Rifftrax: LIVE! Reefer Madness

I saw this show in the theater last year and couldn't wait to get it on DVD. The shorts alone make it worth buying, but then the jokes during the movie were certainly worthwhile as well. The jokes are not simply a repeat of the studio version of Rifftrax Reefer Madness and while I enjoy that DVD quite a bit the live version is just as good or better with lots of new jokes added. As others have pointed out, there are a few flubbed lines, but they are few and far between and it is LIVE comedy, so that is to be expected. If anything, it adds to the humor. The energy of the live performance and connection with the theater audience more than makes up for a few verbal stumbles. I highly recommend this DVD, it is one of my favorites of the Rifftrax Live series so far.

Shorts include:

More Dangerous Than Dynamite: A 1930's short about the hazards of washing your laundry at home in gasoline. D'uh!

At Your Fingertips: Grasses: A bizarre arts and crafts short for children from the 1970's. You'll wonder what the makers of this one were thinking when they dreamed it up.

Frozen Frolics: An odd 1930 cartoon that is not so classic, but it is a bit bizarre. Let's just say it's no Steamboat Willy.

There's also a new introduction on the DVD featuring Mike, Kevin and Bill.

The shorts are so amusingly odd that they kind of make fun of themselves, but Rifftrax certainly does add jokes worth hearing. If you're a MSTie and or a Rifftrax fan you won't want to miss this one. Recommended.

As the post-MST3K world goes, Rifftrax has just been too hit-or-miss for me. I've picked up a few titles (Carnival of Souls is one of my favorite B movies so I HAD to have that one). But seeing they put their live shows out on Blu-ray perked my interest enough to order this. Good thing too, because this has ended up being my favorite of the Rifftrax outings. The best part of the show isn't the feature film...it's the short about grass (as in lawn), which is funny enough without the riffing.

I found the visual presentation to be a bit annoying. The image keeps alternating between the movie itself centered on the screen and the movie off to the left to fit images of the three riffers to the right in Brady windows. I found that to be distracting and unnecessary.

Still, the subject matter is ripe for riffing, and the laughs are frequent.

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A 1930s movie about (sic) the "Dangers Of Marijuana?" Be a little real, marijuana is about as "dangerous" as Shirley Temple or Tiny Tim. The ONLY "true" way to achieve any sort of "edification" ref "Reefer Madness" is to allow the Riff Trax guys, Mike, Kevin, and Bill, to explain the..."subtile nuances" of this FINE film to you. And the song they've composed which is available between the Riff Trax-enhanced version of (giggle) "Reefer Madness" and the original (yes, they both occupy the same DVD!) film is worth the price of admission, just by itself. MST3K may have gone to that great resting place in the sky where "Fridays," "Alf," "the Monkees," and "Car 54 Where Are You" now abide, but the Riff Trax guys do very well, keeping its spirit alive and quite well.

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Mystery Science Theater 3000 is something new to me. But it is fun. It is a movie, a bad one with a couple of guys riffing it. If you do not know what that is, well you know how when you watch a bad movie with your friends and you make fun of it through out the movie... well there you go. That is what a riff is. They say funny things about the mistakes in the movie, and bad acting and whatever else they find that is funny.

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I love the Rifftrax Live dvds because they have all of the extra shorts too! Reefer Madness is hilarious with the riffs.

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Flight: The Genius of Birds

In the best sense of the word, FLIGHT is not so much an argument for intelligent design, as it is a picturesque, graceful tribute to the genius of birds, to honest sense and level-headedness. Let me name anything heavier-than-air that flies, and I'd expect you to show me an instrument designed and engineered--and here's the key--by someone capable of design and engineering.

Helicopters are made of materials found on earth. How long, one might suppose, would those elements need be blown about by wind and sea and time and chance before a helicopter emerged?

FLIGHT says little more than that. But in making the obvious more obvious, it reaches beyond blueprint to visual beauty, beyond execution to emotional ecstasy. Who among us hasn't wanted to fly? Flight's investigation of birds will both amaze and uplift. One cannot ask for more. The film puts our heads on alert and our hearts on the wing.

In February of 1969, a stunning, larger-than-life Boeing 747 rose on its maiden voyage into the sky above Seattle. No one watching its magnificent ascent or its poetic descent on its first glide path believed they were witnessing a mutation of assemblage. Find the current 747 online Wikipedia entry and note the key words of the outline: proposal, design, production, and development. These are not the monikers of accident and chance, whether for the 747 or the starling.

I am grateful to FLIGHT and its makers. It answers questions and dispels nonsense of all kinds. More, it inspires. Beauty and truth always do.

What an incredible film! The grandeur and design of God has never been so clearly evident as in a bird's feather. My husband and I were astounded by the intricate mechanisms and intricate details that enable a bird to fly . . . and we were equally impressed with the film Flight: The Genius of Birds. We can't wait to share it with the rest of our family.

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The photography is outstanding, making the video mesmerizing. We couldn't take our eyes off it. The film focused on only a few bird species in detail, which included the hummingbird, the arctic tern, and the starling. Each species has amazing features to ponder. We found the starling flocks containing many thousands of birds especially fascinating.

The details about the hummingbirds were super. How those little hearts could beat so fast, somewhere around 1200 beats per minute (going to have to watch it again soon) boggled me. The speaker said many birds' heart rates are over 500 beats per minute. I know how uncomfortable it feels when my heart approaches 150/min during a bout of atrial fibrillation, but the little guys and gals at the hummer feeder seem perfectly calm and content as they lap the extra concentrated nectar I make for them.

The evidence for intelligent design was clear and compelling. Birds are not glorified, flying lizards. The metabolism, musculature and skeletal systems of birds are perfectly adapted for flight. How all the required features for flight could develop by a long series of fortuitous accidents guided by natural selection requires blind faith, for there is no empirical evidence that birds evolved from some unidentified ancestor.

The presenters compared some human engineering accomplishments of well-designed flying machines, including a tiny, hummingbird like drone to the amazing designs found in birds. The design features in birds are far more elegant and effective that those designed by men. They talked about how evolutionary biologists insist students regard all the design features seen in organisms as development by mutation and natural selection over a nearly infinite span of time. The mantra is that "anything" is possible given enough time. A probability becomes a possibility, and that becomes a certainty. But when, the numbers are crunched, the probabilities are pooh-poohed by evolutionists because they are convinced with perfect faith that the universe and life was inevitable.

Evolutionists have speculated endlessly over the origin of birds, but birds are so unlike terrestrial creatures, that evolutionists cannot agree among themselves how it all happened. However, they insist with perfect faith that birds must have evolved from some dinosaur or lizard. The required structural and metabolic changes required to make such a transformation are outside the scope of science, yet evolutionists fill textbooks with ad hoc explanations how such transmutations might have occurred and then considered it virtual and incontrovertible fact.

The film referred to the development of the egg embryo without burdening the viewer with additional technical information concerning molecular biology and related fields. It did mention that the various cell types moved into their proper place as the bird embryo developed. Evolutionists say 97% of a species' DNA is junk because it doesn't code for protein. Clearly, most of a species' genome is involved in development, regulation, and other functions necessary to produce a viable organism.

I know crusading evolutionists are going to give this video a 1-star rating and put it down as stupid and made by ignorant creationists, but that goes with the territory. While atheists generally make up about 10% of the population, they often make up 50% of the reviews on Amazon--trying to stuff the ballot box. I've noticed that any book or film dealing with origins, evidence for God, or intelligent design is attacked by the same crew.

Enjoy the film. It is delightful and informative.

Read Best Reviews of Flight: The Genius of Birds Here

This very colorful, informative, well-documented film is all about birds, focusing on a few examples including hummingbirds, starlets, and arctic terns. It also covers the design of the wing, feathers, and the muscle and bone structure, showing in excellent animation how birds are designed to fly as well as their development. At the end it covers some evolution theories as well as design arguments. Highly recommended.

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Awesome film! You've got to see I! Very impressive and great photography. Recommend it highly. This is something you need to see?

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Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Two-Disc Edition: DVD/Blu-ray in DVD Packaging) (1968)

Well...after all the waiting, it's finally landed. I wish I could say that it's truly scrumptious, but in truth, from the ashes of disaster (the previous DVD release) grow the roses of mediocrity. Like so many DVD "special editions" of late (A Christmas Story, Willy Wonka, etc), this one is a bit short on the "special".

The film itself is presented in two formats on the first disc. Both widescreen and pan & scan. The widescreen transfer is just slightly wider than the laserdisc release and the colors seem to me to be about the same, though my laserdisc is rotting and the colors are a bit compromised. It might be worth getting for the widescreen alone if you don't already have at that aspect ratio. Also on disc one is the "sing along" feature and a preview of the musical which only succeeds in demonstrating how fat Michael Ball is.

Disc two (home of the real disappointments) has a conversation type "documentary" with Dick Van Dyke (and ONLY Dick Van Dyke) where he reminisces about some of the cast. Another new feature is with Pierre Picton, owner of the nicest of the on-screen cars and it's kind of a fun look at the eccentric who owns and cares for the car. There are 3 vintage featurettes, one with designer Rowland Emett which is interesting, another which is apparently a press conference with Dick Van Dyke (boring) and the last "featuring the children" (but not really). One excellent special feature (and kudos to the person responsible!), is the inclusion of more than a dozen of the Shermans original demos for the film.

There are about 7 trailers for the film, both theatrical and television, but not the one which followed the film on the laserdisc version which, to me, seems like the genuine trailer. It is presented on the DVD in French, but not in English.

The remainder of the special features are kiddie things like digital coloring book, inventor games, etc.

I'm sure money may have been the reason for not presenting a more professional and interesting supplement. Sally Ann Howes is alive and well...I've seen her in NY. The kids, Heather Ripley and Adrian Hall, attended the premiere of the stage show in London, so they're definitely locateable. Very little is said about the locations or the production of the film. I was expecting a documentary of the caliber on MGM's Bond DVD releases given that the production company was largely the same. At least pay Dick enough to do a running commentary! Shame on you, MGM.

Perhaps what disappointed me most of all is that I feel that I could have made a better effort.

Little prepares you for the print on this it's simply extraordinary.

