“STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE TRILOGY”
“GALAXY QUEST: DELUXE EDITION”
“THE BEST OF STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES”
“GIGANTOR: THE COLLECTION VOL. 1”
“THE FALL AND RISE OF REGINALD PERRIN”
“GLASS: A PORTRAIT OF PHILIP IN TWELVE PARTS”
Blu-ray widescreen and DVD widescreen, 2008, unrated brutal violence, language and brief sexuality
Best extra: An informative and educational commentary with screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen, a longtime partner of French producer Luc Besson
“TAKEN” HAS TO BE one of the biggest blockbuster surprises since “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.”
For more than a year, the action thriller from French director Pierre Morel starring Liam Neeson (Bryan Mills) premiered around the globe – not making much money. It even played in Croatia and Iceland before hitting the U.S. Once stateside, “Taken” took off, raking in over $140 million. Moviegoers loved its pure escapism and violent revenge factor.
Neeson plays a former CIA counter intelligence agent who reverts to a killing machine when his 17-year-old daughter (Maggie Grace) is kidnapped to be sold in an underground sex trade operation.
The two-disc Blu-ray and DVD include the U.S. theatrical cut and the extended edit that includes a more explicit torture scene. Blu-ray imagery is solid with natural film grain and plenty of HD visual depth, even during night sequences.
The commentary in French with Morel and his director of photography is useless. It’s just too difficult to follow, even with subtitles. But, Kamen is engaging and quite frank during his track, initially questioning whether Irish actor Neeson was the right choice. After meeting the 6-foot-4 ex-boxer, all doubt was gone.
The Blu-ray includes a pop-up trivia track with plenty of spy facts, a running body count – totaling over 30 killed – miles traveled, and a 96 hour clock, the time before the girl will become untraceable.
Also, there’s a standard fare “making of” featurette with behind-scenes video, interviews, and haunting footage from the ‘08 premiere in Paris showing Neeson with his wife Natasha Richardson, who would die 13 months later from a skiing accident.
— Bill Kelley III
“STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE TRILOGY”
Blu-ray widescreen, 1982, 1984, 1986, PG for sci-fi violence
Best extra: James Horner talks about the creation of one of his earliest and most beloved scores in the hi-def featurette "Composing Genesis."
WRITER/DIRECTOR NICHOLAS Meyer admits he never watched "Star Trek" on TV and basically knew nothing about it – until he got involved in "The Wrath of Khan." Meyer reveals more stories during his new commentary – including his love of authors Jules Verne and Tolkien. Their principle that fantasy must be rooted in reality became the foundation of “Khan,” considered one of the greatest sci-fi films of all time.
"The Wrath of Khan," "The Search for Spock" and "The Voyage Home" has just arrived on Blu-ray. Believed to be "the most successful unintended trilogy" by those involved, it makes perfect “Trekkie” viewing before heading to the multiplex to see J.J. Abrams' re-creation of the franchise.
The new hi-def transfers are uniformly excellent with "Khan" looking the best of the bunch. All three blow their previous DVD incarnations out of the water, providing greater depth, detail, and more vibrant colors. The uncompressed audio tracks also offer a significant upgrade, particularly in the case of "Khan" with its 7.1 Dolby TrueHD track that highlights an early James Horner score and an array of impressive sound effects.
All of the extras from the two-disc DVD editions released in (2002) have been retained, including commentaries, a wealth of standard-def featurettes, storyboards, photo galleries, text commentaries, and trailers.
So much ground is covered in the original extras (over 6 hours) that it’s no surprise the new HD extras had to, for the most part, take a step away and explore other aspects of the "Trek" universe. These include a trip to the Science Fiction Museum Hall of Fame, a look at the collecting and selling of "Trek" memorabilia, a feature in which Greenpeace discusses the environmental message of "Voyage Home," and more. None of these pieces run much longer than 10-minutes.
There are also two new commentaries. Ronald D. Moore, the genius behind "Battlestar Galactica" and a producer and writer on both "The Next Generation" and "Deep Space Nine," contributes a track for "Spock" with fellow "Battlestar" and "Trek" writer Michael Taylor and Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, who wrote the new "Trek" film for J.J. Abrams. They show up on "Voyage Home" to discuss happy memories of watching the adventure as kids. Both writer tracks are interesting, but are essentially fan tracks.
Each disc includes a "Library Computer" feature, a sort of virtual Federation Wikipedia showcasing characters, ships, planets and more. Fans may also enjoy the BD-LIVE "Star Trek I.Q." which tests your Trek knowledge.
