MASH – The Complete Second Season
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 27th, 2002
Synopsis
The second season still shows a strong connection to the Robert Altman film, with the movie’s closing credits narration, for instance, still being used, and the first episode still finding it necessary to let us know who the characters are. At the same time, while still following traditional sitcom patterns, the series is also clearly pushing against that envelope.
Audio
The soundtrack is the original mono. The sound reproduction is clear and unmuddied, and th…
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MTV – The Real World You Never Saw: Chicago
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 26th, 2002
Synopsis
This is a collection of clips along with retrospective interviews with the participants. Shower antics, bathroom disasters, lots and lots of digitally fogged nudity. If watching paint dry is just a little too racy for you, then this is just what you’re looking for.
Audio
The source material is TV, and the disc reflects this. Nothing much wrong with the sound, but there’s nothing much to it either: people talking, people yelling, musical interludes. The surroun…
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MTV – The Real World: Decade of Bloopers
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 26th, 2002
Synopsis
You might wonder how it’s possible for a reality show to have bloopers. How are bloopers different from the other things that go on? Not much, except for those instances where the crew gets involved (cameras falling down, that kind of thing). All of this is strung together by Puck, who seems to think he is entertaining. Beyond boring.
Audio
The audio is a faithful reproduction of the TV experience, for what it’s worth. The music has decent surround presence, a…
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1776
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 25th, 2002
Synopsis
It’s a musical. It’s called 1776. What do you think it could be about? That’s right: the events leading up to the Declaration of Independence, with all the major figures of the time (John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson) singing up a storm. The production is extremely handsome. I do think, however, that you the events have to be part of your history for the film to really get your juices flowing.
Audio
As part of the restoration process, the original mon…
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Aliens
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 25th, 2002
Aliens was one of those rare sequels that must include T2 where everything gets taken up a notch without spoiling the elements that made the first successful. This is not to say Aliens is better than the original, but very different yet somehow very much the same. Sigourney Weaver acts with a confidence made possible by the first film. It’s hard to believe but Ripley just gets stronger. The story is much more complex but still retains the chilling simplicity of a horrible creature stalking its prey. There are more cr…
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Speed
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 24th, 2002
Film
It has been a few years since I last saw Speed… but it is still as enjoyable as ever. Sure, Keanu Reeves is a bland actor, but other then his role in The Matrix… this is some of his best work. The action is hot, and the story is solid. For those who have not seen this film (what rock have you been hidden under?), this synopsis is for you:
“Jack Traven is a risk-taking SWAT Team officer, pitted against a mad-bomber, Howard Payne. Howard has a pattern of coming up …
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Devil’s Backbone, The
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 22nd, 2002
Synopsis
Twelve-year-old Carlos is brought to a dilapidated boarding school. He is struck by the odd sight of a bomb standing in the middle of the courtyard. But even more unnerving is the ghost of a young boy that soon makes its presence known. Unravelling the mystery of this ghost isn’t Carlos’ only problem however. There are bullies in the school, and the brutal handyman has his eye on the gold in the safe. Said handyman is determined to get at the gold, and doesn’t care who gets hurt (or worse) i…
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Pearl Harbor
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 19th, 2002
Film
If one thing can be said about Michael Bay films, it would be that they are beautifully shot. I cannot think of many directors’ that have such a unique cinematographic feel to their films… and Pearl Harbor is no exception. This film contains some of the best fighting sequences ever put onto film. Unfortunately, this fabulous action is tainted by a sub-par love story that is interwoven into the story. With the elimination of this love story, Pearl Harbor would have been an amazing action film…
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Beautiful Mind, A
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 19th, 2002
Synopsis
Crowe plays John Nash, schizophrenic genius. The film follows him from his grad student days at Princeton, to his revolutionary formulation of game theory, to his later breakdown, and climaxes in his reception of the Nobel Prize in 1994. Though overlong, often burdened by an excessively emphatic score by James Horner, and following all the usual conventions of Hollywood melodrama, the film also offers stunning cinematography by Roger Deakins, uncharacteristically good dialogue by Akiva Golds…
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Alien
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 18th, 2002
“In space no one can hear you scream” was the slogan that drew a conglomerate of horror and science fiction fans to theatres in 1979. Was it horror or sci-fi? Alien turned out to be a rare cross-genre film that managed to satisfy both audiences. Ridley Scott started out by bringing the “space ship” film away from the glamorous bright future and depicted a world startlingly very much like our own. In Scott’s gritty future companies are quasi-government agencies and these astronauts are not explorers out for glory and…
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Starship Troopers
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 16th, 2002
Exceptional! Starship Troopers (Special Edition) is a must have in any movie fanatics collection. Combine a controversial cinematic and special effects masterpiece with a superb DVD release, and Columbia-Tristar has a sure winner in its catalog.
