“A fun and enjoyable comedy poking fun at the political process.  Kevin Costner and Madeline Carroll’s performance were fantastic.  The picture quality of the film on Blu-ray is  wonderful!  If you are looking for a fun comedy on Blu-ray, definitely give ‘Swing Vote’ a try!”

Images courtesy of © WDSHE. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: SWING VOTE

DURATION: 120 minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: Color, 1080p High Definition (2:40:1), English 5.1 DTS-HD (48 khz/24-bit), Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, English SDH and Spanish subtitles

COMPANY: Touchstone Home Entertainment/Buena Vista Home Entertainment

RATED: PG-13 (For Language)

Released Date: January 13, 2009

Directed by Joshua Michael Stern

Screenplay by Jason Richman and Joshua Michael Stern

Produced by Jim Wilson and Kevin Costner

Executive Producers: Robin Jonas, Ted Field, Terry Douglas, Paris Kasookostaslatsis

Director of Photography: Shane Hurlbut ASC

Edited by Jeff McEvoy

Costume Designer: Lisa Jensen

Msic By John Debney

Starring:

Kevin Costner (as Bud Johnson)

Madeline Carroll (as Molly Johnson)

Paula Patton (as Kate Madison)

Kelsey Grammer (as President Andrew Boone)

Dennis Hopper (as Donald Greenleaf)

Nathan Lane (as Art Crumb)

Stanley Tucci (as Martin Fox)

George Lopez (as John Sweeney)

Judge Reinhold (as Walter)

Charles Esten (as Lewis)

Kevin Costner stars in Swing Vote, a clever, feel-good “landslide” comedy winner.  So funny and inspiring, you’ll stand up and cheer! (Pete Hammond, Hollywood.com).  And on “Blu-ray it’s even better.

Bud Johnson’s an ordinary drifting through life, caring about nothing except his overachieving daughter Molly.  Trying to encourage him to get involved, Molly accidentally sets off a chain of events on Election Day that ends with the presidential race coming down to one vote - Bud’s.  Comedic chaos ensues as Kelsey Grammer, Dennis Hopper, Nathan Lane, Stanley Tucci and George Lopez give all-star support in a witty and uplifting film that’s “charming, funny, smart, touching and profound!” (Scott Mantz, Access Hollywood) -especially in brilliant Blu-ray High Definition.

Your vote matters!

We have heard that all before and in 2000, the US had it’s closest election which came down to one state.   The invulnerability of  the election process was well documented and “SWING VOTE” takes things one step further, what if one man had to decide the outcome of the US Presidency.  All to one vote?

“SWING VOTE” takes place in the small town of Texico, New Mexico.  A small town where unemployment is high, people are losing their jobs due to insourcing (in this case, Mexican workers replacing American workers in the factory jobs) and focusing on a single father named Bud (Costner) and his daughter Molly (Carroll).

Bud has lived his life carefree and always drinking beer and in a mess.  His daughter is the opposite.  She’s smart, she’s has kept up with current affairs in the world and she tries to take care of her father.  They live in a trailer park home and Bud, he just likes to fish and drink and be with his daughter.   Molly is featured on television after a news crew visits her school to film the children giving their speeches on the importance of voting.

Molly who is aware of her father and her county’s social low income situation wants her dad to vote for a candidate that best represents the poor.  With the elections coming up that day, she has her father promise to vote in the elections.  Bud agrees.  But with Bud losing his job at an egg processing plant due to being late at work and drinking on the job,  he goes to a bar and gets in a drunk stupor and hits his head in a “Vote today” sign and passes out inside his truck.  He essentially breaks his promise to Molly.

Molly who is disappointed with her father sneaks into a voting poll station where one of the vets is dead asleep.  She forges his signature in the registered voters booklet and puts her voting application in the digital machine and while she is about to vote for the presidency for her father, the cleaning lady accidentally disconnects the plug to the voting area.  Quickly feeling that she may get caught, Molly tears the stub and goes to her father.

All of a sudden, news starts to swirl about the close election between Republican President Andrew Boone (Grammer) and Democrat Donald Greeneleaf (Hopper).  They both are tied and whoever wins the state of New Mexico will get the electoral votes needed to win the election.  The state government’s election officer and State Attorney comes to Bud Johnson’s home questioning him if he voted and knowing that his daughter did something, he goes along with it. The machine that he voted in, did not count his vote and thus he needs to recast the vote.  He is told to keep quiet about it.

A local reporter named Kate Madison (Patton) who followed the government officials knows something is up with the close elections and the residents of the trailer park.  Kate reports back to her boss John Sweeney (George Lopez) at the news station that she has figured out what has gone on with the elections and that the single vote that can determine the president is Bud.  Both individuals feel that this story can elevate their careers nationally and thus, Kate becomes the head anchor at the news and responsible for getting the exclusives with Bud.

Kate eventually gets the exclusive interview with Bud and outs him to the world that his vote will determine the presidency.  All of a sudden, ever news outlet is in Texico, New Mexico parked in front of his mobile home.  The President and the Democrat nominee for President start doing their research and make Texico their home for the next 10 days for their campaign and doing all they can do to win Bud’s vote.

Bud doesn’t know anything about politics or what’s happening in the world but his daughter tries her best to help him.  Each time a show interviews him and shows what he may be interested in, may it be fishing, insourcing or not caring about gay rights, both campaigns adjusts itself to win Bud’s vote.

But throughout the process, both politicians are looking incredibly stupid in switching their political views for one man with the conservative President Boone now campaigning for liberal rights such as protecting the lake that Bud fishes in for environmental reasons, supporting gay rights, etc.  and for liberal Democrat Greenleaf, his campaigns now switching to conservative trying to prevent illegal aliens in order to get the swing vote.

President Boone’s campaign advisor Martin Fox (Tucci) goes so far by having NASCAR Richard Petty go to the home of the Johnson’s and entice him to drive his car to Air Force One for a meeting.  While Greenleaf’s campaign advisor Art Crumb (Lane) has a party with all of Bud’s favorite food and even had a major commercial with Willie Nelson (Bud’s favorite performer) asking Bud to support his friend Greenleaf.

“SWING VOTE” pokes fun at the Presidential elections and how far a candidate would go to win.  The film is in essence a comedy but there are serious moments when Bud realizes that he just likes the attention he’s getting and ignoring the issues that people care about.  In fact, Molly has been so busy trying to make her father look good, she’s been answering those who have written to her father and noticing that her father hardly has time for her and that he’s becoming something that she doesn’t approve of.

Meanwhile, the President and Greenleaf can’t believe how they have strayed from their own political views and have let down the people who have supported them.  What makes “SWING VOTE” truly work is Costner able to fit into the role of Bud so perfectly.  The mannerisms and the style, Costner does a great job.  But the star who shined is the young Madeline Carroll as Molly Johnson.  For her first film, she hits a home run with her performance.  From the comedy to the tearful, emotional scenes…she was perfect.