The other films in the original Star Trek series – the "The Motion Picture," "The Final Frontier," and "The Undiscovered Country" – are available in the "Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection," which contains all six films plus a bonus disc, "Star Trek Summit," an in-depth interview with the cast conducted by Whoopi Goldberg. We can't comment on the quality of the other films in the series because we were only provided with the "Motion Picture Trilogy" for review.
It's also important to note that these Blu-rays do not include the director's cut of "The Motion Picture" (far superior to the theatrical version) or the "Director's Edition" of "Khan" or the alternate version of "The Undiscovered Country." Have no doubt, Paramount will resurrect those versions.
Highly recommended!
— Josh Boone
Blu-ray widescreen and DVD widescreen, 2008, PG-13 for thematic elements including some scary images and sensuality
Best extra: The "Analysis of the Plane Crash" featurette (in HD) looks at the planning and effects utilized to create the film's harrowing crash.
RODRIGO GARCIA, WHO built his career directing episodes of HBO’s "Six Feet Under" and "Carnivale," makes a misstep with "Passengers." This poorly reviewed and barely released chiller steals from two much better films, "Fearless" and "The Sixth Sense," and mashes them together into a clumsy supernatural drama. Anne Hathaway and Patrick Wilson do the best they can but the screenplay doesn't do them any favors.
While the film isn't the greatest, the Blu-ray comes with a striking transfer with excellent detail and rich blacks and an impressive uncompressed audio track that pays particular attention to the sound design of the plane crash.
Extras include a fairly interesting audio commentary with Garcia and Wilson who are on separate coasts during the discussion, the "Analysis" featurette, "In the Night Sky," a behind-the-scenes featurette (also in HD) that has interviews with the cast and crew and a few too many film clips, and three deleted scenes (HD).
Seeing that the film made less than half a million dollars in theaters, most people will be viewing it for the first time on home video. That said, I would recommend the curious rent before buying. Although the technical aspects of the Blu-ray are excellent, the forgettable film leaves a lot to be desired.
— Josh Boone
“GALAXY QUEST: DELUXE EDITION”
DVD widescreen, 2000, rated PG for action violence, mind language and sensuality
Best extra: “The Story of Galaxy Quest” is a fine behind-scenes look at a modern sci-fi classic.
A LOGICAL REISSUE by Paramount this week is “Galaxy Quest: Deluxe Edition.” The most pitch-perfect scripted parody of “Star Trek” fandom ever filmed, its setup involves the cast of a fictional cancelled sci-fi program (led by greats Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, and Alan Rickman), who are conscripted by the meek, good-natured Thermians to fight an interstellar war on their behalf. All the real-life versions from “Trek” are here, and everything works beautifully.
While there are no commentaries on the disc, it has been re-mastered for your viewing pleasure, making all those boffo effects look even better than before. There are also a boatload of new featurettes covering everything you ever wanted to know about the production’s f/x, origins, writing and actors.
Highlights include actor Enrico Colantoni’s accidental invention of Thermian vocal patterns during an audition, a video birthday card from Sigourney Weaver to her agent where she – shudder! – raps; and a making-of documentary, where a first-time writer describes how he moved to L.A. with the first draft of the film and hit it out of the park. Even successful “Trek” movie director and scribe Nicholas Meyer sounds off.
The goofiest extra, without question, is an entire commentary track in the Thermian language. It isn’t actually translatable – but that doesn’t mean some fanboy won’t try.
— Carl Hott
“THE BEST OF STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES”
“THE BEST OF STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION”
DVD full-screen: 1966-1967 and 1989-1990, not rated
Best extra: No extras.
OH, FOR THE LOVE of Spock, Paramount! Counting previous best-of collections and Blu-ray editions, this will be the fourth time the production studio has attempted to sell the same product to fans. This incarnation selects four shows from the first two series deemed among the best. The problem is, only a handful of episodes are truly standalones. If you don’t know who Tasha Yar or the Borg are before delving into the “Next Generation” set, for instance, their dramatic impact will be lost. Paramount wouldn’t keep trotting new versions out if they didn’t sell, so maybe I’m missing something. But considering the lack of extras – the only reason people buy such discs in the first place – it seems pretty foolish. If you really want something fresh, save your hard-earned cash for the boldly re-imagined version in theaters instead.
