ultimate Collector’s Edition boxed set that was released back in September will be happy to know that the Blu-ray is now available in a nice, affordable and easily-shelvable Blu-ray digi-book edition! That’s right, now you can get the exact same amazing Blu-ray disc release without being stuck with all the reproduction goo-gahs and promotional junk and you won’t be forced to find that larger space to store the giant UCE box. This disc is presented in the same handsome style of hardcover digi-book that Warner has released in the past. It’s 48-pages of pics, storyboards and film facts that house the feature Blu-ray and the bonus DVD – the feature-length ‘The Battle Over Citizen Kane‘ doc.

AMAZON: $38.95

FILM SOCIALISME

“Legendary director Jean-Luc Godard (Contempt) triumphantly returns to the screen with FILM SOCIALISME, “a remarkable and beautiful and challenging” (Glenn Kenny, MSN) essay on the state of Mediterranean life, culture and history. It is split into three parts, the first set on a garish cruise ship traveling the Mediterranean Sea (with Patti Smith among its guests). Godard contrasts the rich and conflicted history of the ship’s ancient itinerary with the ostentatious gluttony of its well-to-do passengers. The second part descends on a struggling rural French rest stop, whose owners, seeking to change their fate, are running for office. It is their discontented children, though, who point towards an alternate future. Finally, the film closes in a gorgeous, aggrieved montage that acts as an idiosyncratic history of the past and future of the region. Anticipating the Greek debt crisis and the Arab spring, FILM SOCIALISME “is both timeless and timely” (J. Hoberman, Village Voice), shot in shimmeringly beautiful HD, but also hurtling headlong into the socio-political crises of our times. ”

Another release I haven’t laid eyes on but consider a blind buy. New Godard, shot digitally in HD and, according to early reviews, looking stunning on Blu-ray from the good folks at Kino. I really can’t wait to get my hands on this bad boy.

AMAZON: $29.99

KILLER ELITE

“Jason Statham (The Italian Job), Academy Award® nominee Clive Owen (Inside Man) and Academy Award® winner Robert De Niro (Raging Bull) star in Killer Elite, “one of the best action thrillers of the year!” (Richard Roeper) When two of the world’s most elite operatives — Danny, a retired contract killer (Statham), and Hunter, his longtime mentor (De Niro) — go up against the cunning leader of a secret military society (Owen), their hunt takes them around the globe from Australia to Paris, London, and the Middle East. As the stakes rise along with the body count, Danny and Hunter are soon plunged into an action-packed game of cat-and-mouse where no one is what they seem. Based on a shocking true story, it’s an explosive, no-mercy thrill ride where the predator ultimately becomes the prey. “

Word on the street is that I might be getting a screener of Killer Elite in short order. I’ve heard mixed reviews of the film but I tend to believe it’s going to be a lot of ridiculous fun. And, by the way, this film is in no way related to the great Sam Peckinpah Killer Elite film from the ’70s, which starred Godfather alums and personal heroes James Caan and Robert Duvall!

AMAZON: $19.99

Canada only: THE HILLS HAVE EYES

“The Carters are an all-American family on their way to California when their car breaks down far from civilization in the remote southwestern desert. But they are not alone. Watching from the hills is a very different kind of clan, a family of marauding inbred cannibals with an unspeakable taste for human flesh and monstrous brutality. In the nightmare that follows, what depravities must this wholesome family endure to survive? And in a primal wasteland ruled by lust and rage, who will become the most shocking savages of all? Dee Wallace, James Whitworth, Susan Lanier and Michael Berryman co-star in this disturbing cult classic written and directed by horror-master Wes Craven (“Last House on the Left”, “A Nightmare on Elm Street”, “Scream”.“

The Hills Have Eyes hit Blu-ray in the US way back in September. As far as I can tell, this Canadian release should be the same in just about every way, aside from the fact that it’s only hitting shops this week, over four months later, up here in the great white north. Anywho, this is another one I have yet to see with my own two eyes but hear tell might show up in my mailbox. I’ll keep you apprised of any developments!

AMAZON: CDN$ 16.49

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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Wow! I didn’t see this one coming. Warner has announced that it’ll be releasing a 60th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray book edition of the 1951 Elia Kazan classic A Streetcar Named Desire, adapted from Tennessee Williams’ masterwork. There’s no mention of any restoration or transfer particulars in the press release so I’m assuming the film won’t be receiving the Ben-Hur/Wizard of Oz 8K scan treatment but here’s hoping the studio manages an outstanding presentation nonetheless. Package art, audio details and pre-order information should hit soon, so check back!

UPDATE: Actual, for-real package art now pictured below!

From the press release:

“Williams — from whose pen came stunning unforgettable characters, powerful portraits of the human condition and an incredible vision of life in the South — stands with Eugene O’Neill and Arthur Miller as one of the three quintessentially eminent American playwrights. His classic Streetcar…was selected by the United States Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry.

A Streetcar Named Desire depicts a culture clash between Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh), a pretentious, fading relic of the Old South, and Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando), a rising member of the industrial, inner-city immigrant class. Blanche is a Southern belle whose pretensions to virtue and culture only thinly mask her nymphomania and alcoholism. Arriving at the house of her sister Stella Kowalski (Kim Hunter), Stella fears Blanche’s arrival will upset the balance of her relationship with her husband Stanley, a primal, rough-hewn, brutish and sensual force of nature. He dominates Stella in every way, and she tolerates his offensive crudeness and lack of gentility largely because of her sexual need for him. Stanley’s friend and Blanche’s would-be suitor Mitch (Karl Malden) is similarly trampled along Blanche and Stanley’s collision course. Their final, inevitable confrontation results in Blanche’s mental annihilation.“

A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE: 60TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
(April 10, 2012 – MSRP $34.99)
Video: 1.37:1 1080p
Audio: TBA

SPECIAL FEATURES:

• 40-page Digi-book filled with dazzling photos, film history trivia and more
• Commentary with Karl Malden, film historian Rudy Behlmer, and Jeff Young
• Elia Kazan movie trailer gallery
• Movie and audio outtakes
• Marlon Brando screen test
• Elia Kazan: A Director’s Journey documentary
• Five insightful documentaries:
• A Streetcar on Broadway
• A Streetcar in Hollywood
• Desire and Censorship
• North and the South
• An Actor Named Brando

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CASABLANCA: 70TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
(TBA 2012 – MSRP $64.99)
Video: 1.37:1 1080p
Audio: TBA

SPECIAL FEATURES:

• Limited and numbered
• Reproduction of the original 1942 French film poster
• 60-page photo book includes set sketches and archival documents
• 4 Collectible drink coasters
• All-new 2012 4K feature transfer
• Over 45 minutes of never-before-seen bonus content
• 3 feature-length documentaries:
  • Jack L. Warner: The Last Mogul
  • The Brothers Warner
  • You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story
• More TBA.

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Was I, like, the only thirty-something guy in North America who didn’t think The Hangover was the best comedy of the last few years? I’m sure I wasn’t alone, but it feels like it at times. My ho-hum feelings about the original film led me to skip out on catching the sequel in the theatre. I understand it brought in a lot of cash for Warner but was universally panned by critics. Can’t say I’m surprised by either result. But what I am surprised by, is that I’ve hit a sufficient point of Hangover de-saturation that I’m now ready to dive into the sequel. I guess my sour feelings have passed and I’m in the mood for sophomoric man-comedy. The Hangover Part II Blu-ray hits shops next week, on December 6th. Check out the Blu-ray trailer above.

THE HANGOVER PART II
(December 6, 2011 – MSRP $35.99)
Video: 2.40:1 1080p
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Special Features:

• Comedy Rhythm of Todd Phillips
• Not Your Everyday Monkey
• Bangkok Tour with Mr. Chow
• Action Mash-Up
• Hangover 2 Laugh Track
• Gag Reel

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This isn’t an official announcement, but the good, sneaky folks at comicbookmovie.com have been able to wrangle up the details, package art and street date for Warner and HBO‘s upcoming and much anticipated Game of Thrones Blu-ray boxed set. I’ve got to say, this looks pretty great. Far more full featured than I’m accustomed to seeing from HBO boxed sets. The timing for the release, if CBM has gotten this correct, should directly precede the debut of the second season of the television series, which makes the date seem totally legit. I’ll confirm this for you when Warner officially announces the Blu-ray set, which we should hear about in short order. Until then, just consider this a very unofficial sneak peek.