And the same goes to Kelsey Grammer as President Boone and Hopper as Greenleaf and a lot of talent in this film.  But to make things even more realistic, was the fact that the key figures that we have watched in the news or on television reporting on the elections such as Campbell Brown, Tucker Carlson, James Carville, Ariana Huffington, Aaron Brown, Larry King, Bill Maher and even Entertainment Tonight’s Mary Hart and many more took part in this film to make the whole political atmosphere seem realistic.  But most of all, the many people who came out for the live debates or those who participated in the film (as the budget couldn’t afford thousands of people to bein the film,  thus the director and Kevin Costner had contests and Costner performed live in order for people to come out and they got thousands of participants) and made the film much more realistic.

I was quite pleased with the film and even moreso, on Blu-ray!

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“SWING VOTE” is presented in 1080p High Definition (2:40:1).  The colors are vibrant and the location of being in New Mexico, with the hills, the clouds and everything seemed to work in capturing the beauty of that state.  The Blu-ray brought out the characters and of course, for those Blu-ray fans who go crazy over skin pores and wrinkles and such, this film really captures it well.  I was very pleased with the cinematography and the overall quality in Blu-ray.  Absolutely beautiful to watch!

As for the audio, audio is presented in English 5.1 DTS (48 khz/24-bit) and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital.  I can tell you that from the opening menu and throughout the film, music plays a big role in the film and really comes alive on your front speakers.  Of course, the film is a dialogue-based film but you do get a sense of surround with crowd noises and such.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“SWING VOTE” comes with several special features:

• Inside the Campaign: The Politics of Production is a 13-minute featurette that goes into how certain scenes were made and working with the talent on the film.  Interviews with the talent.
• Deleted & Extended Scenes (with optional Director’s Commentary) features certain scenes that were cut due to pacing.   Overall good choices on the cuts.
• Audio Commentary by Writer/Director Joshua Michael Stern and writer Jason Richman is a very informative commentary about working with the cast especially in key moments such as Molly’s emotional scenes and how it wasn’t difficult to direct her.  They asked her what they need and she delivered which was very rare for a child actor.  Also, during the Presidential debates of how they were able to get thousands of people who were willing to be part of the film (they didn’t have the budget to pay thousands of people) by having contests and Kevin Costner performing live (note: Costner and his band Modern West performs live on this film).  Also, how they found certain areas to film and how sometimes there were freak storms that had to be fixed in post production or reshot.

“SWING VOTE” is deifnitely a comedy that I enjoyed from beginning to end.  There are so much talent in this film, especially for the news talent who cover politics to be involved in this film made things a bit more realistic.  Costner as Bud Johnson is literally a guy that some look at as a guy who wasted his life, always drunk and he fit the role perfectly.  Madeline Carroll, is definitely a young actress who truly shined and Kelsey Grammer does a remarkable job.  I know for some, Dennis Hopper as a good guy, Democrat may feel it’s a bit unusual due to his villain roles in the past but he does well.

Of course, with a satire on the political process, there has to be missteps with “SWING VOTE” right?  There are a few things that may raise some eyebrows, not necessarily in a good way.  There are a lot of corporate branding in this film.  Those who despite any corporate product placement or name dropping in a film, may have problems with that on this film.

Another is the hilarious commercials that are targeted to Bud.  Of course, some may wonder why would a candidate waste millions of dollars on their campaigns on television ads just for Bud?  Perhaps this takes the political satire too far for some.

And of course, for a lighthearted comedy, you get a serious moment in the film in which Molly who is disenchanted with her father visits her mother that she has never seen but she’s all drugged out and wants nothing to do with her.  A really good performance by Mare Winningham and a serious scene but for some, it may seem out of place for a comedy.  [note: the Director's commentary goes into why the scene was included].

But there are some key moments that I was touched.  This small town of Texico and seeing how others in Molly’s class were not fortunate as well, many have parents unemployed and really hurting financially.  As smart and intelligent Molly may be, the strain that she takes on because her father’s inability to take control of his life and all of America’s eyes are on this family becomes to hard for her to bare.  There are a good number of touching moments throughout the film and you hope that Bud and even the politicians will find some redemption.

But all in all, the fact is that films that revolve around politics, especially in today’s depressing economic times can really put people off.   When this film was released in the theaters, America’s presidential elections were so in-your-face, televised and covered/parodied to the extreme and there were those who were so serious minded about the candidates and those who were just put off of hearing about politics all the time, I don’t even know if this film had a chance in such circumstances.

Fast forward to a new year and now we have the film out on Blu-ray.  All I can say is that “SWING VOTE” is one of those films that depends on one’s state of mind.  If you are disenchanted by the political system and want to stray far away from it, then this film is not going to win you over.   Personally, I was really impressed by Costner and Carroll who really delivered in their roles and supported by a cast that also did a great job.  I was entertained and enjoyed the film from beginning to end and sure, the film was a bit contrived especially on how it pokes fun at major political issues and such but the tensions I personally had of the US Presidential elections before November, at the time when this film came out in theaters, and now watching it months after the elections is now gone.  It was great to watch this film and not think of what kind of important message it would have or if it would influence America.  I just enjoyed the film for what it is, laughed and had a good time.

“SWING VOTE” may not be for everyone but if you are looking for a comedy that is enjoyable and possibly inspiring for some, definitely give it a try!

“Criterion again comes through with this 1994 Wong Kar-wai classic.  Probably the best video and audio we will get from the original source material.  Overall, a solid release that Criterion handled with care for those who cherish the film!  This Blu-ray is the definitive ‘Chungking Express’ to own!”

TITLE: CHUNGKING EXPRESS  (Criterion Edition)

DURATION: 102 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: Color, Stereo in Cantonese and Mandarin with Optional English Subtitles, 1:66:1 Aspect Ratio

COMPANY: Miramax Films/Buena Vista Home Entertainment

RATED: PG

Directed by Wong Kar-Wai

Screenplay: Wong Kar-wai

Executive Producer: Wong Kar-Wai

Producer: Chan Yi-kan

Production Supervisor: Jacky Pang

Director of Photography: Christopher Doyle

Production Designer: William Chang

Editors: William Chang, Hai Kit-Wai, Kwong Chi-Leung

Starring:

Brigitte Lin (woman with blonde wig)

Takeshi Kaneshiro (as Cop 223)

Tony Leung Chiu Wai (as Cop 663)

Faye Wong (as Faye)

Valerie Chow (as the Air Hostess)

Chen Jinquan (as manager of “Midnight Express”)

The whiplash, double-pronged Chungking Express is one of the defining works of nineties cinema and the film that made Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai an instant icon.  Two heartsick cops (Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tony Leung), both jilted by ex-lovers, cross paths at the Midnight Express take-out restaurant stand, where the ethereal pixie waitress Faye (Faye Wong) works.  Anything goes in Wong’s gloriously shot and utterly unexpected charmer, which cemented the sex appeal of its gorgeous stars and forever turned canned pineapple and the Mamas and the Papas’ “California Dreamin’” into tokens of romantic longing.

I really love this film.

“CHUNGKING EXPRESS” is the ultimate pop art film that won a lot hearts when it was first released and continues to this day.  And not only has the film jumpstarted the film careers of Wong Kar-wai, Christopher Doyle, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Faye Wong (despite having an awesome music career), “CHUNGKING EXPRESS” is one of those non-action Asian films that has continued to become a fan favorite for fans all over the world.

