Blu-ray Review “The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)”

Starring: George Sanders, Hurd Hatfield, Donna Reed, Angela Lansbury, Peter Lawford, Lowell Gilmore
Director: Albert Lewin
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Warner Archive Collection
DVD Release Date: November 11, 2014
Run Time: 110 minutes

Film: 4 out of 5 stars
Blu-ray: 4 out of 5 stars
Extras: 3 out of 5 stars

Based on the classic by Oscar Wilde, “The Picture of Dorian Gray” is a nice blend of horror/drama with a pinch of supernatural. The film is just a year sort of its 70th anniversary and it still holds up today. Albert Lewin writes and directs with Angela Lansbury and Donna Reed star. I think this is Warner Archive Collection’s best release to date!

Official Premise: George Sanders commands the screen as the acerbic, cynical Lord Henry Wotton whose errant musings unwittingly plunge a soul into a leprotic existence of amoral degradation. Hurd Harfield plays the eponymous Gray whose unchanging, placid beauty is enabled by his cursed portrait that embodies his age and decay.

The 1080p HD presentation is nothing short of pristine. It really showcases Cinematographer Harry Stradling, Sr. use of shadow very well with this black and white film. He went on to also win the Oscar for this cinematography for this picture. The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono works perfect for the film. It is clear and sharp and sounds amazing with the score by Herbert Stothart.

The special features are decent as well (even thought they were taken from Warner’s 2008 DVD release). There is a commentary track with Angela Lansbury and Film Historian Steve Haberman, which is very informative and entertaining. Also included is the Oscar-winning short”Stairway to Light”, the Tom and Jerry cartoon, “Quiet Please!”, which also won the Oscar for Best Short Subject, Cartoons, for 1945 and a Theatrical Trailer rounds out the extras.

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Blu-ray Reviews “Demons” & “Demons 2”

Starring: Urbano Barberini, Natasha Hovey, Karl Zinny, Bobby Rhodes, David Edwin Knight, Nancy Brilli, Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni, Bobby Rhodes, Asia Argento, Virginia Bryant
Director: Lamberto Bava
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Synapse Films
DVD Release Date: November 11, 2014
Run Time: 88 / 92 minutes

“Demons”: 4 out of 5 stars
“Demons 2”: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Blu-ray: 4 out of 5 stars
Extras: 1 out of 5 stars

If you love Italian horror then you should be a fan of Lamberto Bava’s “Demons” (1985) and “Demons 2” (1986). These two film have only been previously released by Synapse Films as Limited Steelbook Blu-ray editions. One thing these things have in common are oustanding scores by Claudio Simonetti, and kick-ass 80’s rock/heavy metal songs from Billy Idol, Mötley Crüe, Accept, The Smiths, The Cult, Dead Can Dance, Art of Noise, Peter Murphy and MORE!. “Demons 2” also showcased a young Asia Argento in her very first film role. A must for any horror fan that missed on on the Limited Steelbooks last year and don’t mind the lack of extras.

“Demons” Official Premise: A young woman is invited by a mysterious masked man to a theater screening in Germany. Taking a friend, the two beautiful ladies discover they are watching a gory horror film! When a prop on display in the lobby accidentally cuts a young woman’s face, she begins to transform. People begin mutating into hideous monsters and the cinema is locked up tight! One by one, the audience members are violently attacked and transform into disgusting demons hellbent on spreading their apocalyptic plague around the world. Can they be stopped?

Demons 2″ Official Premise: There’s a scary movie on television and the residents of a luxury high-rise building have their eyes glued to their sets. Unfortunately for a young birthday girl, an eternal demonic evil is released through her TV and partygoers soon find themselves fighting an army of murderous monsters! Acid blood, demonic dogs, possessed children and rampaging zombies wreak havoc for the trapped tenants!

These films come with outstanding high-def 1080p transfers from their original vault materials both presented in 1.66:1 aspect ratio, featuring all-new color correction supervised by Synapse Films. These both also include both the “International English” stereo language soundtrack, as well as the “U.S. Mono” English alternate dub soundtrack. They also include newly-translated English SDH subtitles. The bad thing is that there are no special features included on these Blu-rays, there are only original theatrical trailers included for both films.