GAME OF THRONES: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON
(March 20, 2012 – MSRP $79.98)
Video: 1080p
Audio: TBA

EXCLUSIVE BLU-RAY FEATURES:

• Blu-Ray Complete Guide to Westeros: An interactive compendium of the noble houses and lands featured in Season One, PLUS 24 exclusive histories of the Seven Kingdoms as told by the characters themselves.
• Anatomy of an Episode: An in-episode experience that explores the creative minds and colossal efforts behind episode six, “A Golden Crown”.
• In-Episode Guide: In-feature resource that provides background information about on-screen characters, locations, and relevant histories while each episode plays.
• Hidden Dragon Eggs: Find the hidden dragon eggs to uncover even more never-before-seen content.

ALSO INCLUDED:

• Making Game of Thrones: An exclusive 30-minute feature including never-before-seen footage from the set and interview from the cast and crew.
• Creating the Show Open: An inside look at the creation of the Emmy-winning opening title sequence for Game of Thrones
• From the Book to the Screen: Executive producers David Benioff & D.B. Weiss, and author George R.R. Martin talk about the challenge of bringing Martin’s epic fantasy novel to life on HBO.
• Character Profiles: Profiles of 15 major characters as described by the actors portraying them.
• The Night’s Watch: An in-depth look at the unique order of men who patrol and protect the Wall, a 700-foot ice structure that separates the Seven Kingdoms from the darkness beyond.
• Creating the Dothraki Language: An insightful glance into the comprehensive language created for the Dothraki people in Game of Thrones.
• Audio Commentaries: Seven audio commentaries with Cast and Crew including David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, George R.R. Martin, Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage, Kit Harington, and more.

Via: Ryan Gallagher

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• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of March 2 (1)

What a week! It might not seem overwhelming at a glance but there’s such an embarrassment of fantastic discs hitting the shops today, it’s tough to actually give them all time in the spotlight. Don’t miss those I didn’t cover in my highlights, including the controversial Blu-ray release of My Fair Lady (read more about the controversy here), the shiny, new How To Train Your Dragon cartoon, the Sigur Ros concert film, Inni and Hansjörg “Giorgio” Moroder‘s ’80s music version of Metropolis.

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: THREE COLORS

“This boldly cinematic trio of stories about love and loss, from Krzysztof Kieślowski was a defining event of the art-house boom of the 1990s. The films are named for the colors of the French flag and stand for the tenets of the French Revolution—liberty, equality, and fraternity—but that hardly begins to explain their enigmatic beauty and rich humanity. Set in Paris, Warsaw, and Geneva, and ranging from tragedy to comedy, Blue, White, and Red (Kieślowski’s final film) examine with artistic clarity a group of ambiguously interconnected people experiencing profound personal disruptions. Marked by intoxicating cinematography and stirring performances by such actors as Juliette Binoche, Julie Delpy, Irène Jacob, and Jean-Louis Trintignant, Kieślowski’s Three Colors is a benchmark of contemporary cinema.“

This is the Criterion Blu-ray release I feel I’ve been waiting for all year. The culmination of everything the studio does well – grabbing up the rights to the best foreign and indie films, providing them the finest presentations possible and cramming the discs they’re on full of bonus goodies. And the Three Colors trilogy of films by Krzysztof Kieślowski are some of the most iconic foreign/indie films of the ’90s, easily deserving a place in the collection. In fact, many would argue that the inclusion of these films in the Criterion library is long overdue.

The transfers on all three films are just about everything a fan could hope for, with Red knocking it out of the park. The films look better than ever before on home video, and most likely better than most have seen them in the cinema. Though not as vivid and clear as modern, big budget presentations, Blue, White and Red all look like film, with tons of detail, accurate colour, a healthy amount of grain present and no hint of digital manipulation. The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 tracks on all three discs are superb, exhibiting surprising dynamic range and depth, while clean and clear throughout. Fantastic!

As you expect from Criterion, the supplemental features are exhaustive, with the only unfortunate omission being the Annette Insdorf commentary tracks from the previously released Miramax DVD versions of the film. Thankfully, Insdorf chimes in here in a 20-minute long “video essay” on the Blue disc. Tony Rayns and Dennis Lim do the same for White and Red, respectively. “Kieslowski’s Cinema Lesson” featurettes are carried over, providing brief but valuable commentary on the films from the director himself. Also carried over from the DVD is a sequence of scenes from Blue with commentary by star Juliette Binoche. The White and Red DVDs had similar features with Julie Delpy and Irene Jacob but they don’t appear to have made the transition to Blu. But let’s nevermind the rest of the content from the old DVDs. What you’ll will find on these discs will blow you away, from exclusive interviews with cast and crew, to various documentaries on the man and his work to a couple of his student films, presented here for the first time in glorious HD. In fact, I should note that all the special features on the discs are in HD – just another little thing that makes Criterion the best at what they do!

Highest possible recommendation!

Special Features:

• New high-definition digital restorations with DTS-HD Master Audio
• Three cinema lessons with director Krzysztof Kieślowski
• New interviews with composer Zbigniew Preisner; writer Krzysztof Piesiewicz; and actors Julie Delpy, Zbigniew Zamachowski, and Irène Jacob
• Selected-scene commentary for Blue with actress Juliette Binoche
• Three new video essays, by film writers Annette Insdorf, Tony Rayns, and Dennis Lim
• Kieślowski’s student short The Tram (1966) and his fellow student’s short from the same year The Face, which features Kieślowski in a solo performance
• Two short documentaries by Kieślowski: Seven Women of Different Ages (1978) and Talking Heads (1980)
• Krzysztof Kieślowski: I’m So-So . . . (1995), a feature-length documentary in which the filmmaker discusses his life and work
• Two multi-interview programs, Reflections on “Blue” and Kieślowski: The Early Years, with film critic Geoff Andrew, Binoche, filmmaker Agnieszka Holland, cinematographer Sławomir Idziak, Insdorf, Jacob, and editor Jacques Witta
• Interviews with producer Marin Karmitz and Witta
• Behind-the-scenes programs for White and Red, and Kieślowski Cannes 1994, a short documentary on Red’s world premiere
• Original theatrical trailers
• New and improved English subtitle translations
• PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by critics Colin MacCabe, Nick James, Stuart Klawans, and Georgina Evans, an excerpt from Kieślowski on Kieślowski, and reprinted interviews with cinematographers Sławomir Idziak, Edward Klosinski, and Piotr Sobocinski

AMAZON: $55.49

Also new from Criterion this week: THE RULES OF THE GAME

“Considered one of the greatest films ever made, The Rules of the Game (La règle du jeu), by Jean Renoir, is a scathing critique of corrupt French society cloaked in a comedy of manners in which a weekend at a marquis’ country château lays bare some ugly truths about a group of haut bourgeois acquaintances. The film has had a tumultuous history: it was subjected to cuts after the violent response of the premiere audience in 1939, and the original negative was destroyed during World War II; it wasn’t reconstructed until 1959. That version, which has stunned viewers for decades, is presented here.“

AMAZON: $27.99

LOONEY TUNES PLATINUM COLLECTION: VOLUME ONE

“50 of some of the greatest Looney Tunes cartoon are together for the first time on Blu-ray(TM). Releasing in a digibook with rare images and cartoon guide by historian Jerry Beck, this collection has been digitally restored and remastered. This 3 disc collection contains some of the franchise’s most enduring shorts featuring all your favorite Looney Tune Characters! Disc One features 25 classics from the immortals: Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Road Runner, and Wile E. Coyote and more! Disc Two includes 25 shorts featuring One-Shot Classics and the complete collection for each of the following characters: Marvin the Martian, Tasmanian Devil, Witch Hazel, Marc Anthony and Ralph Phillips. Disc Three contains over 5 hours of content saluting animator Chuck Jones, insightful documentaries and rare shorts from Jones and others.“

You need to buy this 3-disc boxed set. I’m serious. If you don’t pick this one up there might never be another collection of classic Looney Tunes shorts in HD. Please support this one and ensure that Warner keeps cranking ‘em out into the future! My full review is inked to below.

Highly recommended!