Paul Verhoeven’s (RoboCop, Total Recall, Showgirls, Hollowman) 1997 adaptation of Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers is stunning not only for its Academy Award nominated special effects, but also for the volume of controversy that the film elicited amongst c…
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Analyze This
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 13th, 2002
Film
Robert DeNiro has built a tremendous career out of portraying men who are to be feared. Starting with Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II through Good Fellas, DeNiro has established himself as the Hollywood Don. Analyze This is a brilliant comedy that cashes in on that long body of work. There’s no setup required for us to accept DeNiro as the head of a crime family. What makes the film work on an even higher level is the addition of Billy Crystal and the fact that both powerful actors play against what you would expect.
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Vanilla Sky
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 11th, 2002
Synopsis
Tom Cruise is the deeply shallow David Aames, who undergoes a conversion when he falls in love with Penelope Cruz (repeating her role from the original). This upsets Cameron Diaz, who commits vehicular suicide with Cruise in the passenger seat. Horribly disfigured, he nevertheless re-establishes his relationship with Cruz. And then reality starts coming apart at the seams.
The film looks terrific, and has an interestingly eclectic soundtrack (I’m amazed that they dug up “Doot Doot”…
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The Green Mile
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 8th, 2002
There was a time when everything Stephen King wrote was considered movie material. Somewhere studios were trying to figure out how to make a film franchise from his shopping lists. Most of the time the films fell massively short of the original material. The Green Mile is a noteworthy exception, as this is far superior to the King story. There are no monsters or ghouls (unless you count guard Percy), instead, this film manages to pull on your emotions in subtle ways in contrast to King’s usual M.O. of hitting you over the head with your fears.
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Nightmare on Elm Street Collection
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 8th, 2002
One … two… Freddy’s coming for you, three… four… better lock the door, five… six… grab your crucifix, seven… eight discs is what you’ll get in this colossal horror collection. Freddy is one of the more memorable monsters from the slasher era that also brought us the Halloween and Jason films. Freddy might have been born in the mind of Wes Craven, but he grew and developed in the knife-wielding hands of Robert Englund. Granted, not all of these films are equal in quality… The first and third are the best story-wise, while the last might be the most unpredictable and original.
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Yank in the RAF, A
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 8th, 2002
Synopsis
Tyrone Power is the intensely irritating American flyboy who flies a delivers a bomber to England to earn some money. Once there, he spots old flame Betty Grable, and enlists in the RAF so he can woo her back. Grable is also being courted by Power’s commanding officer, who possesses all the decent qualities Power lacks (i.e. just about everything).
The romance, which central to the film, is not exactly enthralling, since you’re rooting for the wrong man. The combat scenes, however,…
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Mission Kashmir
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 5th, 2002
Synopsis
State police officer Inayat Khan’s son is critically injured in a fall and dies because doctors, intimidated by a terrorist’s threat, refuse to treat him. Khan launches an assault on the terrorist, and during the battle guns down the family of 11-year-old Altaaf. Khan and his wife adopt Altaaf, whose new life is shattered when he discovers Khan’s role in the loss of his parents. Ten years later, Altaaf is now a terrorist working for the deeply sinister Hilal Kohistani, who has sent him on a …
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Mr. Saturday Night
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 5th, 2002
Synopsis
Buddy Young Jr. (Billy Crystal) is in the twilight of his career. Once he had his own television show, but his self-destructive impulses and violent temper torpedoed that (not to mention increasingly alienating his loved ones). Now a senior citizen, he is still trying to make a go of it, still making life miserable for his long-suffering brother. The film flashes back and forth, showing us Buddy’s rise and fall in the past, and his current attempts to make something remotely resembling a com…
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Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Complete Second Season
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 4th, 2002
Synopsis
A synopsis is pretty pointless. Either you watch the series or you don’t. But for what it’s worth, Buffy is a high-school student who is also one of the chosen heroes of history whose purpose in life is to combat and destroy vampires. The big complication this season is the fact that she’s fallen love with one (Angel).