— Carl Hott
Bu-ray widescreen, 2005, not rated
Best extra: Commentary from director Justin Chadwick, writer Andrew Davies and producer Nigel Stafford-Clark discuss adapting Dickens’s complex book.
SHAKESPEARE MAY HAVE written “Kill all the lawyers,” but Charles Dickens makes a case for it in “Bleak House.” His Victorian novel is as complex as a legal brief, dealing with orphans and an inheritance, benefactors and villains, lovers and losers. But writer Andrew Davies, he of the remarkable 1995 “Pride & Prejudice” adaptation, turned out a script that earned Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for best miniseries and for acting. It won Emmys for Outstanding Cinematography and Outstanding Makeup.
A terrific cast includes Gillian Anderson, Anna Maxwell Martin, Denis Lawson, Patrick Kennedy and Philip Davis. This is a gothic mystery – acknowledged as one of the first mysteries written – with moody backgrounds and costumes. You’re not looking at a cheery palette, but Blu-ray enhances the drama, particularly in shadowed scenes. It’s a bit over-processed, so detail is hit or miss. The soundtrack is good and you’ll catch all the dialogue. That’s what counts here.
Additional extras include cast interviews and photo gallery, all in standard-def. If you love the classics, this is one for your collection.
— Mike Reynolds
Blu-ray widescreen, 2000-2001, not rated, contains scenes of gore/autopsies, adult themes
Best extra: Extended director’s cut pilot with commentary with director Danny Cannon
IT IS SO GREAT to be back with Gil Grissom (William Petersen) and the team – Catherine (Marg Helgenberger), Nick (George Eads), Sara (Jorja Fox), (Warrick) Gary Dourdan, Capt. Brass (Paul Guilfoyle), Hodges (Wallace Langham), Greg (Eric Szmanda) and Al (Robert David Hall) – when they first began. Especially in this great, widescreen high-def presentation and particularly after Grissom’s departure this year.
Yep. Nice to get back to the roots before the CSI spinoffs and copycats – good as some of them may be – hit our TV screens.
The show looks excellent in Blu-ray with great detail, rich color and deep blacks. (There will be times when you’ll want to look away from the bugs and the ick. That’s OK.) Sound is also good, better even than you might find in some motion pictures. Each of the 23 episodes features a stunning musical score, special effects and crisp dialogue on a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround track.
In addition to the extended pilot and commentary, new and exclusive features in HD include a 28 minute revised, retrospective documentary and deleted scenes. Also look for a standard-def carryover, “People Lie But The Evidence Never Does,” a gag reel, and commercials and episode promos.
Recommended!
— Mike Reynolds
Blu-ray widescreen and DVD widescreen, 2008, not rated
Best extra: The Blu-ray features an exclusive 40 minute film from 1995 from "Town" director David Gregory.
WITH SO MANY forgettable, straight-to-video horror titles cluttering the marketplace, it's nice to see something genuinely unnerving pop up to surprise gore-hounds. Dark Sky has enough confidence in the title, which is receiving extremely positive reviews, they've decided to release a Blu-ray as well as a standard DVD. Shot in Connecticut but set in Ireland (if I hadn't told you, you would never have known) the film starts out fairly conventional, with a bickering family finding themselves stranded in the countryside as night falls, and then descends into a nightmare scenario that is graphically violent in the sprit of ‘70s horror cinema.
Gregory made a name for himself directing and writing the retrospective documentaries for many horror DVDs including "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre." He used all the knowledge he accumulated through years of interviewing the greats to plan "Plague Town."
Shot on Super-16, "Plague Town" looks uniformly excellent on Blu-ray, with gore effects holding up even under HD scrutiny. The uncompressed audio track is also strong, highlighting the film's evocative score.
Extras include a commentary by Gregory who gives lots of details about the film's production, like how he used many of the same crew members from his DVD docs, and how local parents were kind enough to let their children shoot late into the night. The making-of documentary, as one would expect from Gregory, is a good piece with lots of detail, although there is overlap with the commentary. Best though is the Blu-ray exclusive of Gregory's effective and eerie short "Scathed," which features famed transsexual Holly Woodlawn, who appeared in Andy Warhol films and is mentioned in the Velvet Underground song "Walk on the Wild Side."
Highly recommended for horror fans.
— Josh Boone
“GIGANTOR: THE COLLECTION VOL. 1”
DVD full-screen, 1964, not rated
Best extra: The interview with an anime historian is a good primer to the significance of the art form.