READ MORE: Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume One Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $38.99

WEST SIDE STORY

“The greatest love story ever told…in the most acclaimed musical of all time…is now on Blu-ray! Experience every sensational song, dazzling dance number and magical movie moment of “West Side Story” in sparkling high definition with pure 7.1 digital sound – along with fascinating special features created exclusively for this 50th Anniversary Edition! Winner of ten Academy Awards(R), including Best Picture, this electrifying musical sets the ageless tragedy of Romeo and Juliet against a backdrop of gang warfare in 1950s New York. Featuring an unforgettable score, exuberant choreography and powerful performances by Natalie Wood, Russ Tamblyn, Richard Beymer, Rita Moreno and George Chakiris, “West Side Story” will forever resonate as a true cinematic masterpiece.“

As is par for the course with Fox and MGM releases, my review copy will turn up after release date. That means I can’t tell you from first hand experience whether or not this new West Side Story Blu-ray release lives up to all the hype. What I can say is that this is one of the most significant releases of the year. And, apparently, one of the most controversial. There seems to be a technical error in the transfer that has turned a dissolve from an image to the main title into a fade-out/face-in situation. In addition, critics on the web are noting faded opticals with poor flesh-tones and contrast. However, those same critics also speak of a brilliant, stable scan with exceptional colour. So, my advice at this point is to purchase with caution. I’ll chime in again on this one when I get my hands on a copy.

READ MORE: West Side Story: 50th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray in November

AMAZON: $16.99

BEGINNERS

“Golden Globe® nominee* Ewan McGregor (Star Wars I, II, III ), Academy Award® nominee† Christopher Plummer (Inside Man), and Mélanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds) star in Beginners, an uplifting comedy about how funny and transformative life can be. When graphic designer Oliver (McGregor) meets free-spirited Anna (Laurent) shortly after his father (Plummer) has passed away, Oliver realizes just how much of a beginner he is when it comes to long-lasting romantic love. Memories of his father, who, following the death of his wife of 45 years, came out of the closet at age 75 to live a full, energized, and wonderfully tumultuous gay life, encourage Oliver to open himself up to the potential of a true relationship. Inspired by writer/director Mike Mills’ own father, it’s an original love story that critics cheer is “smart, poignant and often hilarious!” (Karen Durbin, Elle)“

Mike Mills‘ Beginners is a wonderful film. I reviewed the Canadian Blu-ray release a couple of weeks back and, let me tell you, it’s exceptional, all around. It’s linked to below. Check it out.

READ MORE: Top New Blu-ray releases for the Week of November 1

AMAZON: $24.99

BELLFLOWER

“Best friends Woodrow and Aiden spend all of their free time building “Mad Max”-inspired flamethrowers and muscle cars in preparation for a global apocalypse. But when Woodrow meets a charismatic young woman and falls hard in love, he and Aiden quickly integrate into a new group of friends, setting off on a journey of love and hate, betrayal, infidelity, and extreme violence more devastating and fiery than any of their apocalyptic fantasies.“

I think I’m having a love affair with Oscilloscope Labs. In my limited experience with this studio they appear not to be able to do any wrong, delivering unusual, unforgettable films in near perfect presentations with a nice smattering of bonus features! And Bellflower, the debut feature from 21st Century Mad-Max wannabe Evan Glodell, fits the bill to a tee. This is one crackerjack of a little film. It’s not perfect, mind you – it kind of goes off the rails near the end of the second act and never really recovers – but damn, if it hasn’t got it where it counts.

Glodell and his cohorts are the twisted sort who build home-made flamethrowers and Lord Humungous-style apocalypse-driving muscle cars in their spare time so it’s no surprise that Bellflower is fashioned around their particular proclivities. Sadly, the team also seem to be subconsciously effected by the storytelling cliches of modern “mumblecore” cinema and fall into the trap of actually filming a tepid indie romance instead of letting their killer hardware do the talking. And because of the direction the romantic angle leads the narrative, the powerful moments near the end of the film feel cheap and manipulative. Luckily, there are enough idiosyncratic character moments, in-your-face violence and gorgeous, gritty imagery courtesy of Glodell’s custom outfitted Silicon Imaging SI-2K Mini Digital camera to make Bellflower really sing.

Speaking of imagery, this Blu-ray disc looks fantastic! I mean, the film itself looks like nothing I’ve ever seen before – vibrant, and detailed, yet dirty, dark and dull at the same time. Oscilloscope’s transfer replicates every nuance of the oddball source and the results are breathtaking. Seriously, you need to see this to believe it. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 has got it where it counts but it drives home the budget nature of the voice recording in the production. Dialogue sounds thin and even clips at times. But this isn’t a fault of the disc. It’s the nature of the low-budget beast. Extras include an entertaining and informative 23-minute “making of” featurette, a 10-minute rundown of the completed “Medusa” Road Warrior muscle-car, 7-minutes of outtakes and the theatrical trailer for the film. All this packaged in another winning double-gatefold digipack made from recycled material. I love this studio!

AMAZON: $23.99

EVIL DEAD 2

“After a relaxing cabin vacation doesn’t go as planned, Ash (Bruce Campbell) is left with three dead friends, an undead girlfriend and an angry evil spirit on the loose. As nightfall approaches, Ash must prepare to again battle the legions of the damned if he wants to make it to dawn. Welcome to EVIL DEAD II, director Sam Raimi‘s infamous second film in his gleefully gory, cult classic EVIL DEAD franchise – starring Bruce Campbell as the most lethal and groovy hero in horror movie history! With over four hours of special features, this 25th Anniversary Edition of EVIL DEAD II: DEAD BY DAWN will leave you gasping for more!“

All right, horror nerds! Time to throw out your twelve DVD copies of Evil Dead 2 now because the big, bad Blu-ray has finally arrived to replace them. I know, Anchor Bay already released it on Blu a couple of years back. But seriously now, were you happy with that transfer and that paltry selection of extras? The correct answer is no, you weren’t, and you want more. Well now, thanks to Lionsgate (and Alliance, if you live in Canada, as I do) you can have more in this spiffy, new 25th Anniversary Blu-ray.

The studio was promising a better transfer for the film’s anniversary and I’m pleased to report that they have delivered! Evil Dead 2 has never looked better on home video. That’s not to say that this presentation is going to win any awards. It’s still uneven, with a fair number of soft shots and a grain structure that comes and goes in waves but on the whole, this is a vast improvement from anything I’ve seen before. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is solid and seems to offer a slight uptick in dynamic response from the previous Blu-ray, with boomy lows and brighter highs.

As nice as it is to have a more respectable HD presentation of the film on Blu, this new edition of Evil Dead 2 really shines in the extras department. The new disc carries over the famous (and hilarious) commentary track from star Bruce Campbell, director Sam Raimi, co-writer Scott Spiegel and special makeup effects artist Greg Nicotero as well as a couple decent featurettes – the 17-minute long “Evil Dead II: Behind the Screams” and 32-minute long “The Gore the Merrier” – both of which are presented in their original SD. The highlight of the new HD extras is the feature-length doc “Swallowed Souls: The Making of Evil Dead II“. Split up into seven parts and running a total of 98-minutes when viewed together, this thing is comprehensive but most likely covers a lot of ground that hardcore fans already know. There’s also a half-hour’s worth of rough looking “behind the scenes” footage, consisting of Nicotero’s on-set home movies and deleted scenes and a brand new, 8-minute long trip back to the original location of the shoot. Cool stuff! The disc is rounded out with four stills galleries covering “Advertising & Memorabilia,” “Behind-the-Scenes,” “Special Make-Up Effects” and “Stop Motion Animation.”

The Canadian edition that I had the pleasure of screening, which is otherwise identical to the US version, also contains a DVD copy of the film.

AMAZON: CDN$ 22.09

Also available: EVIL DEAD 2 (US version)

AMAZON: $9.99

INFERNAL AFFAIRS

“The award-winning crime thriller that inspired THE DEPARTED has been hailed by critics everywhere for its gritty action and international superstars. Chan Wing Yan (Tony Leung, Hero) is a hard-nosed veteran cop sent undercover to infiltrate the notorious Triad crime ring. An expert at bringing down violent syndicates, Chan thinks it’s going to be a routine mission. What he’s not prepared for is the discovery that the Triad’s boss (Eric Tsang, The Accidental Spy) has planted a mole (Andy Lau, The Legend of Drunken Master) in the police department… and now Chan is being hunted down. In this battle of wills, only one cop can win!“

I don’t recall but were a lot of film fans claiming they like Scorsese‘s The Departed better when it was called Infernal Affairs back in the day, when it was first released? I hadn’t seen the original Chinese film at that point so the storyline was all new to me and decent enough. Maybe not the best Scorsese I’d ever seen but you know. Good movie. Infernal Affairs is a very different creature, to me. I mean, both films share the same narrative DNA but the tone is just so damn different and it’s paced like a rocket in relation to the US film. I think I might have ended up preferring Infernal Affairs if it weren’t for the twist ending which is just so damn…infernal! I mean, infuriating! In any case, this version of the story is the balls. Like I said, it’s really well paced, with just enough action, intrigue and humour to carry you through the 101-minute runtime (50-minutes shorter than Scorsese’s bloated film.)

