Blu-ray review: ‘The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy: Extended Edition’
If you don’t already have Middle Earth fatigue, the absolute top-of-the-line edition of Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy is available on Blu-ray. The extended, remastered editions plus tons of extras are available on a fifteen-disc set.
Thor: Tales of Asgard DVD/Blu-ray review
Thor: Tales of Asgard
A young Thor stars in “Thor: Tales of Asgard,” a direct to DVD and Blu-ray Marvel animated film that explores the youth of the god of thunder. Before the days when he wields the powerful hammer Mjolnir, this young Thor (“Matthew Wolf”) is a brash young prince who bristles against control and craves praise.
Star Wars Blu-ray special features announced – what do you think?
The special features for the Star Wars: The Complete Saga Blu-rays were announced today – as part of Star Wars Day festivities at maythe4th.starwars.com. Star Wars: The Complete Saga will be on sale in North America on Sept. 16. You can also see a video about the release at the site. What do you think? Does this make you want to buy the Star Wars films? Does it make you want to buy them again, if you already own them on DVD? Details on the features are after the break.
- Matt Price
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The Last Unicorn – Blu-ray review
“The Last Unicorn,” based on the book by Peter S. Beagle, is a wistful fantasy that moves at its own pace. The well-characterized fantasy is a good example of 2-D animation of the 1980s.
“Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 Motion Comic” Blu-ray/DVD combo review
When Joss Whedon’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” ended after seven critically acclaimed years on television, the show’s fan base still had an interest in the characters. Whedon elected to continue the series through the medium of comics, in a Dark Horse series called “Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8.” Those comics have been animated and voiced in the motion comic, produced and directed by Jeff Shuter, and is now available on DVD and Blu-ray.
“Space: 1999″ Complete Season 1 Blu-ray review
The first season of the British-produced “Space: 1999” from 1975 comes to Blu-ray. Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, popular from the “Mission Impossible” television series, starred in this sci-fi series.
X-Men: First Class reveals a villain; Tron: Legacy goes stop-motion; Christmas comics and Doctor Who
BRING THE BACON
Kevin Bacon tells Philadelphia Style that he will play mutant villain Sebastian Shaw in “X-Men: First Class.”
TRON STOP-MOTION DEBUTS
For his latest stop-motion animation project, NewsOK videographer Kyle Roberts tackled “Tron: Legacy.” Shooting more than 800 photographs in the dark, co-host Kyle Roberts used light-painting to make his subjects — the light cycles from “Tron” — race.
CHRISTMAS COMICS
Comic art from “The Great Treasury of Christmas Comic Book Stories.”
Craig Yoe, who previously edited and designed “The Golden Collection of Krazy Kool Klassic Kids’ Komics” has collated another collection that should delight young and old alike. “The Great Treasury of Christmas Comic Book Stories,” includes John Stanley (“Little Lulu”), Walt Kelly (“Pogo”) and Richard Scarry (Little Golden Books). Read more in this Friday’s Weekend Look.
DOCTOR WHO GIVEAWAY
Find out the winners of our Doctor Who DVD and Blu-ray giveaway!
Iron Man 2 Blu-ray review
Iron Man 2 Blu-ray
The high-tech “Iron Man 2” comes to Blu-ray with tons of extras packed in, as well as a third disc containing a DVD and digital copy of the film.
In the second “Iron Man” film, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) discovers that the device he created in the first movie to power the “Iron Man” armor and keep his heart beating is also killing him. Not wanting to burden others with his problems, he withdraws into his work and increasingly erratic behavior. Meanwhile, Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), the son of an exiled Russian who helped Stark’s father develop the ideas behind the power source Stark used for his “Iron Man” armor, develops a weapon of his own, in an attempt to discredit Stark.
Vanko’s attack on Stark in Monaco, in the film’s best sequence, draws the attention of arms manufacturer Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), who wants to parlay Vanko’s know-how into his own armored suits to sell to the U.S. government.
The film is flashy and explosive, and director Jon Favreau knows how to let his actors work. The film may feel overstuffed to some. Characters Nick Fury (Samuel Jackson), Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johansson) and Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) work in an espionage subplot, while returning characters Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), Happy Hogan (Favreau) and James Rhodes (Don Cheadle, replacing Terrence Howard) focus on Tony’s personal problems. Both of these eventually intersect, as Stark discovers his father’s true legacy.