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Enter to Win a Blu-ray of “The Giver” with Jeff Bridges & Meryl Streep [ENDED]

To celebrate the release of “The Giver” starring Jeff Bridges & Meryl Streep,  we are happy to be giving a Blu-ray from the film. If you want to win this great prizes, please leave us a comment below or send us an email with your favorite Jeff Brides film. This giveaway will remain open until December 5th at Noon, Eastern Time. This is open to our readers in US and Canada only. One entry per person, per household. All other entries will be considered invalid. Media Mikes will randomly select winners. Winners will be alerted via email.

The Giver centers on Jonas (Brenton Thwaites), a young man who lives in a seemingly ideal, if colorless, world of conformity and contentment.  Yet as he begins to spend time with The Giver (Jeff Bridges), who is the sole keeper of all the community’s memories, Jonas quickly begins to discover the dark and deadly truths of his community’s secret past. With this newfound power of knowledge, he realizes that the stakes are higher than imagined – a matter of life and death for himself and those he loves most.  At extreme odds, Jonas knows that he must escape their world to protect them all – a challenge that no one has ever succeeded at before. The Giver is based on Lois Lowry’s beloved young adult novel of the same name, which was the winner of the 1994 Newbery Medal.

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Blu-ray Review “Into the Woods: Original Broadway Production”

Starring: Bernadette Peters, Chip Zien, Joanna Gleason, Tom Aldredge, Robert Westenberg, Kim Crosby
Director: James Lapine
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT
Release Date: December 2, 2014
Run Time: 153 minutes

Film: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Blu-ray: 2 out of 5 stars
Extras: N/A

With the new Disney’s big-screen adaptation of the Tony-Award Winning Broadway Musical “Into the Woods” right around the corner, it is the perfect time for to release the original Broadway Production on Blu-ray for the very first time. What we get here is a May 1989 performance of Stephen Sondheim’s award-winning musical, which starred Bernadette Peters, Chip Zien, Joanna Gleason, Tom Aldredge, Robert Westenberg and Kim Crosby. If you are a fan of the production and looking forward to the movie, this will be a good way to revisit before seeing it on the big screen.

Official Premise: A baker and his wife journey into the woods in search of a cow, a red cape, a pair of golden slippers and some magic beans to lift a curse that has kept them childless. Tony Award winners Bernadette Peters, Joanna Gleason and the rest of the original Broadway cast weave their magic spell over you in Stephen Sondheim’s masterpiece, directed by James Lapine, a seamless fusion of fairy tale characters and what happens after “happily ever after.”

If you have seen this production on DVD, I wouldn’t be expecting much from this Blu-ray. The 1080p transfer is quite muted with the productions colors and even shows up blurry in a few scenes. I was expecting much more from this. The DTS HD Master Audio 2.0 audio track sound great especially with classics songs like “Children Will Listen” and “No One Is Alone”. There are zero special features included to accompany this stage production.

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Blu-ray Review “Moontrap: Anniversary Edition”

Starring: Walter Koenig, Bruce Campbell, Leigh Lombardi, Robert Kurcz
Director: Robert Dyke
Rated: R (Restricted)
Studio: Olive Films DVD
Release Date: November 18, 2014
Run Time: 92 minutes

Film: 3 out of 5 stars
Blu-ray: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Extras: 3 out of 5 stars

When I saw Olive Films was releasing “Moontrap” on Blu-ray, I knew I had to have it. The film stars classic cult actors Walter Koenig (“Star Trek: The Original Series”) and Bruce Campbell from “The Evil Dead” series. The film is celebrating its 25 anniversary this year. I probably haven’t seen this film since 1989 but I remember that it was pretty cool. Definitely not a straight-forward horror/thriller as it is filled with camp humor throughout some intentional and some not. Fun times for sure still. The visual effects shows its age a bit but with a cast like Koenig and Campbell, it is an instant winner.