I don’t know what to think of the Blu-ray presentation of the film. I mean, I know how it looks to me, on my screen, I’m just not sure why. My guess is that Lionsgate is working off the source material Miramax had in it’s possession back in the day, when they made the deal to distribute the film in North America, instead of seeking out the original negative or an interpositive that could provide a more faithful, film-like presentation on Blu. As a result, we’re left with a transfer that’s fairly dull and flat with signs of digital tampering to make it appear to pop a bit more in 1080p. The real shame of the whole thing is that this is probably the best we’ll do where this film is concerned unless we’re willing to import (there’s a Hong Kong Blu-ray release from 2007 that is well reviewed around the internets.) The Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, on the other hand, is excellent across the board, offering clean, clear dialogue, plenty of surround effects and some thunderous lows. There’s an English dub track as well but if you listen to that then you and I can’t be friends any more.

Special features are all carried over from previous DVD releases and are all in SD. They include a 15-minute “makine of” featurette, 6-minutes of “behind-the-scenes” footage, an alternate ending and a couple of trailers.

The Canadian edition from Alliance which I had the pleasure of screening and which is otherwise identical to the US version, also contains a DVD copy of the film.

AMAZON: CDN$ 22.09

Also available: INFERNAL AFFAIRS (US Edition)

AMAZON: $14.99

FARSCAPE: THE COMPLETE SERIES

“John Crichton. Astronaut. Flung through a wormhole and lost in a galaxy far from home. He finds himself in the middle of a prison break, surrounded by hostile aliens, soaring through space inside a glorious living space ship called Moya. Hunted by the relentless Peacekeepers, he allies himself with his unimaginably alien fellow refugees and searches for a way home. So begins the epic sci-fi classic “Farscape“. A fusion of live action, state-of-the-art puppetry, prosthetics and CGI, “Farscape” features mind-boggling alien life forms, dazzling special effects, edge-of-your-seat thrills, irreverent humor and unforgettable characters all brought to life by the creative minds at Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. No wonder it’s been called the most imaginative sci-fi series in television history. Here, in time for the series tenth anniversary, are all four “Farscape” seasons, 88 episodes, together for the first time in one epic collection. These are the adventures of Moya’s crew, Crichton, Peacekeeper Aeryn Sun, warrior Ka D’Argo, azure priestess Zhaan, spritely thief Chiana, Dominar Rigel, Pilot and many others. Like Moya herself, this package contains amazing surprises including hours of bonus materials, making-of featurettes, commentaries, interviews, deleted scenes and much more. Prepare for Starburst.“

Oh man, I loved Farscape and am totally stoked for this four-season boxed set. If you’re like me and jonesing to pick this up (which we should both probably do sooner than later as it’s relatively cheap on Amazon right now) keep in mind that this show was created in SD. While this case of SD-to-HD doesn’t appear to walk the same dangerous road taken by the Highlander series boxed sets, it does merit some research by the buyer before handing your credit card over to make the purchase. Bill Hunt at The Digital Bits has a great interview with New Video‘s Dan Kenny about the restoration of the series and the production of the Blu-ray discs. There are even some screencaps and Blu/DVD comparisons so go check it out before you buy!

READ MORE: Farscape: The Complete Series coming to Blu-ray

AMAZON: $96.99

ASSASSINS CREED: LINEAGE

““Assassins Creed: Lineage” is a prequel to the video game “Assassin’s Creed II”. It revolves around Ezio’s father, Giovanni Auditore da Firenze, and gives insight on the game’s backstory and universe. Giovanni is an assassin living during the Renaissance in 15th century Italy. At this dawn of a new era, a conspiracy is being plotted by one corrupt family to overthrow the powerful Medici family and destroy a unified Italy. As an assassin, Giovanni must face this threat and bring justice. The story introduces the situation before “Assassin’s Creed II”, and the enemies of both characters.“

I don’t quite know what to say about this Blu-ray release as I haven’t gotten my hands on a copy as yet, but the word on the street is that this little 45-minute live-action film, a supplement to the Assassin’s Creed game story, is pretty damn effective and entertaining! I’m looking forward to watching it and the bounty of film and video game related special features included on the disc.

AMAZON: $10.99

Exclusive to Canada: ANIMATION EXPRESS 2

” The NFB enriches the world of animation with unforgettable works through its collaboration with the most talented artists and artisans in a spirit of creativity and innovation. The Animation Express 2 compilation presents the best from the 2009-2011 crop, created by filmmakers of diverse cultural origins, including such luminaries as Paul Drissen, Amanda Forbis, Wendy Tilby, Co Hoedeman, Georges Schwizgebel and Koji Yamamura. A selection of 21 films that will delight audiences by taking them into unexplored regions. “

I guess it’s animation-on-Blu-ray week here in Canada. Not only do we get our hands on the first of hopefully many Looney Tunes collections but we’re also fortunate enough to receive the second collection of animated shorts from the National Film Board of Canada (we just call it the NFB or the ONF for those who parle français.) You might recall that the first Animation Express collection was released back in 2009 and featured a decidedly modern collection of shorts, adding a few classics in for flavour. Animation Express 2 is much of the same but focuses on the films created since the first disc was released. As in any collection of work from a variety of artists, this one is a mixed bag. But I think it’s safe to say there’s got to be something in the 27 provided shorts for just about everyone. And for the animation fan, the whole thing is very nearly a dream come true. This is high quality work from a broad range of voices and styles.

All 27 shorts are crammed onto a single dual-layer disc which sounds like a pretty decent idea on the surface. Until you realize that those 27 short films actually sport a combined runtime of over 5-hours long! That’s a lot of video to stuff onto a disc while expecting a decent HD image. So, much like the content of the disc itself, the 1080p presentations are a mixed bag, more often than not sporting decent amount of detail but appearing softer than they probably should in a perfect world, suffering here under a variable bitrate that often runs around the DVD mark. Keep in mind, that static images in animated films don’t require the same video bandwidth as live action but all the same, I feel like all the films on this disc would have looked sharper and had a greater sense of depth in their presentations if the content had been spread over two Blu-ray discs. Audio is also a compromise, offered in various language varieties of compressed Dolby Digital.

There are no special features on the disc (thank goodness – where would they have found the room?!) but 6 of the films are exclusive to the format, one of which is available here with an optional 3D presentation! Kind of cool, I guess, if you’ve got a 3DTV and are into that kind of thing.

AMAZON: CDN$ 27.97

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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LOONEY TUNES PLATINUM COLLECTION: VOLUME ONE (1936-1966, Blu-ray released November 15, 2011 – MSRP $59.96)

SHORTS:	★★★★★
VIDEO:	★★★★½
AUDIO:	★★★☆☆
EXTRAS:	★★★★☆
BLU-RAY:	★★★★☆

I don’t know what’s more amazing about this collection of 50 Looney Tunes shorts – the fact that I’m shockingly familiar with most of them, able to recite the dialogue along with the characters despite not having seen the films for around 20 years or so, or the fact that there’s content here that I’ve never laid eyes on until now. Despite a couple of confusing and mildly frustrating points, this is one hell of a perfect boxed set of amazing cartoons, looking better than ever on Blu-ray!

“50 of some of the greatest Looney Tunes cartoon are together for the first time on Blu-ray(TM). Releasing in a digibook with rare images and cartoon guide by historian Jerry Beck, this collection has been digitally restored and remastered. This 3 disc collection contains some of the franchise’s most enduring shorts featuring all your favorite Looney Tune Characters! Disc One features 25 classics from the immortals: Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Road Runner, and Wile E. Coyote and more! Disc Two includes 25 shorts featuring One-Shot Classics and the complete collection for each of the following characters: Marvin the Martian, Tasmanian Devil, Witch Hazel, Marc Anthony and Ralph Phillips. Disc Three contains over 5 hours of content saluting animator Chuck Jones, insightful documentaries and rare shorts from Jones and others.“

There’s a ridiculous wealth of incredible content spread over these three Blu-ray discs. Nearly every single one of the newly transferred, re-mastered cartoon shorts featured here is a iconic classic – the films that come to mind when you think Looney Tunes. And you’re not going to believe how stunning they all look in HD. Now, I know a lot of folks feel a little burned by this set, with the studio revisiting these shorts that they’ve published several times already on DVD while the fans are desperate to get their hands on those shorts that still remain unreleased. But it’s clear that a lot of work, time and love has been put into getting them right for HD and believe me when I tell you, if this Blu-ray set doesn’t sell, the studio will be hard pressed to invest in a second one. With that in mind, you can understand why they’ve assembled the most popular shorts, yet again, for this collection, giving it the best chance of appealing to the widest possible audience. It also insures that the best shorts are afforded the high-def treatment, in the unfortunate circumstance that there won’t be any more Blu-ray sets in the future. I, for one, pray that doesn’t happen. Because what the studio has accomplished here deserves to be seen and that attention deserves to be afforded to the rest of the Looney Tunes library. Fantastic!

