Blu-ray

Every bit as efficient and effective as its killer shark, Steven Spielberg’s 1975 smash is not just a fantastic horror film, it’s also as close as you’ll ever come to finding the perfect Hollywood blockbuster. Every single element is perfectly balanced, be it suspense, horror, levity, character development or good old fashioned storytelling. It’s nothing less than a milestone in the history of cinema and a bloody great film to boot.

Regular readers of this site will know that the film was originally scheduled to make its UK DVD and Blu-ray debut on May 16 this year. However, the release date ended up being delayed after review copies were sent out to the press and were found to present the film in an incorrect (open matte) aspect ratio. Almost a month after first contacting Warner Home Video with our discovery (during which time our story had been picked up by other sites and had even got back to Carpenter himself, who Tweeted about the situation), the studio finally announced that it was delaying the release until later in the year, so that it could master the film in the correct aspect ratio. So, let's find out if it's actually been worth the wait...

A century after he first appeared in print, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ sci-fi hero has finally made the leap to the silver screen. Unfortunately, despite all of its flashy CG wizardry, John Carter can’t help but feel vaguely old-fashioned.

Jonah Hex might not be the most high profile comic book character to make the leap to the big screen. But that’s no excuse for the paucity of effort and imagination that was put into cooking up this cinematic turkey.

While Terminator 2 might have introduced audiences around the world to the possibilities of computer-generated effects, it was Steven Spielberg’s 1993 smash Jurassic Park that truly revolutionised cinema. Seamlessly mixing CG visuals and life-size models, this bigscreen adaptation of Michael Crichton’s sci-fi bestseller convinced audiences around the world that dinosaurs walked still walked the Earth, and in the process transformed the visual effects industry almost overnight. And while the film itself suffers by comparison to Crichton’s darker novel (and some of the dinosaur info is extremely suspect – not least the oversized Velociraptors), taken on its own right, it’s an entertaining thrill ride full of wonder and terrific dinosaur effects.

Not even an all-star voice cast including Antonio Banderas, Charles Dance and Saoirse Ronan can save this sub-Shrek medieval 'toon. So banal that it's only real audience will be the most undemanding kids, we doubt many buyers will actually make use of the Blu-ray's optional 3D mode, which is a shame as the stereoscopic MVC 2.40:1 1080p visuals add some much-needed dynamism to the otherwise sharp-but-bland animation. The disc also offers a rather modest DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix, an hour of interviews and four featurettes.