Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 17th, 2002
Band of Brothers, as should be expected from multiple emmy award winner, is an amazing miniseries. Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks have collaborated on creating a memorable and poignant story that can be appreciate by all.
”Based on Stephen E. Ambrose's nonfiction bestseller, BAND OF BROTHERS tells the story of Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, U.S. Army. Starting with their rigorous training in Georgia in 1942, it recounts the achievements of the elite rifle company fr...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 14th, 2002
Synopsis
A group of college friends gathers at the isolated island home of Muffy St. John for an AprilFool’s weekend. One by one... Well, you know how the rest of it goes, don’t you?
SPOILER WARNING: ...or do you? The film’s main distinction (other than having somevery funny pranks and actors playing something approaching real characters) is that all of themurders turn out to be a practical joke – no one gets killed. Does this make or ruin the film? Hardto say – my own feeli...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 13th, 2002
As my odds-on favorite to win Best Animated Film at this years Academy Awards, Ice Age combines a wonderful mix of breathtaking digital animation, and a wonderful story full of entertaining characters. Fox, with this film, has jumped into the upper echelon of digital animation studios, along with Disney and Dreamworks.
”Twenty thousand years ago, the Earth was being overrun by glaciers, and creatures everywhere were fleeing the onslaught of the new ICE AGE. In this time of peril, we meet the...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 12th, 2002
A truly atrocious television mini-series (the second in the “V” series) has been resurrected for “V: The Final Battle.” This is (apparently) the second in the V series (“V” stands for Visitors, or maybe Vituperative snake aliens), and shockingly, not the last. In fact, the “Final Battle” was apparently followed by a weekly TV series which – irony alert – ended up being cancelled in favour of “Dallas.” Wow! What times the eighties were!
At any rate, this DVD wraps a mediocre TV series in a mini...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 12th, 2002
Synopsis
This is all special features. So see below.
Audio
It’s a Baz Luhrmann production, so the sound is as spectacular as those on the discs, withspecial emphasis on the music. The narration of the various documentaries is clear though, andnot overwhelmed by the music.
Video
A million different formats (video, film, etc.), and a million different looks, but the transferserves them all well, at least as far as spectacular colour is...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 9th, 2002
What Killed the Mega-Beasts?
Wow! This Discovery Channel documentary uses high-end (not quite Monsters Inc., but getting close…) animation to bring to life the out-sized creatures that populated the world between two- and fifty-thousand years ago. Live action and animation are blended smoothly to create truly excellent scenes of monster-sized beavers, and of Native American mammoth hunts – truly a spectacle to be seen and very well executed. These animated sequences are seamlessly blended with the Disc...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 5th, 2002
Synopsis
The conspiracies are in full swing in this season. There are some very ambitious episodeshere too, notably “Triangle” -- a time travel tale shot primarily with very long takes.
Audio
Very, very nice sound. As with most TV shows, the music dominates the surround, but thereare some good contributions from the sound effects as well. The result is an expansive feel to thesound unusual for television productions.
Video
Though there is a ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 5th, 2002
Synopsis
In eighteenth-century France, a mysterious beast is terrorizing the countryside. Sent toinvestigate is naturalist Gregoire de Fronsac, who arrives with Mani, his Native Americansidekick (who is a dab hand at martial arts, among other useful skills). The film is completelynuts and completely silly, and its racial politics are a postcolonial theorist’s wet dream, but it isalso hugely entertaining.
Audio
Absolutely flabbergasting. At the level of volum...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 25th, 2002
Pixar, with the smashing success of the Toy Story films, works its enchanting magic yet again with the wonderful Monsters, Inc. It’s fitting that Disney acquired the creative team that more than any other filmmakers embody what Disney had been for half a century. Monsters, Inc. is the new standard for computer animation. Sully’s generated hair is nothing short of amazing. What makes this movie worth buying is its incredible rewatchability. The attention to details means there’s always something new to see with each v...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 24th, 2002
Written by Dan Bradley
The formula for sequels to highly successful films has been practiced by filmmakers for decades and continues to flourish today. It’s quite simple: take what audiences loved in the original, add more of it and throw in a twist. Guillermo del Toro's Blade 2 follows this rule of thumb and creates a film that is bigger, badder, louder and more entertaining than its predecessor. It should come as no surprise that the DVD edition of Blade 2 surpasses the original Blade’s disc in every imaginable way as well.
It...
