Blu-ray

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Anton van Beek  |  Aug 08, 2012  |  0 comments

Taking its cues from The Phantom of the Opera and The Murders in the Rue Morgue, it’s safe to say that this isn’t your typical animated kids’ film. And yet A Monster in Paris ultimately has little to offer older viewers outside of some attractive production design.

Anton van Beek  |  Aug 07, 2012  |  0 comments

Originally banned outright by UK censors, this first screen adaptation of H.G. Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau has stood the test of time extremely well. Unlike other horrors from the same era, the film still maintains an unshakable aura of terror and taboo-busting.

Anton van Beek  |  Aug 06, 2012  |  0 comments

With a sequel hitting cinemas this Summer, it’s no surprise to find The Expendables being revisited here as an all-new 113-minute ‘Extended Director’s Cut’. As with Rambo, this isn’t only about adding new footage – Stallone has effectively re-edited the film from the ground up, utilising alternate takes and restructuring entire scenes. For a very detailed account of all of the changes, we highly recommend looking here and here.

Anton van Beek  |  Aug 04, 2012  |  0 comments

It’s now 50 years since screen icon and sex symbol Marilyn Monroe passed away, but during that time her star power has not diminished one iota. Strange, then that until now none of her films have been released on Blu-ray in the UK. This four-disc set brings together four of her best (and best-loved) titles – Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, How to Marry a Millionaire, The Seven Year Itch and Some Like It Hot. So let’s get stuck in…

Anton van Beek  |  Aug 03, 2012  |  0 comments

It’s been over a decade since Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzy Bear, Gonzo the Great and the rest of Jim Henson’s madcap puppets last appeared on the silver screen in the disappointing Muppets from Space. With their career in the doldrums, it looked like the franchise was done for and could only be saved by something truly amazing. Enter The Muppets, a heartfelt and extremely funny attempt to reintroduce the gang to kids of all ages. And you know what? It works. Welcome back!

Anton van Beek  |  Aug 02, 2012  |  0 comments

It’s easy to see why the likes of Bruce Willis and Forrest Whitaker were attracted to this debut feature by writer/director Aaron Harvey. Indeed, with its intricate plotting and tricky narrative structure, Catch .44 often feels like the bastard offspring of Elmore Leonard and Quentin Tarantino. Unfortunately, there are a few too many self-referential jokes (like the one about Bruce Willis’ album... Urgh!) that spoil the fun and take the edge off the film. The BD itself boasts an attractively detailed AVC 2.40:1 1080p encode and surprisingly forceful Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track. The disc also offers up an interesting chat-track from writer/director Harvey and editor Richard Byard.

Anton van Beek  |  Aug 01, 2012  |  0 comments

This triple-pack serves up Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s fun-packed, gore-splashed vampire flick (blighted only by the latter’s appalling acting) and its two made-for-DVD spawn. The dreadful Texas Blood Money sees a gang of bank robbers become vampires, while the Western-themed The Hangman’s Daughter acts as a slightly less awful prequel to the series.

Anton van Beek  |  Jul 31, 2012  |  0 comments

Cult label Arrow Video has pulled out all the stops with this three-disc edition of Lucio Fulci’s legendary shocker. The Blu-ray disc includes a restored AVC 2.40:1 1080p presentation of the film that suffers a little from the digitised look familiar to Arrow releases (but still marks a general improvement in this regard for the company) accompanied by LPCM 2.0 Italian and English tracks, two commentaries and a series of interviews (including a general piece celebrating the ‘Ladies of Italian Horror’). This content is replicated in SD on an accompanying DVD platter. A second DVD offers a Q&A, deleted scene and various vintage trailers.

Anton van Beek  |  Jul 29, 2012  |  0 comments

Even the usually reliable Clive Owen can’t do much with this lacklustre supernatural thriller from Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, director of the surrpisingly good 28 Weeks Later. The film recounts two parallel tales, one in England and one in Spain, both featuring a child being haunted by a faceless bogeyman. What could the link be? Well, if you can’t work that out long before the final revelation, then you simply haven’t watched enough films.

Anton van Beek  |  Jul 29, 2012  |  0 comments

It may have had a pretty tough time with critics on its original release, but this animated take on the story of Pocahontas has stood the test of time slightly better than contemporary stablemates like The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Tarzan. In terms of disc content, it's also the best of the trio of recent Disney back catalogue Blu-ray releases (The Fox and the Hound and Tarzan) by a considerable distance.

Anton van Beek  |  Jul 29, 2012  |  0 comments

This Blu-ray debut for Disney’s take on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ ape-man is every bit as frustrating as that for The Fox and the Hound. Visually it fares much better, with a beautifully presented AVC 1.78:1 1080p encode, but this disc can’t even muster a lossless soundtrack, only offering a 'lossy' Dolby Digital 5.1 mix – a cardinal sin for a modern movie released on Blu-ray.

Anton van Beek  |  Jul 27, 2012  |  0 comments

When it comes to the pantheon of Marvel Comics superheroes, few can boast the same visual impact as Ghost Rider’s flaming skull and motorbike. But that’s pretty much all he offers – a stylish visual that wouldn’t look out of place on the cover of a 1980s heavy metal album.

Anton van Beek  |  Jul 25, 2012  |  0 comments

Few people class this feature as one of Disney’s animated classics. Typical of the studio’s output in the ‘80s, The Fox and the Hound feels both old-fashioned and unimaginative. But is that really an excuse for not putting much effort into its Blu-ray release?

Anton van Beek  |  Jul 24, 2012  |  0 comments

Having reigned in his more outrageous sensibilities for the sublime 13 Assassins this live-action update of a ‘70s anime series lets director Miike Takashi cut loose once again, filling the screen with manic action and CG effects. The resulting film is a bit too smutty for kids and is too tongue-in-cheek for fans of the original Yatterman ‘toon, so I’m at a loss to guess who exactly it’s aimed at.

Anton van Beek  |  Jul 23, 2012  |  0 comments

Swedish and Danish cops are forced into working together when a woman's bisected body is found in the middle of a busy bridge linking the two countries. What follows are ten episodes of high-quality Nordic noir, made even more compelling by Sofia Helin’s mesmerising turn as the socially-awkward detective Saga Norén. Roll on series two...

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