It's been frame-by-frame restored using the Lowry Digital Restoration Process which was used on all 20 of the Bond films, the three Godfather movies, the original Star Wars Trilogy, the Indiana Jones films and even the transfer of Avatar (all to much acclaim).

But this 2010 Blu Ray/DVD Combination pack reissue of 1968's "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" has to be a benchmark even for them.

After the excellent 2DVD set issued a few years back, I didn't think that much more improvement could be wrenched out of the negative, but it has been. This transfer is practically faultless BEAUTIFUL to look at for the whole duration of the movie. Directed with style and flair by Ken Hughes and filmed in 70mm Super Panavision Technicolor it's a sumptuous feast of colours you see their period clothes anew, the details in the inventions inside Caractacus Pott's hillside home, the uncluttered English countryside, the Scrumptious Sweet Factory, the seaside scenes, the two bumbling spies, the toy dance at the King's Birthday Party in the Palace where their love shines out and almost gets them caught all of it gorgeous to look at. There's old and 'New Extras' also...

Sally Ann Howes looks suitably wholesome and lovely, Dick Van Dyke is as likeable as ever (a much underrated leading man) and the songs are excellent if not a little twee in places. The quirks of Sixties movies remain intact too the patience-sapping Overture at the beginning where a black screen sits there with only the roaring of car engines before the picture finally appears the "Intermission" break in the middle (so you could go and buy sweets) where Chitty goes over the cliff-edge and you don't find out what happens until the film starts up again and you're back in your seats all there as it was in the cinema and the original aspect retained too.

The child-catcher is still the scariest monster ever created in cinema (with Benny Hill being strangely creepy too) and the interplay between Gert Frobe and Anna Quayle as the bickering King and Queen of Vulgaria is still pricelessly funny. All this and Stanley Unwin speaking "...horribold..." English to Lionel Jeffries which always makes me pine for The Small Faces 1967 album masterpiece 'Ogden's Nutgone Flake' (he spoke in between tracks on Side 2).

Sure it'll be too saccharine for our "Call Of Duty" teenagers to enjoy nowadays, but there's something timeless and lovely about this 'magical car' movie and that beautifully evocative "Hushabye Mountain" melody always renders me a quivering mush whenever I hear it.

This 2010 BLU RAY of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" is a superlative reissue of a family classic. Ian Fleming would indeed be shaken and possibly even stirred.

Recommended like a duet with the wife on "Chu-Chi Face".

PS: for other superb restorations on BLU RAY, see also my reviews for "The Italian Job", "Saturday Night, Sunday Morning", "The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner", "Goldfinger", "North By Northwest", "Cool Hand Luke", "The Dambusters", "The Prisoner The Complete (TV) Series In High Definition", "Braveheart", "Snatch", "The Ladykillers" and "The African Queen"

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This is one of the last big budget fantasy musicals before these films became just too expensive to produce. But Dick Van Dyke was at his zenith here and Sally Ann Howes was marvelous as well. Note that Ian Fleming wrote the original story and as a tribute there were two Bond actors in the cast. Gert Frobe as the King and Desmond Llewyn as Mr. Coggin. But I was very dissappointed to see this DVD released in the Pan and Scan format. I really don't understand why MGM/UA remastered the film in the THX process and used a clean beautiful video transfer and doesn't present the film in its original widescreen format. At one-third of the film is missing and its really difficult to watch this now considering I had owned the widescreen laserdisc of this film.

Read Best Reviews of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Two-Disc Edition: DVD/Blu-ray in DVD Packaging) (1968) Here

Our family is on a retro trip, having bought this movie, as well as The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The King and I, Willy Wonka, and Pete's Dragon.

One of the reasons is that we want our 2 year old to experience the movies we grew up with, and the other is nostalgia.

Before watching this movie again recently, I could only remember that there was a flying car, a nice title song, and something about children being kidnapped. Watching it again for the first time, I discovered that I had forgotten most of the movie.

Caractacus Potts (Dick Van Dyke) is an inventor way ahead of his time, whose inventions don't always work the way they are intended. If you think his name is weird, the female lead is Truly Scrumptious (Sally Ann Howes), the daughter of a rich sweet manufacturer. This unlikely pair, along with his two kids and the wonderful car, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, are the star players in a story which starts out being about pirates, and ends up as a rescue mission. With comic support from Caractacus' father, and a toy maker (Benny Hill, in an uncharacteristic G rated performance), they defeat the schemes of spies (kind of like Laurel and Hardy combined with Boris and Natasha), an evil Baron and Baroness,and a wicked childcatcher, to bring the story within a story to a predictable but entertaining end.

The scenery is breathtaking, especially the Vulgarian castle and surroundings, and since this is a 1968 movie, we can forgive the lack of finesse in the special effects, where the characters stick out like sore thumbs from the backgrounds, and wires can be seen attached to Professor Potts during a dance sequence.

It's a little harder to swallow the concept of Truly Scrumptious running around on the beach dressed in tons of white cloth and coming up spotless, and her song about needing a lovely man is way too over the top and much too long. I will admit to skipping over that one.

The sing along feature is a nice touch, and catchy songs (other than the theme song) include "Me Old Bamboo", "Toot Sweet", my personal favorite "P O S H (Posh)", and the nearly too sugary "Truly Scrumptious".

Overall, this DVD is a refreshing family movie that you will watch over and over again.

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One of my favorite childhood films is ruined in this full screen DVD edition. Please release this fillm in its widescreen version as well! Why not offer both versions so that consumers have a choice?

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Ocean's Trilogy (2009)

I enjoyed the movies my self and looked forward to the BD release, but when I put them in my player and noticed the almost DVD quality video I felt ripped off. There are numerous artifacts through out the movies and bad colors. Buy with caution.

This is, without a doubt, the WORST quality blu-ray movie I have seen!! what were they thinking when they did this transfer? It is hard to see a big difference in this regular DVD and the Blu-ray.

The movies are great. the quality is a real let down. This review is based on the HD quality, not the review of the movie, as it should be on the Blue ray box set listing. Don't waste your money until they do a better job with the quality of the conversion

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The pros:

Brilliant ensemble cast

Entertaining story lines that are enjoyable through multiple viewings

The cons:

Lack of special features (Ocean's 12 disk special feature consists of...drumroll please...the TRAILER alone)

No real justification to buy box set unless you are just really really excited about owning, well, the box

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I'm sure everyone has seen this series so my rating is not based on the plot or acting quality. Everything looks great in HD, of course. The problem is that because they are crooks (lovable crooks, but crooks nonetheless) their operations usually happen at night or in the dark. That means tons of film noise, which is gloriously captured in 1080p. I find that some of the night/dark shots are grainy to a point of being obvious, though not enough to annoy me. It's like two guys sitting next to you in the theater, constantly chatting away in low volumes. It doesn't distract from the movie, but you'd enjoy things a little more if it weren't there. That's the only minor imperfection I could find. Everything else is marvelous.

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Ocean's Eleven is a fantastic film and the two follow on are still a good time, although not the same quality as the first. The second is by far the weakest and takes the most liberties with being ridiculous. You do have to suspend disbelief in these films but it is totally insane to say they are a bad trilogy especially when the first is genius. Not to mention that the original is actually pretty crappy if you go back and watch it. Just because it is a classic doesn't make it good. If you look at the original Thomas Crown it is actually quite bad. The remake was a fun, very well done film. Clearly the previous reviewer has an axe to grind and that is making it into their review. If the extras are anything like extras on the non-HD versions, you'll be pleased. Rarely have I appreciated a commentary but they have some great ones on these discs.

Mimic (The Director's Cut) (1997)

"Life finds a way." Ian Malcom, "Jurassic Park"

This famous line from Steven Speilberg's dinosaur adventure has become a popular lesson of many science fiction films today. "Mimic," a film in which genetically altered insects become something never intended, is no exception to this particular lesson; in fact, the movie uses it to its advantage on numerous occasions, that, and some very sophisticated special effects and filmmaking techniques. Mexican director Guillermo del Toro, who directed "Cronos," turns what is a basic nature-gone-mad movie into something more terrifying, more chilling, and more suspenseful than anything we've ever seen done before.

That's not to say that "Mimic" is as fresh as a spring breeze. There are elements at work in the film that are all too familiar if you know your science fiction well. There's the obligatory explanation for the havoc surrounding the central characters, scenes involving them being trapped somewhere beyond any help, and a hero in the group that will devise all the plans for escape and the way in which to kill their opponent. But under a new premise, and some very strikingly intense moments, "Mimic" makes the old seem new again.

The hero (or heroine, in this case) is Dr. Susan Tyler (Mira Sorvino), who is called upon by the city of New York to find a cure for a fatal disease striking the city's children. Along with husband Peter Mann (Jeremy Northam), they create a genetically altered breed of insect (revealed as a cross between a cockroach and a praying mantis) to wipe out the disease-infested cockroaches underneath the city.

Of course, the bugs, named the "Judas" breed, were altered in ways that left them with a short life expectancy of only six months, plus a sterile female so that no mating will take place. But, after three years have passed, Susan encounters a bug closely resembling the "Judas" breed insects, and it becomes apparent to her that they have survived.

How did they survive? The movie never explains it, which is best; it's better left as a mystery. It also leaves room for the ensuing action sequences, as Susan and Peter, along with a police officer (Charles Dutton), make their way into the underground subways and abandoned facilities beneath the city streets.

This is where things get really interesting, as del Toro works his magic on us. A simple scene in which Susan attempts to retrieve a flashlight by sticking her hand in a dark hole is full of suspense, while a claustrophobic intensity permeates sequences involving an abandoned subway car where the group seeks refuge from their predators. Accompanying all of this is a heightened sensory perception. Del Toro toys with shadow and light, along with sight and sound, to add an atmospheric feel to each setting. Not since "Seven" have I seen a film that uses this technique so masterfully.

And the message behind it all? It's one we're well familiarized with, that playing God gets us nowhere. Sure, Susan's intentions were in the right place, and we even understand her reasons after an early shot of her in a hospital ward filled with sick children. I think the general theme behind all of the mayhem is not one of toying with science, but one on the many ways that life can change, and evolve into something previously unknown.