Official Premise: A 1980s cult classic, Moontrap stars Bruce Campbell (The Evil Dead) and Walter Koenig (Star Trek’s original Chekov) as astronauts sent to the moon to investigate evidence of what appears to be signs of human life. They reanimate the body of a woman (Leigh Lombardi), who warns them that the moon is under the control of a race of alien cyborgs, which have been awaiting the opportunity to stage their invasion of Earth. The humans realize that desperate measures must be taken to halt the cyborgs’ departure from the moon — even if it ends in their own destruction.

“Moontrap” looks pretty good with its remastered HD transfer by Olive Films specifically for this release. Since it takes place in space a lot, there is some noise in the darkness of space but otherwise, it is fairly clean. This is presented for the first time in widescreen format with its original monaural soundtrack. The special features are solid as well with a new video interview with Bruce Campbell and Walter Koenig as well as a new video interview with director Robert Dyke and writer Tex Ragsdale. Lastly there is an audio commentary by Robert Dyke and Tex Ragsdale, which is worth checking out as well if you are a big time fan.

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Enter to Win a Blu-ray of Antonio Banderas’ latest film “Automata” [ENDED]


To celebrate the release of Antonio Banderas’ latest film, “Automata”, we are happy to be giving one Blu-ray of the film. If you want to win this prize, please leave us a comment below or send us an email with your favorite post-apocalyptic sci-fi film. This giveaway will remain open until November 28th at Noon, Eastern Time. This is open to our readers in US and Canada only. One entry per person, per household. All other entries will be considered invalid. Media Mikes will randomly select winners. Winners will be alerted via email.

In a future where Earth’s ecosystem verges on collapse, man-made robots roam the city to protect dwindling human life. When a robot overrides a key protocol put in place to protect human life, ROC Robotics insurance agent Jacq Vaucan (Antonio Banderas) is assigned to locate the source of the manipulation and eliminate the threat. What he discovers leads Vaucan, ROC Robotics and the police into a battle with profound consequences for the future of humanity.

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Blu-ray Review “The Wind Rises”

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Martin Short and Stanley Tucci
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Number of discs: 2
Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
Release Date: November 18, 2014
Run Time: 135 minutes

Film: 5 out of 5 stars
Blu-ray: 4 out of 5 stars
Extras: 2 out of 5 stars

“The Wind Rises” is a hard film for fans of Studio Ghibli because it makes director Hayao Miyazaki’s final film. It is truly a masterpiece. They rounded up a all-star English dub voice cast that includes Joseph Gordon-Levitt, John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Martin Short and Stanley Tucci. I watched this film in Japanese last year and I was so blown away, I immediately needed to watch it again. The music is so enthralling and the score is easily my favorite of the year.  The story is so smart and well-told. You watch the film and you know that this is Miyazaki’s last film and it is ok because it is so amazing. Highly recommend this as it is sure to become a classic.

Official Synopsis: From Academy Award-winning filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki (Best Animated Feature, Spirited Away, 2002) comes a spellbinding movie beyond compare. Jiro dreams of flying and designing beautiful airplanes, inspired by the famous Italian aeronautical designer Caproni. Nearsighted and unable to be a pilot, he becomes one of the world’s most accomplished airplane designers, experiencing key historical events in an epic tale of love, perseverance and the challenges of living and making choices in a turbulent world

Disney is releasing this film as a Blu-ray +DVD Combo Pack. There are multiple audio tracks including DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 English and Japanese as well as a Dolby Digital 1.0 DVS English Audio. I have to go with the original Japanese track but like I mentioned the English dub cast is outstanding. The 1080p transfer is outstanding. The colors, the animation…it is all just absolutely perfect. The special features are a quite light though. There is a feature “The Wind Rises: Behind the Microphone”, which looks at the English dub. There are is Storyboards, Original Japanese Trailers/TV Spots & the Announcement of the Completion of the Film.