The Blu-ray looks fantastic and is packed with three hours of extras, including featurettes on making the films, creating the armor suits, introducing new characters, deleted scenes with commentary, a music video and more. The “data vault” on the first disc works in conjunction with selected scenes to provide additional information. There’s also a full-length commentary on the film by Favreau.
— Matthew Price Listed on wimgo Movies under Action
Kevin Feige on Iron Man 2
Robert Downey Jr. in "Iron Man 2"
Flawed heroes are what make Marvel superhero films interesting, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige said in a news conference promoting “Iron Man 2,” released recently on DVD and Blu-ray.
“When it comes to larger-than-life characters like our Marvel superheroes, a flaw is what makes them human and is their most important aspect,” he said. “We can push that flaw as far as we can, just short of puking into a toilet.”
Kevin Feige
Feige was referring to an alternate opening to “Iron Man 2,” included on the Blu-ray, which opens with Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, with his head in a toilet.
“While we liked the notion of starting off with our hero in an unexpected manner, ultimately (director) Jon (Favreau) felt it was best to see Tony first revealed on the Stark Expo stage,” Feige said.
Feige said the comic-book inspirations of films such as “Iron Man 2” will allow Marvel to make exciting stories for years to come.
“We have the incredibly unfair advantage of almost 70 years of material, all of which has been revamped and refreshed over the decades in comic book form,” Feige said. “Our job is to look at the rich history of these characters and pick the best stories to tell.”
Feige mentioned in particular Matt Fraction’s “Invincible Iron Man” comic books informing the Tony Stark in “Iron Man 2.”
“We’re huge fans of the Fraction run,” he said. “It was a big part of our discussions for part 2 and continues to be part of our conversations of how the character will be moving forward.”
Multiple new armored suits for Iron Man appear in “Iron Man 2.” Feige said he was most proud of the development of the suitcase armor, which Tony puts on after being attacked in Monaco by Whiplash (Mickey Rourke).
“The suitcase suit is the thing we are most proud of and was the very first new suit we discussed,” Feige said. “Because it was right out of the books and because at the time we had no idea how we were going to pull it off.”
Feige praised the work of designer Ryan Meinerding and the designers at D-neg, saying they made the suitcase armor into the “showcase suit” of this film. It’s the suit featured on the cover to the Blu-ray release of “Iron Man 2.”
Marvel Studios remains busy, as filming just wrapped on “Thor” and continues on “Captain America.”
“It’s incredibly exciting to be back in the mode of introducing characters to the audience for the first time as we did with Iron Man in 2008,” Feige said. “I think that moviegoers are in for a big surprise when more of Thor and Captain America is revealed in the coming months.”
- By Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
Piranha Blu-ray review
Obviously inspired by the success of “Jaws,” the Roger Corman-produced “Piranha” (1978) follows a sleepy Texas village that finds itself under attack from hordes of mutant piranha. The film is directed by Joe Dante (“Innerspace,” “Gremlins”), and you’ll see some actors from later Dante projects appearing in this film.
After two teen backpackers disappear in the woods, Maggie McKeown (Heather Menzies), a “skip tracer,” is sent to investigate their disappearance. She questions the sullen rural sot Paul Grogan (Bradford Dillman) who, despite not liking her very much, agrees to help her track the missing teens. They break into a hidden military base upstream, where they find clues to the disappearance — and accidentally drain the pool on base holding the mutated piranha, who were responsible for the teens’ demise.
Working with Dr. Robert Hoak (Kevin McCarthy), the lead project scientist on the deadly piranha project who stayed behind on the abandoned base, they try to warn the town of the danger to come. And when Grogan discovers the piranha have the ability to swim upstream, endangering both a new aquatic park and his daughter’s summer camp, the stakes get even higher.
Written by John Sayles (“Eight Men Out”) in his feature film debut, the dialogue veers from the campily witty to the flat-out goofy.
The acting is over the top, which actually fits nicely with the overall presentation of the material.
While there’s no mistaking the kind of entertainment this is, “Piranha” revels in its B-grade status, while making some wry commentary along the way. It’s almost impossible not to be entertained in some way by this film.
Blu-ray extras include audio commentary, a behind-the-scenes featurette, bloopers, trailers and deleted scenes.
— Matthew Price