"Mimic" has a good cast in its favor. Mira Sorvino shines in a role that differs from others roles of her career, such as "Mighty Aphrodite." But she proves herself able to play a convincing character in any situation. Jeremy Northam is the last person you'd expect to see running through tunnels and putting himself in dangerous situations, but he pulls it off. F. Murray Abraham makes an appearance as Susan's mentor, Dr. Gates, playing the well-educated man to perfection, while Charles Dutton is superbly comical and heroic as Leonard, the police officer.

"Mimic" is a dazzlingly intense adventure that is genuinely suspenseful and totally entertaining. It's ability to tighten the intensity surrounding its sequence of events is a trait rare to this genre, as is its ability to bring us into the atmosphere of the film's murky settings. Del Toro has fashioned a new evolution of sci-fi out of old-school tricks; I highly recommend this film.

I enjoy "Mimic," the movie. I have owned it on VHS, DVD, and now on this nice Director's Cut Blu Ray (Best Buy started selling the Blu Ray on September 6 . . . everyone else will have it on September 27). I am happy with my purchase and I will keep my Blu Ray of "Mimic" because the movie is kind of awesome in that science gone wrong giant bug sort of way.

My three stars for this review are strictly based off of the fact that this Blu Ray release is marketed as a Director's Cut and every single movie website, fan site, movie reviewer site (I think you are getting my drift) has been overjoyed in the fact that Guillermo Del Toro is finally given the chance to "reclaim" "Mimic." There is this whole back story involving executive producers, movie studio big wigs, and creative differences that plagued the development of "Mimic" (It is one of those typical Hollywood stories). It became such a problem, that Del Toro believed "Mimic" was not really his movie, he lost control of it, and did not like the outcome this is all pretty much stated within the new "Reclaiming Mimic" featurette found on the Blu Ray. With a back story such as this, yes, people should be excited for a Director's Cut . . . Del Toro finally gets to reinstate his vision or, at least, what's left of it being that he cannot go back and re-shoot the movie. But, as stated in the "Reclaiming Mimic" featurette, Del Toro is finally happy with the movie's Director's Cut. Without re-shooting the entire film, this is the cut of the movie Del Toro wants the audience to experience.

See, there's a lot of hype. Del Toro did not like the original cut, but is more than happy with his own cut. The studio was too hands on the first time around and completely changed his vision. With all of this promise behind Del Toro reinstating his vision, to me, I was somewhat just disappointed when the movie really wasn't all that . . . different.

(Vague spoilers below . . .)

The action remains the same. There is no alternate ending. There are more character scenes, which are always made to make you feel more for the characters' situations, but . . . I already felt for the characters. So the scenes did not make me "feel more" about them because I already liked them (originally). There are scenes which help to fill in some of the timeline of the narrative and I enjoyed those because they filled in some of the gaps. But again, it doesn't make "Mimic" the Director's Cut a wholly different experience. And that is why this Director's Cut is disappointing and a little bit over-hyped. With all the problems happening behind the scenes of the original, this Director's Cut had a lot of weight behind it, but, if this is all the Director's Cut is, it makes me wonder why exactly Del Toro didn't like the original movie because his vision is really not all that different from what the studio saw.

(Ok, so this review is getting long and I'm going to wrap it up.)

My final word on the subject is this: Buy this movie in order to have a good science versus nature movie on Blu Ray, but do not expect the "Director's Cut" to be a miracle or even all that different, because it is not.

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A terrific if flawed fantasy/horror film, "Mimic" suffered from studio interference as the film was taken away from Guillermo Del Toro prior to release and recut. In the wake of his success with "Pan's Labrynith", Del Toro was given the opportunity to recut the film, alter the pacing and tone of the film to reflect as much of his original vision as possible and that included reinstating some scenes cut prior to release.

Unfortunately, the meddling began well before the film went before cameras and the pre-production screenplay truly represents the "Director's Cut" of the film but, sadly, that film was never shot. As it stands though "Mimic" is still a terrific fantasy/horror/thriller even if it isn't what he had originally hoped for.

Shot for less than $8 million the film did decent business at the box office (well enough to inspire two sequels that Del Toro wasn't involved in)making $25 million. This new Blu-ray release sparkles with a sharp, nice looking transfer. The film has always looked dark and the Blu-ray gives this film the visual depth that it has always needed and this is a much needed upgrade from the rather murky looking DVD released in 1998.

The presentation isn't perfect however but it still looks exceptionally good particularly compared to what has come before and kudos must be given to Lion's Gate for allowing Del Toro the opportunity to return to this film and improve it. The film has always looked quite grainy and the Blu-ray remains true to the "look" of Del Toro's conception.

Special features include an introduction from Del Toro and a commentary track where the director discusses the challenges he faced making the film from pre to post-production. We also get a fine featuette on the creature design and "Reclaiming Mimic" covers some of the same ground as the commentary track. "Back into the Tunnels" demonstrates what a shoddy DVD we got in the beginning as it provides us with lots of behind-the-scenes footage about the production of the film (the original DVD was virtually bare bones). Finally we get a gag reel, deleted scenes, animatics and the threatrical trailer (outside of a "digitial" copy of the film).

Although compromised (to some degree from the very beginning), "Mimic" has a marvelous idea and the re-editing does a nice copy of capturing the creepy mood that Del Toro was going for as well as restoring some of his original intent in making the movie. We'll never truly get a "Director's Cut" of the film because, quite frankly, there was a lot of stuff that was never shot for the film. Still, what Del Toro has done here has improved the film and the extras go a long way to explaining what went wrong (Miramax and the Weinsteins)during the shooting.

The bottom line: While much remains the same about "Mimic" there's enough change to the structure of the over all film that improves it. Lion's Gate does a great job with the transfer considering the source and the extras are top notch. My only complaint is that for comparison purposes we should have gotten both cuts on Blu-ray.

Read Best Reviews of Mimic (The Director's Cut) (1997) Here

This may be a very personal thing, but my cousin once saw Mira Sorvino in a karaoke bar in Kyoto five years ago. I still regret that she (my cousin) didn't have my phone number to invite me.

Anyway, Mira Sorvino was here in Japan for the promotion of this creep film "Mimic." It was a bit surprise she took the role of entomologist Dr. Tyler, because it was soon after she got an Oscar for that Woody Allen film. But she judged right for this film turned out successful, being directed by Guillermo Del Toro, later to direct "Blade 2."

The story is, in my opinion, another clever look on urban legend. In New York, a deadly disease carried by roaches burst out, and many children suffer from that, most cases leading to death. Entomologist Susan Tyler (Sorvino), asked by CDC specialst Peter (Jeremy Northan, of "Emma" and "The Net"), embarks on a plan based on releasing a genetically enhanced new spieces. It worked; the disease soon is gone, but that's only the beginning of another plague that is more deadly.

And that is THE Thing, that acts like humans, but in fact, lethal enemy to us. They inhabit in a disused subway constructions where unlucky characters have to be trapped. Though the story seems derailed in the final chapter of the film, the film, as a whole, maintains its creepy atomosphere throughout, and those weird feelings that some people might get when they watch insects -something akin to awe and fear -are tactfully expressed in the darkly images of the underground world.

The cast is also superb; besides intelligent Sorvino, you see Charles S. Dutton ("Alien 3"), Josh Brolin ("NIghtwatch"), F. Murray Abraham ("Amadeus") and Giancorlo Giannini ("Hannibal"). And some may be amuzed by the stylish opening title sequence by Kyle Cooper, who did his job in "Se7en." and many others.

Basically, love or hate film, "Mimic" will engage the heart of the people who love the kind of film like David Cronenberg. The story's defect is obvious (and the film at several points resembles that of underrated John Sayles film "The Alligator"), but if you go in for an eerie feelings of his films, it is worth a look.

Want Mimic (The Director's Cut) (1997) Discount?

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Cast: Mira Sorvino, Jeremy Northam, Alexander Goodwin, Giancarlo Giannini, Charles Dutton, Josh Brolni, Alix Koromzay, F. Murray Abraham, James Costa.

Running Time: 105 minutes

Rated R for terror/violence and language.

"Mimic", like all great genre pictures, exists comfortably in two spheres: on the simple level, it speedily entertains as a gory fright film imbued with mordant humor; on the more difficult level, it provides symbolism and thematic undertow. Best of all, these two levels often work at the same time, such as when an old priest gets tossed off a building by one of the creatures, plummeting past a neon "Jesus Saves" sign, and crashing to a gory death on the pavement. A little while later, the creature drags the dead body into the gaping black maw of an open sewer. The latter is what "Mimic" is really really for: the importance of breeding and offspring. The movie's surreal opening, with its rows of linen-canopied hospital beds all in a row like so many little coffins, shows us sick children, gasping for air because a cockroach-borne disease is carrying them off. The battle lines are drawn in the first few moments: Us versus Them. Scientists Mia Sorvino and Jeremy Northam glean the cure for the dread disease by concocting a genetically-altered bug whose secretions kill off the diseased cockroaches; "Judas Breed", as it's called, will be the only true breed this couple will engender: Sorvino fails pregnancy tests at home, while their creature, supposedly unable to reproduce, grows apace underneath Manhattan's fallopian sewers. It merely seems like "nature's way" that the Judas Breed has mutated to the size of six feet, and can mimic standing upright like their human prey, It's also fitting that these creatures instinctively hone in on the vulnerability of children: they viciously rip apart two kids, and befriend another who has managed to communicate with them by clicking soup-spoons together.

This is an atmospheric thriller from Guillermo del Toro, director of "The Devil's Backbone" and "Cronos", who manages to mix great direction with good old fashioned monster horror to great effect. The concept itself is clever, even if the idea of bugs evolving to look very like humans is a little fa-fetched; however, once the action moves to the subway the fact that the bugs are clearly lethal no matter what they look like, makes this less important. The film is quite short and makes the action come quicker and seem more urgent. Several people get killed by the bug that wouldn't usually get killed in this sort of horror (children for example), this is very effective as it is quite scary to see the unexpected happen. The mood is dark throughout and Del Toro uses the sewers and subway to great effect, creating a real sense of claustrophobia, like the humans have entered the bug's world and not the other way round. The bugs are shown early on in the film usually not a good idea (keep it hidden in the "Jaws" way), but here the special effects are good enough to make the bug really believable, yet the horror is not in seeing the bugs but in they way they hunt and kill, but the fear is in what could happen. The cast are great, Sorvino especially is very good in the lead. Jeremy Northam and Charles S. Dutton are good in support and Abraham Murray adds a bit of cameo class (though his role is quite unnecessary). The director is the real star, adding some genuine scares and real mood to a film that could have easily been just another creature-feature that goes straight to video and straight to the back of your mind. Overall a superior creature horror film.