As mentioned above, the feature content on the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume One Blu-ray discs looks fantastic! But don’t expect any kind of uniformity in presentation. The source material these discs have culled from is all over the map, spanning a thirty year time period – the most recent short having been created 45-years ago. Grain, scratches and blemishes differ from film to film but appear often enough to note here – these aren’t perfect restorations of aged content, but beautiful, honest, new transfers which have been lovingly mastered. They all look like film and some even appear clean enough to have been produced recently. This is remarkable work. The only source of disappointment here is that Warner has once again cut corners with the audio presentation – instead of the lossless audio tracks they might’ve afforded these films, the best they’re allowed is modest high-bitrate Dolby Digital Mono tracks. Don’t get me wrong, they sound all right, and because the audio is compressed there’s an allowance for additional content to be packed onto the discs, so it’s not all bad. It’s a trade off I can live with but it’s far from a perfect solution.

A good deal of the “extra” content packed onto the discs comes in the form of featurettes and an endless stream of audio commentaries, isolated score and “in the sound booth” tracks. This is all great stuff for sure and nearly worthy of sacrificing the opportunity to have the feature soundtracks presented in lossless audio. I sampled a few commentary tracks and, let me tell you, they are total gems! Whether you’re listening to Ren & Stimpy creator/animator John Kricfalusi enthuse over early Daffy Duck offering “The Great Piggy Bank Robbery” or historian and Cartoon Brew editor/owner Jerry Beck (who also wrote the included 52-page digibook liner notes and consulted on the Blu-ray set) introducing and curating archival comments from director Chuck Jones, writer Michael Maltese, and layout artist Maurice Noble on “What’s Opera, Doc?“, you’re in for a real treat. There are 23 audio commentary tracks to be found on Disc One of the set and 14 more on Disc Two.

As if that’s not enough, each of those discs also feature a ton of featurettes, most of which are presented in SD and have appeared on previous Looney Tunes DVDs (three are presented in HD – “Mars Attacks! Life on the Red Planet with My Favorite Martian” “Razzma-Taz: Giving the Tasmanian Devil His Due” and “The Ralph Phillips Story: Living the American Daydream” – and are, as far as I can tell, more recent productions) but are totally worth checking out. These amount to about 95-minutes worth of documentary content over the first two discs. The third disc in the set is more or less all about animation director Chuck Jones, featuring three SD docs about his life and career which total over two-and-a-half hours of viewing. There’s also a collection of his shorts, presented in a mix of SD and HD. A little out of place but no less appreciated is 7-minutes of work reel footage from Jones’ classic The Grinch Who Stole Christmas production. Amazing to see this in a pencil test version! Disc three is rounded out with a 7-minute animation/live-action hybrid short called “The Door” and 9 additional Looney Tunes cartoons in SD.

Highly recommended!

Disc 1: features 25 classics from the immortals: Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Road Runner, and Wile E. Coyote and more

Disc 2: 25 shorts featuring One-Shot Classics and the complete collection for each of the following characters: Marvin the Martian, Tasmanian Devil, Witch Hazel, Marc Anthony & Ralph Phillips

Disc 3: Contains over 5 hours of content saluting animator Chuck Jones, insightful documentaries and rare shorts from Jones and others!

Disc 1 Episode Guide:

1. Hare Tonic
2. Baseball Bugs
3. Buccaneer Bunny
4. Old Grey Hare, The
5. Rabbit Hood
6. 8 Ball Bunny
7. Rabbit Of Seville
8. What’s Opera, Doc?
9. Great Piggy Bank Robbery, The
10. Pest In The House, A
11. Scarlet Pumpernickel, The
12. Duck Amuck
13. Robin Hood Daffy
14. Baby Bottleneck
15. Kitty Kornered
16. Scaredy Cat
17. Porky Chops
18. Old Glory
19. Tale Of Two Kitties, A
20. Tweetie Pie
21. Fast And Furry-ous
22. Beep, Beep
23. Lovelorn Leghorn
24. For Scent-imental Reasons
25. Speedy Gonzales

Plus 6 Behing The Tunes (Featurettes):
Wagnerian Wabbit: The Making of What’s Opera, Doc?
Twilight in Tunes: The Music of Raymond Scott
Powerhouse in Pictures
Putty Problems and Canary Rows
A Chuck Jones Tutorial: Tricks of the Cartoon Trade
The Charm of Stink: On the Scent of Pepé le Pew

Disc 2 Episode Guide:

1. One Froggy Evening
2. Three Little Bops
3. I Love To Singa
4. Katnip Kollege
5. The Dover Boys at Pimento University
6. Chow Hound
7. Haredevil Hare
8. Hasty Hare, The
9. Duck Dodgers In The 24th Century
10. Hare-way To The Stars
11. Mad As A Mars Hare
12. Devil May Hare
13. Bedevilled Rabbit
14. Ducking The Devil
15. Bill Of Hare
16. Dr. Devil And Mr. Hare
17. Bewitched Bunny
18. Broom-stick Bunny
19. Witch’s Tangled Hare, A
20. A-haunting We Will Go
21. Feed The Kitty
22. Kiss Me Kat
23. Feline Frame-up
24. From A To Z-z-z-z
25. Boyhood Daze

Plus 5 Behing The Tunes (Featurettes)
It Hopped One Night: The Story Behind One Froggy Evening
Wacky Warner One-Shots
Mars Attacks! Life on the Red Planet with My Favorite Martian
Razzma-Taz: Giving the Tasmanian Devil His Due
The Ralph Phillips Story: Living the American Daydream

Disc 3 (All Special Features):

1. A Greeting From Chuck Jones
2. Chuck Amuck: The Movie
3. Chuck Jones: Extremes & In-Betweens, A Life In Animation
4. Chuck Jones: Memories Ofchildhood
5. The Animated World Of Chuck Jones (9 Cartoons)

– Point Rationing Of Foods
– Hell-Bent For Election
– So Much For So Little
– Orange Blossoms For Violet
– A Hitch In Time
– 90 Day Wondering
– Drafty, Isn’t It
– The Dot And The Line: A Romance In Lower Mathematics
– The Bear That Wasn’t

6. How The Grinch Stole Christmas! Pencil Test
7. The Door
8. Bonus Cartoons (9 Cartoons)

– Fright Before Christmas From Bugs Bunny’s Looney Christmas Tales
– Spaced Out Bunny From Bugs Bunny’s Bustin’ Out All Over
– Duck Dodgers And The Return Of The 24 1/2th Century From Daffy Duck’s Thanks-For-Giving Special
– Another Froggy Evening
– Marvin The Martian In The Third Dimension
– Superior Duck
– From Hare To Eternity
– Father Of The Bird
– Museum Scream

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It’s late, I’m tired and I just need to hit that ‘Publish’ button over there on the right. So let’s not doddle here, chatting about The Fisher King, The Collector or One Eyed Jacks Blu-ray discs at the bottom of the page and just get to the big new Blu-ray releases of the week.

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: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 2

“In the epic finale, the battle between the good and evil forces of the wizarding world escalates into an all-out war. The stakes have never been higher and no one is safe. But it is Harry who may be called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice as he draws closer to the climactic showdown with Lord Voldemort. It all ends here.“

This is a big week for Harry Potter fans the world over. Not only does it mark the release of the final chapter of the film series on home video but it starts the countdown for all Potter Blu-ray discs being put on moratorium. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 will be released on Blu-ray this Friday, November 11th and you’ll only have a scant few weeks to find yourself a copy before Warner shoves the entire film franchise into the vault on December 29th, awaiting the perfect moment (most likely, sometime next year) to unleash it again in spiffier, bonus-goodie-resplendent packaging. But fret not American fans, we good folk in Canada will be suffering no such moratorium and will have plenty of Potter product for you on our shelves, if you can stomach our bilingual packaging and the fact that we rock the original UK Philosopher’s Stone title for Harry’s premiere cinematic outing.

