Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 20th, 2007
Shooter is closely based on Point of Impact, an excellent novel by thriller writer Stephen Hunter. I read the book in the late 90’s, and enjoyed it. A lot. When I began seeing trailers for this film last year, you can bet I was excited at the prospect of seeing Bob Lee Swagger come to life on the big screen, even if it had to be “Marky” Mark Wahlberg in the role.
The film updates Hunter’s story to present day, shifting Vietnam to Iraq and villains to mercenary pawns of thinly veiled Dubya coho...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 4th, 2007
With the release of Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer just around the corner, it’s no surprise to see the studio rolling out a double-dip of the first film. Fantastic 4 – Extended Edition revisits the film with an extra 20 minutes of footage, and a second disc full of special features. But is it a worthy acquisition for your collection?
First, a bit about the film for the uninitiated. This is the Fantastic Four’s origin story, including how they came to have their super powers, and who Dr...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 1st, 2007
Half Past Dead 2 is, obviously, the sequel to 2002’s lukewarm action picture, Half Past Dead. The main difference in this sequel is the lack of Steven Seagal so automatically that should make this a better picture, but not necessarily a good one. The film stars two unlikely actors – a rapper and a wrestler – The Dogg Pound’s own Kurupt and WWE’s Goldberg. Not exactly promising, but I’ve been surprised before.
Twitch (Kurupt, Dark Blue), an inmate at the New Alcatraz penitentiary, has ju...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 30th, 2007
Synopsis
Gary Cooper plays the title character, sent by his father on a perilous journey to the Far East to open up trade relations with China. Once in the court of Kublai Khan, he becomes involved in the palace intrigue, falling in love with the emperor’s daughter, and running afoul of evil councillor Basil Rathbone.
Cooper is hardly Italian, but in a film that offers us the spectacle of Alan Hale having his eyes narrowed by make-up to play a Chinese warlord, and Rathbone in shoe polish to...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 29th, 2007
Since I have recently reviewed the Blu-ray version of Payback, some non-format specific aspects of this review will be ported over from that review.
I remember eight years back when Payback was first released. I eagerly anticipated the opportunity to watch it, and when I got the chance to check it out, I instantly enjoyed it. Upon finding out about the release of the new director’s cut, I found myself eagerly anticipating it once again, as it promised to be a completely different film.
...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 22nd, 2007
Synopsis
Cord (Jeff Cooper) is a martial arts expert in a mythical land who competes for the right to go on a quest to confront a legendary master (Christopher Lee) who protects a mystical book. Cord cheats and is disqualified, but heads out on the quest all the same. Along the way he encounters various threats (all played by David Carradine) and a supernaturally talented blind man (also Carradine), not to mention oddities such as Eli Wallach sitting in a barrel of oil as part of long-term project to...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 21st, 2007
Mel Gibson has become somewhat of a character these days. Gibson has become a bit weary of the "Hollywood" way of doing things and so has struck out on a course of originality that can be both inspiring and controversial as the man is himself. His "The Passion" film was viewed by many as the ultimate depiction of Christ's suffering. At the same time just as many believed they were seeing a slant on Jews that was unfair. Just when a balance seemed to have been struck and his film was being accepted for what he claim...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 14th, 2007
Released earlier this year to a successful box office run, Ghost Rider is yet another Marvel character making his way to the big screen. There’s something about these comic movies that have everyone all psyched these days, all of them performing admirably in the theatre and selling just as well upon DVD release. For me, there are only a couple of these Marvel films that I actually think were well done and in good contrast compared to their comic book counterparts. In fact I’m probably the only person on this c...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 11th, 2007
Synopsis
I love the brothers named Warner. If it were up to me, I would settle down and marry them, and keep my marriage to my wife. Warner does more to proactively suit the needs of the DVD fan than any other studio out there. And by putting out a version of The Road Warrior with some extras to trump the crappy barebones release, I'm putting the offer of marriage out there now for the world (and the wife) to see.
For those unfamiliar with the story, The Road Warrior was the sequel ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 9th, 2007
Synopsis
After the apprehension of a rogue general results in the death of his mentor, officer Dan Chupong accompanies his sister and her team of athletes on a charity visit to a rural village. As luck would have it, the general’s forces attack this very village, threatening to slaughter all the villagers is the general is not released. What these villains fail to mention is that they have a nuclear missile which they plan to fire at Bangkok no matter what happens. Chupong leads the villagers and ath...
![Payback - Straight Up - The Director's Cut [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/payback-straight-up-the-directo-large.jpg)
![The Road Warrior [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-road-warrior-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