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Evil Dead ( Blu-ray + UltraViolet Digital Copy) (2013)

I am not happy. Great remake, but I was expecting an Unrated cut for blu-ray. If the studio thinks they are double-dipping off me, think again. I'm waiting on the Hobbit (extended cuts already confirmed) and I'm waiting on this too. Stop being so damn greedy Hollywood!

When I first heard that Evil Dead was being remade, I wasn't happy. I've grown tired of reboots and remakes and I felt that remaking Evil Dead was akin to trampling on sacred ground. After discovering that Raimi and Campbell were backing it, I gave in and joined the the party, my uptight "Dead purist" friends be damned. This version starts out with the same creepy cabin in the same creepy woods but with a new group of twenty somethings unwittingly walking into the slaughter. A new element is introduced when we find out that the gang is trying to help their friend Mia recover from a nasty heroin addiction. Making the trip is her estranged brother David who wasn't around when Mia had to deal with their mother's death. Needless to say, there are a lot of family issues that the two never hashed out and hard feelings are being felt.

If being drug out to a creepy cabin in the woods by her friends wasn't bad enough, things are going to get worse for Mia. Ignoring all blatant signs to get out of dodge,(decaying cats strung up on the ceiling, A blood stained floor)the group decides to go poking around the basement where they find a book made out of human skin. The nerdy hipster friend(Eric) can't keep his hands off of it and decides to read it, going so far as to pencil trace the words that have been scribbled out. His meddling causes forest demon(s)to spring forth from their dormancy and they're quite smitten with the venerable Mia. To make matters worse, her friends take her warnings as the paranoid ramblings of a junky coming down from a fix. Soon the gore hits the fan and one by one the friends get possessed and off themselves and each other in increasingly gruesome ways.

I was pleased with Evil Dead. The acting was a little wooden at first but when Mia and David's past was established,I felt that it gave the plot a solid anchor. The gore was turned up a couple notches from the original but there were times when it reached absurd levels. I couldn't help laughing aloud when the characters kept using duct tape in attempts to reattach severed limbs. with that aside, Evil Dead delivers a solid film that even "Dead purists" will enjoy. I'd say that the film is more " cringe enduing" than "terrifying" but still very enjoyable none the less. I challenge you "Dead purist" to check it out!

Buy Evil Dead ( Blu-ray + UltraViolet Digital Copy) (2013) Now

So, first off, Evil Dead 2 was really just a reimagining-remake of Evil Dead. So, too, is this movie. How is this movie different and why should you care about it? Well, it takes all of the elements, scenes, desperate tone and sets of Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2 and then distorts them just enough that even though we recognize each of them, we never really know when or how they're coming.

The Evil Dead playbook includes elements like reading from the wrong damned book, running through wall crawlspaces, erratic POV chases in the woods, tree rape (for lack of a better word), entrapment in the woods, untrustworthy mirror images, laughing deer heads, slamming doors, chainsaws, severing of "infected" hands, the famous bite on the hand from an infected significant other, burying your significant other, the rise from the dead of your significant other, the possessed pretending to be human to appear vulnerable, singing in the cellar...oh, and about 110 gallons of liquid gore! Might I add, it's all real gore, not some CGI spray coming from CGI demons.

So I told you it had all the same elements AND I just listed them. So did I ruin anything for you? Believe it or not, NO. While all of these elements are present, they have been chopped up, modified, meshed with other elements, spread across the entire cast or lumped into one. For example, there is no character that fills the role of Ash. Not really. But you'll see "Ash" moments played out by different characters as well as "Ash" lines and other Ash-isms. What's great about this is that you don't know who, if anyone, is going to survive this movie. What a nice touch. It all feels so familiar to Evil Dead fans yet, despite this familiarity, you never know what's in store except for a few iconic scenes.

The lighting, set design and cinematography were perfect. The mood went from "something doesn't feel quite right" to straight up chilling and surreal. Obscure camera angles brilliantly contributed by making tense moments much less comfortable even for unshakable horror fans.

Likewise, the characters were great. I had doubts at first. When we meet them it feels like any well-produced horror movie. David (Shiloh Fernandez; Red Riding Hood, Deadgirl), Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci; Carriers), Olivia (Jessica Lucas; Cloverfield, The Covenant) and David's girlfriend Natalie (Elizabeth Blackmore) all go out to a cabin in the woods to help David's sister Mia (Suburgatory's Jane Levy showing us that more than just a sweetie) kick her drug addiction which has nearly killed her. Natalie seems naïve, David has never been there for his family before, Olivia is a take charge nurse helming this mission and Eric is pleasantly reminiscent of what they're remaking as a 70s-80s curious yet skiddish kind of guy who "thinks" he knows what he's in for. Mia is likable, but you can see she has the will and flightiness to be problematic even without evil demons' involvement.

As this intervention-rehab sets sail, one of them reads a few words from a skin-bound tome in the carrion-littered basement (a bit of a red flag already, I think) and some odd things start happening. But no matter how odd, out of character, escalating to psychotic and murderous the events, to some they fall under the veil of Mia having a breakdown. The actors all do a fine job.

The big question on everyone's mind seems to be "was this remake worthy of Evil Dead [and Evil Dead 2]?" I think that whether or not people like this movie, the answer will be a mixed bag. My personal opinion is YES IT IS. Granted, there is none of the slapstick comedy of Evil Dead 2 or uber-over-the-top maniacal demon taunts of Evil Dead. The only laughs you'll get are familiar lines that were funny in the originals thoughtfully woven throughout the dialogue in such understated ways that unless you're a diehard fan you'll probably miss them altogether. However, we get every bit of the gastrointestinal gross-out gore and then some!!! On top of that we get some truly brutal and sadistic scenes that will make you cover your mouth, cover your eyes, hold your breath or spit swears of disbelief at the screen.

It's hard to believe that Sam Raimi was only a producer and that this was Fede Alvarez' first feature length picture.

So please, give this a chance. Don't skip it because the last ten horror remakes, reboots or re-imaginings disappointed you. This is clearly a remake, but the scenes you'll see never feel like you've seen them before.

Read Best Reviews of Evil Dead ( Blu-ray + UltraViolet Digital Copy) (2013) Here

Remake. Reimagining. Reboot. Sequel. You can use many terms to describe this film but this addition to the Evil Dead franchise manages to create a niche all it's own composed of some appreciated unpredictability, recycled ideas from other films and a plethora of gore soaked goodies. Set in present day the film centers on a group of friends gathered to help a young woman beat her heroin addiction. Mia played by Jane Levy in an uneven but decent performance is that young woman who is the first to fall victim to the notorious necronomicon which of course leads to a night of sadistic horror, the likes of which you've come to expect from these films. Solid and sexy Shiloh Fernandez turns up as her abandoning brother with a slightly melodramatic past, handsome Lou Taylor Pucci as his too curious friend Eric, the talented and gorgeous Jessica Lucas as the most believable of the bunch Olivia and Elizabeth Blackmore as Natalie, David's girlfriend and the not so great actress of the group. The direction from Fede Alvarez is solid I think if a little generic although I am impressed by the enormity of this guy's balls. The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous from it's heightened suspenseful camera angles and the ones that capture the scenery in just the right way to the beautiful composition of light through out the film, it's really very commendable. Speaking of commendable the old school nod to practical effects is much appreciated and way more effective than the CGI crap that crowds multiplexes nowadays. But all in all the film feels feels a little recycled with not much an identity of it's own. it borrows freely from the Evil Dead films and other similar films like it and in truth feels more like a sequel than an actual remake and in that sense it never really feels like it can stand on it's own. Don't get me wrong the film has a barrage of wonderfully gory set pieces but when you look up Evil Dead 30 years from now on the net I'm pretty sure this won't be what comes up. The screenplay however does have some nice touches the reasoning behind them staying is well though out even if the opening is a little hammy and confusing and the constant merry go round effect of who is the films real main character is wonderfully deceptive. That being said, my expectations were set very high I'm a huge fan of the Evil Dead films and I had recently watched them and the buzz on this film has been incredible and I bought into a little against my better judgement. When it first started out I didn't feel much of anything and than as it went on it was decent enough but the disappointment started to creep in. I can't say that the feeling ever truly went away completely but the film culminates too such a grand, horrific, entertaining, completely over the top, ickfest finale I couldn't help it when the slight blues fell away replaced with a childish grin that helped me to remember why I have been such a big horror fan since I was a kid. And for that reason alone it's more than worth the price of admission a few times. 4/5

Want Evil Dead ( Blu-ray + UltraViolet Digital Copy) (2013) Discount?

3 1/2 Stars = Very Good

Ah, the original "Evil Dead,", is one of my top ten horror films of all time. I saw it when it came out at the drive-in theater. What a roller coaster ride, with screams echoing through out the parking lot, & funny enough, many of them shrieking was the guys! I always thought years later, that this film begged a remake, as it was shot on a social security budget, & the advances in special effects have came a long ways. Well, I finally got my chance yesterday to see the remake of "Evil Dead!" What did I think?

The good:

First thing off you notice about the remake of "Evil Dead," is that the acting has improved by light years, not that the acting was of zero talent in the original, but it was very uneven with each actor. Here everyone can act. I guess it helps that you've got more of a budget. The second thing is that the film gives you a prologue, & a fairly good reason why the group of people come to the now famous cabin in the woods for a visit. The third, & the main reason, is the greatly improved special effects & make up! I have to admit, I was quite amazed, not that the special effects are better than any current horror film with a budget, but how graphic they are! The original "Evil Dead" was one of the goriest horror films of it's time. Even by today's standards, it's gory. I really was not expecting the remake to be as explicit, even more so in the gore department with a R rating than the original! The original was unrated, & back in the time it was made, there was a lot more leniency in what graphic material you could put in a film than today. The fourth, is the main demon is pretty good, though she reminds me of a second rate Regan from "The Exorcist," both physically & personality wise, but then again, no one is going to replace Linda Blair as a person possessed! Actually, all the demons were well done, & they were not only sadistic, but hugely masochistic too! So I was actually astounded at how gory this film is, but does all of this make me forget the original? No, not for a moment!