 

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Blu-ray Review “Lord of Illusions (Collector’s Edition)”

Starring: Scott Bakula, Kevin J. O’Connor, Famke Janssen, Daniel Von Bargen, Susan Traylor, Vincent Schiavelli
Director: Clive Barker
Rated: R (Restricted)
Studio: Shout! Factory
Release Date: December 16, 2014
Run Time: 109 / 121 minutes

Film: 4 out of 5 stars
Blu-ray: 4 out of 5 stars
Extras: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Dating back to 1995, I remember when I saw that Clive Barker had a new film coming out and just new I had to see it. At the time, I was already in love with his work like “Nightbreed” and “Hellraiser”. “Lord of Illusions” shortly became no different. This film was a nice mix of noir, sci-fi and horror. Plus honestly, who doesn’t love Sam Beckett himself, Scott Bakula kicking ass and taking names. Scream Factory, thankfully, is behind this release and they are pulling out all the cards here. They have not only one but two cuts of the film. Disc one is the Theatrical Cut of the film, while disc two feayures an all NEW high definition transfer of Clive Barker’s Director’s Cut of the film making this a must own for any fan of the film.

Official Premise: From best-selling author and celebrated director Clive Barker comes a supernatural thriller that rips apart the boundaries between sanity and madness, and between the art of illusion and the terrifying forces of magic. Scott Bakula “(“Quantum Leap”) portrays Harry D’Amour, a private detective visiting Los Angeles on a routine investigation. Harry gets more than he bargains for when he encounters Philip Swan (Kevin J. O Connor, “The Mummy”), a performer whose amazing illusions captivate the world. But are they really illusions? Harry isn’t so sure as he is thrust into a nightmare of murder, deception and terrifying assaults from the dark beyond. Famke Janssen (“X-Men”, “Hemlock Grove”) and Daniel von Bargen (“Super Troopers”) also star.

This Collector’s Edition release features a solid Blu-ray presentation. The 1080p transfer looks great, especially on the director’s cut. The DTS-HD Master Audio track also works perfectly with the amazing score. The special features are great as well. There is a commentary track from director Clive Barker. There is a featurette “A Gathering of Magic”, which includes original behind the scenes footage. There is more unseen and rare behind the scenes footage into “Illusion of Reality”, which includes vintage interviews looking into the making of the film. There is a NEW interview with Storyboard Artist Martin Mercer, which is a must watch. Lastly there are some deleted scenes with Clive Barker giving commentary and also a Photo Gallery.

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Blu-ray Review “Tales From the Crypt / Vault of Horror: Double Feature”

Starring: Joan Collins, Dawn Addams, Peter Cushing, Tom Baker, Roy Dotrice, Michael Craig
Directors: Freddie Francis, Roy Ward Baker
Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Shout! Factory
DVD Release Date: December 2, 2014
Run Time: 175 minutes

Films: 4 out of 5 stars
Blu-ray: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Extras: N/A

“Tales From the Crypt” comics are one of the main reasons, I got into horror films when I was a kid. This 1972 adaption from the comics directed by Freddie Francis (The Creeping Flesh) was a great collection of horror films on film. It boasted a great cast including Joan Collins (Empire Of The Ants), Peter Cushing (Horror Of Dracula), Patrick Magee (A Clockwork Orange) and Sir Ralph Richardson (Rollerball). I remember the first time I saw this film by accident honestly since I thought it was a release from the HBO series and I am so glad that I did. Still holds up today for sure!

“Tales From The Crypt” Official Premise: When five unwary travelers with dark hearts stumble into a series of catacombs, they find themselves in a cavern with no way out. But the horror’s only just begun as a mysterious figure appears to reveal to each person the shocking events that will lead to their well-deserved, untimely (and unavoidable) demise. Tales From The Crypt is the original, gets-right-under-your-skin creepfest!

“Vault Of Horror” is a solid follow-up to “Tales From The Crypt” and is real draw in this release because it is available uncut for the first time on home video! It also packs a solid cast including Tom Baker (Doctor Who), Denholm Elliott (Raiders Of The Lost Ark), Curt Jurgens (The Mephisto Waltz) and Michael Craig (Mysterious Island). Like “Creepshow 2” was the “Creepshow”, it doesn’t top the first but this is a another great collection of classic horror stories, even though a little more cookie cutter.