Those of us who simply can’t wait to watch the final chapter at home will be more than pleased to know that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 delivers the goods on Blu-ray. I have a few issues with the film itself (I’ve never read the books and found some of the last-minute revelations to speed by too quickly to properly absorb) but the Blu-ray disc is beyond reproach, sporting tons of detail and spot-on contrast, despite a good deal of the film being shrouded in shadows. This is one that you’ll want to watch with the lights off, to really take advantage of the rich, dark image on the disc. As gorgeous as the image is, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is even more impressive. You better take all the fine china off the shelf before playing this Blu through your sub because it’s going to shake your home to its foundations with deep, booming lows. Phenomenal sound design is well replicated in this very active sound-space, along with a dynamic musical presentation and clean, clear dialogue. Brilliant!

The highlights of the excellent package of special features on the Blu-ray are those exclusive to the format – the Maximum Movie Mode and the hour-long JK Rowling/Daniel Radcliffe chat. Regular readers will recall my enthusiasm for the former when presented on previously released Warner discs and, as is always the case, it doesn’t disappoint here. As usual, all the focus point featurettes presented as part of the MMM are viewable outside the picture-in-picture track. The chat between Rowling and Radcliffe is the feature that all Potter fans have been waiting for and proves to be one of the best extras Warner has included on any disc in the series. If fans rush out to buy this disc for any reason aside from the film itself, it’s this bonus goodie.

Highly recommended!

Special Features:

• Blu-ray Exclusives:
  • Maximum Movie Mode hosted by Matthew Long (Neville Longbottom) and other cast members (80 minutes) – As the epic showdown between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort approaches, don’t miss a single detail as the forces of Good and Evil clash one final time throughout the grounds of Hogwarts.
  • A Conversation with JK Rowling and Daniel Radcliffe – Join J.K. Rowling and Daniel Radcliffe for an exclusive conversation about bringing the character of Harry Potter to life, the last decade of films and how their lives have changed by the fame that they’ve both experienced.
• The Goblins of Gringotts – Hosted by Warwick Davis, you’ll see the entire process of becoming a goblin” in a Harry Potter film, from auditions and casting to makeup and prosthetic tests as well as filming the final scenes.
• The Women of Harry Potter – A look at the remarkable women in Harry Potter’s life and the critical role they play in the films.
• When Harry Left Hogwarts – BAFTA award-winning filmmaker Morgan Matthews has been given unprecedented access to the creative decision-making processes that have been kept as a closely guarded secret – until now. Hear the personal stories of the faces we know, and those we don’t, as we come to the end of one of the most successful eras in cinema history.
• WB Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter
• Deleted Scenes
• Game demo of “LEGO® Harry PotterTM: Years 5-7 for PS3®

AMAZON: $19.99

HARRY POTTER: COMPLETE 8-FILM COLLECTION

This is the very first boxed set to contain every single Harry Potter film on Blu-ray. I suspect it’s going to be a pretty hot seller this holiday season. Especially at this price point (only $79.99 on Amazon), which nets you all the films for less than ten bucks a pop. The only real downside to this is that you’re only getting the feature film discs in this set. All of those bonus discs from the individual Blu-ray releases and all of the goodies on them are absent here, so this is far from the ultimate potential package for this series. I’m sure there will be a mega-set in a year’s time but for now, if you don’t own any of the films on Blu or are looking for a nice gift around the $100 price-point, this is a great package.

READ MORE: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 and Complete Collection Blu-ray set announced and detailed

AMAZON: $79.99

BLUE VELVET

“Beneath the surface of small-town serenity lies a dark domain where innocents dare not tread and unpredictability is the norm. It is the haunting realm of “Blue Velvet.” Spawned from the mind of David Lynch (“Mulholland Drive”, “Twin Peaks”), “Blue Velvet” is a “shocking, deeply disturbing…startling mixture of the heartfelt and the horrific” (Newsweek). Clean-cut Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan) realizes his Mayberry-like hometown is not so normal when he discovers a human ear in a field. His investigation catapults him into an alluring, erotic murder mystery involving a disturbed nightclub singer (Isabella Rossellini) and a drug-addicted sadist (Dennis Hopper). Soon Jeffrey is led deeper into their depraved existence…to the point of no return.“

I’m an unapologetic David Lynch fan. If he films it, paints it or records it, I’ll be first in line to consume it. Like I said, I’m rapid for his work. And Blue Velvet, in my opinion, remains one of the highlights of his lengthy career in many mediums. I haven’t seen the Blu-ray disc release of the film yet but early reviews claim it looks and sounds amazing. And don’t forget that this release contains the first ever look at almost an hour pf previously “lost” footage from the film. I’m so excited to get my hands on this one!

AMAZON: $15.99

FANNY & ALEXANDER

“Through the eyes of ten-year-old Alexander, we witness the delights and conflicts of the Ekdahl family, a sprawling bourgeois clan in turn-of-the-twentieth-century Sweden. Ingmar Bergman intended Fanny and Alexander as his swan song, and it is the legendary director’s warmest and most autobiographical film, a four-time Academy Award–winning triumph that combines his trademark melancholy and emotional intensity with immense joy and sensuality. The Criterion Collection is proud to present both the theatrical release and the original five-hour television version of this great work. Also included in the box set is Bergman’s own feature-length documentary The Making of “Fanny and Alexander,” a unique glimpse into his creative process.“

I’ve owned Criterion’s exceptional Fanny & Alexander package on DVD for many years now and have had no complaints with it. It looks amazing, it contains both the theatrical and television versions and a ton of special features. It’s wonderful. But I’ll tell you something, this is also one of my favourite Bergman works and one of his best looking productions ever. I don’t think I’ll be able to help but upgrade to this new Blu-ray set. I obviously haven’t had a look at it yet but knowing Criterion, they’ve most likely outdone themselves again, with a fresh scan of the negatives making Sven Nykvist‘s beautiful photography look more stunning than ever. Upgrading is always a touchy subject but I just can’t resist this one.

UPDATE: It’s in my hands now. Can’t wait to pop it in the PS3 and take a look! In other news, I have no self control…

AMAZON: $40.99

BAND OF BROTHERS & THE PACIFIC: SPECIAL EDITION GIFT SET

“Band of Brothers-
Based on the bestseller by Stephen E. Ambrose, the epic 10-part miniseries Band of Brothers tells the story of Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, U.S. Army. Drawn from interviews with survivors of Easy Company, as well as soldiers’ journals and letters, Band of Brothers chronicles the experiences of these men who knew extraordinary bravery and extraordinary fear. They were an elete rifle company parachuting into France early on D-Day morning, fighting in the Battle of the Bulge and capturing Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest at Berchtesgaden. They were also a unit that suffered 150 percent casualties, and whose lives became legend.

The Pacific-
The Pacific is an epic 10-part miniseries that delivers a realistic portrait of WWII’s Pacific Theatre as seen through the intertwined odysseys of three U.S. Marines – Robert Leckie, John Basilone and Eugene Sledge. The extraordinary experiences of these men and their fellow Marines take them from the first clash with the Japanese in the haunted jungles of Guadalcanal, through the impenetrable rain firests of Cape Gloucester, across the blasted coral strongholds of Peleliu, up the black sand terraces of Iwo Jima, through the killing fields of Okinawa, to the triumphant, yet uneasy, return home after V-J Day. The viewer will be immersed in combat through the intimate perspective of this diverse, relatable group of men pushed to the limit in battle both physically and psychologically against a relentless enemy unlike any encountered before.