The Bad:

Ok, where to start? Well, lets start with the characters & work our way down. As I said, there was good reason why this group of people chose to come to the cabin, but what they did afterward was pretty brainless. I mean we have some intelligent people here, at least their supposed to be. We got a teacher, we got a nurse, we got a caring brother & his girlfriend, & last but not least, his junkie sister, who while being a junkie, seems to be very intelligent. So here's the rub, when they get to the cabin & smell something putrid rising from the basement, they go down to investigate. They find dead cats everywhere hung from the basement ceiling. They find that something or someone was burned. They find (though it's not called this in the film) the "Necronomicon," better known as the "Book of The Dead." It's all wrapped up in barbwire. So ok, being intelligent people, who think witchcraft has been performed in the cabin, wouldn't you think they'd be heading for the next county? No! The teacher, who'd you expect to be the smartest of the bunch, or at least the one with the most common sense, takes the barbwire off the book, unwraps it, & after being warned not to read the book, by writings in the book from someone other than the author, starts to read a passage out loud. Then of course we all know what's going to happen. Bingo! At least in the original, we get five college kids just looking for a party, not taking anything seriously. It's a lot easier to swallow why this group of kids would turn on the tape recorder listening to the incantations recorded on it, for s***s & giggles, as opposed to the group in the remake.

Now the stake through the old Necronomicon! As fantastic & improved as the make up & special effect are over the original, the film lack copious amounts of atmospheric dread. Maybe this is to be expected, after all, it's a remake, right? Well, this film is not a scene by scene remake, it's quite it's own animal, but it could've of benefitted from keeping some of the things that made the original so terrifyingly eerie. One. They could of used the woods to a much greater effect. They practically ignored all what made the woods such a eerily forbidding place in the first film. The woods in the original were in a lot of ways, more terrifying than the cabin it's self! Two. The sound effects were no where as instrumental as the original in creating a dreadful atmosphere, such as the hugely menacing sound the unseen force made in the woods, chasing after people in the original. The swing scene in the original, when the group of college kids got there, & the cabin swing was swaying back & forth, making a bumping sound against the cabin as it hit it, then all of a sudden stopping. Now that made my neck hairs stand on end! No such thing in the remake, & maybe most of all, the spine chilling constant wind, blowing eerily through the cabin! Three. The soundtrack was way inferior to the original's, subduing the amount of tension & atmospheric dread from the first. The original's soundtrack accentuated every little bit of dread, drawing the viewer ever deeper into the film. Four. The first film created a surrealistic sense of insanity, with Ash questioning his own sanity, while sitting in the rocking chair. Ash putting his fingers on the mirror, only to find the mirror was as made of water, increasing the surrealism of the film. Things going bump in the cabin. Things going bump outside. Objects moving by their selves in the cabin. These are just a few things that made the original what it was, a truly groundbreaking horror film. No horror film is going to be thought of as a groundbreaking masterpiece, without atmospheric dread by the bloody buckets full. Something this remake unfortunately lacked. The film was just an excuse to go all out blood & guts, & it succeeded in this, but failed miserably when compared to the original's nail biting suspense, of what was going to happen next. The original keeping you glued to the screen & your hands squeezing the armrest, until they turned white. The remake was just to much overkill. With out the dread, suspense, & surrealism of the first, the relentless gore & violence becomes numbing.

Alright, even so I think this film paled against the original, on it's own terms, it did succeed fairly well. It's not near the remake that "Fright Night" & "Dawn of the Dead" were, but it is worth seeing, even buying in Blu-ray. For people who have not seen the original, you may think this is a great horror film. For us that seen the original at the time of it's release, the remake is a fun, yet obtuse, inferior rendering of the original. But when compared to the glut of mediocre horror films out there, both big & small budgeted, this is a pretty damn good watch. For you gorehound lovers out there!

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The Girl Next Door (Unrated Edition) (2004)

There is a point in "The Girl Next Door Unrated Edition' (which I received and promptly devoured, extra's and all, in one sitting) where the movie is in danger of changing in tone and focus from American Pie to Showgirls, but luckily for the movie and viewers it recovers itself and ends in a definite teen comedy spirit.

I never saw this movie in the theater so I cannot comment on what has been added to this "unrated edition" but there is certainly quite a lot of nudity, but nothing involving the main actors. There are some graphic scenes at a strip club (including lap dancing) and we get shots of one of the main actors watching a porn video at home. There are some nude scenes from behind of both principal actors Emile Hirsch and Elisha Cuthbert, but as Hirsch points out on Side B of the disc (where most of the extras are located) the movie used a stand-in for those shots.

I have a word of caution regarding the list of extra's on the Amazon page. One is titled a scene specific commentary by Hirsch and Cuthbert. What we have here though is not a commentary for the whole movie from the two stars, but rather several scenes on the flip side of the disc in which the two actors both give separate commentary.

Largely (and unjustly) ignored at the box office this teen comedy starts of really well and within the first few moments had me rolling with laughter. The movie starts with a montage of sorts, we see the jocks, brains and cheerleader-types all stating, for their entry in the yearbook, what they "will always remember."

Then there is Matt (played by Hirsch) who is pondering this question. Sure, he has had a successful academic career as illustrated by his acceptance to Georgetown but he really hasn't done anything memorable in his senior year of high school.

That's about to change for Matt though with the arrival next door of Danielle (played by Cuthbert), who plays a breathtaking beauty house-sitting for his neighbors.

Entranced by her Matt is unable to stop himself from watching Danielle undress in the window opposite his bedroom but he is spotted. From that moment he is on a rollercoaster ride. Danielle, amused and evidently attracted to Matt, shows him the excitement of living on the edge, from running naked through the streets to moonlight skinny dipping in his school principal's pool.

Just as everything seems to be going so well between Matt and Danielle, Matt is shocked when one of his best friends Eli (who is a connoisseur of porn movies and full of in-experienced sex advice) shows one of his porn movies in which Danielle is the main star.

Foolishly following some of his friends advice, the two part company and moments later the movie changes tack and takes on a decidedly darker and more serious tone as Matt becomes sucked into the shadowy world of the pornographic movie industry.

What follows is both inventive and highly amusing. How will Matt afford to get into Georgetown? What will become of Danielle? These are just some of the questions in this entertaining movie that borrows heavily and liberally from a number of the John Hughes movies of the 1980s and the AMERICAN PIE movies of more recent years. The movie ends on a high note in a conclusion that is both satisfying and enjoyable.

Now onto the part that most readers of this review are more interested in the extra's. On Side A of the disc we have an OK director's commentary from director Luke Greenfield and an at times amusing and at other times fascinating trivia track.

Then on Side B of the disc we have the aforementioned seven to eight scene specific commentaries from Hirsch and Cuthbert (Hirsch curiously has one more) and deleted and extended scenes with optional directors commentary. None of these scenes are of any particular value to anyone but completists or fans of the movie. They add nothing to the feature, but do have a curiosity factor to them. They also chose the better of the two endings also.

Of more interest is an amusing featurette in which actor Chris Marquette (who plays Eli in the movie) poses as a porn producer and lures in all too interested men (there'e a cute blonde on the bed afterall) who get decidedly less interested (for the most part) when the girl is replaced by a big burly guy.

We are also offered a stills gallery and a VERY short gag reel as well as trailers for a couple of other like-minded movies in addition to one promotional trailer for several other Fox titles. There is also a trailer for THE GIRL NEXT DOOR with the subtitle `Dirrrty,' which in reality isn't really that much of a big deal.

All in all, this is a good and entertaining movie, it seems to lose its footing half way through but successfully and engagingly returns to top form before the final credits roll. This is a definite must-buy for fans of the movie and the genre and certainly great entertainment

The honest answer is no.

And that is extensive to the unrated version of the movie.

Why? Ok let me se...

For a movie that is only 5 or 6 years old, the transfer shouldn't look older than it does. The transfer is just a modest upgrade of the less-than-reference quality picture included on the original DVD.

Too much noise/grain and inconsistent color levels are the main offenders here, with the occasional edge enhancement creeping in as well. Night time and indoor scenes have the most issues, but our first reveal of Cuthbert in a wet, white shirt looks near-perfect, picture-wise. Colors are mostly set to a permanent dull hue, and in some instances are muddy, which is surprising given the quality of most Fox offerings. Trust me, this isn't blu-ray quality.

So if you have the DVD version of it, stick to it and don't change it for the Blu-ray version, you can even find a DVD unrated adaptation of it, plus you won't loose money on it!

As for the extras and unrated part:

The 16 Deleted or Extended Scenes are definitely worth watching. You have a play all option with commentary from director Greenfield. One scene featured actress Amanda Swinton losing it when she had to put a condom on Klitz, who wore a fencing mask to do the scene. She struggles to keep a straight face and loses it at the end. Most were cut for pacing purposes, which is a shame, because a lot of these scenes had moments of genuine emotion that really humanized the movie. We also get the original ending that get this Greenfield cut because people at the test screenings thought Matthew was in the White House when he's standing in front of the Capitol Building...anyways...

The movie's first trip on Blu comes with most of the bonus content present on the unrated SD release.

* Audio Commentary by Luke Greenfield

* Scene Specific Commentary by Emile Hirsch

* Scene Specific Commentary by Elisha Cuthbert

* "The Eli Experience" Featurette

* "A Look Next Door" Making-Of Featurette

* Gag Reel

* Deleted and Extended Scenes (Including the Original Ending)

* Theatrical Trailer, "Dirty" Edition

The only extra missing from the previous SD release is the Pop-Up trivia track, but viewers aren't missing much. The stand-outs here are the director's commentary and "The Eli Experience" featurette. The unrated version is nine minutes longer, but they are nine minutes that do nothing for the movie but increase its running time, and pad it out with an extra few seconds of nudity. So for you people, that means the disc gets the DVD equivalent to a Cable Ace award.