The first story focuses on the woman with the blonde wig (Brigitte Lin, in her final film before retiring from the entertainment business) and Takeshi Kaneshiro as Cop 223.  With the woman in the blonde wig, she sports a tan trench coat, sunglasses and a blonde wig while constantly smoking her  cigarette elegantly.  But this woman is involved in drug trafficking, as she works with the Indian smugglers and pays them to traffic heroin.  And not only is she being betrayed by her Caucasian boyfriend (messing around with his employee) but now being betrayed by the smugglers who are helping her traffic the drugs (by stealing the drugs) and now she is a target.

Meanwhile, Cop 223 is an undercover cop that feels empty and incomplete after his former girlfriend May leaves him on April 1st.  Thinking it may be an April Fool’s Joke,   Cop 223 refuses to accept that May has left him but to make him believe it’s over, he has to eat 30 cans of pineapple that will expire on May 1, 1994, the day of his 25th Birthday.

After each day at work as he waits for May’s call, he frequents the nearby take-out food store Midnight Express which the owner keeps trying to set him up with his employees.  But Cop 223 is not interested, he still has faith that May will call him.  So, within the 30 days of his breakup, Cop 223 frequents convenience stores and has gathered 30 cans to signify each day that she hasn’t contacted him, thus he has to eat all 30 cans to make him feel some sort of closure. Because it’s almost time for his birthday and she hasn’t called, Cop 223 eats all the pineapple and feels sick to his stomach from eating all the pineapple.  He starts calling up all his lady friends from as far back in grade school to see if he can meet a new woman but to no avail.

Feeling queasy, he feels he needs to drink alcohol at a nearby bar to make him feel better band he eventually meets the woman with the blonde wig.  What happens when these two individuals meet each other? To bridge the next story, Cop 223 returns back to the Midnight Express and the owner tells him that he would like to set her up with his new employee Faye (Faye Wong) but Faye has her eyes set on another guy which leads to the second story. In this story, Cop 663 (Leung Chiu Wai) dates an airline stewardess.

But there is something lacking in their relationship and she leaves him.  She leaves a note with the owner of the Midnight Express to give to Cop 663 but he doesn’t want to read it.  Meanwhile, Faye (Faye Wong) who constantly blasts her Mamas and Papas “California Dreamin’” starts to fall for Cop 663.

Since he won’t read the note that his ex left her, she reads it and notices that she leaves his apartment keys in the letter. She senses that 663 is out of it… almost sleep walking in his life. In fact, the only things he talks to is a bar of soap, a wet towel and his stuff animal.   He’s such in a daze that Faye takes matters in her own hand and thus his apartment keys from the letter his ex left for him and starts to go through his apartment and see what kind of life he has lived.

Seeing how he is in a daze and keeps thinking of his ex, Faye does the unthinkable by changing things in his apartment each day.  From changing the labels to his sardine stash, changing his slippers, changing stickers on his mirror, changing the stuff animal, soap and towel that he talks to, filling up his empty aquarium with fish and for 663, being so out of it, he doesn’t even realize the changes at first but slowly discovers it and thus help him recover from his breakup.  All is good and Faye’s plan seems to be working, that is until he discovers her in his apartment.

What will happen between these two individuals?  What will happen when Cop 663 sees his ex-girlfriend again?

What is it about this storyline that makes it so different from any other relationship/breakup/finding love again type of film?  The difference are the little cuts in between that make the film so avant garde.  We learn in the commentary that Wong Kar-wai was a graphic designer and design and art has influenced him.  “CHUNGKING EXPRESS” is a work of art, from it’s storytelling and it’s cinematography.  Wong and Christopher Doyle are a tag team that when combined, good things happen.

There are moments in the film such as when Faye Wong starts rummaging through Cop 663’s room and even at one time with a microscope, looking for hair particles on the bed and just going crazy.  Part of that quirkyness comes from Faye Wong, a pop diva in Asia that has won many hearts with her artistic presentation and her music but at the time, although not an established actress at this time Wong Kar-wai found something special about her movements, and that sheer expression and quirkiness really took the film to new heights.

Now that I think about it, I think it’s the mysteriousness that also captivates me.  The woman with the blonde wig.  The police officers known by their numbers, the use of expiration dates, Cop 223 asking a woman if she likes pineapple or trying to eat all these pineapple and doing whatever he can to make it taste different and of course the constant playing of “California Dreamin’” while Faye dances at the “Midnight Express”.  There are so many little things that you remember from the film and never forget.    And that’s why this film is so special?  Everyone who watches it is like a person viewing art and coming away with something different.

When I first saw it back in 1994, I bought the VCD version, then the VHS version, then the DVD version and now here we are with the Blu-ray release, but not your regular Blu-ray release where you would expected 1080P video and true HD.  This film is now part of the Criterion Collection and when Criterion’s name is on a film release, you know that you’re going to get a quality release.  So, what did Criterion do for this release?

VIDEO & AUDIO:

Criterion is known to making their final masters to what the director’s had in mind.  In this case, presenting the director’s requested aspect ratio of 1:66:1.

The new high definition transfer according to Criterion was created on a Spirit 2K Datacine from a 35 mm internegative and a 35 mm interpositive.  Thousands of instances of dirt, debris and scratches were removed using the MTI Digital Restoration System and Pixel Farm’s PF Clean. For a film that is nearly 15 years old, the goal for Criterion was not to give a crisp and clear picture but to make sure that the requested aspect ratio was successful and removing all the dirt and scratches that have plagued previous releases of the film.

Oh, and I just have to say that things that were cut out of the US VHS/DVD release are intact in this Blu-ray version. But as far as video quality goes, you will find the colors noticeable especially at the bar when you see the CD’s in the jukebox spin and see the vibrant colors.

I have caught a few instances of color pulsing (due to the older print) and there were no artifacting. As for the audio, the original soundtrack was remastered by Tuu Duu-chih at 3H Sound Studios in Taipei under the supervision of Wong Kar-wai.  According to Criterion, the audio restoration tools have been used to reduce clicks, pops, hiss and crackle.

The audio is what I loved about this release.  While watching the film and knowing that the majority of the film is dialogue-driven and as expected during the music scenes, to hear the music really become prominent but what I didn’t expect to hear, which put a smile to my face is the rear surround and hearing the people talking, the cars beeping and while the front speakers were busy with scenes such as the lady in the blonde wig with the Indian smugglers, you hear the whole life of the city come alive through the rear surround.