“Vault Of Horror” Official Premise: Five unsuspecting hotel guests step into an elevator, which leads them into an underground vault. Trapped with no way out, each guest shares a gruesome tale of an encounter with death. But as the stories unfold, the men begin to suspect that their presence in the vault is no coincidence, and that the only way out…is death.

Scream Factory is behind this double feature release and it is a must for any horror fan that loves anthology films. Two great 70’s British horror films for the price of one. The 1080p transfers on both films are good. They are not outstanding but for the age of these films, the fact that they haven’t been fully restored, they look good. Same goes for the DTS-HD Master Audio Mono tracks, which work well with the films scores. There are no special features included either but if you consider “Vault of Horror” as a bonus film, they are in good shape.

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Blu-ray Review “Sailor Moon: Season 1 Part 1”

Starring: Kotono Mitsuishi, Tōru Furuya, Aya Hisakawa, Michie Tomizawa, Emi Shinohara, Rica Fukami
Number of discs: 6
Rated: TV-PG
Studio: VIZ Media
Release Date: November 11, 2014
Run Time: 530 minutes

Season: 4 out of 5 stars
Blu-ray: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Extras: 2.5 out of 5 stars

“Sailor Moon: Season 1 Part 1” is first volume of the classic 1992-97 anime. This set includes episodes 1-23 as well as an 88-page full-color premium booklet. This is only the beginning of this series as there should be at least nine additional sets until the complete 200-episode series has been released. This show was one of my wife’s favorite, so she was excited to have it on Blu-ray…unfortunately the transfers are a quite a bit of a mess and it is during going to upset many fans.

Synopsis: Usagi Tsukino is a cheerful 14-year-old schoolgirl who often finds herself in unwanted trouble. One day, she saves a talking cat named Luna from some mean kids, and her life is changed forever. Luna gives Usagi a magic brooch that transforms her into Sailor Moon, defender of love and justice! Now Usagi must work with Luna to find the other Sailor Guardians and the Moon Princess, whose Legendary Silver Crystal is Earth’s only hope against the dark forces of the evil Queen Beryl.

According to Viz, in order create the Sailor Moon Blu-rays they used the masters that used to create the 2009 Japanese DVD sets. They are said to be original, uncropped 4:3 aspect ratio, uncut remastered episodes, which is all good but really wasn’t impressed at all. Hopefully they have better plans for the rest of the episodes otherwise after this fans are not going to buy this. There is ghosting throughout. The item is over-sharpened and there is a lot of lost detail, which is a shame.

There are several audio options, including a complete English dub with a new voice cast, as well as the Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio tracks with English subtitles. The special features aren’t anything special either besides the Behind the Scenes: Dub Recording featurette. Other than that there is the Announcement Panel & Fan Reactions, Official Announcement Trailer, Art Galleries and a Clean Opening and Ending included here.

 

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    Blu-ray Review “Batman: The Complete Television Series (Limited Edition)”

    Starring: Adam West, Burt Ward, Julie Newmar, Frank Gorshin, Burgess Meredith, Cesar Romero, Alan Napier, Neil Hamilton, Stafford Repp, Madge Blake, Yvonne Craig
    Number of discs: 13
    Studio: Warner Home Video
    DVD Release Date: November 11, 2014
    Run Time: 3019 minutes

    Series: 5 out of 5 stars
    Blu-ray: 4 out of 5 stars
    Extras: 5 out of 5 stars

    Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na BATMAAAN!!! I didn’t grow up with the 60’s “Batman” but I loved watching the series in repeats. This show was the king of campy jokes. Also dating back to the late 80’s, I was completely obsessed with anything “Batman”, thanks to Tim Burton’s 1989 feature. So this show was a nice complement to the darker film. Thanks to Warner Home Video, “Batman: The Complete Television Series” contains all three classic seasons scanning 120 original broadcast episodes, which are presented uncut and completely remastered. A must have for any “Batman” fan!

    This show boosted career of Adam West (as Batman) and Burt Ward (as Robin)…or at least Adam West. This series also features some fantastic guest stars and cameos including including Julie Newmar, Cesar Romero, Frank Gorshin, Liberace, Vincent Price, Burgess Meredith, Bruce Lee, Art Carney, Milton Berle, Sammy Davis Jr., Dick Clark, the Green Hornet and Kato, and Bill Dana as José Jimenez.