"The Eli Experience" is a riot. Chris Marquette, who plays Eli, goes to the Adult Industry Expo, held during CES, and mingles with the porn stars. In a Howard Stern moment, hulking ex-pro wrestler Matt 'Horshu' Wiese walks up to men at the expo asking them if they want to make out with him. Man this has to be seen!

As for "A Look Next Door" is a standard making-of EPK, and the Gag Reel runs three minutes long as features many on-set screw ups. It's funnier than most gag reels, but it's not worth a repeat viewing.

The movie isn't awful, but you would think the Blu-ray version is better than it really is. The direction is component, but unremarkable, the performances are fun but not unified, and the Blu is one of the weakest catalog titles Fox has released on the format so far. Watch the movie; it's acceptable rainy day entertainment. But don't trade in your DVD for the supreme BD experience, because it is not there. Ironically, most of us wouldn't have seen the movie in the first place if they didn't agree to casting Elisha Cuthbert.

Buy The Girl Next Door (Unrated Edition) (2004) Now

Teen comedies always turn up big business at the box office, this is generally due to the fact that the creative forces behind these movies include plenty of crude humor, sex, and nudity as can be allowed under the MPAA ratings system. Most of the time these teen comedies are a dime-a-dozen, opening big and fading shortly thereafter, with little lasting appeal with audiences. However, there have been some successes in the genre that have had more staying power than others, examples would be "Animal House", the `Scary Movie' franchise, and the `American Pie' series. With those examples of successful teen comedies, they all have some common traits in which they share, basically they are packed full of sex, nudity, and crude humor and language. However, one thing these examples of successful teen comedies, and even the unsuccessful ones lack is any amount of heart or soul in the story. In 2004, Fox Studios produced yet another teen comedy to appease the masses for a short while, "The Girl Next Door". Starring Elisha Cuthbert (TV's "24") and an unknown lead actor named Emile Hirsch, "The Girl Next Door" would stand out from the other teen comedies that have come before it or even after it, for this movie contained the one thing that I said was lacking in those others, that is heart and soul.

"The Girl Next Door" is the story of 18-year-old Matthew Kidman (Emile Hirsch), a straight-laced, overachieving, good boy who has never really lived life to the fullest. That is, until he spies his incredibly sexy neighbor (Elisha Cuthbert) changing in the window, and finds that through his desire to be with her, he will do anything and everything to be with her. But, Matthew gets thrown for somewhat of a loop when he discovers that his perfect `girl next door' is actually a former porn star, who is trying to forget about the life she used to lead. Now, Matthew's sheltered life quickly begins to spin out of control as he attempts to help his new girlfriend leave the life she knew to embrace the life she longs for.

The reason I feel this movie is far and above those other teen comedies I listed, some of which I enjoyed by the way, is like I said earlier "The Girl Next Door" contains plenty of heart and soul in its story. This movie isn't simply about having sex, yes there is that obligatory teen comedy element in this movie, but this movie is actually about the discovery that sex isn't the only thing to look for in a relationship with someone. To prove that point the main character in the story, Matthew, who by the way is played perfectly by Emile Hirsch, is forced to learn that to have a true meaningful relationship with a woman, he must get past his lustful desire to only want the physical body, with no regard for the emotional side of the woman. A lesson he has to learn the hard way, and it forces his character to mature throughout the story, until finally he is able to have a committed relationship with this `girl next door', as he discovers that she is more than just a beautiful woman, and former porn star, and in fact that she is a person with real feelings. And all she asks of Matthew is that he move past her former life and see her for who she truly is.

The writing in this story is better than most contained in this type of movie, generally the story is fairly thin, and is pretty much there to link each crude joke to the next or to bridge the gap between sex scenes; however, in this movie the story is the main focus, yes there are the crude jokes and a couple of sex scenes, but the story isn't simply a minor plot device to get the audience to these obligatory teen comedy sequences. The actors all do a very good job of bringing their characters to life, and appear to be enjoying themselves immensely with the roles they've been given. Elisha Cuthbert and Emile Hirsch share a great chemistry that helps to elevate this movie to almost a romantic comedy level, instead of just teen comedy. Timothy Olyphant ("A Man Apart" and "Scream 2") makes several appearances throughout the film as a shady porn producer, and he manages to steal almost every scene that he's in, and actually provides Matthew with some rather sage advice, though inadvertently I might add.

If you are a fan of teen comedies, but are perhaps tired of the same old thing, then check out "The Girl Next Door", I promise you it is more than your average teen, gross-out sex comedy.

"The Girl Next Door" is available in both rated R and Unrated editions, both contain language and sexuality/nudity.

Read Best Reviews of The Girl Next Door (Unrated Edition) (2004) Here

this movie is the perfect blend of teenage immaturity and perversion we have all come to love thanks to movies like american pie and likes. it has your average high school student makes good grades, president of the student council, etc. who falls in love with the lady who is housesitting his neighbors house...he falls in love with her only to find she is a porn star, and things go downhill for him from there. this is a movie to be watched not as a teenie bopper flick but seriously, it has a perfect blend also of comedy and drama. fans of the american pie type of movies, and fans of porno both should love this one, it will go down in history.

Want The Girl Next Door (Unrated Edition) (2004) Discount?

Before I saw The Girl Next Door, I expected it to be a typical raunchy teen sex movie. After watching it, it has become one of my favorite movies, if not my favorite. It is a love story and a comedy rolled into one.

Emile Hirsch plays Matthew Kidman, a high school senior who is an excellent student and all-around nice kid, but he's kind of nerdy and hasn't really done anything memorable all throughout high school. This changes when he meets his new next-door neighbor Danielle, played by Elisha Cuthbert. Danielle is gorgeous and Matthew instantly falls for her. Soon after spotting her, he sees her undressing through his window and can't help but watch. Danielle catches him watching her and becomes angry at first, but soon it seems as though she has fallen for him too.

Danielle is a former porn star, which Matthew does not find out until his friend Eli (played by Chris Marquette) shows him a video with her in it. To further complicate things, Danielle's former producer/ex-boyfriend Kelly (played by Timothy Olyphant) shows up one day and wants Danielle to return to the adult film business. Kelly and Matthew get along well at first, but this changes when Matthew tries to get Danielle to leave the porn industry, which Kelly does not like one bit.

Eli and Kelly are two characters that really steal the show in this movie. Eli is Matthew's nerdy high school friend who is horny all the time and obsessed with sex and hot women. He had some of the funniest lines in the whole movie. Kelly (the porn director who used to work with Danielle and also used to date her) is the cool, wise-ass guy who cracked me up in just about every scene he was in. I couldn't decide whether to love him or hate him-he is a cool, funny guy when him and Matthew are friends, but when Matthew makes him angry, he becomes psycho and violent.

I do not want to give too much away in this movie, but Danielle gets Matthew to do things that he never imagined he would do. It really is a case of opposites attracting: Matthew falls for Danielle's wild adventurous side, and Danielle falls for Matthew's innocence and purity. In several scenes, you can tell deep down that Danielle really is a good person, she doesn't really want to be in the porn business, and she really cares about Matthew. Matthew feels the same way about Danielle and puts himself in many risky situations for her. This movie was so touching that I cried in a couple parts, and I don't cry easily. Yet there were also parts so funny I couldn't stop laughing (mainly the scenes with Eli and Kelly.) Definitely worth watching and way under-rated.

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Rambo Box Set (First Blood / Rambo: First Blood Part II / Rambo III ) (2008)

When I heard they were releasing these on Blu-Ray I wasn't exactly thrilled to be buying them again. I had bought First Blood on Blu-Ray when it first came out after I had rented it at a Blockbuster and was so impressed by the picture I had to buy it. I had seen First Blood in so many different versions including most of the standard DVD releases that I didn't think it possbile to look as good as it does on Blu-Ray. After that I decided I really wanted them all on High Definition but they hadn't announced plans to release the other 2 on Blu-Ray. So I bought the others on HD-DVD (french versions). Again the picture was quite a bit better than any standard DVD previously released but not quite as good as First Blood on Blu-Ray. When the trilogy was finally released on Blu-Ray I admit I was a little mad, I wished they had just released them all together in the first place and now buying the trilogy yet again on Blu-Ray would also mean I would have 2 versions of the same First Blood movie.

I found this set at Best Buy for $29.99 (someone had accidently put them in the wrong area but they honored the price). This was cheaper than buying Rambo: First Blood Part II and Rambo III individually so I bought the whole set.

I am very glad I did though, the picture on the other 2 movies are just as good as on First Blood, and better than the HD-DVD versions I had bought. The sound is also much better than any other version I had. I would strongly suggest that if you are skeptical to just buy these, there is not a better version out there and believe me I know. I watched these with my girlfriend and even she was amazed at how good they looked and she is not picky about picture quality. The movies look like they were just filmed yesterday and not back in the 80's. There is very little grain or film artifacts in these either. One review I read said he didn't realize how much sweating there was in the Rambo: First Blood Part II until he actually saw it in High Definiton and I have to agree, it is so clear everything shows up and looks amazing. If you own a Blu-Ray player and love the Rambo series you owe it to yourself to buy these.

and they mean Ultimate when they say so.

I had recently learned of the redicuolous marketing for these movies, and that's the typical DVD company for you. But because of the bad reviews, is only the die hard fan's problems, not yours. This is only because die hard fans had obviously bought the first box set released, then companys decided to make another for the sake of better special features, and other suspicious reasons. This gave fans who had the older set the urge to buy the next one, and probably sell off the other. But this is when the companys have the chance to release one more on the fans and new comers alike. This enables them to make money off of people buying and rebuying these DVD sets, and it works. Their loyalty isn't to you, THEY'RE A BUSINESS, they are there to get paid like everyone else wants to.

What my real point is however, is that this is a no problemo situation for ones that have not wasted their time with the older sets at their release dates. The other sets are good, and have their pros and cons. But to me, the Ultimate edition packs the least amount of cons, and is for a fact, THEE Ultimate collection. Why? Here is why I think so.

Special Features:

Aspect Ratio: Letter box 2:35 (Perfect widescreen)

Special commentary by Sylvester Stallone on First Blood only, other Rambo sequels have commentaries by the Directors (YES!)

First Blood, Rambo III, Deleted scenes (Very good)

First Blood, features alternate suicide ending (What a find!)