Suffice to say, I was quite happy to hear the audio channels used effectively in this dialogue-driven film by taking the city’s ambiance and having it come alive.  Well done!  And for those passionate about the film, hearing the tunes of “Baroque”, “California Dreamin’” and Faye Wong’s cover of the popular Cranberries song ala “Dreams” is just so fun and how music, even a few songs really made this pop art film truly shine.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

In the past release, we had Quentin Tarentino’s introduction to CHUNGKING EXPRESS”, this time around with the Criterion release, we have the following:

• An audio commentary featuring Asian cinema critic Tony Rayns who has talked to Wong Kar-wai in regards to certain scenes and also, we learn about how Chinese culture influenced certain situations such as the use of dates and certain phrases in the film.  Also, the reason why certain music was used and pretty much how commercials really influenced Wong Kar-wai for this film.  A very informative commentary.
• A 1996 episode of the British television series Moving Pictures featuring interview swith Wong and cinematographer Christopher Doyle - This segment was made in 1996 thus the quality despite being in HD, is not too great.  But nevertheless, it was very fun to watch this 15-minute segment and watching these interviews with Wong and Christopher.  Really awesome details as the two walk into the places where the Midnight Express was shot and also the apartment actually was Doyle’s apartment.  Very informative.
• Then the US Theatrical trailer which was loved by American critics but unfortunately the film company didn’t know how to market the film, thus it didn’t do to well in America.
• A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Amy Taubin - For those familiar with Amy Taubin’s work on “Sight & Sound”, Taubin really gets into the film and definitely writes about the film and its characters in a unique way.   Definitely an entertaing read for those who watched the movie.  Do not read this booklet first if you haven’t seen the film.

The Blu-ray is presented in a digibook type of case with a slip cover.

I’ve owned so many variations of this film already that I can’t help but smile throughout the film and just seeing how beautiful it looks on Blu-ray and how good the sound quality was and hearing so many things all around me.

For those who were expecting a digital remastered version that will have a pristine, crisp and vibrant look as some older Blu-rays have managed to have, the Criterion Edition is beautiful but not spectacularly gorgeous but for those watching a Criterion release, the goal is not to change the film and change the colors.

Their goal was to present the film with  the supervision of Wong Kar-wai and Christopher Doyle and how they wanted the film to be. If you watched the original DVD version or previous versions, this film has aged but with the Criterion edition, the video looks beautiful without the scratches and all the dust and looks cleaned up.  Personally, I don’t know if we’ll see the film any better than this presentation.  It’s truly an awesome release on Blu-ray and absolutely love it!

I really hope that Criterion possibly considers releasing the third story via the film “Fallen Angels”on Blu-ray.  Wong kar-wai created the third story for CHUNGKING EXPRESS” but because it would make the film to lengthy, he cut it out and carried it over to his next film,  “Fallen Angels”.  So, knock on wood, I hope that Criterion considers it because the treatment they gave for “CHUNGKING EXPRESS” was well done and definitely enhanced the whole experience for me, I found it quite beautiful.

Perhaps I’m a bit biased because I enjoyed this film so much but overall, this release is solid and definitely recommended!

“A satisfying “alternate” storyline for Marvel fans.  Looks great and sounds awesome on Blu-ray!“

TITLE: NEXT AVENGERS: HEROES OF TOMORROW

DURATION: 78 minutes

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p (1:78:1) High Definition, 16×9 Widescreen, English 7.1 DTS HD Master Audio, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio, English and Spanish Subtitles, English SDH*

COMPANY: Lionsgate

RATED: PG

Directed by Jay Olivia

Animation Director: Isamitsu Kashima

Screenplay: Christopher Yost

Story by Greg Johnson and Craig Lyle

Supervising Director: Gary Hartle

Executive Producers: Kevin Feige and Eric S. Rollman

Music by Guy Michelmore

Music Supervisor: David Arileon

Edited by George P. Rizkallah

Casting by Jamie Simone

Noah Crawford, Aidan Drummon, Brenna O’Brien, Dempsey M. Pappon, Adrian Petriw, Tom Kane, Fred Tatascore

Whenever the forces of evil threatened mankind, Earth’s mightiest heroes, the Avengers, were there to stop them - until they made the ultimate sacrifice in their final fight with the indestructive robot, Ultron.  But all was not lost for Tony Stark (Iron Man), he lept the children of the Avengers safe and raised them to become the teenage heroes of tomorrow.  Now James (son of Captain America and Black Widow), Torunn (Daughter of Thor), Azari (son of the Black Panther) and Pym (son of Wasp and Giant Man) must finish the fight their parents started.  Soon, the arrow-stinging son of Hawkeye will join their ranks, but it will take more than five teens to destroy the machine that defeated their parents.  If these young heroes have any hope of winning, they must find the missing Hulk and come together as…the Next Avengers.

OK, it’s not solely targeted for kids.

After buying each of the Marvel releases on its first day of release, I hesitated with “NEXT AVENGERS: HEROES OF TOMORROW”.  I figured that it was an alternate universe because of the characters on the cover but seeing kids on the front, I figured maybe this story was targeted for the children and avoided it.  Granted, friends have told me the storyline is actually quite good and so, I figured that I’ll check it out and I was totally amazed by the overall storyline and with this being my first Animated Marvel product I bought on Blu-ray, not only does it look great but the 7.1 DTS HD audio track is spectacular!

The storyline of “Next Avengers” is an alternate storyline that is different from actual events and what is canon on the actual Marvel storyline but nevertheless, fans of the Avengers will find something positive with this film.  The storyline revolves around the Avengers, Earth’s mightiest heroes being killed off by the indestructible Ultron.

The kids were entrusted to Tony Stark (Iron Man) who whisked them away to an undisclosed location and an older, white hair and bearded Tony Stark would tell stories about their parents at bedtime.

Flash forward and these kids are now young teens who were raised by Tony Stark and some have a hard time dealing with the fact that they’re parents are dead and have no one but themselves and Tony.  The children being raised by Tony are:

• James - The son of Captain America and Black Widow.  Of the children, he’s the one taking his parent’s loss the hardest.  James wears an armlet that creates a holographic shield that can resize itself.
• Torunn - The daughter of Thor.  Thor was not killed by Ultron but chose to rule Asgard after the death of Odin.  He leaves his daughter to Tony but Torunn dreams that her father will come back for her but doesn’t understand why he’s abandoned her at the same time.  She has a similar Asgardian temper like her father.  Her weapon is a sword.
• Azari - Azari is the son of the Black Panther.  He has his father’s jungle like, stealth abilities but also some electrical power.
• Pym - The son of the Wasp and Giant Man.  The intelligent boy, the talkative boy and always curious.  Has his parent’s ability to shrink, fly and shoot stinger bolts like his mother but also grow large like his father.

Other characters in this film are:

• Tony Stark (Iron Man) - The old guardian of the children.  Still building scientific devices including large robots that look like his fallen Avengers friends.  He regrets creating Ultron (because his creation is who killed of the Avengers and nearly all of humanity).
• Vision - Android, member of the Avengers.  Also, the spy and eyes and ears for Tony Stark in his intangible form.  Unfortunately, was caught and hurt by Ultron despite being intangible and goes to Tony for rescue.  His body was damaged and thus Tony entrusts Vision’s head to the kids when they make their escape.
• Francis - The son of Hawkeye.  Tony Stark thought he was killed along with his father and thus the reason why he wasn’t raised by Tony.  Has his father’s bow and arrow abilities.
• Bruce Banner (the Incredible Hulk) - An old recluse who tries his best to keep his emotions in check through calm thoughts and meditation, also stays away from humans.
• Betty Ross -  Lives among the surviving humans.  Also, a person that Bruce Banner had a relationship with in the past.
• Ultron - In this film, he was created by Tony Stark.  Has adamantium, ability to regenerate, take control of computers, has strength, ability to shoot out destructive lasers, etc.