Audio
The Dolby 2.0 audio is acceptable, but nothing special. While generally clean, the dialogue does occasionally have some buzz to it. The music …
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Nixon
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 3rd, 2002
Welcome to Oliver Stone’s history 101, where Vietnam looked a lot like Florida, and JFK was killed by a conspiracy so large it included the mafia, FBI, CIA, the Teamsters, and two bag ladies on Pennsylvania Avenue. Hollywood has always tinkered with history, but Oliver Stone performs reconstructive surgery. Nixon is no exception to this rule. It is much easier to view the film more as a character study than an historical piece. The film has you believe that Nixon used the F word more times than Richard Pryor on a roll, hated most of his advisors, and also had a hand in the JFK ordeal.
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Gosford Park
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 2nd, 2002
Fresh off of its multiple nominations at the 2001 Academy Awards, and Academy’s winner of the Best Original Screenplay, comes Gosford Park to DVD. Most who have seen this film have fallen in love with it, I on the other hand, felt the story moved far to slow, and my interest waned as the film progressed. Though I was not captivated by the film itself, the acting was superb, and the premise was solid.
“It is November, 1932. Gosford Park is the magnificent country estate to which Sir William McCo…
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The Invisible Man
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 1st, 2002
Haven’t we all fantasized about what it would be like to be invisible? Most of the common perks come to mind: spying, getting into movies and amusement parks free, even the baser peeping tom inclinations come to mind. James Whale would pair his Frankenstein masterpieces with this equally trend-setting film. The film is only loosely based on the popular H.G. Wells novel and is played more for chills. Claude Rains does such a wonderful role when you consider that for most of the film he is denied physical presence on the screen.
The Bride of Frankenstein
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 1st, 2002
It’s hard to imagine, but in the 1930’s sequels were almost unheard of. If a work was considered to be a franchise, it was released in serial form before the main features. By today’s standards, Bride of Frankenstein would be no surprise. James Whale was reluctant to continue the Frankenstein saga as was the Monster himself, Boris Karloff. Universal was relentless and the world is the benefactor of its greed. Bride of Frankenstein not only lives up to its original but in many ways surpasses it. The sets are far more grand and the story was Universal’s most compelling.
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Monster’s Ball
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 31st, 2002
Monster’s Ball is a very raw and powerful film. The story and the cinematography are wonderful, as is the acting… thus the Best Actress Academy Award for Halle Berry.
“MONSTER’S BALL is a hard hitting Southern drama tempered by a story of powerful, life-changing love. It is the story of Hank (Billy Bob Thornton), an embittered prison guard working on Death Row who begins an unlikely, but emotionally charged affair with Leticia (Halle Berry), the wife of a man he has just executed.” – Lions Gate
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Audio
This film sounds great on DVD. The subtle soundtrack is smooth, and the soundstage is used wonderfully. The sound dispersion and separation is very clean, and the dialog is precise.
Video
The video quality on this DVD is also very good. There is very little damage to the print by the way of debris and grain, and the raw feeling of the film is maintained nicely. The skin tones look natural and both the colors and darks are very accurate.
Special Features
This disc does not contain lots of special features, but it does contain very good special features. The menus are very nice… clean and theme oriented, with a solid score, animated menus, and smooth page transitions.
This disc contains two separate audio commentaries. The first commentary features the films director (Marc Forster) and Director of Photography (Roberto Schaefer) in which is a very informative, but somewhat dry track. The second commentary includes Director Marc Forster, as well as co-star’s Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton. This track, though it started of very disjointed and awkward, turned into quite an interesting track. If you have to choose one of these two commentaries to listen to, pick the second.
This disc also includes two featurettes – Behind the Scenes & Scoring the film. The behind the scenes featurette is quite non-conventional for the fact it does not focus on interviews, but rather actual shot footage of behind the scenes film stock. The featurette on the score is one of the best “scoring” features I have ever seen… it is 8 minutes in length, and it really teaches how and why the film sounds as it does. The features are rounded off with 4 deleted scenes and the theatrical trailer.
Final Thoughts
This is a very solid film and DVD. Lions Gate has created a DVD of very high quality, and has crafted some very nice special features. This disc should be owned, or at least seen by all.
Special Features List
- Director’s Commentary
- Actor’s Commentary w/ Director
- Deleted Scenes
- Behind-the-Scenes Featurette
- Scoring the Film Featurette
- Theatrical Trailer
Agnes of God
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 30th, 2002
Synopsis
Child-like nun Meg Tilly is found one night lying on the floor of her cell, covered in blood, a strangled newborn in her wastebasket. Psychiatrist Jane Fonda is called in to determine whether or not Tilly is fit for trial. Mother Superior Anne Bancroft is convinced that she is not, and does not want skeptical Fonda destroying Tilly’s innocence. Meanwhile, Tilly, it seems, cannot remember anything about that night, and certainly denies ever having been pregnant.
Audio