And a Meta vision: So called to expand your viewing capability of the films (Interesting)

And more!

Overall: I love the final Rambo collection. I shall continue to be entertained and blown away by these films, as they will remain a remarkable franchise.

(Thank you, to Sylvester Stallone)

and remember fans, Rambo 4 is coming this year 2006

Buy Rambo Box Set (First Blood / Rambo: First Blood Part II / Rambo III ) (2008) Now

When Rambo first released on DVD, it wasn't even in a complete set. Each film came out individually, First Blood part 2 had some special features, but than the other two had nothing more than trailers. Than they released a special edition, which I thought was neccesary because it was given a good round of features. Now they release it again, so you would expect even more features right? Wrong! First Blood and Rambo III have some decent extras, but why First Blood part II hasn't evolved from the previous edition is anyones guess. The special edition set that was released prior to this one, had more documentaries, so is it really worth buying the ultra-edition just for the sake of a few minor changes. Since First Blood part II hasn't got any extras, I reccomend buying First Blood and Rambo III ultra-editions individually only if you'd a die hard fan. Who knows maybe in 5 years time, they will release a Super special edition, than another 5 years after that a Super duper special edition. Why didn't Artisan include all the features on the ultra-edition with the special? the reason is obvious, they just want to milk as much money out of the fans as possible by re-releasing the set. They did the same with Rocky and Terminator and a string of other movies. There is no respect for fans anymore, film merchandising is clearly based on profit than value for money for the consumer. Mark my words, next on the list is Batman and Titanic, which will be given the special edition treatment, forcing fans to keep returning to the shop over and over.

Meanwhile I love Rambo the films with passion, but the marketing of the movies is ridiculous.

Read Best Reviews of Rambo Box Set (First Blood / Rambo: First Blood Part II / Rambo III ) (2008) Here

What a great Blu Ray 3 disc set!!! This includes all 3 movies of the original Rambo Trilogy(That's First Blood,Rambo II,and Rambo III) They look and sound awseome,so much better than standard DVD,and I got this at a great price from right here at Amazon.com baby,this is the place to do ALL your Blu Ray shopping,the prices just cant be beat!!! If your a fan of the original Rambo trilogy and have a Blu Ray Disc player than this is great box set at a great price,I got this blu ray set on sale cheaper than the standard DVD set,just can't beat that!!! And it comes on a nice collector's case taht looks great on the shelf to boot!!! Recommended! A+

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What a waste! How else can I say it? The Special Editions had trailers, great documentaries, and informative production notes on top of that. Why didn't they include the deleted scenes?! That's the only thing of value on these new Ultimate Editions, because all the rest is missing. If it really was an "ultimate" set, they would have included all the previously released great extras. (For those with the far-superior Special Editions, don't bother replacing yours with these; even the deleted scenes aren't anything to get worked up about, with possible exception of First Blood's alternate ending.) And those nonsense "Meta" features are a pathetic insult to serious collectors. Can't comment on audio commentaries. I gave up wasting my time on those things years ago, having OD'd on them back in the days of laserdisc!

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Cujo (1983)

I have waited a looooooong time to see this film get the special treatment it deserved. For years, the only way I had to view this classic horror treat was on an old DVD release with cropped edges, horrible picture, and NO special features at all.....not to mention the ugliest DVD artwork ever for a Stephen King release.

Lionsgate has now given us Cujo as it has never been seen on home video. I was blown away by how clear the picture is, and how vibrant the colors are. The old transfer just seemed washed out and faded. I watched this on my PS3, which upscales it to hi-def, and I never dreamed this film could ever look this good. I'm also glad that there was no effort to try to create a surround sound track for this film, since most of it takes place inside a car. You have the choice of watching it in the original mono, or a 2 channel stereo mix. While this is not a film I would choose to show off my surround system, it is very effective for what is happening on screen. Not only do we get treated to a remastered copy of the film, but Cujo also has some really good special features. The 3-part documentary runs about 45 min. total, and is very informative about the way the film was made. Both Dee Wallace and Danny Pintauro take part in the documentary. The director, Lewis Teague, also provides a good commentary track. I only have two minor complaints: 1st, there is no trailer for Cujo and 2nd, with it being the 25th anniversary edition, I would rather have seen the artwork from the original movie poster as the cover. I'm not complaining too much about the artwork since it is a huge improvement over the previous version, I just think the poster with the white picket fence and the word "Cujo" in blood was a great poster.

Bottom line: If you own the original DVD version of Cujo, put it in the doghouse. You will be glad you upgraded to this fantastic version of what I think is one of the best adaptations of Stephen King's work on film.

2013 Blu ray UPDATE:

I just got my new copy of Cujo in the mail, and thought I would add this to my previous DVD review.

Of course, the one thing you want to know; is this worthy of a double dip?? Well, that depends on how much you like this movie. I'll break it down into a list of pros and cons, then you can make your own decision.

PROS

* FINALLY, we get cover art from the original movie poster. This packaging is AWESOME!!! Original artwork is also reflected on the disc itself.

* New commentary from director Lewis Teague. This is a really entertaining track.

* Sound seems to be remastered.

* When I saw the video of the 25th anniv. of Cujo, I thought it couldn't get better. I have to admit that I was wrong. This is the best Cujo has ever looked!!! The HD transfer has obviously been remastered

since the 25th anniv. edition. The picture looks gorgeous!!!!

* On-screen menu also uses original poster artwork.

CONS

* No other extras included other than commentary

* Price is a little high for a bare bones movie.

BOTTOM LINE: In the case of the new 30th anniv. edition of this film, it really comes down to how much you're willing to pay for a new commentary track and some awesome artwork. If you do decide to double dip on this one, I would definitely save the previous 25th anniv. edition. That way you have the complete extra features.

Actually a fairly good Stephen King translation, I remember being genuinely frightened a few times when this played theatrically. But my fondest memory of the movie was its poster: a beautiful sun-bleached drawing of a very east-coast summer house, surrounded by a picket fence splattered with blood in the form of Cujo's name. Warner home video used this artwork when intially releasing the video over a decade ago, and now? This picture of a clownish lip-sticked overly-reddened St. Bernard and his teeth is clearly not even a shot from the movie! I have always questioned/doubted the wisdom of revisionist cover-art for video releases, but this one takes the cake as the most artless piece of junk I've ever seen.

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If I had read the book first I would have probably known what I was in for when I sat down to watch this movie. I have a deeply rooted fear of confined spaces and possibly an even bigger fear of being eaten. So basically, this movie scared me to no end! Now I have to admit much of the story (and acting) moved along fairly slowly, until the mother and son were stuck in the middle of nowhere, in a station wagon, with a large, rabid Saint Bernard attempting to get inside! It was this portion of the movie that got my skin crawling! When Cujo starts attacking the car and you just get this feeling that nobody is getting out of there alive, that's good Horror entertainment! Strangely enough I never felt that Cujo should die or that he was a "monster". I just kept thinking that all of us are victims of circumstance, and not one of us has control over the events in our lives. That concept alone is terrifying! The acting of the mother and son were perfect and I'd really like to know how they got the dog who played Cujo to act so mean! To me, a claustraphobe, this was one nightmare of a movie. If I had been younger I would have probably developed a serious fear of dogs to boot. But dogs are great, as long as you make sure they've had their shots! You don't want your dog going Cujo on you, now do you! One of the scariest movies I've ever seen!

Read Best Reviews of Cujo (1983) Here

To all you folks that are complaining about a Saint Bernard being the wrong choice for this role, and that it was "too cute" to be scary, um that was the point. Sheesh. How could so many people miss that? It's the fact that a big, loveable dog has suddenly become a threat that makes this film so spooky. Man's best friend has suddenly become a monster. Had they used a Doberman or Rottweiller, everyone would have been like "Well, yeah, they're killers. No suprise it turned on them." Most good horror works on the premise of the benign becoming the terrifying. This movie is the epitome of that. Also, a Doberman or Rottweiller wouldn't have been that threatening. Doberman's especially are small enough to send rolling with a well-placed kick. They needed a large dog that would be able to dent a car door with it's massive skull, and take three hits with a baseball bat. Get a clue folks.

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When you think of successful early "adapted from a Stephen King novel" films, a few come to mind. From the greatest:Carrie, The Shining, Pet Sematary to the not-so-bad:Salem's Lot, Children of the Corn, Christine. But nessled right in the middle should be Cujo. For my generation, after this film was released anytime you saw a large strange dog in the near distance, your mind raced with the thoughts of this film.

While still pretty effective, this film about a mother and son trapped inside their broken down Ford Pinto while a rabies-infected Saint Bernard terrorizes them from the outside in, still has plenty of scares even 25 years later. While not as classic as other Horror films of it's time, it did forever become the grandaddy of all maniac dog movies. So on that level alone, it comes from me to any Horror fan very suggested.

However, it does have a few faults. Even though it was shot and released in 1983, this movie looks and feels like it was actually done in say 1976, down to it's starring car and ABC-Movie Of The Week musical score. Another is the 30 minutes of set-up at it's beginning showing the trials and downfalls of suburban marriage and family life at the time. Not that those 30 minutes hurt the movie, it actually sets up the characters for concern quite nicely, but to new fans of the movie they might wonder what drama film got accidently put in this Horror DVD's case.

But once Cujo gets things a foamin' about 40 minutes in, all Hell breaks loose and let the intense claustrophobia begin. As for extras, there's a nice 50 minute documentary called "Dog Days:The Making Of Cujo" from 2007 that has crew and actors telling about how things were done quite informatively. Seeing a now 30 year old Danny Pintauro talking about his role when he was just six is nice to see a former child actor who can still remember the work much less live to tell about it. Also a directors commentary & an anamorphic picture with a high bit-rate, this is a worthy addition to any classic Horror collection. Despite purists who say that it changed certain aspects for the film not originally in the King novel (all of which were approved by King), this is one film that will make most say "The movie was better than the book".

(RedSabbath Rating:8.0/10)

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Defiance (2008)

One wonders why it took so long to tell the story of the three Bielski brothers, who managed to save the lives of 1200 Jews during the Nazi Holocaust in World War II. My personal answer is that they didn't have anyone near the caliber of Daniel Craig to play the part of Tuvia.

