Deep Rising / The Puppet Masters (Double Feature)

Deep Rising (1998)

Watched the Deep Rising Blu-ray recently and it is a LARGE improvement on the previous non-anamorphic DVD. The picture quality I'd rate 7/10, the close-ups had a lot of detail. The movie is filled with dated CGI but I'm always willing to put that aside given the year of production. However, you will be hard pressed to find a more aggressive 5.1 soundtrack mix filled with gunfire, monster sounds, ship and hardware sounds real ear candy and delivered in DTS-MA HD. Recommended.

The Puppet Masters (1994)

The Puppet Masters which for some reason I've never seen before, loosely based on a Robert Heinlein story. Decent 'B' movie starring Donald Sutherland. Many of the outdoor shots seemed flat and dull while the interior shots were solid with more clarity, it had the look of a made-for-TV movie. Special effects were convincing enough to make for an entertaining popcorn flick. The DTS-HD MA 2.0 sound was pretty good although I had Denon set up to use the surround channels and matrixed to 5.1.

Both movies are on a single disc with the correct aspect ratios 2.35:1. If you're a fan it's worth the upgrade and a bargain.

One of my favorite guilty pleasures,Deep Rising, finally comes to Blu-ray. Can't wait. It's a full tilt action ride. Purportedly about a Monstrous Squid rising from the deep, as usual, it's really about the characters populating the film. And what a cast we get in this one. As the captain of a small PT type ship, with a motto of, if the cash is there, we don't care, Treat Williams is fine in the hero (good guy?) role. The mercenary crew who have chartered the ship are led by Wes Studi, and a lovely crew they are. Painted in broad strokes as ultra-violent, ridiculously unredeemable bad boys. I particularly enjoyed Djimon Hounsou, he is always good, but if you haven't seen his performance in Blood Diamond, treat yourself. Their plan is to hijack and rob a luxury liner. But they find it dead in the water, without power, and seemingly empty. They do meet up with a few survivors. Among them the not so pure ship owner, Anthony Heald, and the lovely Famke Janssen, who's back and forth banter with Treat Williams is a workable chemistry. now let the blood and gore fly as Squidy takes the stage. Course the gore is done in the over the top style that renders it non-retch-able. Having to work together to get off the ship, they are of course going down one at a time. Some even get a poetic come-up-tance, Wes Studi's was fun. But with movies of this ilk, what can raise it beyond it's parts is a great side-kick, The Great Kevin J. O'Connor is at his scene stealing best in this one. I think he is given some of the best lines in the movie, and his delivery is always spot on. So if your looking for hi-brow entertainment, with a sensible plot, you didn't read this far, so no worries, But if your into all-out, non-stop mayhem, cartoonish characters, bullets, blood & gore, with dialog consisting mainly of one liners, this is for you. The Blu-ray of Deep Rising at $6.99 is worth it alone. Getting another movie (Puppet Masters) is like an extra prize in your Cracker Jacks.

Buy Deep Rising / The Puppet Masters (Double Feature) Now

If you have never seen these two relatively obscure movies, you have missed quite a treat. Both are outstanding. And now they are together on Blu-ray for a song. As science fiction goes, both are at the top of their game. Actors are great, acting is great, story is great, and the monsters are great. Don't bother looking at reviews and critiques. If you enjoy sci-fi movies, buy the disk and see for yourself. You will be glad you did.

Read Best Reviews of Deep Rising / The Puppet Masters (Double Feature) Here

Both these movies were murdered by the critics of the time but they offer up tight plots, great actors, action and horror all the ingredients for great 'B' horror flicks that hover most of the time around the 'A' level. Treat Williams and Donald Sutherland (Keifer's dad) headline Deep Rising And The Puppet Masters respectively and do a bang up job in both cases. The transfers are great in blu-ray and there's enough action here for a double-feature evening that will curtail your bathroom visits to the intermission between films. Two pros with great supporting casts adding their personal touch to the genres. You'll have a blast!!

Want Deep Rising / The Puppet Masters (Double Feature) Discount?

Both the movies are good. I hadn't seen "Robert A. Henlein's The Puppet Masters" before I bought this DVD, but I was already a big fan of "Deep Rising" because of the action/horror story and excepetionally good cast. The Puppet Masters has a decent cast with Donald Sutherland the most notable. The Puppet Masters plot is of an alien crash and people being taken over is a familiar one, but this one doesn't let you down. The Deep Rising plot is about a group of Mercs that have been hired by an unknown person to rob a Cruise ship out at sea. They hire a captain, played by Treat Williams, with a small fast torpedo style boat to get them out to the ship. Treat's crew includes a mechanic (Benny in The Mummy) and a co-pilot. Once they arrive they find that the chalenge isn't getting the money from any security force, it's staying out of the jaws of a creature. Of the two I enjoyed Deep Rising the most. I felt a better story, directing, and cast.

To me the directing by Stephen Sommers (The Mummy Trilogy [Blu-ray], Van Helsing [Blu-ray], Gi Joe: The Rise of Cobra [Blu-ray], et cetera) on Deep Rising is great and the well known cast alone in Deep Rising gave it a plus. The comedy thrown in on this action/horror is definitely icing on the cake. This Blu-ray version is pretty good. Only two slight complatints I have are technical to the DVD disc itself. On mine the disc icon shows up with the cover and title of the movie Van Gogh. But it does actually have the two advertised movies Deep Rising/ The Puppet Masters on the disc. My only other minor complaint is I had to open the player to get to the other movie after watching either one. It wouldn't let me just go back to the menu where you see both titles in the beginning unless I ejected the disc and reloaded it. Now considering the price, I'm not really complaining to much because the quality of the movies themselves is excellent and they both played without any problem. I highly recommend purchasing this DVD.

CA Luster

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