    This POW-erful numbered limited-edition collection includes the 120 episodes scanned over 13 Blu-rays along with an Ultraviolet Digital HD copy of the series. These episodes looks absolutely stunning. For a show dating back to the 60’s, you would never guess that this was nearly 50 years old. The 1080p transfer for these episodes, remastered in high-definition, look amazing for this series. This show was always very colorful and the colors here are extremely vibrant and crisp.

    There are more than three hours of never-before-seen bonus content including interviews with both Adam West (as Batman) and Burt Ward (as Robin). “Hanging with Batman” is what it says just spending some time chatting with Adam West. “Holy Memorabilia Batman!” focuses on the world of collectibles for the series. “Batmania Born!” talks about building the series and the art and design behind it. “Bats of the Round Table” is a roundtable candid conversation with Adam West and his friends.

    “Inventing Batman in the words of Adam West” features West discusses his script notes on episodes 1 & 2 on bringing Batman to life. “Na Na Na Batman!” feature Hollywood favorites stars and producers rehashing their favorite Batman memories. Along with the extras, also included is a Hot Wheels® Replica Batmobile, The Adam West Scrapbook, 44 Vintage Trading Cards and a 32-Page Complete Episode Guide. Plus to top it all off if you push a button on the side of the box, it plays the end of the famous theme. ONE MORE TIME EVERYONE!! Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na BATMAAAN!!!

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    Enter to Win Blu-ray Combo Pack for “The Expendables 3: Unrated Edition” [ENDED]

    To celebrate the release of “The Expendables 3: Unrated Edition”, we are happy to be giving a Blu-ray combo pack from the film. If you want to win this great prizes, please leave us a comment below or send us an email with which actor you want to see in the next “The Expendables”. This giveaway will remain open until November 28th at Noon, Eastern Time. This is open to our readers in US and Canada only. One entry per person, per household. All other entries will be considered invalid. Media Mikes will randomly select winners. Winners will be alerted via email.

    The film stars Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Antonio Banderas, Kelsey Grammer, Wesley Snipes, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Kellan Lutz, Ronda Rousey, Glen Powell, Victor Ortiz, Robert Davi, and Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

    The Expendables 3 Blu-ray Combo Pack includes a documentary, two featurettes “that delve deep behind-the-scenes with the incredible cast and crew,” an extended scene, and a gag reel. The Blu-ray features a Dolby Atmos soundtrack encoded with Dolby TrueHD for Dolby Atmos-enabled systems.

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    Enter to Win a Blu-ray Combo of “Ragnarok” [ENDED]

    To celebrate the release of “Ragnarok”, we are happy to be giving a Blu-ray from the film. If you want to win this great prizes, please leave us a comment below or send us an email with your favorite foreign action film. This giveaway will remain open until November 28th at Noon, Eastern Time. This is open to our readers in US and Canada only. One entry per person, per household. All other entries will be considered invalid. Media Mikes will randomly select winners. Winners will be alerted via email.

    Sigurd is an archaeologist who is fascinated by a Viking ship found at the Oseberg burial mound. He believes that a runic inscription on the ship, which translates to “man knows little,” holds the key to understanding the Norse myth of Ragnarok: the day when heaven and earth are destroyed. After finding similar inscriptions on a stone in Northern Norway, Sigurd, along with his kids and a colleague, begin an expedition to uncover the secret of the day of doom. A discovery beyond their imagination awaits!

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    Blu-ray Review “Into the Storm”

    Starring: Richard Armitage, Sarah Wayne Callies, Jeremy Sumpter, Nathan Kress, Matt Walsh, Arlen Escarpeta
    Director: Steven Quale
    Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
    Studio: Warner Home Video
    Release Date: November 18, 2014
    Run Time: 89 minutes

    Film: 2 out of 5 stars
    Blu-ray: 4 out of 5 stars
    Extras: 3 out of 5 stars

    All year, I was waiting for this film to come out in theaters. I was hoping for the next big thing for tornadoes since “Twister” but I was left very disappointed. This film has literally no plot, besides a tornado hit this town. The characters have little to no appeal to the audience. The visual effects though are outstanding for sure. I wish they didn’t take the handheld camera approach because the tornado shots seemed to be down-scaled being only able to be shown like that. Big pass here!