IT WAS A SERIES that preceded “Speed Racer” by more than a year and cemented the reputation of Japanese animation, now known as anime, in the States. Renamed “Gigantor” from its original Japanese title "Tetsujin 28-go," it showcases the zippy adventures of a boy and his giant, crime-fighting robot. It gained widespread acclaim in the ’60s, as did the revived and colorized version of the ’90s. This set presents transfers of the first 26 episodes from the original Japanese 16mm film.
Fred Ladd, the American writer/producer for the series, is interviewed in a featurette and provides commentary on three episodes. There he explains how a writing gig at a radio station eventually led him to become a hero in Japan, how episodes were re-dubbed to work for American audiences (notably, writing dialogue to sync up with mouth movements), and the significance of how various characters were renamed. For the uninitiated in the genre, the set also includes a segment with anime historian Fred Patton, who details how an art form limited to hobbyists gained ground in Japan in World War II when it was used as a propaganda device. Finally, the set includes computer-readable versions of issues 1- 6 of a limited 12-issue American comic book based on the series.
— Carl Hott
DVD widescreen, 1979, unrated, themes, mild language, violence and sensuality
Best extra: An interview with co-writer Benedict Fitzgerald
JOHN HUSTON HAD already steered novels by Dashiell Hammett, Stephen Crane and Herman Melville to the screen. But that’s not why first-time writer Benedict Fitzgerald wanted him to direct his adaptation of the darkly comic first novel by the great Southern writer Flannery O’Connor.
“He liked to tell a story the way it is,” says Fitzgerald, who wrote the script with his brother Michael. “He wouldn’t be taken by the allegory.”
Star Brad Dourif remembers as much. Huston’s direction, he says in a separate interview, was always simple. “It was all about the performance.”
Just out of the Army and disillusioned, Hazel Motes (Dourif) looks to distance himself from his maker by establishing the Church of Christ Without Christ,“ where the blind can’t see, the lame don’t walk, and the dead stay that way.” This being O’Connor, redemption will not be denied, even if Hazel fights it at every turn.
To say Dourif’s performance is intense is to undersell it. Ned Beatty, Harry Dean Stanton and Amy Wright are memorable in supporting roles, and Mary Neil Santacroce, as the Landlady, is a treasure. But what really makes the movie are the unpolished locals who were recruited in and around Macon, Ga. They provide the authenticity that is part and parcel of an O’Connor story.
In his own interview, Michael Fitzgerald recalls his parents’ deep friendship with the author. This Criterion title also includes a fascinating profile of Huston that aired in 1982 on “Creativity With Bill Moyers.”
— Craig Shapiro
“THE FALL AND RISE OF REGINALD PERRIN”
DVD full-screen, 1976-79, unrated, an occasional bare bottom, saucy dialogue
Best extra: “The Very Best of Leonard Rossiter,” a profile of the series’ star
THE DVD UNIVERSE turns on one unshakable maxim: If there’s a title you want, sit tight. It will be released. Thus, fans of this U.K. gem can finally say, “Finally!”
For the uninitiated, Reginald Perrin, 46, is a stressed-out senior sales executive at Sunshine Desserts. His job is a crashing bore. His life is a crashing bore. His family and friends and associates are crashing bores. One day, Reggie fakes his suicide, disappears into the sea and emerges a new man. He thinks. Funny how that works.
The late Leonard Rossiter inhabits Reggie the same way John Cleese inhabited Basil Fawlty. (Those who insist that “Rising Damp’s” Rupert Rigsby was Rossiter’s career-definer haven’t seen “Reginald Perrin.” Ignore them.)
As it turns out, the role wasn’t too far from Rossiter’s experience. In a profile, his colleagues say he talked little about his past, but they do let on that he once worked 9-to-5 in an insurance office and he hated it. One day, he switched direction.
The four-disc set collects all 21 episodes of the short-lived series, plus a Christmas special. You couldn’t call the picture pristine; then, you couldn’t say it’s awful. Who cares?
Next on the checklist: :Hey Vern, It's Ernest!"
— Craig Shapiro
“GLASS: A PORTRAIT OF PHILIP IN TWELVE PARTS”
DVD widescreen, 2008, unrated, nothing objectionable
Best extra: A commentary by director Scott Hicks
WHEN SCOTT HICKS was asked about making a documentary about the contemporary composer Philip Glass, he did something he’d never done before: He picked up a camera, rounded up his sound recordist and production assistant, and went to work.