The story opens with the Bielski brothers Tuvia (Craig) and Zus (Liev Schreiber) returning to the family farm to discover the Germans killed their parents. They find their younger brother, Asael (Jamie Bell) hiding from the slaughter in a cellar.

They decide to go to the forest to hide out. It's initially pure happenstance that they run into other refugees, but as the story progresses, they have a community from philosophers to warriors.

It's fascinating to see the community grow and the harsh realities of living under the Nazi radar. The images in this film will haunt me as strongly as the original newsreel "Let my People Go" did when I saw it in junior high.

In my opinion, "Defiance" is one of the top films of this year and I hope it earns the awards it deserves. The film is excellent for students of Jewish history, psychology, and community development. It's well worth full price in the theatre and adding to your collection.

Rebecca Kyle, February 2009

**This review contains spoilers**

By necessity, one must focus on the survivors if one wishes to create a workable film about the Holocaust. For its only through the eyes and ears of the survivors (and their tales of suffering) that we can appreciate the enormity, the scope of what occurred to the victims of the Holocaust. Paradoxically, the tales of the survivors are nothing more than anomalies--which may give the wrong impression to the uninformed that the Holocaust was an ennobling event--that these tales of survival were somehow the rule rather than the exception.

Defiance is one such anomalous tale. Some critics have likened it to a critique of Jewish passivity--that the overwhelming majority of Jews went to their deaths without putting up a fight. And certainly that reputation is reinforced in 'Defiance' as the protagonists, Tuvia and Zus Bielski, stand out as Jewish outsiders who aren't afraid to fight the Nazis as opposed to the majority of the Jewish 'intellectuals', mostly freshly minted refugees from the ghetto, who end up as part of the Bielski 'community' within the Byelorussian forest.

But there is an excellent scene in Defiance, where Tuvia sneaks into the ghetto and confronts the head of the Jewish committee there, that demonstrates that the average Jew was not passive--simply bewildered and overwhelmed. Can you really blame the head of the Jewish committee when he doesn't believe Tuvia's tales of genocide? He says, 'yes, we've heard these stories, but who can really believe them?' Reports of atrocities reached the United States during the War but they were not really appreciated until the actual newsreel photos of truckloads of emaciated bodies were seen being bulldozed into ditches at Bergen-Belsen after the war was over.

The opening scenes of 'Defiance' are testament to the brutally swift nature of the Nazi genocide. In most cases, there was simply no time to think about resisting (or escaping). The Nazis came in, along with the help of the local authorities in the occupied territories and murdered the Jews in the blink of an eye. We see this very effectively illustrated in 'Defiance' after the Bielskis find their parents murdered on the family farm.

One of the picture's strengths is that it also illustrates the role of the local collaborators who assisted the Nazis. In a dazzlingly effective scene, Tuvia takes revenge by shooting the local police chief and his sons after they've murdered his parents. The collaborators aren't seen as monsters--quite the contrary, in a humanized portrait, the police chief begs for his life and insists he was forced to act at the bidding of his superiors in the Nazi occupation force (in an earlier scene, the police chief comes to a farm looking for one of the Bielski brothers who hides in a barn after attacking a group of Nazis--here the police chief is much more crass and arrogant--but still all too human!).

Nonetheless, Zwick, the film's director, should have had another scene involving the collaborators to balance out the 'sympathetic' portrait. The truth of the matter was that there were other of these local collaborators who were outright sadists, capable of incomprehensible, monstrous acts of brutality. Similarly, Zwick shows us a group of Jews in the forest who end up savagely beating a captured German soldier to death (despite his cries that he has a wife and children). While such acts of revenge did occur, it's hard to appreciate the context for their actions (it would have been better if Zwick had actually shown the Bielski parents, for example, being murdered and not merely the aftermath).

A good deal of 'Defiance' explores the conflict between the two brothers. Tuvia is the pragmatic one who comes to accept his role as a new 'Moses', leading his beleaguered group of 'intellectuals' to safety through the forest. At first he has only contempt for his fellow Jews who he regards as cowardly and passive. But as time passes, they earn his respect as they all become more proactive. Zus, on the other hand, wants to take direct action against the Nazis and joins the Soviet partisans as one of their fighters. I thought that the characterization of the Russians was one of the strongest parts of the movies. They are depicted sympathetically--shown both for their courage and brutality (Zus eventually leaves the partisans after he can no longer tolerate their anti-semitic stance).

A good part of 'Defiance' is taken up showing life in the forest camp. The characterizations are a mixed bag. Some of the characters are standard 'types' (the debate between the 'intellectual' vs. the 'spiritual' Jew is one such example). There are some good scenes depicting the malnourishment that the community had to endure along with a few obligatory romances. One scene I had a hard time believing was when Tuvia kills one of the food hunters who insists that his group gets extra portions of rations. Did that really happen? I'm not sure but it made for good drama.

I like Daniel Craig in this role a lot more than as James Bond; he gives a solid performance as an unlikely savior for his people. And Lev Schreiber is excellent as the tough as nails partisan who eventually reunites with his brother after a fractured relationship.

Defiance's final scene focuses on the community battling and defeating a large group of Nazi soldiers backed up by a tank. I'm told that this is what actually happened but the way the whole thing is staged seemed a little hard to believe. Nonetheless, Defiance is a film that will keep you absorbed from the opening credits. As a little known history lesson, it does its job. And certainly it was a worthy project to commemorate the deeds of the heroic Bielski brothers.

Buy Defiance (2008) Now

Story about Jews fleeing Nazi death squads in Belorussia who fight back against their occupiers and survive for years in forest hideouts. Very moving story and quite well-acted. The R rating is mind-boggling. I've seen PG-13 movies with more graphic violence. The profanity is sparse and never gratuitous. An excellent history lesson for teenagers, but the rating will keep many of them away (along with some adults). In the current climate of rising anti-Semitism and holocaust revisionism, this movie is unlikely to win awards, but it should.

Read Best Reviews of Defiance (2008) Here

Belorussia in 1941. Germans and local collaborators hunt Jews. The Bielski brothers, in civilian times apparently not really choir boys, escape into the forests and attract followers, other refugees, who are desperate for help. A camp in the forest, an unsteady symbiosis with Russian troops nearby. Raids for food can't avoid getting noticed by the German army, whose attacks follow; the camp has to run. The refugees find another location for a camp. Apparently based on true events.

The film is about big subjects: strategy, leadership, discipline, solidarity. No surprises,just basic constellations and human conflicts. Wonderful cinematography. Solid work by Mr.Zwick (who apparently has a personal relation to the real Bielskis; family?). Good show by Mr.James Bond as Tuvia Bielski; the other actors do well too (but I don't know them).

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There is a myth, long-standing, that the Jews of Europe submitted passively to their fate at the hands of the Nazis and their willing helpers during World War II. According to this myth, Jewish resistance to the Holocaust did not exist, except perhaps in the Warsaw Ghetto, an anomalous, dramatic exception to a nightmarish reality in which Jews blandly climbed on board trains to be taken to unspeakable places to face an unspeakable fate.

Fortunately, that myth is being exploded sixty years after the fact, and DEFIANCE, the story of the Bielski Partisans, is part of that process. The Bielski Partisans were led by the brothers Tuvia, Zus, Asael and Aron, Jews from White Russia (now Belarus), who took to the woods after their village was targeted by the Einsatzkommando "B", an SS killing corps.

Many Jews, in fact, fled to the woods, and Jewish Resistance arose in many places throughout Europe. The Bielski experience in the dense Naliboki Forest is paradigmatic. The Jews of city and town, often tradesmen, small business owners, or scholar/intellectuals, were generally ill-equipped for the rough life of forest-dwellers. In this regard, the Bielskis, whose father had been a countryman, were peculiarly suited to lead. Having grown up in and around the woods and with a familiarity with tools and weapons, they became not only protectors but teachers in the art of survival.

Tuvia (Daniel Craig) became the leader, quiet, intense, sincere, and often in a quandry both moral and practical. How does one lead men, and care for women and children in conditions of deprivation? How and when does a leader lead or let himself be guided? How does a leader, as an authority, assert that authority?

Tuvia "would rather save one old Jewish woman than kill a dozen Nazis," but he is no milquetoast. He takes vengeance on the local Russian officer responsible for killing his parents. Nazis paid a bounty to those who betrayed their Jewish neighbors. Jews were worth 500 rubles a head, a small fortune to many starving peasants. Much later, he settles a challenge to his leadership from within by executing the mutineer.

Craig, known for his role as James Bond, really shows that his talents are wasted as the suave British spy. As Tuvia Bielski, he shines, an ordinary man called upon to do extraordinary things.

His younger, bigger, tougher brother, Zus (Liev Schreiber) is a firebrand. Although the Bielski Partisans engage small "hunting parties" in firefights, Zus believes the battle can be better fought on a larger scale, and joins the Red Partisans. Unfortunately, anti-Semitism within the Soviet ranks makes him an outsider, and he eventually returns to his brothers.

Schrieber, whose physical presence is imposing, plays Zus by tapping into some deep reservoir of anger within himself. It's an impressive performance, by far the strongest in the film.

Asael is younger, as is Aron, and both younger brothers dedicate themselves to forming a structured community for the growing forest community, establishing schools for the children, an infirmary for the ill, workshops for non-combatants, where they repaired rifles, loaded cartridges, sewed clothing, and built shelters and bunkers, and foraging parties that collected (by hook or by crook) food, tools, and other necessaries from the locals.

There are a number of large-scale battles between the German Army (supplied with tanks, machine guns and half-tracks) and the woefully underarmed Bielskis, which the Partisans, impossibly, win. Most of these battles have been "amplified" by the screenwriters for dramatic impact.

In all, some 1,200 Jews survived the war with the Bielski brothers. Asael Bielski was not among them. This film sheds light on a little-known chapter of the Holocaust, a chapter which had its counterparts in and around Kovno, Vilna, Warsaw, Lodz, Kiev, and in Western Europe as well.

This story, though it took place in Belarus, was filmed just across the border in Lithuania due to political reasons. As my father was a survivor of the Shoah from Lithuania, I was particularly interested in experiencing the views of the Lithuanian countryside this film provided.