While Tony works on Vision, things all change for the kids while they start snooping around the whole complex and James discovers these large Avenger robots that were created with the image of their dead parents.  James thinking that maybe his parents are still alive accidentally awakes the programming of these giant robots who then leave the complex to take on Ultron.  Unfortunately, by doing so, it revealed the location of where Tony Stark had been hiding and thus Ultron heads to the hidden hideout and converts the Avengers robots and turns them against the creator.

Now with Ultron knowing where the kids are headed, the kids along with Vision are whisked away to another location leaving Iron Man and Ultron battling for each other.  But with Ultron too overpowering against the Iron Man and eventually beaten, the kids feel that they are humanity’s last stand and must go against the Ultron but they will need some help from Hawkeye’s son but moreso by the Incredible Hulk.

Definitely a unique and enjoyable twist on the Marvel Universe and the children of the Avengers were done well.  Cool character selections, especially when it came to their abilities.    But the action sequences were well-done and I really enjoyed this film and again, another awesome animated feature release from Marvel.

VIDEO:

The animation was director was Isamitsu Kashima (known for his work with the “Transformers: Animated” series) and so, there is a slight Japanese anime style look towards the characters.   The video is presented in 16×9 widescreen and a ration of 1:78:1 and with the film being newly released, the colors are quite vibrant on Blu-ray.  All in all, the picture quality looks great.

AUDIO:

The 7.1 DTS HD Master audio is just excellent.  More surprised because I wasn’t expecting anything much from the soundtrack but I was proved wrong.  The soundtrack was just awesome and good use of surround sound.  A very good animated film that puts your 7.1 system to good use with great surround sound thankfully to the many action sequences in the film.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

There are five special features included on this Blu-ray disc:

• Legacy: The Making of Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow - This featurette goes into how the creators came up with the following characters, their look and their mannerism.  A very good featurette on the thinking behind this film.
• Kid Power: Next-Gen Marvel - A very good featurette covering the history of Marvel and its use of teenagers in comics.  From the X-Men, to New X-Men,  Power-Pack and Franklin Richards.
• First Look at Hulk vs. Wolverine - A short promo for the upcoming film and the creators talking about how it was a dream to create this film of the two iconic characters going against each other.
• First Look at Hulk vs. Thor - What happens when you thrust the Incredible Hulk in Asgard and he starts going on a rampage.  Pitting the two of the most strongest characters in the Marvel Universe, a small promo and the creators talking a little about creating this film.
• Trailer Gallery - Trailers

“NEXT AVENGERS: HEROES OF TOMORROW” was a pleasant surprise.  I have to admit that I was expecting a children’s superhero film but outside of the main characters being the children of deceased Avengers, this film is full of action and the appearance of Iron-Man and the Hulk (albeit older versions of them) and all of them going against Ultron was great.

I have to admit that I enjoyed the Ultron comic book storylines in “The Avengers” and also “The Fantastic Four” and he’s just a kick ass villain.  So, to have a story that features Ultron so menacing and destructive was a blast to watch.  Of course, this is an alternate storyline and there are slight differences of what happens in the comic books and this animation (ie. Ultron was created by Dr. Henry Pym and not Tony Stark, Captain America and Black Widow were never that close to ever get married).

Of course, with this being my first animated Marvel feature to watch on Blu-ray, I was impressed by the quality of the video but moreso for the audio.  The audio was just incredible to listen to.  And also, the featurettes were fun to watch and just enough previews to get Marvel fans excited about the upcoming Hulk vs. animated films.

Overall, I’m so glad that we are getting animated features that are geared for adults or fans of the comic book series.  For parents wondering if this can be watched by children, it’s rated PG and has quite a bit of violence and mild language.  But this film was quite enjoyable.  All in all, a solid release on Blu-ray!

“Definitely more nuttier than the original film, ‘WITHOUT A PADDLE: NATURE’S CALLING’ features the beautiful wilderness, killer squirrels and legendary football player Jerry Rice.  Oh My!”

Images courtesy of: © 2008 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: WITHOUT A PADDLE: NATURE’S CALLING

DURATION: 90 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 2009, Color, PG-13, 1080P High Defintion, English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD, Subtitles: English/English SDH!/French/Spanish/Portugese

COMPANY: Paramount Home Entertainment

RATED: PG-13 (For Crude Sexual Humor and Language)

Directed by Ellory Elkayem

Screenplay by Jay Legget, Mitch Rouse, Stephen Mazor

Story by Fred Wolf and Harris Goldberg & Tom Nursall

Based on the Picture WITHOUT A PADDLE

Produced by Amy Goldberg

Executive Produced by Donald De Line

Director of Photography: Thomas Callaway

Production Designer: Mimi Gramatky

Edited by John Gilbert

Costume Designer: Shawnelle Cherry

Line Producer: George M. Engel

Music by Thomas Chase Jones

Casting by Nancy Nayor Battino, C.S.A.

Starring:

Oliver James (as Ben)

Kristopher Turner (as Zach)

Rik Young (as Nigel)

Jerry Rice (as Hal Gore)

Madison Riley (as Heather/Earth Child)

Amber McDonald (as Thunderstorm)

If you thought the first trip was wild, get ready for the craziest adventure yet! Everything that can go wrong does go wrong when two best friends (Oliver James & Kristopher Turner) and one zany Brit (Rik Young) venture out into the wilderness in search of a high school sweetheart. It’s the wettest, wildest, and most squirrel phobic road trip since Lewis & Clark! On this trip, the stakes are higher, the river is wilder and the creatures are nuttier!

Nuttier than the original!

Truly an accurate description of the film “WITHOUT A PADDLE: NATURE’S CALLING”, the second film based on the original 2004 movie “WITHOUT A PADDLE”. This time around, featuring a new story and a new cast starring Oliver James (What A Girl Wants) and Kristopher Turner (Instant Star).

The film is also the first comedy for director Ellory Elkayem (known for a few horror films which include the 2005 “Return of the Living Dead” films) and a screenplay by Stephen Mazur (”Liar Liar”, “Little Rascals”).

The story begins with a young Ben and Zach, freshman in high school.  Ben is somewhat a good, clean cut, nerdy teen.  While his friend Zach is more cool and mischievous.  At the first day of school, Ben instantly falls for the school activist Heather who is a vegan and against the cruelty of animals. After signing a petition to join her cause, for Ben, it’s love at first sight.

While trying to impress her the following day sporting a “Meat is Murder” t-shirt, Ben is ambushed by two bullies but thankfully for Zach, the two get into a fistfight with the bullies.   While recuperating in the nurse’s office, Ben sees Heather and she blows a kiss to him and from that point, Ben falls in love.  Despite Heather being expelled from high school for trying to free the lab animals.

Fast forward nearly a decade later and Zach is working at a nursing home and Ben is now a busy lawyer.  Ben and Zach have not really spoken with each other.  Zach continues to be a cool, playboy but cares about the people in his life, while Ben is more into working as a lawyer and never has time for anything.  Zach has always tried to get in contact with Ben but Ben is too busy to talk.