    Official Premise: In the span of a single day, the town of Silverton is ravaged by an unprecedented onslaught of tornadoes. The entire town is at the mercy of the erratic and deadly cyclones, even as storm trackers predict the worst is yet to come. Most people seek shelter, while others run towards the vortex, testing how far a storm chaser will go for that once-in-a-lifetime shot.

    “Into the Storm” stars Richard Armitage, Sarah Wayne Callies (TV’s “The Walking Dead”), Matt Walsh (“Ted”), Alycia Debnam-Carey (“The Devil’s Hand”), Arlen Escarpeta (“Final Destination 5”), Max Deacon (“TV’s Hatfields & McCoys”), Nathan Kress (TV’s “iCarly”), Jeremy Sumpter (“Soul Surfer,” TV’s “Friday Night Lights”), Kyle Davis (“Friday the 13th”) and Jon Reep (“Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay”).

    The 1080p transfer is impressive despite my taste for the film. I think this would have benefited from a 3D presentation for sure. The DTS-Master Audio 5.1 track is also very impressive. So aside from the film itself, this Blu-ray is a home-run. The special features are decent including three featurettes. “Into the Storm: Tornado Files” features famed storm-chaser Reed Timmer talking about scientific conditions behind these tornadoes. “Titus: The Ultimate Storm-Chasing Vehicle” talks about how they built the storm-chaser. “Fake Storms: Real Conditions” focuses on physical effects created in the film.

    Own “Into the Storm” on Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD, and Digital HD on November 18th

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    3D Blu-ray Review “James Cameron’s Deepsea Challenge 3D”

    Actors: James Cameron
    Directors: John Bruno, Ray Quint, Andrew Wight
    Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
    Studio: Millennium Entertainment
    Release Date: November 11, 2014
    Run Time: 91 minutes

    Film: 3.5 out of 5 stars
    3D: 4 out of 5 stars
    Blu-ray: 4 out of 5 stars
    Extras: 1.5 out of 5 stars

    When you are Academy Award® winner James Cameron, after you make classics like “The Terminator”, “Titanic”, “Avatar”; what do you do next? Well, for Cameron he has been working with the “Deepsea Challenger”, a state-of-the-art deep-diving submersible designed to reach Earth’s lowest known point. This documentary focuses on his successful voyage from March of 2012 to Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, which reaches a depth of over seven miles. If you love James Cameron and his under the sea adventures, this is both entertaining and educational…and of course in 3D.

    Official Premise: As a boy, filmmaker James Cameron dreamed of a journey to the deepest part of the ocean. This film is the dramatic fulfillment of that dream. It chronicles Cameron’s solo dive to the depths of the Mariana Trench—nearly seven miles beneath the ocean’s surface—piloting a submersible he designed himself. The risks were astounding. The footage is breathtaking. “Deepsea Challenge 3D” is a celebration of science, courage, and extraordinary human aspiration.

    Since it is James Cameron, I expected this to be in 3D. The 3D is definitely the best part of this release. Millennium is releasing this as a combo pack with a Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + DVD, so there are plenty of options here. If you can watch this in 3D, I would certainly recommend that for sure. The 1080p transfer is stunning with the underwater footage. It is framed at 1.78:1 aspect ratio and the film has extremely sharp image detail and vibrant colors. The audio is also impressive with an DTS-HD 5-1 Master Audio track.

    In terms of special features, there is really not much included. There are two short featurettes included, which add to just over 5 minutes for both. The first is a look at the final dive before it happens and the second a post-dive wrap up. There is also a trailer included for the film. If you are looking for more, I would recommend the Special Collector’s Edition, which features a 36-Page book with imagery of production artwork, stills from filming, charts, depth measurement diagrams.

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    Filed Under: DVD/Blu-Ray Reviews Tagged With: 3d, bluray, camerons, challenge, deepsea, james, ...
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