Make that showed up. It might have been at breakfast, in the studio, at a friend’s SoHo apartment or Glass’ vacation home – dubbed “Philville” – in Nova Scotia.
Hicks (“Shine”) also made the decision to not ask anyone to repeat or stage anything. The idea, simply, was to capture the moment: Glass riding The Cyclone at Coney Island; visiting artist Chuck Close; in the kitchen making vegan pizzas.
As a result, his project became a conversation, helped in no small part, Hicks says in his commentary, by the nature of his subject. Far from the austere, aloof, intimidating artiste viewers might expect, Glass is what he is – sociable, accessible and engaging.
The two-disc set is packed with extras. Hicks’ commentary is a fine starting point. A series of interviews with Glass touch on every facet of his life and music. Also included are a big handful of deleted/extended scenes and four performances. A rehearsal of his score for “Dracula” with the Kronos Quartet will be a special treat for those who were in the audience for his 2003 performance at the Roper Performing Arts Center in downtown Norfolk.
— Craig Shapiro
Blu-ray widescreen and DVD widescreen, 2008, not rated
Best extra: The 58-minute performance can be considered a bonus in and of itself, since it not only includes a performance last year in Denver, it also includes behind-scene interviews with the divas and others.
FOR ANYONE WHO loves the beauty of a human voice and all its intricacies, plus the harmony of three amazing women, "3 Mo’ Divas" will keep you entertained. Even if you don’t, get some culture and check out these stars.
Conceived by Marion J. Caffey, creator of "Three Mo’ Tenors," the show features sopranos Nova Y. Payton and Jamet Pittman, and mezzo-soprano Laurice Lanier. This originally aired on PBS.
Even though each of the women was classically trained, they sing a variety of wonderful hits in 10 musical styles, from "Lullaby on Broadway" to "Quando m’en vo’."
The sound quality and picture quality are superb in hi-def, although you don’t necessarily have to watch the performance to enjoy the music. In addition to rehearsal clips during the show and interviews, the Blu-ray and DVD also contain biographies of the three entertainers and "8 Mo’ Songs," including "Del mio dolce ardor" and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy."
As Pittman says in one of the interviews, she and her colleagues enjoy sounding like one machine, "well-oiled and working together. There’s brilliance in that."
Yes, there is.
— Toni Guagenti
DVD full-screen, 1994, unrated
Best extra: Interview with the show’s co-star, Maggie Steed.
THIS ENJOYABLE SERIES about Henry Crabbe, an English police inspector played by Richard Griffiths, who wants to retire and run his own restaurant, kind of grows on you. With the help of his wife (Maggie Steed), an accountant, the restaurant opens with Crabbe as its chef, who must deal with frequent interruptions to solve the odd murder. The first episode might seem a bit preposterous and way too cute. But stick with it and viewers will see the shows are well-written, the mysteries interesting, and the cast made up of real pros. Guest stars appear in various episodes – look for Andy Serkis, Michael Kitchen, Pete Postlethwaite – and there’s enough food-related stuff to appeal to fans of the Cooking Channel.
In her interview, Steed admits she initially thought the scripts for the show “were utterly bizarre,” but she loved working with Griffiths and came to see why the 3-year series became so popular. It worked because it was “character-led” and “the audience warmed to the chaos of it.” Other extras include a text-only bio of Griffiths, production notes and, believe it or not, a complete recipe for steak and kidney pie!
— Peggy Earle
"THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS”
DVD full-screen, 1941, 1935, 1949 G for the all-family
Best extra: None
DISNEY CONTINUES its archive raid with three more volumes of what the company terms “classic short films.” Of course, classic is in the eye of the beholder.
As with previous releases in this series, Disney packages one famous cartoon with a number of lesser ones with results that are uneven and at times, disconcerting. Archivists will find the scattershot approach maddening and for good reason.
Walt Disney always strove to improve the artistry of his cartoons, so a Silly Symphony from 1932 looks dramatically different from one eight years later. In terms of animation quality, personality animation and storyline, later cartoons have it all over the early ones. Just compare the rubbery humans in “The Goddess of Spring” to those in “Paul Bunyan” on “The Tortoise and the Hare” collection.
That said, it’s wonderful to see these rarely-seen pieces of animation history and they make the perfect choice for young viewers. “Once upon a time” is a key phrase here, and Disney always put morals into his storylines that parents will appreciate.
Even adults will find some surprising moments. My favorite: “Goliath II” about the big triumph of a small elephant.
— Larry Printz
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