One day, one of the women that Zach takes care of is dying and she has one last wish, to see her granddaughter one last time.   She begs Zach to find her in Oregon.  Of course, Zach is a bit reluctant but when he sees the picture of the granddaughter, he realizes it’s Heather, the girl that Ben was obsessed with in high school.

Zachary finds a way to get Ben to leave his workplace when he shows him the picture of Heather and Ben figures maybe this time, as an adult, he will have the guts to tell Heather how he feels after all these years.

So, Ben, Zachary and Nigel (the grandson of the woman looking for Heather) go on a trip to Oregon and learn that Heather is a hippie named Earthchild and went to the wilderness with her friend Thunderstorm.  But they never came back and have not been seen since.   Thus are assumed as dead by the locals.

Having come this far, Ben and Zachary decide to not heed the warnings from the locals to not go into the wilderness and eventually get caught up  in an adventure that takes them through beautiful lush terrain, with the immense trees in the wilderness, riding a raft through the rapids with nothing but two kegs, matches and Nigel’s darts and not packing any food or anything else, it’s definitely, an adventure that the three will not forget.

Adding some chaos to their adventure are killer squirrels, Hal Gore (football legend, Jerry Rice) and mysterious guys who have their eyes on the Ben, Zach and Nigel.  Who are they?  Despite their obstacles of trying to survive in the wilderness, will they find Heather in time?

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“WITHOUT A PADDLE: NATURE’S CALLING” is presented in 1080P Hi-Definition.  Definitely one of the major positives of the film is that this movie was shot in location in the wilderness.   The vibrant colors of the blue sky, the green and fall colors of the trees really look quite beautiful.   So, watching this film on Blu-ray was quite nice because the majority of the film is shot outdoors.  With that being said, there is quite a bit of grain present (which is expected since this is a film afterall).  But not too distracting.

As for the audio, the audio features an English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD track.  Although the film is primarily dialogue driven, there are some instances where the music and the action scenes does utilize your rear surround speakers.  Although recorded outdoors, I don’t recall hearing the wilderness ambiance but when the music comes on, it’s well presented.  During the gunfire scenes, you hear that clearly and quite pronounced as well.  But otherwise, the film is primarily dialogue-driven.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Another plus is that the majority of the featurettes are presented in HD.  The special features on Blu-ray are as follows:

• Featurette: Up The Creek: The Making of Without A Paddle: Nature’s Calling HD - Interviews with the cast, producers and the director.  A fun featurette and it’s interesting to hear Oliver James speaking with his British accent and even talks about how he is able to shut it off (courtesy of watching many American cartoons, TV shows and films in the UK).
• Featurette: Furious Nuts HD - An interesting featurette that plays on the squirrels.  More of a humor-based featurette for viewers who want to know how the squirrels were cast for the film and how the squirrels were so demanding.
• Featurette: Treehouse Tales HD - During the film, the treehouse becomes a major part of the film and you get to see how the treehouse was created.
• Bloopers - A gag reel of several bloopers throughout the film.  If anything, this gag reel gives an idea of how Jerry Rice was in his first major speaking role in a film.
• Deleted Scenes - Featuring four additional scenes that didn’t make it to the final cut:  How’d He Do That?, Attack the River, Let It Go and Treehouse Fight

As most direct-to-video films that are based on major Hollywood films, “WITHOUT A PADDLE: NATURE’S CALLING” is one of those films that will appeal to fans of the original film or the actors that are on it.

I found “WITHOUT A PADDLE: NATURE’S CALLING” definitely much more nuttier than the first.  Reason being, is that with the first, I had more higher expectations (given the talent on that film) but with this film, all I was expecting was to be entertained for 90 minutes.

And I had a few laughs during the film, especially during the scenes that stars legendary wide-receiver, Jerry Rice who plays the part as Hal Gore.

Jerry Rice has his first major speaking role in this film and as a beginning actor, because of that, I think the delivery of his lines made things a bit more humorous.  His character has lived in the wilderness for so many years studying how squirrel farts have damaged the atmosphere, wearing nothing but squirrel fur and a bit long black beard, of course it’s campy and his delivery of his lines are just awful but somehow it worked and made me laugh.

And of course, quite a bit of adult humor, especially when the guys reunite with Heather (Earthchild) and her friend Thunderstorm.  Good playoff of humor between Ben, Zack and the two women.

Again, a major plus was that the film was shot outdoors, so seeing the lush surroundings of the wilderness and the group having to ride their raft through the river was fun to watch and it looked good on Blu-ray.  And it was also good to see that the featurettes were also featured in HD.

On the negative side, there were a few plot holes in the actual screenplay, some of the acting was so-so and the squirrels, they looked a bit too CGI for a film like this but nevertheless, it worked OK.

But in the end of the day, if I was asked the question, “were you entertained?” and the answer would be yes, I was entertained.  Did I love the movie, not really.  But I was entertained and definitely had a few laughs.

So, if you were a fan of the original “WITHOUT A PADDLE”, a fan of any of the talents of the film or just want to check out a comedy that takes place in the outdoors, then definitely give “WITHOUT A PADDLE: NATURE’S CALLING” a try.

“For fans of the video games, ‘resident evil: DEGENERATION” is going to satisfy fans as we see ‘Resident Evil 2′ characters Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield reunited once again to take on more zombies and an evil monster.  Total Resident Evil fan service for those that are passionate about the video game series!”

(C) Images courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

TITLE: resident evil: DEGENERATION

DURATION: 96 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: NTSC, Region 1, 1:78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, English, Portugese 5.1 (Dolby Digital), Thai, French, Spanish (Dolby Surround)

COMPANY: CAPCOM/Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

RATED: R (Restricted for Bloody Violence)

Directed by Makoto Kamiya

Screenplay by Shotaro Suga

Produced by Jun Takeuchi, Hiroyuki Kobayashi

Music by Tetsuya Takahashi

CG Producer: Yusaku Toyoshima

CG Director: Atsushi Doi

CG Production: Digital Frontier

Sound Director: Yota Tsuruoka

Sound Design: Koji Kasamatsu

Executive Producer: Haruhiro Tsujimoto

Production Designs by Joseph Hodges, Henri Du Rand

Director of Photography - Rodney Charters, ASC CSC,

Starring:

Alyson Court

Paul Mercier

Laura Bailey

Michael Sorich

A zombie attack brings chaos to Harvardville Airport. Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield who fought the sinister Umbrella Corporation during the Raccoon City tragedy 7 years ago, are back. In high-octane Resident Evil style, they’re ready to battle a rogue warrior who is seeking revenge after his family was killed in Raccoon City. The deadly G-Virus is unleashed and a new mutated monster goes on the rampage. Will Claire and Leon be able to terminate the virus before history repeats itself?

The Resident Evil series has become one of the top selling titles for video game company CAPCOM.  Known in Japan as “Biohazard”, the series has sold over 34 million games and among the series, one of the most popular titles was the 1996 Sony Playstation game “Resident Evil 2″ which introduced us to the characters of  Raccoon City rookie police officer Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield (sister of “Resident Evil 1″ hero Chris Redfield).