He Has Seen War- is an exclusive documentary that examines the postwar lives of veterans of both Band of Brothers and The Pacific. From their initial steps at reintegrating into civilian life to the lasting impact the war had on each of their lives, He Has Seen War features Easy Company and 1st Marine Division veterans and their families relaying their own unique stories. Complemented by renowned historian and author Donald L. Miller as well as rarely seen archival and documentary footage, He Has Seen War captures the struggle and ultimate triumph of a generation who, after helping rescue the world from unprecedented calamity, reclaimed their lives and re-forged a country. “

You can always tell that the holiday shopping season is approaching when the handsome boxed sets start showing up in stores. This new 13-disc collection of all ten episodes of HBO series Band of Brothers and all ten episodes of its follow up series, The Pacific is a real beaut. From the matte finish of the carboard box (watch out for greasy finger-prints on this one), reflective silver print treatment and hidden, magnetic lid lock, you know you’re in for a treat before you even remove the thick, weighty book from it’s housing. Lifting a ribbon attached to the bottom interior of the box raises the hardcover tome from it’s housing, revealing book-packaging of the sort used for the Rome boxed set, but at twice the width. Most of the glossy pages hold two Blu-ray discs full of episodes, with the exception of the pages that bridge the two series, which houses but a single disc containing the sole new feature in the set – He Has Seen The War, an hour-long documentary featuring the surviving members of both Easy Company and the 1st Marine Division whose exploits are dramatized in the series’. It’s an excellent doc but not worth re-purchasing both Band of Brothers and The Pacific on Blu-ray for, if you already own both boxed sets. The rest of the discs and all their features are identical to those previously available.

Highly recommended for those who don’t already own the series and for those ultimate fans who are completists.

AMAZON: $99.99

MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY

“1787. HMS Bounty sets out on a journey through perilous seas to a tropical paradise… and into history as the one of the most ill-fated vessels in naval lore. Lewis Milestone (“All Quiet on the Western Front”) directs this color-drenched spectacular nominated for seven Academy Awards(R) including Best Picture. Filmed before in 1935 and again in 1984′s “The Bounty”, the gripping story centers on first officer Fletcher Christian (Marlon Brando), a dandy transformed into a man of action, and Capt. William Bligh (Trevor Howard), uncompromising in his command or his cruelty. “Fear is [my] best weapon,” Bligh proclaims. But it’s also the most costly, driving men to desperation and mutiny. Richard Harris, Hugh Griffith and Richard Haydn also star in this epic adventure.“

This is the second version of Mutiny on the Bounty that Warner has released on Blu-ray in as many years. If only they could turn this into an annual tradition! The 1962 version of the film, new on Blu this week, is likely the least accurate telling of the real life overthrow of Captain Bligh’s fierce and cruel command of the Bounty by first officer Christian and crew but there’s no denying the power of the performances here and the beauty of the production and photography. It’s an epic three-hour long film that feels grand at every turn, in every shot.

Warner have packed the film and all of the extras from the 2-DVD release from 2006 onto a single dual-layered Blu-ray, and though the bitrate is generally kept around the 20 mbps mark things look pretty great. Colours are vivid and pop off the screen, blacks are deep and detail is pleasing, creating an overall fairly film-like image. Audio is presented in a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track and sounds, overall pretty great, despite the obvious limitations of the age of the source.

As I mentioned, the extras on the disc are ported over from the 2006 DVD set and tend to focus on the Bounty itself – a very real tall ship built from stem to stern for this production and still sailing today. Most are archival in nature and, while neat to watch, don’t provide as much insight into the production itself as a newly minted “making of” or commentary track might have offered. The prologue and epilogue that were cut from the theatrical release of the film are here in standard def but are definitely worth watching, as they bookend the film with detail on what happened to the crew after they were stranded on Pitcairn Island and finally discovered some years later. It’s a shame they’re not presented in HD or edited back into the film but nice to have them here nonetheless.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

• Alternate Prologue and Epilogue Sequences Not Seen Theatrically
• After the Cameras Stopped Rolling: The Journey of the Bounty
• 1964 New York World’s Fair Promo
• Story of the HMS Bounty
• Tour of the Bounty
• Voyage of the Bounty to St. Petersburg
• Theatrical Trailer

AMAZON: $15.99

LITTLE BIG MAN

“Recounting how the West was won through the eyes of a white man raised as a Native American, Arthur Penn‘s 1970 adaptation of Thomas Berger’s satirical novel was a comic yet stinging allegory about the bloody results of American imperialism. As a misguided 20th-century historian listens, 121-year-old Jack Crabb (Dustin Hoffman) narrates the story of being the only white survivor of Custer’s Last Stand. White orphan Crabb was adopted by the Cheyenne, renamed “Little Big Man,” and raised in the ways of the “Human Beings” by paternal mentor Old Lodge Skins (Chief Dan George), accepting non-conformity and living peacefully with nature. Violently thrust into the white world, Jack meets a righteous preacher (Thayer David) and his wife (Faye Dunaway), tries to be a gunfighter under the tutelage of Wild Bill Hickock (Jeff Corey), and gets married. Returned to the Cheyenne by chance, Jack prefers life as a Human Being. The carnage wreaked by the white man in the Washita massacre and the lethal fallout from the egomania of General George A. Custer (Richard Mulligan) at Little Big Horn, however, show Crabb the horrific implications of Old Lodge Skins’ sage observation, “There is an endless supply of White Men, but there has always been a limited number of Human Beings”.“

Arthur Penn’s Little Big Man is far from a perfect film or an ideal western but there’s a lot to like in it. Thomas Berger’s novel has been adapted with a post-Vietnam flavour that proved a perfect fit for the era in which it was produced. Hoffman is at the height of his powers as the young fish-out-of-water Jack Crabb, a protagonist far from a hero, and the 121-year-old version of the same man spinning a yarn of his youth that might be fact or a folksy flight of fancy. That subjective style of narrative storytelling is what lends the film its magic. It’s not the tone you expect going in but the humour and humanity will win you over in the end.

Little Big Man looks pretty decent on Blu-ray. In fact, it’s one of the better looking catalogue films from Paramount taking full advantage of the gorgeous cinematography of Harry Stradling Jr. Colour doesn’t necessarily pop off the screen but detail is outstanding and black levels are strong. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack is capable and a fair representation of the vintage source material. There’s not a lot of surround activity here but this front-biased mix is clear and pleasant to listen to. The only bonus goodie on the disc is the theatrical trailer.

AMAZON: $17.99

MORTAL KOMBAT: LEGACY

“Tear into the origins of the legendary tournament that pits the world’s greatest warriors against the forces of Outworld in the fight to save our planet. Discover never-before-revealed storylines that deepen the mythology of the Mortal Kombat multiverse and the backstories of your favorite characters, including Jax, Sonya, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Raiden, Johnny Cage and more! This is kombat taken to a whole new level, more gritty and raw than anything you’ve ever seen before. Fight.“

There is absolutely no question that Mortal Kombat: Legacy is the best adaptation of the beloved video game franchise to date. But despite everything it manages to do right, the series low-budget origins and the very best intentions of creator and MK super-fanboy Kevin Tancharoen I just didn’t buy into it.

Mortal Kombat: Legacy is Tancharoen’s nine-webisode pitch to the money men at the studio to green light a new feature film adaptation of the franchise with him at the helm. And you know, I think he probably did just about everything he needed to to get the gig because that bad boy is confirmed to be headed to the big screen next year. And good on him. I think there’s a lot of value in his take on the material – a collection of character introductions and set-ups for something grander. In fact, some of the grounded, real world episodes really work for me. But those few that take place in …ahem …the realms of Edenia and Outworld, simply fall apart. Also, they really show the limitations of the series’ budget. And one of the actors is distractingly bad, which is saying something when you consider the type of performance you’d expect from this genre. Watching those episodes, I found the negatives suddenly overwhelming any good will the previous segments might have engendered in me. That said, if Tancharoen’s feature film gets a decent budget and leans toward the more realistic style of the Jax or Raiden segments you can count me in.

If you’re a big fan of the web series and have only seen the episodes streaming online, you’re going to be blown away by these new high-def transfers. For such a modest budget these Mortal Kombat: Legacy shorts look great on Blu! The presentation isn’t quite reference quality but this disc sports a much better looking image than I was expecting. Likewise, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack is surprisingly active and dynamic. Fans are in for a treat!

Fans are also going to be surprised by the collection of featurettes on the disc. I mean, there’s nothing really that meaty but the 40-minutes worth of featurettes included provide a fairly decent look at the production, from Tancharoen’s concept behind the whole thing all the way to fight choreography and gear. It’s a shame that the film-maker’s original film, ‘Rebirth‘ – the self-financed short that kicked off the whole project – wasn’t packaged on the disc. Seems like a missed opportunity to me.