The two were popular characters that fans enjoyed and in 2005, “Resident Evil 4″ featuring Leon Kennedy became a huge hit earning “Game of the Year” by various publications.

With the popularity of the character of Leon Kennedy, how fitting was it when CAPCOM announced the reuniting of both Leon and Claire.  As a fan of the video game series, I was definitely excited and couldn’t wait to see the film.

“resident evil: DEGENERATION” takes place seven years after “Resident Evil 2″.  The film starts off with a man on a flight to Harvardville and he happens to be infected with the T-virus (this virus turns a human to a zombie and can spread the virus by biting on a human/animal.  The only way they can be killed is a bullet to the brain), meanwhile at Harvardville Airport, we see Claire Redfield.

Claire now works for Terrasave, a search and rescue organization at chemical and biological attacks and meeting up with a friend and her niece.  Of course, all hell breaks lose in the airport after someone infected with the T-virus starts chomping on people and next thing you know, the airport becomes full of zombies. Next thing you know, the plane carrying the infected person with the T-virus crashes into the airport and zombies start coming out of the damaged plane.

Claire, Rani, a woman and Senator Ron Davis have barricaded in the airport but need help quickly.  Because the Senator is involved, the government sends in Leon Kennedy, who has experience taking on the zombies plus the help with two individuals from the Special Response Team.  The search and rescue begins.

After the first arc of the film featuring the search and rescue, the focus then goes to WilPharma, an agency that is creating an vaccine for the T-virus but it appears the terrorist have blown up the WilPharma trucks carrying the antidotes.  It is revealed that the terrorists are pretty much individuals who are trying to get people to recognize what happened at Raccoon City (since the government pretty much has covered up the zombie infestation due to the Umbrella Corp. and the T-virus).

Claire recalls seeing one of the terrorist at the airport, a man named Curtis Miller.  And then you find out that Angela Miller, one of the members of the Special Response Team that accompanied Leon is the sister of Curtis.

Because of the damaged trucks with the vaccine, WilPharma director Frederic Downing needs to go back to HQ and retrieve the vaccine.  Meanwhile, both Leon and Angela go to the home of Curtis to find him but find his home burned down.

You realize that Curtis is a terrorist because his family in Raccoon City was killed and he can not let the government continue to hide what happened to the city and thus, to prove to people of what happened, infects himself with the G-virus (which was featured in video game “Resident Evil 3″, a monster that is nothing like a zombie but a hideous and very powerful).

Thus the second arc of the film features Leon, Angela and Claire trying to stop the monster.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

Picture quality is pretty good.  The film is entirely in CG and was created in Maya.  The CG was well done but not as fluid as “Final Fantasy: Advent Children” but still looked very impressive.  The rendered character models were just great to look at (especially at the beginning when you see the airport or even the WilPharma HQ.  Both look very realistic!) and Leon, Claire and Angela Miller model renders were just very well done.  If anything, there is slight jerkiness when it comes to a close up of a character and trying to make it do natural and realistic movements during a conversation.  But during the action scenes, the movements were very nice and overall, the CG was very well done.

On Blu-ray, you can see the skin bumps a bit more clearly and the action scenes look great.  If anything, fans of the video games will more than likely enjoy these CG rendered scenes.

As for audio, the audio, you get English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, French Spanish, Portuges and Thai in 5.1  The audio sounds awesome in TrueHD and the action scenes come alive when compared to the DVD version with its 5.1 track. Dialogue is quite clear.  As for the music, the ending theme “Guilty” is by Japanese music artist ANNA TSUCHIYA.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

For the Blu-ray version, you get to access an interactive picture-in-picture (I-PiP) which allows three PiP streams at any point during the movie.  For example, you can click the corresponding color that is lit up on screen via your remote.  Red would feature the actors in their motion capture suits and you can compare the motion capture to what you see in that exact scene.  The other is a stream that features a non-rendered 3D footage and the other stream is the storyboards featuring hand drawn images of certain scenes from the film.

Another feature is a pop-up trivia track.  Really interesting facts about the film and how certain characters were rendered.  Why certain characters were created a certain way and much more.  Also, the Blu-ray is BD LIVE ENABLED.

The Blu-ray disc features quite a few special features which include:

• The Generation of DEGENERATION featurette - This featurette interviews Makoto Kamiya and other CAPCOM staff and their goal with the film, why they used the actual English voice actors in terms of the motion capture (including having them learn how to hold a gun) and more behind-the-scenes footage on the creation of the film.  Also, fan reaction at San Diego Comic Con.
  
• Character Profiles - Profiles feature a text blurb on each character and you can access a video or photography profile (from parts of the film).
  
• Voice Bloopers - This is more or less bloopers but not sure if it was intentionally created or if it was actual bloopers.  One featured Leon Kennedy telling the others about his “fee”.  Quite funny to watch.
  
• Faux Leon Interview - I’m not quite sure what this feature was about.  A man is interviewing one of the motion capture actors and the actor is talking about working with Kamiya-san and others on the film.
  
• Resident Evil: Degeneration Trailers - Trailers for the film
  
• Resident Evil: Degeneration Tokyo Game Show Trailer - Tokyo Game Show trailer
  
• Resident Evil 5 Special Game Footage - Promotional video for the upcoming Playstation “Resident Evil” game.
  
• Resident Evil 5 Game Trailers - Trailers for the upcoming Playstation 3 video game.
  

Let me first say that I am a big fan of the “Resident Evil” series and I own nearly all the US releases.   “Resident Evil 2″ really was innovative when it first was released for the Sony Playstation and was my favorite R.E. game until “Resident Evil 4″ was released and that video game was just incredible.

So, that being said, watching this film had me smiling because I absolutely adore both the characters of Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield.  How this film furthers the storyline of the two characters but also builds on certain situations that may have major ramifications for future video game releases is quite exciting.

So, with that being said, I enjoyed the film because the creators really wanted to pay homage to “Resident Evil 2″ and “Resident Evil 4″ video game series and its fans.  But I realize that many people who are not familiar with the video game series are wondering how the context of this film is to the live-action film series featuring Mila Jovovich.

There is a relation by name and of course, the virus that turns people to zombies but really, this film was created for the fans of the video game series in mind.

Also, with this being a video game-related film, many who crave a deep storyline with character development of who is Claire and who is Leon may feel disappointed.  The reason why video gamers who played the video games is that through those video game moments of playing these characters for hours, there was a vested interest.

I would assume that many viewers not familiar with the video game series won’t pick up the importance of Claire or Leon to the actual “Resident Evil” storyline.  In fact, some may wonder why they should care about these characters especially at the end with the politics surrounding the viruses.

So, with that being said, “resident evil: DEGENERATION” is an awesome film for those who followed the video game series.  The film features plenty of non-stop action, bloody violence courtesy to the zombies and you even get a scene with blood that splatters on to the camera.  But the enjoyment comes from those who had the experience of playing “Resident Evil 2″ and “Resident Evil 4″ and to see Claire and Leon again.

The CG looks great and there are some moments that I was just really in awe but at the same time, there are some movements that were jerky and robotic at times.  But overall, the model renders were good and Leon and Claire look very good.  So, the bottom line is that this film is just total fan service for “Resident Evil” video game fans.  So much that I highly recommend this Blu-ray disc.

For those who are not familiar with the video game series, you may enjoy it but if you are expecting a continuation of the live action films, then this Blu-ray disc may not be for you.  In fact, some may be disappointed because there is no strong plot for them to truly enjoy these characters especially without playing the video games.  So, I can understand if they don’t get into it.

Again, if you are fans of the “Resident Evil” video games, you can’t help but have a smile on your face because there is now a “Resident Evil” film that was created with the RE video game fan in mind.  And for that, I recommend this Blu-ray disc for you!

“A Christmas classic that looks good on Blu-ray.  Not light years ahead from the 20th Anniversary DVD release in terms of picture quality but nevertheless, marginally better.  But for Christmas classics, this is one of those films that you just own because you can watch it with the family during the Holidays.  If you are still hanging on to that old VHS copy, definitely make the move to Blu-ray.”

TITLE: A CHRISTMAS STORY

COMPANY: Warner Home Video

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition/1:85:1 16×9, Dolby Digital: English 1.0 and Francais 1.0

DURATION: 93 minutes

Directed by Bob Clark

Screenplay by Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown & Bob Clark

Based on the Novel “In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash” by Jean Shepherd

Produced by Rene Dupont and Bob Clark

STARRING:

Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin and Peter Billingsley

The Christmas spirit isn’t served up with more heartfelt warmth or observant hilarity than in this beloved adaption of Jean Sheperd’s holiday story.  In 1940’s Indiana, nine-year-old Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) dreams of his ideal Christmas gift; a genuine Red Ryder 200-shot Carbine Action Air Rifle.  But when gruff dad (Darren McGavin) and doting mom (Melinda Dillon) regularly respond with “You’ll shoot your eye out!”  Ralph mounts a full-scale, hint-dropping, Santa-begging campaign.  He also endures a slew of calamities from snowsuit paralysis to the yellow-eyed Scotty Farkus affair to the dreaded tongue-on-a-frozen-flagpole gambit.  We triple-dog-dare you to unwrap a more welcome Yuletide classic!

“A Christmas Story” is one of those classics that you feel, needs to be watched every Holiday season.  I can remember watching this film a jillion times as a child and now having the opportunity to share the film with my kids.

Despite being a low-budget film at that time, what made this film become a classic is that, it’s a Christmas story of an American family in the 1940’s.  Ralphie is a child who listens to Orphan Annie on the radio, reads comic books and wants a Red Ryder Air Gun for Christmas.

But of course, how can he convince his parents to buy him one when his mother thinks he’ll shoot his eye out.  So, you get to see how Ralphie tries to get the gun by trying to get a good grade on his school report, to planting an ad in his mother’s favorite magazine and even going to the mall and talking to Santa.

But the magical part of this film are its characters.  Every character from Ralphie’s family to his friends, everything comes together quite well.  From his father who wins an award which is a leg (in fishnet stockings) lamp, his friends being bullied by Scotty Farkus, his brother who is overly dressed in his snowsuit, his friend sticking his tongue on a pole to see if it would get stuck and much more.

So, back in 2003, this film received a 20th Anniversary DVD treatment and in 2006, was followed up by its first Blu-ray release.  Then sure enough, with the 25th Anniversary Ultimate Edition which had a special bundled edition in which people could own a miniature version of the leg lamp (ala string leg lamp lights for the Christmas tree) and the film on Blu-ray or get a version without the lamps.

There is no difference with the 2008 Blu-ray version versus the 2006 version.

VIDEO:

The video is featured in 1080p High Definition/16×9, 1:85:1.  The Blu-ray is marginally better than the DVD version.  But you can notice the quality of it’s clearness via Blu-ray.  You’ll have parts on the film which look soft and nicks and scratches from the film.  But I compared my old VHS version to the Blu-ray and oh my, the Blu-ray is light years ahead of it in quality.  For an older film, having been remastered already, I don’t really think we are going to get anything better than what we have on Blu-ray.  But it still looks good.

AUDIO:

The audio is Dolby Digital 1.0 in English and French.  I doubt we will see a TrueHD for this and since it’s mostly dialogue and because of its time setting and how old this film is, I suppose I’m not too bothered by this.  It’s one of those films that I’m not begging for surround sound.  So, I’m actually OK with it being 1.0.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

I’ve owned the first DVD version which had nothing in terms of special features, I didn’t own the 20th Anniversary but as for this Blu-ray it includes:

• Commentary by Peter Billingsley and Director/Co-Writer Bob Clark - This commentary was actually quite fun to listen to.  You get a lot of Billingsley asking questions to Bob Clark about certain scenes, working with different individuals and also talking about the film and its reception from viewers in the last 20 years.  His relationship with working with Jean Shepard and much more.  There are some times where they are watching the film and don’t say anything but I think both were pretty much rewatching the film for its entirety probably in a long time.  One scene I wondered about was the parade which featured Mickey Mouse.  I always wondered how Mickey could show up on an MGM film and sure enough Clark explains how Disney allowed it.
  
• 20th Anniversary Documentary “Another Christmas Story” - This documentary features Bob Clark, Peter Billingsley and the guys who play his two buddies and the guy who plays Farkus.  Each talking about their experiences, the pole and tongue scene and how people react to them to this day and how people have memorized the lines.  And learning how a lot of detergent was used to re-create some of those snow scenes.
  
• Daisy Red Ryder - This was an interesting featurette on the actual Daisy Red Ryder Air Rifle.  How it was created for the film and the actual company who produces air guns.
  
• Get a Leg Up - This one is a infomercial like featurette of the leg lamp.  Nothing major.
• Script Pages - This features the script of actual scenes that were cut.  Clark talks about several scenes that they didn’t use in the film.  I wish they still had that and offered the videos as a deleted scene (especially the Ralphie/Flash Gordon scenes) but you can read the script of what was cut.
• Trailer - And looking at the trailer, it looks so old in terms of picture quality after watching it on Blu-ray.

For me, “A CHRISTMAS STORY” is like “It’s a Wonderful Life” and even “Home Alone”.  Films that are Christmas classics that you just want to watch with the family during the holidays.

“A CHRISTMAS STORY” has been a part of so many families holiday’s within the last 20 years and remains one of the classics next to “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Charlie Brown Christmas” (and other classics) shown every year and watched by many.  It’s a true-to-heart tale and the way it’s written, it’s not fluffy, it’s the life of a young boy who wants a Christmas present but his parents are not exactly “Brady Bunch”, magical parents.  Blue collar father with a temper, mother who does her best to take care of the kids and a time in the 1940’s of decoder rings and Ovaltine.

If you own the 20th Anniversary DVD, really…you don’t need to buy this.  But if you are like me and you own the first DVD version with no special features or the VHS version, then yeah, moving up to Blu-ray is a great decision.  It’s marginally better in picture quality than the DVD and you get all the special features as well.

Overall, it’s a Christmas classic worth owning.