AMAZON: $13.99

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:

Related posts

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• [VIDEO] Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 Blu-ray Trailer (0)
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• New Harry Potter: Ultimate Edition Blu-ray sets announced for Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince (1)
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The Harry Potter home video releases have been in the news this past week, with Warner announcing that all titles will be put on a brief moratorium come December 29th. The final film in the franchise, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, hits Blu-ray next week, on November 11, giving you a window of less than two months to grab it up before it’s gone. Now, we all know the films won’t be absent from shelves for long. In fact, the moratorium is only on the manufacture and distribution of the DVDs and Blu-ray discs in the USA. Discs will likely still be sitting on store shelves for some time, but anyone in the US deeply in need of getting their hands on one of those films and unable to find it in their country of origin need only hit up an international retailer, Canada included, where product will continue to be available. So, in short, there’s no need to panic. Warner have also confirmed that when Harry Potter returns to home video in late 2012 the last two Ultimate Collector’s Edition boxed sets in the series will finally be released along with a gargantuan multi-disc set of the entire series. So purchase wisely this holiday season with a mind to the fact that more Potter is on the horizon in the near future. In the meantime, to get you geared up for the final film’s debut on Blu, check out the trailer above for a preview of the disc and it’s special features.

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 2
(November 11, 2011 – MSRP $35.99)
Video: 2.40:1 MPEG-4 AVC 1080p
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Special Features:

• Blu-ray Exclusives:
  • Maximum Movie Mode hosted by Matthew Long (Neville Longbottom) and other cast members (80 minutes) – As the epic showdown between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort approaches, don’t miss a single detail as the forces of Good and Evil clash one final time throughout the grounds of Hogwarts.
  • A Conversation with JK Rowling and Daniel Radcliffe – Join J.K. Rowling and Daniel Radcliffe for an exclusive conversation about bringing the character of Harry Potter to life, the last decade of films and how their lives have changed by the fame that they’ve both experienced.
• The Goblins of Gringotts – Hosted by Warwick Davis, you’ll see the entire process of becoming a goblin” in a Harry Potter film, from auditions and casting to makeup and prosthetic tests as well as filming the final scenes.
• The Women of Harry Potter – A look at the remarkable women in Harry Potter’s life and the critical role they play in the films.
• When Harry Left Hogwarts – BAFTA award-winning filmmaker Morgan Matthews has been given unprecedented access to the creative decision-making processes that have been kept as a closely guarded secret – until now. Hear the personal stories of the faces we know, and those we don’t, as we come to the end of one of the most successful eras in cinema history.
• WB Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter
• Deleted Scenes
• Game demo of “LEGO® Harry PotterTM: Years 5-7 for PS3®

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• Top New Blu-ray releases for the Week of November 8 (1)
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• New Harry Potter: Ultimate Edition Blu-ray sets announced for Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince (1)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 and Complete Collection Blu-ray set announced and detailed (2)

GREEN LANTERN (2011, Blu-ray released October 14, 2011 – MSRP $35.99)

MOVIE:	★★☆☆☆
VIDEO:	★★★½☆
AUDIO:	★★★★½
EXTRAS:	★★★★☆
BLU-RAY:	★★★★☆

Green Lantern is a whole mess of missed opportunity. What could have been a killer first salvo in Warner‘s next franchise attack on the hearts, minds and wallets of the movie-going public has turned out to be a dud, due to some tragic missteps in craft and casting. And while the Blu-ray offers a lot of value and a powerful lossless soundtrack, the transfer on this bad boy just doesn’t cut the mustard.

“In a universe as vast as it is mysterious, an elite force of protectors for peace and justice has existed for centuries. They are the Green Lantern Corps. When a new enemy called Parallax threatens to destroy the Universe, their fate and the fate of Earth lie in the hands of the Corps’ newest recruit, the first human ever selected: Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds). Bringing the popular superhero to the big screen for the first time, “Green Lantern” also stars Blake Lively (“Gossip Girl”), Peter Sarsgaard (“Orphan”), Mark Strong (“Sherlock Holmes”), Academy Award(R) nominee Angela Bassett and Academy Award(R) winner Tim Robbins.“

I was rooting for Green Lantern from the moment it was announced until I finally sat through it in the theatres. At that point, I just gave up, not willing to waste any more good will and enthusiasm on such a failure of artistic and corporate momentum. Green Lantern has everything going for it – a great concept, fun designs and years of story backlogged in thousands of comics and cartoons. It also has the fabled and exhaustive Green Lantern Bible written by sci-fi great Larry Niven for DC comics in its corner, but that’s another story all together. Since GL’s willpower-and-imagination based energy constructs were really the only genuine obstacles in the path of bringing this story to screen for years – a hurdle now easily cleared through the magic and ubiquity of CGI – making a decent film should have been child’s play for the studio. Sadly, the script suffers from problems a first-year screenwriting student could spot and likely fix (a shallow and unlikable protagonist who never has to struggle to be the best pilot, a chick magnet or the recipient of magic powers and who suffers no ill effect for his petulant and privileged shortcomings, for starters) and the tone of the work is all over the map. Worst of all is Ryan Reynolds in the title role.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I dig Reynolds. And he does his level best here. But no matter how much CGI is slathered over him, no matter how he desperately tries to slip seamlessly into the material, he’s always just Ryan Reynolds up there on the screen, looking green and like he’s hard at work trying to be the right guy for the role. And he’s not. He never was. Never mind the rest of the film’s problems. This is the biggee. You know how Superman 3 and 4 are real stinkers but every time Christopher Reeve steps on screen as Superman you totally forget that the movie sucks because… well, damn, that’s Superman up there on screen? That never happens in Green Lantern. It’s always, always Reynolds on screen. And that’s why this movie fails. The audience wants to see Green Lantern, not an actor dressed up as Green Lantern. And the film just doesn’t deliver the goods.

Speaking of not delivering the goods, what’s up with this Blu-ray transfer?! When I look at the muddy, dark presentation of Green Lantern I can’t help but recall the studio head’s quote about making the sequel more like Nolan‘s The Dark Knight and that maybe, someone got the idea that cranking down the brightness on this bad boy might be a great first step at righting the wrongs of the film. If that’s the case, it’s an extremely dumb idea. The one thing the movie had going for it in the theatre was it’s look – bright green and alien when at its best. Now, most of the film is cast in shadow, which in turn throws off colours resulting in some pretty funky skin tones. What a shame. This could have at least been a fantastic Blu-ray disc instead of another case of the studio not having a clue how to tackle this character. The good news here is that the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track kicks all kinds of ass, delivering booming lows through your sub and tons of spacial effects through the surround channels. Finally, something to get excited about!

Aside from a kicking, lossless audio track, the other reason for fans to be excited about the Green Lantern Blu-ray is the reasonable bounty of special features included on the disc, best of which is Warner’s famous Maximum Movie Mode, in this case, featuring DCE Chief Creative Officer and Green Lantern comic scribe Geoff Johns in the host’s chair. This isn’t the MMM at its best though, the sort where directors like Zack Snyder step into frame, the film receding onto screens behind them as they fast forward, rewind and zoom in on small moments to blow out and examine the details of their movie making process. This is more like a run of the mill picture-in-picture track, with pop-up info, behind the scenes clips and nuggets of interviews. It’s still good stuff, just not quite as cool as what Warner has done in the past. The 47-minutes of ‘Focus Points‘ featurettes are also available to be watched outside of the MMM.

The other significant feature of note is the inclusion of the Extended Cut of the film, which adds back the prologue scenes that set up critical character relationships and detail the moments where Hal lost his father. In my opinion, it was a big mistake to cut this sequence. The final, theatrical cut of the film uses scenes from it in flashback when Hal is in jeopardy early on in the film (the Extended version of the film foolishly leaves them cut in at full length and would have been better served simply flashing images of Hal and his dad, since we’ve now watched the entire scene play out.)

NOTE: The US version of the Blu-ray disc includes a digital copy of the film via the brand new (and apparently hinky) Ultra Violet streaming service. The Canadian disc that I reviewed, which is otherwise identical in every way, was intended to include a standard digital copy of the theatrical cut of the film but due to a manufacturing error was left out. I haven’t heard about a fix for this yet but I’ll let you know as soon as Warner announces one.

Special Features:

• Theatrical Film
• Extended Cut
• Maximum Movie
• Mode with Picture in Picture Pods
• The Universe According to Green Lantern
• Ryan Reynolds Becomes Green Lantern
• Justice League #1 Digital Comic
• Additional Scenes
• Preview of Green Lantern: The Animated Series
• BD-Live
• Access code for Sinestro Corp Batman Skin on the Warner Bros. Interactive video game Batman: Arkham City

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